Chapter 2 Chapter two

It was already six o'clock when Kadokura returned.In an envelope he insisted on keeping, there were two 1,000-yen bills, which seemed to be for me as an appraisal fee. The two thousand yen was unexpected income.There is still a lot of time for Minzi to come home from get off work, so it's like taking a walk, the distance can't be too far, it's better to go to the hotel where Minzi works to find her.After making up his mind, he changed into a suit of clothes and went outside to see that the rain had stopped at some point.The rain-drenched shirt was hanging there, glowing with a vague white light in the dimness.

① Both Ueno and Kanda are a district of Tokyo. After walking Erding Road, I came to the stop of the Toei Tram and waited, but after thinking about it, I suddenly wondered whether Minzi had gone to the store tonight.So even though the tram that had been waiting for a long time had arrived, he still didn't get on it. Instead, he went to the public phone and hung up on Minzi's hotel. "Sister Min? She's resting at home tonight." It was answered by a big clerk who could hear my voice.The clamor of customers behind her could be heard on the phone. "She was very drunk last night, so she called today and said she was not feeling well and would not come to work."

I hung up my earphones, bought a pack of cigarettes, walked in the opposite direction, and got on the bus. After passing the bustling main street of Gotanda, and walking two or three times on the small street, you will come to a quiet alley.I bent into the back alley.Walk in through the back door of a small apartment, and the innermost one is where Minzi lives. Suppressing the sound of clogs, I walked through the hallway on the concrete floor. In front of me was a glass door with a pink curtain hanging inside, and a light shot from inside.she is at home. I knocked on the glass door two or three times with my fingertips, the figure of Minzi moved on the curtain, and the door opened gently.

"Did you call the store?" ① D, the Japanese unit of length, approximately equal to 109 meters.Minzi didn't put on makeup, and there was a smile on his dark face, so much so that his gums were exposed.Thin quilts are spread on the mat, and ashtrays, tea cups and old magazines are scattered around the pillow. "I heard that you drank too much last night?" As I said this, I sat down at the small round table with peeling black paint as usual.Minzi took two tea bowls from the small tea set stand and arranged them on the table, saying: "That's right. Three groups of regular customers came here, and they drank all kinds of wine, and they were too drunk. It was Chengzi who called the car to take me back."

Yes, under the light eyebrows, the eyelids look a little swollen.That dark face was also tinged with iron blue, losing its brilliance.I was thinking to myself, I am afraid Chengzi is not the only one who sent you back, but let this kind of thing be whatever it is. So I didn't pick up her voice. "Twenty thousand yuan is not easy to raise at the moment, here, just hold it and use it first." As I said that, I handed her five 1,000-yen bills. "I'm so sorry for causing you trouble." Minzi made a "thank you, I accept it" expression, and stuffed the banknotes into his pocket.Then we talked about the daily life: the thirteen-year-old son who was fostered in the country was suffering from pulmonary infiltration, which was not easy to treat, and the father was getting old and unable to work. I had heard many of these things, so He was not interested either, and just answered vaguely and casually, yawning at the same time.

"Ah, are you tired?" "Well, I worked until eight o'clock this morning and didn't sleep." "Really, then, just lie down for a while." Minzi rearranged the bedding, walked to the glass door, and locked it from the inside.Then I took one of my well-starched bathrobes from the closet. Minzi also changed into a terry-cloth pajamas, and after lying down on the bed, he flicked the light switch. The whole room was immersed in the blue light from a small lamp.Minzi's obese body lay beside me, as if I was under heavy pressure and I couldn't breathe, a sense of exhaustion immediately crept into my heart.For some reason, those two white shirts that were soaked by rainwater appeared in front of my eyes.

When I opened my eyes, the room was already as bright as before. Minzi changed into a bathrobe and was doing makeup in front of the mirror. "Slept soundly, and snored." Minzi looked at me while powdering and said.Her curly hair was less than it used to be, and her face seemed larger, and I looked at her as if it were a new discovery. "Recently, have you been tired from work?" Minzi's big mouth was parted, revealing a faint smile. "What time is it?" "Eight-thirty. Are you up? Going home?" "Ok." "Are you so busy?" I neither replied that there was something to do, nor said "nothing", just got up and left.Like a piece of dry paper, there is no stickiness at all, and I only feel a little anxious in the bottom of my heart, maybe because of the narrowness of this room, a kind of lazy, turbid air, hot and stuffy nostrils.Minzi didn't come to force me to stay. She bent down and put the clogs on for me, and opened the door.

"When will you come again?" Holding the lattice door with her hand, she asked me in a low voice. "Oh, in another two weeks." I said this in my mouth, but I was thinking in my heart: I am about to break up with this woman.Minzi smiled silently on her flabby face, but she must have the same thoughts as me in her heart. Suppressing the sound of my clogs, I walked out the back door of the apartment. A few stars could be seen in the narrow sky between the black roofs.There were three men standing in the back street, all looking at me at the same time.As I walked out onto the path, I felt their eyes were drawn to the sound of my clogs.I thought to myself: What do they think of a thin, gray-haired man in his fifties who walks out the back door of his apartment after a meeting with a woman?

When I came to the small road, a gust of cool wind rushed to my face and blew straight into my heart.There are more stars in the sky. I just feel that the sense of exhaustion just now is disappearing bit by bit.The things that have been slack seem to be solidifying again after being blown by the cool wind. On one side of the path are low houses one after another, and on the other side is a cliff made of stones.On those higher places, there are big and brightly lit houses lined up.It is rare for a few men and women to pass by on the path.As I walked, I was still thinking in my mind: It is always a good thing to decide to break up with Minzi.

Walk out of this lonely path and come to the lively street.The shops everywhere are still open, and the people in the shops are silent and motionless.I walked forward by the shadow of the lamp projected on the road.Everyone seemed to have a better life than me, but everyone looked as depressed as I did.When walking on this kind of street, I feel as if I am walking on the same street that I have passed by countless times in the past. Is that the capital of North Korea? Or some street in Sanyo? Suddenly, I saw a fairly large second-hand bookstore on the right side of the street. Near the door, old books like "Complete Works" were piled up like hills.Through the wide bookshelf, you can see all the way inside.I wandered into this second-hand bookstore.

It's been a long time since I went to a used bookstore.My goal was certain: to find shelves lined with art books.No matter which bookstore is the same, this kind of book collection is usually placed in the innermost place near the counter.As soon as I stopped, the proprietress who was sitting on the side looked at me with wide eyes. This store has quite a collection of art books, but nothing particularly good.However, when I face this kind of book, my mood will change in another way.This can be said to be nature, and it is also the habit of a learned person. Full of worthless books.However, there are five works of Honpo Zangzhi in it, and I don't know who sold them.The handwriting on the spine has faded, but they are all in the same font: "On Ancient Art", "General Introduction to Southern Song Dynasty Painting", "Benpu Zhanshuian Art Collection", "Research on Ancient Japanese Painting", "Miscellaneous Talk on Fine Arts" .If there were only one volume and two volumes, then I might be the same as in the past, just sniffing and not paying attention.However, the works of Pu Zangzhi are arranged in five sets, which attracted my attention. Who owns the books and why are they sold to second-hand bookstores, these are of course not my concern.I am most interested in the fact that Motoura Zangji's achievements are left in the second-hand bookstore to bear the dust and receive cold eyes from customers. I took out the "Ancient Art Theory" that was inside, held it heavily in my hand, and read page by page.There is almost no trace of being read.But even though the former bibliophile had never read it, I seemed to be very familiar with the content of each page as if I had memorized it secretly.In each line of typeface, there seems to be a figure of a short old man: the slender eyes radiate cold light, and under the beautiful white mustache, there is always a mocking smile. On the inside of the last page is the author's introduction: "Born in the 11th year of Meiji ①, graduated from Imperial University. Specialized in Oriental Art. Doctor of Letters, Professor of Tokyo Imperial University. Professor of Tokyo Art School, authority on Japanese art history. Academician of Imperial Academy, Ancient Shrines and Temples Preservation Association, Huibao Preservation He is a committee member of the association. He has written "An Introduction to Painting in the Southern Song Dynasty" and many works on the history of Japanese art. He is also known as Zhanshuian. He has written a lot of essays." In just a hundred or so words on this one page, it is filled with the brilliant resume of Zhanshui'an Benpu Zangzhi.However, this book was published during his lifetime, so there is one item missing in it: "It was not published in the eighteenth year of Showa ②".At the same time, one more item should be added: "The overlord of Japanese art circles throughout Taisho and Showa".Going a step further, at least in my eyes there is one more thing to remember: "The person who shut Takuta Isaku ①1878. ①1943. out of the art world." My whole life can be said to be buried by this person. A disheveled hair, a crumpled unlined garment, and a pair of wooden clogs—the reason why I ended up in such a cold state was caused by the author of this book, Doctor of Letters Shoji Motoura. If it weren't for the work that Professor Motoura Sangji hated, I would be giving lectures at some university now, and I would have written a lot of books.If I had gained the acquaintance of Professor Motoura, I might have replaced Iwano Yuyuki by now, and became the head professor of Tokyo Imperial University or the School of Fine Arts, and became an authority in the art world.Iwano and I were classmates at the same time in the Art Department of Tokyo Tei University.I'm not boasting. When it comes to academic performance, I don't know how many miles higher than Yan Ye.This is even admitted by Professor Benpu himself. I was a student at the time, but I was already in a relationship with a woman and living together.Professor Ben Pu was very unhappy about this. "There's nothing you can do about such a nasty fellow." It is said that Professor Benpu once told people about these activities.Since then, he has been estranged from me.However, could it be said that this is really such an immoral thing, and can it be a reason for him to distance himself from me? I really love this woman and am planning to marry her. It was the professor himself who was an immoral fellow who took a geisha from Chiban back and made him his concubine. When I graduated from university, I hoped to stay at the University of Tokyo as a teaching assistant, and I wanted to continue to study art history as an apprentice, but I was not accepted.But Yan Yeguzhi was left behind immediately. Whether it is the Imperial University of Kyoto, the Imperial University of Northeast China, or the Imperial University of Kyushu, they all rejected me. I have no choice but to sign up and volunteer to be an alternate examiner in the museum, or an employee if that doesn't work at first.But it doesn't work anywhere, no matter Tokyo or Nara, and all places that belong to the government system shut me out.Benpu Zangzhi's sphere of influence not only included the Ministry of Education and the Imperial Household Ministry, but also almost all institutions in the country.Not only the government-run system, but even private universities have arranged for his disciples and minions. If you are hated by Benpu Zangzhi, you will never have a bright future in academia. I have experienced this iron rule as soon as I left school. Why did Benpu Zangzhi have such great influence?This is not difficult to explain.Most of the collectors of ancient art are princes and aristocrats inherited from their ancestors, and most of these aristocrats have political power.There are also finance ministers and career politicians.This kind of upper-level forces regards the authority of ancient art circles and member of the National Treasure Preservation Committee as a great treasure, and Benpu Zangzhi made full use of this opportunity to create today's status, which is of course result.He is the overlord in art administration. Even in the Ministry of Education, there is absolutely no room for those who oppose him.The appointment and removal of art professors, assistant professors, and lecturers in various schools cannot be realized without his consent.To put it a little exaggeratedly, he is tantamount to the Minister of Education in this regard. Why did this Motoura Sangji reject such an insignificant young apprentice like me?Needless to say, the so-called cohabitation with women, etc., is just an excuse. In fact, I got close to Professor Takazo Tsuyama, whom he disliked, and thus touched his back.It is precisely for this reason that I had no choice but to wander in North Korea. After entering the country, I had to wander around in rural towns. Even though I am over half a century old today, I still have to be a negotiating partner with an antique dealer, and I am a second-rate publishing house. "Complete Works of Fine Arts" and other supplementary promotional materials, make some explanations for the exhibits in the exhibition, or write some essays and other things, relying on this to make ends meet. The basic predicament that caused my life to fall into this miserable situation today is this Motoura Sangji. ——I put the book back on the shelf, and clattered out of the second-hand bookstore with my clogs on.