Chapter 78 Section VIII

Two days later, Imaeda came to Osaka again.One of the purposes of this trip was to meet a woman whom he happened to hear about when he was investigating near Tang Ze's home last time. "If you want to ask about Miss Tang Ze's family, Miss Motoka's family may know. I heard that they all went to Tsinghua Women's Academy." The proprietress of a small bakery told him. Imameda inquired about her age, and the bakery proprietress was very troubled. "I think it should be the same age as Miss Tang Zejia, but I'm not sure." Her name is Kuniko Motoka, and she sometimes patronizes the bakery.The proprietress only knew that she was an interior designer who signed a contract with a large real estate company.

After returning to Tokyo, Imaeda inquired about the real estate company.After going through several checkpoints, he was finally able to get in touch with Kuniko Motoka by phone.Imameda claims to be a freelance journalist and is doing interviews for a women's magazine. "This time I want to do a special report on the entrepreneurial situation of graduates of prestigious girls' schools. Oh, I asked around for outstanding figures who graduated from girls' schools in Tokyo and Osaka and are currently sprinting in the workplace. Someone recommended Ms. Motoka to me. .” Kuniko Motoka whispered unexpectedly on the phone, modestly saying something like "I'm not counted", but she could hear that she didn't completely deny it. "Who the hell mentioned me?"

"Sorry, I can't tell you, because I promised to keep it secret. I would like to ask, in what year did Ms. Motoka graduate from Tsinghua Women's Academy?" "Me? Graduated from high school in 1981." Imaeda cheered inwardly.Just as he expected, she was in the same class as Tang Ze Xuesui. "So, do you know Miss Tang Ze?" "Tang Ze...Miss Tang Ze Xuesui?" "Yes, yes. You know her?" "I know, but I'm not in the same class as her. What's wrong with her?" Kuniko Motoka's voice seemed a little wary. "I'm also going to interview her, who is currently running a boutique in Tokyo."

"Oh." "Then," Imae said vigorously, "It only takes an hour, can I ask you to take the time to meet? Hope to talk to you about your current work, lifestyle and so on. " Kuniko Motoka seemed a little hesitant, but finally agreed that there would be no problem if it didn't affect his work. Kuniko Motoka's workplace is located a few minutes' walk from Honmachi Station on the Midosuji Subway Line, in the center of Osaka, commonly known as "Sunba".As expected, this place is famous for gathering wholesale and financial industries, and there are many commercial buildings.While everyone says the bubble economy has burst, corporate elites still hurry to and fro on the sidewalks, as if they don't want to waste a second.

The twentieth floor of the building is the office of the company "Designmake".Imae was waiting for Kuniko Motoka at a cafe on the basement floor. When the glass wall clock pointed to 1:50 pm, a woman in a white suit jacket came in.She wore glasses with slightly larger frames, and she was quite tall for a girl.This fits all the traits heard over the phone.She also has a pair of slender legs and is a very attractive beauty. Imaeda got up to greet him, and while greeting him, he handed out a business card with the title of freelance reporter printed on it, and the name was of course fake.Then, he took out a box of snacks he bought in Tokyo, and Kuniko Motoka politely accepted it.She ordered milk tea and sat down.

"Sorry to bother you in your busy schedule." "Where, am I really worth interviewing?" Kuniko Motoka seemed a little uneasy.She spoke with a Kansai accent. "Of course, I want to interview more outstanding women in various industries." "Will the reports you speak of use real names?" "In principle, use a pseudonym. Of course, if you wish to use your real name..." "No, no, no," she waved her hands quickly, "just use a pseudonym." "Then let's get started." Imameda took out a pen and paper, and began to ask some questions about "the entrepreneurial situation of alumni of prestigious girls' schools".

This is what he conceived while taking the Shinkansen.Kuniko Motoka didn't know what to do, and answered every question seriously. Seeing her like this, Imamae always felt sorry, and thought that at least he should conduct serious interviews, such as the advantages of the customer hiring an interior designer, the unexpected benefits of the real estate company because of her efforts, etc., and talking with her at least made him feel better. Learned something. After about thirty minutes, the questions were over.Kuniko Motoka seemed relieved as well, bringing the milk tea to her lips. Imameda is thinking about when to bring up the topic of Karasawa Yukiho.The phone call a few days ago had already reserved foreshadowing, but he couldn't make the topic seem unnatural.

Kunimoto Motoka suddenly said, "You said you want to interview Ms. Tang Ze?" "Yes." Imaeda looked back at the other person's face, thinking that he had been guessed. "You said she was running a boutique?" "Yes, in Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo." "Oh...she's working hard too." Kuniko Motoka looked away, her expression a little stiff. Imaoka's intuition started to activate, and Kuniko Motoka didn't seem to have a good impression of Karasawa Yusho.This is really wishful thinking. If you want to inquire about Xuesui's past, it is meaningless if you find someone who refuses to tell the truth.He reached into his coat pocket and asked, "Excuse me, may I have a cigarette?"

"Please," she said. With a cigarette in his mouth, he lit the fire.This gesture indicates that small talk time is next. "About Miss Karasawa," Imae said, "something is wrong now, and it's giving me a headache." "What?" The expression on Kuniko Motoka's face changed, obviously he was very interested in this topic. "It's not a big problem," Imaeda shook the ash into the ashtray, "Some people don't speak very nicely when they mention her." "what?" "She has opened several shops at such a young age, so it's inevitable that people will be jealous. Besides, I think in fact, what she has done along the way may not be as elegant as it looks on the outside." Imae took a sip of the cold coffee , "In a word, it means that she has an eye for money, does not hesitate to use others in order to do business, and so on."

"Oh." "We want to report on young and promising female entrepreneurs. Some people in the editorial department think that if the reputation of being a person is not good, it is better to suspend it. That's why I feel a headache." "It's about the image of the magazine." "Exactly." Imaeda nodded while observing Kuniko Motooka's expression, it seemed that she was not unhappy because of the bad comments from her alumni.He put out the cigarette and immediately lit another one.He was very careful not to let the smoke get on the opponent's face.

"Ms. Motooka is in the same school as her in junior high and high school, right?" "yes." "So, what do you think of her, as far as you can remember?" "How about what?" "Do you think she is such a person? I will not write these in the report. I hope you will give me the most honest opinion." "I don't know either." Kuniko Motoka tilted his head and glanced at his watch, as if he was concerned about the time, "I also said on the phone that I have never been in the same class as her. But Miss Tang Ze is a celebrity in the school , I know her in different classes, and I think people in other grades probably know her too." "Why is she so famous?" "Need to say?" As she spoke, she blinked, "She's so beautiful, it's hard not to be noticed, and there are boys' fan clubs and things like that." "Oh." Imae recalled Yukiho's appearance, and thought it was not difficult to imagine. "The grades seem to be pretty good too. A friend of mine said that she was in the same class as Tang Ze in junior high." "That's a talented woman." "But things like personality or being a person, I don't know. I never spoke to her." "What does your friend who is in her class think of her?" "She didn't say anything bad about Miss Tang Ze, she only said half-jokingly and half-jealously that she was born with that kind of great beauty, she was really lucky." There was a subtle meaning in Motoka Kuniko's words, and Imaeda didn't miss it. "You just said...that friend didn't speak ill of Miss Tang Ze," he said, "So, don't other people have good comments about Miss Tang Ze?" Maybe because he didn't expect to be pressed, Kuniko Motoka frowned slightly.But Imaeda could tell that this was definitely not what she meant. "In junior high school, there was a very strange rumor about her." Kuniko Motoka said in a very low voice. "Say what?" When he asked, she first looked at him suspiciously: "You really won't write it in the report?" "Of course." He nodded vigorously. Kuniko Motoka took a breath before saying, "It is rumored that she lied about her experience." "Ok?" "It is said that she actually grew up in a family with a very bad environment, but she concealed the fact and pretended to be a rich lady." "Wait a minute, does that mean she was adopted by relatives as a child?" That's not news, Imaeda thought. Kuniko Motoka leaned forward slightly upon hearing the words. "Yes, the problem is her original family. It is said that her biological mother made money from her relationship with men and women." "Oh..." Imaeda didn't show any fuss, "You mean being someone else's mistress?" "Maybe, but there is more than one target. These are rumors." Kuniko Motoka emphasized the word "rumor".She continued: "Also, I heard that one of them was killed." "Ah!" Imaeda exclaimed, "Really?" She nodded affirmatively. "I heard that Miss Tang Ze's biological mother was interrogated by the police." Imaeda forgot to respond, his eyes were only on the cigarette butt.The murder of the pawnbroker, he thought.The police didn't seem to be targeting Sibender simply because she was a regular at the pawn shop.That's if the rumors are true. "Please don't tell anyone I said that, okay?" "Sure, don't worry." Imaeda smiled at her, but immediately returned to a serious expression, "However, since there are such rumors, it must have caused quite a commotion, right?" "No. Although it is a rumor, the scope of spread is actually extremely limited, and everyone knows who is spreading these words." "Oh?" "She seems to know what I said because she has a friend who lives near Miss Tang Ze's hometown. I don't know her very well, and I heard it from others." "She is also from Tsinghua Women's Academy..." "Same class as us." "What's her name?" "It's inconvenient to say..." Kuniko Motoka lowered his head. "That's right, I'm rude." Jinzhi shook off the cigarette ash, he didn't want to be suspected for pursuing the bottom line, "Then, why would she release these rumors? Didn't she consider that it would be heard by the person involved?" "She seemed to be hostile to Miss Tang Ze at the time. Maybe she is also known as a talented woman herself, so let Miss Tang Ze be regarded as a competitor." "It's like the usual stories in girls' schools." Hearing what Imaeda said, Kuniko Motoka grinned. "Looking back now, it's true." "How did the hostile relationship between the two of them change later?" "About this..." After finishing speaking, she was silent for a while before slowly opening her mouth, "Because of an accident, they became very close." "Oh?" Kuniko Motoka looked around, but there were no other guests nearby. "The girl who spread the rumor was attacked." "Assaulted?" Imamae leaned forward, "You mean..." "She asked for leave from school for a long time, claiming that she had a car accident. In fact, she heard that she was attacked on the way home from school. She was physically and mentally traumatized and could not recover, so she took leave." "Sexually assaulted?" Kuniko Motoka shook his head. "I don't know the details. Some people said that she was raped, and there were attempts. However, the assault seems to be true. Because people who live near the accident site said they saw the police conducting various investigations." One thing caught Imamue's attention, and he thought it should not be let go: "You just said that because of this accident, she and Miss Tang Ze became very close?" Kuniko Motoka nodded. "It was Ms. Tang Ze who found her unconscious. Later, Ms. Tang Ze seemed to visit her often and was very warm to her." Tang Ze Xuesui went to visit and take care of the other party... Imameda's heart was shocked, he pretended to be calm, but felt hot all over. "Did Miss Tang Ze discover it by herself?" "No, I heard she was with two friends." Imaeda swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and nodded in response. In the evening, Imaeda stayed in a business hotel next to Umeda Station.The hidden tape recorder played Kuniko Motoka's words, and Imae organized the contents in his notes.She did not realize that he had hidden the tape recorder in the inside pocket of his coat. Imae thought that for a long time to come, Kuniko Motoka would continue to buy the women's magazine that was supposed to publish her story.Although it was a bit pitiful, he thought that this could be regarded as giving her a small dream.The matter at hand came to an end, he picked up the phone on the bedside table, looked at the notepad and pressed the number. After the bell rang three times, the other party answered the phone. "Hello, Shinozuka-san? ... Yes, I'm Imao. I'm in Osaka now. Yes, it's for that investigation. In fact, there is a person I want to meet anyway, and I hope to get in touch with her, so I came to ask for advice. Mr. Shinozuka's contact information." Imameda said the person's name.