Chapter 31 Section 31

For a few days after my sleepover at Rieko's house, I was still walking on clouds.My palm remembers the delicate touch of her skin, and also recalls the orchid-like fragrance of her breath from time to time, which is so beautiful that it is too unreal.I even feel that there is no such thing as a woman named Rieko in this world, and everything is just a phantom. "Hey, Tajima, what are you in a daze for?" This is often said to me by co-workers when I'm in the office waiting for a guest to be named.Maybe it's because I'm absent-minded. I can't forget that night, and I tried to contact Rieko again, but the phone didn't work.I was hoping with all my heart that maybe she would come to the store, but she didn't even call to make an appointment.

One day that I was looking forward to day and night, when I got home, I found that the appearance of the entrance was different from usual.At first, I didn't understand what was different, but when I took off my shoes, I realized that Meiqing hadn't gone out. Sloppy, she seldom arranges the shoes that she took off, a pile of them are always crowded together, and when she goes out, there will be room for a pair of shoes, but it was different that day, which hurt me It took a little effort to put my shoes on. I turned on the light in the hallway and walked into the living room, which was completely dark.I loosened my tie, as was my usual habit, and fumbled for the light switch on the wall.

When I turned on the switch, I was shocked to see Meiqing lying on the dining table.I don't know if she is going to go out, but it seems that her clothes and appearance have been taken care of. I wanted to call her out, but swallowed first.There were whiskey bottles and glasses on the table, and there was not a drop left in the bottle.A crumbled box fell at her feet, and the cream on the cake inside leaked out from the cracks in the box. "...What's wrong with you?" I said to Meiqing's back. However, she didn't respond.I thought she was asleep, but she was awake.Her back trembled slightly.

"Hello!" When I called her again, her head suddenly lifted, her curly hair was in a mess.She turned her head slowly.I was startled when I saw the look in her eyes.I saw her eyes were bloodshot, and her eyeliner was gone with tears, staring straight at me. "What?" My voice was hoarse and I cleared my throat. "What happened?" I finally managed to say such a sentence. Miharu picked up the whiskey glass on the table, and there was still a centimeter-high amber liquid in it.I thought she was going to drink the wine, but it didn't.Suddenly she threw the wine glass at me.

I get out of the way immediately.The whiskey glass, though solid and unbroken, slammed against the living room door with a loud crash. "What are you doing? It's dangerous." This time, however, she reached for the whiskey bottle.I am on full alert. However, Meiqing did not smash the wine bottle over.She stood up, held the wine bottle high, and made a beast-like cry and rushed towards me.I grabbed Miharu's arm, snatched the bottle from her hand, and threw it on the sofa.She yelled and screamed, trying to break free, scratching my face and beating my chest.I couldn't bear to kick her away.She fell right at the foot of the table, where the cake box had fallen.

"What are you doing? What's going on?!" However, she still didn't answer.This time she grabbed the cake box and threw it at me, but she missed the aim, and the cake box fell elsewhere, and the cake in the box was scattered on the floor.It looked like strawberry cake, but it was completely crumbled. A strawberry rolled to my feet.I picked it up and threw it in the trash.At this time, Meiqing suddenly yelled: "You eat it for me!" "what?" "Eat that kind of thing for me! You treat me like a fool!" she yelled hoarsely. "Hey, Miharu. What are you talking about? What are you mad about? What did I do?"

"What did you do? Don't play dumb!" Miharu picked up the piece of cake that fell aside and threw it at me, hitting me in the chest.The white whipped cream was stuck to the gray shirt, and I stared at the stain blankly, then yelled furiously: "You're almost a little bit! Suddenly, what's going on? How can I know why? Before you get mad , if you have something to say, just say it!" "Why...? You should know why best!" "What do you mean by that?" Miharu stretched her body, picked up something from the dining table, and threw it towards me, but it fell lightly on the ground.It was a little curled piece of paper.I looked at her face and picked up the paper.It was a business card.Seeing the words printed on it, I broke out in a cold sweat.

That was Rieko's business card. Could it be that Meiqing discovered the business card she gave me?I knew right away that wasn't the case.It's impossible for Miharu to get mad over such a trivial matter. I felt the soles of my feet slippery, and it turned out that I stepped on fresh cream. Miharu was still staring at me.I thought to myself, I have to say something. "What... what's wrong?" "Stop pretending! Your face is ashen. I was about to go out in the evening, and that woman came home." "how……" I thought to myself, how is it possible.It is impossible for Rieko to know where I live, but I dare not guarantee that she may have a way to copy my address.Since the business card was right in front of her eyes, Miharu said that, it was a fact that Rieko had been to the house.

I licked my lips. "and then?" "Then what?" "She came and what happened? What happened to her?" "Didn't I tell you to stop pretending? If you're not an idiot, you should have figured out what that woman is doing at home, right?" I have absolutely no idea what's going on - I was going to say it, but I can't.I thought, that would only make Meiqing even more angry. "Say something!" "what do you want me to say?" "Anything is fine. Anyway, you treat me as a fool, and you can give me any reason." "I didn't take you for a fool."

"You obviously have it!" Meiqing roared. "I'll tell you what that woman said to me. She was shameless and asked if I wanted to divorce you." I opened my eyes wide. "No way." "Why should I lie to you? I can't figure out what she is talking about at all. I thought to myself, is this person's head broken? But, listening to her talk all the way, I know that woman and you are What does it matter." Meiqing said this in a breath, still staring at me, then bit her lip and shook her head. "I'm so unwilling. I'm both unwilling and sad. I'm in terribly painful. But...but the woman actually laughed. In the end, you know what she said? She said: 'Oh, it seems that he still doesn't intend to Divorce you. Your husband is playing a dangerous game.' She seemed very happy to see me being hit hard."

I gritted my molars tightly, and the hairs all over my body stood on end. I didn't know what to say to her, so I lowered my head and looked at the socks that were sticky with whipped cream. "You just said something!" Meiqing yelled again.Then, I heard the sound of something falling down, and when I looked up, it turned out that the dining table and chairs had fallen to the ground. I took a deep breath, my heart still beating fast. "How is it? Did you promise that woman? She said, you want to divorce me?" "No, I didn't say that." "Then what did you say?" "I... didn't say anything." "Crap!" "I'm not bullshitting." "So, do you admit to having an affair with that woman?" I was silent.I think if you admit it, it's game over.However, even if I don't admit it, it's the same if things have evolved to this point. "How is it?" Something flew over and hit my knee.The teacup rolled on the ground. I remained silent, and I heard Miharu's sobs in my ears.She lay on the ground, crying gradually louder, and then began to cry like a child.Then she cried and murmured, muttering repeatedly. "It's too much, it's too much." I approached her and put my hands on her shoulders with trepidation. "Don't let me!" Meiqing twisted her body and shouted loudly.I had to retract my hand. Miharu stood up suddenly, ran out of the living room without looking at me.I was thinking maybe she was planning to run away, but then I heard the bedroom door being slammed shut. After a while, she didn't come out of the room.I started to feel uneasy and ran to the bedroom to check on her.I remembered that she had cut her wrists before. I put my ear close to the bedroom door, but there was no movement inside.I opened the door a crack, saw her lying on the bed, her shoulders were cramping, and there was a sound of sobbing, so I closed the door quietly. I sat in the hallway and sighed.There were one footprint after another on the wooden floor.Those are my footprints with whipped cream. I took off my socks and coat, rolled them into a ball, put them in a corner, went to the sink to get a rag, and started mopping the floor, cleaning up the living room as well.Only then did I realize that there was a torn apron next to the sofa.It must have been torn apart when Miharu was filled with remorse. After cleaning and changing clothes, I went to the dormitory to see how she looked.In the dark bedroom, Miharu was lying on the bed with her back to me.There was no more whimpering or snoring, but the rustling of the screams under the blanket proved that she was still alive. I sat down on the sofa in the living room, thinking about Rieko.Why did she come here?Could it be that she came here just to beat Miharu?I've read in books that some women have this habit.Could Rieko be that kind of woman?But what fun is there in doing that? Or does Rieko really want me to get a divorce?Does she want me to divorce and marry her?From the beginning, she did act more positively than I did.But no matter what, we only met three times and had a physical relationship once.Besides, since the relationship, she never contacted me again. I want to call Rieko.Call the store at this time, and you should be able to find her.However, I just thought about it and didn't act on it.If Miharu overheard the phone call, things might get more complicated. Time passed by, and I didn't feel hungry at all. Instead, my throat was thirsty and I drank several glasses of tap water. At around twelve o'clock in the morning, I heard the sound of the bedroom door opening, followed by the sound of someone walking in the corridor, and then the sound of the toilet door opening and closing.Two or three minutes later, Miharu came out of the toilet, but I didn't hear footsteps.She stands in the hallway.I guess she was hesitating whether to enter the living room or not.My body surged with strength, and I put my hands on my knees and made fists. Miharu came in.But she didn't even look at me, and walked to the kitchen, drinking water from a cup like I did just now, and exhaled with a "huh".She walked towards me slowly and sat on the sofa with slow movements like a patient.She picked up the cigarette and lighter that were on the coffee table, and started to smoke, puffing on and on.Every time she exhales, my chest tightens. When the first cigarette was almost down to the butt, she extinguished it in the ashtray.I remembered someone said that you can tell whether a person is jealous or not by the way he puts out his cigarette. "Did you tidy it up?" She asked in a hoarse voice, probably because of crying. "what?" "Floor. Floor, some are missing. Wasn't it a mess just now?" "Oh. Well, I sorted it out roughly." "Yes. Thanks." She took out another cigarette, put it in her mouth, and lit it with a lighter. I clasped my fingers together, my fingers were split and closed, and my palms were sweating. "So, what are you going to do?" Miharu asked me in a completely unaffected tone. "How to do what?" "I asked you what you want? Didn't that woman say you were going to divorce me?" "I said it, I didn't say that." She took a puff on her cigarette, and her face was almost expressionless, perhaps because her eyes were swollen.Even so, she seemed to doubt the credibility of my words. "several times?" "what?" "How many times have you cheated?" I swallowed a mouthful of saliva and didn't want to answer in detail. "The deeds have been exposed. There is nothing to hide now, right? Tell the truth!" "……Only one time." "Yes." Miharu exhaled smoke from her nose. "Only once, is it possible for the other party to come and say that?" "Really. Only once." I don't know if she believes it.Miharu extinguished the second cigarette.That cigarette was quite long. "Why?" she whispered. "Why would you do that kind of thing?" "Sorry." The words couldn't help blurting out.I bowed my head slightly to apologize. "Do you think apologizing will do the trick?" "Of course not... So, what should I do?" "I don't know." Meiqing turned her face to me, took out a tissue from the tissue box, and wiped the bottom of her nose. Then the two were silent for a while.An ambulance passed by outside.Once silent, the noise outside can be heard very clearly. "Where did you meet?" She finally asked me. "She came to our store, asked me to discuss the decoration, and then invited me to her house..." "You ran to her house without hesitation and were seduced by her, didn't you?" she said. "What an idiot." "I didn't mean that at all at first." "Really? And then? Do you like her?" "No, I can't say whether I like it or not... After all, I haven't met a few times." "But you're in bed, aren't you?" Another question that has to be shut up.I bow my head. "So, what are you going to do next?" "How to do it... I haven't thought about it at all." "Really." Meiqing stood up and left the living room.I thought to myself, this time she is really going to run away from home, but it is not the case.With something in her hand, she went back to the living room. "Anyway, you write an apology letter first." "apology letter?" "Well...it doesn't matter if it's not an apology letter, anyway, it's useless to apologize. Anyway, write down what you did this time on paper." "How to write well?" "It's enough to write down who and how you cheated with. It's fine to just write down your cheating. If you don't want to write the name of the other party, you don't have to write it down, but you have to write the date." "What do you write that kind of stuff for?" "I'm free to do what I like, right?" "You asked me to write this kind of thing, is it to be used as evidence to petition for divorce?" "Even if I don't write that kind of thing, I can still get divorced." She said rudely. "I don't want this to just go away, so I want you to write it down." My eyes fell on the paper, I picked up the ballpoint pen, and thought about how to write the content of the article. "I don't know how to write it." "Really, there's nothing you can do." Meiqing said with the corner of her mouth tilted. "Then you write as I say. I, Kazuyuki Tajima, got married and had a physical relationship with a woman named Rieko Terashima who came to the store. It's all my fault. I would do anything, take responsibility for this." I wrote according to what she said, and my mind was only thinking of how to calm Meiqing down. Miharu finally asked me to make a handprint with my thumb.I dipped my thumb in ink pad and covered the signature place heavily. "Is that all right?" Miharu stared at the written article and carefully folded the note paper. "I'll say it first, I won't get a divorce." "I'm not planning on getting a divorce either." "However, I hold you accountable for writing this matter." "What should I do?" "I don't know yet. I'll figure it out. Until then, though, I want you to swear that you'll never do something like that again." "I swear!" "You really want to swear?" "I really swear." Miharu nodded slightly, then stood up.She looked a little more energetic than before.I finally let go of a big stone in my heart, and it seems that her mood has calmed down a bit.I was also relieved that she did not file for divorce. During my lunch break the next day, I called Rieko to ask her why she did such a thing, but the call still didn't work.And the call didn't jump to the answering machine, so there was no way to leave a message. I also thought about going directly to Rieko's apartment, but the thought of Miharu made me hesitate.If Rieko told Miharu that I went to see her, I'm afraid Miharu would run away from home this time. After that, more than a month passed, and I finally failed to get in touch with Rieko.I stopped calling her and she never heard from her. Maybe Rieko really has a strange habit, and she seduced me just to mess up my family.Or maybe she planned to stop dating me after meeting Meiqing.Whatever the reason, I don't care.I decided to forget about Rieko. After that night, Meiqing never said anything about my affair. She was the same as before, going out in the evening and not coming home until late at night.Sometimes, she prepares dinner for me.Everything returned to its original appearance.I used to want to gossip about how Miharu barely does housework and works so late, but now I've decided to keep silent.After all, I'm not qualified to talk about those things. That's right.I can't blame Miharu anymore.It wasn't long before I realized how serious it was.