Chapter 34 Chapter 32 Returning to Normal Nakata

When Nakata opened his eyes at almost five o'clock in the morning, he saw a big stone beside his pillow.Hoshino was sleeping soundly in the next quilt, with his mouth half open, his hair disheveled, and the Chunichi Dragons baseball cap rolled by the pillow.The young man's face clearly revealed a firm determination - the world will collapse and he will not wake up!Nakata was not surprised by the appearance of a stone, nor did he find it so incredible.His consciousness immediately adapted to the fact that there was a stone beside his pillow, and accepted it logically, instead of extending in the direction of "why such a thing appeared".It is often beyond Nakata's ability to consider the causal relationship of things.

Nakata sat upright by the pillow, staring at the stone ecstatically for a while, then stretched out his hand, stroking the stone gently like a big sleeping cat.At first, I touched it with my fingertips tremblingly, but after I knew it was all right, I stroked the surface boldly and carefully with my palm.While touching the stone, he was always thinking about something, or an expression of thinking about something appeared on his face.His hand, like when looking at a map, puts the rough feeling of the stone into memory one by one, remembering every pothole and protrusion in detail, and then put his hand on his head as if he suddenly remembered, scratching With short hair, it seems to be proving the relationship between the stone and his own head.

Soon, he made a sigh-like sound and stood up, opening the window and poking his face out.From the window of the room, only the back side of the adjacent building can be seen. The building is already very desolate, presumably desolate people are doing desolate jobs and living a desolate life inside.The streets of any city have such buildings so far from grace that Charles Dickens would probably have written ten pages on them.The clouds floating on the roof of the building look like hard ash lumps that have not been removed for a long time in a vacuum cleaner, and they seem to condense many social contradictions brought about by the third industrial revolution into several shapes and fly directly into the air.Anyway, it looked like it was going to rain soon.Looking down, a thin black cat was walking back and forth with its tail cocked on the narrow wall between the buildings.

"Mr. Lei is here today." Nakata said hello to the cat.But the words didn't seem to reach the cat's ears.The cat neither looked back nor stopped, and continued to walk gracefully, disappearing behind the building. Nakata picked up the plastic bag containing the toiletries and walked into the public washroom at the end of the corridor, washed his face with soap, brushed his teeth, and shaved with a safety razor.This assignment takes a lot of time.Take enough time to wash your face carefully, enough time to brush your teeth carefully, and enough time to shave carefully.Use scissors to cut nose hair, trim eyebrows, and pick out ears.He was originally a slow person, but he did it with extra care this morning.Except for him, no one washed his face so early. It's not time for breakfast, and Hoshino can't wake up for the time being.Nakata didn't need to worry about anyone, he just looked in the mirror and groomed leisurely, while recalling the different cat faces he saw in the library book yesterday.He couldn't read and didn't know the types of cats, but he remembered the faces of the cats in the book very clearly.

There are so many kinds of cats in the world—Nakata thought as he picked out his ears.It was the first time in his life that he entered the library, and Nakata felt how ignorant he was because of it.There are so many things in the world that he doesn't know about, and when he thinks of this infinity, Nakata's head starts to ache.Of course it is also a matter of course, infinite means no limit.So he stopped thinking about infinity and thought again about the cats in the picture collection "Cats in the World".If only I could talk to every cat up there!Presumably different cats in the world think differently and speak differently.Then he thought: Can foreign cats also speak foreign languages?But this is also a complicated problem, and Nakata's head starts to hurt again.

After dressing up, he went to the toilet to laze as usual.This one didn't take long.Nakata returned to the room with the toiletry bag, and Hoshino was still sleeping soundly in the same sleeping position as before.Nakata picked up the Hawaiian shirt and blue jeans he had thrown away, folded them neatly corner to corner, and put them next to the young man's pillow, and then put the Chinese and Japanese Dragons baseball cap on it, as if adding a title to the assembled concepts .After that, he took off his bathrobe, put on his usual trousers and shirt, rubbed his hands together a few times, and took a deep breath.

He sat down in front of the stone again, looked at it for a moment, and stretched out his hand to touch the surface tremblingly. "Lei Jun is here today." Nakata said to someone—maybe Shitou—and nodded a few times alone. While Nakata was doing gymnastics outside the window, Hoshino finally woke up.Nakata hummed the melody of radio gymnastics in a low voice, while moving his body accordingly.Hoshino slightly opened his eyes and looked at his watch, it was just after eight o'clock.Then he raised his head and confirmed that the stone was next to Nakata's futon pillow.The stone is much larger and rougher than it appears in the dark.

"It's not a dream." Hoshino said. "What do you mean?" Nakata asked. "The stone!" said the young man, "the stone is all right there, it's not a dream." "The stone is here." Nakata continued to do radio gymnastics and said succinctly.The voice sounds like the great propositions of nineteenth-century German philosophy. "Tell you about why the stone is there, it's a long, long, long story, old man." "That's right, Nakata, I think that might be the case too." "Forget it," said Hoshino, got up from the bed, and sighed deeply, "It doesn't matter anyway, anyway, the stone is there anyway, so to make a long story short."

"The stone is there," Nakata said. "That's very important." Hoshino wanted to say something about this, but soon realized that he was already hungry. "Hey, old man, don't care if it's important or not, go and have breakfast!" "That's right, Nakata, I'm hungry too." After breakfast, Hoshino asked Nakata while drinking tea, "What if the stone goes down?" "How to do it?" "Hey, don't say that, okay!" Hoshino shook his head and said, "Didn't you say that you had to find that stone, and I managed to get it back last night? But now you say 'what should I do?' Useless."

"That's right, you're right. To be honest, I don't know what to do, Nakata." "That would be nerve-wracking." "It's nerve-wracking." Nakata said so, but his expression didn't show how troublesome it was. "You mean, if you take time to think about it, you can slowly figure it out?" "That's right, Nakata, I think so. Nakata, I spend more time than others on everything I do." "But, Nakata," "Ah, Hoshino-kun," "I don't know who took it, but since it is named 'Entrance Stone', it must have been an entrance somewhere in the past. It may be a similar legend or self-promotion or something."

"That's right, Nakata, I guess that's the case too." "But I still don't know where the entrance is?" "That is, I don't know much about Nakata. I often talk to Mr. Mao, but I haven't talked to Mr. Shitou yet." "It's not easy to talk to Shitou." "That is, there is a big difference between a rock and a cat." "Anyway, I just moved such an important thing from the shrine and temple. I really won't suffer any retribution? It's fine to move it, but how to deal with it next is a problem. Kanel Sanders said There will be no retribution, but there is something about that guy that he can't fully believe in." "Canel Sanders?" "There is an old man with this name. He is the famous old man who often stands in front of the KFC fast food restaurant. He wears a white suit, has a beard, and wears a pair of glasses... don't know?" "Sorry, Nakata, I don't know that one." "Really, I don't even know about KFC fast food, and it's really a rare thing now. Whatever. In short, the old man is an abstract concept, not a person, not a god, not a Buddha. Because it is an abstract concept, it has no form, but it is always Need a shape, just happen to appear that way." Nakata looked confused, rubbing his short gray hair with his palms: "I don't understand what's going on, Nakata." "To be honest, I said so, but I don't understand it." Hoshino said, "In short, there is such a nondescript old man who came out of nowhere. This and that have listed a lot for me. To make a long story short, The conclusion is: After a lot of twists and turns, with the help of that old man, I found that stone in one place and moved it back. I don’t want to win your sympathy, but I was really tired last night Enough. So, if possible, I really want to hand over that stone to you and please, to be honest." "Okay, I'll give the stone to Nakata." "Well," Hoshino said, "have fun. Just have fun." "Hoshino-kun," "what?" "There will be many Lei Jun coming soon. Wait for Lei to recover!" "Ray? What effect will Mr. Lei have on the stone?" "I don't quite understand Nakata in detail, but I kind of feel that way." "Ray? Either way, it looks interesting. Wait for Ray. Let's see what happens this time." Back in the room, Hoshino lay down on the tatami and turned on the TV.All channels are comprehensive programs for housewives. Hoshino doesn't want to watch such things, but he can't think of other ways to pass the time, so he can only watch while talking. During this time, Nakata sat in front of the stone, looked at it or touched it, and muttered something to himself from time to time.Hoshino couldn't hear what he was muttering, he was probably talking to Shitou. At noon, there was finally thunder. Before the rain, Hoshino went to a nearby small supermarket and bought a bag full of pastries, bread, and milk, and the two of them had lunch.While eating, the hotel maid came to clean the room, Hoshino said no. "Aren't you going anywhere?" asked the waitress. "Well, I'm not going anywhere, just stay here." Hoshino replied. "Mr. Lei is coming." Nakata said. "Lei Jun?" The waitress walked away with a puzzled expression.I probably think it's better not to get close to this room as much as possible. After a while, there was a dull thunder in the distance, followed by raindrops falling down.The thunder is not very majestic, it feels like a lazy little man stamping his feet on the drum.But the rain suddenly became bigger and poured down like a pour.The world is enveloped in the choking smell of rain. After the sound of thunder, the two sat across the stone in the pose of Indians exchanging friendly pipes.Nakata still mutters to himself while touching stones or rubbing his head.Hoshino sucked Marlboro while watching him. "Hoshino-kun," "Ok?" "Can you stay with me for a while, Nakata?" "Ah, yes. Besides, even if you tell me to go somewhere, I won't be able to go out in such heavy rain." "Maybe something miraculous will happen." "If I speak bluntly," said the lad, "a miracle has happened." "Hoshino-kun," "what?" "Suddenly a thought flashed through me: what exactly is I, Zhongtian?" Hoshino pondered. "Hey, old man, this is a very difficult question. I really can't answer you when I ask you so suddenly. In the end, I'm confused about what Hoshino is, and I'm even more confused about what other people are. It's not me. Blow, thinking about this stuff gives me the most headache. But if I tell you how I feel, I think you are quite authentic, although you are quite outrageous, but you can be trusted, so I followed all the way to Shikoku. My head is It’s not clever enough, but it’s not that it doesn’t have a good eye for people.” "Hoshino-kun," "Ok?" "It's not just my brain that doesn't work, I'm a shell. I just, just figured it out. I'm like a library with no books. It wasn't like that in the past. I had books in my head, too. I can’t remember it all the time, but now I think about it. Yes. Nakata, I used to be an ordinary person like everyone else, but something happened one time, and Nakata became an empty box.” "But, Nakata, then we are more or less empty boxes? Eat, scatter, do a little work, get a few pennies, have a guy with a woman from time to time, what else is there? But Then again, they are all so happy to live. Why I don’t know... My grandfather often said: It’s because people can’t get what they want, that the world is interesting. It’s more or less reasonable. If the Chinese and Japanese Dragons are victorious , who still watches baseball?" "You like grandpa very much, don't you?" "I like it. If there is no grandpa, I don't know what it would be like. Because of grandpa, I have the intention to live, no matter what, I have to live well. It's not good to express, it always seems to be tied by something So I stopped being a Biaoche clan and joined the Self-Defense Force. Unknowingly, I became less nonsense." "But Hoshino-kun, Nakata, I don't have anyone, nothing, I'm not tied up, I can't read, and I have half as many shadows as others." "Everyone has flaws." "Hoshino-kun," "Ok?" "If Nakata and I were ordinary Nakata, my life would be completely different. I would be like my two younger brothers, graduating from college, working in a company, marrying a wife and having children, riding in a big car, and playing golf on rest days. But Nakata, I am not ordinary. Nakata, so I lived as the Nakata I am now. It is too late to start from scratch, and I know that. Even so, no matter how short it is, I want to be an ordinary Nakata. To be honest, Nakata before this I didn't think about what to do, I just did what the people around me asked me to do, or I did something by accident because of the trend, that's all. But now, Nakata has a clear desire - to return to normal Nakata, I want to be an ordinary Nakata-kun." Hoshino sighed: "If you want to do that, just do it like that and return to the original. I can't imagine what kind of Nakata is an ordinary Nakata at all." "That is, I can't imagine Nakata either." "I hope it goes well. Although I can't help you, I also wish you can become an ordinary person." "But Nakata I have a lot to deal with before I become a normal Nakata." "Like what?" "Like Mr. Jonny Walker." "Jonny Walker?" said the boy. "So, old man, that's what you said last time. Is that Jonny Walker the Jonny Walker of the whiskey?" "That's right. Nakata, I immediately went to the police station to tell the story of Jonny Walker. I thought I had to report it to the governor, but the other party ignored it, so I had to solve it with my own strength. Nakata, I plan to become a —if possible—an ordinary Nakata.” "I don't know exactly what's going on, but it means that you need this stone to do that?" "Yes, that's right. Nakata, I have to get back that half of the shadow." The thunder grew louder, almost deafening.All kinds of lightning flashed across the sky, followed by thunder without delay, and the sky fell apart.The atmosphere trembled, and the loose panes rattled nervously.Dark clouds covered the sky like a pot cover, and the room was so dark that the other party's expression could not be seen clearly.But the two did not turn on the light.They still sat opposite each other across the stone.Outside the window there was only rain, overwhelming and almost suffocating.Whenever lightning strikes, the room is instantly brightened.For a long time, neither of them could speak. "But why do you have to deal with this stone? Why do you have to deal with it?" Hoshino asked when the thunder came to an end. "Because I am a person who has been in and out of Nakata." "Go in and out?" "Yes. I once went out from here, Nakata, and came back here. That was when Japan was fighting a big war. At that time, the cover happened to be opened, and I went out from here, Nakata, and happened to come back here for some reason, so that Nakata I'm no ordinary Nakata, and my shadow is half gone. But on the other hand, I can -- not so much now -- talk to the cats, and even make things fall from the sky." "Is it the recent leeches or something?" "Yes, exactly." "That's not something everyone can do." "That's something that not everyone can do." "That's because you have been in and out a long time ago. In this sense, you are not an ordinary person." "Yes, that's exactly. Nakata I'm no longer Nakata. On the other hand I can't read and I haven't touched a woman." "unimaginable." "Hoshino-kun," "Ok?" "I'm scared, Nakata. I told you just now, Nakata, I'm a complete empty shell. Do you know what a complete empty shell is?" Hoshino shook his head: "No, I don't think I know." "An empty shell is the same thing as an empty house. It is exactly the same as an empty house that is not locked. Anyone can enter freely if they want to. Nakata I am very afraid of this. For example, Nakata I can make things fall from the sky, but next time Under normal circumstances, I can't figure out what to let fall from the sky. What if the thing that falls from the sky next time is 10,000 kitchen knives, bombs, or poisonous gas, what should I do? That's not Nakata, I can just apologize to everyone and it will be over." "Well, that's true, it's not something that can be done with a few apologies." Hoshino also agreed, "Just a leech is enough to make a fool of yourself, but if something even more bizarre falls from the sky, then it will be over. It's not just chicken and dog jumping." "Jonny Walker got into me and made me do things that I didn't like. Jonny Walker used me, but I couldn't resist. I didn't have the strength to fight back. Why, Because Nakata I have no substance." "So you want to return to the ordinary Nakata, to return to the real self." "Yes, that's right. Nakata, I'm really not good at my head, but at least I can make furniture. I make furniture day after day. Nakata, I like to make tables, chairs, chests and cabinets. It's a pleasure to make something with a shape. In those decades, I never had the slightest thought of returning to the ordinary Nakata, and no one around me wanted to enter Nakata’s body on purpose, and I was never afraid of anything. Unexpectedly, Mr. Jonny Walker came out now, Nakata has been in constant panic for me since then." "So, what the hell did that Jonny Walker get into you?" A violent sound suddenly tore through the air, probably a thunder strike somewhere nearby.Hoshino's eardrum was burning with pain.Nakata tilted his neck slightly, and while listening to the thunder, he still stroked the stone slowly back and forth with both hands. "The blood that shouldn't be shed came out." "bleeding?" "That is. But the blood didn't touch Nakata's hands." Hoshino pondered for a moment, but couldn't figure out what Nakata meant. "No matter what, as long as the entrance stone is opened, many things will naturally be implemented where they should be implemented, right? It's like water flowing from a high place to a low place." Nakata pondered for a while, perhaps just showing a pensive look on his face. "It may not be that simple. What I should do, Nakata, is to find this entrance stone and open it. Frankly speaking, Nakata has no idea what's going on next." "But why is this stone in Shikoku?" "Stones can be anywhere, not only in Shikoku, and there is no need for stones." "I don't understand! Since it's available everywhere, it's okay to toss around in the Nakano area, and save a lot of trouble!" Nakata scratched his short hair for a while with the palm of his hand. "The problem is very complicated. Nakata, I have been listening to the stone, but I still can't hear clearly. But Nakata, I think this way: I, Nakata, you Hoshino-kun, I'm afraid I still have to come here. Need Crossing a big bridge. I'm afraid it won't go well in the Nakano area." "Can I ask a little more?" "Ah, what are you asking?" "If you can open this entrance stone here, won't you cause any trouble with a bang? It's like in "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp", some inexplicable goblins or something, or jumping and running out of the frog prince. Kiss us tightly? Or be eaten by Martians?" "What may happen, or nothing may happen. Nakata, I have never opened such a thing, so I can't tell. It won't be clear if I don't open it." "It's not necessarily dangerous?" "That's, it's like that." "Okay!" As he said, Hoshino took out a Marlboro from his pocket and lit it with a lighter, "Grandfather often said that my bad thing is that I flirt with strangers without thinking carefully. I must have had this personality since I was a child. "Three years old is old"! But forget it, let's not talk about it. It was so easy to come to Shikoku, and it was so easy to get stones. It's not easy to go back without doing anything. You might as well open your teeth and see if you know it's dangerous. ! Let’s see for yourself what happened. Maybe I will tell my grandson an interesting story in the future.” "That is. Then I have something to ask." "What's the matter?" "Can you lift this rock?" "no problem." "It's a lot heavier than when it came." "Don't look at me like this. Although Arnold Schwarzenegger is not as good as him, he is very strong. When he was in the Self-Defense Force, he won the third place in the arm wrestling contest, and he has healed your waist recently." Hoshino stood up, grabbed the stone with both hands, and wanted to lift it up directly.Unexpectedly, the stone did not move at all. "Well, this guy is indeed a lot heavier." Hoshino sighed, "Didn't it take much effort to move it here? It's like being nailed to the ground." "That is. After all, it is an extraordinary entrance stone, and it is impossible to move it easily. It will be troublesome to move it easily." "That's true." At this time, several white lights of varying lengths continued to split the sky, and a series of thunderclaps shook the sky and the earth.Hoshino thought, it's like someone opened the gate of hell.Finally, there was a lightning strike very close, and then suddenly everything was silent, almost suffocating high-density silence.The air was damp and heavy, as if it implied suspicion and conspiracy.It felt as if countless ears, large and small, were floating in the surrounding space, watching closely the movements of the two of them.Shrouded in the darkness of daylight, the two of them stood still without saying a word.Suddenly, a gust of wind blew like a sudden thought, heavy raindrops hit the glass window again, and the thunder sounded again, but it lost the momentum just now.The center of the thunderstorm has passed through the city. Hoshino raised his head and looked around the room. The room looked strange, and the walls became more expressionless.The Marlboro that had just been smoked in the ashtray turned into ashes as it was.The young man swallowed his saliva, brushing away the silence in his ears. "Yo, Nakata!" "What is it, Hoshino-kun?" "It's kind of like a nightmare." "That's it. Even if it's a dream, we're having the same dream, at least." "Maybe." Hoshino scratched his earlobe helplessly, "Maybe, anything is possible. The belly button grows sesame seeds, and the sesame seeds are ground to powder, and the powder is ground to make miso soup. It makes people more courageous." The young man stood up again to lift the stone.He took a deep breath, held it back, exerted strength into his hands, and lifted the stone with a low growl.This time the stone moved a few centimeters. "It moved a little bit," Nakata said. "This time I understand that I haven't been nailed. But I'm afraid it won't work if I move a little bit?" "That is, it must be turned over." "Like flipping biscuits?" "Exactly." Nakata nodded, "Seeded cakes are my favorite in Nakata." "Okay, people say that eating sesame seed cakes in hell can save you from a desperate situation, so let's do it again. Watch me turn you over quickly!" Hoshino closed his eyes, focused his attention, and mobilized all his strength to prepare for a single-line breakthrough.In one move, he thought, the outcome is in one move!There is no retreat, there is no retreat! He held his hands in place, carefully fixed his fingers, adjusted his breathing, and finally took a deep breath. With a cry from the bottom of his abdomen, he lifted the stone in one go and moved it off the ground at a forty-five-degree angle.This is the limit.But he managed to stay in that position.He lifted the stone and exhaled heavily, but he felt a creaking pain all over his body, as if all the muscles and nerves were groaning.But it cannot be done halfway.He took another deep breath and let out a cry.But the sound no longer came into my ears.Maybe something was said.He closed his eyes, where did he borrow the strength beyond the limit - that was not the original strength in him.The brain is in a state of hypoxia and is white.Several nerves melted one after another like a tripped fuse.Can't see anything, can't hear anything, can't think anything.Not enough air.At last, however, he lifted the stone up little by little, turning it over with a louder cry.Once a certain point is passed, the stone loses its weight and falls to the other side under its own weight. With a "bang bang", the room shook violently, and the whole building seemed to shake with it. Hoshino lay back, lying on his back on the tatami, panting.There is a ball of ooze spinning in the head.He thought that it was impossible for him to lift such a heavy thing again (of course he had no way of knowing at this time, and later he realized that his prediction was too optimistic). "Hoshino-kun," "Ok?" "You didn't waste your time, the entrance is open!" "Yo, old man, Nakata," "what?" Hoshino still looked up to the sky with his eyes closed, took another deep breath and let it out. "If I don't open it, I will lose face!"