"Eh? Tachibana-kun?"

Aomachi discovered Aomachi, and Aomachi also discovered Aomachi at the same time.

The two looked at each other blankly, their big eyes staring at each other.

At this time, Kinoshita Mai brought a big stone from nowhere.

She stepped on this stone and finally reached the same height as Qingdeng.

She stood close to Qingdeng and stuck her head out of the earthen wall.

Looking at Elodie and Omachi in the courtyard, Kinoshita Mai's cheeks were suddenly filled with excitement.

"Ah! Auntie Machi!"

Kinoshita Mai has a very good relationship with Furumaki and his wife, and they are as close as a family.

Therefore, as expected, when he saw Kinoshita Mai suddenly appearing, Atachi's eyes lit up:

"A Wu! You are here too!"

Of course, if we were to say who was the most excited person at the scene, it was undoubtedly Elodie.

"Master! Miss Wu!"

Instantly, those clear sky-blue eyes burst into brilliant light.

The emotions contained in this gaze are very complex.

There are surprises, doubts, and resentments... Of course, the most prominent and overwhelming emotions among them are undoubtedly joy and excitement.

I no longer care about practicing swordsmanship or anything like that.

She held the bamboo sword in her hand upside down and moved to Qingdeng in three steps at a time... Correction, she moved to the base of the earthen wall and tried her best to raise her toes.

"Master, Miss Wu, why are you here?"

Qingdeng didn't bother to answer.

He looked at A-Machi, and then looked at Elodie in front of him.

——How come they are together?

One is a little lolita from France.

One is the proprietress of a confectionery shop whom I have met several times.

Qingdeng could not bring these two people together.

——Now that I have seen Mrs. Gu Mu, her husband...

As soon as Qingdeng thought about this, he heard a familiar male voice:

"A-Machi, is there a guest? Why is it so noisy?"

The sound of footsteps approaching from far away could be heard in the house behind Atachi.

Within a moment, a middle-aged man was seen walking out of the house slowly and came to the veranda connecting the courtyard, appearing in front of Qingdeng and others.

At a rough glance, this is just an ordinary middle-aged man with nothing special except for his height (1.7 meters).

But if you look carefully, you can find that he has a particularly striking appearance feature that is unforgettable after just one glance - his right arm is as black as burning charcoal.

"Huh?"

The middle-aged man raised his eyebrows, and then looked at Qingden outside the earthen wall with a surprised look on his face, just like Atachi just now, with their eyes facing each other.

"Mr. Gu Mu, long time no see."

Qingdeng was the first to say hello.

The middle-aged man...that is, Komaki Goro, followed closely and said with a smile:

"Well, it's been a long time indeed."

…

…

Private house (home of Mr. and Mrs. Komu), lobby——

A large hook hangs from the ceiling in the center of the hall, and a small stove is dug underneath. Guests can sit around the stove without taking off their straw sandals. There is a large soup pot hanging on the hook - a very typical Japanese house.

Qingden and others, as well as Gu Mu and his wife, sat on both sides with the soup pot as the center.

The former sits on the east side of the soup pot. Aoden is in the middle, and Mai Kinoshita and Elodie are on the left and right.

As for the latter, he sat on the west side of the soup pot - Komaki Goro happened to be sitting directly opposite Aisho.

"Here, please have some tea~ I am very good at making tea, please be sure to taste it carefully!"

Omachi held the tea tray, brought the number of hot teas equal to the number of heads, and then distributed them one cup at a time in front of Aomori and others' knees.

"Thanks."

The blonde loli bowed lightly and thanked her very politely.

Qingden quietly squinted his eyes and cast a surprised look at Elodie involuntarily, thinking to himself:

After not seeing each other for a while, she has grown a lot.

Elodie straightened her back and put her hands on her legs respectfully.

There is nothing stiff about the high-raised head, and the line from the chin to the collarbone is really beautiful.

In terms of temperament and etiquette alone, Elodie is no less than Sanako.

Her aura is that of Yamato Nadeshiko.

As for his current attire, it is that of a warrior.

Her waist-length slightly curly blond hair was tied into a neat high ponytail, and she wore a kendo uniform with white top and yellow below.

The hakama of the kendo uniform usually only comes in two colors: blue and black.

For example, Sanako loves to wear blue hakama kendo uniforms.

I don’t know where Elodie got this “yellow hakama kendo uniform”.

To be honest, apart from her facial features and hair color, the current Elodie is basically the same as a native Japanese.

Her Japanese accent is even more authentic than most Japanese people nowadays.

Many people around Qingden are far less proficient in Japanese than Elodie.

Take Kinoshita Mai for example. Because she grew up in Osaka, Kinoshita Mai's speech tone always has a vague Osaka flavor.

Because it had been so long since he had seen this young apprentice, Qingdeng couldn't help but look at him a few more times.

At this time, he suddenly discovered something——

——Hey...Why is Elodie's height...still the same?

Qingdeng was startled for a moment, and his expression became strange.

Logically speaking, girls of this age should still be developing.

But as a result...some parts of her body strangely stopped growing!

For example: her height.

Elodie's current height is exactly the same as when Qingden first met her... exactly the same! No different! Still the same height, still only a little over 1.4 meters (1.42 meters)!

Another example is her face.

He is obviously a person who is about to reach adulthood, but he still has a face that looks very girlish.

Her height has not increased, her face has not changed, but the strange thing is... other parts of her body are developing normally.

Because of the fluffy kendo uniform he was wearing, Qingto could not see clearly.

But relying on his rich experience, Qingden dared to conclude that Elodie's level of development was probably about to catch up with the director's.

——As expected of good besties, their “growth styles” are the same.

——Both of them have "not long bodies, unchanged faces, and all nutrients are concentrated in specific places."

Thinking of this, Qingden subconsciously moved his eyes away from Elodie and turned to Kinoshita Mai, who was sitting in the opposite direction.

Compared to Elodie, Kinoshita Mai's senses are undoubtedly much sharper.

She caught Qingdeng's gaze immediately.

"..."

Although she didn’t know why Qingdeng suddenly looked at her, her intuition told her: Qingdeng must be thinking of something very rude!

As a result, Kinoshita Mai lowered her eyelids, squinted her eyes, and "glared back" at Qingden with a sideways glance.

Qingteng silently withdrew his gaze, then picked up the tea cup that O-Machi had just handed him, sipped the tea lightly, and said "drink tea" to explain away his guilty expression.

As soon as the tea was in his mouth, the unforgettable fragrance immediately lingered in Qingdeng's teeth and lingered for a long time.

Aomachi blinked and thought: It seems that what Atachi just said "I am very good at making tea" was not a boast.
To be continued...