"Guest, you've ordered your meal."

Noto Kiko took the bowl and put it in front of the table of Yuki Karang, who was still immersed in his personal world.

"Oh, thank you."

Yuki came back to his senses and stopped turning his fingers, and Fujii Shu, who was only exposed, had already returned to the kitchen.

The drunkard didn't mean to drink, and he didn't like oden, but after smelling the fragrant aroma, he hesitated to take a bite.

Delicious! How does this make it feel crisp and lubricated?

I didn't expect this humble little shop to have such a delicious food, which is comparable to the signature dishes of some old shops with a long history.

He ate all the food and turned around to pay the bill, which was less than a thousand yen, which was really worth the price.

"Until next time, guest."

Noto Kiko habitually said hello, and Yuki Karang moved his pace, wanting to say something, but he couldn't speak, so he had to leave for the time being.

"Huh? You and Noto are like her when you were younger, huh? ”

A few old women who were shopping together pointed to Noto Kiko behind the counter in surprise and shouted.

"I'm her niece, Notomiko, and I'm really like her."

These people are her regular customers, and Noto Kiko explained patiently.

"I'm so envious of Noboru Kiko! The nieces are so beautiful, if she chooses to get married when she is young, the rich or the handsome guy will be chosen at random. ”

"Who told her to have such a high vision, she is single when she is old, and she has been open for almost forty years, what's the use?"

"Be quiet, your niece is still there."

These old women, gossiping, packed the oden they bought, and kept talking all the way.

And Noto Kiko recalled the scene when she worked for a few years after graduating from Keio University.

——

At that time, she was twenty-eight years old, and her family urged her to marry several times, and she was the head of a department in a conference club.

Graduated from a prestigious university, there are high-level people from the same school in the club, and Noto Kiko, who is the best choice in appearance and figure, was active in the mid-70s, on the eve of the bubble era.

At that time, the economy of the island country was developing rapidly, and the status of women was also improving, and she was born at Keio University, and she had a good ability and background, so she climbed to the position of head of the department, and it took six years, and it was not surprising that if she was a graduate of Tokyo University, she would become a minister.

"Miss Kiko, do you want to participate in the after-work party? It's been a long time since you've been here? ”

Colleagues around her reminded her that she should pay attention to maintaining basic social activities, unlike her maverick in high school and college, the society of the island nation has pinched everyone into a uniform specification, without individuality, obedient to the public, like a hollow shell, forming a large and sophisticated member of society.

"Really? Then I'll definitely go after work at night. ”

Noto Xizi pretended to be surprised, and agreed, the object of the friendship is not limited to the same club, there are often so-called golden beetle sons-in-law with good conditions, who appear in the friendship activities, but she doesn't look down on these social elites, what she wants is someone who can make her heart move, and she doesn't care what her status and income are.

After work, colleagues who take taxis come to the tavern agreed with each other, and the island people often gather to drink after work, forming a unique and special wine culture.

"This is Daisuke Mori, the head of the financing department of Chiba Bank, and a top student at Nagoya University."

"Masao Doi, deputy head of the business department of the Bank of Chiba, graduated from Imperial University."

"Yuta Tomiohara, head of the technical section of Honda's motor power department, and a top student at Tokyo Institute of Technology."

The female colleagues around her introduced the names and backgrounds of the three fellows who were already kneeling on the tatami mats one by one, they were all very young, all of them were the heads and deputy chiefs of important departments of the General Assembly Society who were no more than 30 years old, and they were young and promising potential stocks in this country.

"I've heard a long time ago that there is a single beauty in your club, and when I see it today, it's even more beautiful than I imagined, so I'm glad to meet you."

Daisuke Mori in a black suit, politely stretched out his hand, with a confident smile on his face, for the three men sitting there, he can score eight points for his appearance and the highest annuity income, which is already the best condition.

Noto Kiko quickly shook hands with him, and sat down with separate hands, she and two female colleagues on one side, three men on the other, symmetrically like a blind date.

Her two female colleagues are also beauties after putting on makeup, but the three men opposite all set their eyes on Noto Kiko.

Elegant figure, perfect face, a beautiful and elegant face with a little light makeup, a simple ponytail coiled and knotted, and a curled arc to hook the heart, this is a big beauty that cannot be measured by ratings, and in the Warring States Period, there will definitely be samurai ronins who will go forward and succeed, willing to sacrifice their lives for her, and accept her as the existence of Ji (princess).

"Miss Noto, what are your hobbies?"

Yuta Tominohara, who looks like an honest technical nerd, quietly launched an offensive, "I like music and movies, specifically jazz and musicals. ”

"I like to watch TV, lie down in front of the kotatsu table at home after work every day, put my feet in to keep warm, drink all kinds of wine and peel citrus like a fool, listen to the sound of rain outside, the sound of wind, thunder and lightning, and the swaying of dolls in the wind on sunny days under the eaves, I like it the most."

Inner monologues, of course, can't be spoken, so they will be considered unmotivated and unsociable, and become the object of ridicule in private.

"Sports, baseball or something."

Thinking of the past a few years ago, Kazuya Suhara also blurred his figure on the small color TV screen, throwing down the baseball bat and kneeling on the ground in frustration, like an old photo album that has been opened in the dust, and memories come to my heart with warmth.

"I also like baseball, last year's best pitcher was Kazuya Sushihara, and it was reported on the news that he married a second-rate female idol this year, and it seems that famous professional baseball players love to find female artists to marry."

Masao Doi on the edge revealed the information he had learned, and only at the end did he intend to appear.

"I appreciate a capable and independent woman like Miss Noto, even if she gets married, she doesn't need to change her husband's surname to be a housewife, she can have her own career."

This guy! I can't see it, but I'm really good at licking!

The other two men looked sideways at Masao Doi, who was in the same row, and his appearance was not good, so he started with family treatment, right?

Such a big beauty, I call!

Daisuke Mori glanced back at Noto Kiko, who was out of her body and stuck in a memory, and said ruthlessly.

"My attitude is the same, independent women in the new era have a special beauty."

"I'm the same, the old traditional customs are no longer adapted to the current environment."

Yuta Tomihara, a technical otaku, also added, and the three men treated each other coldly for the prey they fancied, and the atmosphere became tense for a while.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little tired, so I'll quit first."

Noto Kiko's memories were shattered, and the news about Kazuya Suhara's marriage made her inexplicably lost, and she suddenly got up to say goodbye very politely.

"It's all you, what kind of marriage topic is talking about, and it scared Miss Kiko away."

"Didn't you say that? The eyes are about to protrude, can't you be a little reserved? ”

"Bastard, I'm going to teach you a lesson."

After closing the door, there was the sound of men arguing and fighting, but Noto Kiko didn't care about it.

Stopping a taxi on the side of the road with a brand new 10,000-yen bill, the little couple who was obviously the first to greet her, watched angrily as she got into the back seat, and raised a friendly middle finger.

"It's rare to see such a generous guest like you! Where to go? ”

The driver accepted the money, she smiled a little bitterly and replied.

"Maybe in a few years, the roadside will be full of customers waiting for the bus with big bills, and our country will be growing rapidly."

Looking sideways at the lights outside the car window, she reported a place that was not developing quickly, and there was a small oden shop in the shopping street where she often went to high school.

In the shopping street at midnight, when all the shops are closed, Noto Kiko takes off her high heels and walks barefoot to the oden shop.

"Poor management, store transfer."

She tilted her head and muttered the notice on the scroll door, it turned out that this place was also abandoned by the times and did not survive this summer.

Squat down and look up at the deep sky, where the stars are dwindling and the fast-paced modern life, with the accompanying billowing industrial smoke, obscuring them.

"I was going to be unable to marry at the age of thirty, and then I was cheaper than that young and enthusiastic sports stupid, but I didn't expect to be preempted."

She complained, looked at the contact number of the store transfer, and stood up to make up her mind.

"Let's take down this shop, sister, I'm going to lie flat."

In this way, for nearly forty years, the twenty-eight-year-old Noto Kiko has become a sixty-three-year-old Noto mother-in-law.

(End of chapter)