Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard-Chapter 873 - 514: The Night Breeze on the Street_2

Chapter 873: Chapter 514: The Night Breeze on the Street_2

Opened the car door, bent down, and let her hand wrap around his neck.

Uesugi Sakura wrapped one arm around her back and the other around her legs, lifting her onto himself.

Closed the car door, watched the taxi drive towards the corner at the end of the street, and then Uesugi Sakura finally let his gaze fall on the sleeping girl’s face in his arms.

Her sleeping face was peaceful, and under the hazy moonlight, there was an indescribable beauty to her closed eyes.

By now it was almost one in the morning, the temperature had dropped below 10 degrees, and even though she was asleep, Uesugi Sakura could feel her petite frame shivering with cold.

"Don’t catch a cold again..."

Causally draped his coat over her, Uesugi Sakura carried her to Hanamaru’s house entrance, used the key from her waist pouch to unlock the door, and then carefully carried her to her room upstairs.

Even after getting married, Mrs. Hanamaru kept Hanamaru Hanabi’s old room at home.

She said it was to keep a memory, because after all, it was where her daughter had lived for over a decade.

Opening the door to her room, seeing the familiar layout, Uesugi Sakura wasn’t there to reminisce but to lay Hanamaru Hanabi on the bed first.

Covered her with a quilt and prepared to go to the bathroom to get a basin of hot water to wash her face and feet before letting her sleep.

He had just stepped out of the room when the light suddenly turned on.

Standing in the hallway was Mrs. Hanamaru, dressed in pajamas.

She leaned against one side of the wall, her long hair falling over her shoulders, her expression was very calm, not showing a hint of anger.

Yet it was precisely this calmness that made Uesugi Sakura even more nervous.

"Little Sakura."

"I’m here... Auntie..."

"Hanabi ran out in the middle of the night, you know who she went for, right?"

"..." Uesugi Sakura remained silent.

Mrs. Hanamaru glanced into the room at Hanamaru Hanabi covered with a blanket:

"She was already bathed and dressed in her pajamas, ready to sleep, but suddenly at 11 o’clock, she told me she was going out. I asked her what for, and she said she’d left something at school.

"Now it seems, it was her heart left at school."

Uesugi Sakura was silent and speechless.

"You seem a bit embarrassed to face me?"

"Yes..." Uesugi Sakura admitted, "Lately... I haven’t taken good care of Hanabi..."

"Indeed, you haven’t taken good care. In the past month, she’s been running over here constantly. At first, it seemed like nothing, after all, you’re grown-ups now, it’s normal for young couples to have little quarrels, but this time, I hear you left her alone at home for a week?"

"It’s my fault." Uesugi Sakura was already unwilling to explain anything further.

"Hanabi has mostly told me the reason, but you don’t need to worry, Hiroki doesn’t know about this, if he did, he’d probably drag you down to the police station to spar a few hundred rounds with his subordinates."

"..." Uesugi Sakura bowed his head, "That would be deserved."

Mrs. Hanamaru gazed at the night view outside the room window:

"I dislike criticizing people the most, back in Hokkaido you were quite harsh on her. After she went to England, I believe you understood that it’s only when she’s not by your side that you especially miss her...

"I’ve never stopped you two from dating because I know Hanabi adored you since she was young. The candies you bought her, she’d take them back and put them in her desk drawer, unwilling to eat them. The books you gave her, she cherished and preserved well. Look, right over there, the top shelf."

Mrs. Hanamaru pointed to the bookshelf in Hanamaru Hanabi’s room.

"I don’t know why she admired you so much... but if a child likes someone, we must respect that, right? During summer, when you returned to your family in Shikoku, Hanabi would just sit by the window, staring outside without doing anything, from that moment I knew she was beyond saving.

"Truly, she’d been naively foolish since she was little! No saving her back then!"

Mrs. Hanamaru chuckled as she said this.

"I didn’t expect Hanabi to fall so deeply in love at such a young age, not sure if she’s too mature or what, to like a neighbor brother one year older than her so much... Hey, you were sensible back then, but in my eyes, you were still just a little brat, you know?

"Now when I talk about the past with Nobuko, we both think it’s destiny, perhaps.

"We happened to have a house fire before, happened to move beside Nobuko’s place, happened only the two of us were pregnant and then got married during college, happened our families all knew each other.

"So, don’t mind the old man’s stubborn mouth and tough character, for he recognized you long ago."

Mrs. Hanamaru turned her head back, continuing to speak to him.

"On your wedding day, it was the first time in decades he shed a tear, just he turned away and held back. Seeing the daughter married off, the love parents have is no less than what you hold.

"You two are still kids, can’t take care of yourselves, let alone others, so I’ve let Aei stay here with us too.

"Haha, not gonna lie, it’s quite lively with more people around."

"Ahem... a bit off-topic," Mrs. Hanamaru patted her chest and looked into Uesugi Sakura’s purple eyes, "Have you figured out how to apologize this time? One apology won’t cover it."

"I..." Uesugi Sakura was at a loss for words, "I haven’t thought about it yet."

"Little Sakura, you were a smart kid, how come when it comes to love, you become wooden-brained? Messing with Hanabi till late at night, muddling your head? My little Hanabi doesn’t have your stamina."

The bluntness of her words even silenced someone as thick-skinned as Uesugi Sakura.

She and mom used to be in the news department at the university club, loved talking about who’s gossiping about what.

Seeing him still in a daze, Mrs. Hanamaru put it another way: "Tell me what you’re going to do next."

Uesugi Sakura tried to respond, "Help Hanabi wash her face... wipe her hands and feet... then spend the night at my own house, preparing for tomorrow."

"Fool!"

Mrs. Hanamaru used her signature forehead flick she often used with Hanamaru Hanabi, then gave him a motherly smile: "Why go back, stay here with her, isn’t that better?"

"Ah? Aren’t we... still not reconciled?"

"Another mistake." Mrs. Hanamaru flicked his forehead again.

Even though Uesugi Sakura was a bit taller than his mother-in-law, he didn’t dare to dodge.

"It’s because you’re not reconciled that you need to stay with her. According to your logic, not taking the initiative because you’re not reconciled, when will you possibly get close to her again? When will you reconcile? Wouldn’t it ultimately require Hanabi to reach out to you first? That would be a failure of duty as a man."

Mrs. Hanamaru sighed while saying this, "Dad used to be just like this, if I didn’t initiate, he’d stay mute, not saying a word to me. It chilled my heart, too, and I didn’t want to talk to him too, eventually, it all turned into a cold war."

Mrs. Hanamaru seemed to come to a realization, looking at Uesugi Sakura:

"Are all men like this?"

"I... don’t know." Uesugi Sakura could only say this.

"Forget it, forget it," Mrs. Hanamaru yawned, waving her hand, "Go get some hot water and help Hanabi wash her face and feet. You’ll sleep here tonight, in her room, with her. As for clothes, just make do with her pink pajamas, she has plenty of sets, well... that’s it, see you tomorrow, good night."

With this, Mrs. Hanamaru turned off the hallway light, waving and walking downstairs.

Uesugi Sakura watched his mother-in-law’s back descending the stairs and realized who the biggest contributor to his and Hanabi’s relationship was.