For the chapter on the road, please subscribe after 6:20, and if the subscription is wrong, please reload the bookshelf after 6:20. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info "I haven't seen you for 16 years, of course it will change." ”

"No, it's not a matter of time, I didn't recognize you at first. Of course, if you look good, you still know. But how to put it, you have lost weight and become more savvy and capable. His cheeks have thinned, and his eyes have become more hollow and deep. It used to be a more mellow and calm look. ”

It was the result of nearly half a year of seriously wanting to die, wanting to destroy himself, and those days completely changed his body and mind, and these things are indescribable. Even if you find out, you can't convey your feelings on the verge of collapse at all. In that case, it would be better to say nothing. He was silent and waited for the other party's next words.

Qing said: "In our small group, you have always played the role of a handsome boy who makes people feel good. The person is refreshing and neat, trimmed, and well-behaved and polite. I can greet people well and don't say any nonsense. I don't smoke, I don't drink alcohol, and I don't be late. You know, our mothers are very fond of you. ”

"Mother?" said in surprise. They almost couldn't remember anything about their mother. "And whether it was before or now, I'm not handsome at all, I have a faceless and boring. ”

Qing shrugged again. "But among us, you are the most talented. My face, though individual, resembles a gorilla, and Red is a standard bespectacled showman. I would say that in that small group we all played our roles very well. Referring to the time when the small group is still around, of course. ”

"Do you mean consciously taking on the role?"

"No, I guess I didn't realize it at the time. But I still vaguely feel what kind of role I've been assigned to in the group. Qing said. "I'm a cheerful and straightforward sportsman, red is a clear-headed intellectual, white is a lovable girl, and black is a witty and nimble comedian. And you're a handsome guy with a good upbringing. ”

I thought about what Qing said. "I've always felt like a nihilistic person who lacks color and personality from before. Nothingness, maybe that's my role in the group. ”

Qing felt incredulous and said, "I don't understand this." What kind of character is Void Power?"

"It's an empty container, a colorless background. There are no shortcomings to say, but there is nothing to distinguish between them. I guess there is a need for such a presence in the group. ”

Qing shook her head. "It's not like that. You are not some nothingness, no one has ever thought of you that way. You, how can you say it, you are calming everyone's hearts. ”

"Calm everyone's mind?" asked Saku, surprised. "Like music in an elevator?"

"No, it's not that kind of thing. It's hard to explain, but as long as you're there, we can be ourselves naturally. You don't say much, but you live on your toes and give the group a sense of calm and security, like the anchor of a ship. We still can't do without your presence, and I feel it even more after you are gone. I don't know if it's because of this, after you're gone, we suddenly become scattered. ”

Unable to find anything to say, he remained silent.

"Hey, we're the perfect combination in a sense, like five fingers. Qing raised her right hand and spread her thick fingers. "I still think about it a lot. The five of us will naturally make up for our shortcomings in the same name. Dedicate all the good parts of each and share them with everyone without hesitation. This kind of thing probably won't happen again in our lives, it's unique. I feel that way. Now I have my own family and I love them, of course. But to be honest, even if it is a family, the pure and natural feelings that were not adulterated at that time are no longer there. ”

There was silence. Qing put the empty paper bag in his big palm and rubbed it, like a hard ball, and threw it in his hand for a while.

"Hey, I believe in you. Qing said.

"Believe you didn't do anything to the dialogue. Come to think of it, you can't do that. ”

As Saku tried to answer, a bell rang in Qing's pocket. It's "Long Live Las Vegas". Qing glanced at the other party's name and put the phone back in his pocket.

"I'm sorry, I'm almost going back, and I have to go buy a car. If you can, walk back to the showroom?"

The two did not speak for a while, silently walking side by side.

He spoke first. "Hey, why do you think of Long Live Las Vegas as a ringtone?"

Qing smiled. "Have you seen that movie?"

"I saw it a long time ago on a late-night show, although not from the beginning to the end. ”

"It's a boring movie. ”

He smiled neutrally.

Qing said. "Three years ago, I was invited from Japan to Las Vegas to attend the National Lexus Dealer Conference as a high-performing salesperson. It's a conference, but it's like an incentive trip. After the day's partying, the rest of the time is gambling and drinking. On that street, Long Live Las Vegas is like the theme song heard so often. I happened to win big while playing Russian roulette, which was also the BGM of this song at that time. Since then, it has become my lucky charm. ”

"I see. ”

"And it's unexpectedly helpful for business talks. Halfway through the conversation, as soon as this bell rings, it often surprises the older customers, because they are still young, how can they use such an old tune to make a ringtone. This will make the conversation lively. Of course, Long Live Las Vegas is not some famous song of Elvis Presley. He also has several more famous pop songs. But this song, perhaps, has a sense of surprise, and may be incredibly open. I can't help but smile when I hear it. I don't know why, but that's what it is. Have you ever been to Las Vegas?"

"No, I don't. He said. "I've never been abroad. But I'm planning to visit Finland recently. ”

Qing seemed to be taken aback. He stared as he walked.

"Ah, maybe that's a good idea. I'd like to see it if I can. I haven't seen him since her wedding. Although I only said it now, I liked her. Qing said. Then took a few steps forward. "But now I have a child and a half and a busy job. The family has a mortgage on the house, and the dog has to take it for a walk every day. It's impossible to go to Finland at all, so if you see darkness, ask me if it's okay. ”

"I'll pass it on. He said. "But before that, I want to go and see Red first. ”

"Hey," Qing said, and then showed an ambiguous expression, and the muscles on his face moved a little strangely. "I haven't seen him lately. ”

"Why?"

"Do you know what that guy is doing right now?"

"Roughly know. ”

"However, there are some things that I should not say here again. Because I don't want you to instill prejudice in you before meeting him. All I can say is that I can't like the work he's doing now. That's why I don't see him very often. Although it's a pity. ”

He was silent and walked with Qing's big steps.

"It's not that there are doubts about his humanity, it's just that there are doubts about what he does. These two are different. Qing said as if to hear it to herself. "No, it's not in doubt. It's just that it doesn't fit in with his ideas. Anyway, he's pretty famous in the town now. As a very skilled entrepreneur, he often appears on TV, newspapers, magazines, and other places. It's as if a women's magazine said he was one of the "most successful single men in his thirties." ”

"The most successful 30-year-old single male?" he said.

"It's a completely unexpected development. Qing said admiringly. "I can't imagine what kind of women's magazine he'll be in. ”

"Then, how did Shiro die?" changed the subject.

Qing suddenly stopped in the middle of the road.

Qing suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. The steps stopped, motionless like a sculpture, and the man coming behind him almost bumped into him. He looked squarely at his face.

"Wait, you really don't know, how Shiro died?"

"I have no reason to know, I only found out last week that she's dead. Because no one came to inform me. ”

"Don't you read the newspaper?"

"Just a cursory flip through. But I don't remember seeing reports like that. I don't know what happened, but I guess the newspapers in Tokyo didn't pay much attention to it. ”

"Don't you know anything in your family?"

Saku shook his head.

As if she had been struck, Qing walked forward briskly without saying anything. He followed. After a while, Qing spoke.

After graduating from the White Music Academy, he worked as a piano teacher in his own home, but soon after he left his home and moved to downtown Hamamatsu City, where he began to live alone. About two years later, he was found hanged in his apartment. It was her mother who couldn't contact her because she was worried about finding out when she came to see her. Because of the blow, her mother still hasn't recovered. The prisoner has still not been found. ”

Saku held his breath in surprise. Hanged?

Qing said. "I found Bai dead on May 12, six years ago. We didn't interact much with each other at that time. So I don't know much about what kind of life she lives in Hamamatsu. Even why she moved to Hamamatsu doesn't know. When she was found, she had been dead for three days. No one noticed that it was placed on the kitchen floor for three days. ”

Qing continued as he walked.

Even though I attended her funeral in Nagoya, I couldn't stop crying at all, and it felt like a part of my body had died and turned to stone. But as I said earlier, in fact our little group had become fragmented by that time. Everyone has become an adult, and each has a different place to live, and to a certain extent, there is no way to do it. We are no longer pure high school students. But even so, it's sad to see the important things of the past fade and die away. Obviously, we have spent such a vibrant era together and grown up together. ”

After holding his breath, his lungs hurt as if they were burning, he couldn't speak, his tongue was knotted, and he felt like something was plugged in his mouth.

The phone rang again with the ringing of Viva Las Vegas, but this time Qing ignored it and continued to walk forward. The untimely music rang merrily in his pocket for a while, then stopped.

When he walked to the door of the Lexus showroom, Qing stretched out his broad palm and shook Saku's hand. The grip is very powerful. Look each other in the eye and speak, shaking hands very hard. These are all the same as before.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you at work. Saku finally spoke.

"It's okay, don't say anything like that. Next time, if I have time, I want to meet with you and talk slowly. I feel like there's a lot to say to you. If you come to Nagoya, please contact me in advance next time. ”

"I'll get in touch with you. I'll probably be able to see each other again in the near future. He said. "Anyway, do you remember a piano piece that Bai used to play a lot? Liszt's "Lemaldupays", a quiet piece of about five or six minutes?

Qing thought for a moment and shook his head. "When you hear the melody, you might even remember it. But even if I was told the title, I wouldn't know because I didn't know much about classical music. How do you ask about this?"

"No, it just came to me suddenly. He said. "Finally, there is another question, what does the word Lexus mean?"

Qing smiled. "People often ask, but it doesn't mean anything, it's just made. An advertising agency in New York accepted Honda's commission and came up with the name. It sounds advanced, it seems to make a lot of sense, and the pronunciation is good. It's an incredible world where there are people who are working hard to build stations, and there are people who are paid a lot of money to make up vain names. ”

"This is generally called the evolution of the industry. Times are different. He said.

Qing smiled widely, "Let's work together not to eliminate the times." ”

Then the two broke up. Qing took out his phone from his pocket and walked into the exhibition hall.

While waiting for the traffic light at the intersection to turn green, I thought that maybe I would never see it again. Thirty minutes is indeed too short a time for an old friend who hasn't seen him in sixteen years, and there is still a lot to say in such a short time. But at the same time, Sakuya felt that there was nothing left of the important things that could be said between the two of them.

After that, I took a taxi to the library and applied to see the printed version of the newspaper from six years ago.

11

The next day was Monday, and at half past ten in the morning, I went to visit Red's office, which was about five kilometers from the Lexus showroom. The eighth floor of a modern office building with large glass windows occupies half of the floor space. The remaining half are the offices of well-known German pharmaceutical companies. Sakura was wearing a dark suit like yesterday, with the same blue tie that Sara had given him.

The entrance is marked with a large BEYOND logo, which is delicate and chic. The office is bright and tidy, with an open plan arrangement. On the wall of the reception hangs a huge abstract painting with large blocks of primary colors. I don't know the meaning of the painting, but it's not particularly difficult to understand. Nothing else is called a device. No flowers, no vases. What kind of business is the company here, you can't imagine it just by looking at the door.

He was greeted at the front desk by a woman in her early twenties, with beautifully curly hair curled outward. A pale blue half-sleeved dress with a pearl brooch. It seems that it is really rich and active, and it is raised with a healthy and important heart. After she took the business card, a smile bloomed on her face, and then like caressing the soft tip of a large dog's nose, she reached out and pressed the internal button of the phone.

After a while, the door inside opened, and a burly woman stepped out. He was about mid-forties in his mid-forties and wore a dark-toned suit with broad shoulders and black heels with block heels. The facial features are incredible, and people can't find shortcomings. The hair is cut short, the chin is broad, and it looks very lean. From time to time there are so many middle-aged women in this world, who are very capable of whatever they do, and she is one of them. Compare an actress to a role like a head nurse of an expert or the hostess of a high-class brothel.

She looked at the business card she had presented, and there was a hint of surprise on her face. What did the head of the Construction Division of the Facilities Department of the Tokyo Electric Railway Company do to find the chairman of the "Creation Business Seminar" in Nagoya? But she didn't ask the purpose of her visit.

"I'm sorry, could I please wait here for a moment?" she said with a minimal smile. Then he sat down, and the figure disappeared through a door. The chair is made of chrome and white leather with a simple Scandinavian design. Beautiful, clean and stable, lacking in temperature, like a white night when a drizzle falls. Zuo sat in this chair and waited. In the middle of this, the young woman was doing something with the laptop on the table. From time to time, I looked at him and smiled at him encouragingly.

Like the women at the Lexus reception, you can often see this type of woman in Nagoya. The appearance is good and the image is dignified, and it is easy to make people feel good. Her hair has been beautifully curled. They studied French literature at a private women's university with high tuition fees, and after graduation, they worked for local companies as receptionists or secretaries. After working there for a few years, I went on a shopping trip to Paris with a female friend one year, and soon found a promising male employee, or got married on a blind date, and resigned happily. After that, he focused on how to get his children into a prestigious private school. Sitting in a chair, thinking about her life's ambitions.

After about five minutes, the middle-aged secretary returned, leading him to the red room. The smile on her face was a tick more friendly than it had just been. It contains a kind of respect and kindness to him who came directly to see the boss without making an appointment in advance. Probably not very often.

She walked in front of her with a wide stride, and the sound of her shoes was as hard and solid as the sound of an honest blacksmith rising up early in the morning to strike iron. There were several doors made of thick opaque glass in the hallway, from which it was completely inaudible to hear the sound of things talking, life, and life. It's a world away from the office where the phone rings all the time, the doors open and close from time to time, and people are always angry at the office.

Red's office is surprisingly small and elegant in terms of the size of the company. It is also a Scandinavia-style work table, with a small sofa set and wooden cabinets. On the table are the stainless steel desk lamps that look like artifacts, the StainlessStealDeskLight, and the laptop for Mac. On the cabinet is a B&O sound set, and on the wall hangs a large abstract painting in large primary colors, as if it were the work of a writer in the reception. The windows are big and face the road but you can't hear the noise at all. The early summer sun shines on the plain carpet on the floor of the room, and the light is clear and unobscure.

The room is simply and uniformly furnished. There is nothing superfluous, and the furniture and utensils are expensive, but unlike the Lexus showroom, which actively displays this opulence, everything here is designed to be restrained and unobtrusive. The anonymity of piling up money seems to be the basic philosophy of this office.

Red stood up from the other side of the table to greet Saku. Compared to the age of twenty, his appearance has changed a lot. The height is still less than 160cm as before, but the hair is surprisingly much less. Although it is already a fine and soft hair, it is thinner than before, and the entire forehead is exposed, and the head shape can be clearly seen. And as if to make up for the loss of hair, he grew a beard from the sideburns to the chin. Compared with the small amount of hair, the beard looks particularly jet-black, and the contrast is obvious. The metal-edged glasses were thin, matching his oval, egg-like face. The body is still as thin as ever, the excess fat has not grown at all, and the pinstripe pinstripe white shirt is paired with a brown knitted tie. The sleeves of the shirt were pulled up to the elbows. The pants are cream twill slacks (chinopants), and the shoes are brown and have a handshake. Unlike Qing, the hand is smaller and softer, and the handshake is also smooth. But it contained his feelings, not a perfunctory handshake. "There's no way I'm going to refuse you if you say you want to see me (to be continued.) )