Chapter 34 third chapter

wind-up bird in winter From the wonderful summer days, winter has come.There have been no changes that could be called changes during this period.The morning light shines quietly, and the twilight falls day by day. It was rainy in September, and it was almost hot and sweaty for a few days in November.Except for the weather, though, there was little difference between one day and another.I go for long distance swims and walks every day, prepare three meals a day, and focus my nerves on realistic and urgent things. But loneliness still stabs my heart from time to time.Even the water he drank and the air he inhaled were pierced with long, sharp needles, and the pages of the book in his hand shone like a thin razor blade.In the silent hours of 4 a.m., I could hear the root of solitude stretching.

Although there are few people who refuse to let me go, there are still some.That was Kumiko's natal family.They came several times with letters.The letter stated that since Kumiko said that married life could no longer continue, please agree to divorce as soon as possible, and only in this way can the problem be resolved satisfactorily.The first few letters were business-oriented, which seemed to be high-handed; after they were ignored, they became more aggressive, and finally became earnest, but the goal to be achieved was the same. Soon, Kumiko's father called. "It's not that we'll never leave," I replied, "but we need to have a private talk with Kumiko before we leave. If it works out, it's okay to leave. Otherwise, divorce is impossible."

I looked out the kitchen window at the rain-heavy sky.It rained four days in a row this week, and the whole world was dark and wet. "The marriage was decided after repeated discussions between Kumiko and I, and we have to go through the same procedure if we quit halfway," I said. But the negotiations with her father turned into two-way traffic, and they never arrived anywhere.In fact, it is not exactly that we have not arrived anywhere, but that we have arrived at a barren land with no harvest. A few questions remain.Did Kumiko really want to divorce me?And begging their parents to do my job for that?Her father told me "Kumiko said she doesn't want to meet you".His brother Noboru Watatani said the same thing when he met me before.This probably won't be entirely out of thin air.Although Kumiko's parents sometimes explain things in their own favor, as far as I know, at least they don't make up out of thin air.If so, if what her father said was true, then Kumiko must be "hidden" somewhere by them now.

Still I can't believe it.Because Kumiko has hardly had any feelings for her parents and elder brother since she was a child, and she tries her best not to depend on them.Maybe Kumiko had a lover and abandoned me because of some clue.Although I can't believe everything that Kumiko said in the letter, I think it's not impossible.It's just inexplicable that Kumiko went directly to her natal family or stayed in a place prepared by her natal family and contacted me through them. The more I think about it, the more strange it becomes.One conceivable possibility is that Kumiko has a mental problem, so that she loses control over herself; another possibility is that she was forcibly imprisoned somewhere.So, I put together or change the arrangement of various facts, words and memories.After a while, I gave up thinking.Speculation doesn't make me feel at home.

Autumn is coming to an end, and there is a breath of winter in the surroundings.As I did in the same season in previous years, I swept the fallen leaves in the yard together, put them in plastic bags and threw them away; I built a ladder to the eaves, and cleaned the accumulated leaves in the trough.Although there are no trees in the small courtyard of my house, there are deciduous trees with well-developed branches in the adjacent courtyard on both sides, and the wind blows the dead leaves all over the courtyard.Fortunately, such labor is not hard work for me.In the mid-afternoon sun, watching the sunset and drifting away, time passed unconsciously.There is a big tree with red fruits hanging in the yard on the right, and birds fly to the tree and sing and compete with each other from time to time.The birds are brightly colored, and their 011 calls are short and sharp, piercing the air.

I don't know how to organize Kumiko's summer clothes.I also thought about simply taking what Kumiko told me in the letter, and just deal with it all at once.But I remember that Kumiko regards each of these clothes as treasures, and since there is no place to put them, I think it is better to keep them for a while. The problem is that every time I open the closet door, I'm always inextricably aware of Kumiko's absence.The clothes lined up inside have all become irreducible empty shells of once-existing things.Kumiko's appearance in these clothes is as vivid as yesterday, and some of the clothes are still printed with my living memories.Sometimes, suddenly, I would find myself sitting on the edge of the bed staring at Kumiko's dresses, shirts, and skirts.Can't remember how long I sat there.Maybe 10 minutes, or an hour is unknown.

I often looked at the clothes and imagined a scene where a man I didn't know would undress Kumiko.The hands in my mind were taking off her dress and pulling her briefs.Start fondling her breasts instead, spreading her legs apart.I could see Kumiko's plump breasts, her snow-white thighs, and I could see a pair of other men's hands on them.I didn't want to think about it, but I couldn't.Because that's what can actually happen.I have to get myself used to this kind of imagination, the reality cannot be randomly distributed elsewhere. Watatani Noboru's uncle, who was a member of the House of Representatives in Niigata Prefecture, died in early October.During his stay in a hospital in Xinqing City, he suddenly suffered a heart attack in the middle of the night one day later. Although the doctors tried their best to rescue him, he was still divided into an ordinary dead body at dawn.However, the death of Senator Miyatani was already expected, and there was news that the general election would start soon, so the "support club" countermeasures were very prompt and timely, and Noboru Miyatani was able to inherit his uncle's territory according to the plan already agreed upon.The canvassing organization of the ex-Watani MP is impenetrable, not to mention that it was originally the Conservative Party vote field.Barring quite a surprise, his election is safe.I read related reports from the library newspaper.At that time, my first reaction was to think that the Watatani family would be too busy to care about Kumiko's divorce.

Not long after, in the early spring of the following year, the House of Representatives was dissolved for a general election. As expected, Noboru Watatani defeated the opposition party candidates by an absolute advantage and was elected.I kept track of Noboru Watatani's major events through the library newspaper, from the time he announced his candidacy to the counting of ballots, but I harbored little affection for his election.It feels as if everything has been arranged long ago, but the reality is just tired of replaying it all over again. The blue and black moles on his face were neither bigger nor smaller, and he didn't feel hot or painful.And I've gradually forgotten the fact that I have a clear face, and I no longer wear dark sunglasses or pull the brim of my hat very low to hide my illness.When I go shopping during the day, the people I pass by either stare at my face or look away, which makes me sometimes remember the existence of moles, but once I get used to it, I don’t mind it so much.After all, my Youtao didn't inconvenience anyone.When I wash my face and shave in the morning, I often look closely at the condition of the writing, but I don't see any changes.The size, tone and shape are the same.

In fact, not many people noticed the extraneous moles on my face, only four in total.I asked at the laundromat in front of the station, at the barbershop I frequented, at the clerk at the Omura Hotel, at the woman I met at the service desk in the library, that’s all.Every time I asked about it, I would make an embarrassing expression, and try my best to explain it in a few words, such as "something happened" and so on.They didn't delve too deeply into it, and said apologetically, "That's true" or "It's enough for you". It seems that I am getting away from myself day by day.While staring at my own hand for a long time, sometimes it seems that the hand becomes transparent and I can see the other side of the hand.I hardly ever talk, and no one writes to me, and no one calls me.What went into the mailbox was nothing more than bills for the Community Chest and advertisements sent by names.The ads were mostly color-books of designer clothing sent to Kumiko, and photos of spring dresses, blouses, and skirts abounded.Although it is cold in winter, sometimes I can't remember to turn on the stove.I can't tell if it's the cold weather or my heart is cold.Don't turn on the stove until you check the temperature gauge to make sure it is cold.Sometimes no matter how warm the stove is in the room, the coldness in the feeling will still increase.

I still climb over the courtyard wall from time to time and walk through the alley to the place where Miyawaki's empty house used to be.Wearing a short overcoat with a scarf wrapped around my jaw, I walked through the alleys on the withered winter grass.Bitter wind howled softly through the wires.There are no tiles left in the empty house, and high poles have been built around it.You can peek in from the gap in the wall, and there is nothing left to peep.The house is gone, the slate is gone, the well is gone, the tree is gone, the TV antenna is gone, the stone bird is gone.There is only the flat, dark ground that has been crushed by the tractor tracks and stretches coldly, and a few clumps of weeds that grow sporadically on a whim.The deep well that once existed and my own act of going down the well seemed like a dream.

I leaned against the wall to look at May Kasahara's house, and raised my face to stare at her room.But May Kasahara is no longer there, and she will never come out and say "Hello, Wind-up Bird" to me. On an extremely cold afternoon in mid-February, I came to the "Setagaya Daiichi Real Estate" that my uncle had told me about in front of the station.Pushing open the door, there was a female clerk inside, and there were a few tables near the door, but the chairs were empty.It seems that everyone has gone out because of something.A large gas stove in the middle of the room was burning bright red.There is a small reception room-like room at the far end, where a small old man sits on the sofa and reads a newspaper intently.I asked the clerk if Mr. Ichikawa was there. "I'm Ichikawa, what's the matter?" The old man inside greeted me. I told my uncle's name, saying that I was his nephew and now lived in his old house. "Oh, is that right? It turned out to be Mr. Tsuruta's nephew!" The old man said, put the newspaper on the table, took off his reading glasses and put them in his pocket, and then looked my face and clothes up and down.I don't know how it feels to me. "Ah, this way, please. How about some tea?" I said no tea, please don't be polite.But I don't know if the old man didn't hear it, or if he heard it and didn't accept it, he ordered the waitress to serve tea.After a while, the female clerk brought the note, and the two drank tea one by one in the reception room.The fire was out, and the room was cold and dreary.On the wall is a detailed map of the nearby residences, marked with pencils and signature pens everywhere.There is a wall calendar next to it, and the picture is the famous bridge described by Van Gogh.It is a promotional wall calendar for a bank. "I haven't seen you for a long time. How is Mr. Tsuruta?" the old man asked, sipping tea. "It seems to be okay. I'm still so busy, I seldom see each other." I replied. "That's good. How long has it been since we last met? It seems like a long, long time." As he spoke, the old man took out a cigarette from his coat pocket and struck a match sharply at a good angle. "Your uncle's house was entrusted to me, and it has been managed as a rental house. Well, it's better to be busy than anything else." But old man Ichikawa didn't seem very busy.I guess I came to the company as a semi-employed person to take care of regular customers. "Well, is the house comfortable to live in? Nothing wrong?" "There's nothing wrong with the house." I said. The old man nodded. "That's good. It's a nice house. Smaller than that, but comfortable to live in. The eight who've lived there have had a good trip. How about you, a good trip, haven't you?" "I guess." I replied.At least I'm alive, I said to myself. "I came here today to ask something. I asked my uncle. Uncle said that you are most familiar with the real estate situation in this area." The old man sneered and said, "If you ask if you are familiar with it, you are still familiar. After all, we have been engaged in real estate here for 40 years." "I want to ask about the situation of Miyawaki's house in the back of my house-there is land preparation for sale right now!" "Hmm." The old man bit his lips tightly, as if searching the drawers in his head. "The sale was in August last year. Debt, property rights and legal issues have all been settled, and it can be sold. It has been a long time. This time, the real estate agent bought it, demolished the house and cleared the land for resale .Anyway, no one buys the ground buildings, and it’s inconvenient to leave the house vacant. It’s not the local counterparts who bought it, and the locals won’t buy it. You know many reasons for the house, right?” "Basically, I heard what my uncle said." "Then you should also know that people who know the inside information will not buy it, so we will not buy it. Even if we catch someone who does not know the inside information and try to resell it, no matter how much money we make, we will feel bad afterward. We will not do that kind of cheating People buy and sell." I nodded in agreement. "So, which company bought it?" The old man frowned and shook his head, and said the name of a large-scale real estate company, "I'm afraid I didn't investigate carefully. I just bought it because of the location and price, thinking that I could make a fortune. It's not that simple." "It's not sold yet?" "It looks like it can be sold, but I can't get rid of it." The old man folded his arms, "Land is not cheap, and it is a lifetime asset. Those who want to buy it have to investigate it from root to tip. In this way, those strange things It was thrown out one by one. And once they know about it, most people will not buy it again. Nine out of ten people in this area know about the situation of that piece of land." "How much is the price?" "price?" "It's the price of the land where the house of the Kanwaki family used to be." The old man Ichikawa looked at me with somewhat interested eyes: the market price is 1.5 million per ping, after all, it is a first-class land.As a residential land, the environment is unparalleled and the lighting is good, so the price is worth it.At this time, land prices are not very bullish, and the real estate industry is not very prosperous, but that area is not a problem.As long as you are willing to wait for time, you will get a good price sooner or later, generally speaking.But it's unusual there, so no matter how much you wait, you can't start it, only descending.Now it has dropped again and again, and it has dropped to 1.1 million per ring, a total of nearly 100 pings, and it will be reduced to 100 million. " "Will it drop in the future?" The old man nodded decisively: "Of course it will be reduced. It is no problem to reduce it to 900,000 yuan per ping. 900,000 yuan is their purchase price, and they want to reduce it to that amount. Now they also feel that things are not good, and they are overjoyed if they can get their money back. As for I’m not sure whether it can be lowered further. If they wait for the money to be used, they may sell it as much as they put in the money; if they don’t lack money to spend, they may hold on to it. I don’t know the internal situation of the company. Another point that can be determined It’s because they are regretting buying that piece of land. It’s definitely not a good thing to stick to that piece of land.” The old man knocked the ash down into the ashtray. "Is there a well in that house?" I asked, "Do you know anything about wells?" "Well, there is a well," said Ichikawa. "It's a deep well. But it was filled in a few days ago. Anyway, it's a dry well, so there is no such thing." "Do you know when the well ran dry?" The old man folded his arms and looked at the ceiling for a while. "It was a long time ago, and I can't remember exactly. There was water before the war, and it was after the war. I don't know when it came out. But there was no water when the actress moved in. At that time It seems to be saying whether to fill the well. The result is nothing, because it is troublesome to fill in a well." "The Kasahara family next door still has water coming in. I heard that the water is still very good." "Yes, maybe. Because of the geology, it's good that there was water in that area before. The water veins are very subtle. It's not uncommon for water to come out there, but not here a few steps away. You're not interested in that. ?" "To tell you the truth, I want to buy that land." The old man raised his head, refocused his eyes on my face, then picked up the tea bowl, and silently sipped his tea. "Want to buy that land?" I nod instead of answering. The old man picked up the pack of cigarettes, smoked another, and touched the cigarette butt on the coffee table with a "thumb tom".But it was only between the fingers, and there was no ignition.He licked his lips with the tip of his tongue and said, "Just now I have been saying that there is a problem with that piece of land. No one who has lived there before has had a good time. Understand? Put it bluntly, even if the price is cheaper, it is absolutely impossible to buy .It doesn't matter to you?" "Of course I know this. Speaking of which, even if it is cheaper than the market price, I don't have enough money to buy it. I'm going to spend time thinking about it. So, if you want to get information about this, can you provide us with information, such as price changes and transaction dynamics." The old man stared at the unlit cigarette and thought for a long time.He coughed lightly and said, "Don't be afraid, don't worry, it won't be sold in the short term. The real move will be after the price is so low that it's free. According to my intuition, it will take some time to get to that point." I told the old man my phone number, and the old man wrote it down in the sweat-stained little black handbook.After putting the manual in his pocket, he stared at my eyes and then at the mole on my cheek. February passed, and when March was almost halfway past, the severe cold that almost froze people was somewhat eased, and warm winds began to blow from the south.The green shoots of the trees are already visible, and there are birds in the yard that I have never seen before.On warm days, I sit on the veranda and in the yard to pass the time. One evening in mid-March, Ichikawa called and said that the land in Guanwaki had not yet been sold, and the price would still be lowered. "Didn't I say it's not that easy to sell," he said triumphantly, "Don't worry, there will be a drop or two. How about it, where are you? Can you save some money?" When I washed my face in the bathroom at around 8 o'clock that night, I found that the mole on my face started to heat up.When you touch it with your fingers, you can feel the slight heat that you have never had before.The color is also brighter than before, with a tinge of purple.I held my breath and stared at the mirror for a long time until my face almost didn't look like my own.That mole seemed to be demanding something from me.I stared at myself on the other side of the mirror, and I on the other side of the mirror silently stared at me on this side of the mirror. Get that well anyway! That's the conclusion I've come to.