The Japanese writer Junichi Watanabe has a rare collection of short stories. One of them is "Goodbye, Goodbye", which tells the story of an extramarital affair. Although this collection of novels spanned nearly a decade, Watanabe's writing style has not changed for decades, and he is a feminist. Regarding extramarital affairs, it begins with a man and does not end with a man.
The same is true of the short story "Goodbye, Goodbye", an affair that begins with Kyono, who seems to have a successful career, but is said goodbye by the mediocre-looking Kazuko. When Kazuko made up her mind to leave, Kyono was still childishly asking why. Why do women have so many for you? Maybe it was just because of a small thing, a seemingly inconspicuous little thing, but it became the last straw that crushed the camel. So goodbye becomes inevitable, but there is no point in saying it, so the more you ask for reasons, the more you want to say goodbye!
Kazuko is a divorced woman, about 30 years old, working as an accountant at a bar in Ginza. Kyono is the specialty of a large daily advertising agency, with a successful career, in his 40s, two children, one in college and one in high school, with the charm of a mature man.
Originally, their lives would not intersect, but life was everywhere from scratch, although it was changeable, but it seemed reasonable. The bar cashier where Hezi is located rests because of a cold, so the accountant who usually goes to the day shift temporarily helps the cashier who works the night shift for a few days. Kyono's home was not originally here, but because of his work, he often came to the bar where he worked to socialize. On the third day of the Shunko Gang Cashier's shift, Kyono, as usual, comes to socialize, and in this way, they meet and an extramarital affair occurs.
Kazuko is thin, plain-looking, and not outstanding, while Kyono specifically asks the waiter for her name and tells her, "Is it okay to have time to eat together?" The cheesy opening remarks, and Kazuko, were just a joke after the guests were drunk, so she just smiled politely and nodded.
Kyono, however, was serious. A week later, the phone call went directly to Kazuko's office, first asking Kazuko to help him invoice for his last consumption, and then saying to her, "Didn't you forget the good things you said last time?" Obviously, entrusting her to issue invoices is just an excuse, because the invoice can be opened again at the next checkout, and it is the real purpose to meet and eat together. It turned out that he had not forgotten the joke after drinking, so at this moment, Hezi was somewhat moved.
However, Kazuko is not willing to eat with Kyono as soon as she receives a call, and to be honest, Kazuko is hesitant to such an old man who is nearly 50 years old. However, when he thought that Kyono was a man with a successful career, he had divorced for more than two years and did not have a satisfactory boyfriend, so when Kyono called for the third time, Kazuko agreed to eat together.
In this way, they ate several meals together in a row, and after a month and a half, Kazuko finally threw herself into Kyono's arms.
After the relationship was close, Kazuko once asked Kyoko why he liked himself, and Kyono said that Kazuko's decency was what he liked. In Kazuko's view, Kyono is more mature and stable than the boys of the same age he has come into contact with, and has a kind heart. In fact, I think that this is just a kind of lover's eyes when love is strong.
Just imagine, if Kazuko is a decent woman, how could she agree to do a small third-party intervention? Although she never asked Kyono to divorce and be with herself, she did not despise doing so. But it is also true that doing a little three interferes in someone else's marriage, which is definitely not the behavior of a truly decent woman. Speaking of Kyono, if he is really mature and stable, and has a kind heart, how can he cheat on his wife and laugh at her for having a big nerve and not discovering his extramarital affair.
Of course, that's what I meant, not what the author Watanabe meant. Watanabe likes to describe these unrequited loves and beautify them, but no matter how they are beautified, I think it is a deformed love. Although the women in the pen are gentle and brave, the man Kyono looks mature and stable and kind, coupled with the author's description of the environment and language, people have an immersive feeling, but this ghostly love, this gloomy feeling, is not what I like and identify with.
I believe that all emotional efforts must be reciprocated, otherwise the time will be long and the psychology will be unbalanced, because no one is a saint. For example, although she was divorced, she was single, and Kyono, a man with a family, could only cheat his wife once a week, came to Kazuko's apartment on Saturday to live overnight, and went home the next day rain or shine.
All this, Kazuko knew from the beginning of her knowledge, and Kyono did not hide or deceive her. Perhaps, because she has not yet come out of the shadow of the previous divorce, she does not want to live with Kyono. Although Kyono looks mature and stable, in fact, he is cowardly at heart, and he cannot abandon his family. Although he sometimes said to Kazuko, "I really want to live with you." Kazuko knew that he was only talking, so she only listened and never took it seriously.
Perhaps, they really enjoy this intimate and unfettered relationship at first, but deep down, it is not that they are not without requirements for each other.
For example, Kazuko, when she wants Kyono to be with her, is single-minded towards her. She hoped they could go out for a big meal once a month, and she hoped he could take her out on trips, movies, and rides. When I first met these things, Kyono did. However, with the passage of time, everything is no longer fresh, so after two years, Kyono has less and less time to take Kazuko out, especially in the last year, every Saturday Kyono came to Kazuko's place, basically after dinner, watching TV and going to bed.
At this time, the relationship between them has no romantic at all, not even a little passion. Kazuko was very dissatisfied with this, and Kyono was not unaware. However, due to the downturn of Kyono Company in the past two years, he was physically and mentally exhausted. Kazuko knew all this, too, but now every time he came, he just ate and slept, and in this way, Kazuko became the wife of her tired husband who was working at home. Moreover, there is no marriage contract, which is too different from the original pursuit.
Especially when she learns that every time Kyono comes to her, she lies to her wife that it is because of work. It turned out that the mature, stable, and even kind man in his heart became very despicable. At the same time, she also knew that he could not be with himself if he did not lie to his family, so she felt very sad.
These psychological changes of Kazuko, Kyono is unaware, and also smugly tells her that he will not be found lying. Listening to these flirtatious words, Hezi accelerated the idea of breaking up with him even more.
However, the real determination to say goodbye is another thing, which may be a small thing, but in the eyes of Xiangzi, it is a big thing. Because Kyono and Kazuko are together, they don't forget to buy discounted toothpaste toothbrushes for their families. So, this time, Shezi didn't send Kyono to the platform.
Later, Kazuko did not see Kyono again, and no matter how he asked, Kazuko did not give a reason. Just like when they were together, it started without a reason, and it ended without a reason!
Therefore, I think that although Watanabe strives to describe the beauty of extramarital affairs, what I really want to tell readers is: Don't pin your hopes on extramarital affairs, because extramarital affairs can't see ahead!