Chapter 22 Section 1

The sound of machine tools working can be heard next to my ears.As soon as Takako entered the factory, he saw Yoshiyuki Sakai's back. Sakai was facing the machine tool, and "Nojima" was printed in two large dark blue characters on his brown overalls.Takako heard from Zhangzou Zhongzhao that they are rushing to make the engine drive shaft ordered by the automobile company. As for the engine, they don't know. In the corner, the husband is checking the quality of the finished product with two workers.He was wearing gloves, his movements were a little slow, and his face was not very good.But Takako knew that this was not due to poor quality parts.

"The tea is ready," Takako said to her husband and the workers. Zhongzhao raised one hand slightly, looked at the wall clock on the wall, the pointer pointed to 2:45 in the afternoon. "Yoshiyuki, take a break." He said to Sakai Yoshiyuki who was operating the machine tool. Sakai nodded, turned off the power of the machine tool, and the machine tool that was still roaring just now stopped running quickly. "Why, is there nothing more decent to eat?" Zhong Zhao asked after washing his hands, sitting at the rest table.Five glutinous rice cakes filled with bean paste are placed on a tray on the table. "Is this leftover from eating yesterday?"

Takako silently smiled noncommittally. "Isn't this good?" Suzuki Kazuro stretched out his hand, "I like glutinous rice cakes stuffed with beans the most." "I've also heard that it's better to eat sweets at work." It was Jiro Tanaka who said this, but he didn't reach for the mochi. Sakai didn't say anything, just drank the tea that Takako poured him. "Yazhi, the batch of coils made in the previous paragraph should be delivered to them today?" Zhong Zhao asked Sakai. "Well, I will deliver it today." "Then I will leave this matter to you. In addition, if you tell the other party, I hope they can give us the payment as soon as possible. That will be a great help to us."

"I'll tell." Sakai stared at the tea bowl. Zhong Zhao nodded slightly, and then said casually, "I'm going out for a while." "Where are you going?" Takako asked. "Debt collection." "Debt collection? Is there any uncollected payment?" "It's not the payment." Zhongzhao picked up a piece of glutinous rice cake with bean paste, broke it in half, and put the exposed filling into his mouth. "It's the money lent out a long time ago. The other party said recently that he would pay me back." "Why haven't I heard you say this?"

"It happened when the economy was relatively good, because the borrower was the son of a benefactor, so I haven't urged him so far, but he seems to have developed well recently and wants to pay back the money." To swallow beans Stuffed glutinous rice cakes, he took a sip of tea. "President, how much is that money...?" Suzuki asked seriously, his eyes flickering. "Well, it's not convenient to say the exact amount," Zhong Zhao scratched his gray temples, "but it must be quite a lot, because, how should I put it... Anyway, it will help us a lot."

"Oh." Suzuki opened his mouth slightly. Tanaka, who had been listening by the side, let out a sigh of relief: "In this day and age, there are still people who remember to pay back the money." "Of course." Suzuki said with a smile. "There are also a lot of people who refuse to pay back the money, otherwise the bank would be in trouble." "makes sense." "Although there are some dishonest people, not everyone is like that." Zhong Zhao said as if concluding, and looked at Takako after speaking, "That's all, go and get my suit."

"Understood." Takako nodded and spoke again. "Well, I want to go out too." "Where are you going?" Zhong Zhao looked at her sharply. "Shopping...I want to buy clothes for Qiusui, but she said there are no clothes for outings." "Can't you not go today?" "Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow there are still many things to do." "Forget it today." Zhong Zhao drank the tea and stood up. Normally, if her husband said that, it would be useless for her to say anything, and Takako remained silent.The mood of the three workers may have been affected by this. They quickly swallowed what was in their mouths, got up and went back to work.

Before 3:30, Zhong Zhao drove out.He was wearing a gray suit and tie, and was carrying a sports bag. As soon as he stepped out, Takako made preparations to go out.It was exactly 4 pm when she arrived at Tsukishima Station on the subway. Just get back before 7:30——she thought to herself. But that night, it was almost 8 o'clock when Takako arrived home.Akiho from last five years and Kota from last three years are watching TV harmoniously, but Tadaki has not come back yet.She took out the vegetables she bought from the supermarket and started preparing dinner. "It's so late, daddy hasn't come back yet?" Qiusui said while eating pork chops.

"Yes," Guizi replied, and turned his gaze to the clock next to the TV. It was already 8:30. When the hour hand pointed to 11 o'clock, Zhong Zhao still didn't come back.She called his cell phone many times, but no one answered. Guizi put the two children to sleep, and sat in the living room to wait.The newscaster on TV reported solemnly about the North Korean nuclear issue, but she couldn't hear anything. Suddenly footsteps came from behind her, she turned her head abruptly, and found Qiusui standing there in her pajamas. "What's the matter? Go back to sleep, or you won't be able to wake up tomorrow morning." She ordered in a mother's tone.

"Dad hasn't come back yet?" "He hasn't finished his work yet, so he came back late. Don't worry, go to bed quickly." But the daughter did not leave immediately, but lowered her head thoughtfully. Takako noticed this, and his tone became gentle: "What's wrong?" "Father, he...is he all right?" "What do you mean by that?" "Last night, I saw something strange." "Strange thing?" Takako frowned, "What do you mean?" Qiu Sui raised her face, her face looked paler than ever. "Ghost fire..."

Uh?Takako was taken aback, "What did you say?" "Woman's fire." Qiusui's voice was much clearer than before. "Woman's fire? Where did you see it?" "In the factory," Qiusui said, "I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and found that my father was still in the factory. I took a peek and saw that my father was sitting in the dark. I was about to ask him what he was doing when suddenly a ball of will-o'-the-wisp flew out. ..." "No way?! Is your father burning something?" Akiho shook his head. "I also immediately asked my father if he had burned something just now, and he said he didn't do anything, just looking at the drawings." Takako felt chills down his spine, but tried to maintain his expression. "You must be wrong. People often lose their eyes." "I think so too, but I'm still a little worried. I'm afraid that something will happen to my father. Why hasn't he come back?" Qiusui looked at the clock next to the TV with an anxious expression. "What are you talking about, it's so unlucky?" Takako's voice was a bit sharp, "Anyway, go to bed quickly, what if you can't wake up tomorrow morning? You have to go to school tomorrow." "Mom, when Dad comes back, can you tell me?" "Got it, I know it and I'll tell you." After hearing Takako's words, Akiho finally made the move to go upstairs.But she looked back at the door leading to the factory and said to herself, "Oh, I'm so upset." Only Takako was left alone. She picked up the TV remote control and kept changing channels.But she couldn't find a show that could calm her down. In this way, she sat in the room all night.The morning sun came in through the window, she opened her eyes, and she found herself lying on the dining table, probably because of her unnatural sleeping position, her whole body ached and her head was heavy. Just after 6 o'clock in the morning, she called Zhongzhao's cell phone again, but no one answered. She immediately turned on the TV, and the morning news was already on.She wondered if there would be news about Zhong Zhao, but there was no.If there is such a thing, the police will definitely contact her first. With a heavy heart, she began to prepare breakfast, still thinking about what Qiu Sui said last night: ghost fire. how is this possible…… At 7 o'clock, Qiu Sui got up.Usually this early in the morning, she should still be asleep.Her eyes were bloodshot. "Dad hasn't come back yet?" She asked, looking at the back of her mother who was frying eggs. "Maybe I drank too much somewhere," Takako tried to say in a relaxed tone, "I'll be back in a while." "Aren't you going to contact the police?" "It's okay, there's no need." Although she said so, she had already started to consider calling the police in her heart—should she call the police as soon as possible?No, let's wait a little longer. Kota got up too.The son didn't show any uneasiness about his father's failure to return overnight.Qiu Sui didn't tell his younger brother about the "wild fire". While the children were leaving for school, the workers came to work as if they were shifts.They were a little surprised to hear that the president hadn't returned overnight. "This is really worrying, let's call the police," Suzuki said. "I guess he might have gotten drunk somewhere..." "The president is not this kind of person." Tanaka immediately denied. Takako asked Sakai, the oldest worker in the factory, what to do. "If you haven't returned by the afternoon, we will call the police." Takako followed his advice and decided to wait a little longer.The workers started to work with concerned expressions. 9 o'clock, 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock... the hands of the clock kept moving.It was already time for afternoon repairs, and Zhong Zhao still hadn't come back.Takako was always restless when he made tea for everyone.She checks the time every once in a while.She decided to call by 1:00 p.m. However, there was no need to make a phone call, as the phone rang just after the lunch break, almost one o'clock. It was the police.