Chapter 10 first quarter

Hall after dinner. At this time, all the guests staying in the hotel gathered together.Perhaps it was because there was nothing to do even if they went back to their respective rooms at this time, so this group of guests who knew each other all gathered together, happily reminiscing about the past.Nahoko and Makoto also found a place to sit down. The manager, Kurumi, the doctor's wife, Takase, and Nahoko met for the first time at dinner, and a man named Oki sat around and played cards.Several people seem to play cards regularly, and everyone is very good at poker.And the skill of the manager when playing cards is far beyond the scope of laymen, and a large pile of chips is piled up in front of him.

Seeing Nahoko, Oki waved his hand lightly, but Nahoko pretended not to see it.At dinner, he made a bad impression on Nahoko. "I also studied at a university in Tokyo, so I can be regarded as your senior." As soon as he sat down opposite Nahoko, Oki began to make friends with her.After saying these words, the man who was estimated to be running for three soon reported his name.His slightly curly hair is disheveled behind him, and he has a burly figure. Judging from his sun-tanned face, he looks like an athlete, but his facial features are as oily and powdery as someone in the entertainment industry. .Nahoko thinks his shortcoming is that the first impression he gives is that he always likes to show off his strengths, but he doesn't seem to notice it.

"When I was in college, I used to play tennis a lot, and now I play occasionally. Sometimes I can also be a temporary coach. Can you play tennis?" From the tone of his voice, it sounded like young girls would flock to the mention of tennis.In fact, maybe he used this method to get a few girls before.However, Nahoko didn't want others to underestimate her.She took a deep breath, then replaced the words that were on her lips with "I hate tennis."She felt that her tone was harsh, but her expression was very calm.Oki's expression felt as if he had never met such a silly girl. "Hate tennis? That's impossible. Do you have any prejudice against tennis? Try it first, and then say whether you like it or hate it. These days, if you can't even play tennis, you will Being regarded as an outlier among young people."

It feels like quite confident.Nahoko felt inexplicably angry, what other people liked and disliked, and what was impossible.At this time, if Zhenqin was by her side, she would definitely give the other party a hard look to make the other party retreat, but Omu just happened to come over when Zhenqin was leaving the table. "Mr. Oki, do you also come here every year?" To change the subject, Nahoko asked. "It's about the same. Every year at this time, everywhere will become crowded. If you go out and travel alone, this kind of place is more romantic." "Then you also know about the 'Spell to Happiness'?"

Hearing Nahoko mention what she heard from the chef before, Oki seemed to be caught off guard, and asked back: "Spell?" "It's from "The Song of Mother Goose"..." Hearing what the other party said, Da Mu nodded as if suddenly remembering.Seeing that the expression on his face seemed a little stiff, Nahoko couldn't help but feel a little concerned. "You said that nursery rhyme? What, why am I thinking... I'm not interested in that kind of thing at all. Tell you, don't tell it. In my opinion, the rumor is just, for It's just a stunt to promote this hotel. If you mean it, you lose."

"But then again, the story is quite ingenious." "Lies rely on lies, and cowhide relies on bragging. The more stories are made up, the more exciting they become. If you want to continue to dream, then you should think about it this way. Happiness has already fallen into other people's hands. And that spell has long since expired." "Other people's hands?" "Just think about it that way." At this time, Makoto finally came back.Oki glanced sideways at Makoto, said "Let's talk later" and left in a hurry.When passing by Makoto, Oki smiled at her.The smile was exactly the same as when he faced Nahoko, and it felt like he had been specially trained.You can't take this guy lightly——Nahoko has such an understanding of him in her heart.

"By the way, I saw a very interesting scene today." Oki held a poker in one hand and said to the crowd.The reason why she spoke so loudly was probably because she wanted Nahoko to hear her too. "What did you see?" The doctor's wife spoke up. "When I went for a walk in the valley behind the hotel in the evening, I saw a crow pecking at the soil, and I didn't know what it was doing." "A crow? It's probably eating earthworms. It's best to ask Mr. Jiang Bo about this kind of thing. Isn't it? Mr. Jiang Bo." Jiang Bo, praised by the doctor's wife as a doctor of insects and birds, is sitting on a chair by the counter, drinking Budweiser beer with the chef.While listening to the chef talking and laughing, he threw peanuts into his mouth from time to time.The doctor's wife also invited him to play poker together before, so he can probably be regarded as one of the poker friends.

He seemed taken aback when someone called his name suddenly, turned his head and stammered and replied, "I don't understand." During the meal, because the seats were relatively close, Nahoko also chatted with him a few times.Although his voice was low when he spoke, he didn't feel like the kind of person who couldn't speak.When faced with the other party's inquiries, his answers were simple and clear, and he never said a word of nonsense.When asked what kind of job he was in, he only replied that he worked in a construction company, but judging from his age of about 30 years old, it is estimated that he is already the backbone of the company.His figure is slightly on the thinner side, and his complexion is fairer.Looking at his double-lidded eyes that perfectly matched the contours of his face, Nahoko guessed that he must have been a handsome man when he was young.

After returning to the hotel, Jiang Bo seemed to have taken a bath immediately, and there was a scent of soap on his body. "What are you doing during the day?" Nahoko said that she had seen him when she went for a walk behind the hotel.Jiang Bo paused for a moment, then replied, "I'm going to see if there are any birds." After speaking, he moved his eyes away from the other person's face. The doctor sat on the first-class seat in front of the fireplace and stared at the chess board.Kamijou was playing against him.The two of them had been sitting facing each other like this since before sunset.Nahoko and Makoto exchanged a look that only the two of them could understand, and moved closer to the two who were playing chess.

"Can we watch the battle?" Hearing what Nahoko said, Kamijou responded with a smile on his face: "Okay, okay. But if there are beautiful women around to help out, you may have blood in your head and make a wrong move. Would you like something to drink? ..." "No need." Makoto replied coldly.However, Kamijou didn't take it seriously, and stared at Makoto's face. "Do you know the rules of chess?" "Know a little bit." "That's fine." Seeing that the doctor had made a move, Kamijou stopped in the middle of his words.Kamijou glanced at the board, thought for a second or two, and made a move.Afterwards, he looked up at Makoto again and said, "Next time we have a chance, let's compete."

"Then wait for the opportunity." Makoto's answer seemed not very interested. For a period of time afterwards, Nahoko and the two players were silent, and they played and watched quietly.Having said that, basically most of the time it is the doctor who is meditating with distressed expression.Kamijou moved the chess pieces from time to time while smoking.This alone is enough to make the doctor frown and think deeply. "Your chess style is indeed quite different." The doctor folded his arms and said.Among the few people, the doctor was almost the only one who spoke, and he had been repeating this sentence non-stop since just now.To Nahoko, this remark was more like a sarcasm than a compliment to the opponent. "yes?" Kamijou replied leisurely.Looking at him like that, he seems to be more concerned about the situation of the game beside him than his own game.Every time the doctor fell into deep thought, Kamijou would crane his neck to look at the players playing cards. "You don't play chess according to common sense." "Where is it?" "How can a normal person get off the car in such a place?" "Really? But I think it's a good move." "Really?" The doctor muttered to himself, while falling into deep thought again.Every time the bored Kamijou met Nahoko's gaze, he would grin.His teeth were so neatly arranged that it made people feel terrible, and he even had the illusion that he had a few more teeth than ordinary people.Looking at his teeth, Nahoko couldn't help thinking of the keyboard of a piano. "We asked someone about the origin of the name of the room." Seeing that the communication on the chessboard stopped temporarily, Makoto said.Finding an opportunity to chat with Kamijou about this is the purpose of her sitting here. Kamijou rubbed his lips and said, "Oh? Did you hear from the manager?" "No," Makoto said, "We heard from the chef." After listening to Makoto's answer, Kamijou stared at the game of cards while trying to suppress a smile. "Then the manager is in a bad mood. Every time that is brought up, his mood becomes dark and uncertain." "What are you talking about?" The doctor asked with the bishop's chess piece in his hand.He was probably resenting that he was thinking so hard while Kamijou was talking about other things with others. "That about the spell. I told the ladies about that too." The doctor showed a very impatient expression. "Why, what about that again? That topic has already become an old topic. You are probably the only one who is still interested in that matter." "Please tell me that I will never lose my desire to learn and inquire... Where is your bishop going to put it? There? If you put it there... then I will be like this." Kamijou immediately moved his pieces. "The chef also said that the spell doesn't really mean much. Mr. Kamijou, why are you so obsessed with it?" This is exactly the question that Nahoko and Makoto want to understand the most.Kamijou showed a rare serious expression. "I don't think it's going to be boring. Especially for the Brits, Mother Goose Song is part of their life. I think there's a certain amount of thoughtfulness to it, but the rest of us show little interest." Come on. Indifference is also a disease of modern society." "Then what about the person who died last year?" Nahoko said.She wanted to ask the question as calmly as possible, but her ears couldn't help but get hot. "Mr. Kamijou, didn't you say that that person often brings up that matter?" Before Kamijou could respond, the doctor said first, "Speaking of which, that young man seemed to be quite interested in spells at the time. Could it be that he was also influenced by you?" "Perhaps there are reasons for this. But he seems to have found something more than spells from the wall hangings." "Beyond the spell?" Makoto asked back. "Yes. He seemed to take the spell as a code, and felt that "The Song of Mother Goose" actually alluded to a certain place, and there might be some treasure hidden there—that's roughly what it looked like. Because of this, he said it was A 'spell to happiness'." Sure enough, after verifying that her guess was correct, Nahoko felt a feeling almost moved.Gongyi was investigating the spell at the time, which was exactly the conclusion she and Makoto had just deduced.Asking Takase to draw a bird's-eye view of the hotel and the postcard with an unknown meaning is the basis for their inference.In addition, as the last article said, it is impossible for Koichi who studies English and American literature to be indifferent to "The Song of Mother Goose". ——And Kamijou also used the word "code". Nahoko thought to herself, when she heard such words, even if it wasn't "Song of Mother Goose", Gongyi would probably fly to it.He's a guy who doesn't refuse anything like mystery novels. "Then... did he finally understand the meaning of that incantation?" Hearing Makoto's question, the two shook their heads at the same time.The meaning does not seem to be negative, but to say "not quite clear". "Speaking of which, he seemed to have been to our room several times at that time, and every time he stared at the wall hangings on the wall. I remember he said some inexplicable things at that time." The doctor raised his index finger, and his lips kept moving.This seemed to be his habit when he recalled. "By the way, he seems to have said 'black seeds' or something. Or 'black bugs'... No, it should be 'black seeds'." "Black Seed? Did he say anything else?" Nahoko originally wanted to ask the question as lightly as possible, but her voice still couldn't help being a little excited. "I can't remember clearly, after all, it was already a year ago." Kamijou made a ruthless move, but the doctor's words stopped there.However, Nahoko's harvest is already quite a lot.At least, their direction was not wrong. "Let's go." Under Makoto's urging, Nahoko also stood up.