Chapter 202: Lucoa Wears a Yukata Like an Oiran!
With several more demons in the house, it instantly became much livelier, and the villa also had more of a "human" atmosphere.
That day, Ryohei Tanaka spent the daytime researching the various local specialties—how they should be eaten and the best ways to prepare them. He also looked into the feasibility of opening a farmhouse inn in Hokkaido.
The previous night, he, Poporon, and Pekola had shared stories from their recent travels. Poporon had encouraged him to open a shop in Hokkaido, saying that operating in a different city would be a unique experience. She also mentioned that the weather in Hokkaido was very comfortable at this time of year, unlike Tokyo, which felt like a steam basket without air conditioning. The air there was fresh, the scenery was beautiful... in short, she highly recommended it!
Ryohei was genuinely tempted. He had a large sum of money sitting in his bank account, and this sparked an idea. However, this time he was leaning more toward buying a small or medium-sized farm or ranch to run an agritourism-style inn, rather than just a restaurant. Hokkaido had countless farms and ranches of all sizes.
His mindset was that of a rich person: find a good place for a vacation, buy some land, build a house, and maybe start a little business on the side.
"Ryohei-kun, what do you think of this ranch?"
It was 3:00 PM. In the master bedroom on the third floor.
Yurine, wearing a cute camisole and sitting in front of the computer, suddenly turned and called Ryohei over.
"Let me see." Ryohei did a 'carp flip' off the bed and walked over to look.
He saw that Yurine was looking at a mountain ranch called "Yukimi Ranch," located near Furano, Hokkaido. The total area was 20 hectares, with the mountain area taking up two-thirds of the property.
On the mountain, there was a two-story wooden villa and a natural hot spring...
"Whoa—! It even has a hot spring!"
Ryohei stood behind Yurine, his left hand resting on the back of her gaming chair, his right hand on the mouse. He was immediately surprised as he read the description.
"Furano is a hot spring town, so the resources are rich... but I'm still surprised to see one on this ranch," Yurine said, tilting her head back to look at Ryohei's sharp jawline.
"Yeah, it's really nice," Ryohei nodded, praising it with a smile. The hot spring was definitely a bonus. He was becoming very interested in this ranch.
He scrolled the mouse down. The description continued.
Besides the villa and hot spring, the mountain also had a 1.6-acre blueberry orchard and a 0.3-acre personal vegetable garden.
At the foot of the mountain were two barns. One was a dairy barn with a milking area, housing 30 Holstein cows—the common black and white ones. The other was a wagyu barn, housing 50 Japanese Black (Kuroge Wagyu) cattle.
The ranch also included a feed mixer, an automatic feeding system, two feed warehouses, a veterinarian room (with an isolation area), and a compost processing area.
The all-inclusive selling price was 560,000,000 yen. Ryohei felt that price was negotiable. The listed price was definitely inflated.
"What do you think, Ryohei-kun?" Yurine asked when she saw he had finished reading.
Ryohei casually bookmarked the page, let go of the mouse, and smiled. "It looks great. I'm pretty satisfied."
"But let's keep looking. If we don't find anything more suitable, we'll buy this one." After all, it was a purchase in the hundreds of millions. He couldn't be too casual; he wanted to compare his options.
"Mhm." Yurine agreed. She closed the tab for "Yukimi Ranch" and opened another listing.
"It's a shame that ranch doesn't have any sheep," Ryohei joked, feeling a bit thirsty and picking up his teacup from the desk. "I was already planning to bring Bete over and let him be a sheepdog."
Yurine laughed, her eyes curving. "I'll thank you on Bete's behalf!"
"No need to thank me," Ryohei replied with a smile, taking a few sips of water.
"..."
The two of them continued to look through listings for farms and ranches in the bedroom, trying to decide which one was the best.
Lucoa, feeling bored, went over to Kobayashi's house to visit.
Jashin-chan was dragged out by Medusa, Minos, and Jiru to buy yukatas. They were going to the Sumida River Fireworks Festival tonight, and Medusa, Minos, and Jiru all planned to follow the local custom and wear yukatas.
As for how they knew about this custom, it was naturally Jashin-chan's doing. After dinner last night, Jashin-chan had announced she was going for a walk and asked if Ryohei and the others wanted to come. Yurine then suggested they all go buy yukatas for today. Jashin-chan had later sent many photos of herself in yukatas to Medusa and Minos, and that's how they learned about the tradition.
...
Time flew by, and it was soon past 6:00 PM.
After finishing dinner, everyone returned to their rooms to shower and change into their yukatas. Ryohei was relatively quick—mainly because his hair was short and easy to manage, and he didn't use any body lotion after showering.
Soon, he had changed into a dark blue yukata. He called out to Yurine, who was in the bathroom, "Hey, Yurine, I'm going downstairs first."
"Mhm, okay," Yurine replied, taking a moment from lathering up with body wash.
Ryohei stood at the bathroom door, watching her with an appreciative gaze. He added, "No rush, take your time. It's still early."
"Mhm, I know," Yurine replied cheerfully, looking back at him.
After she spoke, Ryohei turned and left the room.
Click.
On his way to the elevator, the door to the adjacent bedroom suddenly opened, and Lucoa, also dressed in a yukata, stepped out.
Ryohei looked at her and was instantly stunned.
Lucoa, in a rare move, had her long hair pinned up with several hairpins, completely revealing the forehead usually hidden by her bangs. Her hair was adorned with a single, elegant purple hydrangea, adding to her charm.
She was wearing a gorgeous kimono with a bright butterfly pattern, but she wasn't wearing it... properly. The collar was lazily slipped down to her elbows, revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin. Her delicate collarbones and full curves, set against the supposedly "demure" kimono, were absolutely breathtaking.
Ryohei couldn't take his eyes off her.
"Is it pretty?" Lucoa asked, seeing his reaction. Her lips curled up slightly, and her face was full of the pleased smile of a cat that had just gotten the cream.
"It's pretty, but... you're showing way too much! You look like an oiran!"
Ryohei walked up, playfully flicked the loose fabric twice, and then grabbed her collar, pulling it up. "Wear it properly!"
"Eh? Is Ryohei-kun perhaps a little jealous? You're quite possessive~," Lucoa said, tilting her head with feigned surprise. She then raised a hand, touching a slender finger to her red lips, and smiled.
"You know too much. I'll have to silence you," Ryohei sighed dramatically.
This just made Lucoa laugh.
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