Chapter 16 second quarter

Muto finished his day's work, stepped out of Xifu Department Store, and walked down the street in a dull mood. Am I burdening the "goldfinch" by sticking to my personal preferences?At the same time, it also caused Morisawa Xiaori's troubles?When Wu Teng thought of this, he felt that he was carrying a heavy burden. Minister Takaoka is all to blame!Knowing that his subordinates hate sweets, he deliberately gave himself the project proposal.No, there was something wrong with me who didn't refuse on the spot.In the final analysis, it's not good for me who hates sweets.

It seems wrong to think so, people have the right to refuse sweets.Those who conclude that everyone should have a sweet tooth — the ones who are unabashed and repeatedly manipulate commercials, shows, and magazine dessert specials — should do a good job, shouldn't they?But having said that, I don't seem to have the right to say such things, after all, I am the person in charge of this dessert carnival... Muto never mentioned the reason why he hates sweets to others.In addition to personal privacy, but also because it is hard to say. Muto clearly remembered what happened at that time.He was maybe ten years old then.

I still remember that when I was a child, I would go to my grandparents’ house in the countryside to play during the summer vacation.Staying here for a week, Muto immersed himself in the idyllic fun of catching cicadas and crayfish.I will also play with my cousins ​​who live nearby until the sky is getting late and the sky is full of stars.Although there are only endless farmlands around, for children, it is a place full of treasures and never gets tired of playing. Grandma always cooks in person to satisfy Wu Zang Temple of Muto and parents.For afternoon snacks, the corn just harvested from the field was grilled, or everyone ate the home-grown giant watermelon that had never been seen in the supermarket.

And every time I go back to the countryside, there must be a local specialty called "Shangji Mantou" on the table.The appearance is similar to steamed buns with red bean paste fillings wrapped in white dough, but the variety of fillings is characteristic, such as thin red bean paste, red bean paste, yuzu, miso, matcha, apricot, white flower beans, black beans, brown sugar, coffee, etc. There are more than a dozen flavors in a box. The reason why there are so many types of stuffing is that since ancient times, there has been a game of holding steamed buns with eyes closed in this place. Seeing what you get represents your own luck.It's as fun as a lottery.

There are no marks such as "Daji" or "Xiaoji" printed on the steamed buns.If you get fine bean paste, it means "good luck"; if you get black bean paste, it means "wealth is prosperous".It is a game that even a child can understand.By the way, there are no "unlucky" flavors in the box. After all, it is hoped that everyone can taste delicious steamed buns, and the design direction is based on everyone's happiness. Muto often played this game with his cousins.Small steamed buns are definitely not a problem for a developing child to eat five or six in one go.At that time, Muto did not reject the earthy sweetness of this wagashi.

Unexpectedly, on a certain summer day, Muto's view of mantou was completely changed. During the summer vacation that year, Muto's eyes lit up when he saw the Kamiyoshi steamed buns he brought from his cousin's house. Shangji Mantou has always been packed in washi paper, but it was changed to plastic bag packaging in that year, and the variety of fillings has doubled, including custard sauce, strawberry jam, chocolate cream, etc. The stuffing, and even the stuffing of mentaiko, have really become the steamed buns suitable for adults to drink and eat at the moment. The cousin told Muto that this is a new product that started selling last winter.The steamed buns are made by a shop called "Shangji Dessert House". A new factory was built in a neighboring town earlier. The factory started operation last year, and this new steamed bun comes from the new factory.

As long as the unknown desserts are reported, they will suddenly become popular one day. Shangji Mantou was featured in a magazine two years ago.It was the time of the dessert craze.Originally, the mainstream of this trend was Western confectionery, and wagashi did not receive much attention. However, thanks to the magazine reporter, they reported special editions of well-known wagashi from all over the world. Shangji Mantou is one of them, and also introduced the game method passed down from ancient times. All of a sudden, Shangji steamed buns became a hot topic, and many people called the "Shangji Dim Sum House" to ask where to buy them, whether they could buy them online, etc.

The president of "Shangji Dessert House" doesn't know anything about online shopping, so he had to entrust young employees with full power, and started to operate a limited online shopping sales mechanism. He wanted to sell about 20 boxes a month. Unexpectedly, the method of limited sales will stimulate consumers' desire to buy. "Dim sum that can only be bought locally", "Because there are only 20 boxes, it will be sold out immediately", "This thing can be used as a lottery, and it is most suitable for stirring up the atmosphere at a party!" All these information exploded in an instant , A large number of orders poured into the "Shangji Dim Sum House".

It was at this time that it was reported that "Shangji Dessert House" would build a new factory in a neighboring town.The boss bought a bankrupt food processing factory and converted it into a wagashi factory at lightning speed. New items became bestsellers.The main store has always only sold existing products. I did not expect new products to be more popular in the main store, because a large number of tourists came to buy them, and there were frequent shortages, making it impossible for locals to buy. Obviously it is a local traditional snack, but it is difficult for locals to buy it.Isn't that weird?Muto was a little unimpressed.Mantou made in a large factory, although the box is much brighter in color, and the style of individual packaging in plastic bags is also very fashionable, but once you think about it, you will no longer feel the soft touch of Japanese paper wrapped in the mantou, the taste of washi paper, and the way to peel it off. I feel so sorry for the excitement when I saw the paste-sealed wrapping paper.

Even so, it is still Shangji Mantou.Muto and his cousins ​​always eat steamed buns, drink barley tea, and play until the sun goes down, and don't go home until it's time for dinner. Unexpectedly, a tragedy happened one night: the children suffered from collective food poisoning.Not only did he suffer from stomach pain, but he also experienced symptoms such as vomiting, high fever, and dehydration, and Muto was no exception.Because the degree of poisoning was not mild, the children were all carried into an ambulance and rushed to a large hospital for treatment.Unexpectedly, the hospital was already crowded with many patients with food poisoning, and most of them were children, and of course there were also adults.It seems that a collective food poisoning incident has occurred, so the health unit hastened to investigate.

Later, the authorities found out that the culprit of the collective food poisoning was actually Shangji Mantou.The new factory looks clean, but there are terrible germs hidden in the steamed buns it produces.What causes food poisoning is a kind of bacteria called "anaerobic bacteria", which can multiply in the absence of air. Salmonella is the most representative one.Although the steamed buns are packed in a sealed plastic bag and should be in a fairly clean environment, it does not constitute any hindrance to this kind of bacteria. In addition, the extremely hot and high temperature in summer is also one of the reasons for the rapid reproduction of bacteria . Muto and his cousins ​​were hospitalized together for several days, suffering from repeated vomiting and diarrhea, abdominal pain, and even headaches, suffering from dizzying pain.In addition, the drip needle is thick, and if it is moved a little, the drip will leak out, making the wrist red, swollen and painful. I just ate a few steamed buns, how could it be like this? Muto rolled on the bed, complaining about Shangji Mantou.Muto's physique is very strong, but his stomach and intestines are relatively weak, so the symptoms are more severe than those of his cousins, and it took a long time for him to return to normal, so he was forced to stay in the hospital for several days.Hospital life completely ruined his summer vacation, Muto could only swallow tears and endure. According to the investigation of the health unit, the equipment of the new factory has many substandard parts.In order to digest a large number of orders, the production line neglects hygiene management, and uses custard sauce, mentaiko, and other raw materials that have not been used before.In the scorching summer, how to deal with custard sauce is a science, and the president who has no experience in making desserts underestimated this point.Blindly responding to the rising trend of desserts, try to choose high-quality custard sauce, but don't know that the better the quality, the shorter the shelf life, so there is such a serious negligence. After surviving a painful hospital stay, Muto was finally discharged.The sick man who just recovered is still very weak. Seeing that the summer vacation is coming to an end, there is still a lot of homework waiting for him. I heard from the adults that the new factory of Shangji Mantou was closed, and it returned to the way it used to be with only the main store.Although because of the food poisoning incident, there have been no more orders since then, "Shangji Dim Sum House" is not a company that wants to make a lot of money, and the president is very optimistic about it.As a result, the main store resumed selling Shangji Mantou wrapped in washi paper. Local people also said with relief: "This is the taste of Shangji!" Everyone supported the temporarily closed main store to start again. Of course, it is also because the president has repeatedly expressed his apologies for the food poisoning incident and is responsible for the medical expenses of each victim.That attitude won him back. After all, for the locals, "Shangji Dessert House" is like an old friend, and fortunately no one lost their life because of this incident, so they are willing to forgive him magnanimously. Shangji Mantou tried its best to stand up from this misfortune, and consumers seemed to have forgotten the existence of Shangji Mantou in the world, and began to frantically chase other new products. Only Muto couldn't let go.The happiness brought by the dessert, the horror of being destroyed in an instant—he couldn't forget it even if he wanted to. After that, Muto never met Ji Mantou again.Even knowing it's okay, the body resists instinctively.In this way, Muto began to feel aversion to sweets.He didn't have a sweet tooth in the first place, and he didn't have much interest in other desserts.

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