Chapter 20 Section 20

"I know, and I feel the same way. It is said that she is a senior student at a certain university in Kyoto, and she temporarily dropped out of school in order to experience the vicissitudes of life. Perhaps these experiences have created this temperament." "Hmm... I always feel that kind of temperament is not something that comes out of a cold war..." Yamabe thought for a while, "Well, even if you're not a lover, it's good to have more contact with young women. This time the store is also mainly for young customers." "I think so too. That's why I got in touch with her, and I didn't do what he thought..."

"Got it, got it. Don't be so serious." Yamabe smiled wryly. The discussion lasted about thirty minutes.After walking out of the design office, Xingcheng immediately took out his mobile phone and called Zuo Xuli. "Hi, hello." A clear voice came from the other end of the phone. "I'm Hushen. I was sorry just now." "I'm sorry to interrupt your work. Work is over?" "Well, it's over. We are discussing the decoration of the new store." "Hey, that sounds interesting." What Saori said didn't sound like a simple questioning, but a genuine concern about this matter.Xingcheng remembered that she also noticed the lighting problem in the store before.

"I mentioned it a little earlier, is your body okay?" "Well, it's all right. That's why I called today. I was so rude at that time. I'm really sorry. I prepared a small gift to express my heart. Mr. Togami, can we meet soon? Three Just ten minutes." "Don't worry about it. Of course we can meet. When is it convenient?" "I think the sooner the better. Mr. Hugami is very busy, so please use your time." "That's it, wait a minute..." Xingcheng thought about his schedule.Suddenly, an idea flashed through my mind, an idea full of temptation.After hesitating for a moment, he spoke.

"If it's convenient, how about meeting now? I'm really sorry for making this request suddenly." "Now, I'm fine." Saori was a little surprised by this, but didn't feel troubled. "Then, it's settled. In fact, I want you to accompany me to a place." "where?" "Let's talk after we meet." After an appointment to meet at a cafe in Roppongi ヒルズ one hour later, Xingcheng hung up the phone. He felt inexplicably excited.Thinking deeply about the reason, it wasn't just because of this good idea - to take Gao Gao Saori to that place.He had to admit that the fact that he was about to meet her made him feel relieved.Xingcheng recalled Yamabe's words, and the cliche "try to chase her" lingered clearly in his ears.

"If Zuo Xuli is my lover—" this thought made Xingcheng's body temperature rise suddenly.He hailed a taxi and was on the way to Roppongi Hiruzu, his heart was beating extremely violently. I glanced back and forth at the shop of ヒルズ in Roppongi, found the coffee shop I made an appointment with, walked into the shop, and bought a cup of Espresso.He calmed down a bit, and he began to think about other things about Zuo Xuri. He noticed that he knew next to nothing about her.Except that she was still a student, nothing was known about her major, her family structure, or her father's occupation.But he is a customer of "Cortesia", so his status is not low.

Xingcheng fell into self-loathing, not bad at chatting with women, but it was limited to cooking and restaurants.Other than that, he had absolutely no idea what to say.He has never thought of asking about the other party's family background. It was the same at the thank-you meeting the other day.After listening to his thoughts on the cuisine, he talked about the new restaurant endlessly.Even if Saori felt bored, she wouldn't show it on her face, so she must have been on pins and needles at the time. It's all my fault that I was too selfless when I said it, so I didn't have time to pay attention to Zuo Xuri's strangeness.She couldn't have shed tears at dinner for no reason.Be it mentally or physically, it must be the discomfort that hit her.He regretted not noticing this sooner.

In the taxi that took her home, too, he couldn't think of what to say.He was afraid that his unscrupulous words would hurt her, or be despised by her. It's no use—he scolded himself for being useless. Not long after, Saori arrived.A gray coat over a white sweater.The black shorts set off her slender legs. "Sorry, have you been waiting for a long time?" Zuo Xuli glanced at the coffee cup in front of Xingcheng, it was already empty. "No, I came too early. What would you like to drink?" Xing Cheng bowed. "Let me go buy it. You ordered Espresso, how about another glass?"

"No thanks." Staring at Saori who was walking towards the drink counter, Xingcheng was once again overjoyed.Even if it is not a lover, it is quite happy to be able to date such a young beauty. There were two young men sitting at the table beside him, Xing Cheng noticed that they were whispering, and their eyes followed Zuo Xuli closely.Following their gaze, Saori returned to the table where Xingcheng was sitting.Originally, they planned to go out on a date with two women, but upon seeing this, they were greatly disappointed, and finally cast hateful glances at Xingcheng.It must be unfair: why can such an uncle date such a stunner.

Putting the drink on the table, Saori put his hands on his knees and bowed his head deeply. "I'm really sorry last time. I didn't have the face to see you again, but I thought I had to send an apology..." "Please raise your head. I'm sorry. I deeply reflect on my lack of consideration. I should have noticed your discomfort earlier." "It's not like this. It's not that I suddenly fell ill. It's just that when I was eating rice with diced beef, I remembered some past events." "How to say?" "When I was young, a good friend opened a foreign restaurant at home, and the taste was very similar to the diced beef rice that I ate there."

"And my family's diced beef rice? Really, where's the shop?" "In Yokosuka. However, I'm not sure if the taste is really similar. Maybe it's the diced beef rice bowl that gave me this illusion. That friend, whose parents died in an accident, moved far away. Thinking of this, my chest suddenly Overwhelmed with grief...I'm so sorry." "I see, that friend—" "We haven't seen each other since then." Zuo Xuli looked sad. It's really delicate, Xingcheng thought, and put himself in other people's shoes.If not, how can you recall your childhood playmates from the taste of food.

"I should apologize, but I said such nonsense." Zuo Xuli covered his face with his hands.Then, she put the paper bag next to her on her lap, "Well, it's a small thing, it's not a respect." She took out a small gift wrapped in paper and put it on the table. Xingcheng was taken aback and shook his head. "Miss Gao, don't worry so much." "I'm really sorry. It's not a valuable item, but I think it will help Mr. Togami's work..." "Then I'll accept it without hesitation." Xingcheng picked up the gift, not in a bad mood, "Can you open it?" "Feel free. Don't get your hopes up too much, though." Xingcheng carefully tore open the outer packaging, and what came into view was a leather box containing a Sommeliers wine knife.The handshake part is curved to fit the hand, and the buckle is plated with brass. "The replica of Chateau is not a luxury item." "Because we met for the first time at a wine party, before I knew it...Mr. Togami must have better ones." "No, no. May I take it?" "A piece of my heart. I'm very happy to accept it." "Thank you. I will use it well. However, I will probably be reprimanded by my father: You are ten years too early to use this." Xingcheng put the knife back into the box, and rewrapped it carefully with paper. "I heard that your father Togami Masahiro first opened a shop in Yokohama." Saori asked. "Well. At that time, I was still a primary school student. It was a small shop, and my father was a chef who was not good at business." After hearing Xingcheng's words, Zuo Xuli's eyes shone brightly. "These words, please speak slowly. The anecdote before the fortune of 'Hushen Pavilion'." Xingcheng smiled wryly and thought for a moment. "Not as much fun as you think." "However, the difficult history of successful people is quite informative." "Maybe." Xingcheng put the repacked gift on the table, and looked at Zuo Ri again, "Actually, I want to take you to a place. Let's talk about these old things while visiting there. It’s not a great experience either.” "The place mentioned on the phone? Where are you going?" "Well, let's get out of here first." Saying that, Xingcheng got up and stood up. Walk about 5 minutes from Azabu-Juban Station, and you will come to a street mixed with old and new stores, and the store is located here.Climb up the steps from the front of the building and walk up to the store entrance on the second floor.The door, not yet built. This is the "Togami Tei" Azabu Juban store.Xing Cheng wants Jing Nai to see the place. "Be careful around your feet." As he said, Xingcheng walked in with a cat. Jing Nai followed closely behind, and the sound of decoration could be heard from inside. Passing through the ground covered with blue plastic bags, a wide space suddenly appeared in front of him.She stopped and opened her eyes wide.This is not acting. "Wow, that's huge." She blurted out. Xingcheng who was walking in front turned around, showing his bright teeth, and smiled brightly. "It's still empty. I wanted to make it more spacious, but I couldn't find a more suitable one. Well~ I'm satisfied." Listening to the confident words, Shizuna looked around.The shop is still under renovation.Even so, seeing all this, Jing Nai's eyes shone with a new light. The staff are scattered and working separately.Jing Nai didn't know what they were doing, but from their silent and non-stop working figures, it seemed that this empty space had taken on a new look and turned into a new store. "What do you think? It will probably be completed in the middle of this month, and the table and chairs will be installed next month." "Excellent. What's the capacity?" "Don't plan to pack too many people, maybe 50 people at most. The way of arrangement is the most important thing." Jing Nai nodded, and her eyes began to wander again.There is a space enclosed by two walls in the corner of the shop.She imagined putting a table there. "If you could choose, where would you like to dine?" Xing Cheng asked. "Let me think..." Jing Nai walked to the window and compared the scenery seen here with the scene inside the store.However, she couldn't describe what it was like inside the store. Walking along the window to the end, she stopped. "There is a certain distance between here and the adjacent table. I like this best." "why?" "You can enjoy the scenery outside the window here without attracting too much attention... Here you can sit down and get up without paying attention." As she spoke, she cast her eyes on the hollow column beside her, "This column is not bad, it makes people feel uncomfortable. The security of being watched." Xingcheng nodded slowly and smiled. "Sure enough, it's great to bring you here, it makes me feel more confident about myself." Jing Nai who didn't understand the meaning looked puzzled, he nodded and continued: "For the same reason, I also like this location the most, as well as the pillars." He tapped on the pillars and scanned the store, "Don't you think there are many pillars in this store?" "Speaking of..." "Although the pillars are troublesome, they can block other people's sight. It shouldn't be too thick, just one can make people feel safe. I racked my brains to find a way to block the sight." "That's a good idea." "In fact, there were also many pillars in the original store of 'Togami Pavilion'." "The first store? The one in Yokohama?" Xingcheng nodded.