Chapter 20 1. The half-eared man in the rain

One summer evening, it was pouring rain.The rain clouds that spread from Koshu spread over the sky over Musashino, covering the sky and the sun without revealing anything.Woods and fields were enveloped in torrential rain in the blink of an eye.Immediately afterwards, lightning flashed across the dark ground, and thunder roared, as if the sky had been turned upside down, mixed with the sound of a big tree bursting, maybe a rolling mine fell nearby. "Oh, my God is so majestic!" Shinsuke Usami, a medical student shrunk his wet shoulders, got into a small temple next to Inokashira Park, which was enshrined to an unknown deity, and unconsciously looked up to the sky and said the above sentence with emotion.He went to play at a friend's house in Mitaka today, and was on his way home at the moment, intending to rush back to his apartment in Hongo. He hurried straight to Kichijoji Station, but unexpectedly encountered a shower of rain on the way.

There is no way.If I knew this earlier, it would be great to borrow an umbrella from a friend, but now I regret it.Shinsuke decides to wait until the rain subsides before going on the road.So he started to take off his soaking suit.At this moment, another person came into the temple.Knowing that someone had entered the temple, Shen Jie accidentally glanced at the visitor, but this look made him gasp in fright.This is not unreasonable, the appearance of that person is rare in the world: Red clothes and red trousers, a red skirt, a pointed hat with red tassels hanging from it, and a funny funny mask on his face.

On that occasion, one couldn't help being frightened.Shinsuke was at a loss for a moment, unable to speak.However, when you think about it slowly, it is not surprising. That man is a make-up advertiser who plays music in the street.It is a makeup advertiser who beats gongs and drums on the street, takes strange steps to attract customers, and builds popularity.Thinking of this, Shinsuke felt relieved.However, the next moment, he almost yelled "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh", the atmosphere became tense again.The other party doesn't seem to know that Shinsuke exists, and behaves very abnormally.He seemed to be waiting for someone, always looking for the opposite tree-lined road, uttering a terrifying self-talk in his mouth:

"Hey hey, this rain is God's help. No one will interrupt! Make up your mind to do it!" Shinsuke shrank back in fright when he heard these words. "God helped me with the rain"—"Nobody interrupted"—"make up your mind"—these were not ordinary words, after all. What is he trying to do?Shinsuke watched his every move closely.But makeup advertisers know nothing.Suddenly, the strange man leaned forward again.What's the matter?Shinsuke looked to the opposite side, and saw a person running towards here from the rainy forest road.Unexpectedly, it was a lovely girl who was only thirteen or fourteen years old.

The girl didn't have an umbrella and was drenched all over. When she saw Xiaomiao, she rushed in. At this moment, the advertiser suddenly stood in front of her with his legs apart. The girl let out an "ah" and took a few steps back.The strange man suddenly grabbed her by the shoulder vigorously and asked her some questions quickly.It's a pity that with the sound of rain and thunder, those words could not be heard clearly.At this time, I saw a strong expression of terror on the girl's face. "No, no! I don't know about that kind of thing!" As the girl spoke, she knocked over the opponent and tried to escape.The ad man grabbed her again and put his hand into her fanny pack without warning.

"Oh! Come! There are robbers!" Shinsuke could no longer remain silent. "Bastard, what do you want?" With a loud shout, he jumped out and hugged the advertiser's waist.It seems that he knows the secrets of judo very well, and his kung fu is meticulous. His opponent was thrown to the ground by him and rolled like a ball. "You, what are you doing?" "Hmph, are you still here?" The advertiser got up and rushed towards Shensuke again, but just as his hand touched Shensuke, his body fell back to the ground again. "How? Do you still dare to come?"

"Beast!" The advertiser stood up again, and shot a threatening look at Shinsuke from behind the mask.However, probably he felt that he was no match after all, so he turned his heels after a while, and fled in a hurry into the thunderstorm that was gaining momentum.Shinsuke watched his back, and suddenly noticed a strange thing. The advertising man's right ear seemed to be bitten off, half missing. "How is it? Didn't get hurt anywhere?" Shinsuke turned to the girl, only to see her trembling, and hurriedly bowed to him. "Thank you. Thanks to you..."

The way she spoke was not commensurate with her age, and she seemed very old.She was only thirteen or fourteen years old, just when she was loved and loved, but she was haggard from fatigue and looked worried. "Do you know the man just now?" "I don't know him, not at all. He came to me suddenly... Oh, I'm afraid!" When she spoke, she seemed to be still in fear. "Are you carrying something that the guy wants?" "No, this, that is..." The girl suddenly stopped talking.Judging by her appearance, there must be something strange, but Shinsuke doesn't pursue it.He said:

"Be careful anyway. Where is your home?" "It's not far over there. Oh, the one on the corner of those three houses that stand side by side." "Oh, I see. Well, I'll send you back by the way. Otherwise, it will be troublesome if that guy comes back." "Okay, thank you!" It's raining, it's getting lighter.The thunder that had been loud for a while had moved far away, and the clouds in the western sky had cleared away.Shinsuke walked side by side with the girl, and said thoughtfully: "Hey, I always feel that I have seen you somewhere, maybe I have mistaken the person?"

"That's right, this—" The girl looked up at Shinsuke happily, and continued: "Because I am the clerk of Chenglintang!" "Oh, yes! No wonder—" Shinsuke looked at the girl's face again unconsciously. Cheng Lin Tang is a big bookstore in Hong Kong.The girl is a clerk there, and Shinsuke is a regular customer of that bookstore, but the girl has recognized him long ago. "Do you go from here to this country every day? It's not easy! Who is there in the family?" "Only my brother and me." "Oh? No parents? What do they do?"

"Well, this, it's..." the girl stammered, and then diverted the conversation, "Brother is a bit weird. I don't know what he does, but he said he was doing something very serious. Great invention, and now I'm all about it. But he's weak, and we're poor..." "Oh, I see! So you go to work." "Yeah. Until five years ago, our family was quite rich, but a series of unlucky things happened. My parents passed away one after another, and all the money was spent... No, I don't care that I am poor, it's just that my brother can't live as he wants. Doing research makes me feel more sorry than anything else." The girl's tone was very low.Probably because she has suffered all kinds of hardships, and she is still a girl at this age, but she has unexpected firmness, which moved Shinsuke very much. "Admirable! What's your name?" "It's Yumiko Ayuzawa. Thank you. This is my home." The girl stopped in her tracks.In front of him was a simple one-story house, and there was a signboard saying "Toshiro Ayuzawa" beside the door.It was probably her brother's name. "Heh, can you go in and sit for a while? Brother also wants to thank you!" "Don't say that, a little thing... well, excuse me." "Oh, please wait a moment—brother! Brother!" Yumiko opened the door and entered the room.As soon as he entered the room, he called out "ahhh". Shen Jie had just walked two or three steps away when he heard the cry, he was startled, turned around, and then walked into the room involuntarily, and when he got inside, he was also startled. In the not-so-spacious house, things were messed up, and there was a sick young man in the middle of the house, who must have been Yumiko's older brother Toshiro.There was something stuffed in his mouth, his whole body was tied up and he couldn't move. Yumiko quickly took out what was stuffed in his mouth. "Brother! Brother! Who did this?" "Advertiser. Advertiser in a mask—" "Huh? Advertiser?" "It's him. That guy came here to take that thing, the fairy-tale gift that comes to us every year on this day..." As he was speaking, he suddenly saw Shinsuke standing in the room, for some reason, he immediately fell silent.