Chapter 97 Looking up at the bright moon

As the night deepens, the bustle does not stop.

Instead, it becomes more and more passionate as time goes by.

"Wow, this is so cute."

On the street, Sakura cheered and ran to an inflatable pool, looking into the pool excitedly.

There are small balloons filled with water floating in the pool. The balloons are colorful, and although there are no extra accessories, they are still cute and round.

This is water ball fishing, which is essential at the festival. As a classic recreational activity, this scene has appeared in both "Crayon Shin-chan" and "Chibi Maruko-chan".

Looking at the water ball floating on the water, Sakura rubbed her hands together, eager to give it a try.

When the other people in the group saw Sakura's excitement, they smiled and stopped strolling.

Since Sakura wants to play, then let's play together. After all, Sakura is the group's favorite, so of course she will be spoiled.

The rules of water ball fishing are very simple. You just need to use a hook to catch the water ball floating in the water, and that’s a success.

However, it is easier said than done. It is still difficult to play. After all, the string of the hook is made of paper, which will break if you apply a little force after getting it wet. It is as difficult as catching dolls with a claw machine.

But Sakura wouldn't think so much. She has always been careless, so it is naturally difficult for her to notice such details.

Paji~
As expected, the first attempt failed, the line hook broke, and the water ball fell straight into the pool, splashing some water.

Sakura wiped the water off her face and her fighting spirit ignited in her heart. She would never give in!
However, if the method is wrong, no matter how hard you try, you will not succeed.

Sakura, full of fighting spirit, tried several times, but the line hook broke every time. She was a little discouraged and stopped her efforts.

Really, why is it so difficult to fish for a mere water ball?

Sakura complained unhappily in her heart while squatting beside the pool, staring at one of the red water balls.

She really wanted this red water ball, but she had tried to fish for it several times but failed each time.

"You want the red one?"

At this moment, Yukito suddenly squatted down with a smile and asked Sakura softly.

Sakura nodded, getting the answer, and Snow Rabbit waved to the boss: "Boss, please give me a hook."

After taking the hook handed over by the boss, Xuetu easily hooked the red water ball floating on the water. Then he held the water ball and handed it to Sakura.

"Give."

Looking at Yukito's gentle smile, Sakura blushed slightly and hurriedly took it: "Thank you!"

After handing the water ball in his hand to Sakura, Yukito asked for another hook and casually fished out another water ball.

This time he stood up with the water ball and handed it to Touya, who seemed to be a little distracted since the beginning.

"Touya, this is yours."

Touya, who was still in a daze, came back to his senses after hearing this. He looked at the snow rabbit who handed him the water ball and snorted, "Humph, who wants something that only children like."

However, although he said that, his actions were very honest. He directly reached out and took the water ball handed to him by Xuetu.

Feeling that Yukito cared about him, Touya's mouth corners slightly raised.

"Oh my, even though you say no, your body is very honest."

Well, the smile disappeared in an instant.

Veins bulged on Touya's forehead, and he glared at a kid with a mocking smile on his face with extreme displeasure.

"Who are you talking about, little brat?!"

"Whoever agrees is the one being talked about."

Xia Yu chuckled and ignored Touya whose face was gradually getting red. He looked at Chise who was watching silently beside him like him.

"Zhi Shi, do you want one? I can help you catch one."

"Well……"

Hearing this, Tomoyo wanted to say that she was already very happy just watching Sakura and the others play, but when the words came to her lips, she suddenly changed her mind: "Then I'll trouble you, Xia."

"Got it."

Touya, who originally wanted to tease Xia Yu, saw Xia Yu suddenly going to fish for Chise again, and could only snort twice to express his dissatisfaction.

This little brat is really not cute!

After a few minutes, several people left the water polo booth.

But before they had walked far, Sakura and Tomoyo suddenly noticed another pair of beautiful women walking together at another entrance to the shrine.

From a distance, the two seemed to be still holding hands.

"Chiharu! Yamazaki!"

When the two people came closer, they found that they were Yamazaki and Chiharu from the same class. Sakura waved and greeted them happily, which also attracted the attention of Yamazaki and Chiharu.

"Yo!"

Yamazaki walked over with a smile, raised his hand and said hello. Chiharu also waved and said good night.

"Did you two just get here too?" Sakura asked curiously, looking at Yamazaki and Chiharu who were walking side by side.

"Ah."

Chiharu smiled and said, "I heard it from Naoko, because Naoko likes shrines and temples very much. However, Naoko and Rika have piano lessons tonight, so Yamazaki and I are here."

"Really? Then you must have fun."

Sakura once again used her universal answer.

Xia Yu on the side was looking at Da Huyou and Twin Ponytails who were wearing kimonos. He just noticed that the kimonos of the two people seemed to be matching.

Yamazaki's kimono is mainly light blue with a green crocodile pattern, while Chiharu's kimono is mainly pink with a red goldfish pattern.

The red and the blue just form the red and blue CP.

However, it seems that he is the only one who understands this combination. After all, the idea of ​​red and blue forming a CP has been around since ancient times, but it has not appeared in this era.

At least in his impression, this meme was popularized by the couple Sakura Kyoko and Miki Sayaka in "Puella Magi Madoka Magica".

But even without this plot, Chiharu and Yamazaki, the childhood sweethearts, are indeed lovers, and have been married since kindergarten.

"It's great to be young."

Looking at the well-matched Yamazaki and Chiharu, Xia Yu sighed like an old grandfather.

Snapped--!
Suddenly, a slight gunshot was heard nearby. The sound was not loud and more like the sound of a toy gun than a real gun.

The few people who were originally chatting turned their heads and saw that not far away, Li Xiaolang was holding a toy gun and shooting at the prizes on the stall.

"Student Li is the only one?"

Sakura looked at the lonely Li Syaoran and suddenly felt uncomfortable. It was obvious that visiting a festival would be more fun with friends, but Li seemed to be alone.

If there is such an activity next time, please invite Li to join us.

With this thought in mind, Sakura walked towards Li Syaoran who was shooting a gun, and seeing this, the others followed.

On the other side, at the gun shooting stall.

Li Xiaolang skillfully stuffed the rubber bullets into the toy gun in his hand, then raised it and aimed it at the rag doll placed on the platform.

After practicing swordsmanship tonight, he wanted to go out for some fresh air, but somehow he ended up here. Although there are differences between the summer festival and the temple fair, the same bustle still evoked his childhood memories.

He understood the principle of maintaining a balance between relaxation and tension, so he walked into the ceremony, ready to relax.

Snapped--!
Another shot was fired, and a green monster doll fell down.

Seeing that he had won another prize, Li Xiaolang's mouth curled up slightly. Although it was simple to play, it was quite interesting.

Just as he was aiming at the next doll and preparing to shoot, a voice suddenly came from his ear.

"It hit the target. That's amazing."

"Eh?!"

Li Xiaolang shuddered and looked behind him in surprise. He didn't know when five people had gathered behind him, and they were all classmates.

Damn it, he didn’t even notice it at all. It turns out that I still can’t be too lax.

However, compared to Li Syaoran's surprise, Sakura was even more surprised. She pointed at the pile of prizes on the stall table in disbelief.

"Did you get all these by yourself, Li?"

"Yes...yes."

Although he didn't know when Sakura and the others came, Li Syaoran still answered Sakura's question.

Just as Li Xiaolang was about to continue sweeping the prizes on the stall and teach the boss a lesson, Xuetu came to the stall without him noticing. He praised softly, "That's amazing."

As soon as these words were spoken, Li Xiaolang's face turned red with shame and his heart started beating wildly.

He hurriedly took out a pile of snacks from his pile of prizes and handed them to Snow Rabbit.

Facing the pile of snacks handed over by Li Xiaolang, Xuetu was slightly stunned and smiled: "Are you going to give them to me?"

Li Xiaolang lowered his head, his eyes wandering, not daring to look at Xuetu's expression, he just nodded.

"Thank you." Snow Rabbit smiled gently and reached out to take the snacks from Li Xiaolang.

Seeing this, Touya, who was standing by, instantly lost his dissatisfaction with Xia Yu. Compared to the unlovable Xia Yu, this brat was indeed more annoying.

But even though he hated it, he wouldn't do anything because he knew there was no way Snow Rabbit would fall in love with this kind of kid. That's how calm he was.

"Oh, yes, speaking of shooting games, in the Warring States Period..."

As if she felt that the scene had calmed down a bit, Yamazaki raised her little hand and prepared to start fooling people.

"Yes Yes."

Qianchun blocked with her fan, interrupting the spell.

Before Yamazaki could continue to fool around, Chiharu pointed at the gun booth and said, "Yamazaki, I want that doll. If you can get it for me, I'll make cookies for you tomorrow."

"Huh? Then I have to pray."

"Huh? Why are you praying?"

In response to Chiharu's question, Yamazaki clasped his hands together and replied quite seriously: "Pray that I'm okay with eating the cookies."

()
Okay, okay, you dislike my cooking skills, right?

Although she could hear Yamazaki's confidence that he would help her get the doll, she still got angry when she was teased like that!

"Yamazaki!"

Unbearable, completely crazy!
"What are you talking about?! This is too much. The person is so kind and you still say that!"

As she spoke, Chiharu grabbed Yamazaki's neck with great skill and shook him back and forth.

Yamazaki did not resist. He made a funny "yeah" gesture with his hand and swayed his body left and right along with Chiharu's hand.

Xia Yu looked at the two people who were actually showing affection in public and sighed. He dared not watch, dared not watch, this... this is immoral, this...

Just showing off your love, right? Just eat it.

A little hard and a little choking.

Seeing the friendly and harmonious scene between Chiharu and Yamazaki, Tomoyo smiled and said, "Chiharu and Yamazaki have a really good relationship."

Sakura also nodded in agreement, but the next moment, Tomoyo suddenly changed the subject: "Sakura's water ball was also given to you by Brother Yukito, that's great."

Sakura blushed slightly when she heard this: "Hmm..."

"Eh?!"

Suddenly, Li Xiaolang, who had returned to the stall and was ready to shoot, pricked up his ears and turned his head in surprise. What did he just hear? !

Did Yukito give Sakura a present?

Obviously he doesn't even have this treatment!

Facing Li Xiaolang's glaring gaze, Xiaoying smiled awkwardly: "Did you hear that?"

Seeing Li Xiaolang's almost visible concern, Zhishi covered his mouth and chuckled: "As long as I mention the person you like, you can hear it immediately."

As soon as these words were spoken, Li Syaoran's face, which had originally recovered, turned slightly red again. However, this time he did not turn around and run away immediately. Instead, he just stared at Sakura and walked towards her step by step.

Xia Yu, who was watching from the sidelines: "..."

Good guy.

How come he didn't realize when he watched the animation that besides being a little bit sinister, Tomoyo was also a master at fanning the flames.

He was so angry that he wanted to give a thumbs up and say, "You are really good at adding fuel to the fire."

Seeing Syaoran getting closer and closer, Sakura was about to step back, but Toya suddenly appeared and stood between Sakura and Syaoran.

"Hey, what do you want with my sister?"

"Humph!"

Just as Touya didn't like Syaoran, Syaoran also didn't like this dark-skinned guy. The two of them just stared at each other, and there were faint sparks of electricity in the air.

"Success!"

Just as the atmosphere was becoming increasingly solemn, a cheer suddenly came from nearby, breaking the stalemate.

Turning around, at another gun-shooting stall, Yamazaki was holding a toy gun and scratching his head with a silly grin, while Chiharu was holding a stuffed bear and rubbing it against her face.

Just now, Yamazaki successfully got the doll that Chiharu wanted.

Seeing this, Tomoyo suddenly pointed to a rabbit doll on another ring-tossing stall and said in a voice that everyone could hear: "Sakura, do you want that?"

"Huh?" Sakura turned her head to look.

"Sakura, you like rabbits very much, right?" "Yeah."

Sakura nodded heavily, and Yukito also lowered her head slightly and smiled at Sakura: "Really, that doll is so cute."

When this scene fell into the eyes of others, Li Xiaolang's expression suddenly froze, and he ran towards the ring-tossing stall without thinking, as if he wanted to catch the rabbit doll.

Seeing Li Syaoran leaving, Taoya hurriedly followed him. No matter who the boy wanted to give the rabbit doll to after putting it on, he would not allow it!
The bunny doll must be his!

A strange competition broke out instantly.

In an instant, countless hoops flew out from the hands of the two men. Perhaps because neither of them was willing to give in to the other, the hoops they threw bumped into each other in the air. For a moment, neither of them hit a single doll.

Seeing that the competition would not stop anytime soon, Snow Rabbit chuckled and said, "They may play for a long time, let's go somewhere else."

Before Sakura could answer, Tomoyo said, "I want to stay here and enjoy their wonderful fight. I believe Xia-san has the same idea as me."

Hearing Zhishi's words, Xia Yu raised his eyebrows slightly, but did not refute.

Seeing that Xia Yu agreed with what he said, Zhi Shi took this opportunity to whisper to Xiao Ying: "Xiao Ying, now is a good time to play alone with Brother Xuetu."

"Eh?"

"Don't worry about me and classmate Xia. I believe classmate Xia thinks the same. This is a rare summer festival."

While Sakura was hesitating, Yukito had already bent down and took Sakura's hand, smiling at her: "Let's go, Sakura."

Sakura looked up at Yukito's gentle smile, and felt the warmth of his palm, her pretty face slightly reddened: "Okay..."

After Xuetu and Xiaoying left, leaving only their blurry figures, Xia Yu looked at Zhiye and sighed: "Zhiye, you really work hard for Xiaoying."

"Haha~ Since Sakura won't take the initiative, I'll have to create opportunities for her."

Zhishi smiled, which was considered as affirmation of Xia Yu's words.

After getting Zhishi's answer, Xia Yu also confirmed his guess in his heart.

At first he was a little surprised by Tomoyo's instigation, but after Yukito and Sakura left together, he finally understood.

This is Tomoyo creating an opportunity for Sakura, an opportunity to be alone with the person she loves.

During this period, the only person Sakura likes is Yukito, so Tomoyo will create opportunities for Sakura to be alone with Yukito.

As for whether Sakura can seize this opportunity, it depends on Sakura herself.

"I'm sorry, Xia, in order to give Sakura this opportunity, I have to let you stay with me."

Zhishi suddenly smiled apologetically at Xia Yu. In response to Zhishi's apology, Xia Yu waved his hand and said, "It's okay. I don't have any grievances. But you, Zhishi, is it really okay for you to wrong yourself like this?"

After all, he knew that Tomoyo liked Sakura.

It must be very painful to see the person you love go to accompany another person, an opportunity that you created yourself.

"Well……"

After these words came out, Chiyo's expression paused, pursed his lips, and said in a deep voice: "Xia classmate, what are you talking about? If Xiaoying is happy, I am happy too. How can I be wronged?"

Although he didn't know whether Xia Yu had noticed anything, Zhishi still subconsciously chose to cover it up.

Just like Xia Yu has secrets buried deep in her heart, she also has secrets that she will not easily tell.

For Sakura's happiness and to avoid causing her distress, she will not tell this secret to anyone.

There was silence between the two.

After a few seconds, Xia Yu scratched his head and laughed: "Really? Then it seems that I spoke too much. Sorry, sorry, please forgive me."

Since Zhishi chose to cover it up, he wouldn't ask any further questions.

After all, the last time he laughed it off, Tomoyo didn’t ask any further questions.

After breaking the dull silence with laughter, Xia Yu smiled again and invited Zhishi, "Since there are only two of us left and they all have their own things to do, do you want to go shopping with me?"

"Of course, after all, it was me who asked Xia to stay."

Zhishi smiled and did not refuse.

Sakura and Yukito left together, Chiharu and Yamazaki came together again, Touya was competing with Syaoran, and there were only her and Xia Yu at the scene with nothing else to do.

If it weren't for classmate Xia, she might really feel a little lonely.

Thinking of this, Zhishi looked at Xia Yu's departing back and hurriedly took his own steps to follow him in small steps.

The night is dark, but it makes the stars shine brighter tonight.

Today is a good day as usual, with clear sky and bright moon.

Feeling the moonlit night and the clear breeze, Xia Yu felt relaxed. Unconsciously, he had left the bustling area of ​​the shrine and came to the quiet back mountain of the shrine.

Chise also followed behind him step by step, without saying anything, just quietly enjoying the atmosphere.

This place is completely different from the bustling streets. The quiet forest is the main scenery. The breeze blows, the leaves rustle, and it feels like you have come to another world.

A cool breeze blew the corners of their kimonos. In the distance, they could still hear the sounds of lively fun, and through the gaps in the leaves, they could see the bright lights on the street.

Xia Yu raised his hand to push aside the bushes in front of him, turned to Zhi Shi and said with a smile: "I didn't expect there was such a place in the shrine. It's just right for me to get some fresh air."

As he spoke, he took a step forward, making way for Zhishi, who followed suit.

In an instant, the scenery became clear.

Without the obstruction of bushes and trees, the scenery ahead is fully revealed. This is a rare flat area in the woods.

The moonlight is like water, gently falling on the quiet grassland, covering the lush green grass with a layer of dreamy glow. If you feel it carefully, you can also smell the faint fragrance of green grass, which makes people feel relaxed and happy.

Xia Yu walked in and came to the middle of the grass. He didn't care and just sat down on the grass.

Seeing this, Zhishi smiled faintly, then sat next to Xia Yu with his legs crossed.

After she sat down, she realized that in addition to the open grassland, she could also clearly see the moon in the sky. The moonlight was like flowing water and was particularly eye-catching in the night sky.

No one spoke. The two people's shadows were stretched out long in the moonlight, and the surroundings were filled with silence and tranquility.

"The moonlight is so beautiful tonight."

Xia Yu tightened his kimono. It was still a little chilly sitting on the grass, especially at night. However, compared with the beautiful scenery, a little chill was not a problem.

"what……?"

Hearing Xia Yu suddenly say that the moonlight is so beautiful, Zhishi blushed and looked over.

But when she saw that Xia Yu was still looking at the moon in the sky with no other expression on his face, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief, and her heartbeat, which had suddenly accelerated, gradually slowed down.

It turned out that classmate Xia was just simply admiring the moonlight. She almost thought that classmate Xia suddenly confessed to her.

The moonlight is so beautiful tonight.

This is a classic confession, a kind of love talk in their country, which originated from the famous writer Natsume Soseki.

It is said that when Natsume Soseki was an English teacher, he once gave his students an English passage and asked them to translate into Japanese the sentence "I love you" that the male protagonist couldn't help uttering while they were taking a walk under the moon.

A student translated it as "爱しています" (a more straightforward "I love you"), and Natsume Soseki shook his head and said, "Japanese people don't say 'I love you' all the time. This literal translation lacks charm." "Then how should it be translated?" the student asked. Natsume Soseki pondered for a moment and said, "Japanese people would say '今夜は月が綺麗ですね (The moon is so beautiful tonight)'." Since then, "The moon is so beautiful tonight" has become a symbol of Japanese ambiguity.

This implicit expression hides the boy's love for the girl in the feeling of "willing to share good things with you".

However, this is just a beautiful rumor, because in reality, there is no record to prove that this sentence was said by Natsume Soseki, but even so, this story was still widely circulated in the 70s.

Even now, "The moon is so beautiful tonight" still contains the meaning of confession.

Thinking back to this, Zhishi secretly glanced at Xia Yu's profile and couldn't help thinking in his heart.

Since Xia doesn’t know, how should she answer?
It doesn’t matter if I die?

"It doesn't matter if I die (死んでもいいわ)" is a fixed line in response to "The moon is so beautiful tonight". Because the literary giant Futabatei Shimei translated the line "Yours" into "It doesn't matter if I die" when translating Turgenev's novel, so putting "The moon is so beautiful tonight" and "It doesn't matter if I die" together can be understood as "I love you" and "I'm yours".

No, this sentence actually responded to the implicit confession, she was not ready yet.

Just when Zhishi was struggling over whether to answer or remain silent, Xia Yu suddenly said, "When you look up at the moon, don't forget the sixpence under your feet."

"Sixpence?"

Zhishi was slightly stunned. How could the beautiful moonlight be related to money?

便士是英国货币的辅币单位，1970年以前，1英镑等于240便士；1971年以后，1英镑等于100新便士。

"The Moon and Sixpence."

In response to Zhishi's confusion, Xia Yu raised his lips and explained, "It's a very good novel, but the title has no direct relationship with the content of the novel."

According to him, the origin of the name "The Moon and Sixpence" is that a critic once said that the protagonist of "Of Human Bondage" was like many young people, admiring the moon all day long, but not seeing the sixpence under his feet. Maugham liked this statement and used "The Moon and Sixpence" as the title of his next novel.

“I plan to write this book as my reading notes during the summer vacation.”

"I see."

Zhishi understood. She pondered for a moment and said with a smile, "Since this is a book that Xia likes, I'll take a look at it too. It just so happens that I haven't written my reading notes yet."

"what?"

Hearing this, Xia Yu sat up with some surprise. He glanced at Zhishi who was smiling slightly and asked curiously.

"Tomoyo, you haven't finished your summer homework yet? You don't seem like the type to put off doing all your homework until the last day."

"Haha~"

Tomoyo covered her mouth and chuckled: "But Sakura is. In order not to let Sakura make up homework alone on the last day, I had to slow down."

"I see."

This is not surprising, this is not surprising.

Sakura is indeed like one of those people in "A Pen, One Night, One Miracle". She is a magician, but she still has to do her homework by herself. It's so pitiful.

Fortunately, he had no such worries, thanks to the almighty magic.

Just as the atmosphere was moving towards silence again, tiny specks of green light appeared out of nowhere.

These faint lights flicker, and at first glance, they look a bit like green fireflies.

The faint green light danced with the wind, and in a short while, the fluorescence became more and more. The light green glow and the silvery-white moonlight formed a perfect contrast, making people feel as if they were in a fairy tale scene.

"This is……"

Xia Yu waved his arms, creating a breeze, and the fluorescent light near him also changed its trajectory and moved with the wind.

It's a bit like the Firefly Forest.

However, The Firefly Forest is not a heartwarming story, and a story like that in The Firefly Forest will definitely not happen in Cardcaptor Sakura.

"wrong!"

Suddenly, Xia Yu sat up straight, frowned slightly, and reached out to grab the flashing fluorescent light.

The fluorescent light he held in his hand did not struggle, but just disappeared. It was obviously not the firefly he thought it was at first.

"What's wrong? Xia-san."

Seeing Xia Yu suddenly become nervous, Zhishi also sat up straight and looked over worriedly.

"These fluorescent lights are not fireflies. There is something strange about them."

"Is there anything weird?"

Tomoyo reached out and caught the dancing light. As it gradually disappeared from her palm, she guessed, "Could it be another Clow Card?"

"The Clow Cards... just now it was just a possibility, but now it is definitely a Clow Card."

"?"

Listening to Xia Yu's confident words, Zhishi was puzzled: "Why was it just a possibility just now, but now it is definitely true?"

"Since you guessed it was a Clow Card, then it must be a Clow Card."

"??"

What does it mean that if I guess it's a Clow Card, then it's definitely a Clow Card?
Is there any logical connection here? Her guesses may not be correct.

"Um... Xia, I just said it casually. It may not really be the Clow Card."

After thinking about it, Zhishi added that classmate Xia believed her guess so much that she felt a little unconfident.

In response to Zhishi's words, Xia Yu gave a thumbs up and grinned: "Zhishi, you have to believe in yourself. You are the director who will take the initiative to advance the plot!"

"???"

It’s over. She couldn’t understand what classmate Xia was saying now.

Before Zhishi could figure out the connection between Xia Yu's words, Xia Yu had already stood up and walked along the trajectory of the flying fluorescent light.

Although there is a lot of fluorescence on his side, if you observe carefully you can find that these fluorescences are all coming from other places.

If the information is correct, these fluorescent lights should have a source.

Once we get to the source, we should be able to find out what these fluorescent lights are.

But Director Tomoyo has just said that these fluorescent lights should be the Clow Cards. Could it be the "fluorescent" Clow Cards? Are there fluorescent cards in the Clow Cards? It can't be the "light" cards.

The light card is the highest card in the same rank as the dark card.

This little fluorescent light is definitely not a light sign.

While thinking about all these things, Xia Yu followed the fluorescent track.

Seeing this, Zhishi, who was behind, also hurriedly stood up and followed Xia Yu. Although she didn't know what those fluorescent lights were, in order to avoid danger, she decided to follow Xia closely.

The two of them walked along the fluorescent track, one after the other. Not long after they walked, they seemed to have arrived at the source of the fluorescence.

The source is also in the woods behind the shrine. It looks like a big tree. Green fluorescence like stars in the sky is hanging among the branches and leaves, slowly falling like snow.

And under the big tree, there were two figures standing, one tall and one short, with a big difference in height. Under the moonlight, Xia Yu and Zhishi could see them clearly.

The figures were none other than Sakura and Yukito who left together.

(End of this chapter)