"Why don't we sit down first? It's not good to stand like this all the time." Yushan Heren looked around and pointed to the table next to him.
Doma nodded, took a step forward, sat down against the wall, and patted the chair next to him: "Sit over here, Ebina-san."
Ebina Nana nodded shyly and sat next to Doma Yui. Hayama Kazuto blinked and also sat by the wall, right opposite Doma Yui.
Chapter 609 Traitor!
Doma Mai looked up at Hayama Kazuto and suddenly felt her cheeks getting hot. She quickly turned her head and looked at Ebina Nana.
"Mr. Ebina, since you are from Akita, why do you want to apply to a school in Tokyo?" As soon as she opened her mouth, Tsuchima asked directly.
Nana Ebina lowered her head. Although she had already explained it once to Kazuto Yuyama, she didn't mind explaining it a second time and started talking directly.
After hearing what Nana Ebina said, Doma finally let go of the heavy stone in his heart.
[It turns out that I wasn’t here for the scumbag senior. 】
[But even so, you have to be careful not to fall into the clutches of the scumbag senior, Ebina Nana! ]
"In other words, Ebina-san, your brother ran away from home and came to Tokyo to work at this black bean ramen restaurant?" Domama Yui confirmed.
"Hmm." Ebina Nana's voice was very soft, like the hum of a mosquito.
"But... in my impression, this store has always been run by Uncle Hei Dou alone." Doma Mai blinked and said.
Doma Yui has lived in Shinmachi Apartment for almost two years and has been to Black Bean Ramen many times, but each time she has only seen Uncle Black Bean.
"But, but judging from Mr. Kuro Bean's tone, he should know my brother." Ebina Nana said timidly.
"Is that so?" Tsuchima fell into deep thought.
Uncle Kurodo knew Koichiro Ebina, but he didn't want to mention him.
Doma Yui has already imagined a sad story in her mind about how Koichiro Ebina made a big mistake and made Uncle Kuro Bean regret it.
"Apart from the information about black bean ramen, is there no other information about your brother?" Tsuchima Mai asked.
Nana Ebina shook her head. The postcard that Koichiro Ebina sent to his family was the only message he received after he ran away from home.
After looking at Nana Ebina and Doma, I felt that things were a bit troublesome.
Uncle Kurodo is reluctant to mention Ebina Koichiro, but Ebina Nana only has this one clue. If Uncle Kurodo still doesn't speak, this clue will be completely broken.
"Could it be that he worked here a few years ago and then quit?" Yushan Heren suddenly asked.
"If I resign, Uncle Kuro Bean won't be so angry, right?" Doma Mai said uncertainly.
"Umaru-chan, I remember that Ohira seems to be a regular customer of this store. Why don't you ask him?" Yushan Kazuto said with a blink.
Doma Ohira was indeed a regular customer of Black Bean Ramen, and had been eating there longer than Yushan Kazuto and Doma Mei. Doma Mei nodded, picked up her phone and called Doma Ohira.
The phone rang several times before Doma Ohira answered it.
"Mamoru-chan, what's the matter? I'm not going home tonight."
In the afternoon, Ohira Doma had to work overtime again and couldn't go home at night.
"Brother, I'm eating noodles at Black Bean Ramen right now. I want to ask, a few years ago, was there a young chef named Ebina at Black Bean Ramen?"
"Ebina? Who is that?" Doma Ohira said with some confusion.
Hearing this, Ebina Nana's heart sank.
Suddenly, Doma Ohira seemed to remember something: "But speaking of young chefs, there is indeed one. He seems to be the apprentice of Uncle Kuroto. His cooking skills are pretty good. I don't know his specific name."
Koichiro Ebina doesn't like contact with outsiders very much, and although Ohira Doma has a good personality, he is not the kind of person who is very outgoing.
Although I have eaten Ebina Koichirō's food several times, I never knew his name.
Doma Daihei's words immediately gave Ebina Nana hope, as if there was a ray of hope after all the darkness.
"Then brother, do you know why the young chef is not at Black Bean Ramen now?" Doma Mai asked while the iron was hot.
"This? I really don't know. It seemed like he suddenly disappeared, and then Uncle Hei Dou has been running the business alone until now." said Doma Ohira.
In fact, he didn't care too much about this matter. After all, the main reason for eating black bean ramen is the cooking of Uncle Black Bean. Although Ebina Koichiro's cooking skills are not bad, there is still a certain gap compared with Uncle Black Bean.
"But when I was drinking with Uncle Hei Dou, I seemed to hear him mention something about a traitor... I'm not sure about the details."
As Doma Ohira spoke to the end, his speech became faster and faster. Doma Mai seemed to hear other people calling Doma Ohira's name on the phone.
After hanging up the phone, Doma Mai looked at Ebina Nana. Doma Mai was on the speakerphone when she was calling just now, so Ebina Nana could hear the whole conversation clearly.
When she heard the word "traitor" once, Nana Ebina's expression looked a little unhappy. Did Ebina Koichiro betray his family, run away from home, and then betray the Black Bean uncle who took him in at Black Bean Ramen?
"Miss Doma, here's your assorted vegetable ramen." Uncle Hei Dou served a bowl of hot noodles, but he saw that Yushan and the other two were keeping their eyes on him.
The three looks made Uncle Hei Dou feel uncomfortable, and he couldn't help but ask: "Why are you looking at me? If you want to eat noodles, just order some. I won't treat you."
"Uncle Kurodo, Komari has just called and asked Ohira about some things." Yushan Kazuto said.
Uncle Hei Dou's expression became even uglier: "Since you've asked, why are you still looking at me?"
"I want to know what you mean when you say Ebina Koichiro is a traitor?"
He looked at Uncle Hei Dou with sharp eyes, which made Uncle Hei Dou a little scared.
He recalled that he once wanted to complain to Doma Ohira about Ebina Koichiro while he was slightly tipsy due to the alcohol, but after just a few words, Doma Ohira was called away by a phone call.
I finally managed to find someone to vent to, but unexpectedly, before I could finish, the other person had already passed away.
I looked at Yushan and the other two, then looked at the door. There were no customers in the store now. Yushan and the other two were the only three customers in the store.
"Forget it. There's no one in the store now anyway, so I'll just talk to you." Uncle Hei Dou said with a long sigh.
Yushan Kazuto nodded: "I'm all ears."
"He came to my store more than seven years ago. You should know this."
The three of them nodded. Uncle Kurodo had already mentioned this matter before. Although Doma Mai didn't hear it, she had heard Ebina Nana talk about it.
"At the time, I thought he came to eat noodles. After hearing his Akita accent, I thought he was a tourist, so I was ready to rip him off by using the most expensive noodles in the store," Uncle Hei Dou continued.
Yushan Heren blinked. Although he had known for a long time that Uncle Heidou was not a good person, he did not expect that he had the habit of overcharging customers.
Chapter 610: Black Bean's Past
"But I didn't expect that the kid took the menu and directly ordered the first kind of ramen. It was only 500 yen, and even my labor fee was more than 500!" Uncle Hei Dou raised his tone, as if he wanted to emphasize it.
Doma Mai looked at the 650 yen bowl of assorted vegetable ramen in front of her and suddenly felt a little nervous.
"He left after eating ramen. I thought he was a backpacker and I might never see him again. But I didn't expect that the guy would come again at dinner time." Uncle Hei Dou seemed to be lost in memories, with a gleam in his eyes.
"Uncle Heidou, I remember that your memory is not very good. Some regular customers have come more than ten times, but you still can't remember what they look like." Yushan Heren blinked and said.
"That kid always has a shrimp ring tied on his head. It's very conspicuous and you can't forget it once you see it!" Uncle Hei Dou glared at Yushan Heren.
Yushan Kazuto shrugged and didn't say anything else, so Uncle Kurodou continued.
"In the afternoon, he ordered the second type of ramen on the menu, and it still cost 500 yen. I was almost pissed off."
At Uncle Black Bean's, ramen that costs less than 800 yen does not contain meat. Most diners order ramen that costs more than 1,000 yen. After all, Uncle Black Bean's cooking skills are indeed worth the price.
The reason why Doma Mai ordered mixed vegetable ramen was because Yushan Kazuto was here. If it were any other day, she would at least order fried chicken curry ramen.
"After he finishes eating and leaves, I hope he won't come again. I don't want to keep making 500 yen ramen for people."
"But when we opened in the evening, he came again! This time he ordered the third type of ramen on the menu, which costs 600 yen. It's the mixed vegetable ramen that you, Doma-chan, are eating now."
Uncle Heidou paused and said, "The price has increased now. Vegetable prices have skyrocketed, so the mixed vegetable ramen has also increased by 50 yen."
Doma Mai blinked. It turned out that the ramen she was eating was originally priced at 600 yen. She paid 50 yen more, but in the eyes of Uncle Kuro Bean, it was still 600 yen and she was a despised diner.
"For several days after that, I could see that brat with the shrimp ring on his head during every meal and midnight snack!"
"He tried every dish on my menu, and after a few days, the only dish he hadn't tried was the giant seafood noodle."
The seafood giant noodles, priced at 18,800 yen, is the most expensive ramen among black bean ramen.
I ate there once at Yushan and others. Although it was expensive, the ingredients were very good, the portions were large, and the seafood was very fresh. Overall, it was worth the price.
"I originally thought that after he finished eating this bowl of seafood noodles, he probably wouldn't come again, but I didn't expect that I was wrong." Uncle Hei Dou shook his head.
Hayama Kazuto blinked. Did Ebina Koichiro run away from home with a lot of money? Can you eat all the seafood noodles?
"For three days, he didn't come back."
Uncle Hei Dou sighed. The giant seafood noodles cost 18,800 yen. After deducting the cost of ingredients, he could still make 7,000 to 8,000 yen. This is much more than the ordinary ramen that costs 500 yen per portion. One portion is better than a hundred portions!
I originally thought that Koichiro Ebina would help me make a big profit in the end, but I didn't expect that he would not come!
Yushan Kazuto couldn't help but grin. It turned out that he had misunderstood. He thought Ebina Koichiro had eaten several meals of seafood noodles in a row!
"But on the fourth day, he came. He came in the afternoon, with deep panda eyes, and ordered seafood noodles directly. This was his ultimate goal." Uncle Hei Dou said.
Nana Ebina listened very carefully, after all, it was about her brother.
Although Ebina Koichiro had been away from home for a long time, and when he left, Ebina Nana was only seven years old, it is hard to say how deep their direct feelings were.
However, Nana Ebina has seen the expressions of her parents at home, and she hopes to find Koichiro Ebina, at least to make her parents happier.
"He ate the seafood noodles very slowly, as if he was savoring some rare delicacy. I felt a little embarrassed watching him."
Although he said so, Uncle Hei Dou had a smug expression on his face. He was still confident in the ramen he made.
"But when it came time to pay, he knelt down and said he wanted to become my disciple."
"Of course I won't agree to being my apprentice. Not only will you learn my cooking skills, but you won't have to pay for the noodles!"
"Seeing that I disagreed, he didn't insist. He took out his wallet, gave me a Fukuzawa Yukichi note, four thousand-yuan bills, and forty-eight hundred-yuan coins, and left."
Speaking of this, Uncle Hei Dou felt a little melancholy. This experience left a deep impression on him. The wrinkled banknotes and the oily hundred-yuan coins were still fresh in his memory.
"I was very curious as to why he gave me so many coins. There was no one else in the store, so I closed the shop and secretly followed him."
"I found out that he was staying in a free hotel. It's the kind of hotel that allows people to stay for free for seven days as long as they register. It's more like a haunted house than a hotel. And in the corridor of the haunted house, there's a fried noodle food truck."
Although Black Bean Ramen is a ramen restaurant, it actually also does fried noodles business. Especially when it turns into an izakaya at night, the fried noodles business is actually very good.
"When I saw the fried noodles food cart, I knew where his money came from. He prepared a little in the room and then pushed the food cart out. I followed him secretly from behind, but maybe he was too tired and didn't notice me at all."
"Chow mein food truck
I put it at the entrance of the park, took a look, and then went back to prepare for the evening izakaya business. "
"When the business was over in the evening, I didn't know why I was still concerned, so I came to the park entrance and found that brat was still setting up his stall."
Izakayas are usually open until three or four in the morning. Seeing that they were still selling fried noodles outside at such a late hour, it was obvious that Koichiro Ebina's life was actually very difficult.
"Thinking that the giant seafood noodles he had in the afternoon might be all his income in the past few days, I walked over and prepared to order some fried noodles to repay him."
Yushan Kazuto couldn't help but blink. This kind of fried noodles on the street usually costs 300 to 500 yen per serving. How can it be compared with the seafood giant noodles that cost 18,800 yen?
"To be honest, it's pretty unpalatable, but the price of 200 yen can indeed attract those young people who don't have much money and have just arrived in Tokyo to work hard."
"I recall that when I first came to Tokyo, I didn't have much money and was very careful with every penny I spent, but he was able to spend his hard-earned money on seafood noodles without blinking an eye."
“This is a kind of love, a love for cooking, and also a kind of trust, a trust in me!”
Chapter 611: Starting Your Own Business
"I accepted him as my disciple. You should know the situation of my family. I live alone, so I took him in as well."
"He is very hardworking. Although his basic skills are very average, he learns very quickly. In the first year, he could only do tasks like cutting vegetables and serving dishes. After a year, he could already do some simple cooking."
After Uncle Hei Dou finished speaking, he looked at Doma Mai and said, "Doma girl, the mixed vegetable ramen you are eating now was made by that brat back then."
Tsuchiya felt a little aggrieved. Why did everyone talk about her?
"He's growing very fast, at least much faster than when I was learning cooking. I originally thought I was crazy and was doing charity, but I didn't expect to pick up a culinary genius." Uncle Hei Dou laughed as he spoke.
"In just a few years, his cooking skills have already approached mine. Although he still lacks a little flavor, diners who are not particularly picky usually can't taste the difference between my cooking and his."
Uncle Hei Dou stopped talking and seemed a little depressed.
"If that's the case, then the reason he left home was because he changed jobs?" Yushan Heren blinked and said.
After being trained by Uncle Kurodo, Koichiro Ebina was poached by another restaurant. In this situation, Uncle Kurodo was not wrong to call him a traitor.
"Almost the same, but there are still some differences." Uncle Hei Dou sighed and said.
"He set up his own business and went out to open a shop."
