Chapter 2 first quarter

"—what do you think will happen next?" The chat came to an end, I leaned my body into the bar of the cafe and asked. The woman standing leisurely in front of her was grinding coffee beans with a hand-operated bean grinder.Hearing my question, she stopped turning the handle, opened the drawer under the retro-style handle, smelled the aroma of the freshly ground coffee intoxicatedly, then smiled at me and said: "The puzzle was ground to perfection." Dumbfounded, I couldn't help but shrugged. The content of the chat is as follows. I recounted the conversation of two female guests that I overheard in a cafe I frequented a few days ago.According to one of the girls, she told her friends that she lived in Kyoto and had a boyfriend who worked in Osaka.On the evening of last Sunday, at the entrance of JR Kyoto Station, she saw off her boyfriend who was with her on the way back to Osaka after spending the weekend in Kyoto.Then, shrouded in feelings of loss and loneliness, she boarded the Kyoto bus parked in front of the station, and when she was about to count out the change for buying the ticket when she got off the bus, she realized something.

A few minutes ago, when her boyfriend bought a ticket at the vending machine, what he put in was not the whole bill, but small change.If you go to Osaka, the fare is about 500 yen, so you can pay in small change.However, the two of them went to eat before boarding the bus, and at the checkout he said: I only have one 100 yen coin and one 50 yen coin in change.So in order to save trouble and not have to change the money, he asked her for some change to pay the bill. Because the girl paid the odd part, she didn't get the change when she paid for the meal.In other words, he bought a ticket within 150 yen and boarded the tram.How is he planning to return to Osaka?The girl staggered in the car thinking, and then remembered what happened at her house the night before.

The night before, she drank some wine and said some hypocritical things like: I am very happy that you came to see me, but I will be very lonely after you go back, which made the other party very angry. Headache.Just at this time, her boyfriend's cell phone rang, and he quickly connected the phone as if he wanted to escape from the awkward atmosphere. "Oh, I'm in Kyoto. What, you went to Osaka? Then we just went astray." It seems to be a call from a friend who lives in Kyoto. The girl wanted to take the opportunity to calm down her drunken mind, so she walked towards the bathroom. After 5 minutes, when she came back, he was still on the phone: "Is that so, you're the smartest—ah, she's back, let's do this first, then contact me." He hung up the phone in a hurry, a little suspicious , but out of reflection on what she said just now, she didn't pursue anything further.

Thinking about it now, is he hiding something suspicious?The girl thought about how to return to Osaka with less than 150 yen, and stared blankly at the car window shrouded in the night... As mentioned above, the female guest's words made me find the story unfolding very interesting.So, I just want to tell her story to the woman in front of me, the clerk in the cafe I'm working at now, and the barista Chirma Star. The American star barista stood at the bar as usual today, wearing a white shirt, black trousers, and a dark blue apron. This uniform looks very handsome.She is petite, and "cute" is more appropriate to describe her than "beautiful". Although she has a childlike face that is easily seen as a high school girl, she is actually 24 years old, older than me last year.The short black bob hair has never changed since I knew her.

It varies from person to person, some people may think she is special, but it can also be said that such girls can be found everywhere.However, she does have a "specialty" that no one else has. "Then let me tell you what you think first, and let me judge whether it's right or wrong." Of course, I have learned the whole story from the female guest herself.After hearing my suggestion, Mei Xing glanced at the calendar behind her and asked: "Mr. Qingshan, for you, 'a few days ago' specifically refers to a few days ago?" What does this have to do with this event?I calculated back from today's date displayed on the calendar, that is, August 18, and answered an accurate date, "It was four days ago."

"Then it's time to congratulate her." "……Hey?" "Did she get married by her boyfriend that night?" Gollum—a strange noise came from my throat. "Wait a minute. I did ask what you think will happen later. But I just wanted to ask the boy's purpose for buying a ticket under 150 yen, and I didn't want you to guess his subsequent actions. In other words, why don't I remember any hints I gave to make you guess even his proposal." "Then let me explain in order." The Maximus barista pours the ground coffee powder into the flannel filter and starts brewing coffee.After injecting boiling water, the coffee powder will expand due to the release of carbon dioxide, which is the evidence to judge whether the coffee beans are fresh or not.

"First of all, she said that she thought about a way to use 150 yen to go back to Osaka. I think she probably suspected that her boyfriend and the friend who called the night before joined forces to evade the fare. The way is, her boyfriend and that friend Each spends 120 yen to buy a station ticket and enters the ticket gate. Then, the two get off at a station in the middle to meet, exchange tickets, and use the ticket of the other party to get out of the station. The time limit for the ticket Within two hours, between Kyoto and Osaka, if you take the new express train, you can walk back and forth in 30 minutes. The new express train runs every 15 to 20 minutes at night, so the time is more than enough. Only in It is a typical fare evasion trick to spend money on the two stops of getting on and off the bus, and not paying the fare for the middle distance.”

After about 30 seconds, after the coffee powder was fully steamed, she took the pouring pot and slowly poured hot water upwards as if writing the word "の".She stopped when the coffee powder swelled up, and continued to add hot water before the white foam floating on the surface sank completely.It is said that if the foam drips into the coffee, the aroma of the coffee will be affected.This series of actions may seem simple, but it is actually a meticulous work. "Mr. Aoyama, if you asked him 'how to return to Osaka', then this method is my answer. However, there are still many unnecessary messages in your statement. As I expected, you finally The question was 'what happened after that'. In other words, this boy didn't just return to Osaka. So, I suddenly thought of this girl's sentimental character."

After the coffee was brewed, the barista poured the freshly brewed coffee into a white porcelain cup, then placed it on a silver tray around the bar, and placed the coffee in front of me.A strong aroma of coffee permeated deep into my nasal cavity, I raised the cup and let the coffee slide down to my tongue slowly. It tastes great.This can be called my ideal cup of coffee.For a short period of time before, I also felt that the taste was a little unstable, and now it has returned to its usual aroma. The barista observed my satisfied expression and continued to explain: "That is to say, her boyfriend pretended to go back to Osaka in order to appease her frustration. In fact, he planned to take a detour and go back to the girl's house to give her a surprise. Since the girl got on the Kyoto bus from Kyoto station, the bus's The route is fixed, so I think her home should be along the Keihan Electric Railway. There is a station in between, and the fare is 140 yen. It is estimated that this is the method taught to him by a friend who lives in Kyoto, so He would say 'you're smart' to the other end of the phone."

"You are really good at predicting things. So far, as Miss Meixing can see, there are some clues hidden in my words. However, to be able to connect these with the proposal, I have to admit that this has already It's beyond the author's intention." The barista smiled, holding the tray to her chest. "Because the boy is working in Osaka, he has to go back on Sunday night. When the girl sees the boy waiting for her at the door, the first question that comes to her mind is 'how to do work', and this question is still very important." It will always be lingering in her mind. Even if the boy stays in Kyoto until the next day, he can only postpone the feeling of loss brought to the girl by one day. Isn't this a temporary thirst? If not If this is the case, it can be seen that the boy wants to fundamentally eliminate the girl's loneliness and sense of loss through this surprise. In this way, it seems that there is no other way except to propose marriage."

"Well—it makes sense, but I think it's a bit far-fetched. Besides, you just asked me about the date, do you have other considerations?" "Four days ago, everyone seemed to be on the Obon holiday, and so was our store." "What happened to the holiday?" "Isn't this the right time to report the news of my engagement to a friend I haven't seen for a long time?" I was dumbfounded again, and put my chin on the counter, expressing my surrender. The "specialty" of Qiejian Meixing is this clever mind-with her wisdom, she can easily exceed my expectations.