In the early morning of the second day, the air was cold and Baiyunshan went out early.
The place where he lives now is called Wudongzaka, an unknown area in Tokyo, and the rent is relatively affordable.
After exiting the door, he walked to the end of the street, turned right, then turned left, and waited for a traffic light. After crossing the road, there was a 711 convenience store. After passing the 711, he crossed two more roads and reached his destination.
Looking up, it is a very simple store. The words "Yangchuan Ramen Shop" are no different from ordinary Japanese ramen shops. There is a small door about one and a half people wide for people to enter and exit. Several pairs of potted plants are neatly placed, with water. The blue door curtain hangs from the top, without any patterns on it, simple and ordinary.
He lowered his head and passed through the door curtain. The morning lights flickered behind the door. Even though today is January 1st, the Japanese New Year, there is still no rest here.
There will be no rest.
The New Year is a time to reunite with family, but how can we reunite without family? The New Year has lost its most important role.
Mr. Yangchuan, the manager of the ramen shop, is a very nice person.
But his personal experience was less than positive.
According to what he said, he had a total of two ex-wives. The second ex-wife even had two daughters with him, but they still divorced. The daughter was also awarded to his ex-wife, and then remarried abroad, leaving him alone now. one person.
At his age, his parents naturally passed away early, and the rest of the relatives were not close in the previous generation, and it is impossible to have any contact with this generation. So year after year, he just opened a shop by himself, even during the New Year. Don't close the door to rest.
Baiyunshan once worked in this ramen shop. The reason was simple: it was close. It didn't take more than a few minutes to walk, which was really what he wanted, and the salary was satisfactory. Moreover, the Yangchuan store manager is a good person, and Baiyunshan is also alone now. Over time, the relationship between the two gradually became familiar.
Over the past few years, he has worked here several times at the Yangchuan Ramen Shop. Each time he found a new job and resigned. The store manager was very familiar with him as an old man, so he ignored him and came to work whenever he wanted. , Forget it if you don’t want to, of course, the salary is calculated on a daily basis.
When you walk into the store, it's not a very big space. What you see is the long bar counter of a Japanese ramen shop. The store manager, Mr. Yangchuan, is sitting behind the corner of the counter reading a newspaper.
At first glance, the Yangchuan store manager appears to be in his fifties. He has good facial features and a thin figure. His hair is slightly white at the temples, but it is neatly combed behind his head. He looks very strict. He wears a pair of gray-black presbyopic glasses on the bridge of his pen, which Baiyunshan gave him last year. Although the store manager has presbyopia, he doesn't like wearing glasses. In his words, it will affect his work and cooking. Water vapor can blur your vision, so you only wear it when reading or reading a newspaper.
Hearing the sound, the store manager raised his head and was a little surprised to see Baiyunshan: "Why are you here so early today? As usual, shouldn't you come here for dinner at ten or eleven?"
Baiyunshan found a seat and sat down. Hearing this, he smiled and said: "Store manager, what do you mean? I was worried that you would be a little sad during the Chinese New Year alone, so I came to see you early. How do you feel? move?"
The store manager glanced at him and continued to look down at his newspaper: "Forget it if you are touched, I will give you a free meal if you come. I wish you didn't come today!"
"Wouldn't you be too lonely if you didn't come?"
Seeing that the store manager didn't reply, Baiyunshan didn't feel embarrassed. He took out a bottle of carbonated drink from the refrigerator nearby and drank it, then hummed a ditty.
The store manager put down the newspaper in his hand, raised his head and asked curiously: "Why, you seem to be in a good mood? Have you found a new job?"
Baiyunshan immediately gave a thumbs up: "As expected of you as the store manager, I resigned again today. I should be able to go to work after the Chinese New Year."
"What job?"
"You may not believe it, but I'm going to work at Sony."
"How can I not believe that you are so capable? Tell me, lift the boom microphone or the teleprompter?"
"This is all I have?" Baiyunshan was immediately dissatisfied and waved his hand, "If you think about it again, what else can I do?"
The store manager frowned, thought carefully for a moment, and then said in disbelief: "You kid - you don't know how to clean, do you?"
Bai Yunshan sighed, knowing that the store manager would not believe it, but he did not intend to directly provide any key evidence to make him believe it (of course he does not have it now). The two have known each other for several years, and their impression of each other has already been established. It's so ingrained that you will naturally believe it when you should believe it, so he casually changed the subject and said: "By the way, store manager, it doesn't look like business is going well today."
"Nonsense, who will come so early in the morning?" the store manager said angrily.
"Isn't it just for this reason? Today is the New Year after all. If you have family members who won't accompany you, who would brave the cold wind to come to your place to eat noodles?"
The store manager looked at Baiyunshan doubtfully and said, "You kid keeps beating around the bush, what do you want to say?"
"It's nothing, I just wanted to ask you, today is also the New Year after all, and the two of us are so free, would the store manager want to go out for a meal together?"
The store manager stared at him blankly for a few seconds, then shook the newspaper in his hand and said calmly: "As long as you have the intention, it's okay, but not today, I'm waiting for someone."
"Waiting for someone?"
"Do you think I opened the door early in the morning just to wait for you to come and get some food? There is a nice kid who came to Tokyo from Hokkaido to study. She wrote me a letter a few days ago saying that she would come to see me during the annual vacation."
Bai Yunshan looked shocked: "She? Is she a woman? No way! Manager, are you going to have a third wife?"
The store manager directly slapped a newspaper in his hand and said, "What nonsense! He was young and only worked here for me. Of course, he is gone now. It is said that he has found a better job, and the company does not allow it."
"Who is it?"
"A very good child, good conversational skills, good temperament, good looks. Moreover, he is much more serious than you. You, a salted fish, work as a shop assistant here. It's good if you can come here one or two days a week." Yes, that kid signs in on time every day and works seriously, so it’s no surprise that he can find a good job."
Baiyunshan clicked his tongue: "Why does it sound like she has joined Sony Music Company more than me?"
The store manager glanced at him sideways and said with a disdainful smile: "If I had relied on you, my store would have closed down a long time ago. It is said that the kid was working several jobs for a while. One night when I went to 711 to buy cigarettes, I saw her working as a shop assistant there, so tired, and I don’t know if her body can bear it. Alas, it seems that her family’s conditions are really not good, and life is not easy for everyone!” At the end, I couldn’t help but feel a little sad.
As the store manager spoke, he seemed to recall some of the past and said with emotion: "Oh, if my daughter were still with me, she would be about the same age as her!"
Bai Yunshan has heard this sentence many times. Ever since he found out about the store manager's previous situation, he has said it almost every day. There is nothing sentimental about it. He complained: "Even if your daughter is not by your side, she is still the same age! Of course, it seems like you don’t have the life to raise your daughter and you ran away with her mother.”
The store manager was interrupted from his recollection, glared at Baiyunshan and snorted, but did not retort.
But at this moment, a clean voice suddenly broke in.
"Excuse me, can you apologize to the Yangchuan store manager?"
Baiyunshan was surprised to hear the news and saw a girl in navy blue clothes pushing open the door curtain and walking in. Even though she was wrapped in layers of clothes to keep out the cold, she could still feel that she was slender, with delicate and straight facial features, a slightly high bridge of nose, and a face There is a slight baby fat on his face, and when he talks, you can see his playful tiger teeth, but his temperament is completely different, as cold as the air outside.
"The Yangchuan store manager is a very good man. His daughters only left him because of legal relations. He is a good father. The pain between him and his children should not be brought out and ridiculed. You said so , seems a bit excessive.”
The girl's speaking speed was a little faster, and her momentum became a little sharper, just like the biting cold wind she brought in when she opened the door.
Baiyunshan did not expect this situation and was speechless for a moment.
The atmosphere seemed a little tense for a moment, and the store manager quickly put down the newspaper and walked out of the counter to smooth things over: "Hashimoto, here you are, come on, put your things down, Baiyun, let me introduce you, this is the Hashimoto-san I just told you. He is really nice, and what he just said was for me, so don’t take it to heart.”
Baiyunshan complained feebly: "I have told the store manager so many times that my surname is Bai, not Baiyun."
The store manager tried to smooth things over, but the girl named Hashimoto did not continue to question Baiyunshan. Instead, she turned to the store manager and smiled and said, "Manager, this is the royal guard I bought from the shrine. You can accept it first."
"Oh, it turns out to be Yushou." The store manager nodded and took the palm-sized purple Yushou, then quickly walked behind the counter, took out a red envelope and said: "New Year is here, the store manager also I have nothing to give you, you are still young, so just accept this red envelope as lucky money for now!"
The girl quickly declined, smiled, waved her hand and said politely, "No need, manager."
The store manager looked stunned, and was about to persuade her to accept it, but saw the girl continue.
"No need for you, store manager. I have to go to work later, so I'll leave now. I wish you a happy new year and goodbye."
With that said, he left the ramen shop like a gust of wind.
The store manager watched her leave blankly, then sighed.
Baiyunshan gloated from behind: "Oh - the store manager seems to be hated!"
The store manager silently put away the red envelope and snorted: "It's not that she hates me, it's understandable that she hates you! She just... doesn't want to accept other people's kindness easily. It can be seen that this child must have been To rashly believe in the good intentions of others and then suffer a loss is a reaction that has been hard-earned!"
Baiyunshan turned the glass bottle and said nothing.
The worries of rich people are mostly similar, but the worries of poor people are different. He was not rich before, and of course he is not rich now. Although he is not poor, it does not prevent him from understanding the embarrassment of this situation. .
Even so, it is a rare thing to still maintain dignity. It is not a joke that people are poor and short of ambition.
Of course, he did not forget his purpose.
"So you really don't want to go out for a meal today?"
"Next time." The store manager turned around and opened the newspaper, his expression unclear.
Baiyunshan shook the little drink left in the bottle, next time? Next time, I probably have to wait until next year.
