Chapter 15 Section VI

The so-called too late, probably so.When we talked to the guests who came to the log cabin first, and we racked our brains to re-study the map, and came to the conclusion that "the company that manages the villa has made repeated reservations", the business hours of that management company have passed. up.We can only blame us for arriving too late, and now we are gone. We hurried to the doorman, who too was gone.The number of "emergency contact number" was posted outside, and the phone call said: "Today's business hours are closed." "So if there is an emergency, what will they do?" Mom said in disbelief.

Chang Ran, Mr. Nitta also borrowed the phone from the villa, and made several calls to the Maekawa Law Office, but they couldn't get through. "No one picked up, they should have already set off to come here." He also tried to contact the homes of other lawyers, as well as colleagues who did not come to the villa, but to no avail.Because the map in the hands of my colleagues in Tokyo is the same as that of Mr. Nitta. "Even they were taken aback, and instead asked me if I wasn't? So what should I do?" Ma said softly to Mr. Nitta who was anxious. "Don't worry, lawyer Qianchuan and the others have already set off to come here, haven't they?"

"Yeah, that should be the case. It's impossible for them to go to other places, because everyone has the same map." "Then, as long as you wait here, you will definitely be able to meet them. That being said, just waiting here is not an option. Let's leave a message and ask the people in the villa to pass it on. Let's find a place to live by the lake first. Contact the management company tomorrow, and they will definitely help us deal with it immediately." Mr. Nitta lowered his head wearily. "That's right... I'm really sorry." However, when we went to the log cabin to ask them to pass on the message, they said, "You're welcome, why don't you just wait here? The garden party has already started, and it's time for dinner."

I haven't introduced the guests here yet.They are not ordinary families, but a kindergarten called "Bright House" located in the outskirts of Yokohama.The singing just now was the fifteen children in their institution rehearsing for tonight's garden party. "We come here once a year to hold a three-day outdoor teaching. We rent log cabins every year. This is the fourth year, so I think the management company accidentally made a mistake." A mild-looking fifty-year-old woman who claimed to be the leader explained to us.The business card she handed us said "Sukko Imasato, Acting Director of the House of Light".

"In addition to me, several teachers came here together. After I explained the whole story to them, everyone said that they would invite some of them to stay here and wait. If you don't mind it, just stay here." "This is really..." Ms. Imasato's round face smiled at Mr. Nitta, who was frightened. "There are still vacant rooms here, and you must be hungry too. Even if you want to find another place to live, you can find it here. So why don't you eat first and rest for a while? Don't be in such a hurry." At that moment, my stomach was growling, and Ms. Imasato clapped her hands.

"Look? Come on, please come in." What should I do... Mr. Nitta has these three words written on his face, and his mother said to him: "Ms. Imasato is right. Let's accept this kindness. Although it is very disturbing to them, it would be nice to thank them solemnly afterwards. If It would be even worse if they ran around and missed lawyer Maekawa.” I also fully agree with Mom's opinion.Besides, I'm really hungry. The garden party is held jointly by all villas in Kamisuwa Lakeside Village, and the membership fee system is charged.We paid at the entrance and happily sat down at an empty table.

Speaking of Dao, not only Ms. Imasato, but not even half of the people present showed the attitude of "Huh? Isn't she the one who got 500 million won?" when they saw Mom.Does this represent how quickly a topic is forgotten?Or is it that the people who can escape the summer in this kind of villa area are all rich people, so they are not interested in that kind of topic?Regardless, their attitude made us feel very relaxed and happy. The only one who doesn't look relaxed or happy is Mr. Nitta.He left the table to make phone calls from time to time, as if he felt that everything was his responsibility, even if his mother comforted him, it was useless, and he always showed a restless expression on his face.

Ms. Imazato was with us all the time and took good care of us.I think she is really nice.After chatting, I realized that if I didn't like to take care of others very much and had a good temperament, I might not be able to do Ms. Imasato's job. "House of Light" is a charitable organization run purely by individuals, and the chairman of the board is Ms. Imazato's husband.When they started their business fifteen years ago, they only renovated a part of their own house for use, and most of the funds were paid out of their own pockets. "So, it's the same as Elizabeth? Sanders House?"

Ms. Imazato shook her head when she heard Ma ask this question through the smoke of the barbecue. "Because of many legal regulations, we cannot adopt orphans who are completely helpless here, nor can preschool children, because children in this situation must be included in the management of the state and local governments. We accept single parents here. Children of the family, or children who cannot live with either parent for some reason, in short, are children with close relatives. We are entrusted by these close relatives to take them in for a fixed period of time. Therefore, we charge a fee."

"But, can you live so well with that money alone?" That's when the choir was about to start, Mom asked as she watched the children start to line up on the center stage of the Garden Party venue. Ms. Imazato said with a wry smile: "Actually, we... operate very hard. However, because there are philanthropists who support our mission, we can barely maintain it with their donations. Otherwise, we would not even dare to think about outdoor teaching in summer like this. think." The children lined up on the stage, and the people scattered around the tables in the venue applauded together.Almost all of those kids were younger than me.

"Every year, everyone looks forward to the children's drama and chorus performances." Ms. Imasato said with narrowed eyes, clapping louder than anyone else. Under the gesture of a young female teacher, the children saluted and applauded again.Then, the accompanying music started, which was "When You Wish Upon A Star". At this time, I finally understood what the cloth and butterfly costumes I saw just now were for.Their choruses are suites, all composed of theme songs or episodes from Disney movies.Between the songs, some dances like musicals were inserted.Those clothes are just for dancing. At the beginning of the third "Seven Dwarves March" (Heigh-Ho), Mr. Nitta, who had left his seat, came back. "I can't get through at all," he whispered, looking frustrated. "That can't be helped. Anyway, as long as you wait here, you will meet lawyer Qianchuan and the others. You'd better sit down and watch the show." Mom said softly. After singing the suite of seven songs, it returned to "Wish on a Star".At each end of the line came out a girl in a butterfly outfit with wings on her back. While waving sticks with gold and silver stars on the front end, they danced and walked between the tables in front of them. It turned out to be a fairy.I get it, they're here to do magic. When the song ended, they posed for even bigger applause.Mom, Ms. Imasato, and Mr. Nitta were all clapping, and I was the only one standing there. I was dumbfounded, because the girl on the right playing the goblin was so cute.If it wasn't for my mother poking me a few times, I wouldn't know that I propped my chin with my hand, looking intoxicated.I couldn't help but blush. "This kid is really smiling like that." Mom said with a smile. "Who are you looking at?" "Leave me alone." That girl is probably Primary 5 or Primary 6, right?I think.Looks like it's made of candy.What is her name? "Is it the girl on the right playing the goblin?" Ms. Imazato's eyes are really sharp. "That's Rie, the prettiest of us girls." I see.No wonder. After the chorus was over, the children also sat down at the table.They seem to have eaten, and someone sent them cake and juice.Only then did I notice that it was past nine o'clock, and the children in the lower grades should have gone to bed long ago. I guessed right, about thirty minutes later, all the children returned to the log cabin amid the applause of the adults. "We're going to go hiking tomorrow," said Ms. Imazato. "However, they will definitely refuse to sleep obediently when they enter the room." "Of course, because I'm so excited." Mom said with a smile. "Will there be a pillow fight? Ya Nan, do you want to join in?" What a joke.But... if it's with Rie, you can play with it. Mr. Nitta was still restless and anxious all by himself.He looked at his watch. "Lawyer Qianchuan and the others are so slow. They should have already arrived." "It's true." At this time, Mom also became worried, and she had the same opinion as Mr. Nitta. "Are you sure they left Tokyo?" "Yes, I confirmed with my colleagues who stayed in the office." "Then, they should come..." The heat from the barbecue made Nitta-san's glasses fog up.In this state, no matter how melancholy the expression is, it looks funny. "It's foggy." I reminded him. "what?" "Your glasses." "Ah, that's it." Mr. Nitta was so lazy, he didn't take off his glasses, and just wiped them with a napkin. "Is this all right?" It occurred to me that I had never seen him without his glasses.He is completely different from Shimazaki who cleans his glasses all day long. His nearsightedness must be extremely deep, as you can tell from his glasses, they are so thick.Such people take off their glasses, and some will look shabby.Maybe it's because he didn't like it, so he let others see him without glasses. As soon as you are full, you will yawn.We have been waiting, but we can't wait for lawyer Maekawa and the others.Mr. Nitta left his seat several times to make a phone call, but he came back shaking his head every time, which made people feel a little sympathetic to him. "Could it be that there was a car accident...?" After ten o'clock, even Mom began to look worried.However, Mr. Nitta shook his head at this point. "If that's the case, colleagues in Tokyo should have been contacted. But they said nothing, and there was no phone call." "Excuse me, is it possible that I got the map wrong?" I said. "You mean?" "I mean, is the map that lawyers Maekawa and the others took different from Mr. Nitta's? Maybe there was a mistake, we got a different map. Then, we ran here, but the lawyers and the others got the right map. There are so many villas and B&Bs with names like log cabins.” "It sounds very possible." Hearing what his mother said, Mr. Nitta's expression became more self-blaming. "Don't mind, it's not Mr. Nitta's fault." Mom tried to comfort him, but it was too late.For the next full hour, Mr. Nitta was glued to the phone and refused to leave. I also took a look.There is only one telephone in the living room of the villa, and a list of telephone numbers is pasted next to it. There are management companies and many contact numbers on it, such as shops, emergency hospitals and other places that will be used in case of emergency.In this regard, it really feels like renting out a villa. After eleven o'clock, I finally received a call from a colleague who stayed in Tokyo.The phone rang for the first time, and Mr. Nitta rushed over to answer it: "Hello? Ah, Mr. Sato? Has the lawyer contacted you?" Because he said this, I knew it was his colleague. Mr. Nitta spoke in a hurry, and his expression became more and more frustrated during the conversation. "So, did I really make a mistake? Huh? Is that so? 'Log house'? Is it called a log house? But, didn't you give the map to Miss Sato? Huh? It's no use apologizing to me Ah. Um... um... If so, then there is no other way." I'm going to call mom.Mom was still sitting at the dining table drinking wine, looking up at the night sky, and chatting with the residents of the villa next to her, looking leisurely. When my mother and I came over together, Mr. Nitta had finished talking on the phone and was holding his head. "I'm really sorry, we made a mistake." "What's the matter?" "It seems that the colleague in charge of administration made a mistake when photocopying the introduction brochure given by the management company. The villa rented by Maekawa's lawyer is called a 'log house', and the location is also in the same place, but it is on the other side of the mountain, closer to the lake. , it will take more than an hour from here." "So, the lawyers have arrived safely?" "Yes, arrived about thirty minutes ago. They are also very nervous because they can't find us." Of course.At this time, Ms. Imasato found out what we were talking about together, and she also ran over and asked, "Has the matter been clarified?" After explaining to Ms. Imasato, she said happily: "It's okay, it's okay, luckily everyone is safe." "Yes, everyone is safe..." Mr. Nitta was dejected by himself. "So, what are you going to do? Do you want to go now?" "We know the location, so..." Ms. Imazato said softly to Mr. Nitta, who was hesitant, "Then you don't have to rush there tonight, do you?" Mom looked at Mr. Nitta, and then at Ms. Imasato. As soon as their eyes met hers, they looked at each other and smiled. "It's dangerous to drive on a mountain road in a strange place. It's night again. You're welcome to stay here tonight. Just call the person on the other side and you'll be fine. You can drive again after dawn tomorrow. Let’s go for a drive. Don’t worry, this kind of thing will pass with a smile.” "That's right. If I can, I also want to stay tonight." Mom also said with a smile. "Don't be so depressed. Thanks to this, we can get to know Ms. Lingli and the students of Bright House, and have more fun. Isn't it, Ya Nan?" Mom asked me suddenly, which made me startled, but I also agreed with what Mom said, so I nodded. "Really?" Mr. Nitta scratched his head, as if he finally let go of the burden on his shoulders. "Honestly, I'm not sure about driving at night." "Is that so? Then let's make it so." Ms. Imazato stood up. "There is a vacant room at the back of the second floor. Mrs. Ogata, please use that room. Mr. Nitta, can you sleep in the same room as our teacher?" Mr. Nitta shrank his head: "No need, I'll just sleep on the sofa here." "You're welcome." Ms. Lingli smiled and climbed up the stairs. Finally, Nitta-san also smiled. "Then, I'll go and contact Lawyer Maekawa." Mom stepped forward. "I'm going too, I have to say hello to lawyer Qianchuan." "No, no, no need!" Mr. Nitta said in a panic. "This is all my fault. If Mrs. Ogata apologizes to the lawyer again, I will lose my life!" His overly flustered and terrified look made my mother and I couldn't help laughing. "Then I'll leave it to you. But don't mind too much." I looked at Mr. Nitta who was on the phone, and thought as I went upstairs, maybe Lawyer Maekawa is very strict with his subordinates... At that time, it was almost twelve o'clock in the middle of the night.

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