Chapter 31 Section 31

The forecast was accurate, and on the following Monday, Naoko returned later than on any previous day.She called back at 7 o'clock and told Pingjie that she was late and asked him to find a place outside for dinner.In desperation, Heisuke went to a ramen restaurant near his home and ordered a set of stir-fried vegetables. In the end, it was past 9 o'clock when Naoko got home.Hei Jie wanted to complain, but when he saw her exhausted, he couldn't say anything.She said she ate her dinner at the barbecue restaurant she frequented next to the school. Naoko took a shower and went back to her room on the second floor.Not long after, the phone on the combination cabinet rang.Hirasuke was startled by the ringtone, and looked at the wall clock, it was almost 11 o'clock.

Just as Ping Jie was about to stand up to get the receiver, the phone stopped ringing.For a moment he thought that someone had dialed the wrong number, but he immediately realized that was not the case. A small light on the phone was still on, that was the "extension in use" light.In other words, Naoko answered the phone on the second floor. The telephone at Heisuke's house was switched to cordless only this spring, a change that was made at Naoko's suggestion.She said it would be nice if she could answer the phone on the second floor.Usually, the extension is hung on the wall of the corridor on the second floor.

Hirasuke stared at the small indicator light for a long time.In his opinion, if it is an ordinary matter, two or three minutes should be enough to finish the conversation.But the little light never went out.He watched TV for a while, but after reading the weather report, he went to the telephone again.The light is still on. Is there a mistake?At such times - the "extension in use" light finally went off, almost another hour later.Meanwhile, Hirasuke watched TV for a while and flipped through newspapers for a while.Of course, no matter what kind of content it was, it couldn't fit into his brain.

Naoko didn't come home until after 9 o'clock the next day.Under her influence, Heisuke also had dinner at a ramen restaurant for two consecutive days. What the hell is she doing?His suspicions grew deeper and deeper.Does it take so much time to prepare for a cultural festival?Isn't it just a simulation shop opened by students? Hirasuke was thinking about this question while watching TV, when the phone rang again.He looked at the wall clock reflexively, 10:50, almost the same time as yesterday. The phone rang only once.Then, like yesterday, the "extension in use" light came on.Naoko was already in her room at this time.Heisuke didn't hear the sound of her coming from the room to the corridor. Obviously, she knew that there would be a call for her tonight, so she took the extension to the room in advance.In short, someone told her to call her tonight around 10:50.

Who could this person be? Heisuke shook his legs subconsciously while looking at the TV, the wall clock and the phone alternately.The results of the baseball game are being broadcast on TV.The Giants have won the championship in the upper half ahead of schedule, and now it depends on the opponent in the finals—which team is the champion in the lower half.In the past few days, the rankings of Kintetsu, Seibu, ORIX and other teams in the lower half of the division have been constantly changing.As a die-hard Giants fan, Hirasuke is also particularly concerned about the results of the second half this year.But now, he didn't have that mood.

The hands of the wall clock have already pointed to more than 11 o'clock.Heisuke came to the corridor, stopped the sound of footsteps, and stood by the stairs.From the looks of it, Naoko was not in the corridor on the second floor, but was talking in her room with an extension. Hirasuke crept up the stairs like a gecko.Faint voices could be heard in Naoko's room, but the specific content of the words could not be heard clearly. The name Haruki Soma came to Heisuke's mind.The other party must be a boy.But what kind of boy is he?And why was he calling Naoko? After a while, the sound ceased to be heard.Heisuke continued to crawl towards Naoko's door.

At this moment, the door suddenly opened, and Heisuke's head was almost hit by the side of the door.Looking at Heisuke under her feet, Naoko let out an exclamation of "ah". "What are you doing here?" "No...it's nothing." Heisuke simply sat on the stairs, sweating all over his body.He couldn't think of a good reason to explain it. The extension cordless phone was in Naoko's hand.Naoko was about to put the extension back into the wall charger when she suddenly remembered something. "Are you eavesdropping on my phone?" "Not really. It's just... It seems that someone called yesterday and today to talk for a long time. I was a little worried, so I wanted to come and have a look."

"Isn't this eavesdropping?" "But I didn't hear what you said at all. The problem is, the time you talk on the phone is too long!" "It's a friend from the club." Naoko said bluntly, and put the cordless extension back to its original place. "Is that the guy named Soma?" Hirasuke asked. Naoko was silent, with a noncommittal expression.Looks like it hit her home. "That guy is in the second grade, right? If that's the case, how can we be friends?" "How do you know that Soma-senpai is in the second grade?" This time it was Hirasuke's turn to be unable to answer.The corners of Naoko's mouth were crooked.

"It seems that you went through my folder privately last time, right? I felt something was wrong at the time." "Can't I see it?" "Have you never heard the term 'privacy'?" "Who the hell is that Soma? Why did I call you?" "How do I know. He called me. What can I do?" "How come you don't know, boys have nothing to call girls, what else can there be for other than one reason?" Hei Jie was angry while sitting on the stairs. "Well, let me tell you the truth, he probably likes me. I haven't practiced in the club this week, and I can't see each other in school, so he called me. Are you satisfied with this?"

"Then tell him not to call you again!" "How should I say this, and he didn't know that he wanted to chase me." "He'll tell you when the time comes." "Isn't it enough to refuse at that time?" "Actually, do you enjoy it now? It's cool to talk to young boys like this, doesn't it?" When he said this, Hirasuke could feel the muscles on his face twitch. "I enjoy it very much." Naoko said, "Is there anything wrong with enjoying it? Don't I even have such a little right? Can I change my mood?" "It's so much more fun talking to him than to me, isn't it?"

Naoko didn't answer Heisuke's questioning, but grabbed the doorknob. "I'm tired, I'm going to bed, good night." Just as Ping Jie was about to say "wait a minute", she had already entered her room and closed the door. After getting under the quilt, Hirasuke still couldn't fall asleep.On the one hand, he was annoyed at himself for throwing a tantrum over something as trivial as a phone call, and hated his narrow-mindedness. On the other hand, he was also resentful that Naoko could not understand his own difficulties. Heisuke cared even more about Naoko calling Soma Haruki "Souma-senpai". Although he may be Naoko's senior from the outside, but spiritually, a boy in the second year of high school should still be a child to Naoko.When she was in elementary school, she even referred to her head teacher Takamoto Hashimoto as "she" or "that child". Could it be that in front of Haruki Soma, Naoko has also become a freshman in high school mentally?In that case, it's no wonder she called Soma senior. Hirasuke prayed in his heart that this change was only temporary.That night in Nagano, Hirasuke told Naoko that as long as she was by his side, he would not consider remarriage.Naoko said "thank you" at that time.This passage has now become his spiritual pillar.