Chapter 13 Juzi Chapter Seven

Opening my eyes, the sun came in through the gap in the curtains. I lay on the quilt and turned over to look at the alarm clock. The digital clock showed 10:42, and I jumped up in fright. Miss Shimojo has disappeared. On the dining table is a plate of breakfast wrapped in plastic wrap. There are ham and eggs, salad and bread. There are also tea bags in the teacup. There is a note beside it that reads: "I'm going to school to check the information, and I'll be back before the evening. You can watch TV today and take a rest. Please take the eggs in the refrigerator from the one on the right first."

Miss Xiajo had already left the house, and I didn't wake up at all. I actually went to bed very early last night, but there were countless thoughts in my head, and I couldn't sleep all night. As a result, I overslept this morning. I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. My face was really horrible, my complexion was very bad, my skin was not elastic, my eyes were dull, and I looked like a sick person. I poured a glass of cold water and drank it, looked into the mirror again, and the person in the mirror looked at me too. This face, this body... Who actually gave it to me?father and mother?But who is my father?Who is the mother?Who is that woman who I have always regarded as my mother who passed away six years ago?

I remembered what Sister Hosono said to me in the student dormitory. She said that it doesn’t matter who one’s parents are, because everyone is a child of God, and no one in the world is violating Born under the will of God... Is that so?Did the birth of this face and this body of mine really not violate the will of God? Last night I called back to my uncle’s house in Sapporo, and it was my aunt who answered the phone. She was relieved when she heard my voice, and then asked me excitedly, “Where did I go today?” I couldn’t express my cheerfulness. voice, I had to perfunctory a few words and asked her to call my uncle to answer the phone. My aunt heard that something was wrong with me, and kept asking "What's wrong?" "What happened?"...

"Anyway, you just call uncle to answer the phone." I couldn't help shouting.I had never spoken to my aunt in such a tone, and she seemed taken aback. A few seconds later, the uncle's voice came from the microphone: "What's wrong?" I swallowed and said: "Uncle, I want to ask you something, it's very important, I hope you can tell me frankly." Uncle took a deep breath.Hearing these words suddenly, no one can keep calm. "What do you want to ask? As long as I can answer it, of course I won't hide it from you." The uncle also became very cautious.

"It's about my mom's pregnancy." I mustered up the courage to ask, "Did my mom get pregnant through IVF?" There was a long silence for a moment, and then he let out a heavy breath, "Juzi," he said, "What are you doing in Tokyo?" "Please answer my question first, Uncle, did my mother conceive through IVF?" I found myself speaking louder and louder. There was another silence, and the uncle said, "Where are you now? Can you tell uncle your phone number? I'll call you later." "Please answer me now, or is there really some ulterior secret?"

"Juzi, listen to me, uncle doesn't understand why you want to ask about this all of a sudden, anyway, I'll contact your father first..." "Don't tell my dad!" I yelled. "Juzi..." "I'm sorry, I'm so rude." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, "Uncle, if you want to contact Dad, please wait until we finish talking, please, tell me, is my mother pregnant through in vitro fertilization? of?" Uncle seemed to give up, I only heard him sigh, and I had a premonition that the seal was about to be lifted. "I don't know much about that either," said the uncle.

about that... These few words alone are enough to support my inference to be correct—in vitro fertilization has absolutely nothing to do with the Shi family, otherwise my uncle would not have used the words “that matter”. Suppressing the urge to scream, I said, "But you probably know what's going on, don't you?" "I really only know the general idea." Uncle said with a soft cough, "My sister did think about getting pregnant through in vitro fertilization technology, and your grandmother also discussed this matter with me." "grandmother?" "Well. At that time, my sister was unable to conceive, and the people around her put a lot of pressure on her. My sister was taken to participate in the birth ceremony all day long, or was asked to do some superstitious behaviors without scientific basis. Later we heard Said that brother-in-law’s school, that is, Juzi’s father’s university, is conducting research on in vitro fertilization.”

"really……" "At that time, there was no successful case of in vitro fertilization in the world, but the research itself went well. It is said that the probability of success is very high, so the school is also looking for couples who are willing to cooperate with the experiment. When your grandmother heard about this, she planned to let her sister Give it a try, my sister seems to have the will too." "So... just do it?" "No, I probably didn't do it." The uncle's tone sounded unsure. "At that time, my brother-in-law was against it. He thought it should wait until the technology matured."

"But maybe they did in vitro fertilization secretly, but you didn't know it, uncle, and the child I gave birth to was me..." Uncle didn't say anything, it seemed to be tacit agreement. "Even if this is the case, what does it matter?" After a while, the uncle said: "You are no different from ordinary children. You are the child of both father and mother." Instead I was silent.Mom and Dad's kids?But who is dad?Who is the mother? "Hello? Juzi? Are you listening?" Uncle called me. "I'm here... I'm here." I managed to force my voice out.

"I also have something to ask you, what are you doing in Tokyo? Why are you asking me this question suddenly?" "I'm sorry," I said, "please don't ask me anything." I just hung up the phone. I don't know what action my uncle took after that, maybe he contacted my father, but I don't care, anyway, it is impossible for me to maintain the past relationship with my father now. I washed my face in the bathroom and returned to the living room without any appetite. I stared blankly at the cold ham and eggs. There is no doubt that the mother had undergone in vitro fertilization in the first place.Because of this, she minds so much that her daughter does not look like her. Although I was born in October of her pregnancy, she cannot be sure that the child in her belly is her own flesh and blood like ordinary mothers.

The mother's doubts may have come true. What was implanted in her womb was a fertilized egg that had nothing to do with her, but why did it evolve into this result? "Perhaps your mother's egg has some kind of defect, but your father wanted a child no matter what, so he used someone else's fertilized egg." This is Ms. Shimojo's inference, but even so, it's hard for me to forgive my father's behavior. Does he think that my mother and I can live a peaceful and peaceful life without any doubts? However, there are still doubts. If the mother is really a surrogate mother, why only one of the twins was accepted?Ms. Shimojo couldn't think of a reason for this. Just when I finally put the plate of ham and eggs in the microwave and was about to eat something, the phone rang. It was Mr. Mochizuki Toyo who I met yesterday. He said that he was at his home now. "Have you got in touch with Ms. Futaba?" I asked. "I haven't been able to get in touch. She seems to have checked out." "So she's coming back soon?" "I'm not sure about this, but she should call me before she comes back. Also, I encountered a strange thing." Mr. Feng lowered his voice, "I stayed at Futaba's house until around seven o'clock last night. A strange detective came to the door." "Strange detective?" "The man looked fierce and asked me where Futaba was now, saying that I had to contact her urgently. I had to tell him the hotel where Futaba stayed in Asahikawa, but the man didn't write it down at all. Instead, he asked a strange question. Ask if I don’t know where Futaba will go other than this hotel.” "Where will I go..." "It's weird, isn't it? No one should know about Futaba's stay in that hotel except me, but from the tone of the criminal policeman, it seems that he already knew it, and he came to ask me only because he couldn't find Futaba there." "It's really strange." "I said I didn't know where Futaba was, so he said, if Futaba contacted me, he must be notified, and he left without saying that, but I always felt weird, and I suddenly thought of something, He lowered his voice, "That guy is not a real detective at all, because he didn't take out the police manual. I guess he claimed to be a detective in order to find out about Futaba's whereabouts." "If it wasn't a criminal police officer, who would it be?" "I don't know, anyway, this person must be a threat to Futaba." "Why did he inquire about Miss Futaba's whereabouts? Could it be that something happened to Miss Futaba in Asahikawa?" "I'm also worried." His worry could be heard from his tone. "In short, the current situation is like this. Let me tell you first, and I will call you when there is follow-up news." "Thank you." After he hung up first, I also put down the phone. I don't understand what's going on here. It seems that Miss Futaba is also investigating her own life experience like me, but her situation seems to be quite dangerous. The fact before her is that her mother died unexplained. A strong sense of unease welled up in my heart, that the danger that Ms. Futaba is facing now may also befall me. After three o'clock in the afternoon, Miss Xiajo came back, and I told her the content of Mr. Feng's phone call, and her face darkened after hearing it. "Miss Kobayashi Futaba may be hiding." Miss Shimojo frowned. "To hide from whom?" "I don't know, but I always feel that there is a lot of power behind this incident." "Why didn't she call the police?" "Perhaps it's useless to call the police. After all, nothing happened, and the hit-and-run case is over." Ms. Shimojo sighed. Miss Futaba has also launched an action, it seems that you really have a good understanding." She was just joking, but this sentence stabbed in my heart, and I couldn't help but hang my head. "Ah, I'm sorry, I was so outspoken." She apologized immediately. "No, don't say that..." "However, regarding the matter of twins, I don't think you need to think too complicatedly. Just treat it as one more relative. I don't say this to smooth things over what I just said." But I remained silent, my brain could agree, but my body couldn't help resisting. "Okay, let's not mention this for now." Miss Shimojo seemed to want to sweep away the embarrassing atmosphere, and saw that she put a notebook on the table, "The members on the mountain walk booklet, I have checked the graduate list I checked it again, of course, all I found was the address from that year." I couldn't help but widen my eyes, "Why don't you take me there? I can't keep dragging you down." "It's okay, it's not too much trouble, it's just that my shoulders are a little sore from the search." Miss Shimojo tapped her left shoulder with her right hand while opening the notebook, "To be honest, I didn't gain much, and only two people found out the exact address. , and one of them is Mrs. Shimizu mentioned the deceased Takashi Yasuyuki; and the other is him." "Hatamura Keiichi" was written in the notebook, and I remembered that the surname "Hatamura" also appeared in the photo album Mrs. Shimizu showed me. I told Miss Shimojo about it, and she nodded and said: "Then let's go find him tomorrow, Midoricho, Koganei City... Well, it should be no problem to take the train." Miss Shimojo seems to be more interested than before. I don't understand why she is so enthusiastic about my affairs. "Does this person still remember Akiko Abe? It's been more than ten years, maybe he has forgotten..." "One step at a time is one step at a time. How do you know if you don't see each other?" "That's right." I whispered, and then I said what I have been worrying about all the time: "Miss Shimojo... If that Abe Akiko is really my mother, what do you think is the reason behind it?" She didn't make a sound, just turned her head and looked at me, as if she didn't understand what I meant. "...why do you think my father used her fertilized egg?" "Oh..." Miss Xiajo's face darkened and she turned her face away, "This kind of thing... who knows." "I think my father must still be in love with Abe Akiko at that time, that's why he wanted to have her child." Miss Shimojo didn't say anything, and an awkward silence surrounded both of us.