Chapter 4 Chapter 4 The Tourist Who Doesn't Return

"Where is Shen Yi going this time?" It's been a long time since the family of three had dinner together, so Uxo asked his son Shen Yi taking this opportunity to have dinner together. "Float with the wind, let nature take its course, I am a migratory bird with nowhere to go." Shen Yi replied with a smile.He is the only son of the Uxtail couple, and he is a senior in college this year.He loves to travel, usually works part-time to save change, and is implementing a plan to walk the whole of Japan. "However, I don't even know the general whereabouts, so it's hard to contact me when something happens!" said mother Chengzhi worriedly.Every time Shen Yi goes out on a trip, she is always on tenterhooks.If possible, she would really like to go with her son.She often suffers from insomnia until her son returns home safely.However, Shen Yi disregarded his mother's concerns and preferred to travel alone aimlessly.

"There is a saying: Let Aiko see the world through the wind and rain. He is a boy, so it's okay to take some risks. This time, it's not like Uemura-kun who went to Alaska or Antarctica alone. You don't have to worry about it." Although Ushio comforts his wife with his lips, he is always thinking about Shinichi who is traveling.He knows very well that if a man wants to be strong, he must travel and practice martial arts, but he still doesn't want to expose his children to dangerous situations.The cruel detective is also the father of man! "Okay, okay, don't make mom worry too much, I'll tell you the general direction." Shen Yi said impatiently.

"Yes, every time you travel, you will shorten your mother's life." "I'm muttering again. So, I'm not going anywhere! This time I want to go around Shinshu." "Where in Shinshu?" "It's not decided yet. Because Shinshu in summer is like going to a temple fair. There are huge crowds of people. Even if the schedule is set, it can't be carried out as planned. The most interesting thing is to travel naturally." "Let it be? If you really want to catch a temple fair, I'm afraid you won't even be able to stay in a hotel." Cheng Zhi's face showed a cloud of worry.

"So, I'll bring a sleeping bag this time. In summer, sleeping in a forest or a park is much more comfortable than lying in a cramped hotel!" "Can you sleep in the park with peace of mind? Didn't a homeless man sleep in the park and be killed a few months ago?" "It's different from Tokyo there. There are no such villains in the mountain village. Mom must be worrying too much!" Shen Yi became even more impatient. "You should pay more attention. Although Dad has a calm expression, he has been worried until you come back." "Okay, I understand. What a fuss!" Shen Yi hurriedly finished his meal and left the table early.He clearly knew that his parents wanted him to sit by for a while longer, but after all, he had reached the annoying rebellious age.

In the summer, the Shinjuku Police Station responsible for Kabukicho, the main entertainment street in Tokyo, has frequent incidents in the area.This area is the birthplace of the sex industry and love hotels, where all desires meet and collide, and at the same time, it is full of disappointment and dissatisfaction.All kinds of factors are baked by the heat, and the flames of the explosion rise and fall one after another. The police officers had almost no time to rest. They had just finished handling one incident and then rushed to another scene. On the afternoon of August 21, the day after Shen Yi was sent away for a trip, Ushio passed by in front of the Prince Hotel in a police car.This was on his way home from a theater brawl.Niu Wei looked out from the car window, and suddenly a familiar figure jumped into his eyes.After stopping the car, I realized that it was her.

It seemed that she was going to go out, carrying a rather heavy travel bag in her hand. "Going out?" Oxtail greeted first. "Oh, it's a criminal police officer." Xizi walked over with a cute smile on her face and said, "A short-term business trip." "On business trip?" "Go out with a guest, soak in the hot spring. It's okay to tell the criminal police about these things!" Xizi said, sticking out her tongue. "As expected, what a business trip!" Niu Wei nodded with emotion and said. "I'll bring you a souvenir when I come back, okay! I don't have time, I have to go quickly!" Xizi said, changed her travel bag and walked towards the station.

A few days later, Ushio ran into Xizi by chance at the "Summer Night" bar. "Yo, I'm back from a business trip." "I came back the day before yesterday. By the way, I brought you a present." "A gift for me?" "Yes, I bought it in Matsumoto." "Hey, have you been to Xinzhou?" Uxo suddenly thought of his son who was traveling there. "I happened to pass by a small shop, and I bought a rather rare gadget there, and now I give it to you, please." As he spoke, Xizi took out something and put it in Oxtail's palm.

"Wow, this..." This is a piece of paper boar. "How? It's not common! There are many paper tigers, paper foxes, paper horses, etc., but this paper wild boar is also the first time I have seen it." "Can I take it?" "Please accept it! This is for you." This is a very simple, folk-colored paper craft.The sprinting posture, the shape and coloring of the fangs, etc. are very touching, with high artistry and unique style.The most touching thing is that she bought it specially for herself, so Oxtail is very happy.He happily accepted the gift. It was said that it was a visit to Shinshu, but Shinichi, who was happily going on a trip, did not come back on the day he was scheduled to return.On the day when Shen Yi expected to arrive home, Cheng Zhi boiled the bath water early, cooked his favorite meals and waited.

That night, Oxtail arrived home, but Shen Yi still didn't come back.In the past, he always came back early on the day when he was scheduled to go home, but now Cheng Zhi is not too worried, because she thinks it might be the reason of the train and come back later! There was still no sign of coming back until 10 o'clock, and the couple had to hastily finish their deserted dinner. After 12 o'clock at night, Shen Yi still hasn't come back.Cheng Zhi was a little anxious. "My child's father, did something happen to Shen Yi? It didn't happen before!" She was so anxious that she was about to cry.

"Don't talk nonsense. Just come back a little later, don't worry. He was traveling without a plan in the first place!" "However, he always comes back on time. That child, you know how worried your parents are if he doesn't come home on time!" "Isn't there a precedent for delaying your return for a day or two?" "But he always called and said. Anyway, it must be abnormal for him not to come back so far!" "After thinking about it, I always think about the bad side. Just wait a little longer, and he will come back safely." This sentence seemed to be what Oxtail said to himself.If he showed a worried look, his wife would definitely go crazy.

Shinichi finally didn't come home that night.The couple didn't close their eyes almost all night. The next morning, Niu Wei said to his wife when he was at work: "He must be back today, because he only has one or two days' extra expenses. He is probably in a remote valley where he cannot make calls!" However, the wishes of the couple were in vain again.It was still Ushio who returned home that day, but Shen Yi did not return. "His father, something must have happened to Shen Yi, call the police!" Cheng Zhi was almost in a state of half-madness.Even if we call the police now, Shenyi said he was going to the Shinshu area, but the exact location is still unclear.Maybe Shinichi's diary, notes and other items have records showing his whereabouts!So, the couple began to search in Shinichi's room. This room reflects the travel hobby of the owner. Its furnishings are travel books, maps, guide maps, postcards, local toys from various places collected during previous travels, folk handicrafts, and Sensha Sapphire (the blessing paper for those who visit a thousand shrines) (Write the name of the pilgrims, their hometown, etc.), framed paintings, puppets, etc., but these are only the imprints of past travel, and cannot explain the current tourist destination. Among Shinshu's local toys, there are Ueda's lucky charms and Nozawa's pigeon carts.It is also possible for him to revisit the old place, but this time it is an aimless trip, and no one knows where he can go. If there is a car accident in a tourist place, he will definitely be contacted, because he has a student ID card and a monthly ticket to show his identity.Could it be that he encountered an accident in a place where no one traveled, and was in a predicament where he could not call for help?Or fell from a cliff, or was buried by landslides, or was attacked by robbers and died in Huangquan, and was buried?The imagination is endless, but the more you think about it, the worse the result will be.Even if you call the police now, you have to enter it into the computer two or three days later, because more than half of the cases come back during this period. "Let's try to contact all the places that Shen Yi may go first!" Ushio seemed to be directing his wife, but he still picked up the phone by himself, relatives, friends, classmates, partners, places he often visited, They all called and inquired, but there was no news from Shinichi. Only a good friend said: "Shen Yi once said that he would go to Shinshu during the summer vacation, and walk around forgotten mountains and old streets." This is the only testimony that can show Shen's whereabouts. "Shen Yi has the habit of concealing his whereabouts. He once traveled alone to secret places that are hard for people to find and old streets that are forgotten by people, so as to surprise everyone, envy them, and make fun of himself. He said that if he told his whereabouts in advance, the shock force would be great. It will weaken. Shinichi is a very romantic person, and he often said that traveling alone can give him the feeling of peeping into his own future, and he also said that traveling without a plan can make people feel the atmosphere of opening up an uncertain future.” A girlfriend said so.In the end, she still didn't know where Shinichi was.The next day, Ushio sent a search request to the police.Although he still has a little travel expenses, Shen Yi will never ignore his parents' worries and continue wandering aimlessly without saying hello. Something must have happened, wanted to go home but couldn't get in touch with home. However, the police who accept the search request have no specific measures, nothing more than sending a "missing notice" to the place where the person being searched may go.If you are suspected of committing suicide, you can issue a "Tourist Area Announcement".The former Ushio has already contacted all of them, and asked the other party to contact him as soon as possible if he meets this person in the future; as for the latter, Shen Yi has no signs of committing suicide at all, and he has no idea where he went. The search request is nothing more than reassurance for the wife.Three days later, there was still no news from Shen Yi.The request to search for Shinichi has now been entered into the police department's computer. It is estimated that Shinichi's travel expenses have also been spent.He didn't have much money with him.When it was confirmed that Shen Yi was missing, Cheng Zhi lay down and couldn't get up.No matter how Niuwei persuaded her, she still didn't think about eating or drinking, and lay down in bed. It was only when Ushio went to work and when he came home that Chengzhi got up to make some meals, and the rest of the time he still didn't eat or drink, just lying in bed blankly.Seeing that she was losing weight, the oxtail force-fed her, but she vomited it all out. If this goes on, you will starve to death.The helpless oxtail dragged his wife out of the house on Sunday.He hoped without confidence that his wife would change her mood and whet her appetite. At first Chengzhi was reluctant to go out, but was pulled up by Uxwei.When arriving at Shinjuku Station, Sumie showed interest in the "Chuo Line" sign. "Shen Yi can recite many station names on the Chuo Line." His wife muttered to herself looking at the station name signs on the platform.Shinichi, who loves mountaineering, often takes the Chuo Line and can almost memorize the names of the stations from Shinjuku to Matsumoto. "He often told me that after driving out of Shinjuku, we pass through Otsuki, Hatsaka, Sasako, Hatsano, Katsunuma, Salt Mountain... After drilling through the tunnel from Hatsune, there is the boundless Kofu Basin, where the Southern Alps stand. He also said that after coming out of Kofu, he went straight to Niasaki, Shinfu, Anayama, Hinoharu, and Nagasaka. From here, he could see the towering Phoenix Sanshan and Kaikoma Mountains in the Southern Alps. Mount Yue..." The wife stared at the stop sign while talking to herself.Oxtail looked at her figure, and a frenzy stirred in his heart.She repeated her son's words when he was at home, and her thoughts followed the whereabouts of her son who did not return to the mountains.How poor she is! Suddenly hit by the disappearance of his only son, as a father, Oxtail is no more relaxed than his mother.But he was a man with a lot of work on his shoulders, and he must not sink into lamenting the loss of his son.He himself didn't want to be depressed. However, the mother is different.The child is the flesh of her body, and being with the child is her life.It can be said that the child is the life of the mother.Because of this, how forlorn and miserable was her withered figure, tormented by the sorrow of her child's absence! Ushio took his wife's hand and came to the platform of the Chuo Line train.From time to time, express trains bound for Matsumoto come into the station, and passengers are seen busily boarding the train with handbags, or see-off people are smiling and waving to the inside of the train, and there are also a group of young people carrying canvas bags. "Shenyi also rides like this!" As long as there are young people who are about the same age as Shenyi passing by, the wife will stop and stare until they are out of sight.She superimposed her son's figure and the man's back figure.Soon, the departure bell rang.The people standing on the platform hurried into the car, and the passers-by who got into the car got off in a hurry. After the bell rang, the train started slowly.The see-off person first walked on the platform to keep pace with Lieben, but was later thrown away by the acceleration of the train.The train left the platform and disappeared without a trace. The wife still stood still, staring at the direction of the train. "Okay, let's go!" Because there is no end to this, Uxo urged his wife.The wife was silent, tears streaming down her face.She suppressed the cry and shook her shoulders.Tears streamed down her face, and Patapata rolled onto the platform floor. Having been married for 30 years, this is the first time Ushio saw his wife in such a miserable state.This is the silent cry of being a mother. (Shinichi: If you can hear your mother crying, come back quickly!) Uxo faced the direction of the train and prayed silently. "Hey, someone is coming!" Ryoko looked up and said. "Who's coming in the middle of the night?" Gao Tang still couldn't take his eyes off the TV. "I think there's a noise at the back wooden door." "Nerves!" Gao Tang ignored his wife's criticism.American westerns on TV are getting into a good mood. "Turn down the volume of the TV, there are indeed speakers outside." Ryoko insisted. "You're too neurotic!" Gao Tang smiled wryly while turning the volume knob.The TV went silent, replaced by natural sounds.The brook that ran by the house murmured, and the night wind that stirred the tops of the larch trees behind it was murmuring, but there was no artificial sound. "It's because you're nervous!" Gao Tang wanted to turn up the volume again. "Wait!" Ryoko waved his hand to stop him. "Now it's ringing again." "I didn't hear anything." The TV screen has entered the climax of the decisive battle between good and evil. Because there is no sound now, the atmosphere cannot be displayed.Just as Gaotang stretched out his hand to turn the knob, there was another sound from the direction of the back door.This time, both of them heard it clearly. "Did you hear it this time?" "Yes, I heard it." Gao Tang could only admit. "What's that sound?" "It must be the sound of the wind blowing the door!" Gao Tang still refused to admit that there was any abnormal sound. "I'll go take a look." Ryoko stood up and said. "Okay, okay, I'll go out and have a look, you are here." Gao Tang still looked at the TV screen reluctantly, and slowly raised his body.How could he have the heart to let his young wife go to the dark back door to observe the movement, while he watched TV at ease in the house? "I'll go too." Liangzi also felt sorry, so she stood up.When Gao Tang stopped her, he heard the noise from outside again.This is obviously not the wind, it seems to be something moving at the back door. The couple looked at each other.This time Gao Tang took the initiative to find out what the noise was outside. "Honey, you have to be careful!" Obviously he let him go, but now he wants to stop it. "It's okay." Gao Tang comforted his wife while picking up the old pole that hadn't been used for a long time.Yoshiko followed tremblingly with a flashlight. As soon as I got outside, I felt the night wind was chilly.The stars hung low in the endless sky, as if they were about to fall.The summer night grass on the plateau is fragrant, but today there is a smell of blood. Tremblingly opened the back door and looked outside, but found no one, let alone anything unusual. "Who's there?" Gao Tang yelled.The night wind blows through the larch and fir forest behind the house, and shooting stars trail their tails in the sky.Liangzi turned on the flashlight, but there was no figure in the bright light. "Strange, why is there nothing?" "However, there was indeed a strange noise just now!" "Probably a running fan of wild dogs or something!" "But there are no dogs here!" "Strange!" Just as Gaotang was wondering, something suddenly passed through the light. "Yes!" "Beside the warehouse!" Behind the main house was a prefabricated hut stacked with farm tools and so on. I looked there with the flashlight, but saw something black and curled up in the dark beside it, and there were some small black shadows wriggling around. "It's over there!" Gaotang and Liangzi bowed and approached slowly.The black shadow became clearer and clearer under the illumination of the flashlight - several small figures surrounded a large figure.At this time, a strong animal smell wafted in the wind. A black-brown beast curled up on the ground, and several small beasts wriggled around it. "It's a wild boar!" Gao Tang muttered.In this area, wild boars often forage to spoil the crops in the field, but they never come out with their cubs in the middle of the night.Lying in the middle is the wild boar mother, and the newborn wild boar cubs are running around. "Husband, it's dangerous!" Liangzi reminded her husband who was too close to the herd of wild boars.The female wild boar leading the cubs is very fierce, and there may be a male wild boar next to it. "It's strange, why is this wild sow motionless, is it dead!" Gao Tang asked his wife to focus the flashlight while talking.In the bright light, I saw that the mother wild boar was covered in blood, and blood was still oozing from her eyes, nose, and ears.The disc-shaped nose has been deformed, and the ears are split into several flaps, which is really horrible.The little wild boars surrounded it, grunting sadly. "What a tragedy!" Gao Tang couldn't help turning his face away.Mother boar is dying. "Was it bitten by another wild boar?" Liangzi approached frightenedly with a flashlight, and the tragic situation of the wild boar mother was displayed in front of their eyes like a close-up shot. "How pitiful! In order to save the child, it finally crawled here desperately!" "How can this be done!" "You can't do nothing! Other animals will eat them. If they are caught by bad guys, they will definitely burn the pot. Help it!" Gaotang intends to put them in the waste pigsty. From that day on, Chengzhi got up.After sending the oxtail away, she quietly packed up and walked out of the house.Before Oxtail came back from get off work, she went home to prepare dinner to welcome her husband. Her complexion also looked much better, and she seemed to have regained her vitality.This is of course not that she eliminated her sadness, but buried her sadness deep in her heart.Ushio didn't know that his wife went out during the day, and when he heard from his friend Qishan who was on the dry railway that "I see my wife every day at the platform of the central line", I suddenly realized it. From that day on, she went to Shinjuku Station every day, standing on the departure platform of her son's train, staring at the direction of her son's travel all day long. The police officer of the Niutuo Railway secretly protected his wife.Although it is impossible for her to commit suicide, she must take precautions in case.I'm afraid she is standing on the platform talking with her son who has not returned all day long! Shen Yi is a young man full of ideals. He loves to travel, and he loves to go to unexplored secret places and old streets and alleys, which also reflects his colorful ideals. He admired his father Yun's career and was proud of it, but he never said that he wanted to be a policeman in the future. "The mission of the police is probably to fight against social evils and protect the citizens! In fact, they are fighting to protect the happiness of the citizens, but when I look at my father, I feel that the happiness of the citizens does not seem to include the happiness of the family. At least they will Family happiness is placed at the bottom. Because of this, the work of the police is respectable, but when I look at my mother, I feel that she is too pitiful. We have no scenes of ordinary people having fun with their families. Regardless of Chinese New Year or holiday, as long as there are tasks, Dad has to go right away. It's noble to work for the happiness of others, but I want a job that also takes care of my family." When he finished talking about this big lesson, Oxtail asked him what he wanted to do in the future, so he went on to say: "Our family of three went to the family restaurant on Sunday! I am so happy! I was so happy to see my mother for the first time. The whole family ate out together, just once before and after. Of course, I can't blame my father, because my mother is not healthy. Great, my dad was on break just in time for my exam, so I couldn't go. But that one time, I will never forget it, so happy! I want to do that kind of work in the future!" "catering industry?" "What does Dad think?" "It's not bad, but customers and employees are two different things!" "How can I not even understand this? Because I still don't forget the joy of that time, so I want to do this kind of work that provides joy to others." "I think you're on the right track, that work that provides joy to others is noble." "Dad really thinks so?" "Of course I think so." "Great. So I was worried about being opposed!" "Why would Dad object to the job you chose?" "You won't say that after graduating from college, there's no need to wash dishes, right?" "Can't wash dishes after graduating from college?" "Actually, there was a professor in our seminar. When he talked about his future after graduation, he said that if he wanted to work in a family restaurant over there, there was no need to study at a university! His words hit me hard!" Shen Yi remembered I shrugged the shock I received at that time. "Is the professor who said that still alive?" After hearing this, Ushio seemed to be hit harder than Shinichi.Shen Yi silently nodded. "I don't think you need to learn from that confused professor." "I just took those words as wind. I usually respect him so much, so I feel like I've been hit." The professor's unintentional words seemed to have pierced deeply into Shinichi's heart.Anyway, how can a dignified university professor say such irresponsible words? What's wrong with college students being interested in the catering industry?Family restaurants are in the ascendant now, perhaps it can only be said that the social image is not so high! Instead of choosing a career based on simple working conditions, social reputation, creditworthiness, and appearance, it is better to roughly choose an industry that can give full play to one's own value in a certain field, which can better reflect the deep meaning of life. Choosing a career is choosing the direction of your life.When it comes to life choices, people who only pay attention to high salaries, company reputation and scale are no different from selling their lives. Choosing an approach to life is certainly not an easy task.Companies popular with college students have a good reputation and high wages. However, in order to be admitted to that kind of company, some students queue up all night to get the No. 1 admission ticket.Compared with this kind of person, my son is interested in working in the family restaurant and providing happiness for others, which really reflects the joy of existence as a human being. And those scholars who close themselves in the ivory tower and play with old knowledge don't know this joy of life at all. Universities, as the educational institutions of the social leadership, neglect the most important "benevolence" in their conceit and forget their life direction. The professor's thinking is the same as that of various vocational schools and preparatory schools that only pursue the fractionalism of entering first-class companies and increasing the proportion of admissions to first-class schools. After receiving this blow, Oxtail was furious. "If that professor really said that, you'd better withdraw from that seminar immediately. He is not qualified to teach people." Ushio asserted.His father's words seemed to cheer up Shinichi's courage. "So, after I graduate, I can work in the family restaurant over there?" Shen Yi said cheerfully. "Of course. Dad is proud of your choice. Let the professor say it! You made the right choice." That conversation is still fresh in my memory, as clear as yesterday.It was such a Shenyi who lost track of him when he went on a trip when he was half a year away from graduating.He had requested fact sheets for several catering companies, and it was his last trip as a student!Unexpectedly, this will be the last trip of his life (unverified). Oxtail did not despair.He still thinks his son is alive.Even though he knew that Shen Yi would not deliberately cut off contact regardless of his parents' concerns, he couldn't let go of that glimmer of hope.