139 5.28 Dinner, Supper and Breakfast and A Burst Of Emotions! (1/2)
Soon an oden seller was pushing his yatai and stopped right at our district. Hiko-sama quickly explained how the rotation of these sellers would be like.
”Izumi-chan and Riko-Chan, the order for these sellers would be as follows. The yatai be serving dinner first, then followed by supper and then some other foods to accompany those merry making residents of Kitakata village. These people I believed would end up last in the marketplace, right?”
”Yes, but we don't have enough money to spend because we only earn 2 coppers per day which is equivalent to 3 silvers per month only,” Riko answered earnestly as the thought of buying such foods from those sellers were considered as a once in a lifetime luxury.
Riko's words sank into me as I reflected how it seems that even I, had taken many things for granted without much appreciation. Sometimes blunt words could really strike deep into the hearts of others.
”Usually dinner would be Oden, Ramen or Gyudon and even Yakisoba. So decide on one first.”
”Onee-sama, I would like to have Ramen. It's been so long since I had eaten it. How about you, Onee-sama?”
”I would like to have Yakisoba, please.”
”OK, it's done. So how about you, kid? I'm taking Gyudon. You want to order the same as me or you have any other ideas?”
”Ah, Sensei. I'd settle for Oden this time. Last time I saw Mr Director was eating the Oden, but I have forgotten the actual term for it. I just remembered it and we used to call it 'Yong Tao Foo' since there was an egg, tofu, fishcakes, squid balls and other vegetables, am I right?”
As the oden seller was the first to arrive, I went ahead and placed my bowl on his yatai. Soon the rest followed and Izumi and Riko placed their bowls and placed Hiko-sama's bowl too for the Gyudon seller and returned back to the terrace.
They simply followed my actions and when the food was served to each individual, I paid up using the silvers from my coin pouch and the change I got back I placed them on my sides.
The moment Izumi and Riko saw the bulge of the coin pouch hanging from my obi, they can't help but watched it with bulging eyes. Thoughts racing in their minds that may be working as a housekeeper would reap in more rewards than being at the flower shop.
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They had simply forgotten about Karada Soap or maybe had slipped their minds. Because of them, I was like a young master while Hiko-sama was a grand master or something. Since there were the two of us, it seemed that eating out would be the best option, or so they thought.
As soon as our dinner was ready, we greeted our thanks to the food and soon dug in. Our dinner was simple but yet sumptuous for the four of us and those who appreciated these simple foods were our guests.
They had not eaten such foods which were considered as a luxury to them and only depended on home cooked meals. Even home cooked meals could sometimes be considered as a delicacy too.
After we had completed our dinner we graced and I carried the empty bowls back to the kitchenette and it was the norm for me to wash them immediately after meals. I had taken back the bar of soap, cutting board and knife and replaced them where they should be. The bar of soap that had been wrapped up was placed on the kitchenette countertop.
I joined them and a new seller was calling out his sales and we had never noticed him before. He was calling out ”Ramune...ek ek”. Hiko-sama summoned the seller and he came forward carrying a clear glass bottle.
”Ah, we have lemon-lime carbonated water here produced locally here in Kitakata village, dear sirs and madam. Would you like to try one? It's cheap and it costs only 4 coppers each.”
The thought of 4 coppers per bottle of drink made Izumi and Riko gasped in horror as it was worth 2 days salary.
”Give us 4 bottles, please. Here are 1 silver and 6 coppers for you. Thank you.”
”No, thank you, young master. Please wait a while I get you the drinks and show you how to drink it.”
A while later he returned with 5 bottles and the 5th he was holding was for his demo. He pointed at the tip, and it showed a clear marble and since the tip was shaped like a funnel.
He tipped the bottle down and no liquid came out, but if he tilted slightly, the marble moved and allows the liquid to flow out. It acts something like a purge valve. The demo bottle was filled with plain water and not the actual drink. After showing the demo, the three of them were holding to the bottle and was somehow sucking on the tip rather than tilting it.
To me, it's a simple purge valve method and it got to with gravity and the angle of the tip. However, there were many years ahead of its time and wondered how the cost of manufacturing these bottles affect the overall nett profit. At a cost of 4 coppers, even Izumi and Riko considered it like an investment.
I showed them how to drink this as I held the bottle almost horizontal to the floor and the liquid flowed smoothly.
”Wah... This is the first we buy this kind of drink in a glass bottle, and you already know how to expertly drink from it.”
”Ah...Sensei, it is called Physics. What we are doing was to allow the liquid to flow without disrupting the gravitational flow and push of this marble. If it moved to the tip, it acts as a stopper and prevents outflow and if the marble flows back, it prevents inflow.”
”I don't know what you mean by Physics, kid, but yeah, I can feel the liquid flowing out and into my mouth already.”
”Himura-kun, you seemed to be smart but you told me you never attended school. How did you learn so many things at the same age as my niece? She seemed quite hopeless and since she was this young, the flowers shop owner only pays her 1 copper per day only.”
I looked at Hiko-sama and he gave me a slight nod which signals that I could open up part of my life story. By this time the sellers selling supper came and I took the opportunity to break from continuing the discussion but changed the subject.
”Alright, Supper is now here. We do not have to eat them immediately since the preparation for each yatai would take from 3 to 15 minutes. So we would wait for our turn instead.”
”As for your questions, actually there was no relationship between me and Sensei. He was a samurai, who happened to pass by at the South Side of this village, about 3 days travel by foot. I was an adopted child, and I was self-taught in many trades. Suddenly a group of bandits came, and pillage our village. All the men and male children were killed, while the women and female children were bound and gagged, and was taken away to the bandits' lair. Sensei here found me half dead, and half buried in the snow, and decided to take me in as a disciple.”
They nodded in apprehension and said that both Izumi and Riko were not related to each other too. They started off as acquaintance. When they wanted to continue to speak, Hiko-sama raised his hand and said, ”We order supper by the number of us, OK?”
”Since there's 4 of us, so every supper would be bought for each one of us. Since there was quite a number of sellers passing by, our supper and our discussion can continue as long as we have something in the middle of us.”
In the end, we had bought the following for our supper and the rest could be kept for breakfast instead:
4 sticks of Yakitori consisting of several marinated chunks of chicken served with a savoury sauce and was for each one of us.
2 servings of Yakiniku consisting of an equal portion of squid and fish balls with a serving of 2 dipping sauce with a sprinkle of spring onions on it. There were some wooden skewers and Hiko-sama mentioned about a single dip policy. Once you dip and take a bite, you can't dip it again as we shared the dipping bowl.
1 portion of Senbei that was made of fish crackers that we all shared and Riko was the one happily munching the crackers.
4 servings of Okonomiyaki, a type of Japanese pizza on a soft round bread and topped with meat and vegetables and was baked on their portable charcoal oven on their yatai.
4 pieces of Yaki imo that we had reserved for breakfast each. As we have the raw ones, the 4 pieces would be brought home by the girls.
8 pieces of Taiyaki which were a dainty bite-sized piece of waffle-like baked cake filled with red bean paste. Both Hiko-sama and I took a piece each and gave the rest to Izumi and Riko to bring home for breakfast.
4 pieces of Kare pan that were steamed bun filled with curry and potatoes. It was quite savoury and it is quite bite-sized so it went down easily.
4 pieces of Gyoza which were a version of steamed bun that was fried instead and filled with sweetmeats.
4 pieces of Korokke which we gave to Izumi and Riko to bring back and they could it on their way home.
2 pieces of Tomorokoshi which were a type of grilled Japanese sweet corn that had been boiled first and then the ears had been removed before grilling over hot embers. We have the raw ones so it was for both Izumi and Riko instead.
4 pieces of Kushikatsu, a type of fish fillet that had been soaked in batter and fried with bread crumbs. These were enjoyed by the four of us as it was considered as a light snack.
With each arrival of foods presented before us, Riko never ceased to be amazed, and she never stops tugging at Izumi's sleeve before the former gave her head a nod, and the latter would fetch the food for her aunt and then for her.
”So how was it like being with us? I mean, look on the bright side. Both of you would have your own lodgings, a place to call your own, protected from the sun, wind rain and snow.”
”You can also cook on your own and the expenses to buy your own groceries you can take from the house's funds. Later I will tell you about the house's funds in detail.”
”You would be supplied with 5 sets of clothing such as 5 kimonos and 5 hakama of different colours and designs, 2 yakata, 2 zori and 5 tabi. As for the niceties, you can take the money from the house's funds.”