Chapter 5 Section five

Moshichi came nearby, and sure enough, he saw a light in the dark Tomioka Bridge area, which was light red.Is that color used to set off the bean curd sushi? In fact, the stall is not located by the Fugang Bridge, but at the right turn alley slightly north of the bridge head.Seeing that stall, Mao Qi remembered one thing. Half a year ago, there used to be an Erba soba noodle stall run by an old man here.This noodle stall also sells late and is always the last to close.There was a lamp burning in the darkness, and the smell of soba noodles wafted out.Mao Qi had seen it a few times, but it disappeared recently. I thought it was a different location...

(So, the owner of the bean curd sushi is a relative of the old man?) Stalls selling bean curd sushi usually have no roof, and they start their business on a simple table with an umbrella on top of it. The sushi is not freshly made, but is prepared in advance. However, this stall is different, not only has a wooden roof, but also has two benches side by side.I don't know if it is possible to cook under the table, but when Mao Qi approached, she saw snow-white steam coming out of it. No other guests.Sure enough, in front of the stall was a boss who was slightly younger than Maoqi, with tightly closed lips. Maoqi said:

"good evening." The boss raised his eyes slightly to look at Maoqi, and poked the pot with the long chopsticks in his right hand.A hot miso smell wafted from the pot. "Give me three or four bean curd sushi, and... what is that? Soup is also sold here?" The boss's response was louder than Mao Qi had imagined, and his voice sounded calm. "Although there is no wine, there are turnip soup and dough soup in this cold night." The noodle soup is made by kneading flour into dumplings and eaten with toriyū noodle soup, and the turnip soup is miso soup with fresh turnips.Moshichi's wife adds dice-sized tofu to the turnip soup.

"I love turnip soup the most, give me a bowl." The boss replied with a deep "yes", picked up the big bowl from the side, and opened the lid again.Mao Qi watched the movement of his hands for a while, and said slowly: "Boss, I haven't seen you in this area before." "The stall has just opened." "It's not long since it opened, but it's sold so late." The boss raised his head, said with a smile through the heat, "I live nearby, anyway, I go home by myself, I have nothing to do, so I might as well sell it later." "In such a cold day, besides, is there any business? Isn't there no customers?"

"Yes. Aren't you here tonight?" "There are only one or two guests, so you can't go on?" "So it's also sold during the day." The boss said "I've been waiting for a long time" and brought out a large bowl and plate with chopsticks on it. The plate contained small but shiny bean curd sushi. Mao Qi took a sip of the turnip soup first, and couldn't help saying "Oh", "This is delicious." This turnip soup is different from what Moshichi is used to. It uses whole small turnips and only sprinkles some turnip leaves on top. Apart from that, there are no other ingredients, and the miso is very strong in taste and color. Red miso, though charred, goes well with light turnips.

"This is different from what my wife does. Is it the way of your hometown?" The boss smiled. "I learned from others." "Really? Even the taverns in Hamamachi can't eat such high-quality goods." The bean curd sushi here is not just cold rice stuffed into fried tofu marinated in soy sauce by a rough-handed vendor.The boss's bean curd has a slightly sweet taste, and the hard-boiled white rice smells like vinegar.Mao Qi quickly finished four and ordered another plate. "There used to be an Erba soba noodle stall sold by the old man. Do you know him?"

"I know." The boss replied while picking up a few charcoal fires from the charcoal stove under the table and moving them to other braziers. "It was the soba noodle stand that gave me the place." "Really?" Mao Qi thought, so that's the case. "Then, what about the old man?" "He said that his body has gradually lost control, and he seems to be living in the area of ​​Zaimu Town." "You can live that leisurely life because you paid a high price for this place?" Although the boss smiled flatteringly, he didn't say anything.

"Then how did you negotiate with those people in Kajiya?" The boss said without changing his face, "It's the same as everyone." "Did they charge you a lot of money?" "That's not the case." The boss's calm movements and speaking attitude, it seems that he is not born with the kind of background that is destined to make a living by setting up a stall, and has to be a stall for a lifetime.Moshichi threw another bean curd sushi into his mouth, thinking about it. In this boss pose, the right shoulder is a bit high. (this is……) Mao Qi looked up and found that the shaved part of the boss's head was rough under the bright light.

"Boss, you used to be from the Wu family, right?" After Mao Qi finished speaking, the boss suddenly stopped his hands that had been looking for something to do. "No, forget it, I didn't want to inquire." Mao Qi said with a smile. "How did you get it?" The boss asked calmly. "Warriors who wear long swords and short blades on their waists always have a higher right shoulder. Also, your head, the shaved part, can see pores. If you are an ordinary businessman, unless you are bedridden for a long time, otherwise No. Because they often shave their hair. But your head seems to have not been shaved for a long time, and it was only two months at most. Katana swords become merchants, don't they?"

The boss stroked the top of his head with his hand, and said with admiration, "You are right, sir." "If you want to restore the smooth top of your head as soon as possible, it is best to wipe it with a rice bran bag." "let me try." He is an extremely honest and well-behaved boss, Mao Qi decided not to ask any more questions tonight. Anyway, he should be able to learn about the boss slowly in the future.This man was originally a samurai, and Kajiya Katsuzo was so scared that he almost peed his pants. Why did such a man come to set up a beancurd sushi stall?

(Seems warranted to investigate.) It was worth the cold wind, and the sushi and turnip soup were delicious. "I want another bowl of soup," Maoqi said with a smile. "The dough soup over there seems to be delicious, but the miso in the turnip soup has a unique flavor. I don't know which one is better." "If you like this miso, how about using dough balls instead of turnips in the soup?" "Can you? Great." The boss scooped turnip miso soup into a large bowl, then scooped a few soft dough balls into the soup, and picked turnip leaves from the turnip soup to decorate on top. Mao Qi was holding the bowl, looking very happy. "This is delicious. I like dough, sometimes even better than rice." Mao Qi drank the hot soup, and while blowing air, put the dough into his mouth, he said: "That being said, it's also interesting to eat this way. It's not udon noodle soup, but miso noodle soup, but it looks like turnip soup at first glance." "Because they are all floating white things." The boss said so. "If you don't actually eat it, you may think it is turnip soup. After all, most people think that dough should be in udon noodle soup." "It makes sense. Just look at it on the surface and think so." As soon as Mao Qi said this, a thought flashed through his mind. Just look at the surface will think so.Dough sub is in udon noodle soup, if it were in miso soup it would be recognized as turnip. Maoqi couldn't help opening her mouth wide. Early in the morning, Mao Qi took Quan San and Xie Ji straight to Nozaki House. "Listen well, if Otojiro resists, even if you hold him down, you have to take it off and have a look." "understood." Even the soy sauce wholesalers who got up early seemed to be taken aback by the fact that they came to visit just after waking up.The boss came out to say hello with his eyes wide open. "What happened? Boss." "You let us meet Otonojiro." Even Otojiro, who had just washed his face, frowned in confusion and walked over impatiently. "There's no need to go inside, just here." Moshichi waved to Otonjiro from the edge of the kitchen floor. "After this is done, I won't bother you in the future. It's just a little thing." "What's up?" "You lifted the collar and let me see my right shoulder. When you were here yesterday to see me off, you looked like something was hurting. I didn't care then, but I started to notice it last night when I was eating bean curd sushi. " The boss blinked his eyes at this strange request, and Otojiro's face was obviously pale.Lian Lianji said afterward: "It seems that the sound of blood receding from his face can be heard." Otojiro hesitated, probably looking for some excuse.However, Seiki beat him one step, said "Sorry", and at the same time went around behind Otonjiro and grabbed his collar. Otojiro panicked and tried to escape in a panic.Now it's Niu Quansan's turn to play. This man is not called a bull because of his clumsiness. When arresting criminals, he has enough weight to crush the murderer and make him inescapable. Moshichi peeled off Otonjiro's fashionable striped shirt, leaving a slender bruise that looked like worn out skin on the fair skin on his right shoulder. "Look at this, Boss Nozakiya," Moshichi said. "Otojiro, it's really hard work for you, isn't it because you're carrying a pole? If you're used to working, you won't be like this when something big happens." The answer Mao Qi thought of was actually very simple. "That evening, probably earlier than six o'clock, Otojiro asked Ashi to go to a boat chartering tavern, where he killed Ashi. The tavern should be next to the river that can connect to the Okawa, not very conspicuous, and it is the kind that only With some money, even if the guests are a bit suspicious, the chartered boat tavern will turn a blind eye. Even if Otojiro refuses to confess, we just need to search around, and we should be able to find out quickly." There, Otojiro strangled Ashi with his wrist from behind, a method that would leave no strangulation marks. Afterwards, Otojiro stripped off Aso's clothes, threw Aso's body into the river near the charter tavern, put on Aso's clothes himself, and took Aso's businessmen to Yuanbei Daizain... "Otojiro pretending to be Ashi?" "Yes. That's why she's stripped naked." "Then, what the opposite master saw at the sixth moment was not Ah Shi..." "It's Otojiro. Ashi is a tall woman. Otojiro pretends to be her, and it's hard to tell from a distance. Moreover, the soy sauce vendor wears a very special dress. He has to cover his head with a turban, so he doesn't know the turban The bun is male or female. People who see this outfit will think "ah, it's a soy sauce seller", and when they see this person who is dressed as a soy sauce seller enter Ashi's room, they will also think "ah, It's Ashi who's back'." Just looking at the dough floating in the miso soup, people who haven't actually eaten it will be convinced, "Ah, it's turnip soup."That's the reason. "Although it's risky, it's worth the effort. Besides, if you want to take away the little savings that Ashi has saved, you have to rummage in Ashi's house. The most important thing is that as long as things go well, Otojiro can deny it to the end , because unless he grows wings, he can't rush back to Nozakiya within a quarter of an hour after killing Aso. As long as he wears Aso's business clothes, he doesn't meet the people of Yuanbingwei Zain That's it. It's not difficult. It's so cold now that no one will open the doors and windows, and the women can't chat by the well for too long because of the cold." Next, just let the teacher who usually returns to Genbingwei Dazain at about the same time as Aso see Aso's attire when the clock strikes six quarters. "The most important thing for Otojiro was for the chef to see him dressed as a soy sauce vendor, and that worked." The next step is to quickly change clothes, rummage through Ashi's savings in the house, and then run back to Nozakiya.The clothes he changed into should have been hidden in the soy sauce bucket before. "Huh? In that case, wouldn't the clothes get wet with soy sauce?" Saiji said in surprise.Moshichi smiled and said: "That guy, how could he carry a bucket full of soy sauce from the boat rental tavern where Ase was killed to the Genbei Courtyard. When he discarded Aso's body, he also poured soy sauce into it. In the river." Quan San said in surprise: "So, that guy's shoulders were bruised just by carrying two empty wooden barrels?" "This means that there are also such people among the helpers in the shop, but they are not suitable for rough work!" It is said that when Otonjiro was interrogated, he confessed in tears and begged his mother who lives in Kawasaki not to know. "My mother has only one wish, and that is that I can become a businessman in the future." When Otojiro stole Aso's savings, he also took away the new dress she ordered.It is said that when he returned to Kawasaki, he gave the new dress to a childhood sweetheart girl who also returned home on the servant's rest day. He said it didn't take much brains to come up with the idea.Even if Otojiro didn't care about him, Aso liked to talk about his own trivial life, so he knew about Shinuchishishi before, and he also knew about Aso's work and rest time. "However, if Ashi didn't say that he would go to see my mother with me on the day of the helper's rest day, and meet my mother as a daughter-in-law, I would not do such a thing. I would rather die than let Ashi I went to see my mother. How could I let that woman be my daughter-in-law, it would make my mother's dream shattered." After hearing what Otonjiro said, Moshichi suddenly remembered an ancient haiku. ——The helper had to tell his mother some unspeakable things on his day off. After Ashi's murder case was solved, Mao Qi took his wife to the stall again.Although I came earlier than last time, unexpectedly the two long benches were full of people, and Moshichi and his wife could only stand and eat sushi with bean curd and turnip soup.The boss said that during the peak turnip season, turnip soup will always be sold, which is really interesting. Another interesting thing is to explore the real identity of this boss. Well, take your time.Mao Qi drank the turnip soup: she thought so.