Fulian Downstairs Oden

<log-day X month X>

The unemployed young man from yesterday did not show up today.However, the redhead woman said hello to me when she came by today.She said that her hometown is in Russia, and she is currently living in the United States as a programmer for a company.It turned out that I also came to New York from a faraway place. It is really gratifying to see the energetic appearance of young people.

Her name is Natasha, my pronunciation is not standard, but fortunately she didn't take my awkward pronunciation as impolite behavior.In addition, her English sounds like an American. I really envy these young people who are good at everything.

<log-day X month X>

Towards evening today, I saw the unemployed young man.He still looks haggard, but his brows are more relaxed than the day before yesterday, maybe it's because he got good news yesterday when he went to apply for a job, so I'm really happy for him.

In as kind a tone as possible, I invited him to sit in the store and have something to eat.I prepared beef balls, fish rolls and crab meatballs for him.He stared at me for a long time, ah, my spoken English must be so poor, stammering, and with a non-standard accent, which confused him.

But eventually, the young man smiled at me and said...

say, say...

What he said was: "Arigado!"

For an elderly person like me, it would be too inappropriate for me to cry in the street.

But really... Ever since I came to the United States, I have never heard my hometown dialect!

I chatted with him a lot about trivial things about my hometown, and he listened with a gentle smile all the time.It can be seen that he also likes to eat oden.Chatting and chatting, before I knew it, it was getting dark, and it was time to close.This young man named Zhenmei or Jiami (in short, it has a pronunciation similar to Jamy, no matter how strange my pronunciation is, he will agree with a good temper, what a polite young man!) After politely thanking, he also helped I tidied up the stall, saving me a lot of energy.

And it looks really handsome.It's a pity that I don't have a daughter, otherwise I must ask Jamy to be my son-in-law.

<log-day X month X>

I haven't seen Jamy in the past two days, but this morning, someone sent Arctic shellfish and South American ice shrimp, and asked me to cook them.The man said that his company boss's housekeeper said that his boss was going to come to the store at noon to eat those things.

That’s right, of course, it’s most atmospheric to eat oden in a shop that sells oden.

At noon, the mustache came again.He had a tired look on his face, but he seemed to be in a good mood.While eating, Mustache said that his butler is indeed the most considerate butler in the world, even small things like oden cooking can be arranged so perfectly, it is worthwhile for him to take that butler with him wherever he goes.

It didn't look like his eyes were talking to me, but there was no one else in the store.Maybe the mustache is a little absent-minded because he is too tired.

And he came here by himself, and he didn't bring his housekeeper with him.

<log-day X month X>

When it opened early this morning, Jamy was there to help.This young man always appeared when no one was around, probably because of his shy personality.He ate the oden I gave him and thanked him.Hey, what a nice young man, I don't know if he has found a job and what his life is like.I had an idea and thought of a way that might help him.

I gave Jamy some money and asked him to go to the store on the other side of the street and buy some seasoning for the soup.For the rest, I said to him, please be sure to keep it, and treat it as a labor fee for helping me. Jamy seemed to hesitate, but agreed.His actions are very fast. It usually takes half an hour for me to walk to the store, but it only took him about ten minutes to buy all the things and come back.In fact, young people don't have to be so anxious.

Somehow he remembered the Japanese-speaking friend Steve had mentioned.If Steve's friends hadn't been killed in Iraq, they'd probably be the same age as Jamy now, and probably speak Japanese just as well.

<log-day X month X>

I haven't seen Jamy in the past few days, but Sam has been here many times, and sometimes Natasha will come too.The young man who came with Natasha today looks like he might be her boyfriend.He has tasted almost every kind of oden, boiled radish, kelp knots, chikuwa, konjac, fish balls, shrimp balls, crab meat balls and so on.If he eats something that he thinks is delicious, he will ask Natasha to try it too.

Of course, every kind of oden I sell is delicious, so almost every food is eaten by them one by one.The open-minded American youths are also cute.

Mustache came at night, and this time he tried several other common ingredients.During this time, he would come over every few days. Sometimes someone would deliver prepared ingredients in advance, and sometimes he would buy cooked ordinary oden.

But give a lot of tips every time!

<log-day X month X>

Today a very tall and strong blond man came to my store and asked if there was any fried chicken for sale, haha.But after trying the chicken crispy meatballs I recommended and a few other ingredients, he seemed to have forgotten about the fried chicken, and bought a lot of Oden and ate it while full of praise.

It is really a very fulfilling thing!

The man was chatty and talked about having a younger brother.But I didn't understand a lot of what he said, I feel...it seems to be a very polite way of expression.And the hair is so long, I probably studied classical art when I was studying.

Today Steve came with Sam.To congratulate him on his recovery, I presented him with a large portion of braised beef.He was very happy at first, but his expression became a little sad while eating. Steve said that eating delicious beef would remind him of his best friend who robbed the enemy's supply truck in order to grab canned beef on the battlefield.

Sam, who heard these words, also sighed, hesitant to speak.What a sentimental young man, Steve and his best friend must have been able to give each other their backs when they were in Iraq!

<log-day X month X>

The big blond guy who came yesterday is here again today.He likes to eat meat very much, and he eats a lot.Probably because of getting used to it, I understand what he said today better than yesterday.According to what he meant, it probably meant that he had an adopted younger brother who was at odds with his parents and ran away from home. He came out to look for his younger brother.

I said in my shaky English that brotherhood is so precious, even an adopted brother should be harmonious and loving.I don't know if he understands this sentence.He also talked about some things about his younger brother when he was a child. If such a cute child is not properly guided, he will inevitably become rebellious when he grows up.

<log-day X month X>

It just opened this morning and Jamy's at it again.He seemed to have taken care of it, and his face became refreshed, but the long hair was still not cut short, covering his face.Maybe this is the fashion that young Americans like.As usual, I took out oden to treat him to eat, but Jamy paid for it this time, and said that he found a job, received a salary, and came here to eat oden to celebrate.I just noticed that Jamy was holding a big gift box in his hand. He said it was a gift for me, and thanked me for taking care of him during this time.

That is to say, such a good guy, how could anyone not want to hire him.

But in order to congratulate him, this meal is still my treat.

Inside the gift box are Daifuku biscuits, a taste of hometown that I have never tasted since I came to the United States.Oh, why don't I have a daughter? If I have a daughter, I must ask Jamy to be my son-in-law.

<log-day X month X>

These days Jamy sometimes comes to eat some oden and chat with me.In addition to the little things about my hometown, I also chat with him about the daily guests, and no matter what I say, Jamy is a good person to chat with.He also speaks Japanese as fluently as a Japanese.However, Jamy usually comes to the store in the early morning or evening when there is no one in the store.If it is night, he will help me put away the stall.

How wonderful it would be if I had such a successful son or son-in-law!

Today Steve and Natasha came to have oden together. Steve, as nice as ever, said they and Natasha's boyfriend were colleagues. Natasha doesn't talk much, but she always lowers her voice when she speaks, and she speaks so fast that I can't hear what they are saying at all.Maybe it's a colleague or boss in a gossip company, and you don't want others to hear it.

Although no one in the store probably knows their colleagues or superiors, as the old saying goes, walls have ears, and there is nothing wrong with being cautious.

<log-day X month X>

When there was no one in the store this morning, I was planning to take a rest when suddenly a young guy with hair dyed silver rushed over.The speed was so fast, I didn't even see where he was coming from.

It's too avant-garde to dye your hair this color. Think about it, many of the new and new people in Shibuya like this look.Alas, maybe I'm too old-fashioned.

The avant-garde young man bought some of every oden, please let me pack them up quickly.I said in very broken English, some are not cooked yet, please wait a moment, but he said that he sneaked out to buy snacks for himself and my sister, and asked me to replace the uncooked parts with cooked ingredients .As soon as he wrapped it, he threw down the money and disappeared with Kanto cooking.

Why are American young people so impatient.And judging by his age, he must be a high school student who skipped classes.Maybe I should ask Jamy to help write a sign next time (because I can't write it myself, and it will be very slow to check the Japanese-English dictionary): students who skip classes or staff who skip classes are not accepted.

<log-day X month X>

When Jamy came over today, he told me that he planned to leave the United States to live in another country some time ago, and he was reluctant to leave because my oden was so delicious.

Although I knew it was a joke just by looking at the grinning expression, but the mouth is so sweet, I was about to float.After all, my ultimate goal in life is to make the best oden in the world!

I told Jamy that if you want to experience life in other countries, you can also go on a business trip.There is a customer named Steve who often comes to my place, ah, he is a big guy with blond hair and blue eyes. It seems that he will go to a far country on a business trip in the past few days, and his colleague Natasha is also the same.

Jamy seemed to take my joke seriously. He said that if he was on a business trip, he would have to wait until he came back to eat my oden.

The rich mustache came at night, still wearing a single earphone.I'm a little curious as to what kind of music he likes to listen to so much.But this time, Mustache didn't eat his favorite ingredients. Instead, he ordered boiled kelp, tofu buns, boiled radish and shredded konjac with a reluctant expression.Hey, although they are all vegetarian dishes, don't be picky eaters to this extent.

After taking a sip, Mustache's expression became more relaxed. That is to say, every kind of oden I cook is delicious.When he raised his head to greet me, his face seemed to be flushed and his expression was very strange.So the headset he was wearing was actually on the phone. Did the person on the phone say anything to him?

<log-day X month X>

These days Steve, Natasha, Jamy, Sam, and the mustache didn't come, neither did Natasha's boyfriend, nor did the big guy who came out to find his brother.Although there was no sign saying that students who skipped classes were not accepted, the impatient high school student never came again.

That being said, I really miss them a bit.

Of course there are many repeat customers, but most of them just looked familiar and didn't say anything.

But today it is very interesting to have a tall young man here for the first time.He is good-looking, and he speaks English very well, but his accent seems to be different from other Americans, but he speaks slowly, and I can still understand him.

I'm an oden shop here, and I don't sell puddings.And how can I only eat sweets, no wonder my face is so pale, it must be because of my partial eclipse.

I recommend konjac and konjac shreds. The soft and elastic taste is similar to pudding, but it is much healthier than pudding.I also told him that even if he was in good health when he was young, he should not be careless about nutrition, otherwise, when he gets older, some diseases will always come to him.It's just that my English is really bad, and I don't know if he understands it.

It seemed that this young man was very satisfied with the oden cooking, but when he paid the bill, he left without waiting for change.I wanted to catch up with him, but he was walking too fast, so I ignored him.Forget it, since I am satisfied with the meal, maybe I will come to eat again in the future, so I will give him the extra money next time.

-TBC-

The author has something to say: In fact, Bucky's name is Jamie, but the old man is not a native speaker after all, and his English is not standard, so even the captain, when he hears the name "Zhenmei" or "Jamie", probably I can't think of any acquaintances...

In fact, Bucky's money was won from the casino, but the old man didn't know...

And when Bucky heard that the captain had a mission, he decisively found out the time, place, and nature of the mission with a little trick, and then quietly followed him to Sokovia~