Chapter 4 Section 3

A week after Tsuyoshi was arrested, Naoki went to school.During this period, Mr. Meicun, the teacher in charge of the class, visited him several times, that is, he sat down at the door of the room, smoked a cigarette and left.However, every time I come, I bring a lunch box or instant food from a convenience store, which helps a lot.There is almost no money in the family, so he can only eat the cheapest bread every day. I haven't been there for a few days, no matter whether it's school or classmates, nothing has changed.It was full of laughter as before, and everyone looked happy. It's nothing strange to think of it, Zhigui thinks.Heinous crimes happen frequently, and the robbery and homicide that happened a week ago has long since disappeared from everyone's memory, even though the prisoner's younger brother is a student of the same school.

Seeing Naoki, the classmates showed nervous and confused expressions.It's like he didn't expect him to come to school.Naoki felt that everyone should try to forget about that incident. Even so, several partners came over to say hello.Among them, the former best boy named Jiang Shang was the first to talk to him: "Have you calmed down?" Zhigui raised his head and glanced at Jiangshang, then lowered his eyes immediately: "It's okay..." "Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked in a low voice.It's nothing like yelling at football practice.

Zhigui shook his head slightly: "No, nothing, thank you!" "yes." Jiang Shang, who was always cheerful, had no more words, and left Zhigui's table in silence.Others are also copycats.I heard Jiang Shang whisper, go and say hello quietly.Everyone seems to agree.Until the noon break, Zhigui didn't speak to anyone again.The teachers of all subjects were also aware of his existence, but no one spoke to him. Teacher Meicun came during the lunch break and whispered in his ear, come to the student guidance room!I went with him to have a look. In addition to Teacher Meicun, the grade director and the principal were also there.

It is mainly Mr. Plum Village who asks questions.Contents are roughly what are you going to do in the future?I didn't quite understand what he meant, and after asking several times, I realized what they really meant: they were concerned about whether Zhigui would continue to go to school in the future.With no relatives around, do you want to drop out of school and go to work?If you want to work part-time, this school does not have a school hour system, and you have to transfer to another school if you want to get a diploma.In short, it will be difficult to continue going to school as before.

Although he was concerned about his tone, Zhigui heard other meanings, especially the principal, who seemed to want him to leave the school.Perhaps it was worried that spreading the news would damage the school's reputation, or that it would be difficult to deal with the issue of how the school should treat the murderer's younger brother. "I won't drop out of school." Zhigui said firmly, "No matter what, I have to graduate from this school. My brother made it hard for me to study until now." Brother, upon hearing this word, the teachers showed a subtle reaction.The grade director and principal looked away as if they had heard something unpleasant.Umemura-sensei stared at Naoki and nodded.

"It would be great if Takeshima thought so. I'll talk to the person in charge of the general affairs about the tuition fees. But the question is how to live in the future?" "I'll find a way. It's okay to go to work after school." Speaking of this, Zhigui looked at the principal, "Except for summer vacation and winter vacation, you can't work...is it?" "No, that's just a principle. If there are special circumstances, you can give special permission." The headmaster said blankly as if he had no choice. Teacher Plum Village asked another question: Do you want to continue your studies?

"The current situation is not in the state of preparing for the entrance examination..." Mr. Meicun's voice became lower and lower. "I just gave up on college." Zhigui said clearly, and it also meant to completely dispel his illusions. "Give it up, get a job after high school, and think about it later." All three teachers nodded. One day not long after, when Naoki came back from school and was cooking instant noodles, someone from the real estate company in charge of managing the apartment came.It was a fat man with a beard under his nose.What I said was too sudden for Naoki: When do you plan to move out of the apartment?

"When will you move out? That hasn't been determined yet." Naoki was puzzled and replied like this.The man showed a more confused expression. "Huh? But, are you going to move?" "No, not thinking about it. Why should I move?" "Why? Didn't something like that happen to your brother?" Zhigui was speechless.As soon as he talked about Gangzhi, he couldn't say anything. He didn't speak, thinking to himself, if the elder brother commits a crime, the younger brother must move out of the apartment? "First of all, it's the room fee, can't you pay it? It's been three months since then. We're not unreasonable. You're still a student, so it's hard to pay it all at once. Return the house to us first." A person from the real estate company said. The tone is very gentle, but there is something hidden in the words.

"I will pay, I will pay the rent, including what I owe you. I will go to work to earn money." Hearing Zhigui's words, the people in the real estate company seemed a little annoyed. "It's easy to say, but can you really afford it? You have accumulated so much." As he spoke, he unfolded the bill.Zhigui looked at the numbers above, and his heart became cold. "Let me tell you, this is the amount deducted from the deposit. So much money, can't you prepare it all at once?" Zhigui could only lower his head. "Although I said that, there is nowhere I can go if I want to go out from here!"

"No relatives or anything? Your parents have no siblings?" "No, and there are no other relatives who have contacts." "Yeah. That's right. Even if they had contacts, they probably avoided them too." The person from the real estate company muttered as if talking to himself. "However, we can't allow people who can't pay the rent to live here forever! We also accept management from the landlord. If you have any opinions, you'd better tell the landlord. As I said just now, if you move out, Maybe you can ask someone to close your eyes for the money you owe. Besides, it’s too big for you to live alone, and you will be alone in the future. Wouldn’t it be better to have a slightly smaller place, and I can introduce it if necessary.”

After finishing what I wanted to say, I said another sentence before contacting, and the real estate company left.Zhigui was still sitting where he was, the water in the pot was boiling.Heard voices but didn't want to move. From now on you will be alone... I feel right.It's not that I just noticed it at this time, I understand it, but I don't want to think about it all the time. From now on, I will be alone, and Gangzhi will not come back.Maybe it will come back sooner or later, and that will be years, no, maybe decades. Naoki looked around, the old refrigerator, the greasy gas stove, the old-fashioned rice cooker, the bookshelves of comic magazines he picked up, the faded ceiling, the tatami mats that had turned brown, and the wallpaper that fell off everywhere. It is jointly owned with my brother. Maybe the guy from the real estate company was right. Living alone is a bit big, and too painful.