Chapter 20 Section 19

Tendo waited for me leaning on the pillar of the torii gate of the shrine. He was wearing a milky white half-sleeved shirt, a thin black tie, and even the hem of his trousers was black. Chirping of cicadas can be heard inside the shrine. I walked quickly and glanced at my watch. "Sorry, at the check-in—" "It's okay, let's go." He turned around swiftly and walked forward quickly.I didn't even have the time to catch my breath, so I hurried after him with a handkerchief in my hand. Under the strong sunlight, the tree shadows in the shrine are clearly reflected on the paved road.There is no wind in the town, and the houses side by side are far away from the blue sky.A halo emerges around the sun.

The road turned uphill, and the striding Tiantong walked in front with ease.Not long after, he realized that I hadn't followed, so he stopped and waited anxiously for me to come.When he saw that I had finally caught up, he turned around quickly and took a quick step.So I didn't have a moment to rest, and the sweat on my back was already wet. A boy who looked like a high school student was riding a bicycle from above, and when he passed by, I felt a slight wind.It seems that construction is going on in the distance of the town, and there are rhythmic beating sounds like clang and clang.

Walking up the ramp, just as I took a long breath, the sudden sound of cicadas around me startled me.In the courtyard of someone's house at the corner, a branch protruded out of the periphery, and a cicada fell on it.The black abdomen vibrated slightly in conjunction with the cry, and looking through the transparent wings made me feel uncomfortable at that time. "That's it." Tendo, who stopped walking, muttered, and after I finally caught up, I looked in the direction he was looking at.It was a four-story house, although it was a bit old, but it also looked chic, it seemed to be an apartment.

"Well, this is it." There was a brick fence around the building, a door lamp was hung on the front door, and the iron fence depicting arabesque patterns was opened to the inside.Tendo and I walked through the door and entered the "Caesar Club Apartment".The building bears the word apartment in its name, but its tasteful exterior is a stark departure from the cheap wooden condominiums and recent high-rise condominiums.There is limescale on the concrete on the exterior walls, but the design of the building is quite modern, and the most appropriate title is a furnished rental house.

There are flower beds in the courtyard, which should be looked after by a certain resident, and the blooming lilies are so cute and eye-catching.Not much popularity around. There are two entrances to the building, Tendo goes to the one on the right.There are ascending stairs and descending stairs in front of me. After going up, it should be the first floor. If you go down, you will find a semi-underground space. What is there?It's too dark to see clearly. There are eight mailboxes next to the stairs leading to the semi-underground. There are no names of any residents written on them, only two digits are marked, which is probably the room number of each household, ten is the floor number, and the last digit is each floor. The consecutive numbers of each household.One three, one four, two four... There is also Kaori's room number on it, three four.It seems that coming in from this entrance is the right choice.

Tendo started up the stairs, and I followed.Cold air from nowhere enveloped my body. Each floor has a door on the left and right. Although it is made of wood, it is not an ordinary plywood, and there are exquisite reliefs carved on it.The traces left over the years can also be seen that it has been carefully repaired.The lamps imitating lanterns illuminate the floor lobby, which is too large to be wasteful from a modern point of view, but also reflects a sense of luxury.Estimated from the width of the building, the internal space of each household is unbelievably spacious. Tiantong walked up without saying a word, turned back on the stairwell platform with daylight windows, went up to the second floor, and turned back again, so we reached the third floor.On the door on the right is Room 3 and 4—that is, the room where Kaori lived before she died.

Tendo inserted the key into the keyhole (the keyhole is not on the doorknob), and turned it.Then he pulled the doorknob, and the door opened quietly. It was very dark inside, and Tendo, who was walking in front, fumbled for the wall and pressed the switch, and the light in the foyer turned on.At the same time, bright colors suddenly caught my eye. These are Kaori's drawings.The still life paintings are fruits on the table, and her unique brushwork can be seen in the selection of composition, color matching, and object outlines.I suddenly felt out of breath. Tendo just glanced at the painting, without any special reaction.He took off his shoes and walked into the aisle.Seeing his move, I regained my spirits, took off my shoes and walked in.

The hallway was as wide as a room, and the room was as spacious as I had imagined.Part of the furniture seems to be embedded in the wall. Immediately after entering the door, I saw a hat rack. I was amazed that people still use this kind of thing today (it is still used to hang coats), and there is a cabinet next to it. The antique-style telephone placed on it must have been bought by Kaori herself to match the overall style of the room.I picked up the receiver and there was a sound of a clear line.I had chatted with Kaori on this phone before. On the right hand side of the aisle are the bathroom, toilet and laundry room in sequence.Tendo opened the doors one by one to check the situation inside.I followed him and looked into the house.There is a dryer in the laundry room, but it doesn't seem to dry the clothes adequately, and there is a line on the wall with some underwear hanging on it.There is only one door on the left hand side, which should be the bedroom. There is only one bed in the spacious (though air-conditioned) room.At the end of the hallway is a living room that doubles as a dining room.Kaori's room is 1LDK in modern terms.

Tendo and I stood side by side at the entrance of the living room.There are two windows on the wall on the left and right, both of which have curtains drawn, but the afternoon sun slightly penetrates the curtains on the right, and the room does not look too dark.The floor is covered with a wooden floor, which is laid horizontally from the entrance. This is Kaori's living room, dining room, and studio.I felt traces of Kaori—something like her deodorant left behind—permeating the entire room. In front of the left hand side is the kitchen with a counter. There are two chairs and a small dining table in front of the window. Looking inside, there are piles of AV equipment on the left side of the room.

There is a simple shed on the inner wall, just fix the iron pipes and paste the wooden boards, on which are mainly painting tools and various things.Fully numbered canvas covered with cloth.Many paintbrushes are inserted in an empty paint can with the tip up, and there are dozens of volumes in the large painting book. There are also many things of unknown purpose, concrete blocks, things like oil tanks. In front of it was a piece of furniture that looked like a mixture of sofa and armchair, facing the TV.There was a library next to it, and the quilt fell on the floor like a blanket. I couldn't help but imagine that Kaori might have slept on the floor of this spacious living room.

On the right-hand wall, there is a closet in front of it, and under the window a little further away, waist-high bookshelves are lined up, filled with all kinds of books from hardcover booklets to library books.There are some trivial trinkets on the bookshelf, and there are cacti on the windowsill and so on. In the inner corner on the right hand side is a desk, the chair is facing the direction of the room, and the canvas is placed on the easel in front.There are painting props that will be used side by side on the desk, and this corner reveals a kind of interest that the painter who has been concentrating on painting is about to stand up suddenly. What did she draw? —Who did she draw?The easel was toward the center of the room, but there was nothing worth painting there.If Kaori is holding the paintbrush, there is a prototype standing there. I walked to the easel without any scruples and lifted the covering covering the canvas.So I saw— There is no one, nor is it a human being, but a machine. The paintings are not actually indoors. There are a few photos on the desk, and the things in the photos look like stamping machines in a certain factory.Kaori's painting machine is copying these photos. I sighed and calmed down. Tendo bent down and looked at the bookshelf.The sunlight shone through the gap in the curtains, casting a spot of light on his body. he said in a commanding tone. "Go look through the drawers and look for things like diaries and notebooks." He didn't look at me, he kept looking at the bookshelf, not actually looking at the bookshelf.Tendo's slender eyes seemed to be looking at something in the distance.