Chapter 43 Section 3

The next day, Zhe Lang looked through the address book of his student days and tried to call Nakao's hometown.It was his mother who answered the phone.Zhelang has never been to Nakao's hometown, so this is the first time he has spoken to his family. Zhe Lang politely reported his name, and the other party immediately remembered who he was.Zhelang was a little happy knowing that Nakao often mentioned the players of the American football club at home when he was a student. Zhe Lang mentioned that because he couldn't contact Nakao, it was very troublesome. "Oh, sure enough...the kid didn't tell his friends either."

"What's wrong with him?" "Well, uh, shame on me, he got divorced a while ago." "I know that. After that, I couldn't get in touch with him." "Honestly, so did we. He only contacted us once after the divorce, saying he was going on a trip for a while and told us not to worry." "Travel? Don't you know where he went?" "He didn't say anything. I think that child is an adult too. If his parents ask too much, he probably just finds it annoying, so I didn't pursue it." "That's it." This is also expected by Zhe Lang, Nakao seems to have cut off contact with his hometown.But since he said he was going on a trip, he should come back sooner or later.

"I seem to be meddling in asking this question," Zhe Lang said knowingly that it was impolite, "What is the reason for his divorce?" He was already mentally prepared to be scolded, but Nakao's mother's voice could not hear any displeasure, and she said in a thoughtful tone: "Well..., he didn't tell us. Well, after all, there is a relationship between husband and wife. Many things are inhumane." It didn't feel like she was pretending not to know.It would be foolish and pointless to ask further questions.Zhe Lang ended the conversation properly and hung up the phone.

"About the reason for his divorce, you can actually ask." Risako seemed to have heard the conversation, and said behind him. "The situation is urgent, I can't take care of that much now." "I don't think Nakao should report his affairs to his parents one by one." "Well, after all, he is a thirty-year-old man." "I didn't mean that, but there was a gap between him and his parents." "Really? I haven't heard of it." "His mother is actually not his biological mother. I heard that his biological mother divorced his father when he was in elementary school and left home. Although Nakao doesn't hate the new mother, she doesn't act like a baby to her or rely on her from the bottom of her heart."

"Who did you hear about this? The guy never told us about it." "I heard what Mizuki said." "Oh, so I understand..." Nakao is a loyal, honest, and generous man, even if someone makes a mistake, he will never blame the other party.Zhe Lang originally imagined that he should grow up in a loving family, but in fact it was just the opposite.Perhaps his biological mother left him when he was a child, and the fear of having to get used to a new mother early on had an effect on his personality. Zhe Lang thought to himself: Even so, I didn't know what happened to him until more than ten years after graduation. What is the friendship between him and myself?

The hands of the clock pointed to one o'clock in the afternoon.He reached for the coat hanging from the back of the chair. "Where are you going? Work?" "I'm going to Nakao's house again. No, it's not Nakao's house, but Takashiro's house." "It's impossible for his wife to tell you anything." "She won't lose anything if she doesn't say anything." Zhe Lang left the living room and walked towards the entrance.Risako chased after him. "Hey, do you want to give up?" "Give up what?" Zhe Lang put on his shoes.

"Give up on looking for Nakao. I think he must have some reasons why he decided to do this. Wouldn't it be bad for us to meddle indiscriminately?" "Even if that's the case, I won't give up until I hear him tell the whole story." Risako seemed to want to say something more, but before she could speak, Zhelang left the house. Dozens of minutes later, he was standing in front of a white bungalow.He tried ringing the intercom, but there was no answer.It seems that Nakao's wife doesn't live here now.Perhaps after the divorce, their mother and daughter also moved out, and they probably moved back to Ritsuko Takashiro's family.It is too big for the mother and daughter to live in this mansion, and they have to care about the eyes of the neighbors.More importantly, if they continue to live here, the memory of living with their father will be indelible in the children's minds.

Zhe Lang thought of Ritsuko Takashiro's unusually reserved expression, and the football-shaped pillow on the back seat of FIAT.She must know something, no, she probably knows everything.She knew what her husband was doing and what he wanted to do next.The divorce must not have come from her original intention, but she had no choice but to agree to it.Zhelang speculated that it was Nakao who proposed the divorce. He left and walked towards the station. He also thought about visiting Ritsuko Takashiro, but it was impossible for her to tell the truth.If it was a secret that could be easily told to others, Nakao would probably not hesitate to divorce in order to keep the secret.

An empty taxi passed by, and Zhe Lang immediately raised his hand to stop the taxi.Anxiety and anxiety swelled in his heart.As soon as he got into the car, he immediately asked the driver to drive to Shinjuku. He got off at Nishi-Shinjuku Station on the Marunouchi Line, and compared Tateishi Taku's address on the notepad with the house number displayed on the telephone pole while walking.Not long after, he arrived at a three-story old building called "Nagasawa Apartment". Before going upstairs, he checked the mailbox downstairs and found the mailbox with Lishi written on it. There were not many mails in it.

He went up to the second floor and walked to the end of the corridor.Although I feel that Tateishi Taku, that is, Saeki Kaori, has probably disappeared without a trace, but according to the email, this is not the case. Zhe Lang rang the doorbell, and there was a voice from the other side of the door.Then the gate opened, but the curtain remained fastened. It was a woman who appeared to be about twenty years old.She dyed her shoulder-length hair a beautiful blonde.Her facial features belong to the plain type, unlike Saeki Kari. "What's the matter?" She looked at Zhe Lang suspiciously and asked.

"Is this the home of Mr. Tachishi Takuo?" "yes." "Is Mr. Tateishi here?" "He went out to work... Who are you?" There was still a suspicious expression on his face. "My surname is Nishiwaki, and I want to ask Mr. Tateishi about something. Can you tell me where he works?" She didn't answer, and looked up at him slightly, probably thinking whether his words were worth trusting. "What's your relationship with Zhuo? He said he can't tell others about his work casually." "I have nothing to do with Mr. Zhuo. I just want to ask him about other people's affairs. I will never cause him trouble, so can you tell me where he works?" After thinking for a while, he said, "Do you have any ID card or something?" "what?" "ID card. After all, I have no idea who you are." "Is a driver's license okay?" She shook her head. "In addition to the driver's license, I can know things about the workplace. Business cards are also fine." Zhe Lang took out his driver's license and business card from his wallet and showed her, but she was not satisfied. "Only the name is written on this business card..." "I'm not an office worker, I'm a freelance journalist, uh, doing sports-related work." "Is there anything for a person like you to find Zhuo?" "That has nothing to do with you, I'm looking for someone." She stared fixedly at Zhe Lang and said, "I still can't tell you." She wanted to close the door.Zhe Lang immediately stepped into the crack of the door. "What are you doing? I'm going to call the police!" She raised her eyes. "If there is a big commotion, you will be troubled. Zhuo's real name will be exposed." She seemed taken aback, with timidity on her face. "I don't mean to ruin your life. I don't want to do it hard, so I'm asking you like this." With a hesitant look on her face, she let out a sigh of relief before closing the door. "Please wait a moment." After she finished speaking, she disappeared into the house. Zhe Lang jammed the door with the toe of his shoe, and she came back not long after. "This is his place of work." She handed out a business card of Takushi Takumi, which said Curve Co., Ltd., Tateishi's title is a designer.The company is located in Yeli, Nakano District. "You really won't cause trouble for Zhuo, will you?" "I promise you. I have a friend who takes the same position." She seemed to understand the meaning of this sentence and nodded silently. "You are Zhuo..." Zhe Lang said after choosing words carefully, "Madam?" "We are living together." She replied, probably meaning that she was not naturalized.It might be dangerous to make any changes to Li Shizhuo's household registration. "I wish you happiness." After Zhe Lang finished speaking, he pulled his foot out from the gap in the door.The line around her lips softened slightly. A few minutes walk from Nogata Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line, along the first intersection of the Ring Seven Line, there is a building called Curve Co., Ltd.Zhe Lang indifferently imagined that since Li Shizhuo's title is a designer, this should be a company similar to a design firm.But no matter how you look at the building, it looks like an auto repair shop.In fact, there were several men in white coveralls surrounding a car doing some kind of work. A man in his thirties spread out the blueprints on the table, looking thoughtful.Zhe Lang walked towards the man.The other party seemed to notice that someone was approaching and raised his head. "Excuse me, is Mr. Lishi here?" "I think Tateishi should be in the office." "Ah, the office is...?" "there." The man pointed to a corner of the factory, where there was a small room separated by a piece.Zhe Lang thanked and left. There are three men in the office.As soon as Zhe Lang walked in, they turned their faces together. "Excuse me, is Mr. Tateishi here?" Zhe Lang said while making eye contact with a young man.Zhe Lang thought to himself, he must be Li Shizhuo.His facial features have a shadow of Saeki Kaori pictured with the Christmas tree.Just as Aikawa of "BLOO" predicted, he looks somewhat similar to artist Domoto Go. He came over.Before Zhe Lang could speak, he said, "Go outside." As soon as he walked out of the office, he said, "My wife called me just now." He should be referring to the blonde woman.She seemed to call him and tell him that maybe a strange man named Nishiwaki will come to you later. "I have a lot of things I want to ask you." "I know, but it's not convenient here." Zhe Lang was confused by Li Shizhuo's reaction, and his tone seemed to know who Zhe Lang was. "Go straight on the road ahead, there is a coffee shop called 'Konoha'. Please go there and wait for me." His voice was completely man's voice.Regardless of appearance or behavior, probably no one would be able to see through that he is a woman. "'Konoha'? I see."