Chapter 3 3. Membership

In the square in front of Xiaoyan Station, there was a long queue of people waiting for the bus.Taxi came one by one and took the guests away.Around seven o'clock in the evening, commuters who got off the tram formed chaos here. Going south from the square to the right is a shopping street with an arched signboard at the entrance of the street, which says "Baihua Street".The street to the left is much more lonely.Hoshino Hanae walked towards this lonely street.She looked away.There is also a flow of people going home. After walking for about seven minutes, I came out to the lively street.It is a busy area with colorful lights, with nightclubs and bars lined up on both sides.Hoshino Huajiang turned to the left from here, came to a fruit and vegetable store, bought taro, onion and two eggs.A small neighboring movie theater kept ringing its bell while she was shopping for these items.

After leaving the fruit and vegetable shop, go back to the busy street and walk back. "Are you back from get off work?" At the entrance of a nightclub opposite, a man in his thirties in a sweatshirt greeted her.She is soliciting customers, because she often passes by, so she is familiar with her.She ignored it and turned in from the tea shop next door.Later, there will be a food stall there. The alley was narrow and almost unbelievably dark.There are residents on both sides, and there is a small hotel.There are also signboards with Japanese dance and weaving professors. This narrow alley splits into two halfway, winding back and forth.In the past, it may have been a path in the field, but because it was covered with houses, people who came here for the first time always felt like entering a maze.Someone misses, shoulders almost touch.There is a sign on the side of the road, which says: "If you see someone suspicious, please dial 110."

Some office workers also came to this alley.Every time there is a fork in the road, the number of people will decrease.It appears that most of these people live in apartments. There are quite a lot of apartments in this area, but there are no buildings, they are all second-floor buildings, and each building is divided into eight to ten rooms.It seems that after selling the farmland, it was built as a sideline business. The apartment that Huajiang lives in, and climbs up the iron ladder along the entrance is of this type.The landlord was a man who went to work in a factory in downtown Chiba.

There is a kitchen and a room upstairs and downstairs, and the landlord lives in the back room.All the tenants have families, and only Huajiang who lives in the north room on the second floor is single. She took the key out of her handbag and opened the door.As soon as you go up, there is a three-seat kitchen, and there are four and a half rooms with tatami mats.One of them houses a black lacquered Buddhist altar.She opened the door of the altar, lit a candle, and sat down to chant sutras.It is a new religion.The spirit seat belongs to the mother.Father is still in his hometown, living with Xu Xian's mother, and he is very old.

In the refrigerator, there is still some minced pork that I bought yesterday.Every time, she only buys 100 grams, 130 yuan, and 50 grams of meat.The clerk is not happy, and other customers will cast a surprised look, and Hoshino Hanae is still going his own way.She took out the minced meat and cooked it with taro and shallots.Also grilled a little dried fish. Most of Hoshino Hanae's dinners are like this.Anyway, if you are alone, you can spend a meal however you like.She neither entertained nor was entertained. After the meal, clean up the table at any time, and immediately wash the dishes in the kitchen.In this regard, she is quite satisfactory.While washing, she thought about something.

The job was done in less than ten minutes.Then, sat down at the desk, opened the locked drawer, and took out the diary.What is written in it is the name of the person and the month and day of payment, and there is no other record. There was a loud TV from the neighbors.There are also children's noises downstairs. She looked at what was written in the diary. 〇 Toshio Tanaka, X Shiraishi Sadao, X Sakuda Takeyong, 〇 Maedani Keiichi, 〇 Mitsui Shichiro, X Ishikawa Saichi, 〇 Kitazawa Takeshi, 〇 Yasuda Yasu... And a long list of names, each with an address and phone number. The one with the 〇 stamp is for the account with a pseudonym that the money was remitted to this month, and the X stamp is for the account that has not been remitted.

At the end of each month, transfer the dues for the next month.Those who have not remitted are those who have withdrawn from the membership, and her information will no longer be provided to him.However, if you remit it in next time, you can immediately restore your membership status from the next month and enjoy the supply of information at the same time.The membership fee is 15,000 yen per month. There are twenty-one 〇 Indias this month.Although this number has increased and decreased, but the difference will not be too much.The monthly income in this area is about 300,000 yuan. She looked at the phone number on the book and started dialing.

"Hi, is this Mr. Tanaka's house?" A female voice came back and said yes, it seemed to be Mrs. Tanaka. "I'm Hamai. Is Mr. Tanaka at home?" A man later said: "It's me. Good night." "Mr. Tanaka, Hao Jin will not come this time." Shizue Hamai is the pseudonym she used to open an account in the bank. In order to convey the news that "Hao Jin will not come" to fifteen of the twenty-one members this month, Hoshino Hana called for an entire hour. It should take only a minute to speak clearly, but some people always take some time to answer the phone.

Because most of them live at home, the wife will pick them up first.Every month there will be news from members' families, even the family members know the surname "Hamai". "Good night. My surname is Hamai. Is Mr. So-and-so at home?" Her tone of voice on the phone is worthy of being a secretary for many years. She is serious and very businesslike. In contrast, the wives who answered seldom responded with "good night". Most of them just said please wait a moment, and the tone was clearly not very welcoming.Almost all wives will not be very happy when a husband buys a horse ticket.

And in the voices of the ladies, there is obvious contempt for this female horse racing informant.Some even acted full of resentment and ignored them, making them wait for a long time. Some were children as young as the first grade of elementary school. "Dad, Hamai's call." Hoshino Hanae could only listen to these noises quietly.Based on these, you can roughly imagine the environment of this family. Half of the members are salaried class and the other half are SME owners.There were only a few members in the early days, and later they recruited friends, and the number increased a lot.But she doesn't want the membership to swell too much.

"This time Hao Jin won't come." Just because of such a sentence, there is a lot of trouble.And the other party is not necessarily at home.Sometimes, the person who answers the phone will say: He is in such and such a place now, please call him.This time, I have to call again. For those who come back late, they will have to fight again tomorrow morning.There were six people like this just now. When it was around ten o'clock, those who took the initiative to call were the late members. "Miss Hamai, right? I heard you called me?" "Yes. This time, Hao Jin will not come." "Er, it! Why?" "There's something wrong with my calf." "real?" Hao Jin has become a big hit.Members would make unexpected noises, but she was oblivious to further inquiries.If you say it, maybe the other party will be aware of the source of the information. Hoshino Hanae's horse racing prediction is not about guessing the winning horse. Guessing the winning horse is the hardest part.No matter what kind of master it is, it is extremely difficult. Her way of predicting is that a certain horse in each game will not win the championship.Especially with a favorite horse, people will pay attention to it or its strong opponent; since the favorite horse will not "come", members can choose horse tickets from other horses.Which one to choose depends on the luck of the members. Her prediction can be called "elimination method".Since it is selected from the rest of the horses, there will be a "big dark horse" with a big upset. In the past, she had never been to a racecourse where a race was taking place, and she would not even take a look at the stables. She has never even seen what kind of horse Hao Jin is.Others such as "George Nakura", "Halber", any horses, she has only seen photos in horse racing newspapers or special magazines. Even so, Hoshino Hanae's information did not come from people in the horse racing circle.She also never had contact with anyone in the circle.And her "elimination method" for popular horses was not actually her first. Plus, she avoids meeting her fellow members.It is a member who remits money to the account of "Shizue Hamai" on a monthly basis, and her obligation is to predict and notify the "horse who will not win". Hoshino Hana believes that it is not appropriate to use her real name for this job.If those members are willing, it is not difficult to find out that Shizue Hamai is Hoshino Hanae.Because I told the member's phone number, as long as I checked with the telecommunications bureau, I knew that the registered name was Hoshino Hana. Fortunately, the telecommunications bureau usually does not disclose the name of the registrant.It seems that there is such a rule to prevent it from being abused.Furthermore, what members need is correct information about horse racing, and who is the provider is irrelevant. The reason why she opened an account with a pseudonym in the bank was because she didn't want to let the tax authorities and anyone know that she had special income. Also, she calls herself Shizue Hamai to the members. Of course, this is because on the one hand, it needs to be consistent with the bank account name, but on the other hand, it is also because her real name is Hoshino Hanae, who is the secretary of the chairman of the fiber wholesaler Nitto Company. She is worried that among the members Someone stumbles upon this identity.This is very bad for her. Hoshino Hanae restricts members to make calls before ten o'clock in the evening, and everyone is strictly required to abide by it.A late-night phone call is a nuisance, and it might make neighbors aware of it. Needless to say, some of the members became interested in "Shizue Hamai".This can be seen from the phone calls from some male members. Thanks for letting me earn a vote.I really want to express my gratitude to you in person, but I don't know if I can... Hope to meet up and ask face to face... In order to express my gratitude, I would like to treat you to a light meal... Needless to say, Hoshino Hanae politely declined. Her voice can be considered clear and youthful, and it is no wonder that it has aroused the interest and curiosity of the members. You seem to live in Edogawa, don't you?I happen to be in the same area.May I ask what is your number? Of course she won't say yes. This type of call was not made by the members when they received her intelligence report at home, but they made calls at night, sometimes from public phones. Hoshino Huajiang-Hamai Shizue told them that she was not at home during the day, so they guessed that she was a single office worker. Some people also imagined her as a female employee working in some horse racing organization, who used her spare time to do "telephone prediction" business. Knowing her true identity, there are only about one or two earliest "clients".The fact is that it was the man who first got her information who thought of this "part-time job".He introduced several of his comrades and became original members, but he did not disclose her identity to them out of moral sense. She restricted members to call her only before 10:00 at night, and before 8:30 in the morning.Members who could not be reached at night, after hearing her message from his family, can call during this time. Her phone call, sometimes like Hao Jin this time, was done three days before the game, and sometimes she made a hasty call one day before.That is, Saturday's game calls on Friday, and Sunday's game calls on Saturday.If the member himself is not at home on Friday night, he must call again on Saturday morning.The membership fee for this month had already been remitted within the previous month, so she was obliged to disclose the information to him. Morning phone calls can be subtle in some families.The ladies who answer the phone are even more grumpy than those who answer at night, just because the husband is about to go to work or start work. "Ah, that's it, okay, I understand." Gentlemen, such statements are clearly concerned about the wife on the side, and they are flustered and short. The information she disclosed on the phone was different from ordinary forecasters. She would not predict the schedule of about ten sets in a day.Due to the limited information she can obtain, she often only has two sets, and at most three sets. Of course, those who buy horse tickets cannot bet on all the races in one day, so they are quite satisfied with her information.Moreover, since most of the "horses that cannot win in a row" predicted by her are powerful favorites in the game, it is very valuable for members. After the popular horse is "eliminated", the horse selection tickets are drawn from the remaining horses, and sometimes the big dark horse with a big upset is selected. Why is her information like this? That's because the information she can get is the same. On the Saturday after reporting the news of Hao Jin's accident, she went to work as usual.Nitto Company has not yet implemented a full-time holiday on Saturdays.Because the company's business targets are retailers, there is no half-break on Saturdays, and it works from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm as before.It was three hours shorter than usual, which is a little bit of a sense of the times.This old shop, which has been in operation for three generations, still retains a trace of feudalism. Hoshino Hanae came to the office in the morning, and first received the key to the chairman's office from the security department.Go up to the secretary's room on the fourth floor, open the door with the key you brought, take off your coat in a hurry, put down your handbag, and then open the chairman's room.At this time, two handymen waiting on the corridor immediately came in to clean and wipe.The chairman's desk was wiped by her herself, because there were some documents piled up on the chairman's desk, so she couldn't leave it to others. On Saturdays, the chairman usually doesn't come to work until after four in the afternoon.Before this, the chairman was at the racetrack.Therefore, even on weekends, Secretary Hoshino has to work until around six o'clock, sometimes even later.Of course, she did not suffer from it, and even enjoyed it. Chairman Shigeichiro Yonemura currently has seven racehorses.He has been fascinated by horses since five years ago. He bought three horses at first, and increased to ten horses last year. They are all entrusted to the well-known Shibukawa stables.Of the current seven, four are so-called "blood horses" and the remaining three are "drawing horses" drawn when they were three years old. "Hao Jin" is one of the blood horses. Chairman Mi Cun's horse owner friends are bosses from all walks of life, with an average of five or six horses per person.Some of the horse owners who are close to each other often exchange information with each other. Mi Cun exchanged this type of information mostly by telephone. The call from outside was first received from the switchboard by Hoshino Hanae in the secretary's office. Mr. So-and-so of a certain company, the phone number to the chairman—the switchboard lady always sends the message quickly.When the chairman was around, she would press the white button on the table and ask if she could take it. The chairman said yes, and immediately pressed another button, and she put the phone down.When the chairman finishes the call, the small bulb in the speech will go out. If the chairman is unwilling to answer, the secretary has to find an excuse and politely decline.The excuses for this refusal can be divided into several types, the most commonly used is "absent".Sometimes a sentence is added: the chairman did not explain when he will come back.If it is the other party that the chairman really does not want to answer, he will repeat the same statement every day: "I have already told the chairman, but I have nothing to say. I am very sorry." After a few times, the other party will become angry and will not call again. coming. If the chairman is really absent, she will listen to the other party first.She can understand the content of this type of phone call, that is to say, most capable secretaries also intervene in the chairman's work.When the chairman goes out, he usually explains how to deal with possible phone calls. This kind of phone calls are different from those contacted by the heads of various departments, and always have some personal elements. There are also some chairman of the board who feel impatient with the meddling secretary who interferes too much. Hoshino Hanae is well versed in this point.She never showed any interest in any private matters of the chairman, and always maintained a business-like indifferent attitude.This has been the case for more than ten years. The chairman trusts this tight-lipped secretary.She rarely interacts with her colleagues and maintains a lonely attitude, which is what the chairman appreciates. In fact, Chairman Mi Cun once wanted her to have a home, and secretly searched for a suitable candidate in many ways.Among them, colleagues in the company also became targets.Unfortunately, all failed.The chairman is very clear about the reason for the rejection, and now he has given up on it.From the chairman's heart, he really hopes to have a young and beautiful secretary, but this loyal Hoshino Hanae always makes him feel reluctant to give up. Hoshino Hanae is familiar with almost all the friends that every chairman has made.The other party was also used to hearing her voice on the phone.This is especially true for the horse owner friends of the chairman. Most of the horse owner friends of Chairman Mi Village are operators in the same industry, but among them, there are only four or five who exchange horse racing information with each other.Among them, there are one real estate agent and one gynecologist each. Horse owners seem to have no confidence in their horses.Trainers, jockeys, and stable attendants all try their best to keep the horse owner hopeful, but the horse owner always refuses to believe it unless there are special circumstances.Every time his horse goes to a race, the horse owner only buys a few horse coupons for his own horse, which can be regarded as a way of saying, but he never buys more. In contrast, when it comes to information about other horses, he thinks he is objective and calm.The information in this regard, apart from the so-called "stable information", is provided by experts in horse classics or reporters who specialize in horse racing news. Horse owners who like to buy horse coupons, exchange the information they get with their colleagues.They conduct a rigorous analysis for this. When exchanging information by phone, it is mostly just an occasion when both parties are alone. For example, the chairman of Yone Village uses some "jargon" to talk when the chairman is alone. "Haman eats less recently, so let him eat separately. The iron bite is also poor, maybe the wolf teeth are starting to float. XX said so." The meaning of these words, in detail, is as follows: "Usually two weeks before the race, the horse is allowed to eat high-quality oats. For Japanese oats, the daily food intake is eight liters, but Harman can't eat that much, so he has three meals a day, divided into five or six. Let him eat the food, but he still can't eat it. The horse bit can't bite well, maybe the wolf's teeth have started to grow." Such information should have been provided by the stable attendants or trainers. Wolf teeth are also "eightfold teeth", which cannot be seen from the outside.The stable attendant must put his hand into the horse's mouth to find out.After eating less, the original weight of 480 kilograms has dropped by 20 kilograms, so it is very likely that you will not be able to exert your original strength. Of course, it is impossible to know the wolf teeth that cannot be detected without reaching in, and the journalists who can only touch the horse's back. Therefore, the forecast written by the reporter may be written as follows: "Haman, who has stepped on an amazing leg since last season, is still in good condition. The gap last season was limited, and this is his chance to make it back. The recent record of 'King Hamada' also surpassed Last season, 'Rabbit Leg', who was good at the sand track, is developing a new goal this season. In addition, the rising horses 'Asda' and 'Milan A' are both eye-catching. This battle should be a climax." According to this account, Harman was the number one horse and the center of attention.
At about 4:30 in the afternoon, the chairman of Micun came back from going out. Hoshino Hanae was called into the chairman's room.The third-generation boss is sitting at the table, full of energy. "What's the call today?" Hoshino Hanae looked at the notebook in his hand. Since ten o'clock in the morning, there have been twelve calls to the chairman.Because it is Saturday, the number is less, but it is all related to business.She made a report in sequence.Most of them were due to the fact that the chairman was out and said that he would call back next Monday, but some simply explained the matter.She reported briefly to the chairman. Chairman Mi Cun nodded.That long face is very similar to the bronze statues of the first Juzaemon and the second generation on the wall.The long face seems to be the characteristic of the Micun family's lineage. "Is there any more?" The chairman asked after listening. "No la." The reason why the chairman asked this question is that there may be calls outside of business.This is about horse racing. "I'll be here until six o'clock. Please stay too, will you?" "yes." "Which other managers are in the company?" "Except for the manager of the women's clothing department who is on a business trip to Osaka, they are all in the company." "Call me the planning manager." Hoshino Hanae returned to his seat, turned off the switch on the internal phone, and informed the manager of the planning department. Because it was Saturday, most of the colleagues got off work at three o'clock in the afternoon, and the doors were closed. The whole company was quiet, except for the managers, because the chairman would come to work at four thirty, so it was inconvenient for them to go home if they wanted to. The manager of the planning department entered the chairman's room.Of course, the outside cannot hear the words inside.Because the door is so thick, the chairman's desk is also by the window inside. At five o'clock, the phone in front of Hoshino Hanae rang. "Director Horikoshi of the Hokuriku Textile Enterprise Association called the chairman." It was taken over by someone from the security department.The colleagues at the switchboard also left. "I'll take it." The chairman said to Hoshino Hanae who told. She connected the phone to the chairman's room and put the phone on the ear.The chairman's room telephone button on the panel turned on the small light during the speech, and turned off the light on her side at the same time. The Hokuriku Textile Industry Association director has nothing to do with horse racing.The phone button in the chairman's office was on, and she lacked interest. After about three minutes, the little light went out. Another minute later, the security department called again. "Chairman Yamazaki of Kanto Fiber, call the chairman." Hoshino Hanae pressed the voice button in the chairman's office. "What's up?" The chairman immediately responded. "It's Chairman Yamazaki of Kanto Textiles calling." "Come here." She connected the outside line to the chairman's room.The little light came on again.She didn't put her phone down!So the little light on her side was on too. "I'm Yamazaki. I was so rude yesterday." Such a cheerful voice. "Hello." Chairman Yonemura also responded with a loud laugh. "It's like this, the 'Sunrise Cup' that will be played in the seventh set tomorrow seems to be gone." "why?" "Just now Canggu called me and said that the 'Sunrise Cup' rags are soft. The horse is still young and has a bad temper. It seems that the goodbye before the race may be over." "Really? The 'Sunrise Cup' is considered the most powerful in this four-year-old horse competition." "I thought so too." "What a surprise. What else?" "and also……" At this moment, the sound of shoes came from behind the door of the chairman's room, and Hoshino Hanae hastily put down the phone. "Miss Hoshino, please bring me some tea." The manager of the planning department poked his head out and said. "Yes, send it right away." She quickly prepared two teacups.The manager of the planning department withdrew his face immediately, as if he didn't notice that he put down the phone in a hurry.Very dangerous. 'Sunrise Cup' is very popular because both parents have excellent bloodlines.However, due to lack of on-site experience, the stool will become soft due to nervousness the day before playing.Because of a little nervousness, he tends to get excited before the game, and his strength is compromised on the spot.The decline in strength before the game is called 'bye bye'. Hoshino Hanae put the small tea bag into the cup, poured hot water, and thought about the conversation he had just heard.Based on past experience, she can already understand this kind of jargon by heart. This information has to be spread tonight: "Tomorrow, the 'Sunrise Cup' will not come."