Chapter 7 after the flowers wither

1 Rhododendrons are always embarrassing when they bloom. Sometimes the weather is sunny but it is bitingly cold, and sometimes the sun is hidden in the clouds but it is very hot. It is always difficult to judge whether to wear long sleeves or short sleeves, or whether to wear a jacket.There are many days when the weather is cloudy and cloudy. Should I go out with an umbrella or try my luck empty-handed? I often stand at the door of my house and look up at the sky, always worrying for a long time. I was wrong again today.When I left home, the clouds seemed to be about to rain, and the temperature was also very low. Unexpectedly, within an hour of taking the tram, the sky was already cloudless, and the black umbrella and coat suddenly became burdens in my hands.When the rhododendrons are in bloom, that's it.

When I walked from the nearest station to the hospital, my forehead was already sweating slightly.Several inpatients were smoking around the ashtray near the entrance. I couldn't help but reflexively looked for Guiming, but I didn't see his duck-like face.After a while, I remembered that he had mentioned that he had quit smoking a long time ago. (This hospital is really old.) As I thought to myself, I walked through the glass door of the entrance, and there was another door in front of it. Although it was an automatic door, it seemed to be old. It seemed to be stuck in the middle of the door, and it opened only after it creaked strangely.Maybe there is a foreign object caught on the track, but just such a small thing seems to have shaken my trust in this hospital.

(If you want to be hospitalized, you can find a better place!) I walked into the hall while thinking, and unexpectedly there were a large number of patients waiting for diagnosis and treatment.Maybe the doctors here have a good reputation, but maybe it's because of the geographical relationship, most of them are elderly people. I remembered that Gui Ming said that he lived in Room 302, so I took the elevator up to the third floor.Hospital elevators are made extra deep to carry patients on trundle beds, and the buttons are the old-fashioned type with raised buttons.Surrounded by stainless steel, the elevator seems to be filled with cold air.

When I arrived at the third floor, I went to Ward No. 2 according to the indicators, but I didn't see Guiming's name at the door.I asked the sensual nurse passing by, and she hurried forward and took me to the sixth ward at the end of the corridor.Perhaps it was for ventilation, but the door of the ward was open, and the curtain hanging beside the bed was shaking. I poked my head around and saw that there was a bed in the center of the five-square-meter room. Gui Ming, who was wearing light-colored pajamas, was sitting up from the backlight.The boring TV sound came from noon, but he didn't watch the TV but looked at the window instead.

Gui Ming. When I yelled, he suddenly turned his face away, but it was still against the light, and he couldn't see the expression on his face clearly. Hi, Ah Xin, you are here!Stupid, the weather is so good and you still have an umbrella. Didn't you call me here, kid? Don't worry about my umbrella. After seeing clearly that there was no one else in the room except him, I also said in a foolish tone.We've known each other since elementary school, so when you talk to him you always turn back into a kid. I didn't hear that you live in a single room, so I went to the second ward at first.

I deliberately and discreetly placed the condolences I had brought at the foot of his bed.All he asked for was a box of mixed biscuits from a famous patisserie. He had been cut off from the stomach, but he said it would please the children. In fact, it was because the guy in the next bed was snoring too loudly. I complained to the nurse that I couldn't sleep because of the noise. They said that this room was available and they changed it for me.Of course there is no need to make up the difference. Then you've earned it. Is that man's snoring really that serious? It was so scary that the glass was shaken.

Hahaha, come on, you brat.It's true you're still the same. I laughed and sat down on the chair next to the bed to be honest, at this moment, I began to feel unspeakably uneasy.Although the voice was still Miyamoto Takaaki as before, his face was thin and sunken, his eyebrows and hair became thinner, and his appearance looked like a different person.I've never seen him so thin. Received his news on the night of a week ago.As the saying goes, no news is good news, so we haven't contacted each other for more than a year, and he rarely called today: In fact, I had a stomach ulcer and had my stomach removed.

At that time, his voice was cheerful and powerful, and he didn't feel the seriousness of the problem at all.On the contrary, he seems to think that everyone will be like this after the age of forty-five, and his tone is very relaxed. I'm bored, come and see me!Room 302 of XX Hospital in Arakawa.Of course, don't bring two bunches of bananas empty-handed. He still didn't ask us if it was convenient for us, but hung up the phone after asking for condolences one-sidedly.I held the microphone and smiled wryly, hearing that he was hospitalized as a brother (yes, my childhood playmates who have known each other for more than 35 years are equivalent to brothers), after all, it was impossible to ignore him.But I couldn't get away from work and couldn't visit until today.

The explanation he made on the phone convinced me to believe it was true. I thought that his condition was not serious, and actually saw his thin appearance. I had to wonder if I was fooled by him again.Yes, he always lied without changing his face. You said on the phone that it’s okay, so it’s not serious, right? After talking about our respective families and mutual friends, I finally cut to the chase.It is possible to do so also because we are like brothers. No, it really doesn't matter, I think, and I'll be out of the hospital soon. Oh, is it? I answered Gui Ming's words in this way, but looking at the blood vessels emerging from the back of his hand, I still felt that he was too thin.I heard that he was hospitalized about three weeks ago, so in such a short period of time, would he be so thin?

For the sake of prudence, I must first declare that there is no need to see each other between you and me. I said this emphatically, and after he was silent for a while, he finally scratched his head and confessed. It's nerve-wracking, I really can't handle you, Ah Xin. Sure enough, as I expected, he had a severe cancer, and the cancer cells were said to have metastasized to many places.The reason for moving from a large ward to a single room is also because of the need for treatment.The patient next door was snoring too loudly, it was his usual lie. Why don't you say such a big thing?

I don't want you to worry.Because although you are bold but small, if you still worry about me, I'm afraid you will fall ill yourself. Who wants your dick, brat. I didn't want him to notice my panic, so I deliberately said it in a rough tone, but I also knew that my voice was hoarse halfway through. So, what's going on now?what did the doctor say? It's not that the future is completely hopeless.The doctor said that as long as the metastatic lesions are completely removed, there is full hope. Yeah? As I nodded, I thought to myself that this might be another lie.After all, his nickname in elementary school was Braggart, who was known for lying at every turn.And it was an unnecessary lie, the kind that would be exposed immediately. However, I don't want to expose that lie.Rather, I hope this lie is reliable.This kind of place is probably the reason why he said I was timid! Hey, after living for forty-six years, it is inevitable that there will always be various things. Guiming stretched himself on the hospital bed, and said in an irrelevant tone.I don't dislike his strong nerves. That's easy for you to say.Even for the sake of Haozi and Dahui, you have to treat well. Haozi is his wife who is five years younger than Guiming, and Dahui is his eldest son who has just entered middle school.There is also a daughter, Hui Lixiang, who is in elementary school. Perhaps influenced by Guiming, everyone in his family has a cheerful and open personality. By the way, I almost forgot the important thing I just said, you have to help me hide it from my family. As soon as I said it, Gui Ming said as if he remembered it. Haozi and the others don't know about it, do they? Judging from Guiming's temper, the possibility that he deliberately concealed the truth in order not to worry his family cannot be ruled out.Bearing all the problems on his own has been his forte since he was a child!However, he is so skinny now that he looks like a different person, no matter how docile Haozi is, it is impossible not to notice the strangeness. Speaking of which, it's just the opposite. Hearing my question, Guiming leaned forward and answered with bright eyes. exactly the opposite?What does it mean? Hiroko and the others are very aware of my illness.But they thought I didn't know. Presumably the doctor had talked with his wife Hiroko when the cause was first discovered!At that time, it seemed that there was a discussion about whether to inform the patient, but Haozi seemed to choose not to tell Guiming.Of course, that should be a decision she made for her husband's sake. How did you know? He was able to tell me the doctor's opinion not long ago, so he should have talked with the doctor. I can't tell who it is, but I've heard that in this world, after all, there are still various special channels. What Guiming said made people seem to understand.In other words, what he meant was probably a doctor or a nurse who disclosed it to the patient without telling the family members! (Exactly that bastard?) I felt strangely indignant at that unknown figure.Presumably medical personnel, but they should be obliged to keep confidentiality.Maybe it was Guiming who begged, but it shouldn't be such an important thing to reveal. Ah Xin, don't put on that face.Thanks to it, I am very happy now. Seeing that I was silent, Gui Ming said this as if to please me. I pretended to be ignorant and watched with cold eyes. I could see clearly that everyone was trying their best to hide it from me.In fact, it is definitely easier to say everything, I deeply feel, ah, it turns out that everyone is so considerate of me!Hey, it's really a bit of a bad intention to say it is bad. After being told by him, I have nothing to say.Because I know he grew up in an unhappy family. Instead, I'd rather continue being lied to.So don't tell Haozi they already know. I really don't want to promise him such an important thing, but the situation does not allow me to refuse.This guy is really giving me trouble all the time. Well, I get it. But, it's better for you to tell Haozi the truth as soon as possible.I think she must be under a lot of pressure. Well I know this. As Guiming said, he stroked his slightly bearded cheeks and smiled seeing his smiling face. For no reason, I suddenly felt that this might be the last time I saw him. Hey, you must be cured!Are we only forty-six?There is still a lot of fun to come! Hearing what I said, he smiled and gave a thumbs up. 2 Thinking about it carefully, my relationship with Guiming should be called Nieyuan full of emotion. When I was in the second grade of elementary school, I moved from another prefecture to the Toei Community in Adachi Ward, Tokyo. On the second day after moving here, the duck-faced boy who talked to me in a nearby park was Takaaki. Hello, did you move here yesterday?I live on the second floor of the same building.Please advise. At that time, he already had a cheerful and generous personality, and he liked to chatter at every turn.For me who felt helpless when I came to a strange place, it was a rescuer. To commemorate the two of us becoming friends, let me tell you a funny story. Last time, someone committed suicide by jumping from the apartment building! I don't know what's interesting about that, anyway, I happily got on the back seat of his bicycle and went to that apartment with him.Children are mostly curious and love to join in the fun. You see, that woman jumped from the thirteenth floor here. It was a rare high-rise apartment at that time. Under his leadership, I walked around to the back and saw that there was indeed a bouquet of flowers in mourning at the corner of the bicycle parking lot connected to the building. In fact, I saw the suicide scene with my own eyes! Guiming looked at the bouquet of flowers and whispered. It was a forty-year-old aunt who jumped down, and that person landed feet first.As a result, two legs were broken, the bones were poked out, and I was dragged for a hundred meters. Calling an ambulance by myself seemed extremely painful. That scene made me faint just by imagining it, and Gui Ming also showed me the realistic acting simulation of the situation at that time, which made the fear even more multiplied.Thinking about it carefully, imitating the dead at the scene of suicide can only be said to be extremely stupid, but Gui Ming is such a person. At this time, the bicycle parked nearby suddenly fell down.That car only had a tripod on one side, so it must have been easy to fall over, but the timing was so perfect that it only seemed to me to be the protest of the ghost. I couldn't help but screamed and ran away, and Gui Ming chased after me with tears in his eyes.Then he was tripped by a nearby tricycle, and his knees and elbows bled profusely. It was a tragedy. That's definitely cursed I believe so strongly.Later, his account was found to be quite suspicious.I told the story he described to my sister, who was two years older than me. My sister checked with her new friends, and it turned out that it was a young man who committed suicide by jumping off a building, and he barely shed any blood. I heard so. I used my sister's narrative to question Guiming's authenticity, and his statement was easily swayed immediately.Then he said before that he saw the scene with his own eyes, so what happened. As a result, the matter was settled. It didn't take long for me to realize that this kid's problem is bragging at best, and lying at worst. He really is deliberately making up some unnecessary lies. ◇◇◇ For example, seeing a huge cigar-shaped UFO mother ship on the way home from school, and small UFOs flying out of the ship. For example, the eldest brother of a relative's family owns it, and clearly took a picture of the legendary creature, the mallet snake. For example, when he climbed Mount Fuji with his father, he saw the real Invincible Iron King Kong walking. ◇◇◇ Some narratives are so vivid that you can't help but believe them; but most of them are deceptive as soon as you hear them.At first I also wanted to believe him, (doubting friends, isn’t it right?) Later I thought I was listening to a joke from the very beginning.However, friends who couldn't see it that way called him a liar, and finally gave him the indecent nickname of blowhard.But he still didn't change his habit of lying, and for a while he was even excluded by everyone in class. I said you, why do you have to lie?Didn't the teacher also say that lying is bad? I once asked him that.At first, Guiming insisted on saying: I am not lying or at least Ah Xin, you should believe me, and finally finally told the truth quietly: Because that's more fun! This is true, and the cigar-shaped UFO and the mallet snake, as well as the invincible Iron King Kong, must be more interesting to exist.I'd also love to see a real Mighty Man walking hard, but the problem should still lie in claiming to have seen it with my own eyes! Why does Guiming always lie? Once by chance, I asked my mother. If this continues, no one will believe him again. That's right! I remember my mother answering me while packing dinner. Maybe Guiming is still too lonely! Only then did I learn that Guiming's mother disappeared from the world when he was very young.It's always been inconceivable to me that we lived in the same apartment and never met his mother, but I was too embarrassed to ask, so I never asked him.My mother, through her community network of housewives, seemed to have known about it for a long time. What happened to the world evaporated? I don't know very well, it seems that I ran away with another man! I think my mother is also very tongue-in-cheek, but it's more stupid to say that I'm with him without realizing it.Just seeing that he is always cheerful, it is impossible to imagine that he is carrying such a sad thing. Of course, you can't say that you can lie just because your mother evaporated. But for a teenager around the age of ten, the fact that his mother abandoned him cannot but be sad.So, if you can relax yourself, as long as you don't belittle others, whether he is bragging or lying, what's the point of letting him go? From then on, no matter how ridiculous Guiming said, I just laughed it off.No, I even found it interesting, asking him and encouraging him to open up. So as far as I know, he's had a whole bunch of unusual experiences: ∮ When I was a child, I fell from the roof of a department store, but landed on the plastic awning at the entrance of the first floor and bounced back to the roof like a ricochet pad: I met the famous star Momoe Yamaguchi while walking in Ginza, and invited him to McDonald's that landed in Japan eats hamburgers.Also, I found a wallet with five million yen in front of the station, and after handing it over to the police, the owner was stingy and didn't give him a thank you gift: When he was riding a bicycle to cross the Ring Seventh Road, a truck ran over with a red light. Using Masked Superman's moves, he even jumped up with the car and people to save his life. # Of course, every one of them can't be true. He must also see me and always listen with a smile, so that he can lie freely as he pleases! So from elementary school to adulthood, I followed his delusions a lot, but he once said: This is the only thing I don't want to be treated as a lie, so I won't even say it in front of you, Ah Xin. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but now I was chatting with the haggard Guiming, and I suddenly remembered that incident. Hey, before I asked you, you said something like that, right? Asked by me, Gui Ming smiled and nodded. Um!I did.If you talk like you usually do, you will definitely think it is a lie.I think it's kind of not worth it. When did that happen? When I went to your apartment in front of the palace to join you, so I should be twenty-one years old!Yes, it has been twenty-five years! Guiming lay on the bed, looking at the ceiling and squinting his eyes. What kind of story is that? hey-hey!That's the secret.Because I still don't want it to be taken as a lie. In the past, I might have changed the topic and stopped asking, but somehow today I feel that it is better to ask clearly.He, who is nicknamed the braggart, actually has the kind of memories that he doesn't want to be treated as a lie. How can my best friend not know. I promise that I will never suspect you of lying, just tell me quickly! Yeah, maybe it's better to say it.After all, only you know Granny Chong. Charge mother-in-law! Unexpected nouns popped up out of nowhere, and I couldn't help but raise my voice.Charge mother-in-law!A little nostalgic, but a little reluctant to think of this person. I always feel that just hearing that name pop up, I don't want to ask anymore. Hey, listen to me!Ah Xin. Gui Ming, who was still reluctant to confide, now sat up and said. 3 An hour later, I headed to the metro station. After hearing Guiming's words, I suddenly wanted to visit the place where I lived when I was a student.It was not far from the hospital where he lived. Back then, I actually lived in this district before Guiming.While I was in college, I really wanted to move out alone, so I found a cheap apartment and moved here.Of course, it is also possible to go to school from home, but for boys who are about to turn 20, they always wish to leave home early. At that time, Guiming was working in a certain restaurant in Ueno. For some reason, when he was 21 years old, he came to live in my apartment for a period of time.We lived together for about ten months, and he liked the atmosphere so much that he later rented an apartment nearby.After that, I started working and moved to other places. Although he moved from time to time, he has always lived in this area. I took the Toden from Machiya Station and got off at Miyamae.A short walk from here toward the shopping street is the apartment I lived in when I was a student. There was no reason to choose this place in the first place.I just found it by looking at intelligence magazines. Looking back now, I feel quite lucky.You can get to the school by taking the Metropolitan Electric Line, and you can also use JR Tabata Station.It's also very close to the affiliated hospital of Women's Medical University (fortunately, I don't have a chance to use it), so you can feel at ease in case anything happens.What's more important is to preserve the alley style of the past, which is in line with my personal preference. It is said that hot springs came out of nearby temples in the early Showa era, so the surrounding area became quite lively.It is the so-called Sanye Land ①, and the sensational murder case Abe Sada ② is said to have happened nearby.Later, the temple's hot springs dried up, and the area became deserted. By the second half of the Showa 50s, when I lived, the lively scenery of the early years was no longer visible.Strictly speaking, it is considered a civilian residential area, but the impression of quietness and calmness is even stronger. ①Tai San Industry Area: A specific area where the three types of industries, geisha houses, restaurants, and tea houses for rent, are allowed to operate. ②Abe Sada Incident: In 1936, a social case in which a maid Abe Sada strangled her lover and cut off her genitals in a tea room in Arakawa District, Tokyo, caused a sensation.Later, in 1976, Nagisa Oshima changed it to the movie "The World of the Senses". (Ah, it's been a long time.) It has been more than 20 years since I left this place, but walking through the alleys according to my memory, I can still feel the passage of time everywhere.Although at first glance it does not look like much has changed, in fact the small place is no longer what it used to be.The ramen shop I used to go to was closed, and although the liquor store where I bought beer was still open, there were almost no products on the shelves.What used to be vacant land has now been built with small apartments, several small factories, and has also been converted into residences. I finally reached the apartment where I used to live, but it has also been turned into a large private residence.Doesn't look new, the apartment must have been demolished a few years after I moved out of the area.It was a small two-story building. At that time, the cement on the outer wall had already cracked, and the iron stairs in the open air were also rusted and mottled. If you insist on looking for traces of the past, the only cement pole in front of the alley still exists. In the past, this was a garbage collection site. When we moved out the things that rushed to my mother-in-law's room, Guiming and I went back and forth between the apartment and the pole.I still remember, for no particular reason, every time we moved something, we would punch the face of a politician on a poster of a certain political party on the telephone pole, playing this silly game. Charge mother-in-law? I stood by the telephone pole and tried to whisper the name.At that moment, her rustling voice seemed to come from somewhere. My residence is on the second floor, the first upstairs, the place closest to the stairs.Granny Charge's room is the last one at the end.In the room between the two, there were students of my age living there at first, but they moved out within a year because they couldn't bear the noise of Chong Chong's mother-in-law.After that, a middle-aged man who looked nice moved in, but I remember that man also moved out after about half a year. Mother-in-law Chong Chong looks about sixty years old on the outside, and she is a skinny woman.Probably because she drank too much wine, her voice was always hoarse like phlegm stuck in her throat. When Gui Ming heard her voice for the first time, he said that her voice sounded like a charging turtle, so he nicknamed her in private.I don't remember her real name anymore, since she got that nickname, there is no need to call her real name, so it shouldn't matter! By the way, the charging little tortoise is the tortoise that played the leading role in the foreign cartoons we watched when we were young③.I don’t remember the exact title and details of the story. In my impression, it seems that the little turtle wears a knight’s hat, carries a Western sword, and travels around accompanied by a fat, floppy puppy for some reason.Although the little tortoise is small, he is very brave. When he grabs the western sword, he always shouts a fixed line first: Go!run again.The person responsible for dubbing the tortoise is an actor with a hoarse voice. ③This refers to the American TV cartoon "Thoche Turtle Dum Dum" (Thoche Turtle Dum Dum). The charging little turtle in the cartoon is a pistachio full of vitality, but the charging mother-in-law is a crazy troublesome character. Usually she is just a silent and seemingly mean woman, but sometimes she suddenly shouts in the middle of the night, knocking down everything in the house and making a big noise.She lives alone and has no family, so there is no one to stop her, and labor police cars come almost every six months. I don't know if she has any illness, but the days of loud noises at two o'clock in the middle of the night are really unbearable.Of course, it's useless even to come to complain, usually we can only wait silently for the storm to pass.Once, the day before an important exam, she had another seizure, and I really wanted to tie her up with a rope. Mother-in-law Chong Chong lived here before I moved here. According to the landlady, she was an ordinary and gentle woman when she first moved here.Although I don't know which line of work to do, I still have work. The small balcony is full of flower pots, and I take care of it very diligently.A year before I moved in, she started to feel wrong gradually, and unconsciously, it is said that she became like that. In fact, I am also quite distressed about Granny Chong.I'm busy working part-time and rarely stay in the residence, and I don't live next door to me, so I can barely bear it, but if I were really rich, I would definitely move out immediately. Guiming came to join me in that apartment almost at the same time as I was in my junior year. As mentioned earlier, he was working in a restaurant in Ueno. He couldn’t get up in the morning and was about to be fired, so he wanted to live closer to Ueno. The woman brought him home to live in, which made him quite embarrassed at home.At that time, I was in a state of chronic lack of money. Of course, I did not object to his willingness to pay half of the rent. Besides, it cannot be ruled out that it was influenced by the youth series "Our Journey" and "Our Morning" that I loved in middle school. Guiming and I are by no means gay, but our cohabitation life is not bad.From time to time, Guiming secretly packs the leftover dishes from the store, which saves me a lot of meal expenses, and the best thing is that I have an extra person to talk to.Students and people in society have different living hours, so they can relatively secure time to spend alone, and it is also convenient to borrow money when necessary.In the end, I ended the cohabitation because I made a girlfriend, but the ten months spent with Guiming must have been one of the golden periods of my life. What embellished that period of life was the existence of Granny Chong. Reporting to each other that the mother-in-law's surprise trip of the charge witnessed while the other was away became one of our entertainments, but at that time almost all of them were performed by Guiming alone.I'm just telling the truth about what I've seen. As for the braggart Wang Guiming, of course I want to add fuel and jealousy.Basically, he should have seen it with his own eyes, but it was inflated several times by water: ∮ Passed by on the stairs this morning, the other party took the initiative to say hello.So I nodded and said hello too, and she ended up nodding and saluting me again and again.I was just wondering, she suddenly raised her head and said: I'm just imitating a nodding toy, don't get in my way! ∮ Last time, she seemed to be drying clothes on the balcony, but she even sang!I was curious about what song it was, and when I listened to it, it seemed to be "Casablanca of Sorrow" by Hiromi Go.I'm still lamenting that she even knows the popular songs of young people, but halfway through singing, it becomes "Fantasy" by Earth, Wind & Fire (Earth, Wind & Fire).What are you doing! ∮ Today, I saw her in the Kumanomae shopping street. She bought fried deli food in front of the butcher shop and ate it as she walked.However, on such an occasion, most people should eat croquettes, right?When I took a closer look, what she ate was actually a huge piece of fried pork cutlet.That should be served with white rice, right?That's enough. It's like this every time, probably only the first half is true, and the latter must be fabricated by Guiming himself.His focus is pure nonsense, nonsense, and making people laugh. As for how much of it is true, it doesn't make much sense. However, thanks to Guiming's descriptions, my impression of Granny Chong has gradually become milder.In the past, she was just an aunt with weird and disturbing actions, but now she thinks she is quite playful.In fact, Grandma Chong Chong must have not changed at all, it is purely in our impression that she has become a unique comedian in this district.Once wished she would disappear as soon as possible, but not long ago, she had the idea that she didn't know what kind of fool she was going to make next time. It can be seen that everything in the world depends on a single thought. So when Granny Chong committed suicide by lying on the tracks at a station on the Keihin Tohoku Line, I was indeed a little guilty. The possibility of our discussion reaching her ears should be zero, but after all, she is indeed treated as a joke, and as a human being, it is inevitable that I will feel a little guilty!This is also the reason why the landlady did not flatly refuse when she asked me to tidy up my mother-in-law's room. That person doesn't have any relatives, so no one can help her with her funeral.If you pay, of course there is someone who can handle it, but the price is expensive.how?Just treat it as a part-time job, can you help me deal with it?Of course, I will pay for it. It's not difficult to treat it as a job, just treat her things as garbage and throw them away.Although it is a bit troublesome to filter and classify one by one, anyone can do it.Besides, according to the landlord, if we find anything of value (even cash), we can keep it for ourselves. Half of it is to earn living expenses, plus a quarter of the anticipation of treasure hunting, and a quarter of wanting to get rid of the guilt of Chong Chong's mother-in-law. Guiming and I took this job. Charged to the mother-in-law's room, it was horrible.Her apartment was connected to a room of two and a half square meters and three square meters, but the paper door of the partition had been removed, and the room was filled with countless broken copper and iron that I did not know where to pick up.If you entrust a professional to deal with it, you may have to ask for a higher fee than usual, so the landlord will come to us! It really seems that I don't want to think about anything, it's best to finish it quickly. Yes, let's work with a hard heart! Guiming and I put on masks and gloves, fully equipped, and silently cleaned up the room.Basically, still remember to activate the radar to search for valuables, but unfortunately found nothing.In the end, only two bank passbooks were found, but the balances were only a few hundred yuan, not to mention that it was not appropriate to take other people's passbooks to collect money, so I handed it directly to the landlord. The work started in the morning and probably took a full day.Almost 80 garbage bags were used alone, and it took a lot of work to move the garbage to the collection site.Although things like refrigerators and TVs are agreed to be handled by the landlord, I still doubt whether the wages for this labor are worthwhile.well!If it weren't for the thought that meeting each other is destined, this kind of work would be impossible. Furthermore, although there are so many scraps of metal in the house, it is really inconceivable that nothing can be found to reveal Granny Chong's past, or her relationship with others.There is no photo album, and all the reminders for utility bills are stuck in the mailbox, and there are no letters that seem to be from relatives and friends.Maybe it was the fact that Granny Chong had dealt with it herself before committing suicide, which made me feel inexplicably heartbroken. As a result, I did not take anything from the house of the charged mother-in-law.There are a lot of things that can still be used (such as TVs, which are far better and newer than mine), but I always feel that those things seem to have soaked her thoughts, and I am really not in the mood to accept them. I tried to dissuade him, but Guiming still took the ladybug-shaped record player.At that time, there were already CDs on the market. I wondered what he was doing by removing such outdated things, but he seemed to have taken a fancy to the cute design. Besides, it would be nice to leave at least one thing for her. Guiming used the record player to listen to the records of the electronic band HIKASHU over and over again, while talking. 4 What Guiming didn't even tell me happened a month later.I remember a visitor came to our residence on a light rainy Friday in October.That day was Guiming's regular holiday, and I had no classes, so I had nothing to do in the morning to pass the time.Probably unpacking a bundle of "Playboy" magazines picked up from the garbage dump a few days ago and lazily flipping through them! After noon, when I was thinking about eating, someone knocked on the thin door.I went out and saw a man in a well-fitting suit and silver-rimmed glasses standing outside the door.About the same age as us at that time, or three or four years older, with a big paper bag in hand. Sorry, I have something to ask. The man bowed his head politely and reported his name.It was a name I'd never heard, but he didn't say any titles, which secretly surprised me.Usually, when visiting a stranger's residence, according to common sense, he should clearly state his identity, right? Could it be a rookie who goes to the house to sell or wants to attract people to join a religious group?I immediately raised my guard and replied in an impatient tone: I'm very busy now. I'm sorry, actually, it's because I heard from the landlord that the house cleaned up the room for a certain female neighbor. Of course, that can only refer to Granny Chong.At this time, Guiming, who was wondering what happened, also came to the door: We were right, so what? What kind of person is that person? the man asked slightly abruptly.I'm at a loss for words on how to answer this, but Gui Ming answered immediately almost reflexively. Oh, she is a good person!So when we passed away, we were all in shock.If you have any difficulties, you can come to us to discuss!It made me unable to eat for a while. Hey, what are you talking about? I glanced at Guiming. But the landlord said that she caused a lot of trouble for everyone. The man wearing silver-rimmed glasses tilted his head suspiciously and said. No, no, the landlord doesn't live nearby.So there are a lot of things that are actually not clear.I said that the woman is a good person, which is absolutely true.She mended my torn trousers and gave us dinner dishes to share. Of course, that never happened.It seems that Guiming has used his skills as a braggart again, even starting to talk nonsense in front of strangers.I don't know why, but it's really pointless to ask Guiming. Her room was also tidy, and there were many potted plants on the balcony.We couldn't bear to throw them all away, so we asked the girls we knew to take some, right, Ah Xin? He suddenly threw the topic at me, which made me very confused, but I didn't dare to say that it was a lie, so I had to answer: Yes!she is a nice person. Yeah? After listening to our narration (it should be said, listening to Guiming bragging) for a while, the man handed over the paper bag in his hand and said: In fact, I am her son, but she separated when I was two years old, and I can't even remember her appearance. As I took the paper bag, I couldn't help looking at the man's face carefully.After listening to his explanation, I looked at it again, and the nose was indeed a bit like that of Grandma Chong. According to the man, mother-in-law Chongfeng also lived an ordinary married life. She was the mother of a son and a daughter. Unfortunately, she was seduced by a bad man and abandoned her family. If you run away after chasing unethical true love, then there is still salvation. The problem is that the man on the other side is involved in the drug trade, and the story will be tragic.According to that model, only typical tragedies can be imagined. Sure enough, charging at the mother-in-law is also a typical depravity.He was arrested and imprisoned repeatedly due to drug addiction, and broke up with a man in the middle, but it is impossible to return to his family now, and it seems that he was also arrested for prostitution and pickpocketing. (Silly.) Listening to the man's narration, I have to think so. 她的精神出現異常，肯定是有毒癮的人會發生的幻覺重現（flashback）現象。年輕時的衝鋒婆婆，為何會染上那種自取滅亡的惡習呢？附帶一提，她看起來有六十歲，但實際年齡據說才剛滿五十。 不過，她已經完全戒除了。那個人身上，一點也看不出那種氣質。 看到貴明還想繼續誇獎衝鋒婆婆，我不禁有點心疼。對方來找我們之前，已經先去房東那裡打聽過了。人家肯定一聽就知道那是拙劣的謊言。 對了，她還吩咐我，如果有家裡的人找來，就把這個交給你們。她說在那之前我們可以使用，所以我用過幾次。 貴明跑回房間裡，一邊說得煞有介事，一邊拿出那臺瓢蟲形唱機。 是嗎謝謝。 貴明取出紙袋裡的東西，把唱機塞進去交給男人。男人一臉困惑地收下，最後，微微露出笑意說： 你講的那些，是騙人的吧？ 你真沒禮貌！ 男人的話，令貴明瞪大眼睛。 我騙你有什麼好處？居然劈頭就說人家是騙子失禮也該有個限度。你快點給我出去。 貴明說著，把男人推出門口。但是，與他交情多年的我，一聽就知道，他其實一點也沒有生氣。 這人真是沒禮貌。 鎖上門的貴明一邊嘀嘀咕咕生氣，一邊走回裡屋，重新在成堆的《花花公子》之間躺下，翻閱裸體美女照。我把廚房的窗子稍微打開向外望，只見男人佇立在樓梯下，正朝我們這邊深深鞠躬。 貴明，那個人帶來的是納佛那④，是糕點中的全壘打王耶！ ④納佛那：龜屋萬年堂的招牌西點，根據義大利的納佛那廣場而取名。當時特別請來王貞治拍攝廣告，納佛那是糕點中的全壘打王這句臺詞：時家喻戶曉。後來推出新產品森之詩迷你捲心蛋糕，王貞治的臺詞又加了一句森之詩也請多捧場，同樣風靡一時。 我拿著男人送的禮物去房間，貴明依舊盯著裸體美女照，嘴裡嘟囔：森之詩也請多捧場。 你呀一眼就看出那個人是衝鋒婆婆的小孩？ 多多少少，只是有那種感覺。 被我一問，貴明漫不經心地回答。 你的心情我不是不懂但你剛才那樣有點太自以為是了。 我一邊吃糕點中的全壘打王，一邊說道。 況且，對那個人來說，那是拋棄自己的母親。現在母親的下場悲慘，他說不定還覺得活該呢！ 我這麼一說，貴明嗤之以鼻。 搞什麼，沒想到阿新原來是個幼稚的小鬼當然，不能說完全沒那種想法不過站在做兒子的立場，應該也有一部分是覺得，既然不惜拋棄了自己，好歹希望她得到幸福吧！否則自己的傷心痛苦豈不是毫無意義了。 當然，貴明也和銀框眼鏡的男人立場完全相同。想到這裡，我忽然覺得他像個大人物，有點不甘心。 騙子沒資格吃納佛那，全部歸我。 我想把盒子裡的點心通通拿走，貴明卻拽住我的手阻止我。之後，我們進行了十分鐘醜陋的納佛那爭奪戰。 貴明奇妙地醒來，是在隔天早上。 先起床的是我，正當我去廚房燒開水準備沖泡即溶咖啡時，在裡屋鼾聲大作的貴明，突然間，猛然坐起身子。 hello, what's the matter with you? 愛睡懶覺的他，過去從來不曾這樣醒來。所以我以為他是身體不舒服。 阿新，你從剛才就在那裡？ 嗯大概十分鐘之前吧！ Yeah? 貴明滿臉不可思議地望著自己的右掌，忽開忽握。最後甚至湊到鼻子前面聞，看起來就很詭異。 你幹麼，到底怎麼了？ 沒有，唯獨這個我不希望被當成謊話所以，就算在你面前我也不能說。 他有點咬牙切齒地說，我只能暗自納悶。不管再問多少遍他還是一樣回答，最後我也懶得再理他，就這麼拋諸腦後沒想到二十五年後，我從病床上的貴明口中，終於聽到了那個答案。 原來，他做了一個活靈活現的夢。 不，說是做夢，並不正確。他當時早已醒來，甚至察覺我在廚房做什麼。只是，他就是睜不開眼，彷彿身陷黏稠的泥濘中。 就在那樣意識不清的時候；某人悄悄握住他的右手。 他說那是一隻並不大、柔滑細膩的手。那種感覺就像真的碰觸到，他輕輕一用力，對方似乎也以同樣的力道回握。那隻手過了二十秒後鬆開他的手，接著據說撫摸了他的額頭三下。 那個果然是衝鋒婆婆嗎？ 在醫院聽他描述時，我不假思索便說出心裡浮現的第一個念頭。當然，認定他睡糊塗了，是最合理的解釋再不然，就是衝鋒婆婆對於替自己做出善意謊言的貴明，聊表感謝之意這麼想，好像比較貼切。 不，那不是衝鋒婆婆。 貴明在病床上看著自己枯瘦的右手說。 那分明是我媽。 your mother? 小時候，她每次都這樣握住我的手，碰觸我的臉頰後，我媽一定會撫摸我的額頭。像這樣，由下往上。 邊說邊模仿母親的動作後，貴明笑了。 5 再度造訪此地，是在繡球花開時。 貴明果然一切都已太遲。我去探病的三週後，他的病情驟變，昏睡一整天後，就在家人陪伴下過世。 接到消息時，混蛋，再怎麼說也太早了！我在浴室號啕大哭。這年頭，四十幾歲的男人能哭的地方，也只有那裡了。 他的守靈儀式在町屋殯葬場舉行，我搶在妻小前頭一個人先去。殯葬場的地點我知道，但我故意繞遠路走小巷。 喀喀踩著黑皮鞋，不禁想起二十五年前貴明的那個夢。 半夢半醒之間，握住他手的那隻手究竟是誰的手？ 是衝鋒婆婆，抑或真的是他母親？若是他母親，那表示當時他母親早已在哪裡過世了嗎？ 不管怎樣，我不認為那只是貴明的錯覺。號稱吹牛大王的貴明，甚至瞞著我這個死黨，只因為不想被人當成謊言。那不可能做假。 貴明你也真是個傻瓜。 我邊走邊小聲咕噥時，陌生人家的院子前搖曳的青紫繡球花映入眼簾。 時移事往，人去花謝。早已不見杜鵑花，人們甚至忘記曾有杜鵑綻放。但只要閉上眼杜鵑花的紅豔依然深刻強烈，不是些許小事能夠抹滅的。 我終於抵達殯葬場，見到再也不說話的貴明。總覺得他下一秒又會睜開眼，說出令人哭笑不得的謊話。 浩子請節哀。 向貴明的妻子浩子致意後，我驀然想起在醫院的諾言。 浩子對貴明隱睇了真正的病名。她會做出如此的判斷，想必是因為在她知道時，就已然回天乏術了吧！ 但是，貴明其實知道自己的病。某個本來有義務保守祕密的人，沒有貫徹那個義務，偷偷向他吐實。 貴明說，拜其所賜他很幸福他說看著大家為了隱瞞他費盡苦心，他只有滿心感謝。 （浩子已經知道了嗎？） 如果有時間，貴明一定已經告訴妻子他知道真相了吧！並且應該已對妻子的煞費苦心表達感謝。 但是，如果，他沒那個時間說不定他來不及把重要的事告訴妻子。若是這樣，知道真相的我，應該告訴浩子吧我這麼想。因為那個諾言，八成已經可以視為不算數了。 浩子，其實有件事想跟妳確認。 面對一身喪服滿臉憔悴的浩子，我問道： 其實他早就知道自己的病情妳可曾聽他說起？ 浩子拿手帕按著鼻子下方，滿臉不可思議地側首。 妳沒聽說嗎？ 我把最後一次見面時貴明說的話告訴浩子。她神色不安地聆聽，最後，微微瞇眼，笑得不露牙齒。 對不起那個，是假的。 ah? 我和他自己，老早就知道他的病情了。因為，我們是一起聽醫生說的起先還瞞著孩子們，一個月前是他自己告訴孩子的。 該不會又上當了我頓時湧起這個念頭。 （貴明，你這臭小子，不會吧！） 真是的，他就跟小孩一樣最後的最後還給你添麻煩，真不好意思。 浩子深深一鞠躬，卻露出忍俊不禁的表情。 spit!我又上當了嗎這個臭小子。 我不禁朝遺照中的貴明一笑。 （對呀，那樣比較好玩嘛！） 我彷彿聽見貴明這麼說。 (End of the book)