If memory is manipulable

then the new memories that reside temporarily in the old body

is it the happiness of solitude

or the sorrow of revelry

- -I leave uncultivated today

Death is the death of life, but the life of death.

--was precisely yesterday perishes tomorrow which person of the body implored.

The day that I wasted in mediocrity

is the tomorrow that the people who died yesterday long for

is it new life or freedom

that is but the direction of the mole

and yet the compass of the ark

-- Is it new life or freedom ......?

'This flight will arrive at Kansai Airport in Japan in twenty minutes, the local temperature is twenty-seven degrees and the air humidity is forty percent.'

The flight attendant's standard Mandarin voice came over the radio, followed by a repeat in Japanese and English.

While Japanese and Minnanese are not the same language, there are subtle similarities in various ways, so Minnanese have a considerable degree of convenience in learning Japanese.

What kind of life would Ziongzong, who has northern blood but was raised in the south, lead in Kyoto?

Mixed thoughts were flying around, confusing the mind.

Even so.

--This is probably the last time I'll hear Chinese for a while.

Such feelings of regret and reluctance mixed with the roar of the plane's engine almost made Ziongzong lose his mind.

He looked out the window at the view of pure white clouds that stretched out into a magnificent ocean.

Even if he wanted to go back, it wouldn't be as simple as a year or two, and the sigh turned into ripples rippling through his heart. Ziongzong gradually realized that the emotional direction was somewhat unavailable, and spilled his eyes all over the cabin, trying to distract himself.

The hanging LCD screen showed the local temperature in Kansai, and the numbers meandered forward in the brain's grooves for a while before turning into the perception called 'heat'.

Even in autumn, Japan is still a bit hot, and the heat island effect is particularly pronounced due to the dense population and buildings. But not Kyoto, which is a laid-back abode, much like Xiamen, with a slow melody that once lived in transforms one, so restful that even the pace slows.

Ziongzong arrived at Kansai Airport on All Nippon Airways from Hong Kong with a slight delay due to air traffic control, and it took a morning of hard work to cross the border.

At only 15 years old, his heart felt as if it was being affected by the air currents outside the porthole as he left his homeland.

There were still fifteen minutes before landing. Ziongzong turned over his accompanying travel bag and took out from it the crumpled copy of the "Guguzi". It was one of the books he had brought with him to Kyoto, and it was old. It was not taken out to be read, but just to hold it in his hands was enough to make Ziongzong 's floating heart a little more peaceful.

This is a book of ghosts that seems to follow the rules, but is in fact strange and unruly - the only person who would think so is Ziongzong .

'Excuse me, are you by yourself?

There was always a smell of air freshener floating around the cabin, but that was before 'she' next to Ziongzong sat down. I didn't think we would cross paths for the entire flight, so I was flattered by her initiative to speak up.

'Eh~May I have a look at your book?

'She'interpreted Ziongzong 's silence as acquiescence and asked him again in quite fluent English, graciously and without any loss of manners. Since there was no Japanese accent in her English, it was a surprise to Ziongzong who had thought she was Japanese.

The reason why Ziongzong thought she was Japanese was because she was always talking to the grandmother next door in her native Japanese, and that was a preconceived notion.

Of course, Ziongzong did not mean to eavesdrop, and there were so many force majeure factors that I think it is understandable. So, Ziongzong , who was thinking about these side trivialities, forgot about 'her' request and started to continue thinking about why 'her''s first choice was English instead of Japanese, even though it seemed to be the same race of people.

The sinner is probably the international atmosphere of the international flight.

'すみません、その本を見せてもらって宜しいでしょうか'(Excuse me, can I see this book?)

Ziongzong 's daze was on the long side, which made 'she' think that he didn't understand, so she repeated it in Japanese, judging Ziongzong as Japanese.

--It seems that the English language skills of our people are rated quite high outside?

'Yes, please'.

With that playful thought, Ziongzong first replied back to 'her' in English.

'Thank you.'

And the he responded politely in English.

'It's all right.'

'そして，我日本人じゃない。 (And, I'm not Japanese.)

Then, Ziongzong told 'her' again in Japanese that he was not Japanese.

This series of designed conversations left 'her' quite quite surprised, so much so that she just stared at Ziongzong for a few seconds, holding Ziongzong's book with her pretty eyes wide open.

--Don't do that, it'll be embarrassing.

'申し訳ありません！' (Sorry!)

After a few moments, 'she' responded and apologized to Ziongzong in a rather sincere manner, though still in Japanese, so she seemed to have not yet fully recovered.

'きにしないで。’ (Never mind.)

She' smiled a bit restrainedly and read the book of Ziongzong with graceful posture, it's good, otherwise it seems to be an endless circle of death.

--Ah, my "Guguzi" in the hands of a girl was 'sensitive words' 'sensitive words' ...... It doesn't matter, since it is so Elegant words for people.

Ziongzong glanced at his borrowed book with complicated eyes, then turned his gaze out of the window, and a cloud that looked like a 'super sensitive word' made him surprised and almost laughed.

But this relief also leaked out strands of his mind that he didn't want to see in the light.

In fact, in fact, Ziongzong felt that there was nothing really wrong with mistaking him for a Japanese person. Originally Asians, and both from the East Asian region, do resemble each other. However, due to his paranoid dean, the veteran who had been through wars big and small and could not be killed, and due to his obsessive-compulsive and almost brainwashing education methods, the word 'Japanese' was not considered, at least in Ziongzong 's mind, a 'complimentary word'.

However, no one should be associated with adjectives like "positive" or "negative", and certainly not the country.

The above is a topic that cannot be deepened. After settling 'her''s small request, Ziongzong adjusted his sitting posture and looked around somewhat bored.

The 'she' he just kept mentioning was a Japanese girl (probably) sitting next to Ziongzong , with long straight black hair pouring down her back, fair skin, slightly brown eyes, and a dignified appearance, looking like she should be a child of a large, well-educated family, quite like Yamato Nadeshiko's temperament.

Being bored, Ziongzong pressed the service button, beckoned the steward to ask for a copy of the Ta Kung Pao, and saw a story on the headline of one of the pages that said, 'A fifteen-year-old boy robbed a rich man of fifteen million dollars in cash and fled the country; the boy's identity is still unidentified.'

--This guy is a genius, right?

Noting that the juvenile offender was the same age as himself, Ziongzong couldn't help but feel some admiration for him, even though at heart he understood that this was a crime. In combination with the information specifically given in the report that the teenager most likely escaped to Japan on an international flight this morning, Ziongzong made a slight analysis and perceived that there were not many flights to Japan from Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok International Airport this morning, so there was a good chance that the juvenile delinquent was also on this flight, and thinking about it, he could not help but start to get excited.

The uncle's heart, lurking in his chest, was restless.

'Excuse me.'

Ziongzong signaled to 'her' that he wanted to go out, and 'she' obediently gathered her leg and turned sideways to let Ziongzong pass. But when she went out, she touched something of Ziongzong 's, and Ziongzong didn't care about it, but her hand, which was holding the spine of the book, trembled abruptly. But Chongzhong is with full mind of the 15year-old teen and does not notice that.

With the excuse of going to the restroom, Ziongzong checked the passengers after his seat, and then checked the passengers before his seat for the reason of looking for someone, but there was not much success.

There were five boys in the age of about fifteen, but each one was harmless looking. This kind of heartfelt investigation obviously does not bring immediate results, let alone under such unfavorable conditions in the cabin underway. After experiencing the frustration, Ziongzong resentfully returned to his seat, but of course, his light-hearted actions were not unnoticed by the flight attendants.

Fortunately, he moved quickly and returned to his seat without attracting any more attention.

- It's common sense that this impromptu passion will not be success, so let's put that aside for now.

By the time Ziongzong returned to his seat, 'she' was still looking at her 'Guguzi' with great concentration.

-Watching it, though, can she read Chinese?

From the time the plane took off until now, she seemed to be just by herself, despite having spoken to the grandmother in the next seat, it was just the feeling of being a stranger in the same town, so it must have been a trip out while on vacation ...... Ziongzong , who had just skipped the mind of the juvenile delinquency incident, couldn't help but start speculating at his leisure about the identity of the girl beside him.

After ten minutes or so, the plane arrived over Kansai Airport, hovered for a while, and then landed steadily.

As the seat belt light went off, the announcement came on again.

'Thank you for taking this flight, please do not stand up from your seat until the plane stops taxiing ......'

Scanning this airport through the window, Ziongzong felt that it was similar to the domestic airports and did not see anything particularly leading. Perhaps it's in the more internal, more detailed areas, after all, it's impossible to build an ultra-modern airport.

'Here's your book, thanks.'

'She' politely handed the book back, and Ziongzong accepted it rather naturally.

'You're welcome.'

At first, he didn't notice, but after replying to 'her', Ziongzong realized something that startled him.

--Mandarin ?

'Eh?'

This time, it was Ziongzong who was frozen.

‘It's time to get off the plane. ‘

She reminding me.

Only after she said the second sentence in Mandarin, which was so natural that it was abnormal, did Ziongzong panic and start to pack his belongings, except that sitting in the window seat was really troublesome and difficult to move ......

--I'm sorry! I didn't mean to blame you for the window seat, I just made a mistake in my busy schedule.

And in the time it took Ziongzong to get busy, she had already gotten off the plane and disappeared into the crowd.

- It backfired, huh?

The defeat of this encounter was somewhat discouraging for Ziongzong , but the plane could not be disembarked. Despite the large number of people, it was nevertheless orderly. It didn't take long for Ziongzong to walk out of the boarding gate. The gate for checking documents was much stricter than usual, apparently because of the juvenile delinquent. Ziongzong had a slight expectation of seeing the juvenile offender causing a commotion so that he could get a glimpse of his face. But in reality it was flat and uneventful.

After a short time, in the arrival hall, a large traffic map stood in front of Ziongzong .

-After all, here I am, and no matter what happens, I brought this on myself.

He is called Ziongzong , fifteen years old, male, unmarried.

He is a teenager with an uncle's heart.

Perhaps the above line needs to be bolder for emphasis.

He has lived with Paranoid Dean for as long as Ziongzong can remember. And before he could remember, it is said that he still positively had parents who, being from the Northeast, somehow gave birth to him in the South. When Ziongzong was less than a year old, his parents were killed in a traffic accident while they were on their way to work together. With no other relatives, he had to live in an orphanage from a young age.

These events before he had memories were told to him by the paranoid dean.

And as for its authenticity, he was willing to trust the paranoid dean; after all, a life lived is better than none.

Also according to the paranoid dean, the only thing his parents left him was a photo album of their honeymoon and an inheritance of 300,000 RMB. Of course, this inheritance had to be used only after he became an adult, and for the time being, it was frozen in the bank. This is not a legal constraint, but rather a restriction from paranoid dean, who, relatively speaking, will be responsible for all of Ziongzong 's expenses until he is adopted.

Because his parents left the world before Ziongzong had any memory, he was not terribly sad when he was told about it after he understood it. Because he hardly ever actually had the affection of his parents, the so-called 'loss' of sorrow when he was told about it did not feel real to Ziongzong .

--Probably it was just that feeling of seeing other children with toys and him without.

And that mood can be easily dispelled by the presence of something that can replace the toy.

When Ziongzong was six years old, a Japanese couple visited the orphanage of the paranoid director, a family named Uesugi.

On their journey, they met Ziongzong playing outside the orphanage, and the sight Ziongzong remembers is that the lady, at once, hugged him, as if it was love at first sight.

--Probably when I was a cut boy, handsome as hell, unstoppable in charm.

Sadly, handsome and all that, nothing seems to be left now.

Good in your young age doesn’t mean good in the future.

This feeling?

-Ah, my heart is pierced, it hurts.

Anyway, they seemed to be very fond of Ziongzong , and after some discussion, they decided to take Ziongzong as their adopted son. However, due to various difficulties, they were not able to take Ziongzong away immediately, but signed an agreement with the orphanage that they would take Ziongzong to live with them when he turned fifteen.

At that time, Ziongzong 's feeling was that he could leave here before he turned eighteen.

--Is it new life or freedom ......?

Of course, that doesn't mean to say that Ziongzong doesn't like the orphanage; in fact, he rather likes it, and the adults who work there are very nice to them, and Dean, despite what Ziongzong says about him, is actually the person who Ziongzong respects the most.

It's just that Ziongzong doesn't like the idea of living on the benefits that taxpayers bring, and even though being adopted by someone else is another kind of fostering, it comes with the corresponding, freer rights.

With this in mind, and the sincere goodwill of the Uesugi couple, Ziongzong decided to be adopted by them.

When Ziongzong made his decision, Deanwas surprised by it, but he respected Ziongzong 's decision, and the adoption was finalized.

What followed was Dean's 're-education' of Ziongzong .

It sounds terrible, but it was actually a refresher of knowledge to make Ziongzong better accustomed to studying abroad, and thanks to him, Ziongzong is now not stressed at all about the matter of going to Kyoto ...... The only thing that is impatient is that the dean, who is a paranoid person, always loves to lose no time in educating Ziongzong , asking him to 'learn from the barbarians to treat the barbarians'.

--apparently he has the ambition for me to conquer the 'blocked sensitive words'.

--But unfortunately I'm only one person, I'm only one person, I'm a normal person with a combat power of five.

So, those nine not-so-easy years went by in a flash. In fact, I think it's a miracle that I survived Dean's 're-education' and pretended to be brainwashed when I wasn't.

Nine years, one year of ignorance plus six years of elementary school plus two years of junior high school quality education later, Ziongzong embarked on a journey to Kyoto, Japan.

Before the trip, paranoid dean repeated to Ziongzong one last time what he had said to him countless times.

'Ziongzong , no need to bring me back souvenirs, I already have plenty.'

When it came time to leave Kansai Airport, Ziongzong had three options.

Train   -JR Express "HARUKA" 73mins

Bus   -approximately 95-135 minutes (airport bus)

Taxi -approximately 120 minutes

Looking at his watch. To make it to the afternoon registration, he decided to take the tram. After a bit of fussing, he arrived in Kyoto, the city where he would be living.

Kyoto is an ancient city, one of the few quiet places in the hustle and bustle of metropolitan Japan. Compared to Tokyo, with its nearly 10 million motor vehicles, Kyoto has very few cars, making the city seem restful, spacious, and peaceful.

The first thing that caught Ziongzong 's attention upon arrival in Kyoto was its sky.

The sky in Kyoto is surprisingly clean. The skies here are truly breathtakingly beautiful, perhaps because Kyoto is a tourist destination rather than an industrial city. Such a clean blue sky reminds Ziongzong of a place he was stuck in not so long ago, Xiamen.

The clean, clear sky was like a blue glaze.

--a good place to start.

There was still plenty of time, and Ziongzong found his way around Kyoto as he toured the city.

On the way, he occasionally stopped to talk to the grandmother who ran the store, or to write down the address of the school and ask them for a quicker way to get around. The two of them are the same as the other two.

Such a journey makes Ziongzong feel as if he were on a leisurely solo journey.

It's so relaxed it's like a city that doesn't belong in this world.

However, the houses in Kyoto are a bit cluttered compared to home. There are very few neighborhoods, a lot of single-family apartments and one-family wooden two-story houses. It is said that the government does not plan uniformly and citizens' build as they wish according to their rights.

--Incredible place.

The things that came to Ziongzong 's eyes were contemplated by him with and without his mind.

Following the path indicated by the map in his hand, he was only two blocks away from Higashiken Public High School.

Higashiken Public High School is the middle school where Ziongzong is scheduled to report before afternoon classes, and where he will be a third-year high school interloper.

But the watch on his wrist, with its beating hands, was relentlessly depriving him of the pitiful time he had left.

Taking time to the sightseeing, a small mistake was made.

- Too late for that.

Ziongzong really didn't want to be late for his first day, and after a careful look at the map in his hands, he selected a suspicious looking alley and started flying.

-With no problems, he could arrive fifteen minutes before class.

While running, using the scale on the map to make a slight estimate, Ziongzong exhaled with a little relief.

The condition in the alley was not as bad as expected, the garbage bags were neatly stacked and the roads were tidy, Japan was as clean-loving a place as Ziongzong had imagined.

Unbeknownst to him, he could already see the building of Higashiken Public High School from a distance (presumably), but the exit of the alley was blocked by the figures of a few uniformed youths.

'......'

Ziongzong unconsciously slowed down.

The dark uniform was embroidered with the emblem of the Riwan Technical High School, which, according to Ziongzong 's prior research, was a school with a bad reputation in the neighborhood, with a low promotion rate and self-loathing among both students and teachers.

--What to do ......

Ziongzong checked on them carefully, making sure they didn't notice him.

There were three of them, kicking around a cat in turn. With weird smiles on their faces, they seemed to be enjoying the thrill of inflicting violence.

'......'

It's horrible that the kids here are out there doing such bad behavior. The things. The sense of justice is one of the essential virtues of being a Chinese.

--But punctuality is also a very important virtue.

- Also, the body is not to be easily damaged or anything ......

The second reason is just an excuse to not want to get hurt.

It is clear that there are two paths before Ziongzong .

One, to go over the wall and spare a little bit of ground to make sure he got to school on time.

Two, stop them and get to school on time if there's no confrontation ...... But if there is a confrontation (and that's a given), three against one, or high schoolers against middle schoolers. The unarmed ones will definitely not win, and secondly, will definitely be late. And that's a conservative estimate of the loss.

Looking at the weak, wailing cat, my heart began to beat faster. Reason and instinct were wrestling with each other while the relentless needle was clacking and urging him on.

It's worth noting that Ziongzong 's instincts made him detour while reason made him stand up for himself, and it seems that the acquired education he received was quite successful.

The good thing is that, in addition to instinct and reason, he has the ability to think logically.

Cautiously hiding his figure behind the pole, Ziongzong held his breath and concentrated.

The late August sky was high, with few clouds, and filled with a sense of valor.

And at this time of year, people are mostly taking naps after lunch, making the roads somewhat chilly.

In this silence, all that could be heard were the muffled sounds of the industrial high school students kicking the cat, whose whimpering, had faded.

'Hello, I'm Officer Tsuchijo.'

A low, middle-aged man's voice popped up.

'I got a call reporting that there are delinquent students roaming around here, is that right?'

'Eh, yes.'

The voice that answered him was that of a middle-aged woman, a little lower in volume than the officer's earlier, and slightly more likely to be coming from a hands-free phone.

'It should be right here in the area, it always causes us a lot of trouble, please, officer.'

'Yes, it's our duty.

'I just heard a loud cat scream, I think they did it, probably at the exit of the alley.

'Thank you for your cooperation, I'm on my way.

The women's and middle-aged officers' voices were a little muffled, but loud enough for them to hear. A look of panic appeared on the faces of the delinquent high school students who were still reckless. Then, I don't know who retreated one after the other, but several of them pulled their legs together and fled.

'Hu......'

- -It needs to use trick in life. Therefore, it is able to show what it cannot do, use it to show what it does not use, near to show what is far, and far to show what is near.

Ziongzong turned out from behind the pole, wiped the beads of sweat seeping from his forehead, and walked toward the cat that had been left on the ground.

It was on its last legs.

There were some black spots on the pure white fur, no collar around its neck, and no objects anywhere else on its body that could mark its identity.

--A feral cat, or an abandoned pet?

Ziongzong has a small empathy with it.

He checked its injuries; the bones all seemed fine, the breathing and heartbeat slightly weak, but it shouldn't be fatal yet. Ziongzong carefully took the cat in his arms and marched toward the school while he thought of a way out.

'......'

Because of objective reasons, Ziongzong was not able to take care of it, but that did not mean that Ziongzong would just leave it like that. That doesn't mean that Ziongzong will just give up.

People are often not strong because of their own abilities.

Ziongzong decided to give him to his teacher. There is a health room at the school and the health teacher should be able to help, or if not, the teacher can refer him to a professional veterinary clinic.

It was better to just give up and leave it on the side of the road.

'You, don't get caught again.'

Ziongzong stroked its little head, trying to give it some small comfort from the human violence, but to his surprise, the cat escaped from his arms, landed languidly on the ground, and then leapt again, stopping at the wall.

It was as if nothing had happened at all.

-This cat ...... is too powerful, right?

But it didn't give Ziongzong any time to be surprised, meowing twice and quickly running away, its athletic stance not looking at all like it was just dying of weakness.

Just now, was that an act?

Or, was it not a mortal thing?

Such a peculiar thought flashed through the mind of Ziongzong .

Ziongzong checked his watch to make sure the time was right, and if nothing else happened, he would still be able to get in on time, as expected. He switched to a normal walking pace, slowing his heart rate, and arrived at the school gate ten minutes before class.

Taking a quick look around the school, it was a normal national high school, nothing special.

I would say that the gym looks expensive ......

By more expensive, it just looks premium.

Born in an orphanage, Ziongzong 's most immediate concept of what is premium, flashy, and extravagant is: it's more expensive.

So Ziongzong looked at the 'more expensive' gymnasium in this way, slightly lost in thought.

--Probably donated by someone?

'Excuse me, are you Uesugi-san? ‘

A man's voice came from behind him, summoning Ziongzong back from the world of 'more expensive'.

-I think it was calling me, not quite fitting in, but I do have the last name Uesugi from now on.

'Yes. I am Uesugi Ziongzong .'

Turning around, what caught his eye was a middle-aged man of about forty-five, not quite Mediterranean, but certainly not far from bald, precariously middle-aged, probably teaching math ...... I guess.

Dressed in a suit and tie, it's not at all possible to describe him as 'handsome', but in general, the first impression is that of a serious and disciplined teacher.

At the moment, he was surprised by Ziongzong 's fluent Japanese. And without a word, Ziongzong studied whether his subtly bald head could reflect the sun at this moment.

'Excuse me?'

But his surprise was a little on the long side, leaving Ziongzong to have to remind him of that after he finished studying the relationship between baldness and daylight reflection.

'Ah ...... was right, I'm your class teacher, Katsuo Honda.'

The man snapped out of his surprise, put the photo in his hand back into his pocket, and briefly introduced himself.

'So, please follow me.'

'Okay, Honda-sensei. ‘

Following the man who was about to join the Mediterranean army, Ziongzong stepped into Higashiken Public High School.

- It's new life or freedom.