Chapter 7 previous calendar

In the morning, Sadako arrived at Ueno Station by train.Eyes accustomed to seeing snow scenes in Kanazawa feel particularly fresh to Tokyo’s clear sky, roads and buildings illuminated by bright sunlight. She took a taxi back to her parents' house in Setagaya.Her mother greeted her at the gate. "I am back." "You've worked hard." The mother looked at Zhenzi's face, saw that her daughter had lost weight, and asked with concern: "Is it cold over there?" "Ok. Mother lifted the quilt over the stove and turned on the fire. "Mom, it's still warm here."

The mother thought that the coldness of Kanazawa was always attached to her daughter. The sunlight coming in from the glass door of the corridor warms the tatami.Mother went to pour tea. "I come." Zhenzi stood up, and her mother immediately stopped her. "You sit down, you sit down!" Seeing how her mother loves her, Zhenzi felt hot for a while. "Have you found Kenichi yet?" Mother and Zhenzi sat down face to face, half worried, half frowning and said. "Yes, I told you the general situation on the phone." Zhenzi told the details again, but she didn't mention the strange behavior of her uncle.Mother shouldn't know this.He only said that he was on a business trip to Kyoto and went to Kanazawa by the way.

"It's great that you met your uncle in Kanazawa. They are brothers. You are not as good as him there, he is a man, and maybe he will find a clue soon." Mother was very happy to hear Zhenzi's words.Her explanation is simple, she thinks that the elder brother must know Kenichi better than Zhenzi. "Now, there is no news about Xian, and I don't know what to do if I call the police? What should I do?" Mother avoided the unlucky words, but she still had Xianyi's life and death in her mind. "Brother-in-law said, Xianyi is fine, he must still be alive." The detective brought out the statement that the uncle insisted that Xianyi was still alive.

"That's good, that's good!" There was a smile on the corner of my mother's eyes.She thought that her brother's opinion must be right, and at the same time, she hoped that Zhenzi would rest assured. "So, is uncle still in Kanazawa?" Mother asked. "um, yes." "In this way, the whereabouts may be found soon. Before the uncle comes back, you should wait patiently!" The mother has always held hope for the uncle. Zhenzi thinks that the eldest uncle and Xianyi must be related. Therefore, the eldest uncle has an optimistic view, saying that Xianyi is still alive.The uncle, who was not easy to get away, finally found an excuse to go to Kyoto on business, and went to Kanazawa. Was it because Xianyi's whereabouts had been unknown for too long, beyond the uncle's imagination.Zhenzi felt that the uncle's actions seemed incomprehensible.

Sotaro Uhara visited laundry and dyeing shops one by one in Kanazawa, and asked if Kenichi's suits had been washed. What's the point of this behavior?What does Kenichi's disappearance have to do with who washes the suits? There may be other reasons for sending a suit to be laundered than the suit being soiled.Kenichi has a reason for staining his suit.Therefore, what is Xianyi's mysterious disappearance related to? The first thing Sadako thought of was blood.There were blackened blood stains on the suit.Is this Xianyi's own, or someone else's spot.At least it has something to do with Xianyi's disappearance.

However, the uncle's family went to the laundry and dye shop one by one to inquire, which showed that he had predicted Xianyi's actions.In other words, the uncle already had sufficient clues about Xianyi's disappearance.The eldest brother is unwilling to tell Zhenzi, because it is inconvenient to tell Zhenzi.From then on, Zhenzi realized that Xianyi's disappearance was related to a crime... Zhenzi told her mother that she was going to see her sister-in-law at the uncle's house in Qingshan, and maybe she could get some inspiration from her. The sister-in-law was playing with the children in the sunny place next to the gate. When she saw Zhenzi, she smiled innocently and said:

"You're back, it's cold in Kanazawa!" "Well, it's snowing a lot." "Come in quickly." Sister-in-law led Qiuzi into the dining room, "I heard that Xianyi's whereabouts have not been found yet." "Yes, I haven't figured it out yet." "It's really nerve-wracking." The sister-in-law looked at Zhenzi's body. "You've lost weight." "I still can't feel it myself." Zhenzi smiled slightly and lowered his head. "Did you see my guy in Kanazawa? "Well, my brother is also worried."

"Not yet." "Really, he's so busy, I'm really embarrassed." "Don't say that, he's his own brother, there's always that kind of affection." "Sorry." My guy is impatient. At this time, he must be looking everywhere. " The implication of the sister-in-law is that it is more effective for the husband to find the whereabouts of Kenichi than Zhenzi in Kanazawa. The sister-in-law simply believes that her husband is capable, while Zhenzi still has doubts about her uncle's actions.Therefore, she couldn't go along with what her sister-in-law said.

"My brother is going on a business trip to Kyoto, did you decide a long time ago?" Zhenzi changed the subject. "No, the day I called you, I suddenly decided to leave. What do you mean by that?" "I want to ask, his purpose is to go to Kanazawa, isn't it?" "No, you can't say that, because business is still the first priority." The sister-in-law seemed dissatisfied and protested. "It just so happens that I have the opportunity to go to Kyoto on business, and I will go to Kanazawa by the way." It seems that the uncle went to Kanazawa without telling his sister-in-law.Zhenzi thinks that a business trip to Kyoto can only be a lie, so why should the uncle hide it when he went directly to Kanazawa... Sister-in-law brought tea.Zhenzi asked a little coquettishly; "Sister-in-law, how long have you been married?"

The sister-in-law smiled misunderstood. "It's been fifteen or sixteen years, so many years have passed in a daze." "Really?" Zhenzi lowered his head. "Why are you asking this?" "It's still about Xianyi." Zhenzi raised his face and asked nonchalantly: "I heard that he used to be a patrolman. Is there such a thing?" "Yes, there is such a thing." The sister-in-law bluntly affirmed what Zhenzi was not told about when she got married.Judging from the expression of the sister-in-law, it doesn't seem that the Uhara family deliberately concealed it, but because this "previous history" is not very glorious, there is no need to publicize it.

"He's on duty at the Tachikawa Police Station, isn't he?" Sadako asked. "Yes, you know the details, did Xianyi tell you? "Well, I seem to have heard him talk about it." Zhenzi replied vaguely. "At that time, did he bring his friends from the police station here to play?" Zhenzi asked back. "Yes, sister-in-law thought for a while and said: "When you say that, I remember that he brought a close friend and invited him to dinner. It was in 1950, when supplies were scarce, and there were no good things for others to eat." "Do you remember that friend's name?" "Well, wait a minute." The sister-in-law raised her face and thought for a while. "Yes, yes, come to think of it, that person's surname is Ye Shan." The sister-in-law smiled slightly when she remembered. "Hayama..." Zhenzi muttered. "By the way, his surname is the same as a local place name, so I remember that Xianyi has a withdrawn personality and doesn't have many friends. Only Ye Shan is closer to him." "yes?" "Would you like to go see this Ye Shan and inquire about something?" The sister-in-law showed a surprised expression. "I have this plan," Zhenzi said softly, not to his sister-in-law, but to his uncle: "It was like grabbing at a straw." The sister-in-law's expression was even more surprised. "However, this happened nearly ten years ago. Since then, Kenichi and Hayama have not been in contact. I'm afraid there will be no results." "Yes!" Although Zhenzi replied like this, he thought of this family in his heart and went to Lichuan immediately. "When will brother come back?" Zhenzi slid his knee off the cushion and asked: "He didn't call, I'm afraid he will come back tomorrow, because there are still things in the company, he can't stay outside all the time." sister-in-law said. "As soon as he comes back, he will get some news. I will call you." She said encouragingly to Zhenzi. Zhenzi left her uncle's house and took a taxi to Shinjuku Station. Looking out of the car window, the warm sun shone on the grass in the outer garden.Spring has come to the world, and this is a completely different world from the dark snowy fields in Kanazawa. The low gray clouds of the Noto coast and the dark sea seemed to float before her eyes. An hour later, she got off the train at Tachikawa Station.Sadako came here for the first time.An American soldier was walking on a wide road with a young Japanese woman in a red dress on his shoulder.Large military planes circled overhead with a frightening noise.Pedestrians on the street have gotten used to it, and no one covered their ears, and no one looked up. Lichuan Police Station is a small building at the end of the main road. "I want to see Mr. Hayama." Zhenzi said to the reception room in front of him. An elderly patrolman turned his face and asked, "Yashan, what is your name, Hashan?" Zhenzi didn't know his name, so he told the truth. "It's an old policeman from before! He worked as a patrolman at the Tachikawa Police Department ten years ago." That's all Takako knows.The patrolman simply turned around. "Oh, I see." The patrolman nodded. "You mean Superintendent Hayama, right? There is only one person with the surname Hayama." "Is he there?" "Here, I'll call him, you are..." "My name is Uhara." After listening to Zhenzi's answer, the patrolman walked towards Lishou. After a while, a thirty-six or seven-year-old police officer in a superintendent's uniform hurried out. "Uhara-kun...?" The superintendent stared at Zhenzi with wide eyes. "It's me." Zhenzi bowed to him. "You are Mr. Hayama Feng?" "I'm Hayama. When I heard Uhara just now, I thought it was Kenichi Uhara; the superintendent came to his senses. "Yes, I am Uhara's wife." Zhenzi lowered her head. "Ah! So it's Uhara-kun's wife," Superintendent Hayama stepped forward and pointed to the reception room with his palm. In the small reception room, across a small round table, Sakeko and the fat, red-faced Hayama Soji sat down facing each other.His thin eyes were narrowed into a line, he was smiling, and he spoke in a cheerful voice. After another exchange of pleasantries, the superintendent asked about Kenichi Uhara's recent situation. He hadn't seen Kenichi for seven or eight years. Zhenzi began to turn to the topic. "I'm sorry, I asked you suddenly and thoughtlessly. What kind of work did Uhara hold in this account at that time?" "He's a discipline guy, and I'm a traffic guy, but Uhara-kun and I get along very well." "Discipline stocks? What's the matter?" Zhenzi asked. Hayama Soji stared at Zhenzi, and asked first: "Ma'am, what happened to Mr. Yuan?" "What happened to Uhara-kun?" Superintendent Hayama's question was unusual.Immediately after the first meeting, he asked such a question, as if he had thought of something. Zhenzi couldn't help but glanced at Hayama.The superintendent realized immediately. "Ah, I'm sorry." The superintendent blushed. "It's been seven or eight years since Uhara-kun and I broke up. It's my first visit today. Please forgive me for asking such a reckless question." If you think about it carefully, it is true.When the wife of a former colleague came to visit suddenly, I thought something was wrong with him. This is a very likely intuition. "Ma'am, I heard that there was a visit from a person surnamed Uhara. I immediately thought it was a relative of Mr. Uhara Kenichi, because the surname Uhara is rare." "We got married in November this year." Zhenzi lowered her head and said: "Before getting married, I heard that Uhara has been taking care of you in many ways, thank you very much." "Each, each other." Superintendent Hayama said at a loss: "I should congratulate Uhara-kun, I haven't seen you for a long time." The superintendent wanted to ask, "How is he?", but finally swallowed it down. "As you asked, I came here unexpectedly because something happened to Uhara.—"What happened? ’ The superintendent opened his squinted eyes. "Uhara is now working for an advertising agency, do you know?" "I know that. A long time ago, he sent a postcard." "Uhara serves as the director of the Hokuriku office of Company A and mainly lives in Kanazawa." Sadako told her husband that he decided to transfer to Tokyo, went to Kanazawa for the final handover of work, and explained in detail how he disappeared from then on. "The company is also very worried. They have tried everything possible to find it, and they have also reported to the police. The situation is still unknown." Shunzi added: "Not many days have passed since we got married. I don't know much about the details. The family background is not complicated, so it is estimated that there will be nothing wrong with it; the company has also investigated and found no reason for the disappearance. In short, Uhara's disappearance, No one has a clue." At this time, the shadow of the uncle flashed into Zhenyu's mind, but he couldn't tell the superintendent. The superintendent, who had been listening eagerly to Sadako's narration, said: "You said it was missing. Is this the voluntary action of Uhara-kun?" "Not sure, probably." Zhenzi replied confidently. "I don't think violence or pressure could have kidnapped Uhara." "Yes." Superintendent Ha Shan nodded, took a sip of tea and said: "Ma'am, you want to ask Uhara-kun if his life while working here will be the cause of this disappearance, right?" The superintendent put the teacup on the table. "As I said just now, Uhara and I got married through an introduction, and it wasn't long ago. I can't say that I fully understand him. I just recently heard that he was a police officer. I was very surprised." "Did you know it recently?" The superintendent showed surprise in his eyes. "Didn't Uhara-kun tell his wife?" "No, neither Uhara nor his brother said anything about it." "yes?" "Uhara didn't hide it from me, but he didn't want to tell me. He didn't want his wife to know about his previous history as a police officer. This is the impression I get now." "I'm sorry, ma'am," said the Superintendent solemnly: "I think you are overthinking it. Uhara-kun resigned as a police officer, and there is nothing to damage his reputation. He is very active in his work. When he offered to resign, the director and other colleagues kept him. For Uhara-kun, I It must be made clear to you." "thanks." Zhenzi bowed slightly, thanking the Superintendent for his kindness to her husband. "My husband's position, I heard you said just now, is the Discipline Unit. What does this Discipline Service manage?" "When Uhara-kun was working here, it was the occupation era." The superintendent began to explain. "It is still a U.S. Air Force base. At that time, U.S. soldiers flooded the town. The Japanese accounted for only half of them, and the jeep girls who couldn't tell whether they were Japanese or Americans were the same as the U.S. soldiers. A lot, now that the U.S. military has retreated partly, the number has decreased, and there are also a lot fewer Gup girls. At that time, it was really amazing.” Zhenzi had seen such reports in the newspapers. "The job of the Discipline Unit is to round up the jeep girls. It's like driving away flies buzzing on the rice. No matter how hard you try, you can't get rid of them. It's really tricky. The Discipline Unit is responsible for this troublesome job." Zhenzi remembered that newspapers and magazines at that time had published photos of those women in police jeeps. "Uhara-kun, who is in the discipline department, is tired. I am not in the same unit as him, but we get along very well. He told me about those troubles. By the way, Uhara-kun also told me Well, the jeep girls are all ignorant, but there are also very capable people among them, who are quite educated and have good brains. They are uneducated, but there are also innocent and good-hearted people. , to know the truth about them. He said that because of his position, if he would abuse these women, he would feel very uncomfortable." "Is this the reason Ubara resigned as a police officer?" "It's not just this. At that time, the American military police had absolute power, and we were like lackeys ordered by the military police. So he had doubts about the profession of police officers, and he was very distressed. He didn't want to make a name for himself as a police officer, so he quit. .” Sadako walked out of the Kamikawa Police Station. I met Superintendent Hayama and heard something about Kenichi Uhara when he was a police officer, but I still haven't found out the reason for this disappearance.He worked in the Civil Discipline Unit during the Occupation era, mainly banning jeep girls.He had doubts about the actions of the police officer at that time, and he resigned because he felt disgusted.That's about it. At first, Zhenzi wondered indifferently whether there was any accident in Xianyi's resignation as a police officer.Xianyi never mentioned that he was a trade officer.His concealment made people think that there had been "accidents" in the police officer era.If there is such privacy, perhaps the clues of this disappearance can be found from it. But no.At least from Superintendent Hayama's words, he didn't find out.From this point of view, Xian and his wife did not reveal their identities as policemen because they felt inferior to this experience.I heard from a friend that men are reluctant to mention careers that they did not want to do in the past to their favorite wives.The detective understands this. On the way to the station, a young Japanese woman in red sprang from beside the American soldier's neck.The woman spoke English, and the tall American soldier bent over and walked on the road ahead. Zhenzi saw them coming out of a converted farm house surrounded by a fence like a windbreak, and the wooden fence The wide fields of Musashino can be seen in the gap.The bright sun shines in the sky, and as the clouds move, the sun flickers. When I came to the bustling street, even the name of the street was changed to an American name.The noise exploded in the air and passed overhead. Sadako returns home exhausted. "I'm waiting for you to come back." The mother looked nervous when she saw Zhenzi. "Your sister-in-law called several times, saying that after Zhenzi came back, she would go to her house in Qingshan immediately. She seemed quite flustered." "What happened?" Zhenzi first thought of the news about Xianyi, and she realized that her face had changed. "Did brother come back and found Xianyi's whereabouts?" Mother said under her breath.Zhenzi nodded slightly. "Maybe yes, I don't know if it's good or bad?" There was a look of horror in the mother's eyes.If it was good news, my sister-in-law would be happy to tell my mother, but my sister-in-law panicked and said that when Zhenzi came back, I would come right away. "It's not clear yet, anyway, I'll go to Qingshan to have a look first." She just came back from outside, so she doesn't need to dress up carefully. "Zhenzi, whether it's good news or bad news, you have to hold your breath. Call me as soon as you know the result." At the end of the mother's words, her voice was trembling. "Yes, yes." Zhenzi smiled deliberately. "It's okay, Mom." Sadako left home, and on his way to Aoyama, looked out the window of the taxi at the scenery on the street.It was getting dark gradually.She felt chest tightness, her heart was beating faster, and she seemed to be riddled with holes. When I came to Uncle Qingshan's house, the two children were playing. "Auntie, the child clapped his hands when he saw Zhenzi. "Is Dad back?" Zhenzi asked. "Not yet." The child shook his head. The sister-in-law greeted her at the gate, she seemed in a bad mood.Zhenzi spoke first: "I'm late." The sister-in-law, who is usually very happy, doesn't smile at all.She led Zhenzi into the house, and the child wanted to follow in, but was reprimanded by his sister-in-law. "Zhenzi, this matter is nerve-wracking." The sister-in-law said impatiently, with a stiff expression. "What's going on?" Zhenzi asked with some preparation. "Your brother..." Sister-in-law looked at Zhenzi's face, and her voice changed. "Your brother is also missing." "Woolen cloth?" Zhenzi was taken aback.The sister-in-law is not for Kenichi, but for her husband Uhara Soutaro. "What? Brother is also missing?" Zhenzi asked melancholy. "Yes, the company sent someone to ask why he didn't go to work. I said that he was on a business trip to Kyoto, and he had something to go to Kanazawa on his way back. The people from the company said that there was no business trip to Kyoto." "what?" Zhenzi widened his eyes.Her surprise was different from what my sister-in-law thought.A business trip to Kyoto was a lie from the beginning. He went straight to Kanazawa anyway.When getting off the train on the way to Noto, the man who looked like his uncle who he saw at Kanazawa Station appeared in front of his eyes. "I was taken aback, and quickly called the hotel where he was staying. He told me this when he first arrived. When I asked, guess what, the other party replied that there had been no news since he went out at three o'clock in the afternoon the day before yesterday. .” The evening before yesterday, wasn't that the day when the uncle came to the hotel where Zhenzi stayed? "If it was the evening of the day before yesterday, it should have been yesterday, last night at the latest. However, I haven't come home yet, so I don't know what happened. Usually, he will call wherever he goes. " "But, it's only been a day or two today, so don't worry." Zhenzi said. "I think so too." The sister-in-law still said anxiously: "It's understandable for him to be worried about Xianyi. But why did he lie to me about going to Kyoto for a business trip? He told the company that he took three days off because of the misfortune suffered by his family members.But, Zhenzi, I always feel that like Xian, your brother doesn't know what happened. " After my sister-in-law had spoken, an hour later, a telegram came that fulfilled her words. Sotaro Uhara met a more tragic end than his younger brother Kenichi...