Chapter 30 Section 30

It was Sunday evening when the phone call came, and Naoko had gone out to buy food for dinner.After Heisuke repaired the small yard by himself, he sat down on the steps in front of the French windows and stared blankly at the western sky.The sunset glow was so perfect that it dyed the scaly cumulus clouds the same color. Hirasuke spent this pleasant autumn day in the leisure that he hadn't experienced for a long time.Thinking of starting a week of work with a renewed mood tomorrow, Hirasuke felt very satisfied. The phone rang at such a time, giving him an ominous premonition.The phone at Heisuke's house seldom rang very often.When Naoko was alive as Naoko, there were frequent phone calls from her natal family in Nagano or from friends, but now there are no such calls.

Will it be a real estate agent again?Heisuke stood up while thinking.I used to get calls from time to time asking if they wanted to buy a one-room apartment. The phone is on the combination cabinet.Heisuke picked up the phone: "Hi, this is Sugita's house." The other party did not make a sound immediately.This very short silence made Hirasuke believe in his ominous premonition experience.His intuition told him that the other person's unresponsiveness was not due to physical reasons, but because he felt a little overwhelmed by hearing his own voice. "Ah, hello!" A man's voice said, "Um...excuse me, is Sugita Sami at home?"

Heisuke realized that the other party should be a boy from Naoko's same school.He felt that his originally sunny heart was suddenly covered with dark clouds. "She's not here now," he replied, with displeasure in his voice.He does this half unconsciously and half consciously. "Ah, that's it." The other party seemed to flinch a little.Ping Jie decided that if the other party wanted to just hang up the phone, then he would scold him severely before the other party hung up.It's really unreasonable to call people's homes without even notifying their names!However, the other party was not so ignorant of the rules.

"Well, my name is Soma. When Sami Nami comes back, can you tell her that I called?" "Is it Souma-san? Should I tell her which Souma it is?" "It's Souma who plays tennis with her." Another tennis club!There was bitterness in Ping Jie's mouth. "Is there something urgent for you?" "No, it's not really an emergency." "But if you call on Sunday, there should be something important, right? You tell me now, and I can help you convey it to Sami Nami." "Oh, no, because it's a bit complicated to say, and it's hard to understand without saying it directly, so just tell her for me that I called."

"yes……" "Goodbye." After the panic, the boy who called himself Soma hung up the phone in a panic. After putting down the phone, Hirasuke felt very uncomfortable in his stomach.He checked the time.Naoko didn't spend much time just going out, and based on her usual experience, she shouldn't be back within an hour. Heisuke turned on the TV, which was broadcasting news from NHK TV station.Heisuke just stared at the TV screen, but didn't take the content to heart at all. He turned on the TV like that, and went upstairs alone. He came to Naoko's room, opened the door gently, and entered the room.

The room was neatly tidied up by Naoko, the only thing that seemed a bit messy was the desk.The physics reference book was just like that, and she seemed to be reviewing mechanics before she left.It's the kind of problem that calculates the forces acting on an object on an inclined plane.Friction coefficient, action force and reaction force Ping Jie still has these terms in his mind. Folders, diaries, dictionaries and other supplies are neatly arranged with bookends on the back of the desk.There are five folders in five colors: red, blue, yellow, green, and orange.Although nothing is written on the back of the folder, presumably the purpose of each folder is different depending on the color.

Heisuke had seen Naoko flipping through folders before talking on the phone with friends from the tennis club.It is estimated that the files in that folder are all related to the tennis club. He remembered that the folder was either red or orange.Although he felt guilty, he still pulled out the two folders.I opened the red folder and saw that it was full of materials related to cooking, some of which were cut from magazines. Everything related to the tennis club is in that orange folder.At the front is a copy of this fall's schedule. Hirasuke flicked through the folder, and when he reached the last page, his hand stopped, and there was a list with the names and contact information of all the members inside.

That boy seems to be called Soma—— Heisuke scanned the part with the name written on it with his finger, and finally found someone named Haruki Soma.He is a member of the second grade. Heisuke opened the desk drawer, and there were stationery neatly arranged inside.He tore off a note and wrote down Haruki Soma's address and phone number.He didn't know what his purpose for doing this was, he just wanted to copy the information down before making any plans. He put the note in his breast pocket and put the folder back on the bookend.Because I got some information about the boy who called Naoko.Hirasuke's heart was also satisfied to some extent.

Heisuke left Naoko's room and was about to close the door behind him with his hand when Naoko came up the stairs.She stopped at the waist of the stairs. "What's going on?" Naoko asked, "What did you do in my room?" There was a sense of accusation in her question. Can't I go into your room? ——While Hirasuke was thinking this way, he also felt a sense of guilt for violating Naoko's privacy.The two emotions stirred together in his heart, and transformed into an unnatural lie that came out of his mouth: "Ah, it's nothing. Well, I wanted to borrow something from you, but I stopped looking for it if I didn't find it."

"What are you looking for?" "Huh? Ah, it's...a book." "Book, what book?" "That's the one, the one written by Natsume Soseki..." Heisuke faltered, regretting that he had made up this unwise lie.He had no idea what authors and books Naoko usually read.I had no choice but to bite the bullet and use Natsume Soseki as a prevarication. "Cat?" Naoko asked. "Cat?" "...The book written by Natsume Soseki, I only have this one." "Ah, that's right, that's the one." Heisuke said, "That book was mentioned on TV just now, so I kind of want to read it."

"Really? This is really the sun coming out from the west." Naoko thumped upstairs and entered her room. Heisuke stood at the door watching her reaction.When she came to the bookshelf, she quickly found a thick pocket collection of essays. "Where did you find it? Isn't it right here?" "Ah, did you? Maybe I didn't notice." "Take it." After saying that, Naoko handed over the book.Heisuke took the book. She looked like she was going to leave the room immediately, but before going out, she looked around the room again. "Huh?" Naoko frowned slightly, and came to the table, "Have you moved my table?" "No, I haven't moved." Although his heart skipped a beat, he still replied calmly. "yes?" "What's wrong?" "It's okay, it's fine that it hasn't been touched." She said, swapping the orange folder and the red folder. That night, Hirasuke finally didn't mention Soma Haruki's phone call to Naoko.Although he wanted to ask Naoko about Haruki Souma, he knew that with Naoko's keen insight, she would definitely connect this matter with the change of folder location.It's better not to be noticed by her casually flipping through her things. After dinner, Heisuke opened in front of Naoko what he didn't really want to read.After reading two pages, he felt unable to keep his eyelids open.However, he continued to pretend to read. The next day, Hirasuke came back a bit late, and the hands of the watch had already pointed to 8:15.He was relieved to see the lights in the house were on.If Naoko hadn't come back, his heart might be in a panic again. Naoko still sometimes came back late.Because there was an unhappiness caused by a quarrel before, now Heisuke will try his best to restrain himself and not complain.Naoko seemed to have noticed Heisuke's mood to some extent, and there were almost no cases of not coming back after 8 o'clock. Heisuke opened the door and entered the house.While taking off his shoes, he wanted to shout inside——I'm back!Just before he could make a sound, he heard a low voice coming from inside, it was Naoko talking, and laughing from time to time. Hirasuke deduces that she is on the phone.He tiptoed forward.The sound was coming from a Japanese-style room. "I heard it from Arisaka-senpai. He said you made fun of my backhand. After hearing that, I thought you were too much!" The voice is undoubtedly Naoko's, but the tone is completely different from the usual one for Heisuke.Not only is the word used casually like a female high school student, but it also has a taste of being coquettish to the other party. "Ah, it's true, I can't believe it. So the senior is willing to partner with me next time?...Ah? Really? That's great!...What? I hate it, why should I want to?" Do that," Naoko said while laughing, giving off a sense of joy from the bottom of her heart. Heisuke stepped back a few more steps in the corridor, deliberately made a loud noise and walked over again, shouting "I'm back!" Although he couldn't see her, he could feel her panic. "Ah, let's talk about it tomorrow... um... okay, that's it." At the same time as Heisuke entered the room, Naoko also left the phone. "You're back. Do you want to eat right away?" Naoko walked towards the kitchen, her tone returning to her usual tone. "Who were you calling just now?" "Well, my friends at school, I talked about my English homework." lie!Ping Jie thought angrily in his heart.Her tone just now was not talking to someone in Si's same grade at all, nor was she discussing English issues.Besides, the other party is still a boy! "I just remembered that you had a call yesterday. It was from a man named Soma from the tennis club." "Ah... that's right." Heisuke noticed that Naoko, who was facing the sink, shook her shoulders. "He asked me to tell you that he called you, but I forgot about it as soon as I was sloppy. Did you see him today? Did he say anything to you?" "Ah... what he told me was about preparing for the freshman competition. That must be why he called. But he didn't mention that he called me yesterday." "Calling home on Sunday, I thought he was in a hurry." "It's not urgent. I guess he wants to tell me before he forgets." "That's right. Forget it, let's not talk about it." Ping Jie went up to the second floor, while changing clothes, while still thinking about the phone.The person who talked to Naoko on the phone just now must be that second-year boy named Haruki Soma.The question is, why would she lie to me?Why can't you just tell me that it's the senior from the tennis club calling? After much deliberation, there is only one answer: Naoko should have participated in the tennis club practice today, and according to her, she also talked to Soma today.That being the case, why did he talk to him on the phone after returning home? Hirasuke didn't have the confidence to answer this question well. The call must have come from Soma.Naoko has no reason to take the initiative to call him without knowing when Heisuke will come back. Hirasuke began to think about whether to call Soma.If the father of the other party calls and tells him not to call his daughter if he has nothing to do, most boys will quit in spite of the difficulties. "Father, it's time to eat!" Naoko's voice came from downstairs.Heisuke agreed loudly, and withdrew his hand that was already in his pocket. "Let me explain to you first, I may come back very late every day next week." During dinner, Naoko said with concern. "Is it because of tennis again?" "No, it's because of the preparations for the campus cultural festival. Next Saturday and Sunday will be the cultural festival." "You said you would come back late, what exactly are you going to do?" "Our class is going to set up a coffee theater, which is to dim the light in the classroom, and sell some coffee and juice while playing the video we made ourselves. Next week we will make a video and decorate the classroom." "Are you saying that the whole class should participate?" "Does it need to be said? Of course the whole class has to participate!" "Then you said it's late, how late can it be?" "I don't know. I heard that the executive committee members stay up all night every year." "Dunxiao? Do you live in the school?" "Yes." "You won't be elected to the executive committee, will you?" "Not at all. People who join the tennis club can't take care of them because they are busy at both ends, so they won't be elected as executive committee members. However, whether they are executive committee members or not, they have to participate in the preparation work. We members of the club, At least next week should also help with preparations. Because of this, next week's club practice will also be suspended." "I didn't expect that the school would spend so much time for a cultural festival. Does your school want to compare the admission rate of the University of Tokyo with other high schools? Is it possible to hold such an event?" "Only by playing well can you learn well. The school also understands the principle of combining work and rest. I only know that people who sit at their desks will never be admitted to the University of Tokyo!" Naoko explained impatiently.