Chapter 2 enchanted tongue

enchanted tongue ——Naoko Anfang Here, there is a lonely boy. He was wearing fat and big white clothes and a white hat, and he was sitting blankly in front of the counter in the store. His name is Yangji. Just a week ago, he became the owner of this restaurant.It was due to an unintended, unexpected misfortune— Yes, Yangji's father passed away a week ago.What the father has should be bequeathed to the son, and the western restaurant on the corner has become Yangji's. But sadly, none of his father's craft was left to him. The omelets he made were like crushed slippers. His steaks are like old rags.

As for the curry rice he made, it was only spicy but had no flavor at all. He didn't know what taste was. In short, he is young, not to mention he is very lazy. No matter which western restaurant there is, there is a secret about the taste, but Yangji finally failed to know the secret of the taste of this restaurant, so he bid farewell to his father. So, Yokichi now, wearing the white hat and white clothes his father used, is thinking about what to do in the future. The kitchen clock struck twelve in the middle of the night. Alone in the dark night... But Yoji didn't cry.In the past week, he deeply knew that crying was useless.

Many cooks and servants quit their jobs one after another, and they did not forget to collect their final wages, and left the following words of parting: "Just sell this store, because it's too much for you." The glass door creaked and trembled in the wind.Beyond the window, there was the faint sound of dead leaves dancing on the walkway. "Ah, it's over!" Yangji let out a heavy sigh. At this time, suddenly there was such a voice from behind: "Why are you downcast?" Yangji was taken aback. "who is it?" He turned his head tremblingly, only to see a little man standing there with a funny expression on his face.

The villain's white hat and white clothes are also the chef's dress. "Where are you from?" Yangji kept looking at the villain. "Me, from the basement." The little man said loudly and happily, and pointed to the stairs leading to the underground in the corner of the kitchen. "Oh--" Yangji opened his mouth wide and nodded.When he was a child, he seemed to have heard his father say that the basement of his home lived with strange villains... So, he said first: "Ah, really? So you're going to move to another basement, too?" The villain jumped onto the chair next to Yangji and shouted:

"It makes no sense!" Those small eyes looked very faithful and serious. "Forgetting the kindness of the deceased master, it is really unreasonable to move away." "Grace?" "That's right, I have guarded the basement for thirty years, and the prize I received is excellent food." Yangji nodded "hmm".The basement of this western restaurant is a warehouse for food materials. Along with potatoes and onions, there was a good deal of my father's pickles, smoked products, sauces, jams and wine. Especially the taste of the sauce and jam is special.

This western restaurant is thoughtful even for such a seat, and has been well received by customers.Moreover, the taste of this store is secret, and my father said it like a joke: "There is a villain in the family." Ah, this is the villain of that taste. Yangji stared at the villain with wide eyes.After a while, I felt a little cheerful. If there are villains, maybe they will do something in the future. "Here, can you help me?" Yangji asked. "Yeah, yeah, of course I can help you." After the little man nodded his head a few times, he suddenly said in a stern voice:

"However, you can't be lazy!" Yangji thumped in his heart, thinking: This guy, you know everything at such a young age.So, bowing his head, he stammered and muttered: "Because, because, I don't have as beautiful handicraft as my father." "Drink! You say it's a craft?" "Yes, it's the skill of cooking. I'm afraid it's something you're born with, and I can't do it no matter how hard I practice." The villain turned away contemptuously. Then he spoke slowly, as if exhorting: "How about it, buddy? It's not the craft that matters, it's the tongue. A chef can succeed with a tongue."

"Tongue?" "Yes. Take a bite of another's dish and you'll know right away what's in it. With such an excellent tongue, that's enough." "..." "The tongue of the deceased master was excellent. You are his son, and you must have a good tongue. Well, let me see." The villain jumped onto the table next to him and looked into Yangji's mouth.There was no way, Yangji stuck out his tongue.The villain spent a long time watching Yangji's tongue.His face looked very dark. "Hmmm - a different kind of bad tongue at this time."

The little man muttered.Yangji was sad. "Then... let's sell this shop..." The villain shook his head violently: "No, you can't do that. It's a pity that the smell of this store has disappeared." Then, the villain thought for a while, then suddenly raised his face, and said decisively: "Here, brother, if you will obey my rules. I will put a spell on your tongue." "Oh--" Yangji nearly slipped out of his chair. "Can something like that be done?" "Well. Xerox's magic, your tongue will become the best. Even better than the tongue of the dead master."

"Hmph." Yangji's eyes gradually brightened. "Then, please do it!" he cried. "So, will you obey my rules?" The villain asked. "What is the rule?" "From now on, you will try your best to learn the taste of your father." "That's so easy!" Yangji replied. The villain nodded and took out a leaf from his pocket.It is round and small, much like the young leaves of a rose. "Hey, close your eyes and open your mouth." Yangji opened his mouth apprehensively.Tongue trembling a little. "Nothing, nothing to be afraid of."

As he spoke, the villain gently placed the leaf on Yangji's tongue. For a moment, Yangji felt cool, as if ice had been put on it... The little man murmured an incantation with unknown meaning. After a while, the leaf on Yangji's tongue disappeared completely when the villain's voice was abruptly interrupted. "Okay, it's done!" The little man jumped down from the table, then led Yangji to the cooking room, and said sharply: "Hey, open the pot over there and have a look." On the pot table, there is a dirty pot with curry rice from a week ago. "This is the last curry rice cooked by the master. You can try it by licking it." Yangji opened the lid of the pot and lightly licked the dried curry rice sticking to the bottom of the pot. "..." Yangji rolled his eyes. "how?" The villain asked with a smile.Yangji only replied: “Amazing taste!” In fact, Yang Ji felt that only now did he really understand the taste of his father's curry rice.Then, he correctly stated the ingredients in the curry rice: "Ginger, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, and..." "Not bad at all!" The little man did a somersault. "Hey, hurry up and give it a try." Yangji nodded and hurriedly set to work. The western restaurant in the middle of the night is full of the smell of curry rice.The song hummed by the villain and the sound of the utensils rang out lively. The finished curry rice, the villain tasted it seriously, then nodded, and said in a teacher-like tone: "Okay. In this way, you are sure to be able to do everything well. Then, you have a good rest tonight, and come to the basement tomorrow. There is still a lot of food made by your father. The master's taste is difficult to learn. Your With an excellent tongue, there may be things that are not easy to understand. Anyway, you have to study hard and become an excellent owner of this shop." Yangji nodded.He wanted to work hard. "I must come tomorrow!" The villain gave a warning and quietly walked back to the basement. the next day.It was almost noon when Yangji woke up from his long sleep. The sun is still shining today. "Oh, what a morning," muttered Yanji. On such a day, he really wanted to sit on the grass in the park and play the guitar all day. But while rinsing his mouth in the morning, he remembered the villain's promise. "The basement? Hmph." On such a bright day, I would not want to go down to the musty basement.Because it is always dark and chilly there. "You can't go to such a place in broad daylight." Then, slowly, he thought this way: (First of all, breakfast. Today, let’s go to another western restaurant to eat delicious food. Because this week, I haven’t eaten anything decent.) He fiddled with his trouser pockets, and there were about five hundred-yen coins. "Okay, since we're going, let's go to a high-end western restaurant." Yoongi even puts on his tie with arrogance and gets his hair smeared with oil.In this way, he jumped out of the shop. After walking on the street for a while, there is a stone staircase leading to the underground passage.Going down from here is the subway station and the dazzling underground shopping mall.With the wind blowing up, there was a sound of "buzzing" from the subway.Yangji ran down the stone steps and kept walking in the underground passage. Next to the fruit shop and tea shop, there is a Daxi restaurant. "It's here, it's here." Yokichi walked into the store in three steps at a time.Yangji had been here with his father a long time ago. "Our house is top-notch, and this place is also top-notch, but this store still has a unique taste." Father used to say such a thing. Sitting at the white table with the napkin spread on his lap, Yangji's mood calmed down a bit. However, that was only before he tasted the food served.Yanji nodded deeply as he put a spoonful of the sticky corn soup on his tongue. "Well, I got it!" His voice resounded through the store.The servant looked this way in surprise.But Yangji had gotten carried away. (Know Luo, know Luo, all know Luo!) He drank the soup in one gulp and called out the western restaurant. (I know Luo, the taste of this soup!) Indeed, the villain's magic had worked.It is simply very effective. After running back to his shop, Yangji began to make the ground soup he had just had. Use exactly the same amount of ingredients to make exactly the same taste.It's amazing. "Ah, even I can do it." At this time, Yangji forgot about the little man and about the basement just like yesterday's dream. A chef can succeed with one tongue, and the villain's words are true. Yangji used his magic tongue to steal flavors from other western restaurants one after another. For this reason, he would go to any town that took six hours to and from, no matter the hotel on the 30th floor above the ground.Yangjin's excellent tongue can taste no matter how rare spices, how little hidden flavors. Yangji makes amazing recipes in his shop, then hires servants, waitresses and accountants. Yangji's western restaurant is booming. In this way, in the blink of an eye, ten years have passed. **** Yangji has become an adult and an outstanding owner of a first-class western restaurant. According to public opinion, there is no better western restaurant than this one. Of course it is! I thought he got all the best flavors from other restaurants. Now, Yangji can no longer remember the "father's smell" sleeping quietly in the basement. For ten years, he himself had not been in the basement once. one night. In Yangji's store, a poor-looking man with a black coat collar turned up came and ate a plate of sandwich bread.When the customer asked for the money back, he said something like this: "Talk to your master. Although the food here is delicious, my shop is even better than here." "Oh?" The accountant blinked.The man finally recovered the money, put on a deep hat, and disappeared into the dark street. "Owner……" The accountant, Runway Kitchen, tells Yang-ji about this. "Hey, is there a better store?" Yangji stopped working. About three days later, the customer came again.Still wearing a black coat and black hat, eating a plate of sandwich bread, when he returned, he said the same thing: "Talk to your master. Although the food here is delicious, my shop is even better than here." Yangji heard these words clearly behind him.Yangji put on his overcoat and hat himself, and got ready to go out. Pushing open the glass door, the customer in a black coat walked out.Behind that, there is another Yangji in black following. "Kah, kah, kah..." On the boulevard without pedestrians, there was the sound of men's shoes. (Which store is it?) The man walks down the stone stairs. (Oh, we have to take the subway.) However, the customer did not take any car and hurried into the underground shopping mall. Underground shopping mall - Yanji has loved this place since he was a child.Here, no matter what the goods are, they look brilliant.Everything looks like a high-end product, very novel. Even today, the underground streets are lined with beautifully decorated shops. Snacks, fruits, suits, umbrellas, clocks, shoes, hats, and ice cream shops.It stands to reason that this should be the end of the underground street. When he was a teenager, Yangji always ate soft ice cream here before returning. Unexpectedly, what happened?It's been a while, but the underground street has expanded to the end. At first Yangji thought there must be a big mirror there.Unexpectedly, the man in the black coat quickly walked into the mirror. "Well. I haven't been here for a while, and construction has been expanded here." Yangji's soliloquy was mixed with sighs. Cities are amazing places.Before you know it, a shopping street will form under the ground. The new underground marketplace, brighter and more ornate, with gleaming stone floors, stretched endlessly. The man walked to the corner of the flower shop and turned right.He never looked back once.It seems to be a clockwork puppet, always walking at the same pace. Then, at the bakery, turn right again, walk a while, turn right again, turn right again.How many turns did you turn?It seems to have walked as far as one subway station. I was very tired from walking, when suddenly, the figure of the man disappeared in front of Yangji's eyes. (what?) Yangji panicked.Looking around, I saw a small western restaurant at the end, that is to say, at the innermost part of the new underground shopping mall. (Well, here it is.) Yangji pushed open the heavy door. There was muffled music in the shop.There are small red kerosene lamps on the tables, and it is a small, tidy and cozy shop. (It's quite an impressive store.) Yangji came to the corner table.The ceiling and walls are all unprocessed concrete, which looks very old. However, it is also very interestingly decorated.As for the decoration on the wall, there is only an old guitar. "You are here." A cup filled with water was served. Perhaps because it was too late, the store was very quiet.There was only one waitress, moving among the sparse customers. What happened to the man just now... Yangji turned his eyes to look for him, but he couldn't even see the man who had entered the store. (Hey, for that kind of thing, anything is fine. I just need to taste it first.) Leaning back in a chair, Yangji waited for the sandwich bread to be served. After a while, a large plate was brought with beautiful sandwich bread.Yangji quickly grabbed one, and then widened his eyes. It was the first time he tasted such a rich taste. "It's really delicious!" Especially the taste of jam and kimchi is special. "Well—it's the first class!" However, Yangji's tongue is more refined.He knew right away, what and what was put in the jam, what was put in the pickle. "Okay, okay, I know everything." He nodded several times. (No matter how proud you are, the taste of this store is already mine.) Resisting the laughter that surged up, Yang Ji happily left the shop. Unexpectedly, if you take a step outside, you don't know the way back.I can't even think of where I came from just now. Not only is the direction unclear, but the underground market is a maze, and no matter which store it is, it is all glass.The clerks all pay the same, and even appear to have the same faces.What's more, the white fluorescent lamps just glow blankly. "When I came here, I turned around the bakery, and there was a flower shop." Yangji started walking randomly through the small shop. However, no matter how I went, the flower shop and bakery did not appear.When he was tired from walking, he suddenly heard the sound of "buzzing" from the subway. As soon as I noticed it, I saw a familiar ice cream shop in front of me... "call--" In fact, at this moment, Yangji was already sweating anxiously. It was late at night. Yangji was alone in the kitchen.Hurry to make the jam and pickles just now. "That is indeed..." He closes his eyes.Every time he recalls the taste, he is always like this. "It's really red peppers, mint leaves, and..." But what happened today?Even though he knew the amount of kimchi so clearly, he couldn't remember it. "Chili with mint leaves. A bit of sugar, a pinch of salt. White pepper? No, it doesn't seem to have been added. Uh--what's the matter today?" Yangji blames these on the underground markets.The tongue is abnormal because it is too lost. Sitting exhausted on a chair, Yangji muttered: "Tomorrow, go to that store again to have a look!" Unexpectedly, the next day, he went underground again, and Yangji was taken aback.Because there are no new underground shopping malls anywhere.The underground street, where the ice cream is sold, has come to an end. "..." Yangji thought he was bewitched. (Or, was it a dream last night?) But now, Yangji couldn't forget the taste of pickles and jam.Whether it's a dream or magic, if you don't make it yourself, you will feel uncomfortable.Just like a musician who has heard a beautiful tone once and never forgets it. From this day on, Yangji no longer works.Eating can't get through my throat, and sleeping is full of jam and pickle dreams... Day after day, Yangji was lost in the underground street.sometimes. , leaning against the wall of the ice cream shop, stood still. One day, Yangji caught a glimpse of the man in the black coat in the crowd. The man was in a hurry, and the shopping bag he was carrying was almost smashed, and he kept walking. Moreover, I saw the side of the ice cream shop... There, there is still a long stretch of the new underground shopping mall.Many people go there without any surprise. Panting, Yangji chased after the black coat. While chasing after him, he thought: this time it is not stealing, but meeting Zhure in a western restaurant and begging him to teach him how to make pickles and jam. Now, Yang Jixiang is a different person, and his mood has become more humble. Soon the man turned the corner of the florist, and the corner of the bakery.After walking for a while, I turned right, and then I turned right... Then, I suddenly disappeared in the western food restaurant I had seen. Immediately afterwards, Yangji pushed the door violently. Stepping in, the store was pitch black, coupled with the damp and musty smell, it was chilly. (Are you off today?) Yangji thought. At this time, a high-pitched voice came from inside: "Yeah, long time no see!" At the same time, the unshaded light bulb snapped on. Pay attention, there is a villain standing under Yangji's feet. "You're back in your basement at last!" It is indeed the basement of Yangji's Western Food.On the cold concrete, the wine barrels and Worcestershire sauce bottles were covered with a thin layer of dust. "..." Now, in Yangji's mind, the agreement made many years ago clearly emerged. "I've been waiting a long time." The villain whispered. "I'm sorry." Yangji squatted down and bowed deeply.The little man jumped up and said cheerfully: "It's nothing, your father's taste hasn't changed at all, because I'm watching it carefully. This is pickles, this is smoked products, that's jam, and the bottle in the corner is Worcestershire sauce..." Yangji nodded, and slowly, one by one, the smell of those foods grew.Either way, it's an excellent taste. He wanted to thank the kind little man, but when he turned around, the little man was gone. In the basement, Yangji was alone. Yangji climbed the steps slowly.Above the basement is the kitchen.From now on, Yokichi will make his father's taste seriously, a familiar kitchen.