Chapter 14 Chapter two

Mengtai is a residential area, there are no izakaya or bars nearby, but there is a traditional liquor store, which is located at another corner about 50 meters away from Fujiwara Real Estate.The two parked their cars in the parking lot and passed through the noren curtain with "Hotel Maruyoshi" printed on it.The old cabinets in the store are lined with wine bottles, which is antique.Saying "Welcome..." It was not the hoarse voice of a drunken uncle who greeted them, but the light and pleasant voice of a young woman.Liuping couldn't help but look around the shop. Ryuhei found a girl who seemed to be a shop assistant in the back of the shop.A pink T-shirt and a plaid miniskirt, long hair tied behind the head, probably a high school student.At first glance, it looks out of place, but upon closer inspection, you can see that her T-shirt has a circle and the word "Ji" printed on it.The girl who is dedicated to promoting Maruyoshi Hotel with her clothes must be the "living sign" of this store.

Yukai took out two cans of beer from the freezer and placed them on the cash register along with a thousand-yuan bill. "No bag." "Hey, ah, yes!..." The girl made a trembling voice, looking nervous for some reason.The movement of giving money to the pelican was also a bit blunt.What is she afraid of?Liu Ping was suspicious, and walked out of the liquor store with Zhe Shi.He took a can of beer and peeked at the situation in the store. The girl hid behind the display cabinet, as if secretly observing, what happened to that girl?When Liuping was distracted like this, Yukai who walked to the side of the car suddenly shouted first: "Cheers...!"

After Ukai presumptuously took the lead to toast, he immediately brought the beer can to his mouth. After Gulu Gulu gulped it down, he made a pleasant voice of "Puha...!", and said the most frequently heard words in this scene without any shyness. : "It's like working for this moment!" "Only people who are working can say this kind of thing." Liuping was so sarcasm that he also put his finger on the tab of the aluminum can, preparing to enjoy the moment of incomparable happiness.Just at this very moment... "No...!" A figure quickly approached with a desperate cry.Turning around to see, a pink bomb was fired at high speed. "drink!"

Liu Ping was completely hit by this mysterious bomb, and made a "gum!" sound like a toad being squashed, and the beer can came out of his hand and flew briefly in the sky.In the next moment, Yukai stretched out his left hand and grabbed the beer can that almost fell to the ground. On the other hand, Liu Ping was hit by the bullet and slammed into Yukai's Renault body hard, and he temporarily stopped breathing after being hit hard on his back. "Ugh...why? Why?" Leaning back against Renault, Liu Ping slowly slipped to the ground without knowing it.In front of his wide eyes, a girl stood up lightly.The plaid miniskirt, the circle with the character "吉" and the curly hair—the true face of the pink bob is indeed the living sign of the Maruyoshi Hotel.The girl took a deep breath, clenched her fists, closed her eyes and shouted: "No...! Drunk driving is a major crime...! Absolutely not...!"

I see.The leveling according to the abdomen is slightly acceptable.The duo who drove to the liquor store bought two cans of beer and drank in front of the store. In this situation, it is natural to question who will drive later.She was right to stop drinking.Even if it was unreasonable to bump into him suddenly, it could be interpreted as an act of bravery.Ukai praised her for being like this. "Wow, what a brave little sister. It's really our fault, please forgive us for his sore back and Raynor's sag." Holding the beer can in both hands, Ukai bowed his head deeply to the girl. "I will take responsibility for his can of beer and drink it later. Excuse me, is it convenient to give him iced barley tea?"

Ukai took out some change, and the girl's face was filled with joy and peace of mind. "Do you understand? Thank you..." The girl smiled shyly and bowed deeply in response. "Wheat tea, right?" After the girl finished speaking, she returned to the store again, and Ukai looked at her back with satisfaction.However, Liuping noticed something when he looked at the label of the beer can held in Ukai's left hand, and his dissatisfaction broke out immediately. "Wait a minute, Mr. Ugai! Although the beer you bought me is non-alcoholic beer, right? You can still drive after drinking this?"

"Oh, you finally found out? Of course, I can't buy you real beer at this time. It's all the girl's misunderstanding. However, it's useless to embarrass her at this time? As long as you hold back and drink the barley tea, Her courage will be rewarded." Ukai drank his own beer and continued talking. "Or, do you want to point out the girl's misunderstanding, and see her yelling 'Sorry... sorry...!' and apologizing frequently? This is embarrassing for both of you, right?" "Hmm..." This is really embarrassing, but I want to see... I pictured the flow of this kind of sadistic delusion in my heart, when I suddenly heard the girl's "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"With a can of barley tea in her right hand and the change she was looking for in her left, the girl stood in front of the store with a surprised expression.She turned her gaze to the edge of the store, a messy corner where old signboards, cardboard boxes and other things were piled up.For some reason, there was a yellow box-shaped object standing there alone.

"Hey... No way... Why!... What's going on..." The exclamation of surprise immediately turned into a questioning murmur.Later, the girl returned to the shop again and dragged an elderly man outside the shop, probably her father.The two looked at the yellow box where the problem was and whispered for a while, then the older man returned to the store with his head tilted, and the girl walked towards the parking lot with barley tea. "Little sister, what's the matter?" "What happened?" "No, it's nothing." The girl shook her head vigorously, responding to the inquiries of the two men, her tied black hair shaking violently around her face. "It's really fine, it's just that something strange happened..."

"Oh, a strange situation? Could it be that barley tea containing alcohol is on the market?" Ukai changed the topic in a strange direction, and the girl of course said "how is that possible" and immediately denied it.Then she seemed to make up her mind and pointed to the corner of the shop. "Actually, the beer crate over there is gone. There were eight stacked up until last night, but now there is only one left. I discussed with my father just now, and it seems that someone stole it in the middle of the night..." "Oh, the beer crate. So it's full of beer bottles?"

"No, no beer." The girl's hair shook again. "The beer crates are all empty..." Dreamed of a robbery in a wine shop.But it wasn't sake or beer that was stolen, but seven empty beer crates.What are the thieves and their motives?Faced with this extremely incomprehensible phenomenon, the detectives did not suddenly arouse their fighting spirit, they just responded indifferently with "Oh!"To be honest, it doesn't seem like a major case at all. On the other hand, for the famous girl of the liquor store, this seems to be a theft that cannot be ignored.The girl was playing with the barley tea pot that should have been handed over to Ryuhei with both hands.

"This is a case... To actually steal an empty beer crate, the thief doesn't know how perverted..." She concluded that the thief was a pervert.But in this world, it is not uncommon for people who are not perverts to steal beer crates.It's inevitable that she doesn't know, but Liu Ping knows.I am afraid that Yukai already has a bottom line in his heart.Liuping ignored the troubled girl and whispered to Ukai. "Mr. Ukai, what is the purpose of this thief? I just want to get that purpose." "Well, Liuping, in fact, I also think that may be the case." The two had a secret conversation of unknown significance.The girl felt suspicious and interjected with a puzzled expression. "What do you two mean by 'that' and 'that'...?" "Ah, I'm sorry." Ukai drank beer to moisten his throat. "Miss Maruyoshi seems to be a high school student, so I may not know it, but there is a use for empty beer crates, which is well known among us." "Hey, what is this... No, please wait a moment, before that..." The girl pressed her chest with her right hand, correcting Ukai's major mistake. "My surname is not Maruyoshi. Maruyoshi is not a surname, but the name of a liquor store. My surname is Yoshioka, and my full name is Sayaka Yoshioka..." "I see, Miss Sayaka from the liquor store." Ukai nodded in response, and later told Sayaka Yoshioka the names of himself and his assistant. "Then back to the topic just now. Regarding the use of empty beer boxes, to put it bluntly, they are simple tables, chairs and beds for the poor. I knew it right away. Right, Liuping?" "Yes, I feel the same way. Considering that seven were stolen, it is likely to be used as a bed. The beer crate is roughly fifty centimeters long, forty centimeters wide, and thirty centimeters high. Take ten and arrange them in a nice rectangle , just a nice bed.” "Well, it's rare for me to agree with you to this extent." The reality that the two have lived in poverty for many years was exposed in an unexpected place. "Speaking of which, Liu Ping, seeing that you have grasped the information on beer crates so accurately, did you really line up ten beer crates when you were a poor student..." "How is it possible, I haven't done that, how can I do that, no, it's not like that, if I say no, it's not, ah, really, don't ask!" Liuping denied it with all his strength.People who don't understand should understand. Simply put, "beer box bed" is something that is so embarrassing that it has to be denied with all its strength. "Hmm... beer crate beds... But seven are not enough...?" Sayaka continued to feel puzzled, and Liuping answered immediately. "Don't worry, you don't have to get them all from the same store. When you line up the beer crate beds, you can get five from that liquor store, two from this liquor store, three from the garbage dump over there... like this Collect slowly from everywhere." "Eh... isn't this stealing...?" "It should have been begged or picked up, but someone should have stolen it. It's not difficult to steal the seven beer crates next to the store door in the middle of the night." "Liuping, the more I listen to it, the more I feel that this is the impression of someone who has experienced it. Why..." Needless to say, Liuping himself became so worried.Continuing to talk about this topic will only dig one's own grave, so I won't say more about the level of my thoughts. On the contrary, Sayaka puts forward a different opinion. "Excuse me... is it possible that a drunk stole it...?" "Oh, a drunk stealing a beer crate? Why do you think so?" "Actually, a group of customers who came to the store this morning talked about something I was very concerned about. They talked about two things. One was at three o'clock in the morning this morning, that is, in the middle of the night. We dreamed that there was a drunk man making trouble on the stage. Mr. Kido, a regular customer in the store, seems to have suffered disaster at home. Another incident is also related to our regular customer, Mr. Fujiwara, who was almost hit by a car near his home in the middle of the night, so everyone suspected that the driving might be drunk driving .” "Hmm... on the one hand, there are drunk people making trouble, and on the other hand, drunk driving..." Liuping whispered and crossed his arms.Sayaka's remarks are only unconfirmed rumors. Even if it is true, it is not uncommon for drunks to make trouble. "Mr. Ukai, this has nothing to do with the beer case theft, right?" "No, it's too early to be sure. In the same night in the dream station, three wonderful events happened. These events may be unexpectedly related. At least the drunkard and the beer box have a good tone, and Ms. Sayaka has a good focus." When Sayaka heard Ukai say that, she shook her black hair shyly. "Don't say you have a good eye, I just heard everyone say that..." Then Sayaka probably wanted to hide her embarrassment, and her tone became quite tough. "In short, in short, as the daughter of the owner of the liquor store, I will never let the beer crate thief go. I must find and punish the illegals who disturb the peace of Mengtai...!" She loudly announced that she would fight off the beer crate thieves, and as if to cheer herself up, she opened the can of barley tea in her hand and drank it with one hand on her hip. "Ah...it's so iced and delicious...!" Sayaka Yoshioka, who was so excited, completely forgot who the can of barley tea belonged to.