Chapter 20 second quarter

At noon the day before yesterday, someone sent a salted salmon to Hanoi House, but it was stolen in the kitchen—this was the day before yesterday, and it was also the beginning of the incident. Matsutaro came to ask Moshichi to find the stolen salted salmon and the thief for him.Maoqi suppressed a smile and told Matsutaro that the thief might be a cat, even if it was stolen by someone, this kind of theft could happen in any business, as long as all the helpers are called in to reprimand them severely, and then tell everyone Don't pursue it once, just ask the thief to confess honestly. Upon hearing this, Matsutaro asked Moshichi to teach the helpers a lesson. He said:

"If I teach you a lesson, the helper won't pay attention." "why?" "Because I climbed up from a servant, I have no prestige, and I am still young..." As Matsutaro said, he was originally a small apprentice of Kawachiya, not from Edo, and his parents were farmers in the countryside of Kamiso.He really came to Edo with bare hands. After a lot of hard work and continuous hard work, he became the chief clerk in the tenth year. After that, he worked hard for several years. Spring recruited him to become the husband-in-law of Hanoi House's only daughter.In the early autumn of this year, the owner of Kawachiya and his wife retired, leaving their daughter and son-in-law to inherit the family business, so Matsutaro happily became the owner of Kawachiya.Matsutaro came to the fore at the age of twenty-eight.

Maoqi already knew these inside stories when he changed the management of Hanoi House.Since being a catcher is not a dignified job ①A catcher is a privately hired helper of an official catcher who is a samurai, usually from a commoner background, and there are many people who pretend to be powerful, so there is such a saying. When Matsutaro became the owner of Kawachiya, Kawachiya also sent someone to say hello.Examples of this kind of son-in-law who was born as a helper are very common.In fact, the previous owner of the Hanoi house was also the son-in-law.Maoqi and Touziniang were still chatting at the time. Although being a son-in-law is hard work, it is a happy event after all. However, the two generations of Hanoiwu have no boys who inherit the family business. I wonder if they are the kind of family that can only give birth to girls.

It was Matsutaro of this Kawachiya who suddenly came to Moshichi in person.Moshichi also took it seriously at first.Since the replacement, I have heard that Matsutaro is an honest and almost "stupid" boss, so Moqi thinks that he cannot be treated slowly, so he treats him seriously. Unexpectedly, when the answer to the mystery was revealed, it was just a salted salmon, which caused Moshichi to feel very frustrated and a little unhappy—besides, the day before yesterday was when Moshichi was exhausted from work—and even severely reprimanded Matsutaro and even taught the helpers a lesson. If you don't know how, you can't be called the master.

As a result, Matsutaro said with red eyes, choked up, yes, I was not the kind of material that was good enough to be the boss of Hanoi House.Probably some dispute happened in the shop, it seems that the boss's seat is not easy to sit in.But his crying like this is even more difficult to deal with.Mao Qi had no choice but to comfort him. It was not half a year since the succession, and this kind of thing happened frequently. He also said that if he was not sure about the discipline and helpers, he could discuss it with the previous boss and let him teach from the basics. This is the best way. It's more effective than asking an outsider like me to intervene, etc., to provide specific advice.

But Matsutaro couldn't listen to it at all. He said that the previous generation of bosses—Matsutaro always called his father-in-law "boss"—had entrusted him with all the business of the shop. Since the previous generation of bosses moved into the Negishi Villa Since I settled down, I can no longer rely on him in business.He also said that the proprietress of the previous generation has passed away, so the previous generation of bosses has nothing to worry about. For the previous generation of bosses who have been living a rigid life as a son-in-law, it is hard to live a free life as they like, and they probably don’t want to let the shop It's a disappointment.

In this way, Moqi couldn't refuse, and finally agreed to teach the helpers of Kawachiya for Matsutaro-this was the day before yesterday.Although it is troublesome, Maoqi thinks that some helper stole it on impulse, and the person who stole the salmon is probably also restless, so don't rush to deal with it, and don't take this matter to heart, so it will be easy. for two days.... Ali, the missing helper, was the daughter-in-law in charge of the kitchen work of Hanoi House, so Mochi had already heard her name when he heard that the salted salmon had disappeared.The salted salmon had been sitting on the kitchen cabinet, and Ali and Aggie, the other kitchen girl, were the last to see the salted salmon.

"I don't suspect the kitchen girl." Matsutaro said dejectedly.He didn't put his hands on the brazier to keep warm, but just sat on his knees in a proper manner. "Ali and Aggie should be very aware that if something is dropped in the kitchen, they must be the first to be suspected. So I don't think any of them stole the salmon at all." Mao Qi thought about it.He can understand Matsutaro's mood and what he said, but things should not be as tortuous as he said. "But Ali said she stole it, and then disappeared, right? Isn't that different from what you said?"

Matsutaro raised his head immediately. "Ali is not the type to steal, she's saying that in favor of someone." The look in Matsutaro's eyes made Moshichi flash a thought, but he didn't say it out, instead he said: "Well, so to speak, it's not certain whether Ali stole it. However, it's best not to make a fuss about this kind of thing now. Ali disappeared in the shop, and it's only been half a day? After a while, maybe it will be came back." "Then, what does the boss mean by letting it go?" Mao Qi shook her hand and said: "I don't mean to let it go. I'll visit the shop later, and if necessary, I'll ask the helpers. But, what I mean is that fussing over a molehill is not good for the matter. This matter The matter was originally caused by a salted salmon, and, for such a trivial matter, the owner of the dignified Hanoi house came to me in person, which is not very good to be honest. busy."

"I don't have that kind of weight..." "Even if you don't have it, you have to pretend it. After a long time, even if you don't want to, it will naturally become important. Everything is to see the surface first." Moshichi encouraged Matsutaro in this way, and then urged him to go back to Imagawa Town, and then added charcoal and fire to the brazier, and then took out the pipe.While exhaling the first puff of smoke, Moshichi also sighed. (It turned out to be Ali.) The last time Matsutaro came, Moshichi thought he was just a young master who was new to the boss and lacked self-confidence, and it seemed that there was more to it than that.Judging from his tone of voice when he mentioned Ali today, the problem is not the salted salmon, nor is it the state of mind that does not know how to treat the servants who have transformed from a servant into a boss. The problem seems to be the maid named Ali.

Perhaps the reason why Matsutaro was so troubled by such a small thing as a lost salt salmon was not that someone stole the salmon from the kitchen, but that Ali was working in the kitchen.It's not the salty salmon that worries him, it's Ali...   Thinking about it carefully, the relationship between Matsutaro and Ali in the past, even though there was a difference between the clerk and the kitchen girl, they were both servants. It is not surprising that they had emotional exchanges with each other. Perhaps this is the reason why Ali disappeared from Hanoi House without a trace. However, even asking the cautious and honest Matsutaro directly is useless.In fact, this matter cannot be handled at all.The escape of the helper is not only a loss for the shop, but also enough to constitute a crime; if Ali had absconded with a thousand taels, it would be justified, but what was lost was only a salted salmon—besides, it doesn’t matter if she stole it or not. Sure——for things like these, Mao Qi really doesn't need to rush around looking for Ali. Having said that, Maoqi went out to the house in Hanoi after the first lady came back.Although the scarf was tightly wrapped around his neck, he was still frozen when he arrived in Imagawa. In order not to embarrass Matsutaro, Moshichi didn't say that she learned about it from Matsutaro, but said that she heard that there was a maid who hadn't come back after she went out, and everyone was looking for her news, so I stopped by to check-in the end, Aji, another kitchen girl of Hanoi House, spoke honestly and eloquently.She seems a little angry, why?Because Ali left without authorization, her work increased. "Why did the girl Ali leave the shop?" Maoqi asked pretending not to know. "Do you know why?" "I don't know. Everyone said it might be for the salted salmon...I heard that she told the boss before she left." Aji said immediately.Next, let’s talk about the salted salmon. "It's just salt salmon, I don't think there's any need to make such a fuss at all." Aggie said with a smile. "Who do you think stole it?" "It's a cat. Don't you think so too, sir?" "Then, you didn't suspect that Ali stole it?" Aggie seemed taken aback. "It's not just me. No one in the shop suspects that she stole it. Besides, the kitchen window is always open. Everyone says it might have been eaten by a cat." "Where are the boss and the boss's wife?" "The proprietress doesn't like to eat salted salmon, and she doesn't care if it drops." Aji said straightforwardly. "The boss said seriously that it's not good to drop things at home, and he was the only one frowning nervously. However, we didn't care about that matter. Think about it, who would steal salted salmon? If it’s something like bean paste buns, maybe some people would want to steal it, but who would steal a whole salted salmon?” What Aji said was exactly what Maoqi said to Matsutaro when he came to Moqi the day before yesterday. Who would be okay with stealing salted salmon?Most of them were stolen by cats, and there is no need to pursue it-this is a normal reaction.However, Matsutaro didn't think so. He thought someone stole it, so Ali said "I stole it"-that's probably how it happened.In order to obey his wishes...it doesn't matter whether it is the case or not. "I heard that the salted salmon was a gift from someone?" "Yeah. There's always a lot of giveaways around this time of year. We give away too, and we end up getting about as many as we give away." "Do you know who sent that salt salmon that was lost?" "I think it's from Tatsumiya. Right in front of here..." "Also a wine wholesaler?" "Yes. Because it was only delivered by their family the day before yesterday, so I found out that it was missing immediately." "Is that true? Was it only the salt salmon that day?" "It can't be wrong. I'm in charge of the kitchen." Aggie added that after the salt-salmon incident, Ali looked listless. "However, she was not a very spiritual person." "Your name is Aggie? How many years have you been here?" "More than two years." "Then, how much do you know about the previous generation of bosses and the current boss when he was a servant?" "I know." Aji nodded and pouted slightly. "However, the current boss, since he became the chief clerk, has been treated completely differently from us. Anyway, I am only a maid, and I can only accept my fate, but among the same clerks and shopkeepers, some people seem to be aggrieved. But It's also very common, boss." "So that's how it is...By the way, is the boss really that crazy about the salted salmon incident this time?" Aggie laughed again. "Of course it's true. He's the only one who is nervous, and he can't explain what he said. The shopkeeper said that the man has a small mind." Maoqi scratched his head and walked outside.Although the girl Aji is not very smart, she does not lack the common sense and common sense of ordinary people.Everything she said made sense. Even though Matsutaro is a little bit awkward after becoming a former servant partner and superior to the senior, and because of this, he lacks the authority of the master to some extent, this does not seem to have anything to do with the salted salmon incident.He was just digging into a dead end, Mao Qi always felt that it shouldn't matter. After all, the crux is Matsutaro's own feelings. Therefore, for a period of time afterwards, Maoqi just observed the movement of Hanoi House from a distance, and did not intervene deliberately.And he just told Matsutaro that if Ali came back, or knew where she was, he must inform him, and he would not ask about anything else.Afterwards, Matsutaro came to look for Shigeru once. With a sad face on his face, he said hesitantly, could it really be possible not to look for Ali?Mao Qi stared at him and said, if you don't look for her, you won't be punished. Is there any reason why Hanoiwu must find her?Matsutaro had no choice but to go back dejectedly. Moreover, after the end of the year and the middle of the year, Maoqi suddenly became busy with official duties, and the affairs of Hanoi House were often left behind, and in the end he stopped paying attention to Hanoi House's movements.Therefore, it was only five days before New Year's Eve, when the New Year's Eve was approaching, that I learned that the psychic boy Ridao went in and out of the Hanoi House every day to practice the practice of joining hands.