Chapter 2 second quarter

It was three months later that the term French Doll was mentioned again by the townspeople, as "The Stolen French Doll".How much do you know about this matter, Ms. Mazi? On the night of the summer festival in late July, French dolls were stolen from five families in town, including mine.There was no sign of any tampering in the house, and no money was lost, only the doll in the glass case was stolen, which is strange. The celebration was held on the playground of the resident center on the edge of the town. The Bon dance started at 6:00 p.m., and the hotel held a karaoke conference, which ended at around 11:00 p.m.The town committee provides free watermelon, ice cream, noodles, and beer to everyone, and there are a few open-air shops selling shaved ice and snacks.As an activity in the town, this time it can be described as not small in scale.

Including my family, families whose dolls were stolen have two things in common: first, all family members went to the celebration, and second, the entrance was not locked.But I think it was like this in every family at that time. If there is an entrusted delivery when there is no one at home, the sender can directly open the entrance and leave the item at the door. This kind of thing often happens. Because of the French doll’s visit, the police hastily concluded that it was a child’s prank. In the end, it was treated as a bizarre incident on the night of the celebration. Neither the thief nor the doll was found.

I still remember my father scolding me: "It's all because you did that and made kids who don't have dolls jealous." After that incident, the summer vacation began, and we played wildly from morning till night, especially in the swimming pool of Zhongyi Primary School.We finish our homework at a classmate's house in the morning, and go to the swimming pool in the afternoon. After the swimming pool closes at four o'clock, we have to play in school until dark.I heard that even the elementary schools in the countryside are taking various precautions. Children are not allowed to enter casually on holidays. At that time, even if it was dark, no adult criticized us. Go home before the ringing, the family will ask why you came back so early, or if there was a quarrel.

Before and after the murder, I have told the police, the school teacher, my parents, the parents of every child present at the time, and Ms. Mazi and your husband. Let's retell the story from the beginning, because this may be the last time... On that day, that is, the evening of August 14th, because it was the Obon Festival, the usual playmates either went to relatives’ houses or had relatives at home, so only me, Maki, Yuka, and I were playing on campus. Akiko, and Emili. Some of the four lived with grandparents, and some lived with relatives in the same town, so Obon was not a special day for us, and we continued to play as usual.

The staff from Tokyo didn't seem to be there during the Obon holiday, but Emili didn't.She told us her dad had a job over the holidays and was traveling to Guam at the end of August, so decided to stay in town. Emily and I had a bit of an awkward fight at the French Doll Tour, but we got back together as if nothing had happened, maybe because Emily got hooked on the adventure games that became popular after that. The swimming pool was closed during the Obon festival, so we played volleyball in a corner of the playground, in the shade of the gymnasium.We just stood in a circle and threw each other, trying to throw a hundred in a row, and had a blast.

At this time, the man came over. "Hey, excuse me." The man spoke to us. He was wearing gray overalls with a hint of yellow-green, and a white towel wrapped around his head. Suddenly someone spoke, and Yuka, who was already a little out of shape, missed the ball.The man picked up the ball that rolled on the ground and walked towards us. He smiled and said to us brightly: "Uncle came to overhaul the ventilation fan in the locker room of the swimming pool. He forgot to bring a ladder. Just twist a screw, and I can put the You carry it on your shoulders, who will help me?"

If you are a primary school student now, you may be quite vigilant when encountering this situation.School is not necessarily a safe place. If we had this kind of awareness at the time, maybe we could have avoided things from happening, or if someone told us that we should run away screaming when we meet strange adults, maybe it would be better.But in rural towns at the time, adults were mostly reminding kids to be careful if someone gave them chewing gum or said "your parents are sick" and never hitch a ride with a stranger. I didn't doubt the uncle in front of me at all.I don't know what Emily thinks, but probably the other kids think the same as me.Hearing the word "help", even a little eager to try.

"If it is carried on the shoulders, I am the smallest and most suitable." "What if I can't reach the ventilation fan? I'm tall, so let me go." "Can you two turn screws? I'm pretty good at it." "What should I do if the screw is too tight? I have great strength, so it must be fine." Everyone chattered, only Emily remained silent.The man seemed to be doing an appraisal, looked at the five of us one by one, and said, "It doesn't matter whether you are too tall or short...It's hard to deal with losing your glasses, you look a bit heavy..."

Finally, the man looked at Emili and said, "You are the most suitable." Emili looked at us with a look of embarrassment on her face.I don't know if he was annoyed because Emiri was chosen instead of himself, but Maki suggested that everyone should help, and the other three agreed. "Thank you everyone. But the locker room is very narrow. If many people go there, it will be inconvenient to work, and it will be very serious if you get injured. Everyone just wait here. It will be done soon. After it is finished, uncle will buy you ice cream .” No one disputes this.The man said "See you later", took Emili's hand, and left across the playground.The swimming pool is opposite the big playground, so we stopped paying attention to the backs of the two walking away and started playing volleyball again.

After playing for a while, we sat down in the cool shade of the gym entrance and chatted.It's summer vacation, but adults don't take me out to play.It would be nice if grandpa's house was farther away.I heard Emili is going to Guam next week.Does Guam belong to the United States?Still a country?Well, I'm not sure...Emiri is so enviable, she's wearing a Barbie outfit today, and she has a pretty face.Eyes like Emily's are called Danfeng eyes, right?It's so pretty, but her parents have big eyes.Her miniskirt is so cute, isn't it?Emily's legs are so long—and, you know?Emily is here.that?what is itDoes Saying not understand?

That's when I first learned the word "period".This kind of topic was discussed at school after the fifth grade in the second year. Generally, only girls talk about it when they get together. My mother hasn’t brought up similar issues with me, and I don’t have an older sister, and none of my relatives is older than me. girl, so it is simply unimaginable. The three partners seemed to have heard about it from their sister or mother, so they explained to me what the "period" was like showing off their amazing knowledge. "Period holiday" is a symbol of being able to have a child, and blood trickles down from between the legs.What?That is to say, Emili is already able to have children?Yeah, Yuka, is your sister the same?Yes, my mother said that I was about to have it, and bought me underwear.God!Maki also... It is said that precocious girls start from the fifth grade, Saei, you will have it in middle school, and I heard that most of them will have it in high school.Liar, where are middle school students having children?That's because there is no pregnancy.Pregnant?Yes, Saying doesn't even know how the child was conceived, does she?By the way, it is marriage, right?No, you're too naive—that's the kind of shameful thing you do with a man. At this point, I can't help worrying that you will say that I have written in a mess, and then tear up the letter and throw it away. At that time, we were fascinated by the chat, until we heard "Green Sleeves" playing, we didn't realize that it was already six o'clock. "My cousin is coming today, and my family wants me to go back at six o'clock." Akiko said, we thought that today is the Obon Festival, so we decided to go back early, and of course we didn't forget to call Emili.The four of them walked across the playground and looked back. Compared to when they were playing volleyball, the shadows had dragged on for a long time. Only then did they realize that it had been a long time since Emili was taken away, and they began to feel a little uneasy. The swimming pool is surrounded by barbed wire, the entrance is open, and the door is fixed with barbed wire.It is estimated that it will be like this every summer vacation after that. Walking up the steps from the entrance is the swimming pool. Two prefabricated rooms are side by side opposite the swimming pool as changing rooms. The men’s changing room is on the right and the women’s changing room is on the left.Walking by the pool, I couldn't help but think, it's so quiet here! The locker room doors are sliding and do not have locks.I remember that the person who opened the door of the women's changing room was Maki who walked in front. "Emily, are you done?" she said as she opened the door, "Huh?" She was surprised because there was no one inside. "Let's go back after work," Akiko said. "What about the ice cream? Maybe it's just for Emili." Yuka was very angry. "It's too slick," Maki continued. "Is it over there?" I pointed to the men's locker room.It was completely silent inside. "It's definitely not there, there's no sound at all. Look." Akiko opened the door of the men's locker room with an unhappy face.All three of us gasped.Akiko turned her head in confusion, and suddenly screamed. In the middle of the floor covered with bath mats, Emili fell there with her head facing the door. "Emiri." Maki called out tremblingly.Everyone called Emily. Emili's eyes were open, motionless. "It's terrible!" Maki exclaimed.If she had said "dead" at this time, we might have run away in fright. "Hurry up and call someone. Akiko runs fast, you go to Emi Li's house, Yuka to the police station, I'll ask the teacher to come over, and Saying will stay here." After listening to Maki's instructions, everyone immediately split up and acted separately. Since then, it seems that they have never been active together again.This should not differ much from the testimony of the other three. The four of us have been repeatedly asked about the discovery of the corpse, but no one has asked in detail what happened after the discovery of the corpse. Moreover, because the four of us have never discussed the whole story together, what actions did everyone take after that? I don't know. The following is just a statement of my own actions.