El segundo libro de la serie El mago de Oolong, titulado La mente normal

Capítulo 9

"Give me the money!"

Just as her schoolbag was about to be taken away, Zhu Mei suddenly snapped back to reality, screamed, "No!" and desperately hugged her schoolbag tightly.

"This guy..." It's a stroke of luck that the gang didn't bring any knives or chains. They probably didn't expect Zhu Mei to be so troublesome.

The punches and kicks continued, and everything went black before Zhu Mei's eyes. She could clearly feel blood flowing from her torn lip. She thought she might die. But her resolve not to hand over the schoolbag was firm. Dying for money had always been her ideal.

"Hey, what are you doing!" came a man's voice.

What a stroke of luck!

"Run!" After a series of chaotic footsteps, everything fell silent again.

"Are you alright?" It sounded like a man's voice from the office. She said "sounded like" because Zhu Mei's vision was blurry and she couldn't see clearly. However, she still clutched her schoolbag tightly.

I'm going to die.

Ayako kept thinking this on the train, at home, and on her way home. The good feeling she had cultivated yesterday had vanished completely; today was the darkest day she had ever experienced. By the time the five o'clock bell rang to signal the end of the workday, Ayako felt as if a year had passed.

Having finally gotten used to working with the photocopier, Ayako went to work with great confidence, but today's tasks turned into organizing documents and packing packages.

Although it was a document sorting job, for Ayako, who had neither work experience nor business school education, simply distinguishing between documents and notes was already a challenge.

In addition:

“Classify annual income and annual expenditure.”

Upon hearing this order, Ayako was initially unsure what the characters "suiru" and "suichu" were. Perhaps they were "入" (enter) and "出" (exit)? She finally found them. The next question was how to categorize them. Actually, simply asking, "How should we categorize them?" would have solved the problem, but her timid nature prevented her from speaking up.

"Well then, that's all you have to do, because I'm very busy." With that, the man dropped Aya and hurried away.

Although Ayako felt troubled, she dared not be negligent and separated all the documents and forms according to the words "out" and "in". However, she was then severely reprimanded.

"How could it be such a mess! Forget it! I'll be grateful if you don't do anything when you get back, honestly!"

Ayako thought to herself, "You never taught me how to do this." But all she actually did was lower her head and say "I'm sorry." Ayako was utterly dejected by this.

Because of the afternoon's shipping duties, the company asked her to pack packages again. This is another of Ayako's weaknesses; she's generally clumsy, even needing to try several times to tie her shoelaces properly. Therefore, she always chooses shoes without laces. Asking Ayako to pack packages is simply asking the impossible.

"Go through here, tie a knot here, and that's it," the female supervisor demonstrated. She thought, "Ah, that's easy." But when she tried it herself, it was completely different. The straps became tangled into strange knots, even binding her fingers inside. Despite this, it took her nearly two hours to finally remember how to tie the knot, and after that, things went smoothly. She finally returned to her seat at 4:30, completely exhausted. Fortunately, her mood was much better than in the morning.

"You've worked hard." Someone brought her a cup of tea. "You'll be fine until five o'clock." Hearing this, Ayako finally smiled.

"Who did this?! Packing a package like this?!" A roar echoed throughout the company. Ayako had heard this was the notoriously nagging section chief. "So loose! Look!" The package fell out as soon as the strap was lifted; it was indeed too loose. "Is this how you deliver a package? Who, who did this?!"

Ayako felt the color drain from her face. She slowly rose and stepped forward, saying in an almost inaudible voice, "It's me."

2005-3-14 15:04:00

"What, working part-time?"

"yes."

"What are students learning these days? They can't even tie a tape properly?"

"sorry……"

"She's probably focused on learning how to seduce men."

The company erupted in laughter. —Ayako felt she was probably the most miserable person in the world.

On her way home, Ayako kept thinking this. There's probably no one in this world who truly understands me. —Yes. Everyone laughs at me, thinks I'm a ridiculous fool. I'll never work at this company again. A deep sense of shame washed over her. —Maybe it's all over.

Upon returning to the Ando family home, the mask she was wearing was shattered. Ayako rushed into the room with six tatami mats and burst into tears.

If Ayako had any special talent, it would probably be crying. She's a total crybaby. Once she starts crying, she can't stop. Even Yuriko and the others tease her, saying, "Even if Big Sister were wandering in the desert, she'd be saved because she has so much stored water!"

In the dimly lit room, Ayako was crying alone when the sliding door was opened.

"—Hey, what's wrong?" It was Anton.

“Teacher…” Ayako tried to stop crying, but unlike a tap, she couldn’t stop it whenever she wanted.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Anton sat down next to Ayako and put his arms around her shoulders.

This tenderness triggered Ayako's tears once again. "I...I..." She was already sobbing uncontrollably, and she threw herself into Anton's arms and cried again.

"Cheer up. — Hey, be strong." Anton said, patting Ayako's head.

"I'm sorry..." Ayako, who had been crying for more than ten minutes, finally raised her head. "I'm so sad... I... I'm so useless. No matter what I do... I get laughed at."

"Is that so? You're overthinking it."

"It's true... Everyone's making fun of me like I'm a fool..."

“But I can’t,” Anton said.

Ayako looked up. In the next instant, Anton's strong arms embraced Ayako tightly, their lips pressed together, and Ayako's whole body felt as if it were on fire. —Ayako wrapped her arms around Anton's body in her dream.

"I'm back." Yuriko entered the Katase family's house.

The house was unusually quiet. —Was anyone home? But the front door wasn't locked.

"I'm back." Yuriko was stunned when she pushed open the living room door.

Like a still painting, Atsuko, her father, and her mother sat separately in silence, their usual harmonious atmosphere gone. The atmosphere was so oppressive that it felt suffocating once one entered. — Yuriko felt she could say nothing and silently withdrew from the living room.

Atsuko immediately chased after them, tears streaming down her face, and said, "Yuriko, let's go out."

"Um."

The two went out the door and walked for a while on the darkening street. Atsuko asked, "Shoes, what's wrong?"

"Oh? Oh, those lace-up boots, the heels are broken. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Did you buy this?"

"Yes, a friend bought it for me."

The two fell silent again.

Yuriko and Kuniyoshi went to Junko's house, but no one was home, so they couldn't meet. Yuriko plans to go again tomorrow...

“My mother, she’s having an affair,” Atsuko said. “It’s been exposed.”

Yuriko gasped. —I forgot! It was that phone call! Two o'clock. The same hotel as before. If you don't come, tell your husband…

"Dad asked her who the other person was, but Mom just wouldn't say. They've been at a stalemate for an hour now, just like before."

"How...did you know?"

"It seems someone called Dad's company and told him that his wife was having an affair... They also mentioned many details about Mom's body. So Mom didn't even have a chance to deny it."

Yuriko was speechless. —It was all her fault. If only she had found a way to tell Atsuko's mother back then…

"It would be great if Mom could do it perfectly, right?" Atsuko said despondently.

"That's a really sad thing to say."

"I'm fed up, I don't want to go home!" Atsuko bit her lip, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Yuriko kept blaming herself.

"But—why won't your mother say that man's name?"

"She said she didn't know. It seemed like she was invited to a hotel by a strange phone call. The room was pitch black, and suddenly she was hugged... When she came to her senses, the man was gone."

"Could such a thing really happen?"

“I don’t know either!” Atsuko exclaimed, then exhaled and said, “—I’m sorry, it’s not Yuriko’s fault.”

"It's all my fault," Yuriko thought to herself, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. "Let's go back," Yuriko said.

“Mmm.” Atsuko hugged Yuriko’s arm tightly. “—Yuriko.”

"Um?"

"Let's be friends forever."

"What are you talking about? Of course it is." Yuriko completely understood Atsuko's feelings when she said that.

"—Mom!" Atsuko stopped in front of the house. Her mother, carrying a small handbag, was coming out. "Where are you going?"

"Atsuko... I'm sorry. Because Mom has to leave."

No! Why—?

"Anyway, that's how it is for now... Yuriko, I'm sorry, I'm leaving things to you from now on. Because you're very strong."

Yuriko could say nothing more. "Where are you going?"

"Well... let's try visiting a friend first," Atsuko's mother said with a forlorn smile. "Then, let's contact them again." She walked out.

"Mom! Wait a minute. Let's talk to Dad again."

"That's it. You can't erase what you've done." Atsuko's mother said, and then quickly left.

Atsuko rushed into the house shouting, "Dad! Mom's gone!" Yuriko followed her inside.

“It was Noriko’s own decision. Let her go,” Katase said.

This was the first time Yuriko had heard Atsuko's mother's name. The phone rang, and Yuriko went out to answer it.

"Hello, this is the Katase family."

Is Yuriko Sasakimoto home?

"That's me."

"Ah, Tamami got injured at school."

"Injured?" Yuriko's face turned pale instantly.

Yuriko, who rushed into the middle school infirmary, was almost speechless.

Zhu Mei's eyes were surrounded by dark circles, blood was dripping from the corner of her mouth, and her cheeks were swollen high, making her sit there like a ghost.

“Sister…” Tamami chuckled, sending a chill down Yuriko’s spine.

"Are you alright?!"

“She was beaten by a gang of thugs,” said the man at the medical clinic who treated Joo-mi. “She was punched in the abdomen and had scrapes on her knees… but it seems like her bones aren’t seriously injured. I think it would be safer to get an X-ray.”

"Thank you, I'm sorry to have troubled you." Yuriko nodded in apology. "—What exactly happened that led to you being beaten?"

“This… money.” Zhu Mei tapped her backpack. “They told me to hand it over.”

Do they know?