Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen

When guests call "Takita", they are usually picked up by the proprietress or the head maid.In addition, if the customer has a familiar maid, they can call her directly.Usually for reservations. Whenever the phone rang, Masako would listen attentively to see if there was a familiar name. Changzi still does the work of "passing the dishes", so he can't enter the guest seat casually.Only when I went to serve the dishes, did I see the appearance of the guests from the gap of the partition fan. However, no one she knew was ever met. Of course, at first Changzi was a little shy and didn't dare to look inside.

Sometimes, I pass guests in the hallway.Some guests stared at her and said: "Such a beautiful maid, why not let her serve as a guest servant?" The proprietress planned to let Changzi serve the guests at the guest table in a few days.At first, I was afraid that she would not be used to it when she first arrived, so I asked her to do "passing dishes" first. Masako had been working in "Takita" for nearly a month, made a few friends among the maids, and gradually got used to the atmosphere here. However, she hasn't told her mother until now, and she can't keep hiding it like this.Thinking of her mother's uncomfortable mood, she worked in "Takita" like walking on thin ice.

The guests left one after another from 9:30 to 10:00. They were relieved, but their bodies were hard to recover from.Changzi was lying alone in bed crying secretly. "Lingzi, this is all for you!" When Lingzi was alive, she always made her elder sister suffer, but when she died, it was her elder sister who took it for her.Changzi always felt his sister's pouting expression shaking before his eyes. The proprietress treated Changzi very well, understanding that she had never done this kind of work, and took care of her everywhere. Changzi found out that the proprietress was single.According to the maid, her husband died eight years ago and has not remarried until now.

However, the proprietress seems to have a good man.Is this person a future boss?The maids didn't say anything.Changzi hadn't seen this man for a month.It seems that the "boss" doesn't come to the store very often. The life experience of the proprietress attracted Changzi's attention, and at the same time Changzi also wanted to meet this future "boss". In this restaurant, it seems to be very open on the surface, but everyone's family environment is kept secret.Maids do not ask about each other's family. One night, it was raining outside. Because of the bad weather, the shop was not very busy.

The maids had nothing to do and gathered in the room next to the tent to watch TV. Around eight o'clock, a group of guests came, and a maid ran inside to report to the proprietress.This practice is very rare, except for important guests. At this time, Masako happened to be sitting in the corridor, and "Maple Room" was the best private seat in "Takita". "Excuse me!" Masako greeted the house! "Ah-please!" "Maple Between" is hosted by Arwen. The partition door was only moved about ten centimeters apart, and Changzi carefully brought the food to Ah Wen.

The three guests sat inside, drinking and talking.Besides Awen, there are A Neng and A Bin helping. Masako finished serving the dishes, closed the partition, and glanced inside.All three knew each other.Sitting at the top of the table were Horizawa's boss, Section Chief Takemura, and Assistant Section Chief Noji.The other fat man is Ryosuke Otomo of Toto Tourist Club. The other party did not find Masako.Because they never dreamed that Masako would work as a restaurant maid. However, Changzi could see clearly that it was indeed these three people. Changzi's heart was beating violently and his breathing was short of breath.

After working here for nearly a month, I got a little clue.Changzi couldn't stand up anymore, just like when he had a cerebral anemia attack, everything around him faded. Horizawa called Takita from Sakunami Onsen, one of the three people he was looking for. Changzi took the dishes to another private seat again, and the things he was holding almost fell to the ground, as if all his strength had been exhausted from his whole body. Thirty minutes passed. The three women who served the guests in "Maple Between" have all returned. "Sister Abin, have all the guests left?" Changzi asked.

"No." Abin replied. "We were kicked out first, they wanted to talk, and the next dish was served after they finished talking." "Sister Ah Bin, come here." Chang Zi called out in a low voice. "I have something to ask you." "What's up?" Abin found that Changzi's complexion was not good. "Oh, what's the matter with you? You look so ugly?" Ah Bin stared at Chang Zi's face. "It's okay." Changzi shook his head. "Are you too tired?" "No, it's fine." "What do you want to ask me?"

"You have to keep it a secret for me." Masako led her to a room where there were no guests. "I'm sorry," Masako bowed to Abin. "What's the matter?" "Do the guests who drink in Fengjian come here often now?" "It can't be said often... why do you ask this?" A Bin asked in surprise. "There are people I know in here." "Hey! Who is it?" A Bin was taken aback. "The one in the seat above." "Ah—it's Mr. T." "Is he Mr. Takemura?" "Yes. What? You know him?"

"Sister Abin, I beg you." Changzi said earnestly, "This is my dead husband's boss." "Uh--" Ah Bin's eyes were wide open, and he stared at Chang Zi. "I never told anyone about this, I just told you." "Yes! I think you have something on your mind, and it's because of this..." Abin said. "When you first came here, I always felt that you were a woman from a good family, different. The lady boss was the same. She said you came from a good family... I don't know, but your husband is Mr. T's subordinate." "I was really taken aback. When I saw Mr. Takemura sitting in the middle, I stopped breathing."

"Mr. T didn't spot you. Have you seen him before?" "I have seen and received all kinds of care from him." "I see. You don't want them to see, do you?" "Yes...but I want to ask you? Were the three of them regular customers here before?" Changzi only said that he knew Zhucun, but did not mention Otomo Liaosuke. "Yes, maybe three or four years!" "Do the three of them come together often?" "yes." Ah Bin looked up at the ceiling and muttered: "Yes..." "It seems to be..." Looking at her expression, she understood the situation and was wondering whether she should say it or not. "No, the person sitting in front of Mr. Takemura is the host. He brought Takemura and the others here." In this way, Otomo Liaojie is a regular customer here. "yes?" "What's on your mind?" Abin asked. "No, nothing. Sister Abin, let me ask you again, these are the only guests he brought? Are there others?" Masako almost didn't say her husband's name. "Yes, and several others." "Are there any people from Mr. Takemura's planning office?" "There are a lot of people who have been here, and I don't know the level." Changzi further asked: "What's the name of the person who invited Mr. Takemura and the others to dinner?" Changzi once heard his name and occupation from Lingzi.She wants to clarify, what is his identity here? However, for some reason, Ah Bin didn't want to answer her. "I don't know too well. Anyway, you will know sooner or later." At this time, someone shouted from the corridor: "Abin! Abin!" "Hey——" Ah Bin replied loudly, then turned around and said softly to Changzi: "The road to Yuanjia is narrow, you didn't expect to meet your husband's boss here, well, you don't want to go between Feng, I'll send someone else to go " After finishing speaking, Ah Bin left in a hurry. The partition between Maple opened.Section Chief Takemura and Assistant Field Section Chief went back.Changzi froze and hid behind the tent and watched the two go to the door.The maid took them to the place where the car was parked under an umbrella.The figures of these two people in black western clothes remained in Changzi's eyes, and could not be erased for a long time. The only one left among the maple friends is Jie himself. Changzi thought that Dayou was having fun alone after sending away the invited guests.She saw the three women who waited on them return to the lounge. "Sister Abin!" Masako called quietly. "There's another guest among the maples!" "yes." "But no one waits on him!" After listening to Changzi's words, Ah Bin smiled pointedly. "The maids avoided it." "why?" Some of the guests who come here to drink are crazy about drinking.When encountering such guests, the maids avoided them actively. Could it be that Otomo is such a drunkard? "Don't ask too much, it makes sense!" After finishing speaking, Ah Bin quietly left Chang Zi's side. Ah Bin usually dared to say anything to Chang Zi, why was his answer so ambiguous today. However, the scene when Otomo went back answered Masako's question.Masako hid in the glass door of the tent and stared out. The chubby big friend Liao Jie was wearing leather shoes at the entrance of the gate noisily. It was Ah Bin who held the umbrella for Dayou.Then another person came out, and it was the foreman Ah Jian who held the umbrella. Changzi almost yelled "Yeah".It turns out that there is a woman under Ah Jian's umbrella.The woman was wearing a coat, Masako recognized at a glance that it was the proprietress.The figures of the two disappeared into the shade of the trees amidst the crackling rain. Not long after, I heard the sound of the car starting again.The two maids came back. Changzi felt the blood dripping from his face all of a sudden. ——Could it be Otomo Ryosuke that the proprietress's man is? At this time, she remembered the image of Otomo Ryosuke when she came to her apartment with Reiko.At that time, there was also Kikuko Ono, a journalist.Under the bright sunshine, Otomo Ryosuke's fat face was full of smiles. This is something she never thought of.It turned out that Otomo Ryosuke, Section Chief Takemura, and Assistant Field Section Chief were standing in a line.Horizawa stood at the other end of the line. However, the truth of this thread has not yet been clarified, and the younger sister Lingzi is a victim of this thread. Abin came from the corridor. Masako stood in front of her.There were no other maids present at this time. "Sister Abin!" Masako shouted, holding his breath. "Is the old woman's man the one just now?" "Did you see it?" There was a complicated smile on Abin's face. "I saw it. Was it him?" "Yeah. It's been five or six years. I've been in the shop and they've got it." "yes?" Masako seems to have heard Horizawa's call from Sakunami Onsen. "Everyone here knows it. But the proprietress doesn't want others to know. So I haven't told you." "Then does that man have a wife and children?" "Of course there is Luo. To be honest, I don't like him. How can such a good-looking proprietress have sex with such a man? It's really puzzling. But it's hard to explain this kind of thing with general reasoning." That night, Masako returned to the apartment and couldn't fall asleep for a long time.She thought about it and almost lost her mind. She thought her instincts were correct.The cause of Lingzi's death will open a gap from here.After seeing these three people in "Takita", she became more and more convinced that Reiko and Horizawa were definitely not "death in love".The question is how to find out the truth. The next day, Changzi happened to have something to do and walked into the shop.When she passed the proprietress' room, she heard someone crying inside. Changzi couldn't help being startled, and turned to listen carefully. The crying sound really came from the proprietress' room.Don't stop her heart beating, she can't calm down no matter what. Last night, the proprietress and Otomo Ryosuke went out in the rain together.Of course I don't know where they are going to meet.Why is the proprietress crying alone in the room at this moment? For a woman who usually seems quite sensible to cry like this, something must have happened to her.Is there any discord between her and Otomo? Changzi also thought that this might have something to do with Section Chief Takemura and Assistant Field Section Chief. After get off work that night, Masako got off at the tram stop at eleven o'clock. It takes 5 minutes to walk from the station to the apartment.Although the road is dark, there are many people walking in the same direction.She wasn't afraid. After exiting the ticket gate, a person followed her.Masako didn't notice at first.Because he was in the crowd. Go straight ahead from the station, and when you get to the apartment, turn left and there is a boulevard.She was relieved when she saw the door light at the entrance of the apartment. At this time, someone greeted her from behind. "I'm sorry!" The man chased after her closely. Changzi felt terrified.The man was wearing a hunting suit, and his appearance was unremarkable. "Are you Mrs. Horizawa?" "yes." "That's great. I've been waiting for you here for a long time." With that, he took out a business card from his pocket. "I'm a reporter from the Social Department of Newspaper D." Masako jumped up involuntarily, and an inexplicable uneasiness hit her. "I don't know where madam has gone. I've been waiting for you since just now." Changzi wanted to walk away, but the reporter stepped forward to stop her. "It's great for you to go back now!" "Eh? Why?" "People from other newspaper offices are waiting for you at your door. They can't figure out your whereabouts, so they wait there desperately. Only I will go to the station to meet you." Masako shuddered when she thought of the crowd of reporters waiting for her at the door. "What happened?" Chang Zi asked with a trembling voice. "No wonder you don't know, because the news will be in the papers tomorrow morning." The reporter stopped Changzi, the purpose of which was to get first-hand materials here. "Madam, did your husband act suspiciously before his death? Did you notice it?" "No. Not at all." Changzi was very angry at his presumptuous questioning.She didn't know what he was asking. The reporter took out his notebook and prepared to record. The pedestrians who came from behind were quite surprised by the actions of these two people. "Has your husband interacted with foreigners?" "No." Another inexplicable problem. "Really? Has your husband secretly communicated with others?" "have no idea." "You really don't know?" "What are you referring to?" She couldn't bear to ask back. "What do you want to ask?" "I'm sorry. You don't seem to understand the situation, and that's no wonder." The reporter mentioned the name of a foreigner and asked if this person was in contact with Horizawa. "No, I haven't heard of it at all." Masako stared at the reporter. "What happened? Please explain!" "Anyway, it will be in the newspaper tomorrow morning. Let me just say something briefly, maybe you will remember something... This afternoon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced at a press conference that a member of the Soviet spy agency who worked in Japan half a year ago fled to the United States and surrendered. .Madam, do you know about this?" From what he said, Masako seemed to have a memory.When I read the newspaper, I thought these things had nothing to do with me, so I just glanced over them.It is said that this spy agency member has collected a lot of information in Japan, and he is a very outstanding person. The reporter went on to say: "According to the materials released this time, it is found that he obtained information with the assistance of relevant Japanese officials. He cited many names, including your husband Hideo Horizawa." There was a thunderous roar in Changzi's ears.For a moment, her consciousness began to blur, as if the unreality of being thrown into the ocean was intertwined with the reality of talking to the reporter at this moment. "According to the self-confession of this foreigner, Mr. Horizawa took out quite confidential documents from the yamen and handed them to him. However, Mr. Horizawa died, and there is no proof of his death. I would like to get some information from you, my wife." The reporter's questioning method is not so much to confirm the authenticity of the matter, but rather to listen to Horizawa's wife's feelings. "I don't know anything," Masako replied excitedly. "Since there is such a fact, is Mr. Horizawa acting abnormally?" "No, no." "However, the other party insisted that he obtained various documents from Mr. Horizawa." "Anyway, I don't know." "You live with him. Since Mr. Horizawa has such activities, you should be aware of it... Does Mr. Horizawa come back late at night?" Changzi was silent. It was true that Horizawa came back very late every day.But he was socializing with the section chief or seniors. "How? Did he come back early?" The news reporter pressed forward step by step. "Sometimes Hou came back late, he was with the people in the official hall." "Did Mr. Horizawa tell you that?" the reporter asked suspiciously. "um, yes." "That is, you didn't see Luo with your own eyes. He came back very late, several times a month, is it very frequent?" "Yes, quite a few times." "I see." As if the news reporter had found a treasure, he asked: "The excuse for him coming home late... No, it's too impolite to say an excuse. Is it all about socializing with people in the government hall?" "Don't ask any more." Changzi couldn't bear it anymore and shouted. "No matter what you ask, I don't know." At this time, Masako noticed many people coming out of the apartment and walking towards her.That's when the news reporter saw her standing here talking to someone. What reporter Morimoto said echoed in Masako's ears. ——"Do you know where the information about Mr. Horizawa and Reiko's disappearance came from? It was from Mr. Takemura. I don't understand why Mr. Takemura did that. This news will benefit the newspaper." Newspaper interests? The news of Horizawa and Reiko's "elopement" was provided by Mr. Takemura.This news was widely reported in the newspaper because Section Chief Takemura said that it would bring great benefits to the newspaper office.

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