21st Century Necromancer-Chapter 266 - 263 Homesickness

Jounouchi Hiromi’s hometown is in the coastal and mountainous areas of Yamagata Prefecture in Japan’s Northeast region. Although it has the ninth largest land area in Japan, over 72% of it is covered by forests, making it a typical place where the land is plentiful but sparsely populated.

As part of the Northeast region, Yamagata’s climate naturally also possesses characteristics of the Northeast; namely, there is a lot of snow during winter.

Although Yamagata Prefecture is not very far from Tokyo—just over two hours away by Shinkansen—the journey from Tokyo clearly shows a change in scenery from greenery to a landscape blanketed in white snow.

"It really is the Northeast, with such heavy snow." Having put Audis back into his backpack, Chen Yu carried his suitcase and walked out of the train station with Jounouchi Hiromi, looking at the knee-deep snow outside and couldn’t help but remark.

Holding the blue-gray cat that transformed from Xiao Lan, Jounouchi Hiromi couldn’t suppress a laugh when she heard Chen Yu’s comment, "This is nothing. The snow isn’t much this year. I remember the deepest it ever got was up to my waist. When I was little, I could dig a hole right in the snow and make it into a secret base, and it wouldn’t melt all winter."

"It seems like you really love the snow! You really knew how to have fun when you were young, digging secret bases in the snow, haha!" Chen Yu laughed, amused by Jounouchi Hiromi’s reminiscing. He had never seen such deep snow because he grew up in the south of China, where snowfall was sparse, inspiring a sense of novelty in him.

"Back then, that was pretty much all there was to play with. Though Japan was in the midst of the Showa period’s economic bubble, in a small place like Yamagata, there wasn’t much to do.

Plus, it was cold in winter, so snow was the only thing we could play with," Jounouchi Hiromi sighed, shaking her head as she led Chen Yu down a street cleared of snow, "Let’s take the bus from up front; my mom doesn’t live in the city area." Continue your adventure with novelbuddy

Chen Yu had no objections and walked with Jounouchi Hiromi to the bus stop; the bus arrived shortly after they got there.

"Ah! It’s been so long since I’ve been on this bus. I used to take it to school every day when I was in high school." Maybe it was because the bus was warm, but Jounouchi Hiromi continued the earlier conversation, "Speaking of the economic bubble, although everyone seemed to have a lot of money, places like Yamagata weren’t really affected.

Even though everyone had more pocket money, there wasn’t much to spend it on.

The most vivid memory I have is of a classmate who had never seen the ocean or even eaten fish before high school. It was only after he started high school that he took a bus to Tsurugaoka City next door with his own pocket money. It was the first time in his life that he saw the ocean and tasted fish."

Listening to Jounouchi Hiromi’s casual talk, Chen Yu was quite surprised. Japan during that period was supposed to be at its most prosperous, having recovered from the post-war era and its economy growing rapidly, even boasting about buying up the United States.

It seemed unlikely, as Jounouchi Hiromi described, that there were people living so close to the sea who had never eaten fish since childhood.

Jounouchi Hiromi immediately perceived Chen Yu’s emotions and hurried to explain, "Don’t disbelieve it! The name ’Yamagata’ originally means ’land beside the mountains.’ Even now, many people live in the mountains; my grandmother and grandmother’s mother, for instance, have never left them their whole lives.

Although you can see the ocean in Tsurugaoka City next door, most people haven’t really seen the sea nor eaten much fish since the fish caught by the seaside are generally sold directly at the fishing ports. Most of them are shipped to big cities, with places like Yamagata hardly ever having fish for sale."

Jounouchi Hiromi’s explanation gave Chen Yu a direct understanding of the lives of people in Yamagata Prefecture, altering his original impression that fish was the main staple of Japanese diets. He couldn’t help but ask, "So what do you usually eat?"

"Rice and vegetables, of course! From ancient times, the people here have been farmers and tillers of the land, so Yamagata’s cherries, persimmons, and apples are famous nationwide.

When I was little, we had way more fruit at home than what’s available in Tokyo." Jounouchi Hiromi was obviously a food lover; reminiscing about the fruit she often ate as a child, her craving showed, "I still remember when I was very young, my grandfather hadn’t passed away yet, and one winter, he shot a wild boar with his hunting rifle.

That winter was probably the happiest of my life because I had wild boar to eat nearly every day."

"It sounds like I should have had a happier childhood than yours." Chen Yu shook his head slightly. Thanks to national policy and his parents being dual-income workers, he really never lacked for food when he was a kid.

In summer, entire crates of soda popsicles were a factory benefit, and even an upset stomach from them wasn’t an issue; fruits like oranges were available all winter and would even spoil on the balcony, despite being kept in low temperatures; as for meat like chicken, duck, and fish, although they were supplied by coupon, after he started elementary school, there hardly were any food or meat coupons anymore, and it did not seem like he went without meat often, eating it every few days.

It’s undeniable that back in the eighties, factory benefits in China were excellent. The factory Chen Yu grew up in was a large state-owned enterprise, complete with its own school, cinema, cultural palace, swimming pool, library, and even a dedicated vegetable market for each residential area. If you didn’t want to bathe or eat at home, there were public baths and cafeterias available.

To this day, Chen Yu still remembers his favorite childhood snack from the cafeteria near his house: peach crisps, and his favorite dish was his mother’s sweet and sour pork ribs...

"Hiromi, after the New Year has passed, come back to China with me next year," Chen Yu earnestly said to Jounouchi Hiromi, thinking of his parents, "The Chinese New Year is at the end of January. Hiromi, can you accompany me back then? As my fiancée, to meet my parents."

"Of course, I can! Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?" Jounouchi Hiromi said, linking arms with Chen Yu and leaning on his shoulder, "I am your wife, and you are my husband. Accompanying you to visit your parents is only natural, isn’t it? Aren’t you here to visit my mother with me right now?"

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"Then, when we meet your mom, should I also call her ’Mom’ with you?" Chen Yu cracked a small joke, lightening the trace of homesickness that had just risen in him.

"We’ve not had an engagement party yet, so you can only call her ’auntie’ for now!" Jounouchi Hiromi playfully pinched Chen Yu’s cheek, chiding him...