Chapter 14 Section five

"Sorry to keep you waiting for so long." Mr. Nitta held the steering wheel with an apology on his face.The model is the same as last time, the color is also white, and it is as comfortable to sit as last time. "The lawyer's meeting lasted longer than scheduled. Because it was a dispute over the renewal of the leasehold rights, the client insisted on going to the scene today to see it, and he refused to persuade him no matter how much he persuaded him. However, in our profession, we have to respect the client People's wishes will do. Therefore, I have no other choice, so I came to pick up the two and set off first."

"That's it, we're not embarrassed." Mom sat in the back seat and bowed her head politely to thank.At this time, the car stopped at a red light, and Mom's posture became a little funny. Mr. Nitta said that I can choose the songs I like to play, so sitting next to the driver's seat, I chose from the cassette box, which includes Western music, Japanese rock, Matsutoya Yumi and Kuwata, and film soundtracks Featured. "Ya Nan troubled you last time, and I didn't even know about it. It's so embarrassing." Nitta-san smiled shyly. "It's nothing. It just happened to be in the same direction, so we just came back together."

I obviously asked Mr. Nitta to keep it a secret, but my mother still found out. It's all my fault for being too careless. I saw his kind face instead of the fierce detective appearing on the screen, so I accidentally blurted out: "So it's Mr. Nitta." "Who is Mr. Nitta?" Mom asked me. "It's Mr. Nitta, the assistant of Lawyer Maekawa, and Mom knows him too." But Mom didn't know him, so I had no choice but to tell the truth about the last time he sent me and Shimazaki back.However, Ma was too busy greeting Mr. Nitta, whom we met for the first time, and didn't ask why we went to Nishi-Funabashi.

"Did anyone else go there first?" "Yes, the lawyer's family went there first. Although it's a bit far from Lake Suwa, it's on the mountainside with a beautiful view. I heard it's a beautiful villa. Because it's the weekend, the nearby villas are also occupied. I heard that there will be a large garden party tonight, and there seems to be a barbecue." "Must be fun," Ma said, leaning back in the seat. "It's just past three o'clock now." Mr. Nitta glanced at the clock on the dashboard. "If everything goes well, we will arrive before seven o'clock."

I thought to myself, it's great to have a barbecue, and I still have the cassette in my hand.At times like this, I want to listen to music I haven't usually heard before, so it takes a lot of time. "What's this? Is it rock and roll?" I picked up a cassette and asked Nitta-san. The sticker read "Eagle Greatest Collection" neatly written on it. "That, um, it's rock and roll. I should say it's Californian music, it feels like summer. By the way, you probably don't know the Eagles. I was about your age when they disbanded." "Then can I listen to this?"

"Of course. Maybe there's something you've heard, like 'Hotel California' or 'Desperado' or whatever." When I was in Tokyo, the car kept going and stopping.However, the music played never bored me at all.Mr. Nitta is right, I have impressions of several songs, but because I didn't know the title of the song and the band that sang it before, I felt like I made a profit.Every time I hear a song I have never heard before, I always ask Mr. Nitta the title of the song. The lyrics are quite simple, and I can understand some parts. Mr. Nitta said that he liked this band very much when he was a student. He also played a little bass himself, and even formed a band to imitate them.It turns out that behind those deep glasses, there is still this side hidden.

"Our band sucks, though," he said with a laugh. "Don Henley and Glenn Frey used to be in the Eagles, did you know them?" "I seem to have heard the name Glenn Fry..." "He sang the song 'The Heat Is On' in Beverly Hills Cop." "Really? So it's that song." While we were talking about this, Ma closed her eyes as if dozing off. Among them, my favorite is the song at the end of the cassette.Although it was the first time I heard it, I deliberately went back and listened to it again, and hummed along with it when I listened again.

The lyrics are roughly like this. "You seem to like this song quite a lot." Mr. Nitta said looking at the front. "Well, it sounds good." "I liked it too, it was their best seller before they broke up. My favorite, though, is 'Desperado.'" So he played "Desperado" at my request, this time Mr. Nitta hummed softly along with the melody. Near Sagami Lake, we stopped to rest and go to the bathroom.When my mother and I returned to the car, Mr. Nitta happened to walk towards the car with a paper cup filled with drinks. "I ordered iced coffee, do you drink iced coffee?"

"Of course, sorry." Ma reached for it, and at that moment, something was wrong, and the paper cup fell over.The coffee-colored liquid splashed all over Mom's and my chests. "Wow! It's so cold!" "I'm sorry! Boy, are you okay?" Mom made a fuss and took out a handkerchief to wipe my T-shirt, but it didn't help. "It looks like you'd better change clothes," Mr. Nitta said. "I'm afraid I'll catch a cold if I wear wet clothes and blow on the air conditioner." "Indeed." My mother's white POLO shirt has also been dyed tea-brown from the collar to the chest.The dress had her initials embroidered on the chest, and it had only been worn two or three times, so it was as good as new.

"It's best to take it and rinse it, otherwise it won't wash off." Mr. Nitta opened the trunk and helped us take out our luggage, and my mother and I went back to the toilet to change our clothes.After returning, Mr. Nitta took the two clothes that were wet with coffee and water from his mother. "I have a plastic bag here. I put these two pieces of clothing away separately so as not to wet other luggage. Please get in the car first." Then he quickly closed the rear compartment lid and returned to the driver's seat. "Let's go." Although the days in summer are long, when passing through Nirazaki from Kofu, the sky also begins to darken.There is a feeling of galloping towards the sunset, which is pretty good.

When approaching Lake Suwa, Mr. Nitta began to look at the map from time to time.What he looked at was not an ordinary road map, but a map showing how to get to the villa.I opened the picture and showed it to him in the driver's seat.It seemed to be photocopied from some sketch map, with the route marked in red pen.It seems that what we are going to is a villa called "Log Cabin" in "Kamisuwa Lakeside Village". "We'll be there in about 30 minutes." Mr. Nitta's prediction was very accurate. Just as we could see the water of Lake Suwa on the left, we arrived at an open place shortly after we started climbing the gentle mountain road.A signboard made of logs reads "Welcome to Suwa Lakeside Village", with a map of the villa area drawn next to it, and a gate that looks like a small level crossing. people. Mr. Nitta looked up from the car window and said: "We are going to the log cabin." The administrator immediately explained to us: "Go up from here, and when you encounter the first fork, please take the right one. Then Come down and follow the road slowly, it will take about ten minutes from here." Then he pushed the button and opened the door. At this time, the night had climbed the hill.I opened the car window and savored the smell of the moist woods and the grass on the ground, as well as the air without impurities.As the car slowly climbed up, the light was faintly visible on the left, which was the lights of the lakeside hot spring village reflected on the dark lake. Soon, several slightly swaying lanterns suddenly appeared in front of them, as beautiful as a dream.The shape of the lantern is different from that of the Hungry Ghost Festival, being rounder and brighter.One after another, from the woods to the houses, they emit bright lights. "It's so beautiful..." Mom admired. "It looks like we're in time for the party," Mr. Nitta said, slowing down the car very slowly. There are a lot of people, especially children, and they are dressed in different ways.Some had cloth draped over their heads, some wore horns made of cardboard, and some girls wore fluttering butterfly outfits with thin wings on their backs. "Is it a makeup party?" "Looks like fun." The log cabin is located at the highest point in the villa area.In other words, the innermost place.The asphalt road only ends here, and beyond that is the forest, and only the sky is left in the higher places.The stars in the sky began to twinkle, and the moon like a silver disk had risen.If you stretch your body on tiptoe and lean your face closer, it feels as if your face will be reflected in the moon. Just like its name, this villa is built with logs.The triangular roof has three side-by-side skylights for daylighting, and there is a square red brick chimney, so there may be a real fireplace.There are two log chairs on the spacious balcony, and the lantern on the porch is also shaking. All the windows were lit with yellow lights.The singing came out, and someone was singing in chorus.I have never heard the song they sang. It sounds like a four-part chorus, and the chorus is beautiful. "Strange..." Mr. Nitta tilted his head while getting out of the car and said, "It should be right here, right?" The two of us reconfirmed the map just now.That's right, look up the steps leading to the building's entrance, with the "Log Cabin" sign on it. "Please wait a moment." Mr. Nitta left these words and went into the house.Mom and I stood by the car, looking around and waiting. "That's great," Ma said, smiling, "it's like a dream." "It turns out that there are places like this in Japan." I smiled. "Mom, do you want this kind of villa?" "Do you want to?" "Well, not bad." "Then let's buy one." While we were joking, Mr. Nitta came back.There was no smile on his face, not only did he not smile, but the corners of his mouth were still a little stiff. "What's wrong?" Mom glanced at me and asked.Mr. Nitta shook his head in confusion, holding the map just now in one hand, swung it left and right, and finally looked backwards. "Is there anything wrong?" Hearing my question, he finally raised his head and whispered resolutely, "They said it's not here." "what?" Mr. Nitta looked extremely confused, and the glasses behind the lens kept blinking. "They said it wasn't here. There is no family named Qianchuan here. The tenant is someone else, and they came yesterday. They said we must have made a mistake."