When she realized that her behavior of peeping at Qingteng seemed to have been discovered by Qingteng, Kinoshita Mai trembled for a moment, quickly retracted her gaze, then blinked frantically as if she couldn't calm down, and retracted her sight back to her knees.

.

But not long after, she moved her gaze upwards little by little, and once again peeked at Qingdeng's expression with expectant and anxious eyes.

Qingden, who came back to his senses due to Kinoshita Mai's look, coughed softly a few times, using his coughs to cope with his current confused expression and mood.

"If you don't mind, Miss Kinoshita, then of course I'm welcome to use a more affectionate title for you..."

After saying that, Qingdeng felt an itchy feeling in his chest.

Hearing what Qingto said, Kinoshita Mai showed a happy expression of relief.

But Kinoshita Mai didn't have time to be happy for long. In just a moment, her body became tense again.

"Then, then..."

The voice that was slightly trembling due to excessive tension floated faintly from Kinoshita Mai's lips again.

"In contrast...can I just call you Sheng, Sheng Qing?"

quiet……

The atmosphere of Thousand Houses suddenly became extremely quiet because of Kinoshita Mai's words.

If Qingto's expression was "silly" just now when he heard Kinoshita Mai ask Qingto to call her "A Wu" directly, then when he heard Kinoshita Mai asked if he could call him "Sheng Qing", Qingto's expression

His expression was "shocked".

In the Edo period, samurai generally had two names. One was the "general name" and the other was the "real name".

"General name" is similar to the "zi" used by ancient Chinese literati.

Ancient Japan, like ancient China, believed that calling others by their first names was quite impolite.

Therefore, in order to prevent this situation, ancient China invented the "zi" and ancient Japan invented the "general name".

In ancient Japan, only those who were extremely close to each other and their master could be called by their real names. Others... including close friends who were very close to each other, could only be called by their common names.

Because there are only a few people who are qualified to call themselves by their real names, samurai warriors in this era generally do not bring their real names when announcing their homes.

Qingnobo is a Minamoto clan with a surname of Tachibana, and his common name is "Qingnobo", while his real name is "Shengqing".

Strictly speaking, the common name is not the official name of the warriors, so in some official documents such as government documents, each warrior is called only by his real name without the common name.

For example, Qingdeng's official title in official documents is "Juyuan Shengqing".

Up to now, Qingnobo has been friends with Kinoshita Mai for nearly half a year.

A long time ago, Qingden had mentioned his full name to Kinoshita Mai.

Under such a title system, the distance between each title is clear at a glance.

First of all, the most distant form of address is, of course, the surname.

Further, it is called a general name.

The most affectionate way to call someone is by their real name.

How close must the real name be to someone?

In a nutshell - the relationship between Kondo, Hijikata and Okita is as good as that of real brothers, but Kondo and Hijikata never call Okita's real name "Harumasa", they only call Okita "Soji".

As long as one can understand the intimacy level of these titles and understand what the real name means to a warrior, one can understand why Qingteng has such a shocked expression now.

Kinoshita Mai jumped directly from the current title of "Tachibana-kun" to the level of "Aonto" and was directly promoted to the top level of "Shengqing"...

At this moment, Qingdeng really felt like he was scared.

Qingdeng didn't really care what others called him.

As a time traveler whose soul comes from the 21st century, "how others call me" is of no importance to Qingdeng.

But the problem is that in this current era, in the current name culture, if others hear Kinoshita Mai calling Qingnobo "Shengqing"...

Of those 10 people, there will definitely be 10 people who think that he and Mai Kinoshita are a couple, and they are a couple with a deep relationship...

At this time, Qingto, who had not yet recovered from the unexpected incident, had no time to say anything when he saw Kinoshita Mai shaking her head like a rattle.

"No, no, no, no..."

Just now, after mustering up all her strength to say the title "Sheng Qing", Kinoshita Mai felt that all her strength and mind were exhausted in one breath.

His face was even redder, as if he was about to bleed at any moment, and his eyes were trembling fiercely.

"Hmm...it's too much to just call 'Sheng Qing'...I can't say it..."

Kinoshita Mai chirped with a voice as loud as a mosquito's moan.

Then, she raised her right hand, pressed her plump breasts hard, and let out a "ha..." and let out a long sigh.

Then, she slowly raised her head, mustering up the courage and the remaining strength in her body, she met Qingdeng's eyes with a slightly apologetic look.

"Tangerine-kun, forget what I just said."

"Calling you 'Sheng Qing'... is a bit too presumptuous..."

After finishing speaking, Kinoshita Wu lowered his eyes, with a hint of disappointment between his brows.

"..." Qingdeng pursed his lips and pondered thoughtfully.

Although Kinoshita Mai hid her loss very well, the sharp-eyed Qingden still keenly caught the strange color between her eyebrows.

"...Ms. Kinoshita."

Qingden raised his hand and scratched the hair on the back of his head, then turned his face sideways and smiled at Kinoshita Mai:

"I don't really mind what you call me."

"If you feel that 'Sheng Qing' can't speak...then you can call me 'Qingdeng' now."

"Huh...?" Kinoshita Wu raised her face and stared directly at Qingden, with surprise and surprise in her eyes.

As if she wanted to confirm whether she heard correctly just now, she asked in a cautious tone:

"Can I... just call you 'Qingdeng'?"

Qingdeng nodded.

In fact, even if Kinoshita Mai directly calls him "Shengqing" now, Aomori, who is not sensitive to the name culture of this era, will not mind.

But judging from the current situation, the title "Shengqing" is indeed a bit too early for Mai Kinoshita, who is shy and shy.

Let Kinoshita Mai call Qingden "Shengqing" in front of a large audience...she would be so embarrassed that she couldn't even stand still.

"That...that..."

Kinoshita Mai's feet buried under her buttocks kept twisting.

The hands on his legs kept grabbing the fabric on his legs.

While observing Qingdeng's reaction with expectant eyes, she whispered tentatively:

"Qing... Qingden...?"

"...Hmm." Qingdeng stiffened slightly, then nodded in response.

This was the first time Ayoto heard Kinoshita calling him "Ayoto".

When he heard Kinoshita Mai calling him "Qingdeng" in her soft and beautiful voice... Qingdeng felt his heartbeat accelerate slightly uncontrollably.

The numbness that had been lingering in his chest since just now expanded rapidly.

At this time, Kinoshita Mai's eyes and cheeks were slowly colored with excitement.

"Hey Hey Hey……"

The girl, who was so excited that she had successfully pronounced Qingdeng's nickname, suddenly burst into laughter.

"Qingden!"

With a bright smile on her face, she once again called out the nickname Qingdeng in a sweet tone.

But at this moment——

"...What are you doing?"

Kiryu's voice sounded outside the shop door...

**********

**********

The 10,000-word debt I owed was finally paid back (leopard death.jpg)

The plot of Volume 1 only has a little bit left.

So the monthly ticket reward continues! The current number of monthly votes for this book is 3035. As long as it reaches 3150 votes within today, the author will continue to increase the number by 10,000 tomorrow and write the final plot of Volume 1!

PS: After more than 5 months of serialization, the first volume is finally coming to an end... Let’s preview the title of the second volume.
Chapter completed!