25 Chapter 25
◎Karate in Oita◎
Chapter 25 [Karate on Oita]
"Xiaolan, thank you for inviting me~ I will cheer you on!"
My wife Sayuri had previously made an appointment with Mori Ran to participate in her next karate competition, and the opportunity came much earlier than expected.
"Thank you also to my wife's sister for coming to cheer me on. I will definitely win!" Perhaps because someone was cheering her on, the little girl was full of energy and murderous intent at the same time.
Suzuki Sonoko also encouraged her from the side: "That's right, Xiaolan, you will definitely win!"
“…”Perhaps the only one who didn’t show any particular excitement was Kudo Shinichi.
Agatsuma Sayuri guessed that he might be worried that if he did something inappropriate at some point, he might be corrected by Mori Ran's karate technique.
Since you have such concerns, why not just not do that kind of thing in the first place?
With this thought in mind, Agatsuma Sayuri pretended not to see the little boy's nervousness and entanglement, and also pretended not to notice his unspoken encouragement to the girl he cared about.
Mao Lilan needed to change into her competition clothes first, and separated from her companions at the entrance.
Suzuki Sonoko continued to cheer her on as she left, giving her friend enough encouragement.
[What a good kid.] My wife Sayuri touched her head, and when she saw the girl look back in surprise, she noticed that she and Suzuki Sonoko were still strangers.
Today was the first time we met, and I accidentally used the head-patting trick, which not only had no effect, but might even have had a counterproductive effect!
She was racking her brain, thinking about how to explain to the elementary school student to accept her mistake, but she saw Suzuki Sonoko smiled shyly and expressed her gratitude generously: "Thank you..."
"My wife Sayuri."
"Thank you, my wife's sister." Just by knowing my wife Sayuri's name, I immediately understood what Mori Ran had called her before, and followed her good friend in calling her that.
Being able to accept the kindness of others and express gratitude frankly is perhaps the most obvious aspect of the "young lady" education that Suzuki Sonoko received.
As depicted in the original work, she appears too "common" and down-to-earth, and there is no sign that she comes from one of Japan's top wealthy families.
But whether a family is a wealthy family is not determined by wealth, or rather, it is not just wealth. It is reflected in connections, resources, education, culture, etiquette, and interpersonal relationships.
It's not that only young ladies from aristocratic families can be so graceful. For example, her good friend Mao Lilan is also a good girl. To put it bluntly, it's ultimately a combination of human nature and acquired education.
"Are you Ran Mouri's friend, Sonoko?" Agatsuma Sayuri guessed the possible conversation that might take place when they first met, and asked the other party using the name that Ran Mouri had just called her.
"Well, I'm Suzuki Sonoko, a classmate and good friend of mine, Ran. Hello, my wife's sister, please give me your guidance."
For some reason it became some kind of formal self-introduction, and my wife Sayuri quickly added, "Thank you for your guidance."
The two junior high school students and my wife Sayuri were looking for the stands for the game, while Kogoro Mouri, who was supposed to come, seemed to be still unconscious from betting on horses and drinking all night.
Fortunately, my wife Sayuri was there, otherwise we would have only three minors out. The competition venue is not very close to Beika Town.
From today's performance, it can be seen that Maori Kogoro's unreliability is not a one-day or two-day thing. And in the original work, Maori Ran's habit of taking care of her father in return is not a one-day or two-day habit either.
It is obvious that Kogoro Mori is not even 40 years old and is not incapable of taking care of himself, so why does he start asking his underage daughter to take care of him? Just thinking about this makes people sigh.
My wife Sayuri doesn’t quite understand the rules of karate, but she can still tell who wins and who loses.
Even if she couldn't see it, she could still guess from the expressions of Suzuki Sonoko and Kudo Shinichi. At this time, Kudo Shinichi had not yet grown into the actor who could play a child at any time in his later years, so his expression was quite easy to understand.
Especially when she was frightened, she closed one eye and glanced cautiously with the other eye, fearing that the next attack would fall on herself, which showed that Ran Mouri was in an absolute advantage.
Although she was sweating profusely on the field, Mao Lilan was still a sweet and soft little girl after changing her clothes after the game.
Several people gathered around to congratulate her on her victory. Even in the finals, there weren't any press interviews for this low-age competition. Of course, there were no fans mobbing the athletes, either. They left the arena without incident.
"Since Mr. Maori isn't here, then... to celebrate your victory, shall I treat everyone to a meal?"
As the only adult present, and with the idea of eating together with the children to build closer relationships, my wife Sayuri offered to treat them to a meal.
These children all came from well-off families. Suzuki Sonoko aside, the Kudo and Mori families were both well-off elites, either wealthy or middle class. It was impossible to say these children had no pocket money at all.
But if an adult wants to treat a child to a meal, does it have anything to do with whether the child has pocket money or not?
No.
So, the three children cheered, opened their eyes wide and began to look for the delicious food they wanted to eat.
"Is there anything you want to eat? If there's nothing nearby, you can take a bus and look for it."
The three children were still looking around, obviously not finding a suitable target.
"If it's this street, I remember there's a new dessert shop on the street, and next to it is Makku①, and there's a ramen shop in the alley to our right, and also..."
"I want to eat マック!"
"Dessert--"
Very good. Just by listening to the mixed voices, I can tell that there are differences of opinion.
However, the two people who had just expressed their wishes did not include the champion. Agatsuma Sayuri bent down and looked at Maoli Ran at eye level, and said softly: "Ran, I'm mainly here to treat you to a meal. What do you think?"
Not expecting that she would be the one holding the final decision-making power, Mao Lilan hesitated for a moment, during which time the pressure from the sights outside the field continued.
Finally, she endured the gazes from behind that felt like needles piercing her, and bravely expressed her thoughts: "Hey? Well, actually, I'm not that hungry. I just want to drink some milk tea..."
Ran Mao Li didn't know the origin of the milk tea shop, but she happened to hit the heart of my wife Sayuri!
"No problem, we can buy desserts and burgers and then go to the milk tea shop to eat."
"Is this okay?"
“It’s not a good idea to bring outside food.”
Those who had just been thinking about eating desserts and hamburgers now became the first to deny the idea.
“The milk tea shop itself has an indoor coffee shop section where you can sit down and eat.”
"No, even if there's a place to sit down and eat, the manager will be angry."
Seeing the children's intense resistance, my wife, Sayuri, was puzzled. She quietly took out her cell phone and called the store manager.
"Manager, it's me. Um, I want to bring my three children to the store to eat dessert and burgers. Is that okay?"
"……Uh-huh……"
"Okay! Then I'll bring them over."
The three children could only hear the voice of Agatsuma Sayuri, but it was obvious that she not only knew the manager of the milk tea shop, but the manager also agreed to her seemingly unreasonable request.
After hanging up the phone, my wife Sayuri tilted her head and asked playfully, "Do you believe me now?"
The three children nodded with starry eyes.
"Then let's go get some dessert and burgers."
So, the topic among the four of them turned from how great Ran Mouri's karate was to the one hundred and eight things that had to be said about my wife Sayuri and the milk tea shop.
From the outside, the transformation of milk tea shops from coffee shops is a legendary story.
Delicious drinks you've never heard of, a variety of small ingredients, beautiful cups and the linkage with comic IP meet both entertainment and food needs.
It is a marketing legend that leads the trend.
Of course, in this era, when we talk about "marketing", it is not just a synonym for name without substance. When people hear this word now, their first reaction may be that the product itself is of mediocre quality, but it is successful because of successful marketing.
But initially, milk tea shops became popular because of the fragrance, sweetness and convenience of the sweet water, which are elements suitable for young people.
It’s just that the addition of IP increased the customer base of the two-dimensional world, and later this store became a check-in destination for two-dimensional customers because of the works of Ouroboros Sayuri.
"Come to think of it, my wife's sister is dressed similarly to the clerk over there. Does she actually work in a milk tea shop?"
Mao Lilan asked for milk tea because she knew a little about the shop. If she had been aware of the connection between my wife Sayuri and the milk tea shop before, and now saw her on the phone with the owner, and thought about her clothes, it would be a bit unreasonable not to realize the relationship between them.
Agatsuma Sayuri made a "V" sign and then raised her thumbs. "Correct, ten points."
Even though it was useless to add points, Mao Lilan still giggled and covered her mouth.
=
Maybe because it was a holiday, the dessert shop was crowded at noon. Four people were queuing here, and then they had to go to Mark to queue, which only doubled the waiting time.
My wife Sayuri hesitated for a while, then squatted down and asked Kudo Shinichi: "Shinichi, can you go buy a hamburger by yourself?"
Kudo Shinichi showed a helpless expression that mixed with the meaning of "Who do you think I am? Of course I can do such a simple thing." "My wife's sister, I am 13 years old, not 3 years old..."
That’s right, when Kudo Shinichi was still able to crawl, he could help his parents solve cases. How could a 13-year-old junior high school student not be able to buy things?
The girl then opened her exquisite little bag, pulled out a Fukuzawa Yukichi note, and handed it to the boy, instructing him, "Don't just buy for you, remember to buy some for us too. Burgers, snacks, and desserts are all fine. If you want a drink, that's fine too. We won't skimp on the milk tea."
Kudo Shinichi smiled with his eyes curved. Even if the family was wealthy, there were few opportunities to buy more than hamburgers at one time.
The girls didn't say what kind of food they wanted to eat at Mark's, so he could just order everything except the staple food and then choose the burger he wanted.
Given the small stomachs of Japanese women, desserts and milk tea are probably enough to fill them up, and the マック is just a side dish.
The boy put away the banknotes and headed towards the Macdonald next door. From the way he walked, you could tell that the child was in a very good mood.
And no matter how happy I am now, I will be sad when he comes back after buying food.
【Author’s words】
①The abbreviation of McDonald's Japan in the Kanto region. The official name in Japan is MacDonald
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