Chapter 10 first quarter

When Xi Jilai announced the visitor, Mao Qi was in the kitchen. When you think of May, when the wind is fragrant, bonito comes to mind.Shigeshichi held the kitchen knife by himself and prepared to make bonito sashimi. In previous years, the head wife usually bought a quarter of the fish back to make sashimi.But this year someone sent a whole fish. Half a month ago, a bag wholesaler in Aioi Town fell into a trick that targeted merchants as extortion targets. When they were at a loss, Mochi helped them solve it in private.This side has long forgotten about it, but the rescued party was very straightforward, saying that he got fresh bonito, so he sent someone to deliver it.

"Rather than letting me cut the fish lukewarm clumsily, I'd rather cook it for you." There is actually a reason why the head lady would say this, and then leave the matter to Mao Qi.In the past, when Touzi Niang was cutting tuna red body sashimi, Maoqi felt that her movements were too slow, so she half-sneered and half-complained: "That's why people say that women's sashimi is lukewarm and tasteless." At that time, the head's wife was so angry that the head of Mao Qi had to apologize, but it seems that women are not born to forget about the other party's apology.

So the head lady took revenge on the tuna with bonito.To be honest, Moshichi was holding a kitchen knife in one hand and didn't know what to do. When he heard a visitor, he felt that God saved him. "Who is here?" Moshichi asked loudly from the kitchen, and Seiki replied in a leisurely manner: "Mr. Kakujiro, from Miyoshi Town." This is a blessing from God.Kakujiro from Miyoshi Town is a fishmonger. "Let him come up. Let him come straight here." Mao Qi explained to Xi Ji loudly, then turned to the head lady and said: "It's very ignorant to play tricks in front of experts. I'll leave this to Kadojiro."

The head lady squinted at Maoqi: "You are really lucky." As expected of a fishmonger.Kakujiro cut the bonito in front of the Moshichi couple, grilled the fish skin with charcoal fire, then cooled the fish meat with cold water, and finally placed the bright red triangle cut beautifully on the plate, and successfully processed the whole fish one by one. "Every time I make bonito grilled bosho, I use this barbed wire grilled fish." The head girl said this to Kakujiro. "Is this okay? In fact, it should be skewered on bamboo sticks, right?" "Where, you can use this too."

Kakujiro places the wire mesh over the charcoal grill, tilting or turning the fish from time to time to get the skin evenly grilled, he says: "I also use this kind of barbed wire, but I can't use it to bake other things, because it will smell fishy." "Yeah, I wouldn't do that." "That's no problem. The way of eating bonito that is grilled over fire is called 'Chongyu', and it was first eaten among fishermen. At that time, they grilled it with straw." Moshichi, who was listening to the conversation between the two, remembered that Kakujiro once said that before coming to Edo, he barely survived by fishing in Kawasaki.Like most people who live in Edo to earn a living, Kakujiro fled to Edo because he could not make a living in his hometown.

A whole bonito cut into sashimi is very generous.After all the dishes in the cupboard were used up, Moshichi began to worry about whom to transfer to. Moshichi left Seiji to discuss with the first lady, and then invited Kakujiro into the tatami room. "Thank you so much. Thanks for helping me." "That's nothing." Kakujiro saluted and wiped his face with the handkerchief wrapped around his neck. Kakujiro was in his mid-thirties, and from his muscular body and tanned skin, it was not difficult to tell that he had been a fisherman before.Even though his big hands were rough and had protruding joints, Mao Qi was very clear about how dexterous these hands with square nails were in doing things, even if he hadn't seen the scene just now.

"You don't have to be so stiff, just sit as you like." Mao Qi sat cross-legged and spoke first in a relaxed tone. "I'm glad you came here, but it's rare for you. Is there anything difficult?" It has been three years since Moshichi knew Kakujiro, but he has never taken the initiative to find Moshichi, and he will not even come to his house to solicit business.It's not that Kakujiro is lazy, but that he knows that Moshichi has friendship with a fish shop called Yu Yin, so he didn't come because of the other party's face. Kakujiro wiped his forehead with a towel even though he was no longer sweating.

"It's... hard to say, boss." "Really?" Mao Qi smiled slightly. "Do you have a mistress?" "how is this possible." Kakujiro opened his small eyes wide and was busy shaking his hands. "It's not that kind of thing. I just don't know if the boss will believe what I say. It's a very strange thing." Kakujiro's bewildered look doesn't look fake.Mao Qi also knew that he was an honest man, so he stopped making fun of him. "Anyway, tell me first. I probably won't be surprised." Kakujiro held the handkerchief tightly, wrinkled it into a ball, wiped his nose again, and finally raised his head.

His eyes were serious, but the corners of his mouth seemed relaxed for some reason, as if he was about to laugh. "Boss, it's the season after all, so I'm also going to buy bonito to sell." "Well, it should." "However, most of the customers who buy fish from fishmongers like me are poor like me. They can't afford a whole or half a bonito." "My family too. That carp was given by someone else." "Really? It doesn't matter anyway... this..." "You said you also sell bonito, and your customers are simple people."

"Yep." Kakujiro started sweating again, but giggled silly. "I'm sorry. I'm an idiot. The caretaker of the courtyard keeps saying, Kakujiro, you—" Mao Qi interrupted him. "If you talk about anything else, you won't be able to figure it out. What's next? What happened to the bonito?" "Yes, yes, it's bonito, it's bonito." Looking at the sweat beads on Kakujiro's rough face, and the rolling eyeballs, even Moshichi felt that he could hardly sit still. what is the problem?Since he came here specially, he must have encountered difficulties, but he looked like he was rejoicing at some good news.Making fun of him "does he have a mistress" is also because he really doesn't look like there is any big problem.

"When I sell fish, I always cut the bonito into sashimi first." Finally getting back to the point—although it's not clear whether it's the point—Kakujiro continued to explain. "I don't sell the whole piece, but cut it into sashimi. I sell it as the customer buys it, and sometimes I only sell two or three pieces." As the saying goes, even a pawned daughter-in-law should eat fresh bonito.Carrying fishmongers like Kakujiro can also add fun to the poor. "I think it's very good." Kakujiro saluted and said "thank you". "So every morning when bonito is in peak season, I go to the fish market to pick up smaller bonito, and when I get home, I make sashimi as I did just now, and then go out and sell it." "Isn't this a decent business?" Kakujiro nodded, "Yes." "It turned out to be what happened this morning." For some reason, Kakujiro gulped a mouthful of saliva. "Boss, what happened this morning." "Listen, what happened this morning?" Kakujiro's thick shoulders trembled slightly, Moshichi straightened his waist and leaned out towards him. "What happened?" "This morning, when I was about to cut the bonito into sashimi as usual, someone came to me. He said that he was the shopkeeper of a kimono shop called Iseya in Nihonbashi-tsu-cho." "What happened to the shopkeeper?" "He wanted to buy my bonito, saying he wanted to take it back to the shop, and told me to cut it into sashimi." "Is this the weird thing you said?" Kakujiro secretly looked at Moshichi. "Isn't it strange?" "He probably passed by and just saw your bonito fish, and bought it from you because he thought it was very fresh. It should be like this? Since it is a kimono shop in Nihombashi, he must be a rich man. However, it is true that the shopkeeper is so self-assessed. It's a bit overstepping...you also care about this, right?" Kadojiro shook his head: "No. The shopkeeper made it very clear that he was sent by the boss. He said, our boss will buy your bonito no matter what, please sell it to me." "Isn't that great? Just sell it to him. Kakujiro, anyway, it's a rich man's whim, so try to sell it as expensive as possible. If you want to do business yourself, can you buy it again?" Hearing what Moshichi said, Kakujiro fell silent.Although his lips are tightly closed, the corners of his eyes seem to be smiling, and his expression is very strange. This is really weird.Moshichi finally started to feel worried. "Do you want it? Kakujiro." "I don't know." Kakujiro answered honestly. "This is also the first time I have encountered such a thing." "Sell a whole bonito?" "No. It's happened to me before, though I'm a poor fishmonger with a load." "So, what is it? What are you worried about?" Moshichi raised his voice impatiently, and Kakujiro whispered almost overwhelmed by the ending: "...One thousand taels." "what?" "He said he would pay one thousand taels." Moshichi stared at Kakujiro intently.Beads of sweat were dripping from his nose, and he also stared at Maoqi intently. "Yes. He wants to buy my bonito, but at a price of one thousand taels. He insists on buying it for one thousand taels no matter what. If it is less than one thousand taels, he will not buy it. He says he will accept it no matter what. One thousand taels."