Chapter 3 Chapter 2 Roppongi Wildflowers
Kang Zhefu wandered on the vast lawn of Shinjuku Central Park.He looked at the "Takahashi Heavy Industries Building" standing outside the east side of the park.From the triangular summit high into the clouds, he seemed to witness Takahashi Ryuichiro's awe-inspiring sword light again.
In the dark corners under the trees around the lawn, there are pairs of young lovers.The tongue-to-toe kisses and the bold groping under the trendy women's clothing seem to announce that the wind of urban desire is also blowing into this quiet city lung.
Kang Zhefu put back the pair of thick-rimmed plain glasses, and took out a thin portable wireless phone from his briefcase.
He chose a deserted and empty place on the lawn, and sat on the soft grass.When he opened the foldable keyboard of the mobile phone, he still kept an eye out for anyone approaching.
The phone emits harsh electronic tones with the touch of a finger.Every time Kang Zhefu went on a business trip, he could get a mobile phone from the local American embassy staff, which could directly dial the anti-tapping line of the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, USA.In addition, the embassy can also arrange a car for him, as well as light self-defense equipment such as pistols, smoke bombs, and body armor.But Kang Zhefu hated cars and used public transportation whenever possible; he never asked for any offensive weapons.
——He once swore to himself: never kill again in this life.
As expected, the call took a long time to connect: "I'm Oxun." The English male voice had a blunt business tone.
"I am Kang." Kang Zhefu replied in English: "How are you, Xia Wei?"
"Is it Kang? Are you in Tokyo?" Xia Wei Oxun's tone softened instantly. "How are things going?"
Kang Zhefu glanced at the briefcase.The long sword wrapped under the cloth bag lay across the grass. "It's all right. The thing has arrived. Can you arrange for it to be sent to Spain?"
"Leave it to the embassy staff." There was an indescribable confidence and authority in Orson's voice.
Kang Zhefu didn't quite know what position Xia Wei Oxun held in the Central Intelligence Agency. He only knew that he belonged to the East Asia Group of the Counterintelligence Division, which was about five to seven stages away from the director of the CIA.Intelligence agencies are always surprisingly complex organizations.
"From your voice, you don't have any major clues, right?" Although Orson has already held an important management position, his sense of "intelligence officer" is still very keen.
"En." Kang Zhefu replied, and casually took out a photo from his purse.Under the dim moonlight, the wound in the photo where the necrotic throat tissue was turned out was even more miserable and strange.
"Can't even Takahashi see it?" Orson said. "Alright, at least this is consistent with your inference."
"Don't place too much hope on me." Kang Zhefu said. "There are other experts!"
"Not a single useful fellow," Orson laughed. "The old man Thomas is still insisting on his 'mechanical drive' theory, and he said that he is studying to replicate the 'sensing mechanism' of the murder weapon. Shit. I don't know how much money will be wasted-the White House is cutting down on intelligence agencies What about expenses?"
"Does he still not believe that humans can swing swords at that speed? I should take him to Tokyo to see."
"That old man doesn't know anything about the potential of the human body." Orson said worriedly. "It's up to you now."
"I think the relevant clues and materials are still insufficient... Is the scene still in its original state?"
"Until December of this year—if the case is not solved. Would you like to see it for yourself?"
"Before going to Madrid." Kang Zhefu said.
"Don't you trust our evidence search personnel? They have tried their best. Another important physical evidence is what they found."
"Is that the piece of paper?"
"Yes." Orson sighed through the phone from the other side of the world. "It's because I found that piece of paper that I support you to follow this clue."
"Thank you." Kang Zhefu put the photo back into his purse. "And I don't want to disappoint you. After all, this is my only assignment for two years. I don't want to take Washington's salary for nothing."
"Kang, be careful while working hard. Don't get too close. You are not part of the operation team."
Kang Zhefu was speechless.
"Remember what you said here?" Orson continued. "'I really want to meet such a powerful swordsman.' I understand how you feel, but absolutely not. Don't try to touch that guy. Report to me as soon as you have evidence. Understand?"
"yes."
After the conversation, Kang Zhefu looked up at the sword-like "Takahashi Heavy Industries Building" again.
——It’s beautiful...
After entrusting the strange long sword to the American embassy in Akasaka district and arranging the formalities of delivery to the embassy in Madrid, Kang Zhefu took a taxi to Roppongi district. The hotel where he stayed was in Roppongi. Roppongi can be called the "foreigner district" in Tokyo. There are many foreign restaurants and bars here, and it is a high-spending area that attracts a lot of foreign youths. Kang Zhefu wandered the night street full of lights and feasting, without any sleepiness in his mind.It's about ten o'clock in the morning on Langley's side. Kang Zhefu took off his flat glasses, and wiped off the dust on the lenses with a handkerchief. The lenses reflect an eerie blue brilliance like rippling sea water. Kang Zhefu looked up, looking for the source of that alluring blue light. A pale blue neon sign that reads "Sleepless" hangs three stories high in a large commercial building ahead.The slowly changing azure color, like the brilliance of the moon reflected from the sea, exudes a seductive atmosphere that attracts every solo traveler. Hai... Kang Zhefu felt a warm feeling in his heart.Like many boys, the young Kang Zhefu also fanatically yearned for the ocean. The sea breeze with a salty taste under the sun... The feeling of floating and floating with your feet on the deck... It seems to be a horizontal line that contains infinite mysteries between heaven and earth... The boys grew up and lived far away from the sea.There are loved ones who have died, and sad memories run in their veins. Killed people, and almost got killed by others.Today, this 32-year-old man carrying a briefcase and walking on the streets of Roppongi, Tokyo, has not forgotten the dream of the ocean when he was a teenager. --ocean…… Kang Zhefu stepped into the glass door of the building unconsciously. The ice cubes floating on the mineral water slowly melted.The crystal glass cup is covered with irregular water patterns and stands quietly on the table. Kang Zhefu looked up at the faint starlight in the dark night.The entire ceiling of the Sleepless Bar on the top floor of the building is made of transparent fiberglass, giving customers a comfortable feeling of being outside. The saxophone solo jazz music in the bar is Duke Ellington's "Solitude".Lonely notes float evenly to every corner of the bar through the speakers, and the volume is just right, neither hindering customers from talking or meditating alone, nor can they not clearly hear the emotionally rich melody. What a great place, Kang Zhefu thought.No wonder a glass of mineral water costs 2,000 yen. Kang Zhefu took off his glasses and tie, and tried his best to relax his limbs on the leather sofa, keeping his eyes on the clear night sky above. He smiled wryly: In a capitalist city, you have to spend money if you really want to take a break... Is this the "happy" way of life that humans have pursued for tens of thousands of years?The greenhouse effect, AIDS, schizophrenia, the disintegration of the family system... Are these the inevitable price of "happiness"? The phone rang softly. Kang Zhefu stared at the elegant antique telephone placed on the glass table in front of him.The wooden-handled microphone resting on the black metal body vibrates slightly with the ringing of the bell. "It's really ringing..." The Sleepless bar features one of these phones on every table.Customers can call the counter for drinks and snacks; but the more important function of these phones is that they are all connected to each other. Customers can dial to talk to anyone at any table, but the person who answers the call does not know which table is calling. .This is purely a game for urban singles to "snipe" their prey. ——A very clever gimmick... There are too many people who have money in their pockets but are lonely... Kang Zhefu glanced around the store.The bar room is very large, with about 30 to 40 tables, and it is almost full at this time, and most of them come alone like Kang Zhefu. "Who is it?" Kang Zhefu didn't find anyone particularly conspicuous.The faces and backs of urbanites are always similar. The phone on the desk was still ringing. Kang Zhefu hesitated for a while, and finally picked up the microphone. "Have you ever seen green petals?" A slightly hoarse female voice came from the microphone, asking in Japanese. "What?" Kang Zhefu felt confused. "Green flower. The petals are deep green like emerald jade flaws. The stamens are bright yellow." The female voice carried a dreamlike and fantastic tone.Kang Zhefu could tell that it was not authentic Japanese, but it was also very fluent. "No... Are there green flowers in the world? I seem to have heard that there is a green chrysanthemum in China, but I have never seen it." "No, it's not a chrysanthemum. It's a kind of wild flower... a kind of wild flower that bloomed somewhere on the earth a long, long time ago." The female voice became more and more blurred, and suddenly it seemed to wake up from a dream. Ask in a very cordial, lively tone, "Did you like it?" The rapid and strange change in the voice made Kang Zhefu slightly surprised.He scanned the store again.It seems that no woman with a microphone has such a wonderful temperament. "Do you like it?" The female voice asked again, as if she was really eager to know the real answer. "I don't know." Kang Zhefu could only answer in this way. "I've never seen—" "What a pity..." she sighed. "I know you'll like it. You're the only one here who really likes flowers like that." "How do you know?" The palm of his hand holding the microphone was slightly sweaty. "Eye." "..." "Your eyes. You are a man with a sad past... I can see that." The "she" gradually resumed her sleepy tone. "Did a very important relative of yours die?" she continued. "Wife...or mother..." Kang Zhefu's face twitched quickly, but the iron will that had been trained for many years suppressed the excitement in an instant. "Are you a psychiatrist?" He asked in an unusually cold voice, as if carefully guarding against the collapse of the defense line of the mind again. "No...it's almost the same. Some people say that art is the best medicine to heal the soul." Her voice was full of excitement full of longing. "So, are you an artist?" Kang Zhefu unknowingly and slowly removed his psychological armor again, and asked with great interest.The woman's voice seems to have the wonderful power to soften people's hearts. "What's your name?" There was no logic in the sequence of her words. "I..." Kang Zhefu hesitated for a while, and finally said his name. "Kanzhev?" She laughed brightly. "I can't tell you're Russian." "No, my last name is 'Kang'. I am Chinese." "China?" For the first time, her tone sounded like a sober person. "I really want to go there. Is China really as beautiful as the books say?" "I don't know. For some reason, I haven't been to China either. I was born in the United States." "Oh. So you're an American. It's the first time I've met an American who doesn't drink." "How do you know..." Kang Zhefu picked up the cup on the table. "I wanted to give you a glass of wine. But the counter told me that what you drank was mineral water." "Thank you." Kang Zhefu raised his glass to this invisible woman, and took a sip of the cold and slightly salty water. "Why don't you drink?" "For some reason, I don't drink anything addictive." He put the glass back on the table. "You have so many 'reasons'... You don't smoke? You don't drink coffee?" "No." "So what else can you do when you're bored, lonely, and sad?" Kang Zhefu smiled. "Find a high, quiet place, and jump down with your eyes wide open." "Won't you fall to your death?" "No. The wind will hold my wings." "wing……?" "A pair of big wings." Kang Zhefu also forgot why he said such a bunch of strange words. "Colors like wings of flame." "It's a beautiful picture...Okay, I'll draw this next time." "Are you a painter?" "Tilia." Her voice was very strange. "What? I can't hear..." "Tilia. My name...is also the name of wildflowers..." The phone hung up. Kang Zhefu stood up holding the microphone. Sleepless is still filled with the pleasant and stimulating atmosphere of men and women "sniping" each other.Kang Zhefu concluded that the mysterious girl who just hung up the phone was not within his sight. The monotonous sound continued from the microphone, but he still seemed to hear the echo of that name. "Tilia..."
At five o'clock in the morning, Kang Zhefu was still sleepless. In the dark, he pushed back the quilt, sat on the soft bed, and massaged his tired eyes. He stood up and walked barefoot to the small balcony of the hotel room.After opening the dark brown curtains, the brilliance of the never-night Tokyo city is reflected in the pupils through the glass of the balcony. "I'm finally saying goodbye to this city... Tilia... Is she painting those flame wings?..." Sitting back on the bed, Kang Zhefu turned on the reading lamp beside the bed, and took out a long paper bag from the briefcase.There is no organization or company name mark printed on the paper bag, just a simple code: HO43-8 He untied the rope at the mouth of the paper bag, and pulled out a black plastic folder inside.He was going to study this detailed file carefully before boarding the flight to Hong Kong at 10:40 tomorrow morning. Name: Phil Chen (陈长德) Sex: Male Age: 47 Nationality: American Race: Chinese Blood type: A+ Height: 5 feet 10 inches Weight: 156 lbs Time of death: December 2, 199X between 02:30 and 04:00 The place where the body was found: Room 16A, 'Chaoxuan', XX Repulse Bay Road, Hong Kong Island District, Hong Kong (the residence of the deceased) Estimated place of death: Same as above Cause of death: Excessive blood loss due to rupture of the common carotid artery...
After entrusting the strange long sword to the American embassy in Akasaka district and arranging the formalities of delivery to the embassy in Madrid, Kang Zhefu took a taxi to Roppongi district. The hotel where he stayed was in Roppongi. Roppongi can be called the "foreigner district" in Tokyo. There are many foreign restaurants and bars here, and it is a high-spending area that attracts a lot of foreign youths. Kang Zhefu wandered the night street full of lights and feasting, without any sleepiness in his mind.It's about ten o'clock in the morning on Langley's side. Kang Zhefu took off his flat glasses, and wiped off the dust on the lenses with a handkerchief. The lenses reflect an eerie blue brilliance like rippling sea water. Kang Zhefu looked up, looking for the source of that alluring blue light. A pale blue neon sign that reads "Sleepless" hangs three stories high in a large commercial building ahead.The slowly changing azure color, like the brilliance of the moon reflected from the sea, exudes a seductive atmosphere that attracts every solo traveler. Hai... Kang Zhefu felt a warm feeling in his heart.Like many boys, the young Kang Zhefu also fanatically yearned for the ocean. The sea breeze with a salty taste under the sun... The feeling of floating and floating with your feet on the deck... It seems to be a horizontal line that contains infinite mysteries between heaven and earth... The boys grew up and lived far away from the sea.There are loved ones who have died, and sad memories run in their veins. Killed people, and almost got killed by others.Today, this 32-year-old man carrying a briefcase and walking on the streets of Roppongi, Tokyo, has not forgotten the dream of the ocean when he was a teenager. --ocean…… Kang Zhefu stepped into the glass door of the building unconsciously. The ice cubes floating on the mineral water slowly melted.The crystal glass cup is covered with irregular water patterns and stands quietly on the table. Kang Zhefu looked up at the faint starlight in the dark night.The entire ceiling of the Sleepless Bar on the top floor of the building is made of transparent fiberglass, giving customers a comfortable feeling of being outside. The saxophone solo jazz music in the bar is Duke Ellington's "Solitude".Lonely notes float evenly to every corner of the bar through the speakers, and the volume is just right, neither hindering customers from talking or meditating alone, nor can they not clearly hear the emotionally rich melody. What a great place, Kang Zhefu thought.No wonder a glass of mineral water costs 2,000 yen. Kang Zhefu took off his glasses and tie, and tried his best to relax his limbs on the leather sofa, keeping his eyes on the clear night sky above. He smiled wryly: In a capitalist city, you have to spend money if you really want to take a break... Is this the "happy" way of life that humans have pursued for tens of thousands of years?The greenhouse effect, AIDS, schizophrenia, the disintegration of the family system... Are these the inevitable price of "happiness"? The phone rang softly. Kang Zhefu stared at the elegant antique telephone placed on the glass table in front of him.The wooden-handled microphone resting on the black metal body vibrates slightly with the ringing of the bell. "It's really ringing..." The Sleepless bar features one of these phones on every table.Customers can call the counter for drinks and snacks; but the more important function of these phones is that they are all connected to each other. Customers can dial to talk to anyone at any table, but the person who answers the call does not know which table is calling. .This is purely a game for urban singles to "snipe" their prey. ——A very clever gimmick... There are too many people who have money in their pockets but are lonely... Kang Zhefu glanced around the store.The bar room is very large, with about 30 to 40 tables, and it is almost full at this time, and most of them come alone like Kang Zhefu. "Who is it?" Kang Zhefu didn't find anyone particularly conspicuous.The faces and backs of urbanites are always similar. The phone on the desk was still ringing. Kang Zhefu hesitated for a while, and finally picked up the microphone. "Have you ever seen green petals?" A slightly hoarse female voice came from the microphone, asking in Japanese. "What?" Kang Zhefu felt confused. "Green flower. The petals are deep green like emerald jade flaws. The stamens are bright yellow." The female voice carried a dreamlike and fantastic tone.Kang Zhefu could tell that it was not authentic Japanese, but it was also very fluent. "No... Are there green flowers in the world? I seem to have heard that there is a green chrysanthemum in China, but I have never seen it." "No, it's not a chrysanthemum. It's a kind of wild flower... a kind of wild flower that bloomed somewhere on the earth a long, long time ago." The female voice became more and more blurred, and suddenly it seemed to wake up from a dream. Ask in a very cordial, lively tone, "Did you like it?" The rapid and strange change in the voice made Kang Zhefu slightly surprised.He scanned the store again.It seems that no woman with a microphone has such a wonderful temperament. "Do you like it?" The female voice asked again, as if she was really eager to know the real answer. "I don't know." Kang Zhefu could only answer in this way. "I've never seen—" "What a pity..." she sighed. "I know you'll like it. You're the only one here who really likes flowers like that." "How do you know?" The palm of his hand holding the microphone was slightly sweaty. "Eye." "..." "Your eyes. You are a man with a sad past... I can see that." The "she" gradually resumed her sleepy tone. "Did a very important relative of yours die?" she continued. "Wife...or mother..." Kang Zhefu's face twitched quickly, but the iron will that had been trained for many years suppressed the excitement in an instant. "Are you a psychiatrist?" He asked in an unusually cold voice, as if carefully guarding against the collapse of the defense line of the mind again. "No...it's almost the same. Some people say that art is the best medicine to heal the soul." Her voice was full of excitement full of longing. "So, are you an artist?" Kang Zhefu unknowingly and slowly removed his psychological armor again, and asked with great interest.The woman's voice seems to have the wonderful power to soften people's hearts. "What's your name?" There was no logic in the sequence of her words. "I..." Kang Zhefu hesitated for a while, and finally said his name. "Kanzhev?" She laughed brightly. "I can't tell you're Russian." "No, my last name is 'Kang'. I am Chinese." "China?" For the first time, her tone sounded like a sober person. "I really want to go there. Is China really as beautiful as the books say?" "I don't know. For some reason, I haven't been to China either. I was born in the United States." "Oh. So you're an American. It's the first time I've met an American who doesn't drink." "How do you know..." Kang Zhefu picked up the cup on the table. "I wanted to give you a glass of wine. But the counter told me that what you drank was mineral water." "Thank you." Kang Zhefu raised his glass to this invisible woman, and took a sip of the cold and slightly salty water. "Why don't you drink?" "For some reason, I don't drink anything addictive." He put the glass back on the table. "You have so many 'reasons'... You don't smoke? You don't drink coffee?" "No." "So what else can you do when you're bored, lonely, and sad?" Kang Zhefu smiled. "Find a high, quiet place, and jump down with your eyes wide open." "Won't you fall to your death?" "No. The wind will hold my wings." "wing……?" "A pair of big wings." Kang Zhefu also forgot why he said such a bunch of strange words. "Colors like wings of flame." "It's a beautiful picture...Okay, I'll draw this next time." "Are you a painter?" "Tilia." Her voice was very strange. "What? I can't hear..." "Tilia. My name...is also the name of wildflowers..." The phone hung up. Kang Zhefu stood up holding the microphone. Sleepless is still filled with the pleasant and stimulating atmosphere of men and women "sniping" each other.Kang Zhefu concluded that the mysterious girl who just hung up the phone was not within his sight. The monotonous sound continued from the microphone, but he still seemed to hear the echo of that name. "Tilia..."
At five o'clock in the morning, Kang Zhefu was still sleepless. In the dark, he pushed back the quilt, sat on the soft bed, and massaged his tired eyes. He stood up and walked barefoot to the small balcony of the hotel room.After opening the dark brown curtains, the brilliance of the never-night Tokyo city is reflected in the pupils through the glass of the balcony. "I'm finally saying goodbye to this city... Tilia... Is she painting those flame wings?..." Sitting back on the bed, Kang Zhefu turned on the reading lamp beside the bed, and took out a long paper bag from the briefcase.There is no organization or company name mark printed on the paper bag, just a simple code: HO43-8 He untied the rope at the mouth of the paper bag, and pulled out a black plastic folder inside.He was going to study this detailed file carefully before boarding the flight to Hong Kong at 10:40 tomorrow morning. Name: Phil Chen (陈长德) Sex: Male Age: 47 Nationality: American Race: Chinese Blood type: A+ Height: 5 feet 10 inches Weight: 156 lbs Time of death: December 2, 199X between 02:30 and 04:00 The place where the body was found: Room 16A, 'Chaoxuan', XX Repulse Bay Road, Hong Kong Island District, Hong Kong (the residence of the deceased) Estimated place of death: Same as above Cause of death: Excessive blood loss due to rupture of the common carotid artery...