Chapter 8 Section VIII

Looking at the sports news page, Toshio Tagawa recalled last night's game, and bad emotions flooded his heart again.It's fine if the Yomiuri Giants lose, the problem is the course of the game. At the critical moment, Long Island failed again.The No. 4 hitter, who has always supported the Giants of the ever-victorious team, performed mediocre throughout the game, which made the audience angry.He must live up to expectations when he is needed most, this is Shigeo Nagashima!Even if the swing is caught and killed, he will swing the stick to satisfy the fans. This is the ability of the so-called "Mr. Giant"!

But this season has been an anomaly. No, there were signs of it two or three years ago, but Tagawa didn't want to accept the cruel reality, so he deliberately turned a blind eye to it, telling himself that this kind of thing couldn't happen to "Mr. Giant".However, seeing the current situation, even Tagawa, who has been a Nagashima fan since he was a child, has to admit that everyone will grow old one day, and no matter how great the famous player is, he will have to leave the court one day. Looking at the photo of Nagashima frowning after being struck out, Tagawa thought, maybe this is the year.Although the season has just started, according to this momentum, before the summer, everyone should start talking about Long Island's retirement.If the Giants fail to win the championship, things may become a foregone conclusion. Tagawa has an ominous premonition that it will be too difficult to win the championship this year.Although the Giants set a brilliant record of nine consecutive victories last year with an overwhelming momentum, it is obvious to all that the entire team has begun to show signs of fatigue, and Long Island is a symbol.

After casually browsing the reports of the China-Japan Dragons winning, he closed the newspaper.Look at the clock on the wall, it's past four in the afternoon.Probably no one would come today, he thought.Before payday, it is unlikely that anyone will come to pay the rent. While yawning, he saw a figure behind the glass door with the apartment notice posted on it.You can tell by looking at your feet that you are not an adult.The figure was wearing sneakers, Tagawa thought, probably the elementary school students coming home from school to waste time, standing there looking at the notice.

But a few seconds later, the glass door opened.The girl with a cardigan over a shirt has a timid face upturned, and a pair of big eyes reminiscent of expensive cats, giving a deep impression. She seems to be a student in the upper grades of elementary school. "What's the matter with you?" Tian Chuan asked, his voice was very gentle even to himself.If the person who came was the dirty and sneaky brat that is common in the neighborhood, his voice would be very indifferent, and it would not be the same as it is now. "Hi, my name is Nishimoto," she said. "Nishimoto? Where is Nishimoto?"

"Nishimoto at Yoshida Apartment." She spoke clearly, which was also very novel to Tian Chuan's ears.All the kids he knew were guys whose talk made their bad minds and upbringing all over the place. "Yoshida's apartment... oh." Tagawa nodded, and pulled out the folder from the bookshelf beside him.Eight families live in the Yoshida apartment, and the Nishimoto family rents Room 103 located in the middle of the first floor.Tagawa confirmed that the Nishimoto family hadn't paid the rent for two months, so it was time to call. "So," he turned his gaze back to the girl in front of him, "you are Mrs. Nishimoto's daughter?"

"Yes." She nodded. Tagawa looked at the resident registration form of the Yoshida apartment.The head of the Nishimoto family is Nishi Bunyo, and the only resident is his daughter Yukiho.When I moved in ten years ago, I had my husband Hideo, but he passed away soon after. "Are you here to pay the rent?" Tian Chuan asked.Nishimoto Yukiho lowered his gaze and shook his head.Tagawa thought, I knew it. "So, what's your business?" "I want your help to open the door." "Open the door?" "I don't have a key, I can't go home, I don't have a key."

"Oh." Tian Chuan finally understood what she was going to say, "Did your mother lock the door and go out?" Yukisui nodded, and the glamorous expression contained in the expression of lowering her head and raising her eyes made one forget that she was a primary school student, and Tian Chuan couldn't help being moved by it for a moment. "You don't know where mother is?" "No idea. My mom said she wasn't going out today... so I went out without the keys." "Hmm." Tagawa thought, what should we do?I looked at the clock, it was too early to close the shop at this time.The father who is the owner of the store went to a relative's house yesterday and will not come back until evening.But you can't hand over the spare key directly to Xuesui.Someone from Tagawa Real Estate must be present when using the spare key, as it is part of their contract with the apartment owner.Your mother will be back in a while—ordinarily he would say that, but seeing Xuesui staring at him anxiously, it is really difficult to say such words of standing idly by.

"In this case, I'll help you open the door. Just wait for me." He stood up and approached the safe where the spare keys of the rental house were kept. It takes about ten minutes to walk from the storefront of Tagawa Fudosan to the Yoshida Apartment.Toshio Tagawa watched the slender figure of Yukiho Nishimoto walking in the hastily paved alley.Yukisui didn't carry a primary school schoolbag, but was carrying a red plastic handbag. Every time she moved, there was a jingling bell on her body.Tagawa was curious about what kind of bell it was, and looked at it with his heart, but he couldn't tell from the outside.Look carefully at her clothes, she is by no means a child of a wealthy family.The soles of the sneakers were frayed, the sweater was full of pompoms and stitches were open in several places, as was the plaid dress, the fabric looked quite worn.

Even so, this girl still exudes a kind of elegant temperament, which Tagawa rarely had the opportunity to touch in the past.He felt incredible, why?He knew Yusui's mother very well. Nishibundai was a gloomy and inconspicuous woman, and like the people living in this area, her eyes revealed a vaguely vulgar expression.Tagawa couldn't help but be amazed that he lived and ate and lived with such a mother, yet he looked like this. "Which elementary school do you go to?" Tagawa asked from behind. "Dajiang Elementary School." Xuesui didn't stop, and turned around slightly to answer.

"Dajiang? Oh." He thought, sure enough.Almost all the children in this district go to Dajiang Public Primary School. Every year, several students in this school are caught for stealing sheep, and several students disappear because their parents abscond overnight.When you pass by in the afternoon, you will smell the leftovers from the nutritious lunch. As soon as school is over, some suspicious men of unknown origin appear pushing bicycles, trying to abduct children for pocket money.It's just that the children of Dajiang Elementary School are not so naive as to be fooled by these charlatans.

According to Nishimoto Yusuho's temperament, Tagawa really didn't think she would go to that kind of elementary school, so he asked this question.In fact, if you think about it, you know that with her family background, it is impossible for her to go to a private school.He thought she must be out of tune in school. When he arrived at Yoshida's apartment, Tagawa stood in front of the door of Room 103, knocked on the door first, and then called "Mrs. Nishimoto", but no one responded. "It seems your mother hasn't come back yet." He turned to Xuesui and said. She nodded slightly, and there was another jingle bell on her body. Tagawa inserted the spare key into the keyhole, turned it to the right, and heard a click to unlock the lock.At this moment, a strange feeling hit him, and an ominous premonition swept over his heart.But he ignored it and turned the handle directly to open the door. As soon as Tianchuan stepped into the room, he saw a woman lying in the Japanese room inside.The woman is wearing a light yellow sweater and jeans, lying on the tatami.I can't see the face clearly, but it should be from the Western Bun Dynasty. What are you doing, he's clearly at home... Just as he thought of this, he smelled a strange smell. "Gas! Dangerous!" He reached out his hand to stop Xuesui who wanted to enter the door behind him, covered his mouth and nose, and then immediately turned his head to look at the flow counter next to him.There is a pot on the gas stove, the switch is on, but there is no fire on the stove. Holding his breath, he turned off the main gas switch, opened the window above the sink, and walked into the inner room. He opened the window while staring at Wen Dai lying beside the low table, then stuck his head out of the window, took a deep breath, and felt deep in his head numbness. He looked back at the woman, her face was blue, and her skin didn't feel angry at all.It was hopeless—that was his hunch. There was a black telephone in the corner of the room, and he picked up the receiver and started dialing.However, at this moment, he hesitated.Do you want to call 119?No, he should still call 110... His mind was in chaos.Except for his grandfather who died of illness, he had never seen a dead body.After dialing one or one, he hesitated and put his index finger into the 0 key.At this moment—"Is he dead?" A voice came from the entrance. Yukiho Nishimoto was still standing at the place where he took off his shoes.The entrance door was open, and the backlight prevented him from seeing her expression clearly. "Is my mother dead?" she asked again, crying. "I don't know yet." Tagawa moved his finger from 0 to 9 and turned the dial.