Chapter 8 second quarter

That was about fifteen years ago, during my summer vacation when I was in the fourth grade of primary school. I was admitted to the university in this county, and later I took the county teacher recruitment test, and then I came to work at the Municipal Wakaba No. 3 Primary School in a seaside town, and my hometown is in another place. XX Town, I wonder if you have heard of it? It is a small town located in the mountains, with an area and population similar to this small town. In addition, in terms of economy, it is very similar to the situation of this small town relying on the shipyard to maintain its operations. Therefore, even if you come to this county Working in a rare remote town, I have no discomfort in life.

Ask the children what the town they live in is like, and the children will reply that the sea is beautiful, or that the scenery is beautiful.That's a good answer, but it's probably because the lower grade teacher once said that you can't appreciate the virtues of the small town you live in until you get out and see the world. The air in the small town where I lived was very clean, this is what the primary school teacher told us. The teacher said that because near the end of my third grade, the Adachi Manufacturing Factory of the precision instrument company built a new factory in the town, and we have been living there without feeling it at all.

I also really like the air there, when I take a big breath, I can smell the fragrance of the tide.After coming to work here, I bought a small car for commuting, and it wasn't overly used, but by the second year the edges of the metal parts were starting to rust.Seeing this, I re-understand the meaning of clean air in my hometown town. In such a rural town, a murder occurred in the town's elementary school. This time too, although the first three days caused a lot of commotion, maybe after another month, people outside the town will forget all about it.On average, one homicide occurred in less than three days across the country, so it is difficult for everyone to remember forever, and there is no need for people who have nothing to do with it to remember.

The homicide in the small town where I was born was a sensation all over the country because it happened in elementary school, but by now, the homicide of fifteen years ago probably has disappeared from everyone's minds. That's what happened on August 14th. Since the two towns are about the same size, for the sake of understanding, everyone can imagine their own situation fifteen years ago.For country kids living with their grandparents, Obon is not a special day, or even a boring one.Relatives came back from the big cities to visit relatives, and the children had no place to stay at home, so they were sent outside to play. However, the school swimming pool was closed, and adults would get angry when they went to play by the river, saying that they would be dragged by ghosts.

There are no entertainment facilities or convenience stores, so I went to visit the grave with my family and relatives in the morning, had lunch early at noon, and then wandered like refugees in a small town with nothing until dark. There are many such children, not just me, but the girls Saei, Akiko, and Yuka who often play together and live in the west side of the town are in a similar situation to me.Fortunately, there is an elementary school in the West District, so we played on campus as usual. There is also a girl named Emili in the company, she is not a native of this small town. When I was in elementary school, it was usually up to me to decide what to play.Probably because of my tall stature, among the kids in my grade, I was always regarded as the big sister.

For example, when playing on the river beach, if someone's shoes are accidentally washed away by the water, everyone will look at me. Although they don't say "you pick it up", they will ask "what should I do?", and I have no choice but to pick it up.I ran downstream, took off my bare feet and went into the water tremblingly, waiting for the shoes to wash down from the upstream, and finally picked them up. At this time, everyone would say: "It's still Zhen Jixing." It seems that I am a very reliable big sister. It's not just the children. On the way home from school, when a child falls down and cries, the adults passing by will say to me: "You are a sister, you must take care of everyone." If there are children who are isolated here, for some reason, the teacher would say to me: "Call me XX when I am playing."

That's what my parents did to me.I am the eldest daughter at home, so it is only natural that I receive such treatment.During the holidays, if there are children's activities in the district, someone will say "you come to participate." and assign me a heavy task.The school organizes voluntary activities to participate in, and if my mother learns that the children in the neighborhood are participating but I don’t go, my mother will get angry and poke my head or back, so as long as there are no special circumstances, I try to participate. As a result, people in the town had the impression that I was "very strong", and before I knew it, I began to think of myself as "very strong", so I took it for granted that I should take on everything, or rather, I thought I had to do it .It's the same with games, I always rack my brains to think what would be more fun for everyone to play, and then propose.

Everyone here may be confused by what I said, but since these things are related to this incident, please listen patiently. After entering the fourth grade, the situation changed.Due to the establishment of the Adachi factory, many transfer students from Tokyo came. A girl named Emili came to our class. It is said that her father held an important position in the Adachi factory.Emily has good grades, and she also knows a lot of political and economic knowledge that many rural children don't understand, such as what the appreciation of the yen means and what impact it will have on the country. She knows a lot.

One day in class, to be honest the air in the small town we live in is pretty clean.But not a single child really agreed with it right away. After class, someone asked Emily to verify the matter, and most of the children expressed their conviction when she admitted it. In other words, what Emilia said, we all think it is correct. Since then, the children in the class will always consult Emiri when they make decisions. Even if it is the duty of the class or entertainment activities that do not require common sense of urban life, they must also consult her, and these should be me. made. I was in a complicated mood, but what Emilia said was indeed true, and her proposals were all fresh and interesting, so I couldn't object, and I gradually obeyed her.However, the game with her friends was completely denied by her, and she was still very uncomfortable.

Some time before Emily moved in, it was a game among the girls to visit the French doll houses in town.I am naturally the initiator.Everyone was fascinated. Unexpectedly, Emilia said after participating only once: "It's better to be a Barbie doll." Because of this sentence, the game was terminated the next day. Before Emilia got the hang of it, I launched a new game—exploration. At the entrance of the mountain not far from the town, there is another uninhabited dilapidated house. It is a stylish western-style building that has been abandoned for many years.It is said that this villa was originally built by a wealthy man who runs a company in Tokyo for his frail daughter. As a result, his daughter passed away on the eve of completion, so it has been unoccupied and has been left unused until now.This kind of message was passed among the children in an orderly manner. It was not until a long time later that they realized that this was actually a model house built by a tourism development company when it was developing a villa in the town. As a result, the company went bankrupt midway, so the house was put on hold.

We were told not to go there, and the windows and doors of the house were boarded up so we couldn't get in, so we used to seldom go in.A friend of mine, Yuka, has a vineyard near the abandoned house. One day, I heard from him that the board nailed to the back door of the abandoned house had fallen off. Although it was locked, it could be opened easily with a hairpin, so I called someone I knew well. Playmate and Emili went to see it together. The adventure game is very happy, and the French dolls and the like have long been forgotten.Only we knew we could get in there, and although there were only a few fixed pieces of furniture, a decorative fireplace and a planter bed, it was like a castle to us.We had a lot of fun gathering there with refreshments, or collecting everyone's treasures and hiding them in the fireplace, but such games lasted less than half a month. One day Emily suddenly said that she didn't want to go there anymore, and that she told Dad about being able to enter the abandoned house.When we asked her why she did that, Emili was just silent.I don't know if it was Emili's father who did it, but we'll go back later, and the door has a stronger lock, so we can't get in. Even so, I played with Emilia, because Emilia proposed to play volleyball in the future.I had already decided to join the volleyball club after entering the fifth grade. I begged my parents many times to buy me volleyballs, but they said they would wait until after I joined the club, and they never bought them for me.Emiri has volleyballs, and they are brand-name ones used in official competitions. They are the same balls that Japanese players have seen on TV.I wanted to use that kind of ball, so I took the initiative to make friends with Emiri. We also played ball on the day of the murder. I propose to everyone to go to school to play ball, and ask Emili to bring the ball from home. The weather was very nice that day.When it comes to small towns in the mountains, everyone may have the impression that it is cool, but the sun was so bright that day, it was hard to believe that a goal had been scored, and after a short walk outside, the exposed limbs were already scorching and painful.Emilia said: "It's too hot, go to my house to watch Disney movies." During the Obon Festival, all parents strictly require their children: "Don't go to other people's houses, it will cause trouble to others." Because of this, I opinion was endorsed. Also, I don't like Emily's house very much. There are too many good things in her house, which makes us feel miserable.Maybe other kids have the same mood as me. Although it was too hot to scream, everyone was fascinated by the game as soon as they arrived in the shade of the gymnasium.We pass the ball in a circle, and we have to pass the ball a hundred times in a row.The person who said this was Emili. She said that since she was playing, setting a goal would give her a sense of accomplishment and be more interesting.Sure enough, when the count reached more than eighty, everyone was very excited, cheering while passing the ball. Emily is such a girl. The pass was over ninety for the first time and we were having fun when a man in overalls came by.The man did not wave a lifesaving knife at us and shouted at us, but approached slowly and stopped, and said to us with a smile: "Uncle came to check the ventilation fan in the locker room of the swimming pool, but he forgot to bring a step stool. Just twist the screw, If I can't reach it, I will let you ride on my neck, can you come and help me?" I thought that this kind of thing should be undertaken by me, so I volunteered.The other kids also volunteered to ask for help, but the guy said I was too tall, and he either hated wearing glasses or looked too heavy for the other kids, so he chose Emilia.At that time, I thought, why is Emily again. I was a little annoyed, so I immediately suggested: "Let's all go and help." Others agreed, but the person immediately refused: "It's too dangerous." He said let us wait, and buy ice cream for us after we finished, and then He took Emili's hand and walked towards the swimming pool.