Chapter 3 second quarter

Even if he went out in person, at most Heishiro could only go to Masagoro to have a look at the big forehead.Wiping his sweat, he picked up the shade and walked all the way to Motomachi, the headquarters. In addition to assisting the tasks assigned by his superiors, Okabiki also runs a business part-time. Masagoro also opened a soba noodle shop.What the shop is most proud of is their soup, which is one of the best in Edo Castle. Heishiro also loves the small scallop soba here. Walking on the wooden bridge and crossing the narrow waterway like a ditch, you can see the wooden roof of Masagoro's house that has dried out under the bright sun, which seems to be shining white.At the same time, bursts of seductive bonito fragrance wafted.The boy with the big forehead, in the midst of the mouth-watering smell in the room, how could he resist not eating? Heishiro was puzzled again, when he was looking at the indigo-dyed cloth curtain, he saw the curtain lifted, Masagoro's wife came out.She lowered her head with a toothache-like expression on her face.

"Hey--" When Heishiro called, Masagoro's wife stopped in surprise. "Isn't this Mr. Izutsu? It's so hot." You want to find my family... She just opened her mouth, but Heishiro stretched out his hand to stop her, and smiled. "You look listless, is it because of your big forehead?" She opened her slender eyes wide in surprise, but then nodded. "Yes... Master Izutsu, you heard what Dr. Koan said." "Well, it's really hard for you." "I'm sorry for making my uncle worry. But knowing that I'm not sick, I'm half relieved."

Heishiro looked around, and there was a willow tree swaying not far from the corner, which seemed quite cool.There are benches under the tree, and the water seller has put down the pot and is doing business. "Let's talk over there." Avoid Masagoro, his wife is also more convenient to talk to.Heishiro moved his chin to that side and walked over, followed by Masagoro's wife. "Maybe I'm worrying for nothing, but you and Masagoro aren't arguing about the big forehead, are you?" He said it was "nothing to worry about", but Heishiro guessed in his heart that it was probably the same, and when he asked, it turned out to be the case.The corners of Masagoro's wife's pursed mouth drooped, and a small sigh came out from the tip of her slender nose.

"Don't look at my guy like this. In fact, he was quite impatient. He scolded Santaro severely, saying that since he has something on his mind, he should speak it out. What kind of awkward boy is he?" Heishiro sat on the bench looking up to the sky and laughing. "I expected it to be so." "But I feel sorry for the child who dare not say anything, so I can only be bored in my heart. It's because he can't speak out that he gets sick, but he scolds him for not speaking, isn't it very pitiful? It really pissed me off." "When you speak for Santaro like this, Masagoro is even more angry, isn't it? You must say that if you are your biological parents, you should scold him at this time. Thinking about thinking that you are good to him, it hurts him instead."

Masagoro's wife looked at Heishiro with surprise and admiration. "It's as if the uncle saw us quarreling with his own eyes!" "Where, bystanders can see clearly! If this is someone else's business, you can also see it clearly." The water sold by the water vendor was no longer cold. Heishiro looked into the cup in his hand and asked nonchalantly: "What kind of people are Santaro's biological parents? Are there any records?" As Heishiro expected, Masagoro's wife looked at his home, and then whispered back: "Master Izutsu didn't hear my family mention the process of adopting that child?"

"I haven't heard a single word. I never had that chance, and Masagoro is not someone who would take the initiative to speak up." "That's true..." Masagoro's wife said that the couple adopted Santaro when he was five years old. "As you can imagine, the child's father killed someone and was imprisoned in a cell in Chuanma Town, where he died. He used to be a door and window master, and his craftsmanship seems to be quite good, but unfortunately he couldn't quit drinking, and his wine quality was poor. Well, Huang Tang's temperament will change drastically after eating, and he will make trouble and beat people. When he was arrested, even my family was injured."

"Drinking makes you sexually promiscuous. It's pitiful, but it's not uncommon." "Yes. His father died in prison, leaving his mother and five children. The eldest two are old enough to be apprentices, and the bottom three are still young." Although it is not easy for a woman to raise five children, it is not impossible.In fact, his mother refused to let go of the four children other than Santaro and insisted on raising them by herself. However, she can't handle Santaro alone.As for the reason, it is said that the child is a little... "Sluggish." Masagoro's wife bit her lip in embarrassment. "She said the kids had to work together to get by and that the kid was going to be a drag on the siblings."

"A big forehead is not dull at all." "Yes, you are right!" Masagoro's wife strongly agreed. "But it looks like that in the eyes of the child's mother." "He's only five years old, so he probably doesn't have the talent for a particularly good memory." "Yeah, my family and I only noticed it after adopting that child for several years." Masagoro's wife raised her gaze from the dusty ground to Heishiro. "Master Izutsu, I think Santaro's mother doesn't want him for some reason." She said it was likely that the child's father was different from the other four children.

"It's just as uncommon." Heishiro responded bluntly. "Even so, Santaro is very happy to be adopted by you. How is his mother and other brothers now? Any news?" "No, there will be no news after the child is taken away." "Then you don't even know if you're still in Edo?" "Yes." "In this way, it is not completely impossible for Santaro to run errands outside and bump into his mother on the road. He only left home when he was five years old, so he should still remember his mother's appearance." Masagoro's wife asked for help.

"Izutsu-san thinks so too?" Heishiro smiled. "I just think about things that anyone can think of. What happened, I don't know if you don't ask the big forehead." "The kid won't say anything." "However, a well-behaved person wouldn't decide to go on a hunger strike until he passed out just because of a whim or a whim. Something must have happened. How was the big forehead a while ago? Is there anything unusual about it?" "An unusual place..." "It's like asking him to do something he hasn't done before, whether there are some strangers at home, or ordering him to go to a place he hasn't been to. Anything is fine, no matter how small it is, does it matter?"

Masagoro's wife put the teacup filled with water on the stool, put her hands together in front of her nose and concentrated on thinking.Heishiro took out the folding fan and spread it out to slap his face, only to see that the fan was covered with portraits of Heishiro, which was drawn by learning the popular portrait folding fan when Yumisuke was playing at home. "Uncle has a long face, so you have to hold the fan straight to draw well." Yukinosuke said that the painted portrait looked like a horse with big nostrils, exhausted from work but dejected with no food to eat. The first to sell this portrait fan was a dressing shop called Shobundo in the monzen-cho of Kannon-ji Temple in Asakusa.They asked the painter to sit in a corner of the shop and paint portraits for the customers who bought the white fans on the spot.The idea was an instant hit.There are as many fans as there are exquisite drawings, but the ones with their own faces can't be found anywhere else. It's not easy to come up with a popular idea, but it's easy to imitate.Before long, portrait fans were sold everywhere in Edo Castle.This idea is easy to learn, as long as you can draw a few strokes, you can buy a white paper fan and do it yourself.It’s just that Xiangwentang’s portraits painted by Faxiang are wonderful because they are “a little bit” better than himself, but it’s also difficult to grasp the scale of this “a little bit”. It is said that Xiangwentang invited This Xiuming painter is less than thirty years old, I thought he could have a lot of Taoism, but he can grasp the proportions just right.As a result, people think that since they want to buy it, it is better to go to Xiangwentang, and Xiangwentang has been crowded for days.When it comes to doing business, only God knows what will sell. "Ouch, portrait fan!" Heishiro quickly put away his fan, but Masagoro's wife saw it with sharp eyes, and a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. "This is not sold by Xiangwentang, it is drawn by Yumizusuke." "How is Yumonosuke-sama recently?" "It's still the same person as a kid. Did you remember anything?" Masagoro's wife's smile faded away.She shook her head and said: "No……" "Really? It's no wonder that there are some things that adults can't feel, but children of that age are very sensitive." If you can think of it in a few moments, Masagoro and his wife don't need to worry about it. "Thanks to Dr. Xing'an, the child is finally willing to drink rice soup, but his body can't hold on to drinking rice soup alone." "It's not a baby after all." "I'm planning to visit Furukawa Yakushiji Temple tomorrow and buy a ginkgo amulet from the temple for Santaro to take with me." Heishiro asked puzzledly, "Didn't Yakushi Furukawa worship you when there was no milk to feed?" "It's more than that! That's the god of medicine who blesses all living beings, and it's effective for all ailments. What's more, if you go to Shinagawa, you may find some new gadgets or snacks. Seeing new things, maybe Santaro's mood will also change. Different!" It's hard for a mother, Heishiro thought to himself.Because of this, I teach people to be very grateful. I also looked at the big forehead before I left——I was about to speak, but Heishiro closed his mouth.Seeing the reason why he couldn't go to visit the big forehead, he was rushing straight from the dry road, causing dust to fly. It's Xiaopingji.I don't know if his head has cooled down a bit. "Uncle, uncle!" The cloud of dust shouted from afar, and Heishiro stood up. "What's the rush? I won't run away. What's the matter?" Koheiji greeted Masagoro's wife as he ran -- the fat man was really dexterous -- panting, and finally stopped. "Asahi, Asakusa, of, of Shobundo..." Masagoro's wife groaned. "That, the painter, the painter named Xiuming, was, was killed!"