In the fall of the year before Yusaku entered elementary school, Sanae of the Red Brick Hospital passed away.It was the kind aunt next door who told him about it. The Red Brick Hospital is what the children in the neighborhood call it.It was a large red-brick hospital at the top of a gentle slope leading up to Yamate.Beech and oak trees are planted around the building, and it looks like a Western-style castle from the outside.Maybe it's because the operator has a broad mind, even people who don't come to the hospital can come in and out freely, so Yuzuo often follows the older children nearby to catch insects and pick chestnuts here.

Sanae always walks in the spacious courtyard of the hospital, and her white triangular turban and white apron are her characteristics.Sanae has a fair complexion and looks like a doll, with no age at all.Yusaku always calls her "sister", but she's probably old enough to be his mother. She always looks at Yong from a distance as they play.In the hot summer, she also brought a kettle with barley tea.She always had sweets in her apron pocket, which she gladly gave to the children when they asked for them.No child knew why Sanae was in the red brick hospital, maybe that wasn't something worth caring about, and she never mentioned it herself.

It's just that Yong Zuo and the others also know that she is different from ordinary adults.The most obvious thing is that her choice of words is different from ordinary people.She would speak in a little girl's voice, not only to the children, but also to the people who came here to see the doctor.In this way, anyone who talks to her will immediately run away with a look of astonishment.She often holds a small doll, which also makes people think she is weird.Yusaku heard her talking to the little doll as if it were a child several times. "There seems to be something wrong with my sister," one of the older children said to Yusaku and the others one day, pointing to his head, "that's why she's staying here so that the doctor can cure her."

This sentence shocked Yusaku, he never thought that Sanae was ill. After the rumor spread, the children stopped playing in the hospital yard. It seemed that the parents who had heard the rumor forbade their children to approach her. However, Yusaku still often comes alone.Every time he went to the hospital, Sanae would come over to him and ask him, "How about everyone?" When Yusaku replied, "They can't come because of something", she would say, "It's so lonely." Yuzuo likes to climb trees the most.When he was climbing trees, Sanae would pull weeds and water the flowers. When he got tired of playing and rested, Sanae would pull out watermelons like a magic trick.

Yusaku felt very peaceful whenever he was with her.She sings a lot, and for Yusaku, listening to her sing is also a joy.She sang not Japanese songs, but foreign songs.Yusaku once asked her: "What song is that?" She replied: "I don't know." These things all happened that summer. That fall, Sanae passed away. On the evening of the day when he heard the bad news, Yusaku went to the Red Brick Hospital alone.He looked for Sanae under the tree whose leaves were turning red, but he couldn't see her who was always there before.Yusaku squatted under the tree he climbed that summer and cried for a long time.

Yusaku's father, Kouji, was a policeman, but he had never seen his father in uniform.Xingji always wears brown clothes and goes to work like a normal father. Xingji seems to be investigating the cause of Sanae's death, and often takes the young man home, talking long into the night.Yusaku listened and realized that Sanae was indeed a patient in the hospital, and she fell to her death from the hospital window.However, he didn't know what his father and the others wanted to investigate. Sanae's death also became a topic of discussion for the children.When they came near the hospital together, someone pointed out the window to Yusaku.He looked up, imagining how she would fall, only to feel tightness in his chest, and swallowed several times.However, Sanae's death only got the kids talking about it for a week or so.After their attention was attracted by other interesting things, the matter was never mentioned.However, Yusaku went to the hospital alone as before, looking at the window she fell from.

Xingji seems to be still investigating the cause of Sanae's death, returning home late for several days in a row, sometimes not even returning home.The aunt next door will come to the house to take care of Yusaku's food, probably Kouji called to ask for it. About a week later, Xingji's boss came, a fat, bald man who looked younger than Xingji.But through the very different words and phrases used by the two, even Yusaku at a young age can detect that his father is this person's subordinate. He seemed to be trying to convince Xingji for something.Through the sliding door, Yusaku heard him talking non-stop, using both force and force.Xingji seemed to be stubbornly opposed.Soon, the fat boss became very displeased, and left with his cheeks twitching, and Kouji was also very displeased.

A few days later, another visitor came to the house.This time it was a well-dressed man, not as arrogant and domineering as that boss, and he greeted him very politely.Kouji had a long conversation with the man.When he asked, Yongsaku was left at a neighbor's house. After the talk, Xingji came to pick up Yusaku.The gentleman was just leaving when they came out the gate.He found Yusaku, fixedly stared at his face, and said, "You have to obey your father." After speaking, he patted Yusaku's head.His eyes were light brown and soft. After that day, Xingji returned to his original state of life, never returned late, and Sanae was no longer mentioned on the phone.

Later, he took Yongzuo to visit the grave, which was the most magnificent grave in the cemetery.After Yusaku put his hands together and prayed, he asked, "Whose tomb is this?" Xingji smiled and replied, "Miss Sanae's." Yong Zuo was taken aback, looked at the tombstone again, and clasped his hands together again. After all, Yusaku knew nothing about the inside story of Sanae's death.It was only after many years that he understood a little bit. Going to elementary school soon, Yusaku went to the red brick hospital that he hadn't been to for a long time.He didn't have a specific purpose, he just came here at a leisurely pace.

A large black sedan was parked in the hospital parking lot.As he passed by, he stretched his neck and looked inside the car, only to see the driver in navy blue was dozing off with his arms as a pillow. Bravely leaves the car and walks into the woods.Walking in the forest, he thought of the sound of Sanae sweeping fallen leaves with a bamboo broom, the sweetness of milk candy, and her singing.Yusaku picked up a chestnut that fell on the ground, wiped off the dirt, and put it in the pocket of his shorts.It was a round and big chestnut, and as long as you plugged in a matchstick, it became a fine spinning top.It was Sanae who taught him to do it.He raised his head and was about to walk away when he saw a person standing directly in front of him, and then stopped.

It was a boy about Yusaku's age.He was wearing a red sweater, a gray scarf, and white socks that reached below his knees.There is no child around Yusaku who dresses up so beautifully. The two didn't say a word, they looked at each other for a long time, or it would be more appropriate to say that they stared at each other, at least bravely acted that they didn't like this stranger at all. Suddenly, a woman's voice came from somewhere.Yusaku followed the prestige and saw a woman in kimono waving beside the car just now.The boy who was staring at Yusaku walked towards the woman who seemed to be his mother. Yusaku uses the tree as cover and tries to approach them.The woman found him. "Your friend?" she asked the boy.The boy shook his head without looking at Yuu. Soon, the driver got out of the car and opened the rear door.After the woman and the boy got into the car one after another, the driver closed the door with just the right amount of force. As the engine started, Yusaku stepped out from behind the tree.The black car emitted light gray smoke and slowly left under Yusaku's gaze.When the car was about to drive out of the gate, Yuzuo noticed the boy looking back at him.That picture was like a photo, deeply seared in his mind.