Things【7200】

Edo, Chishiya——

"..."

Kiryu was sitting behind the counter, looking at the letter in his hand seriously.

This letter is written in Juanxiu handwriting, and the signature at the end is "Lin".

"Oh...this is really..."

After reading the last word of the letter, Kiryu, who always looked quite calm, raised his eyebrows in a rare move, with an intriguing look of surprise on his face.

suddenly--

Poof, poof...

There was a sound like something heavy falling to the ground from the second floor.

Kiryu, who was attracted by the strange noise, put away the letter in his hand and looked up at the ceiling above his head.

"What's the sound...? What is the young master doing..."

After whispering these words, Kiryu stood up and turned into the back corridor of Qianshiya, climbed the stairs, and reached the second floor.

Kinoshita Mai's boudoir was not closed.

So when Kiryu walked to Kinoshita Mai's boudoir with a wide open door, he had an unobstructed view of the scene inside the room.

In the past, the room, which was always spotless and everything was arranged in an orderly manner, now became a mess.

Clothes, toys, strange items that I can't name... everything big and small are everywhere.

The tatami mat looked messy because it was filled with all kinds of messy things, and there were not even a few places left to stay.

In this "garbage dump"-like space, Kiryu found his young master—Mai Kinoshita, who was wearing her favorite red dress as usual. She was sitting on her knees with her two little feet folded under her buttocks.

In front of a Western glass mirror as big as a palm.

Her whole body was tense, and while she was staring at the mirror in front of her with all her concentration, she carefully moved the short makeup brush held by her right finger, and carefully applied the bright "red" on the tip of the brush.

Smeared it on my lips.

I was so focused that I almost forgot to breathe, and almost forgot to blink my eyes.

Next to Mai Kinoshita's knees was a jar of lip balm that was the size of an adult's thumb, with the lid already open.

The so-called "lipstick" can be understood as the lipstick of the Edo period.

The lipstick that Mai Kinoshita is applying to her lips is the most popular style nowadays and most sought after by young girls: "Sasa-colored red".

Kiryu took a closer look and found that in addition to this jar of lipstick, Kinoshita Mai's knees also contained various types of cosmetics such as light powder and eye gloss.

Kiryu recognized all these cosmetics - they were gifts given to her by Kinoshita's grandmother on the eve of Kinoshita leaving Osaka and going to Edo to experience in the Senshiya he opened.

Since it was a farewell gift to my granddaughter, I couldn't be stingy and fill it up with bargains.

Take the jar of lip gloss as an example - a valuable but unmarketable treasure that Nokinoshita Mai's grandmother commissioned someone to help make.

According to Kiryu's estimate, if this jar of lipstick, which was no bigger than his thumb, was sold in the market, it would fetch at least ten taels of gold.

10 taels of gold...a sky-high price that can make everyone who knows the lipstick market take a breath.

You know, even the expensive lipstick used by Yoshihara's courtesan only fluctuates around 1 tael of gold.

Although Kinoshita Mai was so dedicated to applying makeup, her seriousness and the results of her makeup formed a sharp contrast...

The hand holding the pen was shaking as if she was shivering.

The lips are as "pitted" as the mud after rain.

Either the color is too heavy; then the color is too light; or the lipstick is accidentally applied to places other than the lips...

The sky-high price of lipstick, which is more than ten times more expensive than the special cosmetics of Yoshiwara oirans, is now being used as cheap paint by an "employment agency agent"... Such a strange sight, if anyone can see it

Go, I don’t know how many people’s jaws will be shocked.

Kinoshita Mai's level of makeup is so terrible...it's only natural.

Because she doesn't like makeup, she usually stays bare-faced.

Without relevant experience, it is impossible to draw beautiful makeup.

In a messy room, he used the lipstick given by his grandma that he had never used before to apply makeup... After integrating the information that his eyes had seen one by one, Kiryu finally understood what had happened.

It's over.

"……Little Lord."

"Um?"

It was only when Kiryu spoke that Kinoshita Mai realized that Kiryu was standing outside her boudoir.

She subconsciously turned her face away quickly... She turned around, but the hand holding the makeup pencil still stayed in place.

The face moved, but the pen didn't move... And so - starting from the corner of the mouth, the makeup pen drew a straight red line on Kinoshita Mai's delicate right face.

His face, which was already extremely funny due to his poor makeup skills, became even funnier.

Kinoshita Mai accidentally got into a big embarrassment, and her face suddenly became the same color as the "sasa-colored red" that was applied to her lips.

"Tong, Mr. Kiryu, why are you here?"

Kinoshita Mai quickly grabbed a few pieces of paper lying beside her knees, wiped her right face and lips clean, and tried her best to talk to Kiryu in a calm tone, trying to cover up her embarrassment.

"I heard a strange noise coming from upstairs, so I came over to take a look."

Kiryu walked quickly to Kinoshita Mai's side with a light movement like stepping on a rocky reef protruding from the river to cross the river, and then sat down with his knees bent.

"Young Master, you have worked really hard to be able to look your best tonight and travel with Mr. Ju."

After saying this, Kiryu let out a laugh full of ridicule.

Tonight, Aoto and Kinoshita Mai will go to the fireworks display to watch the fireworks - as long as we analyze this information, it is not difficult to guess why Kinoshita Mai's boudoir suddenly became a mess, and how she herself suddenly started to

Put on makeup.

Kiryu speculated that Kinoshita Mai planned to meet Aoto tonight with the best and most beautiful face she could achieve at present.

Having made up her mind like this, she decided to dress herself up well.

However, because I don’t wear much makeup on weekdays, I don’t know where to put the cosmetics that grandma gave me before, so I rummaged around and made the room a mess.

There is no need to elaborate on what happens next.

After rummaging through the room like a thief, I finally found the cosmetics given by my grandma, and tried on the makeup in front of the mirror. Before I could finish painting my lips, Kiryu came.

Although the above are Kiryu's personal speculations, he believes that the facts should not be much different from his speculations.

Facts have proved that Kiryu's guess was right.

As soon as Kiryu's teasing laugh came out, Kinoshita Mai's pretty face immediately turned extremely red, and the red glow spread to the roots of her ears, and it seemed like wisps of "steam" were floating out from her forehead and cheeks.

Her expression silently told Kiryu that his guess was correct.

Kiryu, who found Kinoshita Mai's reaction quite interesting, grinned wider:

"Young Master, you really like Mr. Ju."

"I……"

Hearing Kiryu's sigh, Kinoshita Mai immediately raised her head as if she had been scalded by hot water.

However, as soon as she shouted "I", Kiryu had already anticipated what she wanted to say and interrupted her words.

"Young Master, there is no need to defend."

"Look at my age."

Kiryu raised his hand and pointed at his wrinkled old face and silver hair.

"I have walked on more bridges than you have walked on."

"I still can't understand the behavior and thoughts of you young children, can't I understand them?"

"It is not a shameful thing to have a secret affection for someone."

"Young Master, you don't need to hide your feelings for Mr. Ju... at least in front of me, you don't need to hide it."

Kinoshita Mai seemed to be touched by Kiryu's words, her expression was dazed.

After a moment, she silently tightened her shoulders, lowered her face that was still flushed, and her eyes were blurred.

Kinoshita Mai is not an idiot with insufficient IQ.

In fact, she had already vaguely felt that Kiryu must have known about her feelings for Qingto.

However, even though she knew this in her heart, she still felt uncontrollably ashamed after hearing Kiryu say, "You really like Tachibana-kun."

Kiryu looked at Kinoshita Mai with a dumbfounded smile, and glanced at Kinoshita Mai who had curled up her body like an ostrich. Then she squinted her eyes and looked at the pile of bottles and cans beside Kinoshita Mai's knees.

"...Young Master, let me help you put on makeup."

"Eh?"

Kinoshita Mai raised her face in surprise.
To be continued...