Chapter 2 first quarter

"—You are Mr. Aoyama, right?" She said in a steady and warm voice. Excluding these two short conversations as a coffee clerk and as a customer, I was a bit surprised, and quite normal, by the first memorable words she said to me. "Why, why do you know..." The unexpected situation made it difficult for me to squeeze out my voice.Since she confirmed it with "Right", it means that I didn't take the initiative to name her, and I'm just a guest, so I don't need to explain my background to her. "It seems that I guessed it right! It's actually because of this..."

She began to explain the reason calmly, and took out a piece of paper from her apron pocket.When I saw that, my face crumpled like I'd taken a bitter pill, and I blamed something on it in late June. That day, I stopped in front of an "arch" quietly erected in a narrow alley not far from the busiest street in Kyoto. It was a horrible holiday.I made an appointment with my lover the night before, so it's a so-called date!Before I went out, I looked up, and the weather seemed unstable, but I firmly believed that the day would go smoothly, and I didn't even care about the umbrella placed at the entrance.

I arrived ten minutes earlier than the agreed time, and arrived at the place designated by the other party just after noon - the hamburger restaurant in Sanjo, Kawaramachi.The lover was already standing there, and when he saw me, he ran over with open arms. Wouldn't she want to give me a hug in public?I can't get out of the way, so I have to stand firm on my feet.She flew into my arms with astonishing momentum, reached out and grabbed my collar—— As usual, he performed a neat big internal cut. Rather than slumping to the floor of a crowded restaurant, it might be better to be hugged in public.After I lifted my upper body, she squatted down next to me and asked angrily:

"Who is that woman?" The piercing gazes from all directions made me uncomfortable. "Which woman are you talking about?" "I saw it in college at noon yesterday, you had a nice conversation with a woman in a coffee shop, right?" I looked up to the sky and sighed.It seems that she wanted me to be accused of cheating no matter what. "I always chat with the staff and customers in the coffee shop. I don't even know who that woman is..." "I don't care about you anymore, idiot!" She interrupted me deliberately, stood up, and rushed out of the store, heading north.

here we go again.I stood up from the ground with a sad face.Then I had to catch up quickly, stop her and try to appease her who kept shouting "I want to break up with you", and begged her for forgiveness.She occasionally gets jealous like this to satisfy her sadistic mind.In the past two years, what she just did has been repeated several times. I kept my head down, and left the burger shop under the still stinging eyes of my surroundings.At this time, as if mocking me, the sky began to rain with a ticking tick. "If you want to run, choose the south side where there are arcades along the road!"

I sincerely pray for that. When I chased all the way to Oike Street, I couldn't see her at all.Seeing that the rain is getting stronger every minute, I really want to go back home as soon as possible, but if she knows that I didn't seriously catch up, it will undoubtedly add fuel to the fire, and it is not very good.Now that I lost them all, I couldn't go straight any more, so I decided to step into the nearby Fuxiaoji Street at will and continue walking north. Shortly after crossing the intersection where it connected with Erjo, I stopped suddenly. There is a retro-looking electronic signboard beside the road. It is waist-high and quite thick, with wheels attached to the base.The socket protruding from the inside was not connected to any wires, and it was lying on the ground lonely. Although the signboard was not lit, it could still be seen at a glance that it seemed to be used to indicate "in business".There are these words written on the signboard: "Coffee Talleyrand enters from here".

It is this bold store name that makes the blood of coffee lovers boil as if they are inside a siphon pot. A French count once said: The so-called good coffee is black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, and sweet as love. The earl's name is Charlie?Morris?Germany?Talleyrand?Perigord.During the French Revolution, he demonstrated his decisive style in diplomacy many times. He was a great statesman whom even Napoleon the Great respected him.He is also a well-known gourmet, and his quotations are regarded as indispensable when talking about perfect coffee, and have been handed down to this day through later generations.

It was almost ten years ago!When I was a teenager, my sense of taste was no different from that of a child. I thought coffee was just a bitter drink, but I was greatly shocked after hearing that famous saying.That drink is indeed dark, hot and simple, but how can it be sweet? The high-end coffee that has never been seen must be sweet and delicious. I hope I can taste a cup one day.Ever since I had such a strong desire in my heart, I have been looking for the perfect coffee that tastes exactly like Earl's description. I later learned that in European countries, including Talleyrand's motherland France, when it comes to coffee, most of them don't refer to the filter coffee that the Japanese drink, but espresso.And the sweet taste that Earl described is actually the sugar dissolved in the espresso; I, who didn't even know this kind of thing in my youth, hastily regarded it as an ideal.I visited coffee specialty stores all over the place, and even prepared beans and equipment to make coffee, but no matter what I did, something didn't feel right.It would be too straightforward to say that I got it wrong from the beginning, but until the end, I still missed the coffee that I could call ideal.

This coffee shop named Talleyrand can be said to have aroused my curiosity, and it made me want to find a place to shelter from the rain anyway, so I might as well go in and have a look. Once the decision was made, even the trouble caused by my lover was forgotten by me.I looked in the direction indicated under the signboard, and it seemed that I was going to pass through a narrow path between two ancient houses that were covered by roofs like tunnels and juxtaposed like twins.At the feet, red bricks like stepping stones were scattered on the ground. This is the "door"?Other than that, I didn't find any other buildings that looked like entrances or coffee shops.

Although hesitant, the rain that kept falling continued to wet my shoulders during this time.Forget it, let's go and have a look!I kept my head very low and walked carefully through the tunnel. What unfolded at the other end of the tunnel was a very strange sight. Behind the row of houses facing the street, a small clearing popped out of nowhere.In terms of a park, the area is a bit small, but in terms of a courtyard, the yard covered with turf is too vast. The red bricks extending from the "gate" are arranged in a gentle curve on the ground, leading to the deepest garden. of buildings.If this is a forest, even if the small wooden bungalow is the witch's home, it is quite credible just looking at the weather-beaten reddish-brown wooden walls and the triangular roof covered with brocade vines.Parallel to the heavy-looking door hung a rectangular bronze metal plate to my right, with the words "Talleyrand's Cafe" engraved on it.

For a moment, I forgot that I was in downtown Kyoto.The coffee shop in another world is far away from daily life, and the tunnel sandwiched between the two houses has the illusion of a "door" connecting the two worlds. Under the guidance of Brick, I opened the doorknob in one breath.After a series of clattering bells, Talleyrand welcomed its first-time visitors. I looked around the store.There are four dark wooden tables, large and small, in the not-so-wide room.In addition to the lamps hanging from the ceiling illuminating the surroundings with hazy light, the outdoor light turned green by the glass comes in from the huge daylight windows facing the courtyard.There is also a counter deep in the store, and the inside should be the conditioning area. "—Oh, welcome." When my eyes happened to fall on the high-end espresso machine, which was somewhat out of place in this coffee shop, a girl poked her head out from the shadow of the coffee machine. Looks like she should be a high school girl!Wearing a white shirt, black trousers, and a dark blue apron over it, she looked almost like a work-student in uniform.The girl walked around one end of the counter and seated me at a table by the window.The lack of other customers in the store made me feel uneasy. "Give me a cup of hot coffee." I ordered a drink as soon as I sat down, and said to myself: I want the most delicious in this store. "Understood." She first smiled, and then glanced at the corner of the store. I've actually noticed someone sitting there.But he kept covering his face with the newspaper that was spread out until he heard the sound of my ordering, and then he slowly closed the newspaper and stood up. Only then did I know that he was an old man.He has a silver-white beard around his nose and mouth, and a moss-green knitted cap on his head.The sharp eyes give people the feeling that they are telling that they have already seen all kinds of life. There should be no correlation between coffee bitterness and brewer depth.I chose to believe in the old man's skills, so I went to the toilet next to the store entrance, trying to dry my wet clothes and hair, and care about my cold stomach complaints. When I returned to my seat, the girl seemed to be ready, and came over with a tray of coffee.I took a sip in anticipation and nervousness, and then——I finally met! At first, I had a hard time reacting to the shock.Immediately afterwards, the touch of being face to face with the ideal and the satisfaction of wish fulfillment slowly penetrated into my body like caffeine.When I looked up in this mood, the saleswoman smiled at me, and I just sat there in a daze.At this point, the cell phone in my pocket rang, and I picked it up absent-mindedly. "Where are you?" Ugh, I have a strange noise in my throat. "I hid from the rain at the coffee shop. But you, where did you go?" "Oh my God, I can't believe it. I turned back to the shop just now because I was worried about you. I didn't expect you to be drinking tea leisurely by yourself. I want to break up with you..." "Okay, okay, I'll go find you right now." "Is there any way for you to get out of there? Your wallet is in my hands." I was so scared that my face turned pale, and I quickly reached for the pocket on my buttocks.Really do not have. "You dropped your wallet at the hamburger shop. It's not okay, you have to watch your wallet carefully." "You caused my wallet to fly out, didn't you?" The girl standing by looked at me in surprise.I want to cry. "If you don't come to me before I count to ten, I don't know what will happen to your wallet. The countdown begins, and ten—" "Wait a minute, I don't have a wallet and can't pay!" "That's your fault! Nine—eight—" "Okay, okay, I'll go, I'll go to the head office!" Just when I was about to rush out of the coffee shop in panic... "Wait, this guest!" Before I was about to step out of the store, the girl stopped me.Although she is right to do so, even if I want to pay, there is no money to settle. So I just turned back at this time.On the short cabinet next to the door is a cash register that beeps when it is opened. Next to the cash register is a stack of business card-sized cards with the address and phone number of the store written on it. . I thought there must be something here, so I looked around and found a ballpoint pen lying in the shadow of the cash register. I quickly picked up the pen and pulled out a card, and quickly wrote down my contact information on the blank space on the back. 090-××××-×××× blue-mountain_truth.nogod31@××××××.ne.jp Even the mailbox is also written, it is the result of my whim.I think it is easier to cover up the abruptness of not writing the name by filling in the blank space. "Sorry, I lost my wallet on the way here." I said to the girl with the card in my hand. "I will definitely come to pay back the money some other day. Here is my contact information." Then without waiting for her answer, I rushed out of the coffee shop and rushed to the burger joint to meet my lover who was waiting for me.At this time, I could no longer hear the voice of the girl calling me, maybe it was covered by the sound of rain! What awaited me afterwards was an unexpected development.When I arrived at the burger joint again, dripping wet, my lover said "I want to break up with you", and as soon as I said "yes", she started asking me.Perhaps the excitement of the encounter with coffee had an effect, and I deliberately didn't explain it to her.Because it was different from the previous development, she flushed with anger, threw the wallet to the owner, said "goodbye" and walked away.After that, I can't contact her anymore, so we should break up!Maybe a little ruthless, but I feel that I have no choice but to accept my fate. "...in other words, you guessed my name from my mailbox address." I said as if I wanted to spit out the bitterness in my mouth. I've always felt bad about not paying for my coffee.I was supposed to pay the money as soon as possible, but I couldn't find time, and because the other party didn't call, I just delayed it for a week.When I finally came to the store with trepidation and trepidation, the girl clerk spoke immediately after taking me to a seat by the window—that is, calling me "Mr. Aoyama". "That's right." She smiled smugly. "When it comes to e-mail, we can deduce it from the clues indicating the name and birthday. Judging from the situation of this mailbox, 'nogod31' refers to Kannazuki, which is October 31st, it should be my birthday! In this case, the first half of the paragraph can also be inferred to be the English translation of some words. When it comes to 'blue-mountain', people like me will of course think of coffee Bean brand, but if translated directly into Japanese, it is 'Aoyama'. This should be the last name. Then connect the first and last name with an underscore, 'truth' stands for 'true' or 'sincere', maybe I should call you makoto That's right, sir." "I guess you should expect me to say you're a very clever lady! But I just find it horrible, really." I answered with the corner of my mouth open.This kind of oppressive feeling of "I already understand your origin" may really prevent guests from eating and drinking for nothing, but it should be meaningless to be angry with the person who came to pay back the money! "I was being rude. Before asking someone else's name, you should have reported your own name first." That's not what I wanted to say, but after she sincerely apologized, she folded her hands on the front of her stomach and smiled respectfully. "I am the barista of this coffee shop, and my name is Miho Kirima."