Chiba Salted Fish Legend

Chapter 1 A young man came to the store
"Xia Zhijun."

"Yes, what's the matter, store manager?"

While wiping the table, Xia Zhi raised his head and looked at the counter where the store manager was. The store manager had just hung up the phone call he received.Xia Zhi didn't know why the store manager would place a telephone on the counter of a coffee shop that didn't serve food. It sounded really noisy.

"Well, there will be a girl coming over later. She is here to work. She called me yesterday and contacted me. When she comes, you can take her to clean the store first. My wife called me and said Xiaoyao is about to get out of school and she wants me to pick her up."

The store manager is a middle-aged man who is fairly cleanly dressed. He doesn't look strong, and his chin is never shaved clean. He looks like a decadent uncle.But this uncle is a married man. Xia Zhi has met his wife. Unlike the decadent uncle, his wife is a very beautiful beauty, and the uncle is just an ordinary-looking middle-aged man. Don't quite understand.

As for Xiaoyao, she is the daughter of the store manager’s uncle. She seems to be five years old now. She has inherited the beauty of the store manager’s wife and her voice is soft. If she wanders around a place like Akihabara by herself, she will probably Attract the attention of many fat nerds.No, that's for sure.If you want to ask why, one time when the little girl fell asleep in a coffee shop, Xia Zhi carried her to a compartment inside to sleep. Fortunately, Xia Zhi preferred girls of his own age, which saved him from jail.

What's disturbing is... Xiaoyao likes to pester Xia Zhi more and more recently when she comes here to play.Because the store manager often left her to play alone in the store, while he went outside to participate in various weird activities, and Xia Zhi had to be distracted while working to take care of her.

Recently, the store manager has often complained that his daughter has grown up and is no longer willing to get close to him.After hearing this, Xia Zhi almost raised the mop and hit him on the head.

"Anyway, I'm leaving it to you! I have to pick up Xiaoyao, and then I have to attend Les Mills's concert. For dinner, just make it as usual. I'll be back at about seven o'clock in the evening. Well, goodbye! "

The store manager ran out of the store in a hurry, looking like a fat man.Oh, the store manager is actually not fat, so he is just a nerd.

Today is Tuesday, and this store is a little far away from a nearby school, so there aren't usually many people there, so Xia Zhi didn't complain, as he could handle it alone.If the store manager dared to run out on Saturday, Xia Zhi felt that he would probably blow the store manager's head off.

There were not many people in the store today, only a few customers here and there, and Xia Zhi was happy and relaxed.Standing at the counter, Xia Zhi easily dealt with the few customers. At this moment, the store door opened and the bell rang.What walked in was a girl with long black hair hanging behind her back. She was wearing a white school uniform and a black skirt. She was holding a handbag in her hand and looked very restrained.

Xia Zhi knew this school uniform, Yuhua Private Girls High School, which was a famous high school in the whole of Chiba, and it was quite far away from this coffee shop.Xia Zhi was a little surprised as to why students from Yuhua High School would come to this coffee shop.

"Welcome, are you alone? This way, please."

Xia Zhi pointed to the available spot, right in front of the counter.

The girl yelled, obviously startled, and then quickly and gracefully walked to the seat in front of the front desk and put her bag on the table.

"Excuse me, what do you need?"

"Well, I'm sorry. I'm here to work. I should have called before..."

The girl's voice was so small that Xia Zhi could only barely hear it.

"So it's you..." Xia Zhi blinked and glanced around again, "There are not many guests right now, so come here."

Saying that, Xia Zhi walked out from the counter and walked towards the workshop beside her.

"Ah, yes!" He stood up hurriedly. After taking two steps, he remembered that he didn't take his handbag, so he hurriedly walked back, picked up the handbag, and quickly followed Xia Zhi. .

Opening the door of the workroom, there was actually nothing inside. There was a work table with a computer on it, and next to it were two white, iron cabinets with a total of twenty doors.But Xia Zhi didn't think this thing was useful at all.The cabinet is not big, but Xia Zhi only has a school bag, and one cabinet door is enough.

"This is the workroom. The locker room is over there, but there are no women's uniforms right now, so it may take a few days."

"Ah, yes."

It seems a little too nervous... Xia Zhi thought.

"Let me ask a question..."

"Excuse me."

The girl looked nervous.

"Well, um, my name is Xia Zhi, what's yours?"

"My name is Mayumi, Maeda Mayumi, I am a sophomore at Yuhua High School..."

The girl spoke so fast that Xia Zhi's brain almost couldn't process what she said, but he understood one thing.

"Yes. Miss Maeda, please calm down first and don't be too nervous."

Xia Zhi tried to comfort her, but the girl showed a frustrated mood after hearing this.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I'm too nervous."

"I originally wanted to ask you if you had any work experience...but I probably already know that."

"Yes... I'm sorry."

Xia Zhi sighed.

"Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong." Xia Zhi thought about it for a moment. Anyway, there weren't many guests today, so he would just let her take care of herself for the time being. "If Ms. Maeda has no work experience, please observe her carefully today. You must make good preparations."

"Is that okay?" Mayumi heard this, maybe feeling embarrassed.

"It's okay, it's okay. There aren't many customers these days. I can handle it by myself."

Mayumi bowed low and said, "I'm very sorry that I couldn't help." Natsuki waved his hand. The Japanese people are really troublesome. They just accept the kindness of others honestly.

Natsuki took Mayumi out of the workroom and asked her to sit at a free table.

"Coffee or tea, which one do you want?"

Natsuki asked Mayumi, who sat in her seat with a surprised look on her face.

"Me? But I didn't order anything..."

"This is for you. The store manager doesn't care about this at all." Xia Zhi didn't care. He had been doing this for two months.

"Thank you, thank you. Please give me a cup of black tea."

"Would you like some ice? It's quite hot today."

"Ah, no need, that's all."

"please wait for a while."

Xia Zhiti boiled a kettle of water and prepared cups and tea leaves in advance.Seeing that the water was almost boiling, I opened the lid of the pot, sprinkled some black tea leaves into it, and continued to heat it over a warm fire.This is a very rough brewing method, and it is also the most widely applicable method. It can quickly produce a finished product above the standard.Some people have also said that you can heat tea and cold water together, but the boss said that it is not recommended. As for why, Xia Zhi didn't bother to ask.

Before the black tea was ready, Xia Zhi took out the dinner plate, cut a piece of matcha cake and put it on it.He found that among the various desserts in the store, the matcha cake made by the store manager was the most popular. Xia Zhi had also tasted it, but he couldn't tell the difference between what the store manager made and what was sold outside.However, Xia Zhi himself didn't like desserts very much, so he didn't pay much attention to it, but he also wrote down this popular cake.

Pour the black tea into the cup, put the cake and black tea on the plate, and take it to Mayumi.

"Hey, this cake?"

"The store manager made it himself. Judging from the feedback, it should be very good. Just like black tea, I treat you to it."

Mayumi didn't know what to do anymore, so she could only say thank you again.

Xia Zhi found it particularly interesting to look at the nervous girl. Even though he had been in Japan for a few months, this was the first time he had seen such a restrained girl. He thought that a tutor would be good, and his family background should be good.But why do such girls come to work?Xia Zhi was a little curious.But he would not ask out his curiosity. Being in a foreign country, Xia Zhi would not do anything unnecessary.

At this time, two more girls came into the store, and Xia Zhi walked over to receive them, but did not notice Mayumi's eyes staring at him.

Time was passing, and there were fewer and fewer people in the store. Xia Zhi looked at the time, and it was already 05:30.It’s time for most families to prepare dinner.

Xia Zhi himself planned to eat in the studio of the store, because his working hours did not end until nine o'clock in the evening, but he did not know what the situation of his new colleagues was like.So he walked to Mayumi's desk and found that the girl was studying with a textbook.All the black tea in the cup has been drunk, all the cakes have been eaten, and the knives and forks are neatly placed together.

"Yo. Are you studying?"

"Ah!? No, no, no, I'm sorry! I'll sort it out right away."

"Don't be nervous. Did I say you won't be allowed to study here? Yuhua High School is really hard."

Natsuki sat down opposite Mayumi.Mayumi could no longer continue reading.

"Ms. Maeda, when are your working hours scheduled?"

"When will the queue be scheduled?" Mayumi looked confused.

"Well, it's from what time to what time does your part-time job start?"

"Oh, that's what it means. I finish school at three o'clock in the afternoon, and it's almost four o'clock when I get here. My working hours are from Monday to Saturday, two hours a day." Mayumi thought about her arrangements.

"Do you mean to go home for dinner? Then I can just mind myself. Oh, by the way, how about the cake? Is it delicious? Do you want another one?"

"Ah, no need no need."

Mayumi hurriedly waved her hand and refused, "I'm really sorry for eating and drinking without doing anything."

Xia Zhi sighed and said with a smile: "Actually, you really don't have to be so nervous. I am also a sophomore in high school this year. Like you, I am not an old man. Anyway, it is still a little while before six o'clock. Let me make you a cup of tea. .”

After saying that, Xia Zhi stood up, but Mayumi was still stunned and didn't react.After a while, Natsuki came over with a black tea cup and placed it in front of Mayumi.

"Well, Senior Xia Zhi..."

"I just said I'm the same age as you... just call me Xia Zhi."

"Well, Natsuki." Mayumi hesitated for a moment, then called out Natsuki's name, "Every coffee shop... is like this one, so, so..."

"So free? How is that possible? It's just that this store is special. Store manager, you will know when you come tomorrow. Although he is a nerd, he is not a bad person."

Xia Zhi arranged for his own store manager, feeling no pressure in his heart.

"It's just eating some cake. That person doesn't care about such small things."

"But, as a store clerk, it's not a good idea to do this, right?"

Mayumi asked cautiously.

Xia Zhi sneered.

"I will think about it when he stops leaving the clerk alone in the store and goes out to attend those weird parties."

Mayumi found that the coffee shop she was applying for seemed a bit strange...

(End of this chapter)