Chapter 23 third quarter

When Mariko reappeared, it was already half past eight, and I slept for about an hour. "I think it's about time to prepare, did I wake you up too early?" Mariko said. "No, it's just right. And it's time to help Qianzhi change clothes." I shook my head and said, shaking Qianzhi's shoulder to wake her up. Chiori opened her eyes and immediately woke up. When she woke up, she said she was going to the bathroom, brushed her teeth again, and washed her face carefully.She spent a long time washing her face, like a ceremony before going on stage, it seems that she also knows that she will play the piano in front of everyone soon.She was a little nervous and wiped her face with a towel, wiping red marks on her cheeks.Seeing her like this, I don't have to worry that she can't play the piano anymore, and Mariko on the side is looking at us with a funny smile.

I took out yesterday's clothes and put them on the bed, and when I was about to change Chiori's clothes—— "I'll help her put it on! Because I still don't think it's appropriate. Kisaragi, turn your head away." Mariko interrupted my movement and asked Chiori to agree, "Is it okay? Chiori?" Chiori looked at Mariko with incredulous eyes.I asked, "Do you want my sister to change your clothes for you?" Chiori still showed the same expression, tilted her head slightly, looked back and forth between Mariko and me, and finally nodded. "Okay, then let me change it, because Chiori will also feel embarrassed, right?"

Chiori neither agreed nor denied what Mariko said.And then I followed Mariko's request and turned my back to them, completely unclear about Chiori's next expression. After Mariko helped Chiori put it on, I turned my head and found that the same set of clothes looked more neat and dignified after passing through Mariko's hands. The hem and collar of the shirt were also carefully pulled up, which was the same as when I helped Chiori put it on in the past. completely different feeling.But Mariko seemed a little dissatisfied, she clapped her hands suddenly, told us to wait, and then ran out like a gust of wind.

"This should suit Chiori very well." Mariko returned to the room, holding a pink ribbon and a silver brooch in the shape of a maple leaf with a small ladybug on it. Seeing it, Chiori immediately let out a happy "wow". "Don't move yet!" Mariko pinned a brooch on Chiori's chest, tied a ribbon to her hair, and straightened her collar, "Wow! You're so cute! Let's go and see how you look now!" After finishing speaking, she took Qianzhi's hand and walked out quickly. After I confirmed that I hadn't forgotten anything, I hurriedly chased after them, and saw the two of them standing in front of the washstand.

"Look! It really suits you." Mariko bent down to match Chiori's height and said to her. Chiori looked directly at herself in the mirror for a moment, and finally raised her right hand, stroked the brooch and ribbon in sequence, and smiled so happily that her face wrinkled.After staring at her appearance for a while, she suddenly turned her head to look at Mariko squatting beside her, holding her hand and shaking it vigorously, and Mariko secretly winked at me. After arriving at the venue, other people began to come in one after another. Mr. Fujimoto who was standing in front of us waved hello immediately when he saw us.

The concert starts at 9:30, and there is still some time before that, we first adjust the height of the piano chair to suit Chiori's height, and then wait aside.Chiori's body is not as stiff as before, she is clearly relaxed, and she keeps touching the ribbon on her head and the brooch on her chest. Every time she touches it, her face is full of smiles, and Mariko beside her is also smiling. Watching Chiori's actions.Soon, the future also arrived, but her father did not come, so Mariko went to sit with her in the last row. At 9:30, the church was almost full of people. I roughly estimated that there were more than 50 people at the scene, and nearly 80% of the people were present.Ogihara, who was standing at the door, looked out, and after confirming that no one would come in, he closed the door.Seeing this, Mr. Fujimoto stood on the podium, and after a brief speech, introduced Chiori to everyone.I gently pushed Qianzhi's back, and she took a steady step forward, and sat down in front of the piano, her small shoulders rose and fell a few times, probably taking a deep breath!Then he put his hands on the keys.

I'm sure she'll start playing until she gets to Dvorzak's piece.Just like before, I quietly walked to the back of the audience to enjoy Chiori's performance, and the eyes of Mariko and Mirai moved with my movements.At this moment, high-pitched chords sounded softly in the church, and then a monophonic melody mixed with rapid arpeggios slowly slid out. Chiori's first piece of music was in Liszt's titled Hungarian Coronation Mass.This is the work of the talented pianist Liszt in his later years. As if as the price of success, Liszt was repeatedly hit by the death of his children during this period, so he turned his attention to religious music and shined brilliantly.This piece is his work completed during this period.

The main melody composed of treble and alto is like a spiral staircase slowly descending from the air, and the chord processing that no one can match except Liszt sublimates the theme of this piece along the spiral staircase.Technically speaking, this is a difficult song. The auditorium is silent, only the sound of the piano bouncing and overlapping among the surrounding stone walls, it really is a very suitable song for this place.I deliberately slowed down and looked at the patients who were listening attentively. Some of them had closed their eyes and were listening very intently.Indeed, the piece does possess a certain mesmerizing power.I also happened to walk to the door when the climax came to the end.The reverence in the room was even more profound as I felt more accurately the sound of the music pouring out from directly beneath the stained glass.

However, I also felt a little surprised in my heart.Chiori learned this piece a long time ago, but she never chose it as the opening piece, let alone played it in front of everyone.Why did she choose this song as the opening track this time?Is it because of the special atmosphere of this building? I leaned against the wall and stared intently at Chiori.It's been a long time since she played this piece of music, but now, not to mention that she can't play wrong notes, even the tempo is correct.Presently, a high-octave trill sounded like a bird's song, and the last note faded away in the air just as the first note had appeared.After that, the second is Debussy's "Girl with the Flaxen Hair", followed by the whole song of "Childhood Scenes".Compared with the opening track, both of these are familiar pieces to the average person.The notes flowing out with the steady rhythm slightly eased the tense atmosphere of Liszt's music.

After playing "Childhood Scenes", Chiori's hands left the keys and hung in mid-air motionless.She must be thinking about what to play next, right?It's not that this kind of thing hasn't happened in the previous performances, but she spent an unusually long time thinking about it this time.Just when I started to feel uneasy, Chiori who was sitting on the piano chair crossed her arms.I can't help but close my eyes, Chiori is probably the first pianist in history who folded his arms and thought about what to play next when so many eyes were on him! I thought to myself angrily, what happened to Qianzhi?Even if the audience can understand her situation, it is too outrageous.Finally, I saw Qianzhi raised her head from a distance, showing her mouth "Oh", and put her hands back on the keys again. Just when I was relieved, I heard the three-beat melody slid out like a rolling - it was "Puppy" Waltz!

Mariko and Mirai, who were sitting side by side obliquely in front of me, turned their heads to look at me, silently clapping their hands happily, but their faces were a little puzzled.I can only shrug my shoulders, expressing that I don't know how much Chiori knew about last night's conversation.In the silent dialogue between you and me, the short song of less than two minutes has ended. Next, Chiori chose Ponkelli's "Dance of Time" and Liszt's "Sigh" without hesitation, and then returned to Debussy's "Bergamask Suite" and Chopin's "Nocturne No. 2". Finally, as usual, Dvorak's music.By the time her fingers left the keys again, more than an hour had passed. Chiori got up from her chair and saluted the audience with a more solemn and generous attitude than usual. In an instant, scattered applause rang out from all around.From where I stood, I could clearly see the way the audience clapped their hands. Unlike what I had seen before, their movements were clumsy and the rhythm was completely inconsistent.Only Mr. Fujimoto, who was standing by the podium, clapped vigorously—it can be seen from the large movements of his body, while other staff members, including Mariko and Mirai, clapped with restraint, as if they wanted to dominate power to the patients. All I can say is that this is very irregular applause, but it is the longest applause Chiori has ever received.The sound on this side stopped, and the irregular applause on the other side sounded again, just like the continuous wave of applause at the closing ceremony, which lasted for a long time. Qianzhi saluted again, with a smile on her face, obviously very happy.She raised her head, looked around in a circle, and returned to herself, happily confirming the brooch on her chest, and finally began to search for me as if she suddenly remembered something.I waved to Chiori, but she didn't come running immediately, instead she was still looking for someone. Mariko in front of me immediately stopped applauding and raised her hand towards Chiori.After confirming that Mariko was also present, Chiori ran towards me through the uneven applause with a satisfied face. I patted Chiori's head and praised her for playing very well.Then he remembered what happened when she folded her arms on the stage just now, and planned to warn her later. As soon as Mr. Fujimoto stood on the podium, the applause stopped immediately.He announced that the performance was over, and everyone left in twos and threes just like when they were assembled.In order not to hinder everyone, I retreated from the door to the corner and watched them leave, while Mariko and Mirai came to me. "It's amazing! It's completely beyond my imagination." Mariko said. Chiori smiled, pointed at the brooch, and saluted Mariko. "So cute, Qianzhi remembers the song my sister ordered." Future bent down and said to Qianzhi with a smile on his face. "A little bit?" Qian Zhi turned her head and asked back. "Qianzhi, when did you remember the title?" I asked Qianzhi, but she frowned strangely, and I continued, ""The Puppy Waltz" is a work by Chopin." "what?" I smiled wryly at Chiori who was looking up at me, and then looked at Mariko and Mirai with a wry smile. "But I think Chiori should understand our conversation yesterday." Mariko said. "Perhaps! But it can't be confirmed." "Ah! Forgot to say! I'm so sorry, I should have thanked you at the beginning—'Thank you for coming all the way here to let everyone enjoy a pleasant concert, thank you very much. '" "No, it's our honor too. And it's unbelievable that Chiori played more happily than usual this time." The four of us also followed the crowd out of the church and back to the sanatorium, following Mr. Fujimoto and Ogiwara on the way.They praised and thanked Qianzhi. Although Qianzhi shrank timidly, she didn't hide behind me, and nodded awkwardly to thank them. "Lunch is less than an hour away, do you want to come?" Ogiwara, who was walking beside me, invited us to lunch.I looked at the time and thought that there would be no place to eat lunch on the way back, and the laundry might not be dry in the morning... "Then thank you in advance, otherwise we might not have a place to eat after we set off." "Mr. Kisaragi, are you going back today?" Future asked. "That's what I intend." "It's a pity. Do you have any plans for the next trip?" Mr. Fujimoto asked. "No, nothing special." "It's better to stay here for two or three days! Although the place is simple, the air is very good!" "That's right! You can soak in the hot springs too!" Mariko interrupted. "You have come from afar, please stay for a few more days and have a good rest! We will feel very sorry to leave like this." There is really no need to hurry home, if you have to say it, it is probably only the matter of Qianzhi going to school!But it's a bit pretentious to say these things now.And, to be honest, I don't think it hurts to stay a few more days. "Chiori, shall we go for a walk together in the evening?" When I was hesitating, Mariko had already found Chiori as a backer.Chiori left my side at some point, and now she is walking hand in hand with Mariko.I, too, made a decision when I heard her say "go for a walk" aloud. "Won't this bother you too much?" I asked Fujimoto-san and Mariko. "No problem at all, but we hope you can stay for a few more days." Mariko then said to Chiori, "Dad said you can stay for a few more days, and then go take a bath with my sister at night!" "Then, I will trouble everyone again tonight." Seeing Chiori nodding, I said. "Great, we are also very honored that you can take a rest in a small place like ours, right? Mr. Fujimoto?" A series of polite words followed.The innocent Chiori also had a happy face. I thought that if I stayed, I might have time to ask Mr. Fujimoto or Dr. Kurano to see if they had encountered patients similar to Chiori before, and if so, what kind of treatment methods they adopted, and I also wondered Visit the hospital below.In addition, I began to vaguely feel that the atmosphere here has an inexplicable influence on Chiori, because since yesterday, Chiori's performance has been significantly different from usual. Although I still don't understand what the difference is, I hope to be able to Talk to someone. On the other hand, the way back is very long, and driving for a long time is also one of the factors to consider.If we leave in the afternoon, it will probably be night when we drive to the expressway. I can’t help but feel a little headache when I think that Chiori will probably be arguing and trying to sleep at that time. I also feel a little tired. When Mariko walked us back to our room, I thanked her again for allowing us to stay overnight, and I also felt a lot relieved that I didn't have to drive today.When she was about to change Chiori's clothes, Mariko offered to help.I handed her the last set of tracksuits in the luggage bag, and she immediately led Qianzhi into the room of one and a half square meters, and closed the sliding door. I lit a cigarette and thought, Mariko is too reckless!Still, it wouldn't be bad if I didn't have to rush to change Chiori's clothes, but then I would have nothing to do. Suddenly feeling exhausted, I lay down on the bed.That's good, at night, the clothes should be completely dry.My eyes followed the curling white smoke, and I didn't really know what I was doing.At this time, there was the sound of sliding doors behind him, followed by the sound of running, and suddenly something heavy was added to his body.Because it was so sudden, I couldn't help screaming "ah". "You brat!" I hastily stubbed out the cigarette, grabbed Chiori, and scratched her desperately.Even with the developmental delay, she now weighs more than double what she weighed as a child.A few years ago when she did this kind of thing, I could still bear it, but recently her strength has become stronger and stronger. If you are not careful, let alone being pressed to the point of coughing, I am afraid that she will be injured to some extent.I grabbed Chiori who was rushing towards me again, and played with her, it seemed that she was in a very good mood.As long as she jumped over to play around like this, she was very happy, but it didn't happen often. "Have you changed your clothes yet?" "Ok!" "It's okay to get this dress dirty, but try to be careful." "what?" "No, nothing." After making a fuss for a while, I grabbed Qianzhi, let her sit down, and said seriously, "Okay! It's over." Ignoring her unconvinced expression, I lit another cigarette on my own.Chiori has just slept, so she probably won't go to bed immediately after eating!Although it's somewhat troublesome, there's nothing else to do later, just let her have fun once in a while!Suddenly, I realized that Mariko had been standing by the sliding door—I completely forgot about her existence just now. "—you saw it all?" I said a little embarrassed. "Yes." Mariko chuckled. I scratched my head with my free left hand, and now I can't pretend that nothing happened. "However, Chiori looks very happy. You are such a good father." Mariko exhaled, with a bitter smile, but immediately returned to her original cheerfulness, "Lunch is almost ready, let's go eat together!" The scene of the restaurant at noon is almost the same as that at breakfast, except for Dr. Kurano who may be busy and did not attend, almost all the faces in front of him are the faces he has seen at breakfast, and they are sitting in the same position.Chiori and I were still sitting opposite Fujimoto-san and Mariko.After being seated, Mr. Fujimoto, who didn’t talk much, kept praising Chiori for playing the piano very well. Chiori was already used to him, and occasionally nodded and returned a shy smile after listening to his compliments, and ate up the table full of rice. . After the meal, everyone continued to sit and drink tea and chat.I took the opportunity to express to Mr. Fujimoto that I would like to visit the sanatorium and the hospital, and asked him or Dr. Kurano if he or Dr. Kurano had any experience or understanding of such cases as Chiori.Mr. Fujimoto expressed regret that he had no experience in this field, but he would ask Dr. Kurano for me later, and invited me to talk to his room some time in the afternoon.According to him, that room can be said to be similar to the office of the person in charge of a sanatorium, and there are many medical books in it. "Actually, I also have some questions to ask you. My office is the best place in this building, and I can see the entire atrium clearly!" He picked up the teapot and poured tea, and said to me with a smile. Chiori and Mariko next to us were having fun across the table, and Mirai joined them after sending his father back to his room.At this time, Qianzhi didn't show any shyness or timidity, and she tried her best to answer their questions.Only then did I realize that there was still a pink ribbon tied around Chiori's hair, and upon closer inspection, I saw that there was also a brooch pinned to the tracksuit I had just changed into.It turned out that the strangely rough touch I felt when I was playing with Chiori just now was this brooch.By the time I was fascinated by this, my conversation with Mr. Fujimoto had already come to an end. "Kisaragi, can I take Chiori out for a walk this afternoon?" Mariko asked me suddenly. "what?" "No, it's just around here. When you talked with Mr. Fujimoto in the afternoon, I wanted to take Chiori for a walk, and isn't the helicopter going to take off in the afternoon? I asked Chiori if she wanted to go and see, and she said yes, so now I just I have to get the consent of the guardian!" "Are you going to see it?" I asked Chiori, who was holding a cup of tea next to her, and she nodded her head up and down sharply as an answer.Indeed, I planned to ask some more profound questions, so Chiori would definitely be bored during that time. Besides, Mr. Fujimoto also thought it would be more convenient to talk, so I agreed to Mariko. Because I was very relaxed, when I found out, it was almost half past twelve, and half of the people in the restaurant had left.The work between Mr. Fujimoto and Mariko can come to an end in about two hours, so I made an appointment with them at 2:30, Mariko came to pick up Chiori, and I went to Mr. Fujimoto, and then left the table first, urging Chiori to put the plate away together recycling.I looked down at Chiori, she looked like a shrine maiden holding the dinner plate with her arms tightened. After returning to the room, as I expected, Chiori's spirit was very good.I opened the Tetra Pak juice I bought in the lobby when I returned to my room, "What did you talk about with your sister?" "That, um, puppy. And, piano. Puppy and piano. Ladder? Machine?" Chiori answered me with single words, trying to pronounce the correct sound, and the word "sister" appeared several times, "willful, Sister. The future. Miss Mariko." I probably remembered it when I heard the two of them call each other!It seems that Chiori can somehow connect people with names.I asked her if she knew Mr. Fujimoto, she tilted her head thinking, and nodded as if not sure.Should this be said to be unbelievable?Chiori remembered so many people in a short period of time, and she would never want to remember her classmates or other people at all. Thinking about it carefully, Chiori has actually been living in a very narrow world, she doesn't want to get close to any stranger at all, unless the other party comes to approach Chiori first, otherwise she can't enter Chiori's world.Therefore, in her world now, apart from my mother and me, her mentor probably barely counts as one!There might be Dr. Shiraishi, but none of her classmates.I have never heard the names of my classmates from Qianzhi’s mouth. Although there are more than 20 students in the class, everyone has different degrees of physical and mental disabilities. Let's date! Therefore, Chiori may have realized that her world is expanding outwards, which can also explain why she has been so excited since last night.Chiori would accept Mariko and the others, not because of what they said, but because they are used to looking at each other's eyes to speak, and using gestures to convey their inner feelings-they know how to make up for what words cannot fully express. "I see." I blurted it out unconsciously.Chiori let out an "ah" and looked at me with a puzzled look on her face. Then she returned to a full smile and murmured back the new word "helicopter" that I just taught her.Maybe I think I remember it!She suddenly read it aloud, but unfortunately, Sheng and Zhi read it backwards.When I was playing word games with Qianzhi: A question suddenly popped up in a corner of my heart. If the tour has been going on, will it really be meaningful to Qianzhi? I have always believed that letting Chiori play the piano in front of people is the best way to get her used to the crowd, but now I can't help but wonder if those playing experience really became her strength?From sitting in the passenger seat and moving around with me, changing into formal clothes, sitting in front of the piano, looking for me everywhere in fear of applause, sticking to my side, and driving away after the end, Chiori almost Only have a verbal conversation with me, in this case, no matter how many times the same thing is repeated, Chiori still cannot learn how to get along with others. Moreover, the way of hospitality here is not everywhere, what's more, they treat Qianzhi as a guest now. If she is a patient here, because she doesn't need to worry about her daily actions, the proportion of special care from the medical staff is not high. Da, in this way, there may not be any communication between Chiori and the patient.I think the end result might be no different than staying in school.I'm not considering letting Chiori live in this kind of facility, but I just vaguely feel that continuing the current behavior will not help Chiori in any way. I just wandered in front of a dead-end alley with no exit in sight, kept thinking, and was distracted from teaching Qianzhi to say words.Looking at Chiori who read the words aloud, I thought to myself that as long as she can speak fluently, there must be a considerable difference.