Chapter 10 Chapter nine

"You, what are you talking about?" Tanabe's smile became stiff and distorted. "It's the same as Mame Daifuku before...? Stop making such weird jokes, Mr. Kurita!" "Who is joking with you! Speaking of which, you are the one who joked first, right? I know everything. If you lie again, be careful that I will kill you, you bastard!" Yuka hurriedly intervened and said, "Ari, what's going on here? How could you say that Mr. Tanabe is lying...Are you going to let him down for twenty years?" "After all, what you said about 'twenty years of intentions' is simply bragging."

"Don't make trouble for nothing! What evidence do you have?" "The Dou Dafu I let you eat just now is the proof. The taste is obviously the same as last time, but this time you are so moved... Are you two in the same group?" Yuga's face suddenly lost color. "It's really hurtful to tease an honest wagashi shop." An atmosphere of simmering silence spread throughout the room. After a long silence, Tanabe said with a frightened look in his eyes, "...Why did Mr. Kurita test us like this?" "Actually, I didn't realize it at first. It wasn't until Ms. Kui reminded me that I was cheated."

Kurita sternly explained how unreliable memory is. If it is a relatively recent memory, it is still reliable. But if you want to recall the events of twenty years ago, or if it is too difficult to recall the events of ten years ago, is the memory still reliable? How many people can clearly remember who did what actions ten years ago?What is the expression on the face?Few people can replay memories correctly in their minds like playing movies.Most people's memories will be based on the "emotions" they felt at the time. Of course, people will also remember objective facts, but most of these facts will be given meaning based on emotion, and the information that is finally written into the cerebral cortex will be mainly based on emotion.

It is more difficult to remember the smell than the act.Unless you are a person with a super memory, it is difficult to remember the proportions of the five tastes—sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty—afterwards. Most people only remember a general "impression", and this impression is also a kind of emotion.In other words, "delicious" and "emotional" are inseparable. Even if you remember the emotion, few people can remember the taste.Except for professional chefs, only those who have an excellent taste like Aoi remember it. Kurita crossed his arms in front of his chest, stared straight at Tanabe and said, "When you eat wagashi, the first impression that leaves you is of course 'sweetness'. However, when we first met, you did not like dried persimmons. such a description."

——It's so nostalgic... The dried persimmon itself has a weak taste, so I don't have much impression. "However, this memory of yours is too strange. Because the 'dried persimmons that leave only a faint impression' you said are actually much sweeter than 'sweet bean daifuku that will melt your whole body'. Your overall emotion that day has something to do with it. Therefore, what you said is a lie." "what?" Yuka said with a surprised expression, "Are the dried persimmons sweeter than the red bean paste in Dome Daifuku?" "That's right. Right? Miss Aoi."

"Yes...that's true in terms of sugar content." After Kurita threw the topic to Aoi, Aoi replied in a tone that lacked tension. "Ah! What about the so-called sugar content..." Facing Yuka who was frowning in surprise, Aoi talked to her endlessly: "Aren't some fruits often affixed with stickers indicating the sugar level? I mean that kind of sugar level, which is the proportion of sugar contained in it." .In terms of fruit, the sugar content is to calculate how many grams of sucrose are contained in n grams of fruit juice, and then display the degree as a percentage..."

"Uh..." Yuga blinked her eyes in confusion. "I can bring in the Brix value to make a more professional explanation, but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with this incident... In short, the sugar content just mentioned, you can take it as an indicator of whether it is purely sweet or not. Simply put , is the 'sweetness'. However, the fruit also has a sour taste, so a high sugar content does not necessarily mean that it is very sweet..." Among fruits, persimmon has a very high sugar content, about 15% to 20%. For example, the sugar content of watermelon is 9 to 13%, and the sugar content of strawberries is 8 to 15%. After such a comparison, you will know that the sugar content of persimmon is quite high.

Of course, the sugar content of the same fruit will also vary from variety to individual, and there will be individual differences.If this is not the case, it loses the meaning of marking the sugar content.But generally speaking, persimmons or grapes are recognized as the fruits with the highest sugar content. Persimmons are divided into astringent persimmons and sweet persimmons.After astringent persimmons are made into dried persimmons, the sugar content will be greatly increased, as high as 40% to 70%. This is a value that cannot be compared with other fresh fruits. After explaining the above, Aoi went on to say: "Many people don't know that when eating raw persimmons, the sugar content of astringent persimmons is higher than that of sweet persimmons. It's just that astringent persimmons contain water-soluble tannins, so they taste less astringent. Overwhelms the sweetness. Miss Yuka, do you know what tannin is?"

"It seems to be... the source of the astringency?" "That's right... the tongue feels astringent after tannins dissolve in saliva. That is, it is soluble. However, after drying, the tannin component becomes insoluble and our tongue feels There is no astringency... Finally, the sweetness will stand out. Therefore, the sugar content of dried persimmons is very high." Yuka showed a surprised expression again, and Kurita added from the side: "In simple terms, it is to remove the astringency. By removing water, the sweetness is concentrated." "Oh, that's right."

"That's right...so, the sugar content of dried persimmons without astringency reaches 70%, and the sweetness is mostly higher than the red bean paste sold in the market. The current red bean paste is mainly with less sugar, The sweetened red bean paste that sells well has a sugar content of about 50%. What's more, the sweetened red bean paste tastes elegant and refreshing, so its sugar content...is about 45% or so Forty-six. Regardless of whether this number is correct or not, in short, it must be a low number that is far from the sugar content of dried persimmons." Kurita suddenly felt a chill.Aoi even knows the sugar content of Kurimudao's bean paste.

Aoi's excellent sense of taste seems to be beyond imagination. "At this point, both of you should understand, right? When eating wagashi, the sweetness will leave the deepest impression on people. Dou Daifuku has always emphasized that "it's so sweet that it will melt the whole person", and the sweetness is far away Dried persimmons that are much higher than Dou Daifuku’s are described as ‘leaving only a weak impression of taste’. From the perspective of human psychology, such a statement is contradictory.” Yuka and Tanabe bit their lips as if giving up struggling. "hateful……" However, Aoi couldn't seem to stop.Instead of condemning Yuka and Tanabe, she continued to share more in-depth knowledge in a good mood. "It is said that the origin of wagashi is fruit... because sugar was not introduced to Japan until the Nara period, so before that, people relied on berries or fruits to obtain sweetness. Ancient people discovered that after drying a certain kind of fruit , the fact that the sweetness will increase, I must be very happy..." Aoi closed her eyes and let her thoughts run through ancient times. "By the way! And... do you know the myths about the origin of wagashi? It is said that there is a god of wagashi named Tian Daomamori. Tian Daomamori traveled to Changshiguo to find it under the order of Emperor Suinin. 'Fragrant fruit'. It's a pity that when he found 'Fragrant fruit', the emperor had died. The 'Fragrant fruit' mentioned in this sad myth is said to be the orange we call now. .In simple terms, it is a kind of citrus in Rutaceae. At that time, "fruit" refers to fruit, so Tian Daomamori was revered as the gentleman of wagashi and was worshiped devoutly. Even now, there are still many people Visiting the shrine in Toyooka—" "It's enough to stop here!" Kurita couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted Aoi's words. "No one wants to know so many details! Miss Aoi, now is not the time to talk about these things!" "Huh? Really?" Aoi widened her eyes first, then lowered her head with flushed cheeks. "...Yes, I'm sorry! I seem to be talking too excitedly again. Are you tired of hearing it?" "It's not too annoying. Next time I have time, I will listen to you again." Aoi smiled reassuringly upon hearing this.In short, let’s get back to the topic—Kurita coughed, and the atmosphere that had eased up became tense again. Among the wagashi at Kurimarudo, there is no wagashi with a higher sugar content than dried persimmons. After this incident, Kurita understood why persimmon trees were planted in the yard of Kurimaru Hall, and why successive generations of operators made dried persimmons that were not sold at all. The purpose of making dried persimmons is to make adjustments. As a wagashi master, you must be aware of the natural sweetness that does not exceed the sugar content of dried persimmons.The managers of successive dynasties must re-recognize the roots of wagashi and the attitude of those who make wagashi in this season of each year. "Twenty years ago, you never ate our dried persimmons, but lied that you had. Is that right?" Tanabe nodded slowly in silence. "But why did you tell such a lie? Mr. Tanabe, you performed a very realistic scene. After seeing dried persimmons in the living room and knowing that it is a tradition passed down from generation to generation by Kurimarudo, even though I have never eaten it , you still described the taste of dried persimmons. You deliberately acted as if you were nostalgic, trying to increase the reliability of the fabricated story." This is the so-called psychology of conscience. Telling a well-planned lie comes with a characteristic unease, so Tanabe himself added unnecessary drama in an attempt to add credibility.Unexpectedly, the tricks used in pursuit of peace of mind turned out to be counterproductive. Of course, acting is not the only part of this. There is another performance that is very unnatural.After comparing before and after, you will clearly know the purpose of the whole incident. "There are still unnatural performances? What performance?" Yuka frowned and asked.Kurita shrugged and replied, "He just expressed his thoughts when he ate Dou Daifuku." When Tanabe first visited, he said that the taste of Dome Daifuku was different, but the second time he exaggeratedly praised the taste. Why is there a drastic difference in reaction after eating the same Dou Da Fu? Judging from these results, the answer is clear. To put it bluntly, Tanabe didn't care about the taste at all, he had decided long ago that he would react like this after eating it. The master who had failed once, worked tirelessly to pass on the idea of ​​his deceased father, and finally made more delicious Dou Daifu and helped others again—— That's the beauty of the whole play.Yuka and Tanabe try to use this to fabricate a good story. The goal is to write interviews that resonate. "Yuka, this was originally your idea, right? You bring your camera with you every time you come here, making it clear that you want to be able to take pictures at any time." Yuga lowered her head to hide her expression, and said in a low voice, "It's too late." "If you go all the way to the root, you will know that the purpose of the whole incident is to fabricate false reports. It is really hard for you to create a story that makes people cry." A cold silence descended. Yuga suddenly raised his head slowly and said, "...it's not hard work at all!" Because Yuka's expression was full of momentum, even Kurita, who was used to seeing such sinister scenes, couldn't help but cringe a little. Yuga suddenly pressed his chest, and said in a loud voice: "What's the big deal! What's the matter with fabricating false reports! What's wrong? Who can't do such a trick as deceiving people!" Kurita didn't expect that Yuka would turn into anger from embarrassment, and was immediately speechless. "...No, you shouldn't do this, right?" "why!" "It's obviously a bad thing, and it's obviously a disgrace. It's not what a Japanese should do. Besides, would you be happy as a writer if you were recognized for a false report?" "I don't care about that!" "What...?" Yuka patted the low table hard, leaning forward towards Kurita. "That's right! I really want to fabricate false reports out of thin air! I asked Mr. Tanabe to act in a play, and I want to fabricate a story full of human feelings that can only be found in Asakusa! However, my salary will not change if I do this There are many, the only ones who can get the benefits are this store and you, Ali!" "--pardon?" Kurita stared at Yuka with the meaning of arguing, but immediately understood what she was thinking—Yuka was right, although it is an indisputable fact that she and Tanabe tried to fabricate a good story and teamed up to deceive Kurita, but it was not to help Yuka leave on the road to success. Because Yuga not only has to bear risks, but also spends his mind, but it doesn't mean that he can get much benefit. A report that can attract the attention of the public should be simpler and clearer, with a bigger scene, such as news related to the entertainment industry. From Yuga's point of view, the disadvantages of fabricating such false reports far outweigh the advantages. If it is found to be a fabricated report, the author's career may be lost-this is not a report worth betting on the author's career to be fabricated. In other words, this is a plan carefully planned by Yuka for Kurimaru Hall to attract guests. With trembling shoulders, Yuga said in a low voice: "I, I just... want to attract more customers to this store... What can I do? The store is always breeding mosquitoes, and there seems to be a lot of leftovers every day The sales are not going to be much better, right? I am worried that this store will close soon.” Kurita couldn't help squinting his eyes and said: "...you are annoying! You talk about this store so badly. I won't let this store close down!" "Hug, I'm sorry." "It's okay. It's a fact that this store is in danger, so you don't need to apologize for it, just... Yuka, answer me a question. Why did you spend so much time planning all this for this store?" "what?" "If my store's business gets better, can you get any benefits? I want to hear your truth." "You, what's your problem!" Yuka looked unbelievable, with a stiff expression. "Ah Li...you don't want me to tell the truth in this kind of situation, do you?" Kurita nodded, looked at Yuka and said, "Of course, I just want you to talk." For things that he doesn't understand, Kurita will try his best to make things clear. After lowering his head with his face flushed for a while, Youjia said loudly, "...Big, big idiot! Ah Li, you are a big idiot!" After Yuka yelled, he pulled up the camera bag and rushed out of the living room. She just rushed across the corridor, and then there was the sound of the porch door opening, and she seemed to run out of the house. Yuka, the culprit who tried to fabricate a good story, fled from Kurita's house in a flash. The three people who were left in place looked at each other in blank dismay. "What was that reaction...?" "A needle in the bottom of a woman's heart..." Aoi, who is a woman herself, made such remarks and tilted her head in a daze. "However, Mr. Kurita, should we just turn a blind eye and close one eye this time, and forget about it? If this incident was reported in a magazine, it might cause a big commotion; but in terms of the results, the fabricated plan It failed, and Mr. Kurita was the only one who was deceived." "It doesn't matter if I'm cheated?" Although Kurita coughed with a straight face, he was already immune to such things. Yuka has been telling lies since she was a child, but things of this magnitude can no longer scare Kurita. Moreover, Yuga's bad things always have a pity side, making it difficult to really hate her. Maybe it's because Yuka mostly lies for others. For example, the reason why Youjia stole meal expenses when he was in elementary school was because he didn’t have enough money to buy a friend’s birthday present. Of course, as far as the party whose money was stolen is concerned, this is no reason at all, and her crime of stealing money cannot be forgiven. "...Whatever. It doesn't feel good to end like this, let's change the taste." Kurita stood up and quickly walked out of the living room.