Chapter 14 6

Hey, what do you think is the meaning of life? When I was in high school, a classmate always liked to talk about such philosophical questions.He is a short winter melon who can only read and wears glasses. If you know the answer, you don't have to live. I don't take his problem seriously at all, and always treat him perfunctorily like this.Of course, I don't really think so, I just think it's cool to answer like this.In the past few days, Masahiko thought to himself, he really should have thought more seriously at that time.Ever since I moved to this small town, or to be more precise, since I knew the true function of that iron pillar, I began to think about the answer to this question unconsciously.

What is the purpose of my life? Will I also use that iron pillar one day?Or is that day never coming? Whatever the answer is, I really want to know. The short winter melon classmate who wears glasses was admitted to a specialized school for social services after graduating from high school.I heard that I am currently working as a professional nurse.This should be the way of living faithful to his personal answer. If he lived in this small town, would he use that iron post someday?If there is such a day, it must be the moment when he completes some kind of mission, right? Mr. Muto, may I interrupt you for a few minutes?

Yahiko raised his head upon hearing this.The director sitting at the desk next door was looking at him with his usual steady smile on his face.Every time I see this smile, Masahiko will think of the appearance of Buddha. It's not even lunch break, but I wanted to save you a little time. The female staff in the office stopped working and stared at the director.The staff of the sales department had already left. The director put the large bag at his feet on the table, and looked around the office shyly. Has the book been published, director?asked the middle-aged female employee who was the manager.

exactly. The director took out a stack of hardcover books from the bag and put them on the table.The female staff rushed forward to get it. Wow, what a beautiful book! Everyone take home a copy. Zhihui handed one of them to Masahiko.The title of the book is written on the white cover: A Study of Clouds. I have always regarded cloud research as a hobby, and this time I finally compiled the research results of many years into a book.The director's tone sounded as if he was proud of his grandson.Because I published it at my own expense, I spent all my property. Looking at the director's smile, Masahiko felt suddenly enlightened.No wonder I always felt that he had the temperament of a scholar, so it turned out that he was really a scholar.However, cloud research is really unpopular.

I don't think you are interested in it, but just treat it as a pastime, and let each of you take a copy home. Thanks. After the female staff thanked each other, they returned to their seats with a copy in hand.At this time, the clock on the wall just chimed twelve o'clock at noon, and the lunch break began. The director and the deputy director, today everyone is going to have lunch at that store last time, do you want to go together? The so-called last restaurant refers to the Italian restaurant that just opened not long ago. It is a beautiful restaurant decorated in white, and it has become a topic of discussion among the female staff before it is completed.

Compared with Jiujiuli Town, this place is relatively urbanized, but its unconventional appearance is still very abrupt, and the boss's taste is fully revealed, which makes people feel a bit arrogant.I'm afraid it won't be long. No, I brought a bento, please go ahead. After Masahiko finished speaking, the director also shook his hand. Then we go. The female staff came out of the office happily.The office was suddenly silent. Cloud research is really romantic. Unexpectedly, only myself and the director were left in the whole office.This is the first time this has happened since taking office.Masahiko tried his best to find a topic, and at the same time picked up "The Study of Clouds".

Where, what a shame.I have liked to look at the sky since I was a child, and I liked it more and more, and then I started to study clouds.But that's just layman's opinion.said the director excitedly. Masahiko had never seen him show such an expression. Originally, I was interested in meteorological reports, but later turned to cloud research.Clouds are really fun, and you won't get bored watching them for hours. Masahiko really can't understand this realm.Watching clouds for hours on end?What's the fun in that?But maybe this activity is suitable for people with too much time.

Just by looking at the clouds, you can know everything that's going on up in the sky.How much the air pressure rises and how the temperature is distributed in various places can be inferred by observing the shape, height and flow of clouds. I don't quite understand these things, is that really the case? yes.Clouds are the best evidence that the Earth is alive.As long as you observe the clouds, you can know the weather tomorrow and the day after tomorrow even if you don't have a weather map. Although he said it so lightly, it must have years of experience and intuition.It would be a different matter if he was a fisherman, but this knowledge may not be of much use to an office worker who sits in an office all day.

Amazing.When I see a cloud, I can only imagine whether it is shaped like a car or an airplane. But to be honest, since I left the society, I have never leisurely admired the cloud anymore. I have neither the time nor the interest. When I opened the book, I saw a series of difficult articles composed of densely packed words, and difficult technical terms appeared frequently, which were really academic works of this major.Beginners who don't understand anything can't understand it right away.However, the color photos published at the beginning and the middle are really pleasing to the eye.There are all kinds of clouds with explanations.

Are these photos taken by the director? Yes, I took pictures everywhere with a tripod.Shame on poor filming. It's a beautiful shot. Masahiko couldn't comment on the content, but he thought that it was always right to praise the photos, so he carefully appreciated them one by one. Hey, it's not His eyes suddenly stopped on one of the photos, which was the photo with the caption of the streamer cloud, and Masahiko's home appeared in it.To be precise, it was just seeing the roof through the forest, but it was indeed his home.I can see the roof of my house from this angle Ah, that photo was taken on the hill of Mt. Shide.

on the hill?Isn't that Miss Mihashi's grandmother (Where did you hang yourself?) Masahiko really couldn't say the second half of the sentence. But in this way the director already understood his problem, he nodded slightly and said: Well, that's right.But I took this picture a long time ago.I set up the tripod directly in front of that post. The inverted L-shaped iron pillar appeared in Masahiko's mind.The public facility dedicated to hanging is a tool specially provided for townspeople who are satisfied with life to end their own lives. Doesn't the director live in City H?Do you also know about this pillar? I was actually born in Kukuri town.I am ashamed to say that when I was young, I was severed from the relationship between father and son because I did something that discredited my father.Now the eldest brother and younger brother still live in Jiujiuli Town. The director who seems to be very kind does not know what wrong thing he has done to sever the relationship between father and son.He probably has an unknown past. So you also know the function of that pillar? Well, of course.Some relatives actually used it.said the director, and at the same time took out the bento from the bag.Mr. Muto must have been surprised.That custom is so special. of course. After hearing Masahiko's answer, the director laughed twice: You know Ohno-san who is the current president of the town council, right?He was also surprised by this when he first arrived. The president of the Lockers Association? The dark-skinned Ono with a smile on his face appeared before Masahiko's eyes. He is from Tokyo and originally came to the town to be a teacher at the elementary school.He is an outstanding talent from a first-class university.He later married the landlord's daughter and currently runs a small pachinko playground. In other words, the landlord's daughter is the marriage of the high-ranking woman. Well, so to speak. Masahiko's unadorned words made the director smile wryly. The only nearby small steel ball playground is the one next to the video rental store, which turned out to be opened by the president of the town council.From an elementary school teacher to the owner of a small pachinko playground, the fields of the two are completely different, but it is not impossible to be the daughter of a rich family. However, I heard that he completely handed over the operation of the store to others, and he didn't ask about it.I heard that he is now mainly busy with the work of the president of the Lockers Association. Maybe so, Yahiko thought.This small town has to ask the chairman of the town council for everything, he must be very busy. Unless he loves the town deeply, he will definitely not be able to do so. He is the most trusted person in the town. Even if he becomes the mayor of the town in the future, it will not be surprising. Oh, the mayor. After listening to the director's words, Masahiko finally understood.Perhaps the chairman of the town council is running around for the townspeople because he intends to compete for the head of the lock.If you think about it this way, you can understand why he is so enthusiastic about public welfare. The mayor of Jiujiuli Town has been held by people from the same family for generations, and he is not from the town, so running for the election may inevitably be a hard fight. The director then told Yayan about the inside story of Jiujiuli Town that Yayan didn't know about.Which family is the big house and which family is the side house, these things are commonplace in rural Japan, even in modern society. (Really, this kind of thing is not surprising at all.) In places like companies and small towns, as long as people gather, power struggles are inevitable.The more Masahiko listened, the more bored she became.While eating the bento prepared by Akiko for his beloved wife, he listened to the director nagging in his ear.Although it has nothing to do with me, but thinking about it the other way around, since I live in this small town, it doesn't hurt to know more about this kind of news. By the way, are there many people using that pillar? When the director's words came to an end, Masahiko hurriedly interrupted and asked.Compared with the inside information of Jiujiuli Town, he is much more interested in this topic. How many people is too many?So I can't say for certain.But in the past, there would probably be one or two people a year, but recently I don't know. This figure is quite interesting.In such a small town, two a year should be too much, Masahiko thought. Anyway, I'm not in favor of contented death at all. The director picked up the new book he was proud of, and touched the cover emotionally. Satisfied to die.This unfamiliar word echoed in his mind strangely.It turns out there is such a saying. In fact, I am very satisfied now, but I don't want to accept the care of that pillar at all.Because human desires are endless.Today's achievements are formed due to the hard work in the past, and at the same time, further desires are born. That's how things are.After achieving one goal, it is natural to want to challenge the next goal.As long as you repeat this way of life over and over again, you won't want to die of contentment.The purpose of human life should change over time. Masahiko regrets that he didn't have a good chat with the director before, and feels that this is the first time he has met someone with normal thinking after moving to Jiukuri Town.At least compared to those who drank and made noise at the wake feast of Zhihui's grandmother, the director's mind can be said to be much more normal. However, although I do not agree, I can understand it.The director said with a lonely expression while eating the bento.If I clearly realize that tomorrow will be less fortunate than today, so I choose to die contentedly, I can understand this feeling. Clearly realize that tomorrow will be less fortunate than today I don't know how to say it more properly.Take Ms. Mihashi's grandmother as an example. Although the symptoms are not obvious, she has been sick for a long time.Although it is unavoidable at such an age, the diseases caused by aging cannot be cured, at most they can only delay the rate of deterioration.In terms of physical condition alone, tomorrow will indeed be unluckier than today, and it will only get worse in the future. The figure of an old woman hanging under the iron pillar appeared before Masahiko's eyes.In order to avoid the unsightly appearance of death, he deliberately put on heavy makeup on his face, and even sprayed strong perfume on his body.At the pinnacle of happiness, she chose death. If you think about it this way, you can understand the feeling of being satisfied with death. But aren't all people like this?Anyone can grow old. You are right, people have a limited lifespan, and everyone is equal.That's why you need to choose.Whether to end life in a moment of deep satisfaction, or to let the glory gradually fade and live in peace, if it is up to one's choice, it is not bad. I understand that, but Masahiko tried to express his disapproving thoughts, but couldn't grasp the point. After all, everyone's personality is different. The director suddenly laughed, intending to end the conversation with this sentence.He turned again to the toil of making books. (No, it's not like that. It doesn't seem to be) Masahiko still had an uncomfortable feeling in his heart, like being stabbed by an invisible thorn, it was really uncomfortable. But he didn't know how to express it in words.