Chapter 25 third quarter

Early the next morning, the phone rang.As Atsuko expected, the call was from Banba. "Did you sleep well last night?" His voice was as clear and loud as yesterday.It wasn't too good to hear from Houzi, and his pitch dropped an octave accordingly, "I guess so." The purpose of his call seemed to be to invite Atsuko to have breakfast with him.Houzi agreed and made an appointment to meet at the coffee shop on the second floor. After going downstairs, I saw that Banba had already arrived one step ahead, waiting while drinking coffee while reading the weekly magazine.Seeing Atsuko, he quickly put away the weekly magazine, stood up and saluted.

"Sorry to bother you when you're tired." The criminal police apologized again and again.Houzi said "nothing", sat down, and ordered a cup of milk tea from the waiter who approached. She also knew that she should have something to eat, but she still felt that she couldn't eat. "Actually, we have a new piece of information about your husband's store." The criminal policeman sat down again and said, "According to what we have learned, the recent business conditions of the store are not very good. It seems that the wholesaler also has unpaid accounts, and the turnover has been in a bottleneck. To be honest , the situation can be said to go from bad to worse.”

Banba's expression seemed to be telling others about the poor management of his store. "Have you ever heard your husband talk about it before?" Atsuko shrugged and replied. "I vaguely know something about this, but I haven't heard it from him personally." The detective nodded. "As far as the current investigation progress is concerned, no financial troubles have been found. However, if you have any news in this regard, please let me know." "No……" Houzi replied in a low voice, "My husband seldom mentions work matters to me."

"That's true, men are generally like this." The detective's words sounded like they were comforting her. The waiter brought milk tea.After taking a sip, Atsuko recalled the conversation he had with his elder brother Kazuhiko a month ago.Kazuhiko started his business from a boutique, and has been working hard until today at the building-based level of management. Despite his gentle personality, he can be quite strict in some ways. "Yoichi's store seems to be in a bad business situation at the moment." One day in March, Kazuhiko called Atsuko to a nearby coffee shop, and said a little unhappily.

"Although it's formally responsible for its own profits and losses, if there is any difficulty, I will help him at any time-has he said anything to Houzi?" "He didn't say anything." "Really? He used to work with us all the time, and we couldn't let him go all of a sudden, and we couldn't let him go. That guy is the third child at home, and sometimes he's confused. In a place like Osaka where the weak eat the strong." How long he can last is also a test for him." Hou Zixin said that since he was worried, you shouldn't have sent him in the first place.When the words came to his lips, Houzi swallowed them back.The eldest brother is kind to the couple in many ways.

"He may be difficult to talk to me and Hongming, but he should discuss it with you. If he mentions this to you, you can tell him not to be too forceful, and he can come and talk to us about everything." "I see." "By the way, Atsuko hasn't been to Osaka yet, right? Is it because I'm too busy with work to get away?" "Yeah... I guess it will take a while." "Really? But you'd better go there as soon as possible, that guy's character makes him feel lonely very easily." Saying that, Kazuhiko smiled slightly. ——This is also what made the brothers too capable.

Thinking back to the previous conversation with Kazuhiko, Atsuko sighed softly.As far as she is concerned, she would rather not open any branch, and hope that Yoichi can always work under Kazuhiko.In this way, there is no need for him to go to Osaka, let alone encounter such a tragedy. "By the way, there is something that is difficult to say, but I still have to ask you." Hearing Banba's words, Houzi came back to his senses. "Do you know about Mr. Yoichi's relationship with other women?" "Relationships with other women..." Atsuko repeated the other party's question.Such words sound a little unnatural, and she has never thought about this issue.

"I never thought about it." She shook her head in answer.The detective shook his head in embarrassment. "I don't have any basis for asking. It's just because you and your wife live apart in two places, so I wonder if there is such a possibility... It's just a wild guess. Please don't mind." After speaking, he took a sip of the half-cold coffee. "Excuse me, is that what you want to ask?" After hearing Atsuko's question, Banba immediately said seriously. "No, actually, I guess it will take a day for you today." "Today?"

"Yes. We are going to inquire about the places your husband often visited during his lifetime. If you can go with us, it will be of great help to us." "Oh……" What kind of life did Yoichi live in Osaka before? ——Atsuko really wanted to find out about this.And she didn't have a bad impression of this criminal policeman named Banba. "OK." Houzi said with determination.Banba's expression was as if he had found a savior, and wrinkles formed at the corners of his eyes. An hour later, after leaving the luggage at the locker and checking out of the room, Atsuko and the detective walked out of the hotel side by side.The traffic flow along the Mido line had already started to increase, and after waiting for a long traffic light, the two of them crossed the road.

First, head north along the pedestrian-only Shinsaibashi.Even though it was a weekday, the road was as crowded as a fully loaded tram.There are quite a few shops on both sides of the road, but before you can find out what those shops are selling, the crowd behind will push forward. Banba first brought Atsuko to a slender silver building. "This is the Sony Building," said the detective. "Your husband often came here to shop during his lifetime." Houzi followed behind the detective and said, "There is also a Sony building in Ginza, so it's nothing unusual."

The detective smiled wryly. The two climbed up to the top floor, looking at the Shinsaibashi line below them. "What do you hate about Osaka?" Banba asked. "All," Atsuko replied, "I hate everything. Especially Osaka's strong obsession with money." The criminal policeman seemed to want to say something, but in the end he just nodded and said "I see." Go out of the Sony building and go south along Shinsaibashi again.The crowd was so crowded that it felt breathless.And the people in Osaka walk surprisingly fast, as if something is chasing them.After catching up with them, Houzi no longer had to look around. The Osaka accent that Atsuko hates is also heard endlessly.The two high school girls walking in front of them had been chattering non-stop since just now.Atsuko couldn't understand even a quarter of the conversation between the two of them.The two spoke quickly, with laughter mixed in between. Just when Houzi was about to suffocate, the two finally came to a slightly open place.There is a big bridge in front of me, and the road is still on the opposite side of the bridge. "This is Doton's Digging," said the detective. "Did you only have a cup of black tea this morning? How about going to eat some wontons? I heard that your husband had a shop that he often visited when he was alive." Although he had no appetite, Atsuko still followed.All in all, she didn't want to go any further. Turn left after crossing the Dotonjo bridge, and you will see a huge crab model, which is the signboard of a famous crab restaurant.After the electricity was turned on, the crab's legs kept crawling, which gave Atsuko an incredible feeling.Always attracting attention, but also making people feel unpleasant, always feeling a little out of tune, not knowing how to deal with this feeling in his heart, Houzi turned his eyes away helplessly. The shop Banba mentioned is not far away.There is only a small curtain hanging at the door, if you don't pay attention, you really won't notice it.Walking into the store, the two each ordered a clear soup noodle.Before going up, Banba called the shopkeeper aside and inquired about Yoichi, but the shopkeeper still remembered Yoichi. "Oh, you mean him? He comes here almost every day. He once said that the wontons here are nothing compared to those in Tokyo." "Does he usually come here alone?" the detective asked. "Yeah, basically he came alone." "Is there anything wrong with him recently?" "Well, probably not. But it seems a little listless... I feel like I have something on my mind." "Really? Sorry to interrupt you while you were working." As soon as Fanba apologized, the clerk brought up the noodles in clear soup. "I heard that the wonton soup in Tokyo is so thick that you can only taste the taste of soy sauce. Is this true?" After taking a sip of the soup, the detective asked Atsuko. "I don't know." Houzi replied, "I seldom eat this." Even Atsuko felt that his answer was impolite.She took a peek at the criminal policeman, and saw that the criminal policeman didn't seem to care, and was still sipping soup. Leaving the wonton shop, the two walked along the road in front of the door.On the way, I passed a shop with a signboard saying "Eat Poor" and a shop with taiko dolls at the door.The puppet also seems to be electric, but it's not powered on right now.Here, Atsuko also felt the same complex emotions when seeing the crab model. Afterwards, Banba took Atsuko around the neighborhood again.Not only did I pass by Zhongzuo, but I also went to a theater named Nanban Huayue.On the sign in front of the theater, there were photos of several artists posted side by side. Looking at the names, they were all unfamiliar names that Houzi had neither heard nor seen. When he walked into the cafe to catch his breath, Atsuko asked Banba what his purpose was in doing so.She really couldn't understand why the other party dragged her around. "Would you believe me if I said it was necessary for a search?" The detective's expression didn't know whether he was joking or serious. "I don't understand. Is it necessary for the search to take me around Osaka?" "Please leave it to us to handle this matter." Banba has always refused to say the purpose of doing so. Walk out of the cafe, look at the Shin-Kabuki Theater on the left, and go north along Mido.On the way, I passed a takoyaki stall. "This is a specialty of Osaka. Try it?" "No, there's no need." "Don't say that, just eat something with me." Banba forcefully dragged Atsuko to the chair in front of the stall, and ordered a portion for her. "The taste here in Osaka, you can't taste it in other places. We have been used to this taste since we were young, and it is estimated that it will be hard to forget in this life." Atsuko stared at the takoyaki being handed to him, but hesitated to reach out.It was that unbelievable feeling again—a kind of heart-wrenching, yet somewhat unpleasant feeling welling up in my heart. She didn't take a bite until the end.Afterwards, Fanba repeatedly urged her to walk along the Mido route.