That night, after resting in the cabin, Baiyunshan stopped by the Yangchuan Ramen Shop.
Entering through the aqua blue curtain, the store is still the same as before. Diners with familiar faces gathered together in twos and threes, chatting with each other. The leisurely atmosphere was accompanied by Seiko Matsuda's "Blue Coral Reef", which always made people laugh. It makes people feel as if they have traveled back to the bubble economy era decades ago. The leisurely and drunken atmosphere is very suitable for the current environment.
It can be seen that the store manager likes this song very much. When Bai Yunshan saw him, he was gently beating the rhythm with his hands behind the counter and humming the chorus in a low voice. Bai Yunshan shouted He seemed to notice after three calls, glanced at him lightly, then brought up a stack of tempura from under the counter and pushed it to him.
"You want to treat me to this tonight? You're too stingy, manager!"
Baiyunshan was a little dissatisfied with today's food, and stretched his neck to explore the space behind the counter, wanting to see what else was hidden inside.
The store manager snorted angrily from his nose and said nothing. He had obviously guessed what this guy would say. He didn't even bother to pay attention to what he said. He spread out the menu, tapped the words on it and said, "No." Are you satisfied? You can order what you want to eat, and of course you have to pay for it yourself. How can you be so picky about freeloading?"
"You're right, everything you said is right."
Baiyunshan quickly smiled and said nothing. He picked up two pieces of tempura with chopsticks and tasted it, looking like he was enjoying it.
Seeing his attitude, the store manager was helpless. He snorted again and magically brought another bowl of steaming tonkotsu ramen from under the counter to him, reminding him: "You're lucky. This is extra for you for the sake of that Hashimoto kid, eat it quickly, it will cool down later——"
"Thank you, store manager~"
Baiyunshan, who knew that his store manager was hard-spoken and soft-hearted, put down the tempura with satisfaction and happily dealt with the delicious and oily ramen in front of him. After taking a few bites, he suddenly thought of something and asked the store manager: "By the way, store manager, I heard Hashimoto say that she came to you to inquire about the location of the cemetery. Is it true?"
The store manager put the newspaper down, was stunned for a while and said, "It's true. I thought it wasn't some shady news, so I told her. What, is there any problem?"
"No."
Baiyunshan shook his head slightly and continued: "Besides this, have you disclosed anything else?"
"besides?"
The store manager frowned and thought, tapping his fingers on the smooth solid wooden counter: "There are also some stupid things you made when you worked here before, the flavors you liked when you came to eat and drink here, and some of the things you learned from you in the past. The information I know from my mouth is basically what I know, and I almost told her."
"Ah? Store manager, your mouth is too wide! Are you making a mistake?" Bai Yunshan couldn't help complaining with his eyes wide open.
"Ikuta? What Ikuta?"
The store manager was stunned, shook the newspaper in his hand, and said with an indifferent expression: "Anyway, I know that Hashimoto kid, she's not a bad person, and she's still an idol under you, so it doesn't matter if you tell her. She wouldn’t use your identity information to borrow money from usury, would she?”
"It's not impossible..."
Baiyunshan thought about the girl's not-so-well-off family background and complained in a low voice with empty eyes. However, he saw that the store manager seemed to have reacted and raised his eyebrows in surprise: "By the way, Hashimoto asked me about these things about your boy." What's the news for? You're still asking for such detailed information, could it be that you——"
Baiyunshan's heart tightened. Could it be that the store manager saw it? He quickly asked: "Is it what?"
"——Is it possible that you didn't know when you offended someone and they were planning to seek revenge on you, so you came to know this? As the saying goes, if you know yourself and the enemy, you will be victorious in every battle!"
Baiyun Mountain:"......"
However, the more the store manager thought about it, the more he felt that this was possible. He quickly frowned and lectured: "Hey, brat, if you really offend someone at some point, you have to apologize to them quickly, you know? Don't think you can't save face. If Let me know how she suffered at your hands, and I will be the first to cut you! Do you understand?"
"oh......"
Baiyunshan helplessly ate noodles with his head down, almost stuffing his whole face into the bowl. He didn't know whether he was relieved or feeling inexplicably depressed.
At this moment, the aqua blue door curtain moved again, and another familiar person came in. Before the figure could be seen clearly, the voice reached the counter first.
"Old ghost, just have one as usual. I'm not in a hurry this time, so there's no need to rush-"
Baiyunshan raised his eyes and saw that it was indeed his old acquaintance, Officer Sato. Judging from his posture, he seemed to have just taken a break from get off work.
The store manager had no choice but to put down the newspaper in his hand and start working. When he caught a glimpse of his old friend's furious movements, he didn't forget to laugh: "Why, you're not going to Shibuya to eat at a new restaurant this time? You're coming here to eat these outdated dishes I made." What do things do?”
Officer Sato's dark old face suddenly turned red. What happened last time in the mall had already spread among a few people, whether it was the wonderful scene when the group faced the group of naked men, or the previous visit to the ramen shop by Officer Sato. Everything he said seemed to contain a bit of embarrassment at this time. Every time he mentioned it, he couldn't help but want to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. His old face really couldn't stand it.
Fortunately, the store manager just mentioned it casually. Although he was a little dissatisfied that his old friend kept this kind of thing from him, he also knew that the other party was doing it to prevent people like him from worrying. The old man had been here for most of his life, so naturally he didn't. Like young people, they will have some edgy ideas and do whatever they have to do——
Officer Sato suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. He turned around and saw that Baiyunshan guy was also here. He snorted coldly and said faintly: "Why, haven't you been very busy recently? Why are you so free today and why are you so busy?" Come here to eat noodles?”
Baiyunshan chuckled, looked behind him, and said deliberately: "Officer Sato, why is the young police officer who has been following you today not here?"
"You have the nerve to mention it!"
Officer Sato was immediately furious. After his last mission in the shopping mall, he had been troubled and depressed for more than half a month. He had been worried that there would be some weird rumors or dark history circulating in the bureau. It was not until later that he found out that these It's all just a joke, I've been worried about it for so long in vain.
Every night when people think about this in silence, Officer Sato can't help but burst into tears. He thought that his reputation for life was just gone, but in the end you told me that nothing happened. Are you overthinking everything? Fuck you!
"Don't be angry, don't be angry. Now, can I give you this tempura?"
Baiyunshan put the tempura in front of Officer Sato's dark face in a coaxing tone. Seeing the veins on his forehead twitch slightly, he pushed the plate away angrily and said unceremoniously: "Don't come here! Who doesn’t know that tempura is the most unpalatable thing among the things made by that old man in Yangchuan? He gave it to you for free, right? If you give me this thing to eat, who are you looking down on?"
Being ridiculed by the other party, Baiyunshan looked indifferent. He smiled and raised his hand, complaining loudly to the busy store manager: "Manager! Officer Sato said that the food you made tastes bad -"
"If it tastes bad, get out of here!"
The store manager replied coldly, and Officer Sato was immediately speechless. He could only sigh and glare at the culprit. He waited until the store manager brought the set meal with a dark face. When he came up, he coughed twice awkwardly and changed the subject, and said with a smile on his face: "Don't be angry, old man, it's just a joke... By the way, how about those books I gave you last time? Is there anything you like?"
"Book? What book?"
Baiyunshan glanced at them in confusion, and then felt that the smile on Officer Sato's face was extremely obscene. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and suddenly realized that he showed an expression that all men would understand: "Oh~ So it's that kind of smile. Books... tsk tsk, I can’t tell, the store manager is so old, but he is still in such good health, he is getting stronger with age——"
"roll!"
The store manager rolled his eyes angrily, reached out and rummaged through the counter, and then brought up a few books with exquisite packaging and excellent styles.
"That's it. Don't get carried away. They are just books for children, fairy tales."
"Fairy tales? Manager, why are you reading these at such an old age? You still have a childlike innocence——"
After looking through Baiyun Mountain, I realized that they were indeed fairy tales, and I suddenly felt puzzled.
"Last week, the old ghost said that he got in touch with his original daughter and was going to meet him in Tokyo to have a meal and chat, so he asked me to buy these books as a meeting gift. But since they are still here now, it seems There was an accident in the middle, right?" Officer Sato explained while looking at the store manager.
The store manager was silent for a moment, and his face looked calm. There was no sign of being heartbroken and looking for a life to die - it was unlikely that he would be. He just said lightly: "We encountered some situations. I'm afraid we won't have the chance to meet him this year."
"That's a waste. I don't know if I can return it-"
Officer Sato went up and flipped through the labels out of boredom.
Baiyunshan patted Officer Sato on the shoulder to ask him to pay attention, then casually flipped a book out of it, and suggested: "Since it's useless, just give it to me, I can still take it out here Give it away or something like that.”
"Giving it to someone? To whom?" Officer Sato raised his head in shock.
"Of course it's for children who are old enough to read these books. How about giving it to you?"
Baiyunshan glanced at him, then lowered his head to look at the cover of the book in his hand, which had the words "The Little Prince" written on it, and nodded with satisfaction: "That's it, I happen to like it too. How's it going, store manager?"
The store manager waved his hand, indicating that it was up to him.
So the next day, the little bird had a fairy tale called "The Little Prince" in his hand.
