It was the first time Ah Hua touched such cold hair, and he was taken aback. He thought that maybe it wasn't because of the cold weather, but because of the hair itself, so he couldn't help but take a closer look. The Gothic woman succumbed and counted on the kotatsu stand, and the number went on and on.

"What are you counting?"

After he asked, the Gothic woman remained silent for a long time.

"It was May 23rd. ”

"Yes, you're counting the days? July and August are big moons. ”

"Oh, the one hundred and ninety-ninth day. It was exactly the one hundred and ninety-ninth day. ”

"How can you remember so clearly that it was May 23rd?"

"Just flip through the diary. ”

"Diary?

"Hmm. It's my pleasure to look through old diaries. Write it down truthfully without concealing anything, and even feel embarrassed to read it yourself. ”

"When did it start?"

"Shortly before going to Tokyo to accompany the drink. At that time, I didn't have much money on hand, and I couldn't afford to buy a diary, so I had to spend two or three cents to buy a miscellaneous notebook, and then use a ruler to draw a fine grid, perhaps a pencil sharpened, and the lines drawn were very neat and beautiful. So from the top corner to the bottom corner of the book, it's densely filled with small characters. When you can afford to buy a diary, you can't do it, and it's a waste to use it. Let's just practice calligraphy, I used to write in old newspapers, but now I write directly on rolls of stationery. ”

"Hasn't there been a break?"

"Hmm. Sixteen years old and this year are the most interesting. Every time I come back from a banquet, I change into pajamas and remember. Didn't you come back late, and fall asleep in the middle of every writing, and some places can still be seen now. ”

"Really?"

"However, it is not always memorized, and there are intervals. In this ravine, the so-called attendance at a banquet is not the same old fashion? This year, it is not appropriate to buy only the kind of year with the year and month on every page. Because sometimes it takes a long time to write with a single pen. ”

Compared with the diary, Ah Hua was particularly moved: she had taken notes on the novels she had read since she was sixteen years old, so there were as many as ten miscellaneous books.

"Have you written down all your thoughts?"

"I can't write about my feelings, just the title, the author and the characters in the book, and the relationship between those characters. ”

"What's the point of memorizing that?"

"I can't do it. ”

"It's a total futile. ”

"yes. The Gothic woman replied aloud nonchalantly, and then looked straight at Ah Hua.

Ah Hua didn't know why, he wanted to emphasize "it's completely futile", and at this moment, the tranquility of the snowy night was refreshing, and it was because he was attracted by the Gothic woman.

He knew that it would not be in vain for this Goth woman, but he gave her a "futile effort". After saying this, I felt that her existence had become more innocent.

When the Gothic woman talks about fiction, it sounds as if it has nothing to do with the word "literature" that is used in everyday life. It seems that the friendship between the people of this village is only an exchange of reading women's magazines, and other than that, they are completely alone and reading their own books. There is no choice, and there is no need to solve it, as long as you find novels or magazines in the living room of the inn, etc., borrow them and read them. Many of the names of the new writers she listed from memory were unknown to Ah Hua. Listening to her tone, it was as if she were talking about distant foreign literature, with a bleak tone, like a greedy child. Ah Hua thought to himself: I am afraid this is similar to the situation where I imagined a distant Western dance with pictures and words in a foreign book.

It seemed that she had been looking forward to such a companion for months, and talked about movies and plays she had never seen before. One hundred and ninety-nine days ago, when she had been fond of such conversations, had she forgotten the vigor with which she had thrown herself into Ah Hua's arms?

However, it seems that her longing for urban things has now been hidden in simple despair, and has become a naïve dream. He felt strongly that her sentiment was more of a sheer futility than the haughty dissatisfaction of the city's losers. She herself did not show her loneliness, but in Ah Hua's eyes, it became unimaginable sorrow. If you blindly indulge in this kind of thought, even Ah Hua himself may fall into an ethereal sentimentality, thinking that survival itself is a futility. However, the cold air in the mountains soaked the blush on the face of the Gothic woman in front of her even more vividly.

Anyway, Ah Hua finally re-evaluated her. However, now that the other party has become a geisha, he is difficult to talk about.

She was so drunk that she regretted the insensitivity of her arm, and bit her elbow with all her might, and cried:

"What the hell is this! Fuck, fuck! I'm so tired, what the hell is this!"

She was unsteady on her heels, shook twice, and fell to the ground.

"It's not a pity. I'm not that kind of woman, though. Not that kind of woman!" Ah Hua remembered this sentence and hesitated. The Gothic woman was sensitively aware of this, and reflexively stood up. At this moment, there was a whistle, and she said, "It's a zero-o'clock upward train," and then slammed open the paper window, then pushed open the glass window, sat on the window sill, and leaned on the window railing.

A puff of cold air swept into the room. The train faded away, and it sounded like the wind at night.

"Hey, isn't it cold? ”

Ah Hua also stood up and walked over, but there was no wind.

It was a bitterly cold night scene, as if you could hear the sound of ice cracking in the depths of the entire frozen crust. There is no moon. Looking up, the sky is full of stars, and there are unbelievably many. The stars shone brightly, as if they were slowly falling at an illusory speed. The stars moved closer and farther into the night sky, and the night became darker and darker. The mountains at the county border have become more layered, and they appear even darker, hanging heavily on the edge of the starry sky. It was a cold, quiet and harmonious atmosphere.

When the Gothic woman noticed Ah Hua approaching, she leaned her chest on the window railing. This gesture is not cowardice, on the contrary, it looks extremely strong against the backdrop of this night. Ah Hua thought to himself: Here we go again.

However, even though the mountains are black, they look like white for some reason. In this way, the mountains feel as if they are transparent and cold. The hues of the sky and the mountains are not harmonious.

Ah Hua pinched the Gothic woman's throat and said, "It's so cold, I'm going to catch a cold!" and dragged her back. The Gothic woman hugged the window railing and said in a hoarse voice, "I'm going back!"

"You can go. ”

"Let me sit like this for a little longer. ”

"Then I'll take a shower. ”

"No, you stay here. ”

"Close the window. ”

"Let me sit like this for a little longer. ”

The village is half-hidden behind a cedar forest with a guardian deity. The train station can be reached in less than ten minutes by car. The lights flickered in the cold, as if they were crackling and about to burst.

The Gothic woman's cheeks, the glass on the window, the sleeves of her cotton robe, everything that her hands touched, made Ah Hua feel so cold for the first time.

Even the mat under his feet was cold. He was about to go to the bath alone, but this time the Gothic woman meekly followed, saying, "Wait a minute, I'll go too." ”

The Gothic woman was about to pack away his loose clothes into a basket when a man who had stayed with him came in and found the Gothic woman cowering and hiding her face in Ah Hua's arms, and said, "Ah, I'm sorry. ”

"Nothing, please come in. We're going over there. ”

Ah Hua hurriedly said. Then he was shirtless, picked up the basket and walked into the women's bathhouse next to him. Of course, the Gothic woman pretended to be husband and wife and followed. Ah Hua silently jumped into the hot spring without looking back. He was relieved, and was about to laugh out loud, when he hurriedly put his mouth to the mouth of the spring and rinsed his mouth indiscriminately.

Back in the room, the Gothic woman gently lifted her upturned head, brushed her sideburns with her little thumb, and said simply, "How sad!"

The Gothic woman seemed to have half-open black eyes. However, when I looked closer, it turned out to be her eyelashes.

This neurotic goth woman stayed up all night—

The sound of the belt woke Ah Hua up.

"I'm sorry to wake you up so early. It's not dawn yet. I said, "Would you please look at me?" the Goth woman turned off the light, "do you see my face?

"I can't see it, it's not dawn yet. ”

"Nonsense. How about you take a good look?" said the Goth woman, pushing the window open, "See? No, I'll go back." ”

It was so cold at dawn that Ah Hua was a little surprised. He looked up from his pillow and saw that the sky was still night, but the mountains were already slightly white.

"By the way, it doesn't matter, it's a farm slack now, and there will be no pedestrians in the morning. But will anyone go up the mountain?" muttered the Gothic woman, dragging her half-tied belt back and forth.

"It seems that the outbound train at five o'clock just now did not come down with guests. The people in the inn woke up early. ”

The Gothic woman fastened her belt, stood up, sat down, and paced again. This fidgeting look is like a nocturnal animal anxiously tossing and forth in fear of the dawn. This strange wildness turned her on.

At this time, the room may have been bright, and the Gothic woman's crimson cheeks could be seen clearly. Ah Hua could see the intoxicating bright red.

"Look at your face, it's all red from the cold!"

"It's not frozen, it's unloaded*. As soon as I got under the covers, I felt a warm current rushing to my toes. As she spoke, she looked in the mirror at the dresser next to her pillow.

"It's dawn. I'm going back. ”

Ah Hua looked at her, and suddenly shrunk his neck. The white flowers in the mirror shimmered with snow. In the snow in the mirror, the red cheeks of the Goth woman appeared. It is an indescribably pure beauty.

Maybe it's because the sun is rising, and the snow in the mirror is getting more and more dazzling, like a burning flame. The hair of the Gothic woman who appeared on the snow also shimmered with purple light, adding to the dark color.

Presumably to avoid snow, a small ditch was temporarily dug along the wall of the inn to divert the hot water from the bath to the main entrance, where it became a shallow pool. A stout black Akita dog crouched on a stepping stone there, licking the hot water for a long time. Rows of guest skis were drying at the door, freshly moved from the storeroom, and smelling slightly musty. This musty smell is also diluted by the vapor. Even the snow that fell from the branches of the cedar trees melted and deformed when it met the heat on the roof of the public bath.

The Gothic woman looked down the predawn ramp from the window of the mountain inn. Later, from the end of the year to the beginning of the month, the ramp will be buried by a blizzard. At that time, you had to wear snow pants [a type of pants worn over a kimono in winter] to go to the banquet. ], long rubber boots, and you have to wear a cloak and a turban. At that time, the snow will be thick. Ah Hua is now descending the ramp. However, from under the diapers drying high on the side of the road, he could see the mountains at the county border, and the snow on them was shining brightly, and it looked exceptionally clear. The green onions have not yet been buried by the snow.

Children in the village are skiing in the fields.

As soon as you enter the streets of the village, you can hear the gentle sound of water dripping from the eaves.

The Xiaoice pillar in front of the eaves shines with a lovely light.

A woman who came back from the bath looked up at the man who was sweeping snow on the roof and said, "Hey, can you please sweep our roof by the way?"

The woman felt a little dazzled and wiped her forehead with a wet hand towel. She was probably a waitress and came early during the ski season. Next door is a teahouse, with old colorful paintings on the glass windows and a sloping roof.

Generally, the roofs of houses are covered with thin wooden planks and stones. The round stones, with only one side of the sunlight, showed a black surface in the snow. It wasn't a damp color, but it was as black as ink after being eroded by wind and snow. Rows of low houses lie quietly on the ground, giving the impression that every house is like those stones. It's really a northern scenery.

A group of children picked up ice cubes from the ditch and threw them on the road, playing and playing. I guess it's the ice that sparkles when it breaks and splashes, so it's a lot of fun. Standing in the sun, I felt that the ice was unbelievably thick. Ah Hua continued to watch for a while.

A thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl leans alone against a stone wall to knit wool. She was wearing snow pants and high-toothed geta, but no socks, and you could see the chilblains growing on her bare feet that had turned red. A little girl of about three years old sitting on the wood label next to her absentmindedly held a ball of yarn. An old gray yarn that was drawn from the little girl's side to the big girl's side shone softly.

From a snowboard factory seven or eight houses apart, the sound of wood was heard. Under the eaves on the other side, there were five or six geisha standing and chatting. The Gothic woman might have been standing there too. It wasn't until this morning that I heard from the innkeeper that her stage name was Komako. Sure enough, the Gothic woman looked at him seriously. The Gothic woman must have blushed and pretended to be nothing, but before Ah Hua could think so, the foal was already reddening even her neck. She could have turned her face away, but she was so embarrassed that she lowered her gaze. And, as he approached, she slowly moved her face to his side.

Ah Hua felt as if his cheeks were also feverish, and he was about to hurry over, but the foal immediately caught up.

"It's embarrassing to be in a place like this!"

"If you want to say that you are embarrassed, I am embarrassed! There are so many of you that I am so scared that I dare not go over. Are you like that all the time?"

"Yes, that's often the case after lunch. ”

"Isn't it more embarrassing for you to be blushing like this, and chasing after you like this?"

"It doesn't matter. ”

After the foal said this, his cheeks turned red again, and he stopped on the spot and climbed the persimmon tree by the roadside.

"I wanted you to come to my house and sit down, so I came here. ”

"Is your home right here?"

"Hmm. ”

"If you want me to look at the diary, I might as well go and sit down. ”

"I'm going to burn those things and die. ”

"But don't you have a sick person at home?"

"Oh, you know so much!"

"Didn't you pick you up at the station last night, wearing a dark blue cloak? I also came by that train, and sat near the patient. That girl was so serious and kind in waiting for the sick. Is it his wife? Did you pick it up from here, or did you come from Tokyo? It's like a loving mother, and I'm very touched to see it!"

"Why didn't you tell me about this last night?"

"It's his wife, right?"

However, instead of answering the question, the colt asked, "Why didn't you tell me last night?

Ah Hua doesn't like women to be so powerful. But what makes her so powerful is not that Ah Hua or Koma himself has any reason, this may be seen as a manifestation of Komako's character. In short, under her repeated questioning, he seemed to feel that he had hit the nail on the head. When he saw the colt in the mirror reflecting the snow on the mountain this morning, Ah Hua naturally thought of the girl on the glass window of the train reflected in the twilight, but why didn't he tell the foal about it?

"It doesn't matter if there are patients, no one will come to my room. ”

As he spoke, the colt stepped behind the low stone wall.

On the right is a field covered with snow, and on the left is a persimmon tree planted along the roots of the neighbor's wall. The front of the house looks like a flower bed. There is a small lotus pond in the center, and the ice in the pond has been fished to the edge of the pond, and the red carp swim around in the pond. The house is also like the trunk of a persimmon tree, withered. The snow-covered roof, the wooden planks are old, and the eaves are crooked.

As soon as he entered the earth room [in the past, the entrance of the Japanese-style house was the land, called the earth room], and he felt quiet, cold, and could not see anything, and Ah Hua was led up the ladder. It's a veritable ladder. The house above is also a veritable penthouse.

"This was originally a room for silkworms, were you shocked?"

"Come back drunk and climb this ladder, thanks to you not falling down. ”

"I've fallen for miles!" but at this time, most of the time I fell asleep as soon as I got into the bedland downstairs. ”

As he spoke, the foal put his hand into the quilt on the kotatsu stand and tried it, then stood up and went to fetch the fire.

Ah Hua glanced around the strange house. Only a low window opened on the south side, but the fine lattice paper door was freshly pasted and flooded with light. The walls are also carefully pasted with raw edge paper, making it feel like you have stepped into an old cardboard box. However, the roof above was fully exposed, connected to the windows, and the house appeared very low, black and oppressive, and shrouded in a cold and desolate atmosphere. When I think of the other side of the wall, I don't know what it looks like, and I feel as if the house is hanging in the air, and my heart is always unstable. The walls and mats are old, but they are very clean.

He thought: The foal is probably like a silkworm chrysalis, so that the transparent body inhabits here.

The kotatsu stand is covered with a striped quilt like snow pants. Although the wardrobe is old, it is made of high-quality straight-grained paulownia wood, which is a trace of Komako's life in Tokyo. The dresser is very rough and out of proportion to the wardrobe. The vermilion lacquered sewing kit is shiny and luxurious. Layers of wooden planks nailed to the walls, perhaps bookshelves, hang a thin woolen curtain from them.

The clothes from last night's banquet were still hanging on the wall, revealing the red lining of the shirt. The foal took the shovel and climbed the ladder lightly.

"Although it was taken from the patient's room, it was said that the fire was clean. ”

As he spoke, the foal leaned down on his freshly combed head and went to stir with the charcoal fire in the kotatsu. She also told Ah Hua that the patient was suffering from intestinal tuberculosis and had returned to his hometown to die.

He said he was "home", but in fact he was not born in this place. This is his mother's hometown. After her mother became a geisha in Hong Kong, she stayed here and became a dance master. She had suffered a stroke before she was fifty years old, and she returned to this hot spring to recuperate. He loved to fiddle with machines since he was a child, so he deliberately stayed in this port city and entered a watch shop. Soon, I was going to Tokyo for night school. Maybe it's because of overwork, I'm only 26 years old this year.

The foal said so much in one breath, but who was the girl who had accompanied him, and why did she live in this man's house? In this house, which seemed to be suspended in mid-air, Komako's voice would reverberate around every corner even if she said that. Ah Hua was a little uneasy.

Just as he was about to walk out of the room, something slightly pale flashed in his eyes, and when he looked back, it turned out to be a three-stringed piano case made of paulownia wood. It looked so big and longer than the actual three-stringen case that it was hard to believe that she was carrying this on her back to the feast. As he thought so, the smoke-blackened door opened.

"Sister Ju, can you step over it?"

It was a beautiful voice that was so clear that it was almost mournful. It's like an echo from somewhere.

Ah Hua had heard this sound before. It was the voice of the leaf who leaned out of the window in the snowy night and called out to the stationmaster.

"Okay. Komako agreed, and Leaf stepped lightly across the shamisen case in her snow pants. She carried a night pot in her hand.

Judging from the intimate tone she had when she talked to the stationmaster last night, or the snow pants she was wearing, Ye Zi was obviously a girl from this neighborhood. The fancy belt is halfway exposed on the snow pants, so the wide stripes of red, yellow and black are very conspicuous, so the long sleeves of the wool clothes are more vivid. The leg of the trouser leg is slightly slit at the knee, which looks a little bloated, but it is very stiff and very compliant, giving people a sense of stability.

However, Ye Zi only glanced sharply at Ah Hua, and walked through the earth without saying a word-