Chapter 2 Chapter Two Intercourse Before Marriage

Tadao Asano in the laboratory.It was summer vacation, and I couldn't see other professors, and the room was empty.The sound of cicadas came through the open window.Asano smoked blankly.Looking out the window, two students walked across the campus towards the door.The white hat and shirt reflected the hot sun. Asano opened his notebook. "Nobuko Shiokawa, wife of Koji Shiokawa (a bank employee who graduated from the Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo), Saginomiya, Nakano District." Nobuko Shiokawa is already married... Asano was very surprised when he learned of this, because he was convinced that Nobuko Shiokawa was single.Why does the associate professor insist on knowing the identity of the students?She is not an undergraduate student, but a correspondence student, or a student she is not particularly familiar with.Even if we meet, it is only more than one month in a year.

Also, Asano doesn't like interacting with students very much.Among professors, associate professors, and lecturers, some even invite students to their homes to develop personal contacts.For Asano, this was totally out of character.Of course, he never thought of pleasing the students.Therefore, it is unprecedented for Tadao Asano to be interested in Nobuko Shiokawa. In correspondence education, schools send teaching materials to students, and often specify topics to write study reports.There are both good students and bad ones.Among them, Nobuko Shiokawa is a particularly outstanding student.

Asano first received a report from Nobuko Shiokawa, which was a beautiful text.When he saw it, he even felt a little disgusted in his heart.This student—strictly speaking, I don't know whether it should be called a student.In short, the woman seems to be good at calligraphy.Was she trying to get the professor's attention under the guise of beautiful words?He read Xinzi's study report with disgust.However, after reading the content, the original disgust disappeared without a trace.The report is so solidly written and captures the essentials of the learning content.Among undergraduates, it is rare to be able to achieve this level.

Asano still remembers part of the content to this day.The title of the thesis is "Indices for Measuring the Degree of Monopoly". "To discuss this issue, we must first examine what is the degree of monopoly. Here it is tentatively defined as the degree of development of the situation of price dominance. The subject is to quantify it through certain indicators. To measure the degree of monopoly, it includes one or even several enterprises. The degree of monopoly of an industry, the degree of industrial monopoly of a certain industry in the entire economy, and the degree of economic monopoly used to measure the time-varying monopoly of the overall economic monopoly. Moreover, there are many angles and expressions for its quantitative grasp. In order to monopolize the main indicators, there is also the question of which statistics and methods to use to organize them. For example, as will be discussed in depth below, in our country, industrial statistics are all carried out by the technical units of production, that is, firms..."

Asano took out a piece of paper from the drawer - the paper hidden under a stack of notebooks.The beautiful words unfolded before Asano's eyes. "In short, the measurement of the degree of monopoly is directly related to the attitude towards monopoly evaluation. If roughly divided into the theory of monopoly denial, the theory of monopoly decline, and the theory of monopoly progress, the focus of recent issues is that the decline in the degree of monopoly in the Japanese economy after the war is the same as The view of monopoly decline theory is opposite to the view of insisting on strengthening monopoly reorganization. Indeed, after the war in our country, there have been fierce investment competition, price competition, and the alternation of superior and inferior enterprises. But in this case, it is extremely difficult to quantify if observed The so-called "equal opportunity doctrine" can be found in the series of group corporate actions. At the same time, the core of this series is the restructuring and strengthening of financial institutions. Considering the main reasons, it is still difficult to cover the progress of monopoly general tendency. The degree of monopoly in the economy as a whole becomes the main problem...”

This highly professional thesis may not match the image of Nobuko Shiokawa, but the text is really stretched and elegant.What kind of connotation does this slim lady in a rather decent white dress imply?The associate professor learned that Nobuko Shiokawa eventually graduated from a famous English cram school. Of course, Tadao Asano did not know the living conditions of Nobuko Shiokawa and her husband.Never asked.For Asano, it's a question that triggers all sorts of imaginations.This is also a problem that other girls don't feel. Yasuko Kusama's handwriting is round and smooth, very cute.Asano felt that the handwriting was the same as Yasuko himself.He has the mentality of treating Yasuko as a younger sister, but he is troubled by not being able to get along with her with the affection of his fiancé.He got engaged mainly at the advice of his mother.The mother rejected all the marriage proposals one after another, and chose Taizi, who had a pair of bright eyes and stretched limbs, for her son who was not interested in any woman, and felt very satisfied.

Asano returned Nobuko Shiokawa's study report to its original place.Crouching under a stack of notebooks seemed furtive, and the motion molded his consciousness into a mysterious image. Nobuko Shiokawa started preparing her graduation thesis, she stopped Asano in the corridor to ask questions, that was yesterday.Nobuko Shiokawa also asked if she could go to Asano's residence for advice.Asano's heart skipped a beat.He replied that there was no problem, but he didn't know what expression he had at that time.Because he knew that he was not very enthusiastic towards others by nature, so if he made a sullen face, he might make Nobuko Shiokawa shrink back.Asano is particularly bitter about this right now.

Looking out of the window, four women are walking under the scorching sun.The students attending the lectures come from various positions and environments, and their costumes are also varied. Among the four women, Nobuko Yanchuan was not seen. The associate professor boarded the tram with his leather bag, avoided the hot seat, and took out a book from the bag.Today's mood is particularly harmonious with the text of the book, and I can't help but feel happy.Nobuko Shiokawa asked if he could come to visit on Sunday afternoon, so he agreed to come at one o'clock.Tomorrow is Sunday.

This date excites him.His increased reading enthusiasm may also be due to this excitement.Asano got off the tram and waited for the bus under the scorching red sun.Twenty minutes by car, and then five or six minutes to get home.Take the usual way home.There is a zelkova forest behind someone's house, but the leaves are whitish and the colors are blurred. Walking into the hall of my house, there is a pair of women's shoes in front of me, elegant cream color, medium heel. "Are you back?" Mother came out to greet her. "Come back!" Asano avoided the women's shoes and took off his own.

"Hot enough?" "yes." "Taizi is here." "yes?" "We're talking in the living room. Pack up and come here!" Asano entered the room silently and climbed the stairs.The eight-seat Japanese-style room on the second floor is a study.Asano was not used to sitting cross-legged and writing, so he put tables and chairs on the tatami.The table is still in the state before going out in the morning, and the unfinished books are opened and buckled on the table. His mother came upstairs and handed him a cool towel. "Taiko brought ice cream."

"Really?" Asano said to his mother, smoking a cigarette before passing. "Faithful husband," my mother whispered. "When do you want people to wait?" Asano lowered his head and exhaled, then raised his head and said, "Mother, I wanted to discuss this matter with you." "..." "I want to talk about my thoughts about the marriage contract with Yasuko." Mother's expression froze, as if holding her breath. "what idea?" "My mother can more or less see what I'm thinking, right?" Mother didn't answer. "Loyal husband," my mother murmured. "Why do you look down on her? Where can I find such a smart and lovely girl. If you break the engagement, you will definitely regret it!" "..." "Anyway, don't talk about it now, go downstairs quickly!" Mother went downstairs with a towel. Sunday.According to the request of the son, the mother bought fruits, snacks and so on.I even went to the coffee shop to grind the coffee beans. "It's so rare!" the mother said to her loyal husband. "It's the first time to receive guests like this!" Although it is still summer, the humidity is low today, and the house is passable. "She is an enthusiastic and studious woman, a housewife. It is said that her family is well-off, so I can't think of anything to entertain her." Loyal husband explained to his mother. Mother felt that her faithful husband had been expecting this visitor for a long time.Although due to his introverted personality, he didn't express his attitude clearly, but he could always vaguely feel it.This is completely different from how he treated Yasuko yesterday.He later went downstairs and ate the ice cream brought by Taizi, and talked about the school.Infected by Yasuko's happy mood, Zhongfu is also very happy.But it was a gesture of effort, and my mother knew it well. The mother guessed that today's guest and Taizi both met at school, but he never mentioned it in front of Taizi, so the mother was also a little concerned about this.The guest comes at one o'clock in the afternoon.The mother adjusted the curtains and changed the tablecloth for a while to prepare for her son's reception.According to Zhongfu, there are all kinds of correspondence students in the university, including young people and those over forty.The scope is also very wide, coming from Hokkaido or Kyushu, studying in school for forty days. "Especially during the lunch break, this is deeply felt." Zhongfu once said. "When broadcasting the announcement, I called a girl from Aomori Prefecture for a while, and a boy from Kagoshima Prefecture for a while, giving people a feeling of being far and wide." "Which occupations are the most people who come to class?" asked the mother. "There are still a lot of teachers in the school. There are teachers from elementary school, junior high school, and high school. They all want to obtain a college diploma, and they also hope to learn more knowledge to use in primary and secondary education. They are indeed hardworking and studious, and their mentality is different from that of ordinary college students. .” Zhongfu goes to school every summer to teach correspondence students.In the words of the chief professor, he is a responsive character. After hearing what her loyal husband said, the mother thought that today's female guest was also a teacher at the school.Professional women like Yasuko are an exception. "No." Faithful husband replied. "Why? Do people like that still take correspondence studies?" "It's a common thing," replied the son. "There are people who want to obtain certain qualifications like school teachers, and ordinary people who want to expand their knowledge. Yasuko is one of them." "However, if you are married and still keep studying, you must be very fond of learning." "No, it's not unusual. Others are like this too... However, some of these women seem to just go to school for a formality." Tadao answered his mother while thinking about why Shiokawa Nobuko was so enthusiastic about studying.Can it be simply explained as studious and motivated? Tadao felt that Nobuko Shiokawa might have other motivations for being so enthusiastic about learning.Although there is still no reason to say, the complex entanglement revealed by her overall atmosphere makes people suspicious.When he was lecturing on the podium, he suddenly realized that his eyes were looking for Nobuko Shiokawa.There is always an uplifting feeling before going to the classroom where she is attending.From the time when he was instructing his graduation thesis, his loyal husband had the desire to get closer to her.However, he has also carefully considered that the other party is a married woman.This must be taken into account. It is common for students to come to the associate professor's residence to consult their graduation thesis.However, for Nobuko Shiokawa who is coming this afternoon, Tadao does not have a strong sense of her as a student.Regarding Xinzi's consultation, Zhongfu told her that the graduation thesis should not be written as a popular introductory article, but should be narrowed down and explored in depth.The topic chosen by Nobuko Shiokawa was a special topic that accepted his opinion. Although Tadao did not explicitly point it out, Nobuko Shiokawa chose and discussed it independently.This choice also made him feel that she was very intelligent. Faithful husband walked up to the study on the second floor, and a narrow corridor could be seen from the window over the grass and trees in the courtyard.The urban streetscape unfolds ahead, and the roofs are under the summer heat.The sky was cloudless, except for the white clouds in the shape of tongues of fire standing on the horizon. Faithful husband saw a white figure flashing in the passage, and was immediately excited.The doorbell rang, and it went straight to the sound of the faithful husband's heart. The mother can be heard responding.Faithful husband subconsciously took out a cigarette. In the eyes of the mother, the behavior of the visitor was indeed the same as that described by the son.She is polite, and her speech and behavior are beyond the imagination of a mother.My son said that she is a housewife from a well-off family, and she seems really calm and generous.Other than that, however, there was no housewife feeling.Although she was beautiful, she didn't show off in the same sex.The loyal husband and mother felt its strong charm at first sight, and it was a kind of gentle and wise beauty. Mother invited the guests into the living room.When I went upstairs to call my loyal husband, I saw that my son was restless like never before. "The guests are here." "Really?" Four or five reference books were already placed on the table.There have been students who have come to ask for graduation thesis before, but usually, the son will not take out the reference book before listening to the other party's explanation.He never knew how to make others happy, and his attitude was always cold and blunt, but this time it was different. "Someone sent a bouquet of flowers!" said the mother. The son stepped downstairs and went downstairs. Mother made the coffee and felt vaguely restless.Entering the living room, the mother saw the loyal husband talking to the guests endlessly.Just judging from his son's posture, he is very enthusiastic.Reference books are spread out in a row in front of them, facing the guests. Nobuko Shiokawa sat across from Tadao, concentrating on taking notes. Mother walked over, and faithful husband stood up. "This is my mother." He introduced again. "I was bothering you just now." Nobuko Shiokawa stood up gently and bowed to her mother.A charming smile.Not only is she simply beautiful, but also gentle and easy-going between her brows and eyes. After the pleasantries of the first meeting, my mother walked out of the living room.When he turned around and closed the door, he saw the two of them hurriedly sitting back on the chairs, as if they wanted to return to the original topic as soon as possible. After serving the coffee, the mother had nothing else to do, so she untied the bouquets brought by the guests and put them in the vases.White lilies and red gerbera chrysanthemums stretch out their branches and leaves, elegant and romantic.The originally empty room suddenly became colorful because of this bouquet of flowers.Even the air seems to be blooming, full of joy. Mother sent rough tea and snacks.I also saw my loyal husband leaning over the chair and telling Nobuko Shiokawa something. "I've troubled you. I'm really sorry." Nobuko Shiokawa thanked her with a bright smile and a clear and sweet voice. Mother returned to the living room, but when she saw the blooming flowers, she felt inexplicably uneasy again.Could it be that the loyal husband is indifferent to Taizi because of this female guest?Uneasiness emanates from bouquets and shadows.From this point of view, the indifference of a loyal husband to his fiancée started from this summer lecture.In the past, he was very flat to Taizi, but he was not as indifferent as he is now.The scene of the two people in the living room appeared in front of my mother's eyes, and she was a little impatient.She didn't believe that such a thing would happen, but she couldn't deny it in her consciousness, and her anxiety continued to rise. Forty minutes later, mother brought the fruit.This time, it was the female guest who asked her loyal husband frequently.The mother handed over the fruit plate, and her gaze inadvertently fell on the notebook in front of her, which was full of dense pen writing. Shiokawa Nobuko still politely thanked her mother who greeted her. Mother looked at the profile of her loyal husband, her expression was never brighter than before.His eyes were smiling happily. Another forty minutes later, my faithful husband called my mother. "The guests are leaving." Mother hurried to the living room. "I'm sorry to trouble you. Thank you, the teacher gave me detailed instructions." Shiokawa Nobuko once again showed the intimacy smile that her mother saw for the first time. "Welcome to play again," said the mother. "I'm sorry for hindering the teacher from reading." "Ms. Shiokawa said," Tadao told his mother from the side. "In the future, I still want to come to my home to ask for advice until I finish my graduation thesis." "Really?" Mother turned her eyes to Shiokawa Nobuko. "You're welcome, welcome." "Thank you." Nobuko Shiokawa smiled and bowed her head. The loyal husband said he wanted to see off the guests, so he took a walk by the way.The two went out together. Mother went back into the room.The bouquet has absorbed enough water, making it more gorgeous and eye-catching.Something about Taizi must be settled quickly, the mother thought.The mother always prays for the safety of her son. It was supposed to be a good night's sleep on Sunday morning, but it was too hot to sleep.Yasuko got up violently and went to the living room. The sun is still scorching red today, and the heat reaches its extreme in the afternoon.The asphalt road was softened by the sun, and the reflected heat wave scorched pedestrians.The school is better, the campus is shaded by acacia trees, the grounds are spacious and well ventilated.But the heat wave on the way to school is really daunting. I wanted to take my dog ​​for a walk around the neighborhood this morning, but I haven't taken a walk for a long time, and the breeze is pleasant today.Taizi's residence is far away from the commercial street, and the residences are not densely populated, so there is little feeling of bitter summer.The pet dog is a sturdy Akita dog, who moves slowly step by step.It is quite strong, and once it is in a hurry, it is very difficult to hold it. Yasuko came to the street in a sleeveless casual dress.The sun was high.Her walking route is fixed, from the door to the high slope, through a more peaceful residential area, and the whole circle is about one kilometer.It was the same route this morning, and she climbed up the slope as usual.On both sides are houses with continuous courtyard walls, and the courtyards of each family are covered with garden plants, which naturally cast green shade on the roadside. Yasuko climbed up the high slope and turned around the second block.This area is dotted with large and medium-sized mansions, and the gardens are equally luxuriant.Taizi especially likes this place, there are not many pedestrians, every family breathes the free air peacefully, and the residents don't come to the street very much. Taizi is most annoyed by the kind of people who stand guard at the gate of the courtyard and stare at passers-by, but the residents in this area all stay at home and seem to have no interest in watching passers-by.There are cars passing by, almost all private cars.The Akita dog dragged Yasuko forward.She moves forward lightly with traction, just lift her foot and take a step. There is a house with a white wooden fence, and the garden is extraordinarily lush with vegetation, which makes the white fence even more dazzling.By chance, I saw a white car parked in front of the hall.This is a large imported sedan, the blue body is very beautiful, and the crystal tone even softens the strong sunlight.The rear window was covered with a white gauze curtain. Seeing this car, Yasuko felt familiar.Although I can't remember clearly, but it does look familiar.She stopped the Akita dog that was rushing forward. Since it was a walk, no one would be surprised if it stopped and stopped.Passing by the car, she knew she was impolite, but she couldn't help but cast her gaze into the car, there was no one in the car.There is a word on the car body——Chrysler, which is long and thin, shining brightly. She looked towards the mansion in front of the car, the white fence continued to the deep foyer, and square stone slabs were laid from the courtyard gate to the foyer.The house is not very big, small and exquisite.The house is quite old so it doesn't quite match the white picket fence.Look at the new fence, it may have been newly built according to the hobby of the current homeowner. Taizi walked through the courtyard gate and looked back at the car, thinking he had seen this car before.I don't have a white plate number in my memory.Yasuko was dragged forward by the Akita dog and came to the side of the high slope.On one side is a small school, and on the other side is a row of luxury houses.It was time to go downhill at the end, and she returned to her neighborhood.At this moment, Taizi was startled suddenly, and almost let go of the rope. She remembered—the imported car was exactly the same as the one she saw when she came out of school four or five days ago.It was next to the safety island of the station. At that time, Yanchuan was standing there waiting for the train.The blue car passed behind with a soft motor sound, and came to an abrupt stop beside the safety island.At that time, Yanchuan had a brief conversation with the people in the car, and she shook her head.So the car glides forward.Yes, that sedan, no wonder it felt familiar. The car was parked in front of such a residence, Yasuko suddenly felt curious.Because the people in that car seemed to have some kind of relationship with Yanchuan, and it must be a very close relationship.At that time, Shiokawa had an unusual expression and refused to take the car. Taizi entered the house and hurriedly asked his mother.I was asking about a house surrounded by a white fence on the top of the slope. "How should I say it?" Mother also knew about the house, but she tilted her head wonderingly. "The house seems to have changed owners. There are only two young and fashionable women and the nanny." "Oh. What kind of person?" "I don't know. Why do you ask this?" "Ah, just ask." Taizi casually stopped talking. "Mother, I'm hungry, eat." Nobuko Shiokawa continued to prepare for her graduation thesis.On Sunday, she plans to spend the whole day at home looking up materials.Last Sunday, I went to associate professor Asano's house to listen to a lot of suggestions, and the information was collected according to the guidance of the associate professor. There is a cool window on the north side, and she opened the chic window wide to let the outdoor breeze blow into the house.According to her preference, cherry tree material is used for the floor.There are tables and chairs.There are only eight western-style rooms, but the surroundings are made of bookshelves to the top, filled with books.However, there are also many dolls decorated in the gaps in the scattered books. Nobuko is reading the original reference book.The enthusiastic associate professor helped her borrow it from the school library, but there were other reference books to read.Persevering by nature, she took notes while reading.It was four o'clock in the afternoon and the sun was shining brightly.The neighborhood is very quiet and peaceful, so the home is also very quiet.Occasionally there was a sound from the back room, it was the babysitter working. The land was the property of her husband's late father.On a ground of 1,500 to 600 square meters, the husband built a house of 300 square meters.Originally, the husband's late father had an old house, but the husband demolished it and designed a new house according to his wishes.Mainly Western-style rooms, with some Japanese-style rooms attached.Her husband is the executive and general affairs officer of Toto Mutual Bank, and he is only thirty-five years old. The reason why he is a director and general affairs officer at such a young age is because his father was the founder of the bank.That was back in the days when it was called Tohto Hentai Co., Ltd. Speaking of Hiromichi Shiokawa, he was the person who led the company to prosperity.After changing the name to Mutual Bank, he still served as the president for several years.It has been five years since Hongzhi was promoted to his current position.After being a famous family, his work ability should be said to be quite strong - the external evaluation is very high. My husband is not at home today.Yesterday Saturday, he said that he would go to Kawana to play golf in the afternoon, but he has not come back yet.However, it is not uncommon for the husband to live outside.I used to find some excuses to prevaricate Xinzi, but this year, the hostess stopped saying hello, and they didn't explain the reason when they came back.When a wife realizes something, she takes it for granted. Nobuko was a little tired, so she looked out the window, and the pool water reflected the dazzling light.This pool of water was also designed in a Western style according to my husband's preference.There is a flower bed on the front, which is full of lawns.At the end was a tennis court-style chain-link fence, and two men in white shirts walked across the fence.Over there is another big mansion with lush vegetation like a forest.The strong sun has begun to weaken its power. A bell rang in the hall, as if a visitor had arrived.It won't be looking for yourself.But will the husband come back today? "Ma'am, Mr. Inogawa is here." The babysitter, Aoki Sumiko, came over to send a message.Inogawa is her husband's driver. "Oh." Nobuko put down her pencil and went to the corridor. In the spacious parking gallery in front of the door, the driver Inogawa stood, his skin at the open collar of his shirt was tanned.This is a young man in his twenties or thirties, with sweat dripping from his forehead when he took off his hat.He held golf equipment in one hand and a bag in the other. "Ma'am." Inogawa greeted with a bow. "The executive asked me to bring these back." Inogawa put the two big bundles on the side of the table. "Oh. Thank you." Nobuko didn't ask where her husband was. "Also..." the driver said in disbelief. "The executive asked me to help him get his suit." "Oh? Which one do you want?" "Anything will do. The light gray summer dress I ordered a few days ago." "Got it. Wait a minute." "As ordered." Nobuko went straight up to the second floor.Adjacent to the husband's big study is a room dedicated to storing his belongings, with two cabinets lined up.In the new cabinet is her husband's new suit. Nobuko took the suit from the hanger, folded it, and wrapped it in the furoshiki brought by the driver.Sweatshirt pants and socks were sent back.I don't know why my husband asked the driver to come back to get a change of clothes.She added a shirt that had just arrived from the laundry and a bow tie that she had been using lately.Then, thinking my husband would be sweating, I packed some underwear, although the driver didn't mention it.She knew where her husband would change into those underwear and suits, but she didn't care. "Thank you." She handed the burden to Inogawa.The other party took it solemnly, raised his eyes to glance at Xinzi, and bowed respectfully.At that moment, sympathy flashed in the driver's eyes.