Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 6. First Day of Business (Continued)

After opening the lid, there was a wide variety of sushi in the bowl: eel nigiri, tuna, sea bream, tuna sushi... Masumi listened to Chiai's introductions one by one and felt like he was reading an encyclopedia of fish.

"I recommend this black-throat fish sushi. The black-throat fish is lightly grilled with a blowtorch, and the fat spreads in your mouth. It's very delicious."

Asahina Chiai introduced the two of them.

"This is my first time eating black-throat fish."

Mami's eyes shone brightly, and the depths of her gaze were so sparkling that it seemed as if thousands of stars were twinkling.

The black-throat fish, also known as the red sea bream, is named after the black film deep in its throat that looks like ink. It has delicious meat and rich fat, making it a high-end food ingredient.

"No wonder they bought so much." Masumi interrupted at the right time, "It must have cost a lot of money."

"It's really a downer to say something like that at a time like this."

Chiai picked up a piece of sushi with her chopsticks and put it on Masumi's plate.

"Try it."

Freshly cut fish fillets lie on the rice balls, the delicate fat lines look like white frost falling on the fish meat, and there are traces of flames on the surface.

"Oh, thanks."

Masumi dipped the fish on the chopsticks in soy sauce and put it into his mouth. The grilled fish melted in his mouth, giving him a moist taste that was fat but not greasy.

It is indeed a high-end product.

It is much better than conveyor belt sushi places like Sushiro.

There is no fishy smell at all, only the richness of oil melting in the mouth. The rice is soft, sweet, and has a slight taste of vinegar.

Neither flavor is too strong, and the taste can be described as gentle.

I heard that this restaurant is in Osaka, which is a bit of a shame for Masumi.

If I could, I really want to eat it every day.

Masumi looked at Chiai with an impressed expression. Chiai smiled back, as if to say, "You haven't had enough yet, have you?"

"Woo, the fish meat is so soft and delicious."

Mami picked up a piece of bonito sushi and put it in her mouth, pressing her cheeks and making a sound, with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Sister Mami, I clearly recommended the blackthroat fish, why did you eat the bonito first?" Qian Ai wondered.

"Xiao Qianai, I think you don't understand at all. Of course you should save the things you like for last."

"Only those who know how to delay gratification can win in life. This is a famous saying of Dazai Osamu."

"is that so?"

"That's right." Mami spoke the distorted quote seriously, while reaching out her chopsticks to pick up a piece of eel sushi and put it into her mouth.

"I don't understand what Dazai Osamu is, but as long as Mami-san is happy, that's all that matters."

Chiai propped her chin up, smiling as she watched Asami devour her food, her legs swinging with joy under the table.

Wind chimes are ringing.

"Ah, Rin'in is back. I bought some sushi. Let's eat together!" Qian Ai waved her hands at the person who came.

"Thank you for spending money."

The black-haired, purple-eyed girl who appeared in the lounge was none other than Kamishiro Rinone, who had just returned from get out of class.

"It's okay, because everyone in Fanxing has always taken good care of me."

Sitting at the table, Rinyin pushed the hair behind her ears, lowered her head, picked up a piece of tuna sushi, turned the rice ball over, dipped the fish part in a little soy sauce, brought it to her lips, took a bite, and chewed it carefully.

"Yeah, it's delicious."

He looked up and saw the girl with emerald eyes staring at him.

"What's wrong? Is there rice on my face?"

Rinyin tilted her head in confusion.

"Nothing, I just think Rin's way of eating is so elegant. It's great to see a beautiful girl eating so pleasing to the eye."

"That's too exaggerated." Linyin sighed.

“How was this internship visit?”

"It's very meaningful. After experiencing the work of a fashion designer firsthand, I feel like I'm one step closer to my dream."

"That's good."

After enjoying a delicious sushi meal, it was noon and we finally welcomed the first customer of the day.

The visitor was a man in his thirties, his face etched with fatigue. Even though he was wearing loose, casual clothes, he couldn't hide the aura of a lifeless office worker. "Welcome, Mr. Date. You look unwell. What happened?"

Asami greeted the man in a familiar tone.

It turned out to be an old customer.

"It's nothing serious. It's just that all the original drawings were rejected by the animation supervisor and required to be completely revised. They are not finished yet, so I have only slept for three hours from yesterday until now."

Mr. Ida described the dire situation in a lighthearted manner.

“The animation industry is really hard.”

Faced with such heavy pressure, Mami rarely showed a considerate expression.

“I’ll have an espresso, please.”

Mr. Date greeted Masumi, then belatedly said, "Eh? Ms. Seno, did you hire a new barista?"

"Yes," Asami nodded, "Let me introduce you, this is Mr. Jingjian's son, Masumi-kun."

After saying that, he turned back to Masumi and said, "This is Mr. Date, the original artist of Harima Animation."

Masumi nodded to him.

"Hey—this is the unfilial man that Mr. Jing Jian often talks about—sorry, I'm too tired. I was just talking in my sleep."

Mr. Ida rested his head on his arms.

Masumi calmly walked to the counter, weighed enough grams of dark-roasted coffee beans, ground them with a grinder, then placed them in the powder bowl and pressed them tightly, releasing the faint aroma of the coffee powder.

He operated the coffee machine, forcing hot water under high pressure through tightly packed fine powder, quickly extracting a cup of rich Italian coffee.

"Please use."

"Thank you."

Mr. Ida picked up the coffee and, ignoring the steam, took a big gulp. His cheeks immediately wrinkled, "Ah, so bitter."

"Do you need some sugar or milk?" Masumi asked.

"No, no, that's fine."

The caffeine seeped into his tired body, and the rich, bitter taste was quite refreshing. This was the stimulation Ida needed right now.

"Hu——" He exhaled naturally, and the depressed and unhappy emotions dissipated.

"Thanks for the hospitality."

The sound of wind chimes rang one after another.

Customers came to the store one after another, most of them were office workers from nearby.

There were about five or six tables of customers at noon, which was quite "depressed" compared to when Masumi was working in Tokyo. Therefore, whenever there were female customers, he would leisurely draw cute patterns on the food to please them.

The effect seems to be very successful.

"Brother Masumi, you make coffee well."

After the afternoon, work in the store returned to being idle again.

Asahina Chiai hadn't left yet, and she leaned over the bar to chat with Masumi.

"Mamaru-san's coffee is all brewed in a coffee machine."

“What do you use to make coffee without a coffee machine?”

"Don't look at me like I'm stupid!" Qian Ai protested by slamming the table. "There are other methods like handjobs."

"When I saw Uncle Jing Jian in the shop, he used a long silver kettle to make espresso."

"You mean the moka pot?"

It is a tool used to extract espresso. Masumi's father likes to use a moka pot with an open flame to make espresso. In his words, he likes the feeling of taking time and careful extraction when making it by hand.

"That's right, Masumi-san doesn't need it?"

"That's not necessary," Masumi said matter-of-factly. "People who drink espresso are looking for a strong stimulation and a quick pick-me-up."

"The original purpose of espresso was to quickly produce a cup of rich coffee. To ensure a consistent flavor, it is roasted to a deep, bitter depth. Essentially, there is no such thing as a flavor profile. At this concentration, all flavors and layers of texture are overwhelmed by the bitterness."

“Pour-over coffee is about specialty coffee. I don’t think it’s necessary to forcibly apply the extraction logic used to pursue special flavors in specialty coffee to the production of commercial coffee.”

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Qian Ai quickly stopped his long-winded scientific lecture, "I don't understand anything you're saying."

🇧🇷
"Anyway, you talk a lot, and I believe you."

(End of this chapter)