Guandong Yunmengtan

Tokyo is different from many big cities, there are few pedestrians on the back streets at night, Meng Xiang can safely walk around in the streets even though he is not fully clothed.He commutes daily by subway and bicycle. In the morning, he parked his bicycle at the Meguro subway station, which is far away from here. He dared not take the subway with his face, so he had to walk back for more than an hour. It was already 11 o'clock in the evening when he picked up the bicycle. Half.

It’s almost 1 o’clock when I get home. Usually, he goes to bed at 8 o’clock every night, wakes up at 48 o’clock in the morning, and rides an hour to Tsukiji Market to work. Today is so late, it seems that he will have to stay up until tomorrow during lunch break. Take a nap, but this will delay the study plan.Alas, poor students who rely on part-time jobs for a living are always chased by time, and feel that a day must be extended to at least [-] hours to be barely enough.

He rode his bicycle across the streets and alleys towards his home. The houses around Changguang Temple were old and the streets were narrow. No one would worry about speeding up, galloping past like on a hot wheel, almost hitting someone at a corner.

"あぶない (Dangerous!)"

The victim was an old lady in a kimono. She was turning right at the corner and confronted Meng Xiang head-on. A scream echoed the piercing sound of brakes, and the spinning tires came to a stop less than ten centimeters away from her. , Meng wanted to pounce forward under the impetus of inertia, but fortunately he was agility to avoid wrestling.

I was lucky not to bump into anyone, but complaints are inevitable. Most Japanese old ladies have their eyes high above their heads and treat people harshly. They especially hate foreigners who do not obey the rules of their country. Don't worry, once when I met a neighbor who didn't greet him with honorific words, he was scolded by the other party before and after, and I was so aggrieved.I almost ran into someone today, and I don't know how many ugly words I will make.

The old lady was also quite frightened, she raised her hand to cover her head in a panic, and slowly put it down after a few seconds after the car stopped. Meng wanted to see her description clearly through the streetlight, and her hanging heart calmed down.

"Aju."

Hearing him call out her name, the old lady also opened her eyes and looked around, and said in surprise, "Meng Jun, it's you."

This old lady is a celebrity here, and the local neighbors call her "Aju". Her full name is Eight-tailed Orange, and Eight-tailed is her husband's surname, but her husband has been dead for decades. She is an old widow who runs a money soup in the next street. That is, public baths.Meng Xiang has been with her for three years, and the friendship started from the bathing place called "Song Tang".

At that time, he couldn't find a job with a high hourly wage, so he had to work two jobs a day to maintain his expenses, one of which was delivering milk for the Agricultural Association.The Japan Agricultural Association is the most extensively organized farmer mutual aid cooperative organization in Japan. One of its tasks is to help individual dairy producers sell their products on behalf of them to protect them from monopoly and suppression by large companies.The milk of the Agricultural Cooperative is of good quality, and the price is cheaper than that of well-known dairy companies. Many middle-aged and elderly people like to order it. Meng Xiang applied for a job as a milk delivery worker. Every morning at 5 o'clock in the morning, he went to the sales point next to Changguang Temple to pick up milk. According to the customer list , riding a bicycle door-to-door to deliver, all delivered before 7:1, [-] minute can not be delayed.

During these two hours, he raced like crazy, his legs were like jumping stitches on a sewing machine, he was sweating like rain after delivering the milk, and when the sun was out in summer, his clothes were white and hairy, as if he had rolled in a pile of salt.After that, he should go to school, and there is no time to go home to change his clothes. He has received a lot of stares because of this. Japanese people like cleanliness. , not in school.During class, Japanese students stayed away from him like the god of plague, and some female students covered their noses in front of him. Later, the life instructor personally reminded him to pay attention to personal hygiene. It can be seen that his body odor has caused other students bothered.

Meng Xiang was very embarrassed, no one wanted to be treated like trash, but where could she find a suitable place to take a bath?When he was distressed, he stumbled upon "Songyu". This bathhouse is located in the community where he delivers milk. It is said to be a century-old shop.After Meng thought of Japan, he practiced frugality and spent money carefully. He had never been to a public bath, and he was a little nervous going in for the first time.

At that time, Aju was the one who received him. It happened to be a little after 07:30 in the morning. Aju was sweeping the floor in front of the store. Run over to say hello.

"Good morning, do you want to take a shower?"

Meng Xiang's first thought when he saw her was: This old woman must have been a beautiful woman when she was young!Now her hair is gray and wrinkled and she still has a beautiful silhouette. She wears very delicate light makeup. She is tall and slender. She wears a plain high-end kimono and a white apron with ruffles. Intimacy.

Meng wanted to enter the store under her warm hospitality. Maybe it was too early and there were no other customers in the store. He walked into the men's bathroom after undressing in the dressing room and found the layout of the bathroom was very strange.The men's and women's baths are only separated by a thin board wall. At the end of the board wall stands a tall cash register. Sitting on it, you can see the situation on both sides at the same time. Naturally, you can also have a panoramic view of the scene of customers taking a bath.

Didn't the old woman see her like this?

Although it is very uncomfortable, when I think that the other party is old enough to be my grandmother, the awkwardness is only a flick of a finger, and time is more precious in comparison.He saw that the big pool in the bathing place was filled with blue hot water, and his pores opened up due to the mist, so he happily jumped into it with big strides, which caused trouble.

It was also because he had just arrived in a foreign country with his eyes closed, and he didn't know the rules of Japanese bathhouses. Japanese people must wash their bodies before taking a bath.

So as soon as he got into the water, he heard Ah Ju's cry of panic.

"だめ! だめ! (Don't mess around)"

She ran into the men's bath with small steps, and didn't care that Meng Xiang was naked, and ordered him to leave the bath immediately. Meng Xiang was so embarrassed that there was no suitable shelter around him, so he could only cover his crotch with his hands and listen to her lecture shyly.

"Little brother, this pool of water is for everyone to take a bath. If you don't wash your body first, if the water is dirty, the guests behind you won't be able to take a bath."

Meng Xiangfang realized that he was harming public morals, as if he had eaten a catty of Erjingtiao peppers from his hometown, his face was blushing, and he stammered and apologized, which exposed his still raw Sichuan-style Japanese.

Ah Ju asked: "Are you Chinese?"

"……Yes."

Ah Ju listened, sighed and shook his head, looking helpless, Meng Xiang's shame was shot into arrows, and he scolded himself for being too rude, not only humiliating himself, but also tarnishing the image of the people of the country, so flustered that he didn't know what to do.Ah Ju’s attitude was still friendly, pointing to a row of shower nozzles next to the bathtub, he said: “Please just rinse here, the water in this pool needs to be replaced, and it takes one or two hours to change the water until it is heated, so I probably won’t be able to take a bath today. "

After Meng Xiang Maoteng took a bath, he thought that the water in the pool was at least a dozen tons, and he had ruined it. The store might have to claim compensation, and this bath might cost him a week's food expenses.

However, what he was worried about did not happen. When he left the store, Ah Ju looked like a normal person, and said with a smile: "Thank you for your patronage, and welcome to come again next time." I ran away, determined to stay away from this store.However, there are no other money soups nearby and around the school, and if you don’t take a bath, you will continue to be a bedbug. Forced by reality, a few days later, he wandered around the door of Songtang in the morning again, remembering the embarrassing things of the previous few days, hesitating not to enter .In the end, Aju, who came out to sweep the floor, took the initiative first, seeing that she still greeted her cordially and enthusiastically like when they first met: "Good morning, do you want to take a bath?" Meng Xiang was suddenly inexplicably moved, and went in without saying a word, but this time he Just take a shower, and never dare to touch the crystal clear water.

After that, he would go to Songtang to take a bath every morning, change into clean clothes after washing, and go to school refreshed.However, due to the lessons learned from the first time, he never went into the bath again. After more than two weeks, Aju suddenly said when he left the store after taking a shower: "Why don't the guests take a bath? It's cold in winter, so I need to take a bath." Take a bath to be healthy."

Meng Xiang was taken aback, her face was so hot, she didn't know what to say to her, and she smiled and said, "Next time, come take a good bath, it's really super comfortable." After speaking, she took out a plate of wagashi to treat her. he.

Meng wanted to study and work in Japan, and he had experienced the cruelty of the world. The people in this country are polite and follow the rules, but they always show politeness and hypocrisy that reject people thousands of miles away, and sometimes they are despised or even hostile by some people with national complexes. Ah Ju is so lenient and sincere is too rare.He felt the warmth of his elders in this kind and kind old man, and he felt a sense of intimacy spontaneously, and became friends over time.Now he has bathed in Songtang for three years in a row, and he has become close friends with Aju, and has also enjoyed many preferential treatment from her.

Originally, Songyu was one of the few public bathhouses in Tokyo that insisted on opening in the morning. After learning that Meng wanted to finish work at 7 o'clock every day, Aju deliberately moved the opening time forward by half an hour for convenience, and the bathing fee was also discounted to 300 yen once. .On her birthday the year before last, Meng Xiang drew a pencil sketch for her. The old lady was so happy that she waived his bath fee for half a year.She has been a widow for more than 40 years and has been living alone. She only hired a sister-in-law to do odd jobs in the store.

Many elderly people in Japan are still working in their [-]s and [-]s, and their spirits are no worse than that of young people. This is probably the reason for their longevity.Through Aju, Meng Xiang met many old people who opened shops on this street. He respected their self-improvement spirit and was always inspired by it, so he was happy to associate with them.

But now his old friend witnessed the funny appearance of the vest, underwear and schoolbag, but he was caught off guard.

"Meng Jun, what happened? Why are you dressed like this?"

As expected, Aju looked at him suspiciously, showing deep concern, Meng Xiang smiled and scratched the back of his head, just because he was speechless, a small middle-aged man in police uniform came over and greeted Aju from a distance.

Meng Xiang saw that he was an acquaintance again, and he was still an annoying guy, as if a weight was hanging on his heart, he became more and more tired.

His name was Akutagawa Shuichi, and he was an inspector (film policeman) of the nearby Jiaoban (Japanese police station). Meng Xiang would pass by his guard box every day, and would bump into him every few days.Akutagawa is not only small, but also has a heart. Meng wanted to know him for three or four years, and the two direct contacts he had had were very unpleasant. The first time was when he was riding a bicycle through a street here, and he was stopped on the spot by the patrolling man.

"Sir, why is half of your bicycle registration code missing?"

Japan has strict management of bicycles and implements a real-name registration system. When buying a car privately, it is necessary to carry out "anti-criminal registration". The bicycle dealer will report the owner's information to the police station and paste the corresponding registration code on the bicycle. If the vehicle is stolen, Report to the police.

That day, a piece of the login code on Meng Xiang's frame fell off somehow, which attracted Akutagawa's attention.This is also due to the good law and order in Tokyo. The police have nothing to do and spend all their time on these trivial matters.Meng Xiang's spoken English was bad at the time, so he even explained to him, and copied out his bicycle number and login information. Akutagawa checked the system with the wireless calling device in his hand, and after confirming that it was correct, he said lightly: "No problem, You can go." This delay almost caused Meng Xiang to be late.

The second time the situation was even worse. It was a summer evening. Meng Xiang bought a new computer in Akihabara during the day. The box was placed on the back rack of the bicycle. He was stopped by Akutagawa.The little devil pretended not to know him and insisted on asking him to open the box at the back to check, as if he was interrogating a suspect.Meng Xiang had long heard that the Japanese police hated the Chinese. You know that there are all kinds of birds in the forest. Prejudice, see women as prostitutes, see men as thieves.

Meng Xiang was extremely disgusted with the idea of ​​overturning a boat with one pole. At that time, he was indignant, put his bicycle in front of Akutagawa, and said loudly: "This is the computer I bought. If you want to see it, you can open it yourself!"

Akutagawa is a veteran of the police circle, and said unhurriedly: "According to the law, I have no right to touch your belongings. If you don't cooperate, please come with me to assist in the inspection."

There are laws to follow his request, Meng Xiang had no choice but to give in.From then on, when he met Akutagawa, it was like meeting an enemy. He either raised his nostrils to the sky or turned his face to the side. He rolled his eyes a few times.

At this time, the enemy's road is narrow, and he concludes that Akutagawa is here to seek bad luck, and saying hello to Aju is just a foreshadowing for interrogating himself.

This hunch was very accurate.

"Sir, are you in trouble?"

Jie Chuan exchanged pleasantries with Ah Ju and began to find fault with Meng Xiang, expressing his doubts through concern, Ah Ju enthusiastically reminded: "This child is from China, he comes to my shop to take a bath every day, and he used to deliver milk nearby, you Should know."

Akutagawa pretended to "oh" knowingly, nodded and said, "It looks familiar, I must have something urgent to go out dressed like this."

Meng Xiang hated the Japanese social rhetoric that beat around the bush and listened to the truth, but he maintained his politeness based on the principle that more things are worse than less things, and said: "I was walking in the park, and I met a man who was swimming naked, and he took my Clothes and trousers."

His family education was strict and he was not good at lying, and he couldn't make up decent words to cover up when he encountered embarrassment, so he picked out some visible parts to explain.

Aju covered her mouth when she heard it, and said in horror: "There have been a lot of such things recently. A few days ago, I heard that someone was running naked in the park. It is probably done by homeless people."

Akutagawa refused to believe it, and further questioned the time and place, and even asked Meng Xiang if he needed to call the police.

Meng Xiang shook his head: "I didn't lose anything valuable, so I won't cause trouble for the police gentlemen. I will be careful in the future."

There was nothing to catch him, and Akutagawa couldn't make things difficult, so he flirted with him and left.Aju said that Meng wanted to dress too strangely, and told him to go home with her, and found a men's bathrobe for him.

"I don't have any clothes for you to wear here, so wear this for now, or you might be stopped by the police for questioning later."

When Song Meng wanted to go out, he asked again: "Is it still at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning?"

The old lady in her 70s can still smile brightly, and she seems to have endless vitality, which can easily infect others.Seeing that she was full of energy, Meng wanted to perk up a little bit. When he was parting, he nodded vigorously and rode his bicycle on the road. Aju's hearty warning came from behind him: "Daozhongji をつけて (be careful on the road)!"

The author has something to say: Open today, double update