Chapter 37 Section 25

On Sunday morning, I simply cleaned the house.This nervousness seems to be the peculiar feeling when welcoming a lover to the house for the first time.I thought of Ah Hui.It should be the same then as it is now.The memory is still as fresh as what just happened yesterday, but I can't recall the excitement and moderate tension. At six o'clock sharp, Tachibana Naoko came.It is still a solemn dress with a shirt and a skirt, and the golden earrings give people a different impression from the past.I complimented the outfit on how it suited her, and she said, "Is that so?" and then a smirk appeared on her face.

"What happened after that?" I asked about the investigation. "It may be more difficult than imagined. Peeking at the materials under the nose of the teacher is not as easy as talking about it." She frowned. "Can you call up the information in the computer and take a look?" "I'm trying too, but I don't know that the password can't be figured out. Try again and maybe you can crack the password." "please." "I don't know if I will live up to your expectations." She smiled wryly, then quickly returned to seriousness, and sighed, "It may be inappropriate for me to say this, but I always feel something is wrong, even if it is a top secret project, it is kept secret. There are too many portions."

"There must be some parts that I don't want to disclose," I said. "It must have something to do with the abnormal changes that have taken place in me." "Maybe," she whispered. At 6:25, we walked out of the room and came to the apartment when a white Volvo drove up.Saga got out of the car and greeted us.I already told him on the phone today that Naoko would go together. "Looks like today is full of glory!" Saga said an old-fashioned happy word. Naoko and I sat in the back seat, and Saga started the car.Sitting like this feels pretty good. My wife is looking forward to today, and said that she will do her best to entertain you.Of course, she has nothing to show off herself. "

"Is there only three people in your family?" Naoko asked. "Yeah, there are only three of us. I still want to have a child, but I haven't been able to." Saga's gaze turned to me through the rearview mirror, and he cast an eager gaze at me, probably to express to me that he saved their only daughter. gratitude.I felt that this thank you was too heavy to bear, so I deliberately looked away. Saga's house is a little far from the city center, in a residential area with many ramps.The house was surrounded by a wall, and the trees in the yard protruded so thickly that they almost covered the road outside.It is really rare to have such a house in the metropolitan area.

We got out of the car and stood at the door. Mrs. Saga seemed to have been waiting for a long time, and immediately opened the door to welcome us.She is more enthusiastic than the last time we met. "Welcome, welcome, how is your body?" "It's much better, thank you for inviting us to be a guest." The same greeting. "Forget all the formalities, hurry up and enter the house." Saga pushed us from behind. We were first taken to the living room—a room about ten folds in size, with a sofa big enough to bury our entire bodies in.Naoko and I sat side by side on the bench in the back.

"The house is really nice! And it's still very new." I looked around and said. "It was built last year. Before that, I lived in an apartment, but I still yearn for a single-family house." "No matter how much you yearn for it, you can't build such a house without strength." I said frankly, "Building a new house in such a place is simply a dream within a dream for ordinary salarymen." Saga scratched his head with his hands: "I can't afford to build this with my income as a lawyer. My deceased father had a piece of land, and thanks to that piece of land, I have today's house."

"It's so enviable!" I remembered the day I was shot in the head.At that time, Mrs. Saga was chatting enthusiastically with the manager of the real estate agency, perhaps talking about how to effectively use the excess land. The lady came in with a cup of coffee.When she opened the door, there was the sound of a piano coming from inside.Inexplicably, there was a pain in my heart. "Is your daughter playing the piano?" Naoko seemed to have noticed it too. "Yeah, I asked a teacher to guide her since she was three years old, but she hasn't made much progress." The lady lowered her eyebrows and smiled as she put the coffee in front of us. good."

"You don't have to worry about it." After finishing speaking, I stopped my wife who was about to leave the living room, "Why don't you open the door, I want to hear your daughter's performance." "How embarrassing, that child's level is not high enough to perform for everyone." The wife refused, and when she left, she happily left the door open as I said. "Are you interested in music?" Saga asked. "I'm not particularly interested. I don't even have a stereo at home, I just listen to radio programs occasionally." In fact, my relationship with music is really nothing more than that, but today I don't know why I care so much about the sound of the piano, besides It's not a formal performance either.I remembered that today is not the first time I have cared about the sound of the piano. On the day I played wild in the bar, the trigger was also the piano performance.

"When I first got married, my wife said that if I gave birth to a girl, let her learn piano or ballet. There is nothing to look forward to in terms of talent, but I think there is still room for hard work in musical instruments." Looking at Saga's expression, I really feel sorry for the parents of the world. "This kid hasn't even gone to elementary school yet? I think it's amazing to be able to play like this at such a young age." Naoko expressed his admiration. "Really? I don't quite understand." Saga said while wiggling his fingers to the music.

The playing is really smooth, with very few interruptions or mistakes.I don't know the name of the song or the name of the composer, but I've heard it somewhere.Before I knew it, my toes followed suit. After listening to it several times, there was a problem in the sound of the piano that caught my attention-a place was always played wrong.It doesn't seem to be due to lack of proficiency, but there are some more fundamental reasons. "What's wrong with you?" Chaga asked in surprise seeing that I was always tilting my neck. "Ah, it's nothing." I listened carefully again, yes, it must be that way.I said to Saga: "The sound of the piano seems to be a little off."

"Oh? Really?" He seemed a little surprised when I said that suddenly, and began to listen carefully.The tune continues. "Listen, here it is," I said. "It's a little out of tune, listen, it's here too. Do you hear that?" Saga shook his head: "I'm sorry, I can't hear it." "Me too... Can you really hear it?" Naoko looked at me suspiciously. "I don't understand why you can't hear it, I think it's obvious." After a while, the sound of the piano stopped, and someone came down the stairs.Probably the piano lessons are over. Looking towards the door, a woman with long hair was passing by. "Mr. Makita." Saga stopped her.She answered. "The gentleman said the piano was out of tune." "Huh?" The woman surnamed Makita looked at me in surprise. I hummed a melody and said, "The audio of this part seems to be going really fast." She nodded with a smile. "Well, yes, it's time to tune the piano." She looked at Saga and said, and then turned to me, "You are very professional, it is difficult for ordinary people to hear. Are you engaged in music?" "No, not at all." "Oh? That's a natural sense of music. It's really enviable." She praised, said "Let me go first", and then nodded and left. After she left, Saga said to me: "It's a pity not to make music with such a good sense of music! You really never learned an instrument?" "Hmm..." I also find it unbelievable. I have never been told that I have a good sense of music.I still clearly remember that in elementary school music class, when I was taking a dictation chord test, I couldn't hear it at all, so I had to guess randomly.I couldn't figure out why Saga and Naoko couldn't hear the obvious out of tune. I was still thinking about the arrival of Saga's daughter, Noriko, with her long hair tied into a ponytail. "Hello." She stood at the door and bowed her head to greet us politely. "Oh, hello." I pretended to smile.The moment I saw Dianzi, I suddenly became dizzy, my knees loosened, and my hands touched the floor. "What's wrong?" "Are you unwell?" "No, it's nothing. I'm just a little dizzy, and I'm fine." I sat back on the sofa again, and I could feel my face turn pale. "Let's lie down and rest for a while." "No, it's really fine." I took a few deep breaths and nodded to Saga. "Dizziness?" Naoko asked me softly.I said nothing. After a while, the lady came to invite us to the restaurant for dinner.The tables were covered with snow-white tablecloths, almost like a formal restaurant.The craftsmanship of the lady is also impeccable. "You're really fine, so I'm relieved. Before you were discharged from the hospital, I was so worried that I felt like I lost weight." Madam said while pouring wine into my glass. "Thank you for your trouble, thank you very much." "You don't have to say that. Hey, it's not right for you to say that. Mr. Naruse doesn't need to know if we've lost weight." Sakuoh blamed. "That's right, that's right, I'm sorry." Madam said apologetically. I try to control myself not to drink too much grape wine, after all, it also contains alcohol, and maybe I will have some kind of urge at any time. Suddenly, I felt a gaze—it was Dianzi.She didn't eat anything and just stared at me.Her eyes were as big as imported dolls. "What's the matter, Noriko?" Saga also seemed to have noticed. "This uncle..." Dianzi said, "It's not the uncle I saw last time." An awkward atmosphere began to spread, and everyone looked at each other in blank dismay.Madam smiled and said to Dianzi: "What stupid things are you talking about? Didn't you go to say hello together? Did you forget?" "No," the little girl shook her head, "it's not that uncle." I suddenly felt dry mouth, the child's sense is really keen. "Uncle has become more energetic now. Maybe he feels a little different from before, but he is the uncle you saw in the hospital. Take a good look." Saga, who didn't understand the child's keen feelings, tried his best to make up for Dianzi's gaffe.Madam also smiled to hide her embarrassment.Only Naoko bowed her head without saying a word. "You're right, I'm not the uncle from last time," I said to Dianzi, "that's my younger brother, we are twins." The little girl stared at my face carefully for a while, then poked her father's abdomen with her fingers, and said, "Isn't it? Look!" Saga looked at me in confusion, but I didn't speak. We chatted plainly while eating, mainly the wife and Naoko were talking, and Saga occasionally interjected a sentence or two, and I was basically an audience. "Noriko plays the piano really well!" Naoko said to her as if realizing that the little girl was beginning to feel bored. Dimples appeared on Dianzi's face: "Well, I really like piano." "Would you like to play the first piece for uncle?" I said while drinking coffee after dinner. "Okay, what do you want me to play?" Dianzi said, slipping off the chair. "Finish your meal well before playing," the lady reprimanded.There was still a lot of food left on Dianzi's plate. "I'm so full, I don't want to eat." "Uncle still wants coffee." "Oh, I'm done." I drank the coffee in one gulp and stood up from the chair, "Thank you for the hospitality. Dianzi, can you play it for me?" "Well, come with me." Dianzi said and ran away, and I followed. The piano is in a room next to the stairs with patterned wallpaper. It looks like a girl's room at first glance. It is probably arranged according to the wife's preferences. "Can I play anything?" Dianzi asked me flipping through the sheet music.I gave an affirmative answer, and Dianzi said, let's play the piece I just practiced, and opened the score while talking. The little girl didn't play this piece very well, she often made mistakes and interrupted from time to time, and the piano itself had a problem of going out of tune.But the sound of the piano is still gradually permeating my brain.I also don't understand how I was so strongly attracted, just like when I had an attack in the bar a few days ago, I didn't understand why I was fascinated by the piece played by the middle-aged pianist.I watched Dianzi's tiny hands move across the keys.The white keys seemed to be the surface of a river, swaying before my eyes. Unfair——looking at Noriko's profile, the word came to my mind.The world is full of injustice.This girl must have never had anything to do with the word poverty all her life.She must not realize that there are people in this world who work hard and can't build a house, and she will not feel the slightest doubt about the existence of this unfairness. Even if he has no talent, he can still receive a good piano education. My gaze moved to Dianzi's white and tender neck.I can bring sudden misfortune to this little girl who takes happiness for granted.I felt my fingers moving, as if I was preparing for an activity, my fingers were about to move. At this moment, my vision suddenly became blurred, accompanied by slight dizziness and nausea.The whole room seemed to shake.The sound of the piano gradually faded away.Is Dianzi playing?No, not her.The sound of the piano seemed to come from a distant memory. Someone is shaking my shoulders and I look up.When I woke up, I found myself kneeling on the piano. "What's wrong?" Turning around, it was Naoko who put his hand on my shoulder.Saga stood behind with a worried face, and Noriko stood next to him, looking at me timidly. "Are you okay?" Saga asked with concern. "It's okay, just a little dizzy just now." "You said that just now, are you a little tired?" "Well, probably so... I'm leaving today." "It's still more appropriate, I'll see you off." "I'm so sorry." I stood up and apologized. Noriko poked her head behind Saga and said to me, "Come again next time." "Oh, see you next time," I replied. Naoko seemed extremely disturbed and indicated with her eyes to talk to me later. On the way back, Saga kept asking me about my physical condition, and I replied many times that I was fine. "I'm more worried about scaring Dianzi just now. Please apologize to her for reelection on my behalf." Saga's smile was reflected in the rearview mirror: "I'm not frightened, just a little surprised. Didn't she tell you 'come again next time'? That child is very happy." "That's good." Saga's father and daughter must have never imagined that at that moment, I felt murderous towards Noriko. "Please come again and bring your girlfriend with you." "……OK." "It's a pity I didn't see her this time. She's cute, isn't she?" Seeing that I didn't speak, Naoko continued, "Yes, very cute." Saga nodded while turning the steering wheel: "How long have you been dating that girl?" These words touched me who didn’t want to think about Ah Hui, “It’s been almost a year and a half. She’s working in the painting shop she often goes to.” "Oh, I hope this is the case. By the way, I heard that you can draw. How about it? Do you have any new works recently?" "No, I haven't drawn much recently..." I said vaguely. "Really, it's probably too busy. I have a friend who often exhibits works, although only a very small number of works are selected. He complains all day long that he is always busy." Saga seems to want to cater to my preferences, but does not Going to move the subject away from painting, which is not so pleasant for me. "Could you turn on the radio?" I said, taking advantage of a break in the conversation. "I want to know the results of the Major League Baseball." "Oh, okay, I don't know how the battle is going today." Saga pressed the switch, but the symphony came. "Mozart," Naoko said. "Yeah, I remember a station broadcasting baseball..." "No need, just listen to this." I prevented Saga from turning the channel again, "Listening to this is better than baseball." "Yes, if you want to know the result of a baseball game, you can go to the news." Wonderful music floats in the narrow car, giving you the feeling of being there.Naoko and Saga also seem to be temporarily immersed in the music. "It would be great if Dianzi could play the piano to this level." After the performance, Saga smiled wryly, "It is said that the talent in music was formed at the age of three, maybe it is too late now." "Dianzi is definitely fine , right?" Naoko asked me, and I nodded symbolically.Frankly speaking, based on the performance I heard just now, I don't think she has any talent, but there is no need to disappoint Naifu here. "By the way, I heard that man also wants to be a musician." Saga's eyes looked meaningful in the rearview mirror. "That man?" I asked again. "Kyogoku Instant, that is the robber who beat you." "Oh..." For some reason, I haven't heard this name for a long time, "He does music?" "It is said that they are still doing it for real. They graduated from the Conservatory of Music. I don't know the details." "I heard that the economy doesn't seem to be well off." "That's right, that's why I heard that he studied very hard. His mother who passed away seems to be a strong person too." It is said that Kyogoku's father was the owner of that real estate company, but he never gave any assistance to their mother and child. "Oh, that guy is making music..." There seemed to be ten knots in my heart, which were hard to describe, and they always lingered deep in my heart. Kyogoku picks music... So what?This kind of thing is just commonplace.I seem to have read in a certain magazine that music is the most concerned topic among young people all over the world. "It seems to remind you of those unspeakable things, and it's all because I'm too slow." Seeing that I didn't say a word, Saga said with concern. Looking aside, Naoko was also looking at me.I subconsciously realized that she and I were thinking about the same problem.From the way she frowned at me and shook her head slightly, she seemed to be saying how such a thing could happen. When I finally got to the apartment, I thanked Saga, and Naoko followed me out of the car. "Don't let him give you another ride?" I asked. "You can't be left alone. Stop thinking about it, it's impossible for that to happen." "How can you say it's crazy? It doesn't make more sense than that." "Teacher Tang Yuan, why do they do such crazy things?" Seeing us standing still and talking non-stop, Saga also seemed a little surprised. "You get in the car, anyway, I want to think about it alone tonight." I pushed her hesitant into the back seat of the car, and thanked Saga again. "Goodbye." Saga started the car. I watched the car leave.Naoko just kept looking at me, as if she still had something to say to me.