Chapter 316: Departure! Achi Village!
Saturday morning.
Tokyo, Meguro Ward, inside the courtyard of a luxury villa—
"Do you want me to give you a ride? It seems like a long drive."
Lucoa crossed her hands over her chest, inadvertently lifting her ample curves. She tilted her head slightly, her gaze falling on Ryohei Tanaka, who was opening the car door.
"No need."
Ryohei Tanaka turned his head and smiled: "It feels better to drive there myself... if the destination is reached too easily, the anticipation and emotion will be lessened."
After speaking, he sat neatly into the driver's seat.
Fastening the seatbelt, igniting the engine, releasing the handbrake—the actions were done in one smooth breath!
Yurine had already gotten into the car while Ryohei Tanaka was talking to Lucoa. She fastened her seatbelt and then helped turn on the car navigation to plan the route.
Before leaving, Ryohei Tanaka rolled down the window and said to everyone in the courtyard: "I'll leave the cleaning of the restaurant to you guys. I'll make you something delicious when we get back tomorrow."
Starting next week—
Or rather, starting next month, the ranch would temporarily stop receiving visitors. Usually, only two people would stay to watch the house, and the rest would move back to Tokyo to run the restaurant with Ryohei Tanaka.
Therefore, cleaning in advance was essential.
"Okay, leave it to us!" Minos clenched her fist energetically, making a muscle-flexing gesture.
The others also responded one after another.
Ryohei Tanaka gave a satisfied "Mmh", then skillfully drove the car out of the courtyard...
...
Once away from Tokyo and onto a road with less traffic, Ryohei Tanaka turned to look at Yurine beside him and proposed with a smile: "Yurine, do you want to drive for a while? Just to practice your driving skills."
She had signed up for driving school not long ago and had only had her license for a few days.
"Mmh..."
Yurine looked at the straight and open road ahead, glanced at the rearview mirror, felt somewhat tempted, and nodded gently: "Okay, let's switch."
Ryohei Tanaka confirmed there were no cars behind through the rearview mirror, turned on the turn signal, pulled over, and swapped seats with her.
A moment later—
Ryohei Tanaka looked at Yurine, whose hands were tightly gripping the steering wheel and whose expression was focused on the road ahead, and praised with a smile: "Not bad, the driving is very steady."
"Right?"
Praised, the corners of Yurine's lips curled up slightly, revealing a small smug smile, then she confessed: "Mainly because there are few cars on this road and it's straight... if there were more cars, I'd be nervous."
"New drivers are all like this. You'll get used to it after driving a few more times." Ryohei Tanaka comforted her with the tone of an experienced person.
Afterward, the two took turns driving.
After a four-hour drive, Ryohei Tanaka and Yurine finally followed the navigation to Achi Village, which enjoys the reputation of 'Japan's No. 1 Starry Sky Village'.
Here, surrounded by mountains, the distant ranges undulated continuously, embracing the entire Achi Village gently.
The leaves on the mountains had been dyed various shades of red, yellow, and orange by the autumn wind, interspersed with the verdant green of some evergreens. Looking from afar, it was gorgeous and harmonious.
"Shall we find a place to eat first?"
Ryohei Tanaka was driving at the moment. He glanced at the time on the center console display; it was already past twelve o'clock—it was still 3.9 kilometers to the campsite, so they might as well eat first.
According to the original plan, they intended to have lunch here.
"Sure!"
Yurine readily agreed, then asked: "What to eat?"
The two had investigated beforehand. Achi Village's special delicacies included Robatayaki, Soba noodles, Oyaki (roasted buns), and Shinshu Miso Ramen.
There were also regional dishes like wild vegetable sashimi and horse meat sashimi—they didn't consider this type of regional cuisine; it was too heavy for Ryohei Tanaka and Yurine's tastes.
"Soba noodles and Shinshu Miso Ramen, you choose one?" Ryohei Tanaka handed the choice back to Yurine.
"Hmm... let's go with Soba noodles!"
Yurine thought for a moment, took out her phone, and opened her memo: "I remember a shop specializing in Soba noodles and Tempura that is very famous..."
As she spoke, she reset the navigation destination according to the shop information she had saved earlier.
"..."
Five minutes later—
Ryohei Tanaka and Yurine arrived at that famous restaurant.
The shop featured a warm wooden style as the main tone, paired with several huge floor-to-ceiling windows. The space was open and bright, and the dining environment was quite good.
It was currently lunch hour, and many customers were seated in the shop. The air was interwoven with the refreshing scent of buckwheat and the enticing aroma of fried tempura, making one's appetite surge.
Smelling this aroma, Ryohei Tanaka and Yurine instantly felt hungry. After being seated, they ordered different flavors of Soba noodles and each added a Tempura set.
Soon, the Soba noodles and Tempura sets were served.
"Itadakimasu!"
Without nonsense, the two spoke in unison, then picked up their chopsticks to enjoy lunch.
Yurine tasted a mouthful of the Walnut Soba she ordered. Her reddish-brown beautiful eyes couldn't help but light up, and she exclaimed: "As expected of Nagano Prefecture's Soba, the noodles are chewy, and the buckwheat aroma is very sufficient. Tokyo's can't compare at all!"
"And this sauce is really unique. The sweet and fruity nutty taste of the walnut sauce, combined with the savory freshness of the soy sauce... it's simply a perfect match!"
"Mine is also not bad, do you want to try it?"
Ryohei Tanaka slurped a mouthful of noodles, looked up, and asked with a smile.
"Yes, yes."
Yurine picked up a portion of the noodles, dipped them lightly in the sauce, carefully placed them in a spoon, and handed it to Ryohei Tanaka with a bright smile: "Let's swap and eat."
"Okay!"
Ryohei Tanaka accepted her feeding with a smile, picked up a chopstick of noodles himself, dipped them in the sauce, put them in a spoon, and handed it over...
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