Ah Hua remembered the scene when Ye Zi was nursing his master's son on the train, and perhaps expressed Ye Zi's wish in that sincere feeling. He thought about it and pursed his lips and smiled.

"So, this time you want to study nursing Luo?"

"I don't want to be a nurse anymore. ”

"How can you be so adrift? ”

"Ouch, what is wandering or not, whatever. Leaf smiled retortingly.

The laughter was so clear that it was almost mournful, and it didn't sound like a stupid one. However, the voice suddenly tugged at Ah Hua's heartstrings, and then disappeared again.

"What's so funny?"

"Isn't it, I've only ever taken care of one person. ”

"What?"

"I don't want to do it anymore. ”

"Yes. Ah Hua was attacked again and said softly, "I heard that you go to the soba field every day to grave?"

"Hmm. ”

"Do you think you'll never take care of another sick person or go to another person's grave in your life?"

"No, it won't. ”

"But are you willing to leave that grave and go to Tokyo?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, please take me with you. ”

"Said the foal, you're a terrible vinegar bottle. Isn't he the fiancé of the foal?"

"You mean the guys? No, no!"

"Then why do you resent the foal?"

"Sister Ju?" Ye Zi seemed to call out to the person standing in front of him, staring at Ah Hua with sparkling eyes and said, "Please treat Sister Ju well." ”

"I can't do anything for her!"

Tears welled up from the corners of the leaf's eyes, and she grabbed a little moth that had landed on the mat, and said as she sobbed:

"Sister Ju said I was going crazy. ”

She said this and walked out of the room.

Ah Hua felt a chill hit his heart.

Leaf opened the window as if he were about to throw away the pinched moth, and saw the drunken foal standing up and fighting with the guest, forcing the guest to no avail. The sky darkened. Ah Hua walked into the indoor hot spring.

Ye Zi also took the children of the inn and walked into the women's bath next to it.

Ye Zi let the child strip and take a bath, and his words were very kind, like a somewhat childish mother, and his voice was pleasant.

Then, in this voice, she sang again:

......

......

Out of the backyard to see,

There are six trees in total,

Three pear trees,

Three cedars.

The crow is below

camp nest,

Sparrows are on top

Make a nest.

Crickets in the forest

Chirp and chirp.

Ah Shan came to the grave of his friend,

Come to the grave,

One, one, another.

It's a clap song. She sang in a delicate, light, lively, and joyful tone, making Ah Hua feel as if the leaf had appeared in a dream.

The leaves kept talking to the child. She stood up, and when she left the bath, the sound was still there, like the sound of a flute. On the floor of the dark, dilapidated gate, there is a three-stringed paulownia box. At this time, the night was quiet, and I couldn't help but pluck Ah Hua's heartstrings. He was reading the name of the geisha to whom the case belonged, and Komako walked over from the other side where the sound of washing dishes sounded.

"What are you looking at?"

"Did she spend the night here?"

"Who? oh, it's? you're stupid, you know you can't bring this thing with you. Sometimes it's days at a time. She just smiled, sighed a few more times, then closed her eyes, loosened her clothes, and staggered to fall on top of Ah Hua.

"Hey, send me back!"

"Don't go back, do you?"

"No, no, I have to go back! There's another party, and everyone is going to accompany the second party, and I'm the only one who stays. If the banquet is held here, it will be okay, otherwise the friends will come back to me to take a bath, and I will not be at home. ”

Although the foal was drunk, he straightened up and walked down the steep slope.

"You made that girl cry?"

"So, she's really crazy. ”

"Do you think it's funny how you look at people like that?"

"Didn't you say she was going crazy? She probably cried when she thought of you and was not convinced. ”

"That's good. ”

But she didn't have ten minutes to do so, and when she entered the bath, she began to sing in a beautiful voice. ”

"The girl has a quirk of singing in the bathhouse. ”

"She entrusts me with all seriousness to treat you well. ”

"It's stupid. But why do you preach such things to me?"

"Preaching, strange, I don't understand why you are so presumptuous when it comes to that girl. ”

"You want her?"

"Look at you, where have you been!"

"I'm not kidding you. I don't know why, but when I see her, I always feel that she may become a heavy burden for me in the future. Let's just say you, if you like her, observe her well, you will think the same way. The foal put his hand on Ah Hua's shoulder, snuggled up, and suddenly shook his head and said, "No. If she had run into someone like you, maybe she wouldn't have gone crazy. Carry this burden for me. ”

"Don't say that. ”

"Do you think I'm a drunkard? I am happy to live a dissolute life in the ravine when I think that she will be loved by your side. ”

"Hey!"

"Leave me alone!" the foal scrambled away, slamming into the rain shield. It is the home of the foal.

"They thought you weren't coming back. ”

"No, I'll do it. The foal lifted the rattling foot of the door, pulled it open, and whispered, "Come in and sit down." ”

"It's ...... at this time"

"Everyone in the family is asleep. ”

Even Ah Hua was a little hesitant.

"Then, I'll send you back. ”

"No need. ”

"No, haven't you seen my room yet?"

As soon as I entered the back door, I saw the family lying in front of me. They were covered with a stiff faded quilt, just like the cotton of the snow pants used to be worn in this area. The couple, the seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, and five or six children, went to sleep in their own direction in the dim light. This picture makes people feel that in the poor and lonely home, it is also full of a kind of strong strength.

As if pushed back by a warm snoring, Ah Hua couldn't help but retreat outside, and the foal slammed the back door shut, and walked through the planks with heavy steps without hesitation. Ah Hua had no choice but to gently pass by the children's pillows. An indescribable pleasure stirred through him.

"Wait here, I'll go up to the second floor and turn on the lights. ”

"No, I don't have to. Ah Hua ascended the dark staircase. Looking back, on the side of the simple sleeping faces, you can see the shops selling coarse snacks.

It's like a farmer's house, with four rooms on the second floor and old mats.

"I live alone, and it's wide. So he said this, but the doors were all opened, and the house was full of old furniture, and in the middle of the smoky-blackened sliding door was laid a small cover of the foal, and on the wall hung the clothes of the feast, like a fox's den.

The foal sat alone on the bunk, giving up the only cushion to Ah Hua.

"Ouch, my face is flushed. She looked in the mirror, "Are you really drunk like this?"

Then she searched the top of the closet and said, "Oh, the diary." ”

"That's a lot. ”

She pulled out another patterned cardboard box from the side, which was filled with various cigarettes.

"It was sent by a guest and I brought it back with me in my sleeve pocket or tucked in my belt. It's all crumpled like this, but it's not dirty. The variety is generally complete. She put one hand in front of Ah Hua, and with the other hand, she flipped through the cigarettes in the box for Ah Hua to see.

"Oops, no matches. Because I quit smoking, I don't need to. ”

"Alright. Are you doing needlework?"

"Hmm. There were many guests to enjoy the maple leaves, so it was delayed. The foal turned back and put aside the needlework in front of the closet.

I guess this is a trace of Komako's life in Tokyo. The chic straight wood-grain wardrobe and the precious vermilion lacquer sewing box are still placed on the deserted second floor, just like when living on the top floor of the old cardboard box of the master's house, which looks particularly sad.

There is a cord hanging down to the pillow on the electric light.

"When it's time to go to bed after reading a book, you can turn off the lights by pulling this rope. The foal said as he stroked the string. However, she sat meekly like a housewife, and seemed a little shy.

"It's like a fox getting married. ”

"Originally. ”

"You're going to stay in this house for four years?"

"However, half a year has passed, and it has been four years in the blink of an eye. ”

From downstairs came the sound of people snoring. Ah Hua couldn't answer the conversation, so he hurriedly stood up.

The foal went to close the door, poked his head out, and looked up at the sky.

"It's snowing, and the autumn foliage season is almost over. She said and walked outside, "This area is full of ravines and ravines, and it is snowing when there are still autumn leaves." ”

"Well, please rest. ”

"I'll send you to the door of the inn. ”

However, she entered the inn with Ah Hua again, said "Please rest in peace", and disappeared without a trace. After a while, she drank two full glasses of cold wine, brought them to his room, and said in an excited tone:

"Come, drink, drink it!"

"The people at the inn are asleep, where did you get them?"

"Well, I know where to put it. ”

It seemed that the foals had already drunk the wine when they poured it from the barrel, and the drunkenness of the moment was revealed, and she narrowed her eyes as she watched the wine overflow from the glass.

"However, if you drink it in the dark, you can't taste it. ”

Ah Hua casually drank the cold wine handed over by the colt.

He wouldn't have gotten drunk with such a little bit of wine, but maybe because he had walked outside for a while and caught a cold, he suddenly felt a little nauseous, and the strength of the wine rushed to his head. He felt pale, so he closed his eyes and lay down. The foal hurriedly brushed him on. After a long time, he had no scruples about the hot body of a woman.

The foal replied shyly, and her movements were like a girl who had never given birth to someone else's child and looked up at his sleeping appearance.

After a long time, Ah Hua suddenly said: "You are a good girl!"

"Why? Which is better?"

"She's a good girl!"

"Really? You're such a nuisance. What are you talking about? Be sober. The foal turned his face away, shook Ah Hua, and said a few words in pieces as if to refute him, and then fell silent and silent.

After a moment, she pursed her lips and smiled.

"It's too bad. I'm feeling uncomfortable, so you'd better go back. I don't have any new clothes to wear. Every time I come to you, I always want to change into a banquet dress, and I wear all the clothes, and this one is still a friend's. I'm a bad person, am I?"

Ah Hua was speechless.

"What's so good about such a girl?" said Komako, choking a little, "the first time I saw you, I thought you were a nuisance. How can anyone speak as recklessly as you? I thought you were so annoying. ”

Ah Hua nodded.

"Yo, I haven't said anything about it, do you understand? ”

"It doesn't matter. ”

"Really?" said the foal, silent for a long time, as if looking back on his past. A woman's desire to survive affectionately reaches Ah Hua.

"You're a good woman. ”

"What's a good way?"

"She's a good woman. "You're such a weird person. The foal hid his face in embarrassment, and then, as if remembering something, suddenly put one arm on his shoulder, raised his head, and said, "What does that mean?

Ah Hua looked at the foal in surprise.

"You say. Are you laughing at me, are you still laughing at me?"

The foal blushed and stared at Ah Hua and asked. Her shoulders trembled with rage, her face turned pale, and tears rolled down her face.

"It's heartwarming, ah, it's heartwarming. The foal rolled out of the bed and sat down with his face back.

Ah Hua guessed that the foal must have misunderstood, and he couldn't help but be surprised, he closed his eyes and made no sound.

"It's so sad!"

The foal muttered to herself, curled up in a ball, and lay down.

She was probably tired of crying, and she tied the mat with a hairpin for a long time, and then suddenly walked out of the room.

Ah Hua couldn't catch up. When Koma said this, there were many things that he had a clear conscience.

However, the foal soon crept back and screamed from outside the paper door, "I say, don't you want to take a shower?"

"Ahh ”

"I'm sorry. I changed my mind and came here. ”

She just stood and hid in the hallway, not intending to enter the house. Ah Hua walked out with a towel in hand. The foal avoided his gaze and walked ahead with his head down, almost as if he had been arrested after a crime had been exposed. However, when she had warmed herself up in the bath, she began to make a strange and pitiful fuss, and she was no longer sleepy.

The next morning, Ah Hua was woken up by the sound of singing.

He listened quietly for most of the day. The foal looked back at the dresser and smiled, "That's what the guests in the plum blossom hall sang." After the banquet last night, they went to find me. ”

"It's a group traveler from the Folk Society, right?"

"Hmm. ”

"Is it snowing?"

"Hmm. The foal stood up and opened the window with a clatter.

"The autumn leaves have already fallen. ”

From the gray sky embedded in the window frame, large snowflakes drifted in. For some reason, the silence was unbelievable. Ah Hua was sleep-deprived and stared blankly into the void.

The singer beats the drum.

Ah Hua remembered the mirror reflecting the morning snow at the end of last year, and then looked at the dresser, only to see that the cold snowflakes still clearly appeared in the mirror, floating into a white line around the colt who was rubbing his neck with his open collar.

The komako's skin is as clean as if it had just been washed. It was hard to believe that she had such a misunderstanding for Ah Hua's unintentional words. In doing so, she showed a sadness that could not be ruled out.

This first snow made the reddish-brown of the maple leaves gradually fade, and the distant peaks became vivid again.

The cedar forest, covered with a thin layer of snow, stands out one by one on the snow and stretches out sharply to the sky.

Reeling and weaving in the snow, rinsing in the snow water, drying in the snow, everything from spinning to weaving takes place in the snow. There is snow and crepe, and snow is the mother of crepe. The ancients also wrote about this in their books.

In the clothing estimator's shop, Ah Hua also found a kind of hemp crepe from Snow Country, which he used to make summer clothes. It was hand-woven by the village women during the long winter and snowy days. Because of his dancing work, he got acquainted with a shop that sold old costumes for Noh [a type of Japanese classical music] and asked them to show him any good crepe. He loves this crepe and also uses it to make close-fitting singles.

It is said that in the early spring, when the thick snow curtain was removed and the ice melted, crepe began to be marketed. The owners of cloth farms in the three major cities [Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto] also came from far and wide to buy crepe, and the village even prepared inns for them to stay for a long time. The girls spent half a year weaving the crepe, also for this first listing. Men and women from villages near and far have gathered here. It's full of juggling halls and grocery stalls, and it's like a festival in the town. A card with the name and address of the weaver girl is tied to the crepe, and the grades are graded according to the results. This also became the basis for choosing a daughter-in-law. If you don't start learning to weave from a young age, you won't be able to weave high-quality crepe at the age of fifteen, sixteen or even twenty-four or five. As people get older, the woven cloth loses its luster. Perhaps it is because the girls worked hard to hone their skills in order to squeeze into the ranks of the first-class weavers, and they began to reel the silk from October to mid-February of the following year, and during this frozen and snowy day, there was nothing else to do, so the handiwork was particularly delicate, and all their love was poured into the product. Among the crepe yarns worn by Ahua, there may have been girls from the late Edo period to the early Meiji period.