Chapter 2 chapter 2

The person who came was wearing a white shirt, a dark green sports jacket, and a tie in a regular manner.However, it can still be seen from his tanned face, wrinkled forehead, and hands with rough knuckles that he should rarely wear this kind of dress.That being said, I also seem to smell a faint smell of mothballs.As for age, he looked at least sixty years old. "My name is Sakura Keji, and I farm in Kobushi." While reporting his name, the old gentleman looked around every corner of the office.I think the reason why his eyes are wandering is not entirely because he is nervous when he comes to this kind of place for the first time!I think he is also observing the appearance of the firm at the same time, observing whether I am worthy of his entrustment.I noticed this, but I didn't intend to explain to him the reason why the room was still empty.He just nodded to him and made an expression of "It's been hard work coming from afar".

"You are from Kobushicho! Did you drive here by yourself?" "No, I came by bus." "I see, you must be very tired, right?" The respectful tone and endless smiles are one of the few gains I have gained from living in the city in the past two years.And these two gains seem to have made the old man slowly let go of his guard. "I usually don't even take the bus. It's just that Cun Xiaofu doesn't even have anyone to talk to, so I have to come to you." "So that's how it is! Thank you for coming all the way from Kobushi-cho to 'Konya S&R'."

I'd be more grateful if you could give me a call before you go so I can get ready. Sakura and I sat facing each other, with a coffee table in between, and there was nothing on the coffee table.Not to mention an ashtray, not even a cup of tea.It's not that I don't know how to treat guests, but that I haven't even prepared the tea set yet.And only then did I realize that I haven't even printed my business card yet.The company helped prepare it before, so I completely forgot about it.It seems that there is still a lot to do before placing a newspaper advertisement! Although this street is a road connecting Babao City and Kobushi Town, there is actually a long mountain road in the middle.No matter which direction Sakura came from Kobushi, it would take at least an hour and a half by car, and it might take another 30 to 40 minutes by bus!I really admire him for being able to come from such a long distance without prior appointment.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" I asked straight to the point, and then I saw a nervous look on Sakura's tanned face. "You mentioned on the phone that you want me to help you find your granddaughter, right?" "..." Sakura lowered his head and remained silent.You dared to come directly without an appointment, why are you hesitating now?I think I probably know the reason, because he doesn't know if he can trust the man who looks a little silly in front of him.Moreover, there may be a more important reason than this, that is, he thinks that asking for help from others is a shameful thing in itself!

I am not a psychiatrist, and it is not within the scope of my job to create an environment where people can speak their minds with confidence.If it's looking for a dog, it's another matter. I don't really want to take the job of looking for people. "Could it just run away from home?" If he ran away from home, I am sorry that there is nothing the firm can do - when I was planning to send him back with these words, I did not expect him to have such a big reaction to the words "run away from home": "It's not like running away from home! My granddaughter has always been well-behaved and obedient."

His sharp eyes stared straight at me.From this sentence alone, it can be heard how much Sakura loves his granddaughter.In any case, the dialogue between us was finally established. "So that's it, it's not that you ran away from home! Then what do you mean by asking me to help you find someone?" "Because I haven't been able to contact her recently..." "Is that so... can't you get through the phone?" "Not only that..." Seeming to have finally made up his mind, Sakura clenched his fists on his knees and sat up a little forward. "I want to ask you to help find my granddaughter Tongzi. My son-in-law has been living in Babao for several years, and Tongzi also lives in Babao. But because Tongzi is very clingy to my wife, she often comes to us alone. Playing at home. Tongzi has liked climbing trees since she was a child. She is a lively and active girl. She finally got admitted to university and heard that she wanted to work in a computer-related company. After a lot of hard work, she finally found her ideal job. Work. I don’t know much about computers because I haven’t studied much, but I heard that it’s a big company and the position is good, so we are all at ease. This was two years ago. But recently But a series of strange things happened."

Sakura opened the bag he brought, took out a stack of papers from it, and began to spread them on the coffee table one by one, including mobile phone bills, flyers from beauty salons, discount coupons from optical shops...etc.It seemed that they were all advertising letters stuffed in the mailbox, and there was nothing particularly suspicious about them.But I noticed that the recipients of these emails are all "Sakura Kiriko". I shifted my gaze from the mail to Sakura's face, and saw him nodding heavily. "It seems that all the letters addressed to Tongzi have been forwarded to my home. I also find it very strange. Although my wife also finds it incredible, she told me not to care so much. It's just letters anyway. But when More than a month after we started receiving these letters addressed to Tongzi, we received a call from my son-in-law who has now moved to a house, saying that we have lost contact with Tongzi.”

"Yes……" I suddenly had a sense of foreboding.Although Sakura said that Kiriko didn't run away from home, and although I continued to wear a soothing smile, I already guessed that the next topic would probably not be too easy. "At that time, my daughter-in-law's natal family had to contact Tongzi because they needed a solution. You asked me about the phone number just now! That's right, I just couldn't get through. Even the mobile phone couldn't get through. I thought that Tongzi was simply not at home, but as the days went by, I gradually became uneasy. On the one hand, the ritual could not be delayed forever, so I had to call Tongzi's company."

At this point, Sakura paused, sighed, and continued: "They said that Tongzi had quit her job a long time ago." Sakura's tone was full of regret, and I quickly put on a "that's a pity" expression to go along with him. "My son and daughter-in-law also felt that something was wrong, and wanted to say that phone calls alone couldn't solve the problem, so they went to Tokyo on the 3rd of this month. Unexpectedly, even Tongzi's rented house..." You don't even have to think about what's going on. "People have already gone to the building, and no one knows where she went, right?"

"The landlord clearly remembers Tongzi's appearance, but he didn't even ask her when she was about to move out. It's so heartless." "What do the people in the company say?" "She said she tendered her resignation at the end of last month." I see.I finally lost the smile on my face. "In other words, Miss Kiriko is missing, right?" Although Sakura's reaction this time was no longer as intense as when he heard the words "leave home" just now, he was still stabbed by the word "missing" and raised his head with a determined expression on his face that he did not want to accept this. Factually stiff, after a while, finally nodded slowly.

"Did you call the police?" "Not yet. Because Tongzi has definitely completed the formalities whether it is quitting her job or renting out the house, so I think the police may not accept it. And if Tongzi actually has any difficulties, it seems that the only way to notify the police would make things more complicated." "Well, that's true." Searching for missing persons - why such a troublesome case came on the first day of opening!I remember clearly telling Danan that my firm is "looking for lost puppies"... Since search and rescue are all written on the name of the firm, I didn't mean to pick and choose from the beginning.However, for me, finding people is much more difficult than finding birds.Can I meet the request of the client?Perhaps it was the anxiety in my heart that turned into a serious expression on my face, and Sakura asked me anxiously: "Will you help me with this? I still have work to do in the fields, and I don't have a car, so I can't find it even if I want to. My wife has bad knees, and it's hard for me to get out of the house. Plus... Plus...Tongzi is still a big girl..." "So you can't look for it with much fanfare, right?" Xiaofu is a very small town.I know how scary gossip is in a small town.Here, cleanliness and self-love are a matter of course. I thought about it. "...I understand your concerns. But, Mr. Sakura, I'm afraid I can't promise you about this. You want me to help you find your granddaughter, but you don't allow me to make it public. How is this possible? Isn't it possible to find someone? Take the photo and go to the streets and alleys to ask if anyone has seen this person? Of course I will try to keep a low profile, but if I do not let anyone know at all, I am afraid that our company will not be able to take your case. " "Isn't it still not working?" "I am very sorry." Sakura's face was very ugly.It seems that he really expected me to search completely under the counter, so he found his granddaughter and returned it to him.It's a pity I don't have that ability.Since his complexion was so ugly, I had a forewarning that he would take his life back, and that would be my wish.It was too much pressure for me to suddenly ask me to look for missing persons.It is better to start by looking for lost puppies at the beginning.First it was, then it was, and then it was. Unexpectedly, after thinking twice, Sakura actually said: "There is no other choice now." This conclusion was really unexpected to me, but I immediately discovered that there was nothing surprising about it. Although it was introduced by Dai Nan, I am still a complete stranger to Sakura, but he still came to discuss with me, saying that he really made up his mind, and he must have done it long ago. Well, mentally prepared to spend a lot of money, it can be seen that he is really worried about the safety of his granddaughter.That being the case, it must have been in his consciousness to sacrifice a little bit of face! Sakura continued to instruct me in a heavy tone: "However, please try not to cause inexplicable rumors as much as possible." "I know, of course." If you really want to take this case, of course you have to think about the other party. However, I really can't just pick it up.After all, this is not a job within the scope of my expectations, and I still have to reserve it.Otherwise, neither the client nor myself will benefit.Those who can put the ugly words first should speak first, and those who can get the other party's promise in advance should get the other party's promise first. Therefore, I also put on the posture of discussing the facts as they stand. "It's just that I really don't understand one thing. From this point of view, your granddaughter should have disappeared from Tokyo. I am very aware of your anxiety and your concerns about not wanting the police to intervene. However, since your granddaughter disappeared in Tokyo Liaison, why not directly hire detectives from Tokyo? The scope of our company's activities is basically limited to this street...that is, the area around Habaho City!" I originally thought that after hearing these words, Sakura would have a surprised expression on his wrinkled face, but I didn't expect him to just shake his head constantly: "No, you must find the detective of Babao. Because these letters originally intended for Tongzi were sent to my home, isn't it because she planned to come to me, so she changed the address to my home address?" I thought about the possibility that Sakura said.However, before I could come up with a conclusion, Sakura took out another postcard from his purse. "And this is it." The addressee was Kazuji Sakura from Kobushicho.The problem is the sender, and the postmark on it. On it was written with a water-based ballpoint pen that the place of delivery was Happo City, the date of delivery was August 10, and the sender was Kiriko Sakura. Turned to the back, it is an ordinary landscape postcard.The photo is a close-up of Tokyo Tower.There is not even a word on it. "this is……" "Tongzi must be in Babao City. That's why I came to ask you. Please, please help me find Tongzi." After Sakura finished speaking, he bowed deeply to me. This person works hard every day under the sun!I looked at Sakura's tanned nape, and sighed softly. I have already heard so much from him, how dare I tell him again that "our company is specialized in looking for kittens and puppies".Although the creature I'm looking for this time is a little bigger, I'm not dissatisfied with the content of the entrustment itself. In this case, the negotiation should start from agreeing or not to the actual remuneration conditions!