Chapter 11 10. Mr. S's composition

That night, when I was sitting at the table thinking about this matter, Mei Xiang looked out through the railing by the window and said, "I always feel that I understand the mood of my mother-in-law." I turned the chair around to face Mika.From nowhere in my ears came the faint sound of crickets. "It's too early for you to start having the same hobbies as your mother-in-law now?" "Brother, come here too, it's fun." I stood up and looked out the window with Mei Xiang.From there, you can see the neighbor's balcony and small courtyard, and the rest is only the deep and shallow, endless dark night sky.

"What's the fun in this?" "It's fun! Look, doesn't it look like a horseshoe crab?" "What?—Oh, the neighbor's persimmon tree? Horseshoe crab? Meixiang, you know all these strange words." "Didn't we watch it together on TV?" "yes……" "Look, look, the sky is so magical, there are so many stars floating, and they don't fall down." "Oh, that's because there's no gravity." I answer like this.But Meixiang didn't look at me at all, she just said to herself "a person without dreams".I don't understand how there can be dreams if the stars don't fall.I pulled the chair back into place and sat down hugging the backrest.

"By the way, what exactly does that 'smell' refer to?" "The one my mother-in-law said?" "Yeah, and 'consider from the beginning' is also not sure what it refers to." The tone of the mother-in-law at the time seemed to be saying, "If you only consider the disappearance of Mr. S's body, you will definitely not know the truth." "I said Meixiang, so the 'smell' mentioned by the mother-in-law, could it be Mr. S's excrement? I heard that there are watermelon seeds mixed in it." "Is there any smell? Did my brother smell it when he found it?"

I try to recall the scene.Mr. S swayed at the end of the rope hanging from the lattice window.Beneath that body was a watery pool of excrement. "Well, it seems to have a real smell. I didn't notice it at the time. But what does this have to do with the disappearance of Mr. S's body..." I really can't figure it out.At this time, a brown thing came into view.It is something that is inserted on the right side of the illustrated book on the shelf to be brought to Mr. S.I reached out and took it out. "Brother, what is that?" "Mr. S's composition. I was originally asked to bring it to Mr. S today."

Taking out the composition inside the envelope, Mr. S's messy handwriting suddenly jumped in front of his eyes.This composition titled "The Evil King", although it is a composition, does not seem to be Mr. S's personal experience, but more like a novel. On the first manuscript paper, a shallow, small X-shaped mark can be seen.Lift the manuscript paper and look at it through the fluorescent light on the ceiling. There is not only one mark, but all over the corners of the manuscript paper.The characters marked with an X shape are "は, ん, boots, い, object, で, ど, せ".

"what is this?" "signal?" There was joy in Meixiang's voice.I smiled and said, "How could that be?", changing the angles of the manuscript paper back and forth under the fluorescent light. It seems that the X-shaped mark was not directly written on it, but a slightly concave mark left behind.It feels like I first traced the X-shaped mark with a pencil on the blank manuscript paper, erased it with an eraser, and then wrote the composition on it. "Is this straw paper..." Meixiang asked me to read the composition to her quickly. Although I didn't have much interest, I still read it.

"Once upon a time, there lived an evil king." Mei Xiang was still looking out the window, listening to me stuttering as I read. "...that king every three months captures a man from somewhere in his territory, and locks them up on top of a tower near the city. The men who are captured are of all kinds. , shoe sellers, teachers, philosophers, recruits, etc. None of them have any reason why they should be arrested.” In fact, anyone can.The king catches these people because the king wants something edible that they have, which virtually anyone has. "The top of the tower where these people were imprisoned was a small room made of red bricks. It was only as big as the shelf of a carriage. They couldn't even lie down and sleep. There were no windows, and it was pitch black. Two bamboo tubes were inserted into the red brick wall. Like binoculars, the diameter of these two bamboo tubes is exactly the same as human eyes. In the dark room, only through these two bamboo tubes can a little light shine through.

"Although the captured people are shrouded in loneliness and anxiety, they will still think 'what is this?' while looking out through the two bamboo tubes. And there is nothing in the room except for the two bamboo tubes , so they look out every day. They can only survive on very little bread and water, so looking out through the bamboo tube day after day constitutes their life. "Through the bamboo tube, you can see the top of the city. There is always a triangular national flag flying at one end of the top of the city. Those who were arrested look at the top of the city and the national flag every day. They have been waiting in this only scenery. For a moment, there will be someone who can help them escape. They have been waiting like this. Regardless of the wind and rain, they always look at the scenery at the other end of the bamboo tube, waiting for the opportunity to come, and survive tenaciously with their increasingly thin bodies.

"In this way, they were imprisoned for three months. As soon as they woke up every morning, they looked out through the bamboo tube, but what they saw was still the same as the previous day. They couldn't help but shed sad tears. "The three months are up, and the king is going to take from them the kind of food the king wants. "On the morning of the third month, those people who knew nothing looked hopefully along the two bamboo tubes as always. At this time, they must have let out an 'ah'. "On the top of the city, a flag was fluttering in the wind. But it was not the flag they had seen before. The people who were arrested put their eyes on the two bamboo tubes in amazement, and looked at the flag again. They were all shocked.

"The flag that replaced the flag read 'Wait! Rescue you soon!' "Seeing this, the captured people trembled with excitement. At last! This day has finally arrived! Their eyes sparkled with hope. "At this moment, the king was already seated at the table. Watching the time, the king pressed a button on the table. The mechanism began to work. "The so-called mechanism is a huge vacuum cleaner. The pipe of the vacuum cleaner is connected to the top of the tower. One end of the pipe is just connected to the two bamboo tubes. "After a while, two round things rolled down from the plate in front of the king. They were the eyeballs of the people who were locked up on the top of the tower.

"The king stuck his eyeballs up with a fork, swallowed them in one gulp, and said: 'Oh, hope. That's my favorite thing to eat!' "The king's favorite food is hope. The king eats that food and makes the country stronger. But it is said that the country perished not long after." Seven fifty in the morning on July 20th.Yaszo Furuze bent his body like a shrimp, stepped on the brown fallen leaves, and walked forward step by step.He was wearing a gray overalls, holding a small notepad and a pencil in his left hand. "What's the matter today, my back hurts so much..." Taizo stretched out his dead branch-like fingers and caressed his waist. "If it wasn't for this job, I would be too lazy to go out." This job is actually a part-time job.Every morning at eight o'clock sharp, Taizao would go to see the blinds placed deep in the oak forest on time.There is a thermometer and a hygrometer in the shutter box, and Taizao needs to record their calibrations in a notepad respectively.This job seems to have been done for a whole year. The research office of an agricultural university in Gifu County wants to collect temperature and humidity data for a year in several oak forests across the country, as if to do some kind of research.That's why an advertisement for a data logger was placed in the newspaper's region column.Taizo applied for the job after seeing the advertisement, and got the job.In fact, there were some other applicants, but because Taizao's home was the closest to the oak forest, he was selected.In fact, Taizao's house is next to the oak forest.The research office installed the blinds in the oak forest outside the back door of Taizao's house, and it took about 20 minutes to walk along the path in the forest. Every month, Taizao sorts out the recorded temperature and humidity data and sends them to the Agricultural University.At the same time, Taizao will also receive a cash payment slip of 8,000 yen. In fact, Taizao is not for money. About ten years ago, Taizo retired from the company he had worked for since he was twenty years old.Because he didn’t waste money at work, Taizao now has enough pension deposits on hand, and can also receive a full amount of welfare annuity; his wife has passed away, and his only daughter is married. It can even be said that Taizao has no idea what to do. Where is the money spent. Maybe it's just trying to be connected to other people in some way. "I never thought of it that way..." Taizao said to himself.Since his wife died two years ago, Taizao found himself talking to himself more and more.Thinking of this, Taizo sighed helplessly. The wind blew through the treetops overhead, rustling the leaves. In the early morning oak forest, there is a kind of moist air that makes people sweat slightly, which makes people feel very comfortable.The sun, which was covered by the huge canopy of the oak tree, cast mosaic-shaped light spots on the ground where the fallen leaves piled up. After a while, Tai Zao arrived at his destination.Next to the forest path, the shutter box is set there alone.Although this blind box seems to be made by the students themselves, the craftsmanship is really good.The four brackets are about one meter high from the ground, and the louver box is about 60 square centimeters.The design is very good, and it is almost never seen that it leaks or is shaken by the wind.The whole body of the shutters is painted with white paint, which looks like a villa in Lilliputian.The box is surrounded by feather boards on all sides, and one side is a small door that opens left and right. This small door is designed on the north side, presumably to prevent direct sunlight.Taizao took out a small key from his trousers pocket, skillfully opened the lock hanging on the side of the small side door, looked into the shuttered box, and recorded the scales of the thermometer and dry-humidity meter in the notepad . "everything is normal." Although he didn't come here to find abnormal situations, Taizo would still mutter something like this to himself every time he finished recording. Closing the small side door and locking it as it was, Taizo wanted to go back the way he came, as always, when he was about to take a step—— ……I…… the voice of a child. oops.Taizo turned around and listened.At this time, a gust of wind blew up untimely, and the leaves of the oak trees were noisy.The noise stopped after a while, but the child's voice also disappeared. Taizao tightly pressed his wrinkled lips and looked towards the path in the forest.About ten meters away is the end of the oak forest, and you can see the low bamboo fences on the left and right extending from there to the distance. "It was Mr. S's voice just now." Dark complexion, thin, black hair of uneven length, always disheveled, two thin O-shaped legs are exposed alone under the shorts, probably because of the bandy legs, they always walk unsteadily, and their eyes are still open. Severely squinted, that's how the boy came across.Every time he saw that child, Taizo always felt that he was very pitiful. Mr. S's home and Taizao's home are in the opposite direction, and the shutter box is between the two.The other side of the bamboo fence is the courtyard of Jun S’s house. Mr. S lives there with his mother.It was as if his father had died long ago. Taizo craned his neck, staring at the end of the bamboo fence. The back porch of Mr. S's house can be seen through the gaps in the leaves.A row of large windows facing the back porch are tightly closed, only the one on the far right is wide open.The figure of Mr. S appeared in the square window.From Taizo's position, it looks like a picture on TV. "What is that kid doing..." At that time Mr. S did not think much about what Taizao was doing.Later, Taizao regretted it unceasingly.He always thought, if he had walked a few more steps and looked carefully at the situation in S's room, maybe such a thing would not have happened... "Ah, it hurts..." As he stretched his neck and squinted his eyes, Taizo felt a dull pain in his lower back. He frowned and arched his body like a shrimp again. "Let's cook some soba noodles occasionally in the morning..." Turning around, Taizo returned along the forest path. The summer sky exposed through the gaps in the treetops was filled with gray clouds at some point. At three fifteen in the afternoon of the same day. Taizo hobbled home with a shopping bag from the supermarket in one hand.The sun scorched the asphalt road, and the reflection of the sun on the road ahead could be seen.The year before last, Taizo celebrated his 70th birthday, and his wife who lived with him for most of his life also passed away from pancreatic cancer.After that, Taizo suddenly felt something unwell in his body.Irregular heartbeat, dizziness, migraines, and worst of all, low back pain.From waking up every morning until before going to bed at night, an uncomfortable heavy feeling as if coated with a layer of clay is always entangled around the waist.Sometimes there will be a sharp pain like being driven into a wooden wedge without warning.Taizao also went to the hospital he found in the phone book. The doctor said it was deformed lumbar spondylosis, a disease that occurs with age, and that it was caused by the aging of the intervertebral plates and ligaments of the lumbar joints.Taizao received four consultations, although the cost was very high, but they didn't work, so Taizao simply stopped going there. ——Does it also have some spiritual effects? During the last treatment, the young attending doctor said this.Is that just an excuse because there is no therapeutic effect, or maybe it is the correct judgment of a professional doctor? "But, it feels very comfortable to bend your back like a shrimp. Why is that..." Sure enough, as long as I arched my body as far as possible to maintain that shrimp-like posture, the pain was relieved a lot.This is not a doctor's suggestion, but Taizo's own groping.This pose definitely corrects that subtle misalignment between the discs and joints that is at the root of the pain.Realizing this, Tae-joo always walks hunched over looking funny.Taizo's body is no longer bent into a "く" shape, but almost into a "つ" shape. Arrived at home, entered the door, walked through the living room, and opened the refrigerator door in the kitchen. Taizo straightened his body, took out the bamboo wheel from the shopping bag, and put it in the refrigerator.These things were all bought for the female cat who often came to Taizao's yard. The cat appeared just after Taizo's wife had just passed away. It was a tricolor cat with a short tail and a little fat.Once Taizo put the leftover grilled fish there, the cat came to look for food almost every day.Taizo always felt that the cat was the reincarnation of his dead wife.So now as long as he goes to the supermarket, Taizao will always buy something to eat for the cat. Taizao looked out of the window, there was no flower bed in the courtyard, only a small storage shelf, which was really unpleasant.There, the female cat appeared, slowly wagging her tail.Taizo took out the bamboo wheel that had just been put in the refrigerator, and threw one over.The female cat immediately bit the bamboo wheel, and ran out of the yard without even a hint of thanks, without a trace.The look of indifference to others is exactly the same as that of his dead wife. But don't get killed—— Taizao's gaze remained on the courtyard, and he couldn't help talking to himself. At that moment the doorbell rang. "Who? It's so strange..." In front of the door stood two strange men in suits.Is it father and son?Taizao thought about it.The father's cheeks are thin, and the expression of rolling his eyes to look at people looks a little humble.The son-like one has a broad forehead and smooth cheeks. "I'm sorry to bother you. It's very presumptuous." The older one spoke familiarly, and at the same time, both of them took out black documents from their suit pockets, opened them almost at the same time, and showed them to Taizao. "Police..." "Yes. There's been a case around here. We're going door to door now." The one who nodded while talking seemed to be Tanio.The other seems to be called Zhuli. "Case? What's the matter?" Taizo asked tentatively. "There, on the other side of the oak forest, is there a family?" Officer Guwei replied.At that moment, that scene flashed through Taizo's mind.In the four windows, small, just like the scene on the TV screen.And the dark and thin boy in the picture. "Do you know the child from that family? That child is missing." "Missing?" "Yes. It's gone. Mmm, Mr. Furose..." Officer Tanwei turned around and reconfirmed the name on the mailbox by the door. "Have you seen anything today, Mr. Furuso? How should I put it, that is, have you seen anything weird?" Choose your tone of language carefully. "There's nothing weird, I saw Mr. S this morning." Taizo's answer made both officers raise their eyebrows. "Ah, yes! When? Where?" Officer Zhuli spoke for the first time, and his voice was surprisingly low.If you take a closer look, your face is also slightly mature.Taizo began to think that these two people must be about the same age. "Eight o'clock this morning. Absolutely no mistake." Immediately, Taizao explained to the two police officers that he went to the depths of the oak forest at eight o'clock every morning to see the blinds. "That place is very close to Mr. S's house, almost next to each other. The other side of the bamboo fence is their yard." "Oh I got it." It seemed that the two officers had already imagined the position of the shutter. "So I saw it. Their house faces the window on the far right of the yard, and Mr. S happens to be there." "At that time, what did Mr. S look like?" Officer Guwei asked. "What it looks like—oh, I didn't really look at it, but it's nothing different. I'm alone in the room, doing something." "What are you doing?" Taizo wiped his dry lips with his fingertips, and replied, "I don't know exactly what to do." However, the two police officers did not show a particularly disappointed look.Officer Guwei then asked again: "Then have you seen anyone carrying large cargo around today?" Taizo shook his head.Officer Guwei shrugged helplessly and said, "That's it." "That's it. If there is any situation in the future, please allow us to bother you again." Officer Tanwei raised his hand in salute, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened.Then he urged Officer Zhuli again, and the two left Taizao's house together.Watching the figures of the two disappearing into the sunlight, Taizo stood there in a daze. At this moment, that scene clearly reappeared in Taizo's mind. This morning, when I was staggering towards my house with my back to the courtyard of S's house, on the forest path, which was probably in the middle between S's house and my own house, came from behind me who seemed to be very panicked and hurried. footsteps.Taizo stopped and turned around to look, and the figure just passed by in front of him. "Should I say it..." Finally had the opportunity to face to face with the police. Someday it will have to be said.Taizo swallowed his sticky saliva and sighed softly.