She seemed to be in her early forties, her face was wrinkled, and very dirty, but the exposed part of her neck was white and fat.

"Where did you come from?" Ah Hua asked.

"Where did you come from?" you asked me where I came from?" the Russian woman did not know how to reply, and thought as she cleaned up the stall.

The skirt she wore no longer looked like a suit, but like an unclean cloth wrapped around her body. She was like an authentic Japanese who went back with a big baggage. However, he still wears leather boots on his feet.

At the invitation of the shopkeeper, who was watching the Russian woman with him, Ah Hua went to the tent and saw a tall woman sitting by the fireside with her back to him. The woman lifted the hem of her dress and stood up. She wears a black gown with a family coat of arms.

Ah Hua felt very familiar, it turned out to be the geisha she had seen in the promotional photos of the ski resort, she was wearing a banquet dress and snow pants, and she sat side by side with Komako on the snowboard. She is a plump and down-to-earth middle-aged woman.

The innkeeper put fire chopsticks on the stove and roasted oval-shaped soybean-stuffed buns.

"How about eating this thing? It's a happy event, can you try it?"

"That guy just now is no longer doing his old job?"

"yes. ”

"What a geisha!"

"It's time to quit. Although she used to be a celebrity, she ......"

Ah Hua picked up the hot bean paste bun and took a bite while blowing, the hard belt was a little stale and a little sour.

Outside the window, the setting sun shines on the ripe red persimmons, and the light shines on the bamboo tube of the hanging hook [the original text "free hook", which is used to hang pots and pots on the stove, and can be retracted freely].

"It's so long, it's a dogtail, right?" Ah Hua looked at the ramp in surprise. An old woman walked over with a sheaf of straw on her back, twice as tall as she was. It is a long spike.

"yes. That's Bamao. ”

"Is it Bamao?"

"When the Ministry of Railways held a hot spring exhibition, we built a lounge or a tea room, and the roof was made of barthatch. It is said that someone from Tokyo bought the entire tea house. ”

"Is it a barberry?" Ah Hua muttered to himself, "There are barmao blooming on the mountain? ”

When Ah Hua got off the train, the first thing that caught his eye was the white flowers on the mountain. From the steep mountainside to the top of the mountain, these flowers bloom everywhere, and the white flowers are silvery like the autumn sun pouring down on the mountain. Ah Hua couldn't help but be moved, and took the white flowers in the mountains as white beard branches.

However, when you look at it up close, it is vigorous and upright, which is very different from the sentimental flowers that look up at the distant mountains.

A large sheaf of grass covered the bodies of the women who carried it on their backs. As you walked past, the bales of straw rustled across the stone cliffs of the slope. The ears were very strong.

When I got back to my room, I saw the big moth, in the dimly lit room next door with ten light bulbs, laying its eggs on a black hanger and flying away. The moths in front of the eaves clattered on the decorative lamps.

Autumn insects chirp incessantly during the day.

The foal came a little later.

She stood in the corridor and looked directly at Ah Hua and said:

"What are you doing here, what are you doing in a place like this?"

"Look at you. ”

"That's not true. Tokyo people love to lie, they hate it!" She sat down and said in a soft voice, "I'm not going to see you off anymore, I can't say what it's like!"

"Okay. This time I left without a word. ”

"Look at what you said, I just said I wouldn't go to the train station. ”

"How's he doing?"

"Needless to say, it's dead. ”

"When you came out to see me off?"

"But these are two different things. I didn't expect it to be so uncomfortable. ”

"Hmm. ”

"What are you doing on February 14th? Kept me waiting for a long time. I won't believe anything you say in the future. ”

February 14 is the Bird Catch Festival [a festival held in rural Japan every year from the 14th night of the second lunar month to the morning of the 15th lunar month to pray for a good harvest]. It is a festival that is held every year by the children of Snow Country. Ten days ago, the children of the village put on straw sandals to tread the snow and cut them into snowboards about two feet square, and built them into a hall of eight feet in size and more than one foot high. On the evening of the 14th, the straw ropes of every household were collected and burned in front of the temple.

The village celebrates the New Year on the first of February, so there are still straw ropes left. So, the children climbed up to the roof of the snow hall, and you pushed and squeezed, and sang the song of catching the birds. Then, swarmed into the snow hall, lit the lanterns, and spent the night there. It was not until dawn on the 15th that he climbed up to the roof of the Snow Hall again and sang the song of catching birds. At that time, it was the time when the snow was at its thickest, and Ah Hua and the foals met to see the Bird Catch.

"I went back to my hometown in February and rested for a few days. I thought you would come, so I didn't rush back until the 14th. If I knew you hadn't come, I'd have taken care of it for a few more days and come back. ”

"Who's sick?"

"After the master arrived in Hong Kong City, he got pneumonia. I happened to be in my hometown, and when I received a telegram, I went to nurse. ”

"Are you alright?"

"It's not good. ”

"That's bad. Ah Hua is like apologizing for breaking his appointment, and like mourning the death of his master.

"Hmm. The foal immediately shook his head warmly and brushed the table with his handkerchief, "What a worm." ”

From the low table to the mat, there are small feather lice. A few small moths flew around the electric light.

Countless moths of all kinds also fell here and there outside the screen window, emerging under the clear moonlight.

"Stomach aches, stomach aches!" the colt thrust his hands into his belt and lay on Ah Hua's lap.

In the blink of an eye, a swarm of flying insects, smaller than mosquitoes, landed on her heavily smeared neck, which peeked out from the empty back collar. Some of the bugs died when they saw it, and they didn't move there.

Her neck is a little fatter than last year, and she looks plump. Ah Hua thought to himself: She is already twenty-one years old.

A warm heat reached his knees.

"Someone in the tent laughed and told me, 'Little foal, let's go to the camellia.' I just sent my sister on the train, and I wanted to come back and sleep comfortably on it, but they said there was a phone call. I'm so tired that I don't want to come. Last night, I drank too much for my sister. They made fun of me in the tent. It turned out to be you. It's been another year, is this person only here once a year?" "I've also eaten that kind of bean paste buns. ”

"Really?" Koma lifted her face, leaving a blush on Ah Hua's lap, and she suddenly looked a little childish.

She said that she had sent the middle-aged woman all the way to the next station before returning. "It's boring. In the past, we used to work together in everything we did, but now individualism is gradually rising, and everyone is doing their own thing, and there is always no unity of opinion. There are also a lot of changes here, and there are more and more people who don't get along with each other. If Sister Ju Yong is not there, I will be lonely. Because in the past, she was the one who decided everything. She was the most popular, no less than 600 sticks [Geisha accompanies wine by the number of incense points to calculate the time]. She's the most important thing we have. ”

Ah Hua asked: "That Ju Yong reached the deadline and returned to his hometown, will he get married or continue to her old business?"

"Sister A, this person is really pitiful, she came here because of the previous marriage. The foale swallowed back the rest of the words, hesitated for a moment, looked at the terraced fields bathed in the moonlight, and then said, "There's a newly built house halfway down the ramp, isn't there?"

"You mean that little restaurant called Jucun?"

"yes. Sister Ah was originally going to marry into that store, but then she changed her mind and suddenly blew it, making a fuss for a while. It was easy for people to build a house for her, and when she was about to get married, she got rid of them. for she has another love, and is going to marry him. But she was deceived. It is said that the other party has already escaped, and now she can't reunite with the mirror, and she is too embarrassed to stay there anymore, so she has to start a new business somewhere else. It's pitiful to think about. We don't know much, but she's met people of all shapes. ”

"Man, are there only five who have been good with her?"

"yes. The foal pursed her lips and smiled, and suddenly turned her head away, "Sister is cowardly enough." It's too cowardly. ”

"That's no way. ”

"Not really. Recruit people, what's the way!" she said and lowered her head and scratched her head with a hairpin, "It's very sad to see off Sister A's today." ”

"So, what about the new shop?"

"It's up to the man's original recipe to cook it. ”

"It's so interesting. ”

"Not really. Everything was planned for the opening. It's just like this, there's no other way. The original partner moved in with all her children. ”

"What about at home?"

"It is said that an old woman was left behind. Although she is a countryman, her old man likes it. This guy is really interesting. ”

"Probably a swinger. I'm afraid I'm old enough, right?"

"It's still young. He was only thirty-two or thirteen years old. ”

"Oh, then, Mrs. Auntie is older than the main room?"

"It was the same year, twenty-seven years old. ”

"Jucun is the chrysanthemum character of Juyong. The man's original partner actually took over the shop. ”

"It's probably because once the signboard is out, it's not easy to change it again. ”

Ah Hua tugged at his collar. The foal stood up and closed the window.

"Sister also knows you very well, and she told me today that you are here. ”

"She came to leave, and I met her in the tent. ”

"What did you say?"

"Didn't say anything. ”

"Do you know how I feel?" said Komako, who suddenly opened the paper window that he had just closed, and sat down on the edge of the window.

Ah Hua said after a while: "The light of the stars is completely different from Tokyo. It seems to be floating in space. ”

"It wouldn't be like that with the moon. This year's snow is particularly heavy. ”

"Trains often don't seem to be smooth. ”

"yes, it's scary. The car was also a month later than usual, and it was not until May that the car was opened. There was a kiosk in the ski resort, and the avalanche washed it down, and the people downstairs didn't know it, but when they heard a strange sound, they thought it was a rat making a fuss in the kitchen. When I ran to take a look, there were no rats, and when I went up to the second floor, I saw that there was snow all over the ground. The rain shields and everything were washed away by the snow. Although it was a superficial avalanche, the radio station reported it so much that it scared the skiers out of coming. I'm planning to stop skiing this year. So at the end of last year, even skis were given to others. Still, I skated two or three times. Have I changed?"

"What do you do when the master dies?"

"You can inquire about other people's affairs. I'll be here every February on time to wait for you. ”

"Now that you've returned to Hong Kong, isn't it okay to write to me?"

"No, I don't. I'm not going to do such a pathetic thing. I don't write the kind of letter that doesn't matter if your wife sees it. How pitiful that is! I don't have to worry about anyone to lie!"

The foal rushed to retort, and his tone was very fierce. Ah Hua lowered his head.

"Don't sit in those piles of worms, just turn off the lights. ”

The bright moon shot deep in, so bright that even the concave and convex lines of the foal's ears clearly emerged. The mat looked cold and blue.

The lips of the foal are very smooth, like the links of a beautiful leech.

"Oops, I should go back. ”

"It's still the same. Ah Hua looked up and looked closely at her round face with slightly shrugged cheekbones, thinking that there was something ridiculous about her.

"Everybody says I'm the same as when I came here at 17. As for life, it's not the same as it used to be. ”

Her face still retains the bright red color of a northern girl. The moonlight shone on her geisha-specific skin, glowing like a shell.

"But there's a change in my family, don't you know?"

"You mean the master is dead? I don't live in that room anymore, and now your home has become the real lower place [a place for geisha and other temporary stays]. ”

"Really? yes. In the shop, some sweets and cigarettes are also sold. I'm still alone. This time, I really worked for people, and it was too late at night, so I lit candles and read. ”

Ah Hua crossed his arms and smiled.

"People have installed electricity meters, and it's too wasteful to use electric lights, so I'm sorry. ”

"Ah, yes. ”

"The family treated me very well. When the child cried, the inner shopkeeper was afraid to wake me up, so he carried him outside. I sometimes even think, "Am I working for people?" I am not dissatisfied, but I just make the sleeping bunk crooked and a little unsatisfactory. Came back late and they laid it out for me. Either the mattresses are stacked neatly, or the sheets are spread crookedly. When I saw this, I couldn't help but feel pity for myself. But it's not good for me to re-pave it, I'm afraid that I'll live up to the kindness of others. ”

"If you become a family, I'm afraid you'll have to worry about Luo all day long. ”

"That's what everybody says. It's nature. If there are four children in the house, it is a mess, it is terrible. I had to clean up with them all day. Although I know that if I clean it up, I will still make a mess of it, but I have to take care of it, otherwise I can't rest assured. As long as the environment allows, I still want to live a cleaner life. ”

"yes. ”

"Do you know how I feel?"

"Absolutely. ”

"Since you understand, then you can talk about it. Well, tell me about it. Komako suddenly said in a questioning tone, "Look, I can't tell." Lie as much as you can. You're a profligate, a big dealer. You won't know about me. ”

Then she lowered her voice and said, "I'm sad." I'm so stupid. You can go back tomorrow. ”

"How can I make it clear if you ask such a question. ”

"What's not that you can tell? That's what you're not good at. ”

The foal was helpless, and silently closed her eyes, thinking: Ah Hua will naturally hang on to herself, right?

"Once a year, you can come. When I'm here, please come once a year. ”

She said the term was four years.

"When I went back to my hometown, I never dreamed that I would come out to do business. Even the skis were given to others before I went back. The only way to do this is to quit smoking. ”

"yes, you used to smoke a lot. ”

"Hmm. I quietly put all the things that were given to me by the guests at the banquet in my sleeve pocket, and when I returned, I could sometimes shake out several sticks. ”

"Four years is long enough. ”

"It's going to pass soon. ”

"How warm. Ah Hua picked up the foal who came over.

"I'm naturally warm. ”

"It's already cold in the morning and evening, isn't it?"

"I've been here for five years. At first, I felt a little desolate to stay in this kind of place. Before the train, it was so desolate. It's been three years since you first came here. ”

Ah Hua thought to himself: In less than three years, he has come three times, and each time the situation of the foal has changed.

Several weavers suddenly chirped.

"Nasty!" said the colt, stepping off his lap and standing up.

There was a gust of north wind, and the moths on the screen windows flew together.

Ah Hua knew that although her black eyes looked like half-open, they were actually closed thick eyelashes, but he still took a closer look.

"I gained weight after quitting smoking. ”

The fat in the abdomen has become hypertrophied.

In this way, the elusive relationship between the two after breaking up quickly became as close as before.

The foal gently pressed his hand to his chest.

"One side has gotten bigger. ”

"Fool. It's that person's fault. Caressed aside. ”

"Look at you, it's annoying! Nasty!" Komako changed his face abruptly.

Ah Hua remembered, it was exactly like this.

"Tell him to be even. ”

"Average?, do you want me to tell him to be average?" Komako gently pressed her face to it.

The room was on the second floor, but the toad was chirping around the walls of the room. It seems that not one, but two or three. Tweeted for a long time.

Coming up from the indoor bath, Komako was completely relieved, and began to tell her story in a calm tone.

She even talked about the fact that when she was examined for the first time here, she thought she was just like when she was a prostitute, with only her breasts open, so she was made fun of, and then she started crying. She also answered Ah Hua's inquiries truthfully.

"It came very accurately, two days a month. ”

"But don't you feel troubled when that thing goes out to a feast when it comes?"

"Well, you even know that. ”

You can warm up your body by bathing in the famous hot springs every day, and you have to walk a mile between the old and new hot springs in order to go to the banquet, and you rarely stay up late in the ravine, so you are strong, but you still have a narrow pelvis that is common to geishas, and the skeleton is narrow and thick. Still, the reason why she was able to draw Ah Hua here from far away was because of the deep sympathy she contained.

"I don't know if someone like me can have a baby?" asked Komako seriously. She is saying that if you are only dating one person now, isn't it the same as a husband and wife?

Only then did Ah Hua know that there was such a man in the foal. said that she followed him for five years from the time she was seventeen. Ah Hua had been a little surprised a long time ago. Later, I realized why the foal was so ignorant and unguarded-