Chapter 20 Section VI

It's autumn. Shibagaki Tamiko finally believed that Saburo Imaoka was dead.It has been a year since he disappeared, and there is no news during this period.First of all, he made a search request to the police, but the abnormal deaths in various places were not himself. Tamiko didn't even look for Okamura Tadao and Sugihara Tadao, but locked herself at home.Losing Saburo Imaoka, he has no interest in seeing his friends Okamura and Sugihara again.If I meet them, it will cause nostalgia for Imaoka, which is unbearable. Now, perhaps as Okamura said, he has become a skeleton in a deep valley with few people.She imagined: on Imaoka Saburo's body, valley water flowed over, fallen leaves floated down, shrouded in mountain mist in the morning, and white clouds flew over it in the afternoon.If it is not in the water, in winter, the thick snow will definitely bury the bones.

Tamiko Shibagaki wrote tanka before, but since losing Saburo Imaoka, she has become more enthusiastic about tanka.Of course, they all mourn the death of the fiancé. That was someday. Tamiko Shibagaki received the "Hanakage" tanka magazine from the post office, and she read it in one go. This magazine, in addition to the fellows who run the club, also publishes short songs sent in by members from all over the country, and the editor writes poetry reviews.One of them caught her attention: "Stepping into the Yueshan valley, I am glad to see the Fuji thistle blooming quietly."

The author is Michiko Kuwahara, 205 Nannaka-cho, Fujisawa City. The editor's review reads: "The author hiked Mount Echigo and accidentally found that Fuji thistles were blooming there, and he couldn't help staring at them. Fuji thistles are mainly Asteraceae plants that are distributed in the central area around Mount Fuji. The flowers are more than ordinary thistles. Large, about 6 cm to 9 cm, thick purple in color, bright and eye-catching, the plant illustration is written like this. It is unnatural that the flowers that grow around Mount Fuji are blooming in the interior of Niigata Prefecture. Probably this is The author's fiction. The depression of the deep mountain valley, contrasted with the large blooming thick purple Fuji thistle, this is the beautiful scenery that the author chanted in his heart."

Tamiko Shibagaki read the poem review in one sitting. Another month passed. In this issue of "Hanakage", Michiko Kuwahara from Fujisawa City refuted the poem review written by the editor in the previous issue.The content posted is: The husband thinks that the Fuji thistle flower I chanted does not exist in the interior of Niigata Prefecture, but this is indeed what I saw with my own eyes, and it is not a fiction.This summer, I walked down Itoigawa from Mount Baima and passed through the valley of Xiaotongchuan.It was a V-shaped valley, the water was cold and icy, and I remembered that there were densely grown wild wild gooseberries.Walking up the dangerous path, I suddenly saw several bright purple thistle flowers blooming near Heyuan.In this moment song, I couldn't help but write my own feelings at that time.I have read your husband's comments, checked the illustrated book of plants and other reference books, and it is indeed like what you said, the Fuji thistle is a special flower that blooms in Yamanashi, southern Nagano prefectures and Shizuoka prefecture with Mount Fuji as the center. .Why do such flowers bloom in Xiaotongchuan Valley at the foot of Baima Mountain?Although this is unbelievable, I did write it based on what I saw with my own eyes, and it is definitely not a fiction.

Tamiko Shibagaki was reading, and suddenly fell into deep thought in amazement.Xiaotongchuan is a tributary branched from Himekawa.The valley that Imaoka Saburo walked to is this area. Shibagaki Tamiko remained motionless like a statue, holding her breath, trying to sort out the associations that came to her mind. She remembered only a momentary scene.When she went to buy magazines at Shinjuku Station, she saw Sugihara Tadayoshi take a paper package from a boy carrying a mountaineering rucksack.I didn't know what it was at that time, I thought it was just a snack. However, Sugihara Tadayoshi is interested in plants, maybe that boy is also a plant lover.Because of this relationship, Sugihara and the boy got connected.

Teenager with a mountaineering rucksack.In my impression, he didn't start from here, but came back by train from somewhere else.Boys who love plants must have gone to various places to seek plant seeds. When the news of Imaoka Saburo was cut off, Sugihara Tadayoshi said in two surveys that after breaking up with Imaoka Saburo and Okamura Tadao at Matsumoto Station, he went to Nunagawa, East Neckjo County.Okamura also said that they broke up at Matsumoto Station.Sugihara's statement is also consistent with Okamura's affirmation. However, is this really the case? Tamiko was thinking deeply about Sugihara receiving plant seeds from the boy at Shinjuku Station.Shinjuku Station is the departure station of the Central Main Line. On the way, there is an electric train leading to the foot of Mount Fuji from Otsuki Station.Did the boy come back from there and get off at Shinjuku Station that day?And met Sugihara by chance.

When the boy came back from collecting plant seeds at the foot of Mount Fuji, he met his friend Sugihara and gave the seeds to Sugihara.It is not inconceivable to think so. Saburo Imaoka walked alone to the stream area of ​​Xiaotongchuan.Would Sugihara pretend to get off at Matsumoto Station once, and catch up behind Saburo Imaoka on the next train? Why? The answer is simple.Sugihara despaired of Nunagawa in East Neckjo County, and gradually felt that the high-ranking Himekawa found by Saburo Imaoka was attractive to him. So, why didn't Sugihara explain this problem to Imaoka and ask for a colleague?

That is because the stone sought is emerald!It is a thing of high value!If the rough jadeite is found, it can bring a lot of money.If the original stone is traced to the place of origin, it is a discovery of great wealth.Of course, the villagers of the owner of the mountain are completely ignorant of this. Sugihara seems to have intuitively realized that the site surveyed by Saburo Imaoka is the most promising source of jadeite.Although I don’t know if Sugihara had exclusive ambitions at that time, all in all, what was reflected in his mind was that compared to the places he himself surveyed, the directions surveyed by others were far less promising...

Tamiko covered her face with her hands, imagining the horrible scene. The fourth search team, headed by Associate Professor Yagi, set off for the Kotogawa Valley in Niigata Prefecture's Niigata Prefecture.This was before the snow in the north.Among them, Michiko Kuwahara of Fujisawa City, who was requested by Tamiko Shibagaki, was used as the guide; there was another change, that is, several policemen joined in the search team this time. In the late autumn of the mountain gorge, the red leaves are almost gone, and the bare treetops are exposed in the forest.A group of people followed Kuwahara Michiko and set foot on the steep mountain road.

After a long journey, Michiko Kuwahara stopped at one place. "right here!" She pointed to the withered stalks of thistles.Fuji purple thistle blooms in autumn, but withers in winter.The jagged leaves of the purple thistle she was pointing to were already withered. The police officer arranged for everyone to survey the surroundings with the flower plant as the center.It turned out to be a premises covered with soft soil.People gathered here and began digging carefully with shovels.Soon, a brown shoe tip emerged from the soil. Tamiko Shibagaki lay on the shoes and wept.Those were the hiking shoes of Saburo Imaoka in her memory!It was the shoes she had scrubbed several times!

Sugihara Tadayoshi was arrested in Tokyo, and he confessed everything as Tamiko imagined.The seeds of Fuji thistle were still in his pocket, and he began to fight with Saburo Imaoka.As a result, three or four seeds fell to the ground unexpectedly. After that, Sugihara Tadayoshi ran among relatives and friends, keen to raise funds, and planned to buy the mountains in this area. "I followed up and saw that Imaoka was picking up stones in the middle of the river. Although he was a little surprised that I followed him, he still showed me the stone excitedly. It is the same as the flow stone of ordinary quartz, but the roundness of the stone is different. The difference. Ordinary stones are usually washed smooth and smooth in water; but emeralds are different in hardness. They are also eroded by water and always have hard edges and corners. This is what Imaoka said when he showed me the stone. We Hitting rough jadeite with an iron hammer mounted on the back of the mountaineering can’t break it. Because of its high hardness, the hammer often bounces back. However, the ancients had a processing method, which was also proposed by Imaoka. So we A fire was raised there, the stone was heated for a while, and the cracks were struck with a hammer. Using this primitive method, the stone was finally broken in half. "On that section, a deep blue color appeared. Both Imaoka and I exclaimed, and at this moment I had an evil thought. The origin of the emerald that the ancients said is good. Because there is no record in the future, no one will Come and take it. The huge emerald production area is here! What if I monopolize it? I suddenly had a bad idea, it is a wealth that can never be imagined in my dreams! I can become a rich man! For this, I must Hit Imaoka on the back of the head with a hammer!" After Sugihara confessed, he hugged his head. The Xiaotongchuan Valley in Xijingcheng County, Xinhai County, was once an ancient jadeite production site, and now it has become a new discovery site.Until now, it has been proved that ancient jadeites were not all imported from southern China and northern Xidian, and the dissent among archaeologists has gradually decreased.