August 11, Nagasaki City. www.biquge.info Although the domestic economy is sluggish, military needs are the priority, and the people's lives are very compact, but many families here can still ensure a comfortable life. After all, next to Nagasaki City is one of the four major military ports, the Sasebo Military Port.

For example, the Kawabata family, which has only been here for two years, is located in a neighborhood two kilometers away from the city center, and it is surrounded by elderly people, so it is a very quiet place.

"Hideko, there will be guests at noon. It's a classmate from my college days, you know, Sasaki-kun. ”

A middle-aged writer was rushing to write in front of the pen case, as if he suddenly remembered, and hurriedly told his wife about it.

It was close to 11 o'clock, and Hideko Kawabata, who was obviously already cooking lunch, did not have time to prepare a sumptuous table of dishes to entertain the guests.

"Cheng Kang. It's not once or twice, and the things you can't remember are written down with a pen and pasted next to your pen. How rude it is to the guests every time I do this. ”

Mrs. Kawabata, who was busy in the kitchen, couldn't help but complain, and she looked back at the ingredients at home and couldn't help but have a headache. "Sesame sauce, you go to the processing plant across the street and order beef and vegetables. They know how to do it. ”

Naturally, the so-called processing plant is not a non-staple food company for the common people, but a military factory that supplies dehydrated vegetables and frozen meat to the Sasebo Military Port. If you change to someone else's child, let alone order ingredients, it is impossible to walk through the door.

Mr. Kawabata, who was writing in the back room, heard his wife's words and said helplessly: "It's not good to trouble the director of Shimazu every time, and besides, my fox friends don't need to bring good beef to entertain them." A bowl of miso soup is enough. ”

With the money that Mr. Kawabata writes for the magazine, it is barely enough to make the family eat two meals of beef a month, but as long as his wife wants, let alone a house, and he can't eat enough military supplies, no one dares to come to the door to arrest anyone.

The child did not understand this, so as in the past, he put on his shoes, opened the gate, and walked across the street.

"Be careful all the way."

"Hideko, if you do this, you will leave a bad habit for Masa, and she will also use your name to obtain military supplies in the future."

Mr. Kawabata also went to the kitchen at some point and complained to his wife, who was cooking kombu soup. In fact, he also knew that his wife was a very frugal person, and she never used her own status to use privileges in the past. But now that he has a child, he is a little writer who has been ostracized by the authorities, and it is not easy to live in Sase.

"Because she is still young, I don't want her to suffer. I can't have children, but now that I'm a mother, I'm not going to let anyone or anything hurt our children. "Mrs. Kawabata speaks with the decisiveness of a soldier, and even standing is a standard military posture.

It is said that a female bear with a child is more terrible than a wolf pack, and Mr. Kawabata has seen it with his own eyes, and no one can change what his wife recognizes. Even if it's him Kawabata Nariyasu, or his wife's boss, Lieutenant General Hasegawa.

Hideko Kawabata is the name of the past, or Hideko Matsubayashi. As a ship girl, she has a new name - Izumo. Although her hull tonnage and firepower can only be regarded as above the level of heavy cruise, 30 years ago, she was the flagship of the Combined Fleet, and the Japanese emperor personally awarded her medals and swords.

Born in 1882, at the age of 60, she experienced the Meiji and Taisho eras, and witnessed too many scenes of things and people, and having the opportunity to live a few years of peace and quiet with her family was considered to pay her guilt.

For this special couple, the word "indebted" is the main theme after their marriage. So much so that the husband writes anti-war articles and participates in anti-war associations, and the government sends people to ask for warmth every month. His wife's dresser was plastered with military certificates and a chrysanthemum-patterned sword given by Emperor Taisho, and his colleagues at the newspaper would not say much about it. Diametrically opposite life trajectories, the moment they meet, it is doomed to tragedy, and just "indebtedness" is already the greatest mercy of fate to the two of them.

Before the guests arrived, the workers of the processing plant brought a lot of unprocessed vegetables and meat, as well as dairy products and Chinese ginseng that could not be bought outside.

"These are all sent by the factory director, and we don't understand anything." Izumo was a little ashamed of herself in the face of the worker's explanation, but when she saw the hemp yarn who was curious about the milk on the side, she had to accept it all.

Remembering that the hemp yarn was wearing a set of German-made silk dresses sent by Izumo's schoolgirls, the "heart" of the directors of these processing factories seemed much worse in comparison.

Speaking of which, the "Yamato" was launched and completed, and her "student" was about to give up the position of "Flagship of the Combined Fleet" before she had been sitting for two years, and she couldn't help but want to go to the military port to comfort the other party, although she had only been in office for three years.

Throwing off these cranky thoughts, Izumo kicked her husband and children out of the kitchen in the face of the upcoming guests, and began to rush to lunch with all her might.

"Sasaki-kun! Your new work is now even watching my daughter, and it's amazing. ”

"Kawabata-kun, don't scold me. I can't keep up with your writing even if I write a few more books. ”

Izumo was still preparing for the sauce for the roast beef, and when he heard that the guests were coming, he didn't panic, anyway, the dishes on the table were almost ready, so the two pen pals were polite to each other for a while, and it was just time to set the table for dinner.

"This is ...... Your son? ”

"No, this is my cousin's child. Sasakiji, 20 years old this year, has just come of age. ”

"I have long admired the work of Mr. Kawabata, and it is an honor to meet you today."

"I'm not a great writer, you're too polite. Your uncle's work has a better market than mine, and what I write is outdated. ”

"Classics never go out of style."

The polite words outside seemed to be unstoppable, and I heard my husband's "Really?" I also think that another hundred years will be suitable for reading. With a giggle, Izumo, who had already prepared the sauce, walked out of the kitchen.

"Chengkang, pay attention to the image. It's a 50-year-old person, just like a middle school student. ”

After taunting her husband, whose tail was upturned to the sky, Izumo invited the two guests who were still standing at the door to the living room, and the hemp yarn was already setting the tableware.

"You're here at the right time, let's sit down for lunch."

"Yes, my Hideko's craftsmanship is better than that of a hotel cook, and she can also cook British food."

Izumo glanced at her husband, "The essence of British cuisine is potatoes, and aren't you allergic to potatoes?" Pretend to be expectant...... Don't worry, there are no potatoes in today's meal. ”

Mr. Kawabata was relieved to hear his wife's assurances that there were no such terrible tuber plants in the dish, and he seemed to recall the "good old days" of a potato banquet one day.

Wine is indispensable at the dinner table, and Mr. Kawabata's poor alcohol consumption is also well-known in the literati circle, especially the two guests who came this time, if it weren't for the shocking amount of alcohol in Izumo, he Kawabata Nariyasu would have been lying on the table to evaluate the poetry of his juniors.

"At first glance, this modern poem is not bright, but if you look closely, it seems to have a bit of flavor. Sasaki Temple? Interested in contributing to our newspaper? ”

"Kawabata-kun, digging people into corners is not a gentleman's doing."

"My name is Xicai."

The two old friends expose each other's shortcomings, which is also the norm, and Izumo is worried that the hemp yarn will be contaminated with her husband's bad problems, so after the hemp yarn is finished, she will let her go back to the house to do her homework.

After Ma Sha left, the few of them no longer had to worry about the content of the topic. Eating a table of delicious food, Mr. Sasaki hesitated, but still opened his mouth. "Although my nephew can't go to your newspaper office, he won't join our club, and his ideals are not in literary creation."

"That's a pity, what do you say, Hideko?" Of course, Mr. Kawabata would not force others, so he hoped that his wife would praise the other party's writing and make the young man change his mind.

Izumo had been observing each other since she saw Sasakiji, and she had seen countless so-called literati around Lieutenant General Hasegawa, but Sasakiji gave her a rare sense of shrewdness. "If you don't write essays, do you want to join the army or participate in politics?"

"That's right." This time the young Sasakiji replied unusually decisively, his eyes against Izumo, and he did not waver in the slightest. "Another purpose of this visit is to hope that Ms. Izumo will introduce me to the Sasebo Military Port and serve the motherland in my own way."

With Lieutenant General Hasegawa's connections or Izumo's own fame, it would not be a problem to send a young man to Sasebo Military Port as a trainee officer, but she couldn't believe that in her eyes, the backbone of the literati and writers were more or less passive and war-weary, and longed for peace in the world and the people to live and work in peace and contentment at dawn. Izumo knew the necessity of war and the huge dividends of invading other countries, but he couldn't explain it to his husband.

"Wait, I heard you right, did I? You're going to join the Navy? Izumo didn't care about her husband's surprise this time, what she saw in her eyes was a man who wanted to become a naval officer. She didn't bother to take care of the in the literati circle, it was related to the interests of the navy, and Izumo naturally wouldn't let it go.

"Ms. Izumo, with her personality in Shimosakiji, is a real desire to join the army and serve the country. The important task of awakening the people with works cannot be done in the future. ”

Sasakiji suddenly retreated and knelt down to make Izumo embarrassed to refuse in person, and of course she couldn't refuse.

"This ...... I'm having a problem with my ears today, right? Hideko, what do you think is ......"

Kawabata Nariyasu's words were automatically ignored by Izumo. Izumo turned his gaze to a shocked Sasaki Shigeso, "You agree with your nephew's choice?" ”

Receiving an affirmative look, Izumo immediately replied - five days later, he went with her to the Sasebo Military Port.

After sending the two away, Mr. Kawabata, who had been unable to believe the change in the situation, hurriedly went back to the house with his wife and sat down. "Hideko, are you really going to introduce Sasaki-kun's nephew to Sasebo?"

"It's not difficult, I have my own way."

Izumo's answer was very difficult for Mr. Kawabata to understand, in his eyes Sasakiji is a very talented literary rookie, even if he follows his uncle Sasaki Moso, he can become a famous writer in the circle in the future.

"Actually, I want to recommend him to my 'cheap apprentice', just by a proud little white-faced secretary by her side, she still has a lot of things that she can't do well."