The wife, who had already been preparing for bed, froze for a moment. She looked at the ceiling, which had fallen into darkness after the lights were turned off, then thought for a while. "I hope for World Peace."
Intellectuals were somewhat calmer than ordinary civilians during wartime. Besides, as a woman, she was not particularly enthusiastic about war.
Kao Si Kao was silent for a while. "Sorry."
His wife laughed. She reached out and touched Kao Si Kao's cheek. "You don't need to apologize for the war. Let's choose something simpler. Maybe we should take a day off sometime?"
Perhaps only Kao Si Kao knew why he had apologized. He then agreed. "Once I've finished with this busy stretch, we can have a good rest for a while."
"That would be wonderful!" His wife sighed softly. "Go to sleep. There's still a lot of work tomorrow..."
For two straight days, Kao Si Kao recorded intelligence in code. When he got off work on the third day, he stumbled near the sentry post.
A soldier hurried over to help him up. After thanking him, he looked at his split leather shoe and complained a little.
Someone from the research institute brought him the shoes he wore during experiments, sparing him the embarrassment of having only one shoe.
When he got home, he first complained about his shoe splitting. Then, as usual, he finished dinner. Around eight o'clock, he took the damaged leather shoe to a Leather Shop in the city.
He had been here several times, but there had been many years between each visit.
As soon as he entered, a young man came forward to greet him. "Sir, what service do you need?"
"My leather shoe has split. I'd like you to repair it." He took the shoe out