Chapter 3 Juzi Chapter 2

At 3:5 in the afternoon on July 10, the plane I took arrived at Haneda Airport. After I got my luggage back, I took the monorail to Hamamatsucho.This is the third time I have come to Tokyo. The first two times I followed my friends and didn't have to worry about anything, but this time I have to decide everything by myself. I took the Yamanote Line from Hamamatsucho to Shibuya.The transfer route to Teito University was told by Yokoi. Yokoi is a student of Hokkaido University. His explanation is quite detailed. Thanks to him, the journey went smoothly, but what I am not used to is that no matter where I go in Tokyo There are a lot of them, and there is no comparison in Sapporo or Hakodate. Even buying a ticket here has a long queue, and it is obviously a Saturday afternoon, but the station is as crowded as the morning commuting time.

Almost all the trams on the Yamanote Line are young people. I can’t tell the difference between them and the young people in Hokkaido. There may be some differences in clothing and hairstyles, but I have never cared about fashion, and I don’t even know what is popular in Sapporo.However, I do have an inexplicable fear of Tokyo people, which I never had when I was in Hokkaido. Perhaps the impression Tokyo gave me made me a little nervous. When I arrived in Shibuya, the crowds were more crowded, and the whole station was as intricate as a three-dimensional maze. I took the note paper written by Yokoi to look for the sign, and finally found the ticket gate of the Inokashira Line.Only one step away from the destination.

"In Tokyo, it's best not to ask directions from anyone other than the station staff." This is the advice Yokoi gave me. He said that most people in Tokyo just move along their usual routes, and don’t care where they are now. Asking such people for directions will only cause them trouble, and even Even if the answer is answered, the content may not be correct.I don't think it's their fault. After all, what we have to face here is a chessboard-like tram network and stations like a three-dimensional maze. Ten minutes later, the tram arrived in Shibuya. As soon as I got out of the station, I saw many buildings around me, and the road was full of cars. This area is also a metropolis in my opinion. I once again deeply realized that this is the amazing thing about Tokyo. In Sapporo You can't feel the urban atmosphere after a ten-minute tram ride.

My eyes stopped at a hamburger chain across the country. This was the agreed place. I walked into the store and ordered a hamburger and a Coke. I looked at my watch, and it was ten minutes before four o'clock. As expected, the taste of the hamburger was the same everywhere, and it was past four o'clock after we finished eating, but the person we agreed to meet hadn't appeared yet.Looking at the store door with a little Coke left, I felt as if I was Anne Shirley waiting for Matthew Cuthbert to come and greet me at Bright River Station.Will the other party really come?Even if I come, will the other party recognize me?Even if he recognizes me, will the other party think that the person he is about to meet is a boy because of a mistake, but he will be disappointed after seeing me, just like the situation he encountered?

At 4:12, a tall woman in a blue polo shirt and beige trousers walked into the store. She looked around first, and when she saw me, she walked straight up, with her hands still in her trouser pockets. "Are you Miss Juzi from the Shi family?" Her voice was quite magnetic. "Excuse me, is this Miss Shimojo?" "Yes." She nodded, "Sorry for being late, the professor temporarily lost a job for me." "It's okay, I just arrived too." "That's good. Let's go." Miss Shimojo turned around and left. "Ah, good." I hurriedly grabbed my luggage and followed.

Miss Shimojo said it would only take a few minutes to walk to the university from here, so I walked side by side on the sidewalk with her. "I heard that you want to write about your father's half life?" Miss Shimojo asked.Yokoi should have told her. "Yes." I replied. "And it's written in English? That's amazing. Even though you're studying English, you're only in the first grade, aren't you?" "No...it's not a big deal." "It's amazing, and it's so enviable. You will want to write about your father's half life, so you must have a good father. Unlike my father, he is just a dentist who is just waiting to die. He only has money in his head." The lady said again, "I'm really envious."

"Excuse me..." I said, "Why did you recognize me at a glance just now?" "Just now? Oh, it's quite rare for a girl to walk into McDonald's with a big travel bag." Miss Shimojo said lightly. Not long after walking, a long wall appeared on the right hand side, and branches with emerald green leaves protruded from the other side of the wall. It turns out that Tokyo also has green plants. "Which aspect do you want to investigate first?" Miss Shimojo asked me when I entered the school gate. "Well...as long as it's related to my father's school days..."

"In that case, we should first find out the teacher of the year? But after all, after thirty years, many things have changed... What field is your father engaged in research?" "He's teaching at a university now, and what he's teaching seems to be." "Genetics..." Ms. Shimojo stopped, and brushed her short hair neatly. "The research direction when I was a student may not be the same as it is now, but Professor Meizu may know something. He is my special research teacher." "Mr. Umezu? Is this Mr. Masyoshi Umezu?" Miss Xiajo raised one eyebrow, "You know him?"

"I don't know, but..." I took out a New Year's card from my bag, and the sender was Umezu Masahiro. "Among those who are related to Teito University, the only one who still has contact with my father is this teacher." "I see. It seems that I was right to find Mr. Meizu. What a coincidence." Ms. Shimojo continued to walk forward, and I followed closely with my backpack in my arms. We came to a four-story white building. Miss Shimojo asked me to wait here and walked in. I stood alone and watched the students coming and going on the campus. These students in white robes Each of the students looked radiant and confident, and his father must have looked like that thirty years ago.

Anyone who wants to write about his father's half life is of course a lie. My purpose is only one - to find out the real cause of my mother's death. I believe the mother committed suicide.After that incident happened, I kept thinking about how to find out the reason, but the only father who knew the truth kept silent. I lived in the dormitory again, and there was no chance at all, and the time was wasted in lamenting and sighing. I finally got the clue five and a half years after the incident, this spring. In April, I entered a certain women's university in Sapporo, so I stayed at my grandmother's house.

My uncle's family lives in my grandmother's house. My uncle and my aunt have a daughter, Axiang, who has just entered high school, and I love sisters.Not long after I moved in, Axiang came to me one day with a map of the Tokyo area and an old timetable. She said that these things were in the Buddhist altar drawer when they sorted out grandma’s belongings before they remodeled the house. found. "I have always liked the map of Tokyo, and my father also promised to give me this map, and these things have been kept in my place since then. You see, don't some Tokyo place names often appear in serial dramas? Roppongi or Harajuku, etc., I very much Love looking at a map to find out where those places are." I couldn't help laughing out loud at this, because I've done similar things.When I was in the third grade of middle school, my roommate brought a globe from home, and we found the locations of Prince Edward Island and Salzburg in "Anne the Red Hair" on the globe.Ah Xiang and I did the same thing, the only difference is that the place names were changed to Roppongi and Harajuku. Of course, Ah Xiang didn’t show me these things to chat with me. She said that this map and timetable should belong to my aunt—that is, my mother’s. Ah Xiang turned to the page of the domestic airline flight timetable and asked me to read it. The flight time of "Tokyo-Hakodate" was circled with a blue ballpoint pen, and several flights of "Tokyo-Sapporo" were also marked. , and then Ah Xiang turned to the page of the Hakodate Main Line tram. "Look, there are also a few trains marked here. Compare this with the flight timetable and you will find that these trains are just connected to the bus to Hakodate when the plane from Tokyo arrives at Chitose Airport. In other words, people who use this timetable want to go back and forth between Hakodate and Tokyo, but they are only worried that they will not be able to catch a direct flight to Hakodate at Haneda Airport on the return trip, so they fly to Sapporo Chitose Airport and then transfer to the tram back to Hakodate. are also taken into consideration.” I couldn't help admiring the keen observation ability of this high school cousin. I also understood after hearing this. The only person who can go in and out of my grandmother's house and live in Hakodate is my mother. "Ah Xiang, you are so amazing, it's almost like!" I praised her greatly. But my excitement disappeared because of Ah Xiang's next sentence, and I only heard her stammering: "Grandma may have put these things in the altar drawer as my aunt's relics, because you see, the time was just before the accident happened..." I was taken aback, and carefully looked at the cover of the timetable again, and found that I had overlooked an important point. This is the timetable for December five and a half years ago. Yes, it is the nightmarish December when my mother passed away. In other words, my mother went to Tokyo not long before that happened. I asked my father about this directly, and my father was obviously flustered. I showed him the timetable and the map of Tokyo, and repeated Ah Xiang's reasoning. After listening to my explanation, my father's face was always pale. . But my father answered me this way: "Your mother didn't go to Tokyo, so please forget about the fire." After that, my father completely turned a deaf ear to my questioning. My father's attitude made me more sure that my mother had been to Tokyo before committing suicide, and my mother's trip to Tokyo must have hidden some secrets. Speaking of Tokyo, another thing comes to mind.At the end of last year, I told my father that I missed the university in Tokyo. My father was shocked when he heard it, and he said that it is absolutely impossible to go to Tokyo, and it is absolutely not good for a young girl to live alone in that kind of place, etc., so emotional and irrational. The words are really not like the words my father, who is a university professor, would say. At that time, I thought my father was just afraid of loneliness, because I couldn't think of any other reasonable explanation, but after I found out that my mother had been to Tokyo, this past incident came to my mind again. Is there any special reason why my father didn't let me go to Tokyo? In the following days, whenever I have free time, I will start to investigate the relationship between my mother and Tokyo, such as pretending to be nonchalant to inquire about information from my uncle and the others, or carefully investigating my mother's past experience, but I found that my mother does not seem to have any friends in Tokyo. It was not a familiar land for the mother, so there was only one possibility left—the mother's trip to Tokyo was related to the past of the father who had studied at Teito University. In addition, I also found another clue of my mother's trip to Tokyo.On the map of the Tokyo area that Axiang found, there was a place marked. That page was the map of Setagaya District, and the "Zosiya 1-chome" on it was circled with a pencil. I checked other pages carefully and found no similar mark. Soshigaya 1-chome, Setagaya-ku.This may be the destination of my mother's trip to Tokyo. Judging from the map, there seems to be no large institutions in that area, so my mother should be going to someone's home. I thoroughly checked all the address books and letters and documents in my hometown in Hakodate, but I did not find the address of Soshiya in Setagaya Ward. Maybe some of my father's friends from Teito University lived there. I had an urge to go to Tokyo immediately, but at this time I had too few clues, and even if I went to Tokyo, I would be at a loss and couldn't find out why. Just when the summer vacation was approaching and I was getting anxious, a key clue appeared.It was a photo. The moment I saw the photo, I made up my mind to investigate my father's past at Imperial University. I am sure that it is absolutely right to go in this direction. Before going to Tokyo, I wanted to find someone related to Teito University School of Medicine, and Yokoi, who joined the same volunteer club as me, said that he had a high school senior who was currently a student at Teito, so I asked Yokoi to introduce that student to me. Sister, she is Miss Shimojo. "Awaited." Hearing someone calling behind me, I came back to my senses. Miss Shimojo came over, made an "X" gesture with both hands and said, "Ms. Meizu is in class, let's come back later. Um...you don't have to rush back tonight Bar?" "Well, I've booked a hotel." "So you're only going back to Hokkaido tomorrow night?" "Yes, I have already booked a flight for tomorrow night, and I just need to arrive at Haneda Airport before six o'clock." "Okay, then we have plenty of time." Miss Shimojo folded her arms with a smile and said, "But where are we going next? What else do you want to know about your father?" "Where can I find the roster?" "The roster? What kind of roster?" "The roster of the medical school, as long as the names and contact information of the graduates can be found..." "Ah, that's how it is." She flicked her fingers, "Then let's go to the library, let's go." As soon as she finished speaking, she took a step. The library of Teito University is quite magnificent and majestic. In the university where I am studying, I am afraid that only the auditorium in the school can be compared.When I entered the library, it was as quiet as a museum. I left my luggage at the counter on the first floor and followed Ms. Shimojo into the special reading room on the second floor.There are no books in the reading room, and there are many empty tables and chairs lined up in the room, only a young man who looks like a service worker is standing in the corner of the room. Ms. Shimojo took out her student ID card and walked towards the man. They seemed to have known each other before. They chatted a few words about football while going through the formalities. The man looked at me with a smile, and suddenly looked a little surprised. "Is this your friend?" he asked. "A friend of a friend." Miss Shimojo said, "Isn't it cute?" "Yeah, but I seem to have seen her somewhere, uh, where is it?" "Come on, it's useless to pick up girls with this kind of excuse." "No, no, it's true, I really saw her." "We probably haven't met before." I said. "Huh? Really...?" The man looked at me and murmured. "Don't play tricks, get the roster quickly, or I will make a small report that you are negligent." As soon as Miss Xiajo finished speaking, the man clapped his hands together and said: "I remembered, last night's TV show!" "TV show? What?" Miss Shimojo asked. "Have you ever been on TV? That Friday night music show at eleven o'clock." I have never heard the name of the program he mentioned. It should be a program that is not broadcast in Hokkaido. "There is a unit in it for amateur bands to perform. The lead singer of the band last night looks exactly like you, isn't it you?" Looking at what he said seriously, it's not clear whether he was serious or joking. I shook my head and said no. "Eh? Really not?" "What are you talking about in your sleep? He just came to Tokyo from Hokkaido just now. Stop talking nonsense and do something quickly." The man muttered to himself: "I mean it..." and walked into the next room. As soon as the door was closed, Miss Shimojo whispered to me: "You have to be careful, there are men like this all over Tokyo who make excuses to strike up a conversation." I smiled and answered yes. The man came out holding a stack of thick files. "Please do not take the materials out of the reading room, and please do not photocopy the materials." He said while handing the files to Miss Shimojo.The man used honorifics when he said these two sentences, maybe it's a professional habit, then he glanced at me, and murmured: "It's really too similar, as long as the girl I like, I will definitely not Forget about looks." "Why don't you give up?" Miss Xiajo scolded. We picked a table by the window. "This is the roster of graduates from the medical school. You should find out your father's name first, and you should be able to find it. I'll check Mr. Meizu's time." "I'm sorry to trouble you." After watching Miss Shimojo leave the room, I flipped through the old register.This roster is not a reorganization of old materials, but a roster of graduates from each class bound together, so the paper on the first few pages is very faded, and the printing quality is also very poor. After all, this university has more than 70 graduates. With a history of 20 years, the roster of graduates also has the age to think about. It is not difficult to guess his graduation year from his father's age, and it does not take much effort to find out his name. I found the name "Shi Jiaqing" in the ninth research room of the forty-third issue, and "Meizu Zhengfang" is in Right below the father's name. Next to each name is recorded the person's development after graduation. Taking father as an example, it says Hokuto Medical University Research Institute, which is a university located in Asahikawa. Only the father entered this research institute among the graduates at the same time as his father , In fact, it seems that very few people continue to study in graduate school. Perhaps because the goal of most graduates is to practice medicine, most of them became doctors under different circumstances after graduation. I inadvertently thought of a question - why did my father choose the university research institute in Asahikawa?Is it because Asahikawa is closer to Tomakomai, my father's hometown?No, if this was the reason, my father would not have chosen to study at Imperial University in the first place. I've never thought about this question before, but it's certainly suspicious. I checked the graduates of the previous batches to see if anyone entered Beidou Medical University like my father, but I couldn’t find it all the time. It seems that my father’s decision was indeed quite abrupt. I gave up searching and wanted to turn back to the page with my father's name printed on it. On the way, the word "Bei Diou" suddenly came into view, and I stopped for a moment. The content of this page is not the graduate information, but the personnel information of the medical research office. I saw the string of "Beidou Medical University". "Kuno Toshiharu was originally a professor of the Ninth Laboratory, and he was transferred to be a professor of Hokuto Medical University on March 15, Showa XX." This is the text printed on the personnel information. Since this professor Jiuneng is in charge of the ninth research room, he should be the professor directly under his father when he was in the imperial capital.One year after Professor Jiuneng transferred to Beidou Medical University, his father also entered the Beidou Medical University Research Institute. So, did his father follow in the footsteps of Professor Jiuneng before entering Beidou? There are still doubts. If my father has been doing research under this professor Jiuneng, why can't I see any clues in his life?The name Jiuneng has never appeared in the address book and all letters. Now that it seems impossible to find out immediately, I decided to investigate in a different direction first.I looked up the address of each graduate starting from my father's graduation year, and what I was looking for was an address that impressed me--Zoushiya 1-chome, Setagaya-ku. But it didn’t take long for this direction to encounter a bottleneck. I couldn’t find anyone who lived at this address. Although I managed to find someone who lived in Zushigu 4-chome, his graduation year was ten years behind my father’s. Father gets involved. I rested my chin and fell into deep thought. Although I knew things would not go well, I was still disappointed. Could it be that the address "Soshigaya 1-chome, Setagaya-ku" has no meaning?That mark on the map of the Tokyo area is based on an irrelevant reason? I heard the sound of the door opening, and when I looked up, Miss Shimojo walked over with a smile on her face. "Have you gained anything?" "Ah... well, it's very valuable for reference." After causing so much trouble for others, I'm always embarrassed to say "I have gained very little". "That's good." Miss Shimojo then closed one eye and scratched her temple, and said apologetically, "Mr. Meizu said that he really doesn't have time today, so I want to ask if you can reschedule to meet tomorrow. Tomorrow at noon .” "I don't care, but tomorrow is Sunday, won't it be too disturbing?" "No problem, the teacher said that the daughter of the Shi family should meet anyway." "Well, then it's better to obey than to be respectful." I went back to the first floor to retrieve my luggage, and walked out of the library with Ms. Shimojo.I was inside for an hour and a half, and even with the long July days, it was starting to get dark. "It's rare for you to come all the way. Would you like to visit the campus by the way? I can be your guide." "Ah, I'll trouble you then." "Is the luggage heavy?" "It's okay. Just letting you stay with me for so long, will it cause you a lot of trouble?" I said what I had been thinking about. Miss Shimojo closed her eyes lightly and shook her head, "If you find it troublesome, I would not have agreed to this matter from the beginning. Yokoi and I are purely junior and junior students, and I have no obligation to help him." "But I asked you to help so much..." "I haven't been able to help so far, have you? And girls who work so hard like you are quite admirable. Most college girls only think about having fun and dating. Although women's social status has gradually improved in recent years, the kind of Girls who worry about not being able to survive after graduating from college are still everywhere. These girls are holding us back. From childhood to adulthood, I have been treated too much unfairly just because I am a woman. It is not any better now Go, every time I’m compared to that kind of girl, it makes me angry when I think about it. But the reality is cruel, and I’m afraid this situation will continue, so for a girl who works as hard as you, I really hope you Can continue to maintain, as long as there is something I can help, it doesn't matter if you open your mouth." Miss Shimojo spoke so impassionedly, I couldn't help feeling ashamed, and I just wanted to stuff myself flattened like a beach ball into my travel bag.If she knew that I didn't intend to write about my father's half life, she might be mad.I secretly put my hands together in my heart and apologized to her—please forgive me!In order to find out the truth about my mother's death, I had to do this.I also hope to use these words to relieve my uneasy conscience. The two of us started from the library and walked to the medical school after a long circle. On the way, we saw buildings of various styles, including ancient buildings reminiscent of the Meiji era, and modern buildings that were blunt and a bit cold. "This is the former student hall. It has been in use since the founding of the school until about 20 years ago. Later, it was closed for safety reasons because it was too old. It looks very atmospheric, right?" Miss Shimojo pointed to a boxy red brick building that was perfect for the snow scene, and it seemed that adding a chimney would be enough to attract Santa Claus. I found that the window was fitted with a casement, and I couldn't help but stop and take a second look. "What's wrong?" Miss Xiajo asked. "Nothing...these buildings are really beautiful." "Yes, the architects of that era were very tasteful." So we admired it for a while. Ms. Shimojo invited me to eat at an Italian restaurant near the station. She eats a lot, but she eats in an orderly manner, and she can talk to me a lot while eating.For example, university affairs, research affairs, and her dream of traveling the world after learning all the medical skills, while I clumsily ate spaghetti and listened to her every word. "I think boys will bow down to you when they meet you." "In terms of work, maybe, but I have not given up on being a woman. Women are mothers. Without motherhood, women cannot live and continue to struggle. This is not simply a question of whether to have children. Maternity is An energy that encompasses the entire universe." Miss Shimojo filled a glass with white wine, the bottle was just empty, she shook the bottle and said with a smile, "I seem a little drunk." "I can understand what you said." I also deeply felt that "maternity" is really a good word. Suddenly, I thought of my mother, and tears almost fell down. I quickly drank saliva to ease my emotions. After we walked out of the restaurant and made an appointment to meet tomorrow, I said goodbye to Miss Shimojo.Sitting on the tram, I couldn't help but think to myself, I'm really glad I met such a nice person, I should buy a gift for Yokoi on the way back to thank him. The hotel I booked is located in Hamamatsucho.Walking into the room, I took out a photo from my backpack. It was the photo that made me decide to come to Tokyo. This photo was given to me by my uncle, who said that he accidentally found this strange photo while looking for something.First of all, the place where this photo was found is very interesting. It was mixed with grandma’s relics and stored in the drawer of the Buddhist altar. Speaking of the drawer of the Buddhist altar, Axiang’s timetable and Tokyo map were also found there. Yes, that is to say, this photo is probably also something that my mother took with her when she went to Tokyo. This black-and-white photo is about the size of a palm. There are two people in the mirror. The shooting location seems to be in front of some kind of building. Behind them is a red brick wall. The windows on the wall are equipped with casements. The shadows of the two people clearly extend to the wall. The smiling young man on the right was my father, with dark hair and a muscular face, probably not more than twenty-five years old at the time, and his father's arms sticking out from the sleeves of his open collar shirt looked thin and white. But the reason why my uncle said that this photo is strange, of course, the problem is not with my father, but with the person standing beside my father. That person was much shorter than his father, and he was wearing a narrow skirt and white blouse. It should be a woman, but if the clothes were covered, it would be impossible to tell the gender. Because that person has no face, he was painted over with a black marker pen. The next day, I put my luggage in the coin locker in Hamamatsucho and headed to Teito University. Miss Shimojo and I made an appointment to meet at the hamburger chain yesterday at noon, and today she arrived five minutes early. "Did you sleep well last night?" "Well, I slept soundly." "Really? That's good." "I'm really sorry, your rare holiday was wasted on me..." "You don't have to be so polite, I don't have a date anyway." She smiled with her white teeth showing. As expected, there were fewer people on the university campus on Sunday, and shouts continued to be heard in the distance. Miss Shimojo said that it should be the sound made by the sports club during practice, and there may be a sports field nearby. I asked Ms. Shimojo to take me to the old student hall yesterday, and she smiled and said, "It seems that you fell in love with it." I just smiled and said nothing. Walking in front of the old red brick building, I compared the scene in front of me with the background of the photo in my mind. The shape of the wall and the shape of the casement were all exactly the same.Make no mistake, that photo was taken here. The reason why my mother came to Tokyo must be related to that photo. In this case, who is the woman whose face is painted out becomes the biggest key.I have a hunch that as long as this mystery is solved, other doubts will be solved. We made an appointment with Mr. Meizu to meet in his professor's lounge. We walked through the wooden corridor full of medicinal smells and came to a door. "Oh, welcome! It's hard work for you to come all the way." The professor's face is as round as if drawn with a compass, with no hair and thin eyebrows. Below the eyebrows are two "ヘ"-shaped eyes. The professor let us sit down on the reception sofa. First, Ms. Shimojo explained the purpose of my visit again. When she mentioned my father's half life story, I couldn't help lowering my head slightly. "Oh, so that's the case. It's really enviable to have a daughter who is willing to help me write a biography." The professor nodded while shaking his fat body. "Then I'll wait in the next room, and the two of you can talk slowly." Miss Shimojo smiled at me and walked out of the room. "She's smart and capable, isn't she?" said the professor after the door closed. "Yeah, very smart and capable, I really appreciate such a person." "The male classmates can't lift their heads up in front of her. Well, let's not talk about this, is your father okay?" "He's fine, thanks to you." "Really? That's good, it's good to be safe. Heh, I haven't seen him for nearly ten years. We kept in touch when he just returned to Hokkaido." Speaking of this, the professor seemed to think of something and his face darkened. , adjusted his sitting posture and said: "The fire is really regrettable. I really want to attend your mother's funeral, but unfortunately I really can't find the time." "It's okay, please don't say that." I shook my head slightly. "I've been thinking about this all the time. I really want to ask you to send my greetings to the Uji family, but I heard from the next article that the Uji family didn't know you were coming to Tokyo, so it should be inconvenient to ask you to do so?" "I'm so sorry." "It's okay, it's okay, you don't have to apologize. So, what do you want to know?" "Anything is fine, as long as I can learn more about my father's school days..." "Well, I'm very impressed with the Shi family. To describe him, the only word is excellent. I'm not flattering him because you are her daughter. People with a sharp mind like him are very rare, and he is better than Others work harder, and the professor trusts him a lot. When he was still in the university department, the professor often entrusted him with important tasks." "The professor you are talking about is Professor Jiuneng?" When I asked, Professor Meijin nodded vigorously, "That's right, it's Mr. Jiuneng. The teacher can be said to be the pioneer of genetics. The Uji family respects Mr. Jiuneng very much, and Mr. Jiuneng seems to regard him as his successor." "But then Teacher Jiuneng went to Beidou Medical University?" When I said this, the professor's "ヘ"-shaped eyes opened slightly. "Well, it's hard to explain that matter. After all, Teacher Jiuneng's research is too innovative, so how should I say it...it doesn't agree with other professors' ideas." "Has there ever been an argument between the professors?" "No, no, it's not that serious, it's just that you have different views on learning, it's a common thing." Professor Meijin seemed to hesitate a bit. "But why did Mr. Kuneng transfer to a place so far away from Asahikawa...? Is he from Hokkaido?" "No, no, it was Beidou Medical University who took the initiative to invite him to teach in the past. At that time, Beidou Medical University was just established and was poaching around to absorb authoritative talents with advanced technology." "So the next year my father also followed Mr. Jiuneng to Beidou Medical University?" "It should be said that the teacher asked the Shi's family to go over and help. Many times when doing research, one person is too busy." Next, Professor Meijin talked about a few memories of his student days. Although there are a few memories of playing, most of them are about the hard work and dedication of doing research. Some of them have nothing to do with my father. I can't help feeling a little impatient. "May I ask how many female students there were in this university at that time?" When Professor Meizu was talking about a paragraph, I pretended to change the subject nonchalantly. Of course, I asked this question because of the woman whose face was painted out. "Female students? There are almost no girls... Well, I don't think there are almost any, but not at all." The professor stroked his chin. "not even one?" "Well, because this is not a university suitable for girls. Although there are more liberal arts or life sciences now, but at that time there were only medical schools, engineering schools, and economics schools. Why did you suddenly ask about female students?" "Ah, no, I just want to know if my father has ever dated a female classmate..." The professor burst out laughing. "I'm not sure about this, but although the Shi family has done serious research, they are not saints after all, so they should have had girlfriends at least?" "But there are no girls in the school at all..." "That's right, but I will communicate with other universities. The students in the past are similar to now. They like to form some mutual clubs with schools like Teito Women's University. Ah, that's right," Professor Meijin clapped his hands on his knees, "I remember that the Shi family also participated in clubs." I couldn't help leaning forward, "Really?" "Well, what's the name of that club... I don't remember that it's a serious name like a mountaineering club, maybe it's a hiking club or something like that." "Hiking Club..." This is the first time I heard that my father also played clubs when he was a student. My father never talked to me about his time at Imperial University. "Do you know any members of that society, too?" "No, I don't know each other. The Shi family doesn't talk much about the association in front of us." "yes……" As for the last question, I asked Professor Umezu if he had seen my mother. I guessed that my mother might have visited during her trip to Tokyo before she passed away. "I have met once. Once I went to Hokkaido on a business trip and stopped by to visit your family. They were just married. Your mother looked very gentle and virtuous. It is a pity that she passed away." Professor Meijin's eyebrows drooped when he said these words. The "eight" shape is formed. I thanked Professor Umezu and walked out of the professor's lounge. Miss Shimojo from the next room also came out after hearing the noise. "Is there any gain?" "Well, I have gained a lot." We left the teachers' lounge building, and when I told Miss Shimojo about the hiking club, she stopped and looked at me and said: "It seems that your luck is very good." "What's the meaning?" "I happen to know a guy who used to join the hiking club, and he's about the same age as your father." If so, very lucky. "Where is that person?" "Come with me." Miss Shimojo put her hands in her pockets, turned her head from side to side to loosen her muscles and bones. I followed her to a tennis court next to the sports field. Although it was a holiday, the court was still quite lively, and there were people playing on all sides of the court. Judging from their age group, they should not be members of the tennis club. "You wait for me first." After Miss Shimojo asked me to sit on the bench next to the iron net, I walked towards the far right court. On the court, a man with white hair was practicing his serve with a young woman. Miss Shimojo walked towards the man.The man should be over fifty years old, but he has a rather strong physique. If his hair is black, he may look like he is in his early forties. After Shimojo-san talked to the man for a couple of words, the two of them left the court and walked towards here, and I stood up quickly. “这位是笠原老师。”下条小姐向我介绍那位男士，“他是经济学院的教授，也是我的网球敌手。” “啊……您好，我是氏家鞠子。”我鞠躬说道。 “敝姓笠原，请多指……”笠原老师突然敛起笑容，一径凝视着我。 “老师，怎么了吗？”下条小姐问。 “不，没什么。”笠原老师挥了挥手，脸上再度出现笑容，“对了，你找我有什么事？” “老师从前不是健行社的吗？” “怎么突然提起陈年往事？”笠原老师苦笑，“我是加入过，不过名为健行，可不是带着便当在高原上野餐唱歌哟，我们爬的山虽然不像登山社那么夸张，爬起来也不轻松呢。” “请问你们社团有没有一位社员叫氏家？他是这位小姐的父亲。” “氏家？”笠原老师粗壮的双臂交抱胸前，看了看我，又看了看下条小姐，“没印象耶，是经济学院的人吗？” “不是，是医学院。”我告诉他父亲的入学年度。 笠原老师带着温柔的笑容摇了摇头，“那他应该大我一届，但是我不记得学长之中有这号人物，何况当时我们社团里根本没有医学院的学生，我想他参加的应该是其他社团吧。” “其他社团？还有其他从事健行活动的社团吗？” “应该有好几个吧，那个年代物资非常缺乏，健行类社团是最不花钱、最容易成立的社团。” “这么说，家父参加的是别的社团了？”我问下条小姐，一边留心不让失望写在脸上。 “嗯，应该是别的。” “你在找你父亲曾加入的社团吗？”笠原老师问。 “是的。”我答道。 “那我建议你去图书馆找找看，图书馆里有一份档案叫做'帝都大学体育会活动记录'，上面或许有记载。那份档案是体育会五十周年时制作的，大概这么厚吧。”笠原老师将拇指与食指拉开约十公分的宽度。 “也包括同好会的资料吗？”下条小姐问。 “多多益善嘛，各同好会自制的名册应该都收录在那里面，我曾翻过一次，里头连保龄球同好会、独木舟同好会都有呢。” “那我们去找找看吧。谢谢老师，帮了大忙。” “真的非常感谢您。”我也道了谢。 “我很高兴能帮上忙。”接着笠原老师又愣愣地看着我的脸，迟疑了一会儿说：“不好意思，请问你是东京人吗？” “不，我住在北海道。” “北海道……，那么是我搞错了吧。” “怎么了吗？”下条小姐问。 “不，没什么啦，只是我总觉得好像在哪里见过她。” “真是的，连老师都这样。”下条小姐噗哧一笑，望着我对笠原老师说：“昨天图书馆的服务人员也说她长得很像电视上出现的女生呢，难不成老师您也看音乐节目？” “音乐节目？我不看那种东西的，我是觉得好像很久以前在哪里见过她……”说到这里，老师笑着朝自己脑袋敲了一下，“不可能啦，一定是我搞错了，真是抱歉。祝你回北海道时一路顺风哟。” “谢谢您。”我再次鞠躬道谢。 然而图书馆星期天没开馆，我正不知如何是好，下条小姐淡淡地开口了： “我找时间帮你查吧，查到了再通知你。” 我吃了一惊，转头看着她，“这样太麻烦你了。” “这又没什么。不过，我希望你告诉我一件事。” "What's up?" “你说要写父亲的半生记，是骗人的吧？” 我倒抽一口气，望着下条小姐，她只是平静地回望我，我不禁低下了头。 “你是……怎么发现的？” “因为啊……”下条小姐叹了口气，“你对你父亲的了解实在太少了，连我对我那颓废老爸的些许认识都要强过你手边的资讯。” “对不起，我不是故意说谎的……” 下条小姐温柔地将手放在我的肩上说： “我不问你理由，等你想说的时候再告诉我吧。”她拿出一本小笔记本，“来，把你的联络方式写下来。” 我忍住泪水，写下了札幌的地址和电话号码。 当天晚上，我在下条小姐的目送下离开了东京。