Chapter 88 Section five

The rural scenery passed by the window.Occasionally, some billboards with the names of businesses or products are erected in the fields, and the scenery is monotonous and boring.I want to see the street view of the town, but when the Shinkansen passes through the town, it is always surrounded by soundproof walls, and I can't see any scenery. Dianzi leaned his elbows against the window and looked at his neighbor.Akiyoshi closed his eyes and didn't even move.She found that he was not asleep, but thinking. She turned her gaze out of the window again.The suffocating tension has been weighing on her heart. Will this trip to Osaka bring an ominous storm?She couldn't get rid of the idea.

However, she thinks this might be her last chance to get to know Akiyoshi.Looking back, Noriko dated him almost without knowing anything about him until now.It's not that she's not uninterested in his past, but she does have the idea that "the present is more important than the past" in her heart.In a very short period of time, he occupied an irreplaceable position in her heart. The scenery outside the window has changed slightly. It seems that in Aichi Prefecture, the number of billboards related to automobile manufacturing has increased.Dianzi thought of her hometown. She was from Xinbian, and there was a small factory producing auto parts near her home.

Noriko Kurihara came to Tokyo at the age of eighteen.At that time, she didn't make up her mind to become a pharmacist, but just applied for several departments that she might be admitted to, and happened to be admitted to the Department of Pharmacy of a certain university. After graduating from university, under the introduction of a friend, she successfully entered the current hospital to work.Dianzi believes that the university days and the first five years of working in the hospital should be the happiest period for him. In her sixth year of work, she had a lover, a thirty-five-year-old man who worked in the same hospital, and she even seriously considered marrying him.But it is difficult to do so because he has a wife and children. "I'm going to break up with her," he said.Dianzi believed him, so he rented the current house.If divorced, he would have nowhere to go, and when he left home, she hoped to give him a place to rest.

However, as with most affairs, once the woman has made up her mind, the man tends to back off gradually.When they met, he started throwing out all kinds of excuses: worrying about the kids, having to pay a lot of money in alimony now, taking time to work things out wisely, and so on. "I didn't meet you to hear these words." She didn't know how many times she said this sentence. Their breakup came quite unexpectedly.One morning, when I arrived at the hospital, there was no sign of him.Dianzi asked other employees, and the answer was: "He seems to have resigned." "He seems to have embezzled the patient's money." The female staff member whispered, with a look of pleasure in spreading gossip.She didn't know his relationship with Dianzi.

"Secretary?" "Isn't the patient's treatment fee, hospitalization fee and other payment details all managed by the computer? He deliberately made it look like a data entry error, deleted the entry record, and then took that part of the money as his own. There are several The patient reported that he had clearly paid the money but received a reminder notice, which is why he found out." "When did it start?" "I don't know, it seems that there were abnormal signs more than a year ago. Since then, the payment of patients has been delayed, and many of them are almost about to send reminders. It seems that he used the payment of later patients The money is used to make up for the previous shortfall and cover it up. The new shortfall is just like snowballing, and finally it cannot be repaired and explodes."

Dianzi stared blankly at the red lips of the chattering female staff, feeling as if she was in a nightmare, which was not real at all. "How much money did you embezzle?" Dianzi tried to pretend to be calm and asked. "I heard it's more than two million." "What did he do with that money?" "I heard it's to pay the loan on the apartment. When it's not easy to buy, it's when the housing price is the highest." The female staff member said with bright eyes.She also told Dianzi that the hospital didn't seem to intend to follow the legal route, and as long as he paid back the money, they would settle the matter peacefully, mostly because they were afraid that media reports would damage the hospital's reputation.

There was no news from him for several days.During that period, she was absent-minded at work, and the number of mistakes in a daze increased greatly, which surprised her colleagues.She also thought about calling his house, but she hesitated when she considered that the answerer might not be him. In the middle of the night, the phone rang.When the bell rang, Dianzi knew it must be him.Sure enough, his voice came from the other end of the receiver, but it was very weak. "Are you okay?" he asked her first. "not too good." "I think so," he said.She seemed to be able to see him showing a self-deprecating smile in front of her eyes. "You should have heard that I can't go back to the hospital anymore."

"What about the money?" "I will pay it back, but the credit period has been negotiated." "Can you afford it?" "I don't know...but I have to pay it back. If there is no other way, I have to sell the house." "I heard it was two million?" "Uh, 2.4 million." "I'll figure out how to get the money." "what?" "I still have a little savings, about two million I can help." "you……" "When I pay the money, that... you and your wife—" She was about to say "divorce" when he said, "No, you don't have to."

"Huh? What do you mean?" "I don't want to trouble you, I will find a way myself." "But……" "When I bought the house, I borrowed money from my father-in-law." "How many?" "Ten million." She felt a blow to her chest, a heartache, and a stream of sweat from her armpits. "If you want to get a divorce, you have to find a way to raise this money." "But you never mentioned it before." "What's the use of telling you." "What did your wife say about this time?" "Why are you asking this?" The man's voice was displeased.

"I want to know, isn't your wife angry?" Dianzi was secretly looking forward to it, and his wife might be angry about this, and maybe she would ask for a divorce.However, his answer was surprising. "My wife apologized to me." "Apologize?" "She was the one who clamored to buy a house. I didn't work very hard at first, and I had to struggle a bit to get a loan. She probably knew that that was the reason for this." "what……" "In order to pay back the money, she said she was going to do odd jobs." The phrase "What a nice lady" has climbed Dianzi's throat.She swallowed the words, leaving a bitter aftertaste in her mouth.

"Then, we can't expect any progress for the time being." She reluctantly opened her mouth to say this, but the man fell silent for a moment.Next, Dianzi heard a sigh: "Oh, please don't do this again." "What's wrong with me?" "Stop saying such sarcasm, you already know it well." "what?" "It's impossible for me to get a divorce. You should be just playing around." The man's words made Dianzi lose his voice for an instant.How much she wanted to yell at him: "I'm serious!" But when the words came to her lips, an unspeakable desolation hit her face, and she could only keep silent.He would say such things, of course, because he saw that her self-esteem would make her feel embarrassed. A woman's voice came from the phone, asking who he was talking to so late, it must be his wife.He said he was a friend, and because he was worried, he called to say hello.After a while, he said to Dianzi in a weaker voice, "Let's just leave it like this." Dianzi really wanted to ask him what "that's it" was, but she was so weak that she couldn't make a sound.The man seemed to think that his goal had been achieved, and hung up the phone without waiting for her answer. Needless to say, this was the last conversation Dianzi had with him.After that, he never appeared in front of her again. Dianzi threw away all his daily necessities in the house: toothbrush, razor, shaving lotion and condoms.She forgot to throw out the ashtray, the only thing left on the bookshelf.The ashtray was gradually covered with dust, which seemed to mean that the wound in her heart was slowly healing. After this incident, Dianzi did not interact with anyone.But she is not determined to be alone for a lifetime, rather, her desire for marriage is even stronger.She is eager to find a suitable man, get married and have children, and build an ordinary family. Exactly a year after breaking up with him, she found a dating agency.What attracted her was a system that used a computer to select the best pair.She decided to put her love and affection aside and choose a life partner based on other conditions.She's had enough of being in love. A middle-aged woman who seemed very friendly asked her a few questions, entered the answers into the computer, and told her several times, "Don't worry, you will find a good match." She did not break her promise, and the dating agency successively introduced suitable men to Dianzi.She met with six people in total.However, five of them were only seen once, because they disappointed her when they met.Some of the photos did not match the person himself at all. Some people even registered that they were unmarried, but when they met, they suddenly revealed that they had children. Noriko goes on three dates with an office worker.This person was in his early forties, with an honest and sincere appearance, which made Dianzi seriously consider whether to get married.However, it was on their third date that she learned he was living with his mother, who had Alzheimer's.He said: "I think you can help us." He just wanted to find a woman who could take care of his mother, and the condition he asked for the matchmaking agency was "women engaged in medical work." "Please take care." After leaving these words, Dianzi broke up with him, and never saw each other again.She thought that he looked down on people too much, not only her, but all women. After meeting six people, Dianzi terminated the contract with the matchmaking agency. She felt that it was a waste of time. After another half year, she met Yuichi Akiyoshi. It was evening when we arrived in Osaka.After completing the housing procedures at the hotel, Akiyoshi introduced the city of Osaka to Noriko.Although he had shown embarrassment when she expressed that she wanted to go with her, but for some reason today, he was very gentle to her.Dianzi guessed that maybe it was because of returning to his hometown. The two strolled across Shinsaibashi Bridge, crossed Dotonbori Bridge, and ate grilled octopus balls.This is their first time traveling together. Although Dianzi is uneasy about what may happen next, she is also quite excited. After all, it is her first time in Osaka. "Is your hometown far from here?" Noriko asked while drinking beer in a beer hall overlooking Dotonbori. "It's about five stops by tram." "It's very close." "Osaka is small." Akiyoshi said looking out the window.Glico's giant billboard gleamed. "Well," Dianzi said after hesitating for a while, "will you take me there later?" Akiyoshi looked at her, frowning. "I want to see where you lived." "You can only play until here." "But--" "I have something to do." Qiuji looked away, obviously in a bad mood. "I'm sorry." Dianzi lowered his head. The two drank beer in silence, and Noriko watched the waves of people crossing Dotonbori.It was just after eight o'clock, and the night in Osaka seemed to have just begun. "That's a very ordinary place." Akiyoshi said suddenly. Dianzi turned his head, his eyes still facing the window. "It's a dilapidated place, the sky is full of dust, and some ordinary people are moving around like bugs, with only a pair of sharp eyes. It's a place where you can't be careless." He drank his beer, "Do you want to go to that kind of place too?" "think." Akiyoshi pondered for a moment, let go of the beer glass, put it in the pocket of his trousers, and took out a 10,000 yuan bill. "You go to checkout." Dianzi took it and walked towards the counter. As soon as he left the beer hall, Akiyoshi hailed a taxi.What he told the driver was a completely unfamiliar place name to Dianzi.What caught her attention even more was that he spoke Osaka dialect, which made her feel very fresh. Akiyoshi barely spoke in the taxi, just staring out the window.Dianzi thought, he might regret it.The taxi drove into a narrow and dark road, and Akiyoshi gave detailed directions on the way, and he also spoke Osaka dialect at this time.Soon, the car stopped and they came to a park. After getting out of the car, Akiyoshi walked into the park, Noriko followed.The park is quite spacious enough for baseball, swings, cross-country games, sandpit, old style park, no fountains. "I used to play here when I was a kid." "Playing baseball?" "Baseball, dodgeball, football too." "Do you have any photos from that time?" "No." "it's a pity." "There used to be no other open space to play around here, so this park is very important. As important as the park, there is this place." Qiuji looked back. Dianzi turned his head, and behind them was an old building. "The building?" "This is also our playground." "Is it possible to play in this kind of place?" "time Tunnel." "Ok?" "When I was a kid, the building was halfway there before it was built. The only people who came in and out of the building were mice and us kids who lived nearby." "Isn't it dangerous?" "It's dangerous, that's why the kid comes here!" Qiuji smiled, but immediately returned to a serious expression, sighed, and looked up at the building again. "One day, a guy found a body, a man's body." "Killed..." he went on. Upon hearing this sentence, Dianzi felt a dull pain in his heart. "Is it someone you know?" "Well," he replied, "a miser, and everyone hated him, and so did I. At that time, probably everyone thought he deserved his death, and everyone who lived in the district was under suspicion by the police." Then he Pointing to the wall of the building, "There is something painted on the wall, can you see it?" Dianzi looked at it intently.The colors had faded so badly that it was almost impossible to make out, but there was indeed something resembling a painting on the gray walls.Seemingly naked men and women, entangled and caressing each other, is not really a work of art. "After the murder, the building was completely forbidden to enter. Soon, people still wanted to rent this moldy building, part of the first floor was under construction again, and the building was surrounded by plastic sheeting. After the project was completed, the plastic sheeting was demolished. Drop it, and what's exposed is this obscene picture." Akiyoshi reached out and took out a cigarette from the inner pocket of his coat, held it in his mouth, and lit it with the match given by the beer house just now. "Soon, some sneaky men often ran here. When they entered the building, they were sneaky for fear of being seen. At first, I didn't know what to do in the building. I asked other children, but no one knew. The adults also refused to tell us. But it didn’t take long for someone to collect information. He said that it seemed like a place where men buy women, and as long as they pay 10,000 yuan, they can do whatever they want with women, and they can also make the picture on the wall. Things like that. I can't believe it, ten thousand yuan was worth a lot at that time, but I still can't imagine how a woman would do that kind of business." After taking a puff of cigarette, Akiyoshi laughed softly, "It was very expensive back then. Let’s be simple, no matter how you say it, you’re only in elementary school.” "If I was still in elementary school, I think I would be shocked." "I wasn't shocked, I just learned what the most important thing in this world is." He threw the cigarette he hadn't smoked on the ground and stamped it out, "It's boring to say that." "Hey," Dianzi said, "has the murderer been caught?" "Who?" "The murderer." Qiuji shook his head: "I don't know." "Oh……" "Go." Qiuji stepped forward. "Where are you going?" "The subway station is right in front." Dianzi walked side by side on the dark path.Old and small houses stand side by side densely, and there are many townhouses among them.The doors of each house are close to the road, so close that one might think that there is no regulation on building coverage. After walking for a few minutes, Akiyoshi stopped and looked at a house on the other side of the path.That family is relatively large in the neighborhood. It is a two-story Japanese-style building, which seems to be a shop, and part of the facade is a scroll door. Dianzi inadvertently looked up at the second floor, where there was an old signboard, and the words "Tongyuan Pawnshop" were blurred. "Do you know this family?" "Well," he replied, "I know you." Then he started walking again.When they walked ten meters away from the pawn shop, a fat woman about fifty years old came out of a house.There were a dozen or so small potted plants in front of that family's house, more than half of which were crowded onto the road.Woman appears ready to water potted plants, holding watering can. The woman in the old T-shirt seemed to be interested in the couple passing by, and stared at Noriko first, using the kind of eyes that would not care about the other party's discomfort even if the other party was uncomfortable in order to satisfy curiosity.Those snake-like eyes turned to Akiyoshi, and the woman had an unexpected reaction, and her body, which had been leaning slightly forward for watering, straightened up.She looked at Qiuji and said, "Xiao Liang?" But Qiuji didn't even look at the woman, as if he didn't notice anyone talking to him.His speed didn't change, he moved straight forward, and Noriko had to keep up.Soon, the two passed in front of the woman.Dianzi found that the woman had been looking at Akiyoshi. "Wrong person." After they passed by, Dianzi heard this sentence from behind, it was the woman talking to herself.Akiyoshi didn't respond to those words.However, the sound of "Xiaoliang" has been lingering in Dianzi's ears, not only that, but also echoing loudly in his mind like a resonance. Noriko had to spend her second day alone in Osaka.After breakfast, Akiyoshi said that there was a lot of information to be collected today, and he would be back in the evening, so he went out. Staying in the hotel was not an option, Noriko decided to go to Shinsaibashi and other places where Akiyoshi took her the day before.There are also many high-end boutiques in Ginza. Unlike Ginza, billiard rooms, playgrounds and boutiques stand next to each other.Maybe if you want to do business in Osaka, you need to learn to let go of your posture first. Dianzi did some shopping, but still had a lot of time.She had the idea of ​​going back to the place of last night, the park, and the pawnshop.She decided to take the subway at Namba Station.She remembered the name of the station, and she should also remember the way from the station. After buying a train ticket, on a whim, she went to a retail store and bought a ready-to-shoot camera. Dianzi got out of the car and walked in the opposite direction of the road that Akiyoshi had walked the day before.The scenery is very different between day and night, several shops are open, and there are many pedestrians on the road.The eyes of shopkeepers and passers-by are sparkling. Of course, they are not purely full of vitality, but seem to have evil intentions inhabiting the flickering eyes. If someone is careless for a moment, they will take advantage of it.It seems that Akiyoshi's description is correct. She strolled on the road, occasionally pressing the shutter at will.She wanted to record the place where Akiyoshi grew up in her own way.It's just that she didn't think he could let him know about it. When she came to the pawn shop, the door was closed, maybe it was closed.She hadn't noticed it last night, and now it seems that there is an atmosphere of ruins here.She took a picture of the dilapidated house. And then there's that building.In the park, children were playing football, and Dianzi took a picture amidst the noise, including the obscene mural.Then she went around to the front of the building.Now it seems that there is no shady business here, and it is no different from those buildings of unknown use after the collapse of the bubble economy. The difference is that this place is very old. She came to the main road, hailed a taxi and went back to the hotel. After eleven o'clock in the evening, Qiuji came back.He seemed in a bad mood and exhausted. "Did the work end smoothly?" She inquired cautiously. He collapsed on the bed and sighed heavily. "It's over," he said, "it's over." Ah, that would be great.Dianzi wanted to tell him that, but couldn't say it for some reason. The two barely talked and fell asleep in their respective beds.