Chapter 3 third quarter

From Chidorigafuchi's side passage, the taxi crossed Yasukuni Avenue and headed for Suginami District along Ome Street. "After that traffic light, can you stop at the right turn?" "Okay, right of the signal light, got it." Wu Ze and Lao Tie got off the taxi about 200 meters away from the apartment, and walked slowly side by side along the small road in the residential area where there were no people.The petals of the cherry blossoms flying from an unknown park are being chased by the spring wind and whirling around my feet.Looking closer, the petals of the cherry blossoms unexpectedly have a strong peach color.When viewed from a distance, it is clearly white.Wu Ze thought it was another kind, but when he got closer, it was still peachy, which was very strange.

"Old Wu, why don't you let the car drive to the door every time?" "Caution is the boat." "Watch out for what?" "a lot of." Wu Ze was too lazy to explain in detail. "Old Wu, how about eating ramen? It's past lunch time and I'm hungry." "Oh, it's good to eat noodles." The two quickly turned around, changed directions, and walked towards the Chinese restaurant they often go to. It was probably because it was past noon and it was not evening yet, so the time was running high and low, and there was not a single guest in the Dolphin Pavilion.Wu Ze and Lao Tie each ordered a glass of wine and a large bowl of soy sauce noodles.

The taste and price of Tobu-tei are average, the table is sticky, the bib worn by the owner is also dirty, he is fat, and his attitude is cold, it is completely like a ramen stand.However, Takezawa likes this kind of atmosphere very much, and the way of pouring Japanese sake from a glass also suits his appetite. "By the way, Lao Wu, do you cook by yourself?" "Do it. I'm good at fried rice." "But I haven't seen you cooking once." "If you cook, don't you even have to cook your share? That's too troublesome, so let's eat out every day. Or just buy a box lunch."

"Ah, let's do it together next time, even for dinner today." "No. That's what gays do." "Old Wu, have you never planned to remarry?" "Awaited." The owner brought two glasses of wine. "No." "It's a pity that I have a star face." "Is there something wrong with your eyes?" "It's not that old." "One year younger than Toshihiko Tahara." "Six years younger than Yoshisuke Kuwata." "Oh, you are still young." "Right." As if holding something respectfully, Lao Tie raised his glass with both hands and took a sip. "Good wine!" He sighed from the bottom of his heart.

It was twelve years ago that Wu Ze's wife died of visceral cancer.Then seven years ago, his only daughter, Sha Dai, also died—he had told Lao Tie little by little about these things in the past three and a half months, but right now, in this place, he still didn’t feel like talking about his wife and daughter. So Wu Ze didn't answer, took a sip of wine without words, twisted his neck, and deliberately yawned heavily. "Talk about yourself now and then—what's wrong with your wife?" Wu Ze was talking about Lao Tie's dead wife. In the corner of the apartment room, Lao Tie would stare at Alare's cup from time to time.Wu Ze hasn't asked anything so far because he doesn't like to mention such gloomy topics.But at a time when such a successful business is being toasted, such topics should not make the atmosphere too gloomy.Wu Ze thought so in his heart, and asked tentatively.

Lao Tie looked up at Wu Ze.In such a blink of an eye, the expression on his face has become the same as when he was staring at Alare's cup.It's over, Wu Ze thought. "That's a bit dull to say, isn't it okay?" Lao Tie himself confirmed it, but Wu Ze couldn't say no, so he nodded silently.In retrospect, the phrase "a bit dull" is also a rather strange wording. The old iron is talking about such a past. "The name of my deceased wife is Eili. Like me, she has no relatives. When we were both twenty-five years old, we met in my own shop—" Eili seems to be the customer who came to ask Lao Tie to help unlock the door shortly after the lock repair shop opened.It was a rainy day.She told Lao Tie that the door of the apartment could not be opened and she could not enter the room.

"It's not the glue you poured again, is it?" "I didn't. She lost the key herself." Eili is a beautiful woman, Lao Tie said like sleepwalking.He seemed to fall in love with her at first sight.The old iron has never been in love before.Except when doing business, I basically never talked to women.For him, a woman is at best a dead mother, or a grandma who died earlier, or an actress on TV or in a magazine.He seems to particularly like Yoko Minano. "When the lock was unlocked and she was finally able to enter the room—I worked up the courage to speak to her. It was the first time in my life that I spoke to a woman."

"What did you say?" "Where do you live." Fool.Mingming helped her open the door, where else could she live? But what is unbelievable is that, according to Lao Tie, after that, the two of them were no longer restrained by strangers, and slowly started dating. Soon after, she went through the transfer procedures, moved out of the apartment, and went to the store to join him live. "I lived a happy life... every day is very happy." Lao Tie said so.but-- "Awaited." The owner brought up two large bowls of soy sauce noodles.Wu Ze and Lao Tie each broke apart a pair of chopsticks.

"From a certain point on, Eili—hiss—seems to have regretted it." "Regret—hiss—what?" "All—hiss—probably." While eating the noodles, Lao Tie continued talking. From the tenth year of marriage, Lao Tie found that his wife would often stare into the distance in a daze.Lao Tie thinks this is because Eri is not satisfied with the day-to-day work of repairing locks, which can only maintain a basic life, so he tries to maintain a happy appearance, and once patted his chest and said, don't worry about the future life .However, the reality is far crueler than Lao Tie imagined. No matter how much time passes, the business situation of the store is still very difficult.On such a day, my wife took the initiative to explain the reason why she was often in a daze.That is also a reality that is far more cruel than what Lao Tie imagined.

"It's because she has someone she likes." Wu Ze stared into Lao Tie's eyes for a while, speechless. Then he lowered his head and fiddled with the bean sprouts with chopsticks. The wife did not elaborate on the situation of that person.In short, there is a stable job, the type of intellectuals.In other words, just the opposite of the old iron. "It seems that my wife was accosted when she was handing out leaflets by herself. Although she knew it was bad, she still went to tryst from time to time. When I was busy in the store." It is said that in the end the wife asked for a divorce full of guilt.But the old iron begged more apologetically.Please don't leave no matter what, the old iron said. ——Then, there was no conclusion, and the ambiguous and cloudy days continued day after day.The wife continues to work in the store as before.The old iron is also working hard.Whenever his wife goes out to send out leaflets or because of family affairs, Lao Tie works especially hard.In order not to lose out to intellectuals he had never met, he even bought an English dictionary in a second-hand bookstore and secretly recited words.

What a stupid man. "Thinking about it now, even at that time, I am very happy. Because Eri is by my side." One day, my wife went out to send out leaflets and did not come back.Did not come back the next day.Neither did the third day.It was already two weeks later when Lao Tie saw her again.It is said that it was close to the end of the year at that time, and it seemed to be a cold rainy evening. "She was dressed the same as when she left, drenched like a drenched chicken. Then, she told me that she broke up with the man." unexpected development. "Ah, you're back. Then—do you still accept her?" "Of course. It's my wife." Lao Tie and his wife are said to have started all over again. Lao Tie didn't ask anything about the detailed experiences of his wife and that man.The two of them organized the tools, books, etc. in the store neatly, without spending a penny, and the store looked brand new.Then it begged the parts supplier to lower the purchase price.I don’t rest on rest days, go to nearby apartment houses and knock on the door, hand the leaflets to each household, and say hello to each household.Slowly, these efforts began to bear fruit.The commissions for work have gradually increased, signs of profitability are beginning to appear, and there are more conversations between husband and wife.There are often times when we look at each other and smile knowingly—the wife behaves abnormally during this period. First of all, I ate very little, couldn't keep quiet, and kept looking at the corners of the room, but there was nothing there.At night, he would suddenly jump up, tear off the quilt on his body, say that there were bugs, and then start scratching. "Hey, old man, that's—" "I know." Lao Tie stopped Wu Ze's words.Picking up a bean sprout with chopsticks, staring at the water vapor on it, said: "Drugs." Lao Tie didn't eat the bean sprouts and put them back into the soup. "Appears to be used while doing something. Grind up the tablet." "Your wife... said so?" The old man nodded. "At first it was passive, but later it became addicted, and from a certain time I begged to use it myself. It seems." Wu Ze couldn't believe his ears.He wasn't surprised by what Lao Tie's wife did.In today's era, it is not uncommon for an affair partner met on the street to have drugs or something, and it is only natural to develop drug dependence after using them.What Wu Ze couldn't believe was that Lao Tie's wife would tell such a thing honestly.What is she trying to do?For a husband who wants to start a relationship again, why should he confess to such an extent.The relationship with drugs is because of sex - does it need to be so clear?For Wu Ze, who relies on deceiving people to eat, this is really incomprehensible. There are indeed many men and women who like to use drugs during sexual intercourse.Wu Ze remembered that a friend in the past once boasted and said something like this: - that girl is crazy - Drugs can be absorbed from the mucous membranes throughout the body.Mouth, nose, genitals, anus, anywhere.And when the drug circulates in the body, the level of sexual pleasure far exceeds that of ordinary sexual intercourse.Although the police tried their best to deny this, but no matter how they denied it, the facts were facts after all. "Also confessed another thing." The old iron continued. "She borrowed money. Lots and lots." The wife gave the man a lot of money in order to get drugs.The money seemed to be borrowed from consumer finance on the street.First one consumer finance, then two, then three— "The last is usury." Hearing this, Wu Ze couldn't help opening his mouth. "Are you the same?" "Yes, it's the same. It's the same as you, Lao Wu." Wu Ze once told Lao Tie that he had suffered from usury in the past. "How much did you borrow?" "When I heard from my wife, including interest, it was more than five million." Wu Ze repeated deep in his throat.five million.Not the five million of the rich, but the five million of the young couple who live in poverty every day and have no relatives.This is an unbearable burden.And, every day, every day, this burden increases with terrifying momentum. "Old Wu, you know, those guys—the loan sharks, are very good at acting. For those who only want to borrow half a million at first, they will say, 'In your situation, it's okay to borrow eight hundred thousand', Just stuff the money in. Then according to the specific situation of the loan, the interest will vary from 30% to 50%. This is based on ten days. If you borrow 200,000 and want to pay it back in two months, even if it is Calculated at 30% interest, plus the interest will be close to one million. If calculated at 50% interest, it will exceed two million. Sigh, although it is really stupid to go to these usurers to borrow money, they are too greedy Already, isn’t it Lao Wu?” Wu Ze couldn't say anything, but nodded silently. "My wife asked me to divorce her. She said, I can't let me bear this burden. But I firmly disagree. Because I like her. Alas, although it seems that she came back from doing some inexplicable things outside, but no matter what Say I still like her. I want to live with her." "Have you discussed it with someone?" No, the old man shrugged. "After watching TV, I knew that things like loan sharks were illegal, but at that time, neither I nor my wife knew that the interest written in the contract was illegal. We always thought that we were borrowing money No—speaking of it, I am indeed wrong.” "What happened to the borrowed money?" Lao Tie was silent for a while before answering: "I have paid them all back." Hearing this, Wu Ze was taken aback. "But where did you get all that money?" Work hard, pay back bit by bit?However, it is impossible to "pay back little by little" the money borrowed from usury. "Did you pay it that way? Locks and glue?" No, Lao Tie smiled slightly. "Debt sorter, do you know?" "Ah...Of course. Then you went to find a debt collector?" "Yes." Old Tie shrugged, "I found it." The so-called debt consolidation is also one of the means of fraud.Target people struggling with multiple debts and grab attention with ads like "Comprehensive Low Interest Solutions."Then as long as someone comes to the door, the illegal high handling fee will be defrauded first.Then, the debt consolidators and co-conspirators' lawyers patted their chests and said, "Leave it all to me," and began so-called "debt consolidation," whereby debtors settle creditors for ridiculously high sums.Because interest is stopped when a settlement is reached, the debtor is finally able to "pay it off little by little," but when you calm down and assess the repayment amount, you will find that the increase compared to before the debt collector stepped in is often horrific.Many times, the usurer and the debt collector are always on the same side. "I can't remember the appearance of the debt arranger, but anyway, his tone is very kind, and he talks eloquently." "Then, the two of you are working while paying back the money slowly?" The old iron still shook his head this time. "At the beginning, I worked hard. Although it was small, I still worked hard to pay it back. But in the end, I paid it all at once." "Return it all at once? How did you return it?" "Wife's life insurance." Old Tie took a long sip of his wine and said in an unaffected voice. "The borrowed money is already overwhelming, and my wife is determined not to cancel the life insurance contract. It was the insurance purchased when I got married. I have told her many times, but I refuse to cancel the contract. No matter how much I beg her, she just refuses to cancel the contract. Nodding——Thinking about it now, I probably already had some kind of premonition. Insurance will be used in the end.” "Suicide?" "I went out to pick the lock, and when I came back, I hanged myself." Both were silent. "Didn't you call the police or anything?" Although it was a difficult question to ask, Wu Ze still asked tentatively.The old iron shook his head ambiguously. "It's no use anyway. Call the police or something." Not knowing what to say, Wu Ze lowered his head and stared at the soy sauce noodles.The noodles are basically not moving, and there is no heat left. With a "huh", Wu Ze sighed and dropped his chopsticks. "It's fine if you don't ask." "Sorry." Lao Tie shook his head, as if he wanted to drop his chopsticks.But after hesitating for a while, he continued to eat. "Locked the door of the bathroom and hanged himself in it. Man, it's just gone." Does the old iron live in front of those door locks every day? The moment he touched his wife's pale face and felt the cold touch on his dirty fingers, his vision was instantly blurred. I still can't forget that scene, Lao Tie said.