Chapter 17 second quarter

Naoki Hira left for Fukui Prefecture on June 1st.He has always liked to operate secretly, and even told his wife a different location when he set off from Tokyo.He didn't want his companions to know that he was begging others to let him take a look at "Historical Suspects".The reason why he is like this is that so many scholars are so enthusiastic about their activities, but they all fail, so he has no success.The second is the desire for fame and fame when you succeed by chance.The pleasure of being unexpected made even hide the destination from his wife.He also has several academic partners who have family relationships with each other, and he is worried that his wife will accidentally reveal the secret.

I left Tokyo on the night of May 31st and arrived in Fukui on the morning of June 1st.It took nearly two hours to transfer to a private railway and arrive at the terminal in the lonely countryside.Then I took a bus and bumped for more than an hour before arriving at the mountain place where the old man Utsuhara lived in the mountains. On the train, Hira meets no acquaintances.After Fukui, the private railway cars are full of local residents, as are the buses.Since leaving Tokyo, he has become a traveler that no one knows. The residence of the old man Utsuhara, which is already familiar, has to walk for about 30 minutes after getting off the bus.He asked Utsuhara's family at the entrance of the village.I asked him right away, but none of the people who told him, or those who saw him on the road, thought that he was a lecturer at a university in Tokyo.Undoubtedly, he was carrying a handbag, in the eyes of the villagers, he was just a man from Fukui City, otherwise he was from Kanazawa.

It was about one o'clock in the afternoon when it was not easy to reach the old man Utsuhara's house.It was a large house with a straw roof, but it was obvious at a glance that the whole old house was gradually decaying.The life of the old man Utsuhara cannot be well-off. Pushing open the low paper door, a cry came from the dark floor.There, it is like a house in a mountain temple, lonely, big and useless.Out of the pitch-black mass came out a short, white-haired old man who looked like a grave keeper. This was Utsuhara Hirasuke.The old man stared down at Biliang who was still standing between the floorboards and lowered his head deeply, and asked in a husky voice: Who is it?

The old man took Biliang's business card and took out his glasses from his pocket to look at it.Well, from Tokyo, the old man who whispered so much had a proud and mocking smile on his lips. Hira sat upright on the old tatami, begging the old man to read Mr. Shiraishi's "Historical Doubts".Along the way, he had already thought about how to word this and that, and cited several reasons, expressing how much he was looking forward to seeing the true face of "Historical Suspects". As expected, the old man Utsuhara coldly refused.With proficient words, the old man said that many famous scholars from Tokyo had already raised the same hope, but for some reason they all refused to agree, so although they came all the way, they could only ask for forgiveness.Since there were many visitors with the same purpose for a period of time, the old man spoke very grandly and smoothly.

Biliang said that he had expected to be rejected, but he still came.He also emphasized how his knowledge is different from other scholars and is original.He tried his best to explain that in order to complete his theory, he must consult Mr. Baishi's "Historical Doubts", which is also his entire mission at this moment.He also hinted in words that as long as he is allowed to copy the whole book, material gifts can be accepted as much as possible by the old man's request.He felt that since the old man was paranoid, he would definitely get angry if he mentioned money matters openly.Looking at the situation inside and outside the house, it is obvious that the life of the elderly is by no means ample.

Despite his expectations, the old man Utsuhara flatly refused.That wrinkled face was like a rock, bouncing back Hira's wish. All of this was not what Biliang expected, but when faced with this situation, Biliang couldn't help being puzzled by the old man's stubbornness.However, the more he was rejected, the more his persistence burned.It's not that he didn't expect that he would return to Tokyo after being stunned.Not telling his wife, on the one hand, is precisely to prevent the embarrassment of being returned home by friends who know that they have failed.However, thinking of the huge book "History" that he longed for, which was piled up in a certain room behind this little old man at this moment, he really hoped that he could kick the old man over and break in to find them. come out.

Biliang temporarily moved the topic away from "Historical Doubts" and chatted about some irrelevant things.He tried to pick things that the old man might like, trying to make him feel close to him.At this moment, the old man finally seemed to open his mind, but as soon as the topic turned back to the original place, his attitude immediately stiffened again. Biliang thought of various methods and proposed to borrow other ancient documents.The old man readily agreed.Those who have seen it before are also very satisfied, the old man said so and went inside. Biliang listened attentively to the sound of the old man's footsteps going away.Because the house is too old, some wood seems to have decayed, so the footsteps are so loud.Bi Haoliang wanted to follow the old man into the library containing "historical doubts", but he managed to suppress the urge.Soon, the same footsteps sounded again.The old man came back with three or four ancient books in his hands.

It belongs to the earlier Tokugawa era, which is enough to fully prove that his ancestors were indeed Fan Confucians.Hira, like other scholars, deduced from these ancient documents that the old man was undoubtedly somewhere in the house, piling up twenty-one volumes of "historical doubts". Biliang praised these ancient books, and asked permission to read "historical doubts" again and again, but the old man still refused.The old man was so cruel that he hated it, and Bi Liang gradually felt hopeless.In the end, after three hours of exhaustion, the soldiers had to abandon their armor and retreat.

He walked towards the bus station, feeling as heavy as a boulder.Looking back, there are a group of rooftops clustered under the peaks of the Mino region in the background.Among them, the old man's house stands out from the crowd.Hira was filled with indignation. He came to the bus station with heavy steps, but his heart was still on the "historical suspicion" of the old man Utsuhara.He seemed to feel that if he lost this opportunity, he would never come to this land again.It's still an hour before the bus drives. Bored, Hira walks to a nearby bridge.The river flows into the mouth of the Sea of ​​Japan and becomes a large river.Looking down at the gurgling water on the bridge, he suddenly remembered that he was the only one in the old man's house.It is said that Yun's family members live scattered elsewhere and do not communicate with each other at ordinary times.And, perhaps because of the old man's bad temper, there was not even a single visitor during the three hours of his visit.

Since the old man lives alone, as long as he goes out, there will be no one in the house.The house is so big, the door probably won't be very careful.Of course, it is impossible for someone in the village to steal "Historical Suspects" while the old man is away.At the same time, no scholar would be so bold as to think of stealing the "Historical Doubt". The old man should also have something to go out.For example, he feeds himself, goes out to buy something, or there may be something to run around in the township office.After thinking about this, Biliang made up his mind to play a cameo role in breaking through the empty door.It doesn't look like there's another locked warehouse.The old man also said that all the books are piled up in the inner room.

Although Biliang made up his mind, he still hesitated.This kind of behavior is tantamount to being a thief, no, not only is it tantamount to being a thief, it is an out-and-out thief at all. However, he always thought it was a godsend.Thinking about it this way, I suddenly felt that the old man who hid precious historical materials inexplicably was really detestable.He is nothing more than a bibliophile who has no idea of ​​value.Such an old man, possessing Arai Shiraishi's "historical doubts", is really reckless.It is better for scholars like me to have it, which is more beneficial to learning and meaningful to the world. Even acts of thieves should be forgiven in terms of loyalty to learning.This is not the same as stealing money or treasure.There is a fundamental difference from shameless crime.He justified himself in this way for his actions. Before the war, there was a similar incident in which a famous archaeologist took out ancient documents stored in shrines and temples without authorization.After the revelation, the scholar was dismissed from public office, but his performance is still highly regarded.According to common sense, he would be blamed for this matter, but some people still support it in some academic circles, and it cannot be compared with the usual behavior of stealing property.He just took it out arbitrarily because he was too loyal to learning.That kind of precious ancient documents, hidden in shrines and temples to collect dust and dirt, is meaningless at all.Materials must be in the hands of capable scholars before they can have life.When the old man was out, he went in without authorization to look at "Historical Suspects", so he wouldn't be blamed.And I'm not trying to steal, just looking at the content.Bi Liang said so to himself.