Draining.

Draining.

The drizzle outside the window is still ringing endlessly, falling lightly on the eaves and the ground, outlining the outline of the world, but narrowing the world to the eaves through the rain curtain, the warmth and tranquility of the room are surging in the fragrance of tea, which makes people relax.

Holden's thoughts couldn't help but extend along Ms. Joanna's words—

Iwabuchi has tea and coffee, but neither tea nor coffee is consumed in a way that is far inferior to the Earth model that Hoden is familiar with.

Tea alone, whether it is jasmine tea or January embers, is actually tea foam, in short, it is equivalent to a tea bag on the earth.

But for Hodden, who was born in a water town in southern China, this is an unbearable way to drink tea.

To be precise, tea foam cannot be said to be "tea tasting" at all.

Hodden himself wasn't a tea lover himself, after all, there were too many temptations for young people – and who could say no to the bombardment of milk tea and coke? Carbonated drinks are as attractive as alcohol.

Having said that, from childhood to adulthood, Holden still has some basic level of tea tasting.

Jasmine tea is the equivalent of flower tea, while January embers are closer to white tea, but they are currently tea foam, and it is difficult to taste the true taste by brewing it.

If you use the method of boiling tea, and then divide the tea - that is, similar to the way of coffee latte art, use the tea foam to paint in the process of brewing, depicting the appearance of the landscape, wind and moon, and then add sugar or milk according to everyone's preference, or keep the original taste, then you can also taste some charm.

However, firstly, making tea is too profound and too troublesome, and Holden himself is only seven tricks and six tricks, and splitting tea requires a quiet state of mind to be able to taste the taste; second, brewing tea requires professional matching tea sets, which is also not possessed by Iwabuchi, and Holden is not interested in entering the pottery industry for the time being.

Therefore, compared with tea foam, it is more straightforward to replace it with tea leaves. Of course, it is also because Hoden prefers full blades.

If Jasmine Tea and January Ember can find the whole tea leaves, it only takes a simple brewing step to really bring out the aroma of the tea leaves.

Holden once complained to Ms. Joanna, but this is the current way of drinking tea among the nobles of the Leia Empire, and it is difficult for civilians to change their concepts, after all, "even the nobles drink like this", and Ms. Joanna has no intention of breaking the rules.

Unexpectedly, Ms. Joanna brought it up again today.

So, is it something to look forward to?

"Hodden, would you like to join me in the partnership?" Ms. Joanna's voice came slowly in the rustling rain, like smoke, breaking the original rhythm of the conversation, slightly abrupt.

Holden, who was in a lazy state, didn't take it seriously, and said with a smile, "Of course it's good." Does that mean that I can snack for free in the future?"

"That's not good, even if it's a shareholder, you have to keep accounts, otherwise, the whole store will be empty by you. Ms. Joanna said earnestly.

Hodden also laughed, and raised his eyebrows slightly, "That's right, then it's deducted from the bonus." ”

"Okay. So, what do you think of the two-percent bonus?" said Ms. Joanna cheerfully.

At this time, Hordon also noticed the abnormality and was in no mood for joking.

"Ms. Joanna. Holden opened his eyes and sat up straight at the same time, the soles of his feet falling back to the ground, "Are you serious?"

Ms. Joanna nodded rightly, "Of course I'm serious. If the 20% bonus is still not enough, then I can't do it, this is the upper limit I can accept, after all, ......"

"Wait. Wait!"

Hodden raised his hand to stop Ms. Joanna, "I didn't mean that, I mean ......"

Could it be that seeing Hordon so flustered and a little incoherent, mainly because he really didn't expect to be killed by surprise, but after the chaos, he calmed down, and a helpless smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "I think the twenty percent bonus is too much." ”

Seeing that Ms. Joanna was about to continue talking, Horden stopped the other with his eyes.

"But the more important reason is, I can't. Hodden took the lead in taking a stand, "Ms. Joanna, you have worked hard to run this shop yourself, and you have done a good job, very good! I don't see at all that you need to seek cooperation, let alone my cooperation." ”

Ms. Joanna, is a widow.

Her husband and two sons, all of whom died in the "Grey Cliff Explosion" fifteen years ago – like the Helo brothers' parents, was one of the reasons they quickly became closer.

This sweet house, which was once created especially for his wife by Ms. Joanna's husband, not only to satisfy his wife's hobbies and desires to make sweets, but also to make a living, the gentleman willingly stood behind the scenes, wholeheartedly supporting his wife in realizing this little dream.

The entire family was buried in the disaster, but Ms. Joanna, who remained in Iwabuchi, escaped, not knowing whether it was luck or misfortune.

But after that, Ms. Joanna just kept to her dessert house and persevered alone. In a flash, fifteen years have passed.

This is the brainchild of Ms. Joanna, and at the same time Ms. Joanna's life.

Hodden was serious, he never thought that Miss Joanna would seek cooperation, and even less that she would seek his own cooperation.

"Hoden. A gentle smile appeared in Ms. Joanna's eyes, "You are a kind child. ”

Kindness?

Holden's cheeks were a little hot, and he would never describe himself like that.

"You listen to my proposal before you decide, okay?" Ms. Joanna was not in a hurry, and gently asked for advice, seeking Holden's consent with her eyes.

"Now that the living space of handicraft workshops is getting smaller and smaller, you know, desserts and snacks for assembly line operations are gradually seizing the market. I don't have any ambitions, I don't want to make a lot of money, but I still want to be able to run this place, that's the only thing I want. ”

Behind the simple and plain words, there was too much emotional weight revealed, and Holden did not open his mouth to interrupt Ms. Joanna.

"Last month, a factory actually came to ask if I would like to sell those recipes or work with them to make desserts and snacks in bulk. I refused. ”

There was no excessive description, but Holden had already understood the aftermath of industrialization from the history books of the earth, and he could understand where Lady Joanna was now.

Looking back at this time, Ms. Joanna accepted Holden's proposal to renovate the packaging and make the fruit juice candy, probably because of those proposals.

The crisis has arrived.