Page 52
"Excuse me, are there four of you?"
The waiter led the new guests to a table near the window. It was past the normal meal time, but there were still many guests in the restaurant. Lingye and the others waited for more than ten minutes and changed three tables before it was their turn.
"Business here is still just as good," Nadeshiko said with some nostalgia as she looked at the layout of the restaurant.
This restaurant was opened in the same year that she and Fujitaka got married. I heard that the founder is a Japanese-American who has returned from overseas and is also a very famous star chef in France.
However, the restaurant is not a high-end restaurant, but a family restaurant. Although the prices are high, they are within the affordable range of the working class. Therefore, the business has been very good since its opening.
"Would you like to order now?" The waiter handed over the menu and took out a pen and order card.
Just as the four were about to look through the menu, another voice interrupted.
"Let me take care of this, you go and greet the other guests."
The interrupted waiter looked at the person who was speaking with some surprise, then nodded hurriedly and retreated.
It turned out to be that terrible chef Sigong! As for why the chef Sigong thought of receiving guests personally, it certainly had nothing to do with a little waiter like him. Slip away! Slip away!
When Ling saw who was coming, she was also surprised.
"Chef Shinomiya? Why are you here?"
"Because this is my shop. Good afternoon, miss."
Ah? Ling realized it later. She knew that Chef Shinomiya had his own restaurant in Tokyo, but she didn't expect it to be here. But then she remembered that the name of the restaurant, SHINO'S, is pronounced as "Shinomiya" in Japanese. She was not surprised anymore.
No one knows Shinomiya's cooking skills better than Lingye, no wonder the business here is so popular.
"I'm sorry, Miss, because of the olive oil, some dishes, including vegetable salads, are not recommended for ordering."
“Is there something wrong with olive oil?”
"I usually use olive oil from Okayama Olive Farm, which is relatively clear, thin and transparent, but the supply was cut off for a short period of time due to transportation reasons. The Moroccan olive oil I use now has a completely different taste, so I need to redesign the recipe."
"Chef Shinomiya is too serious. It's just because of the impact of transportation, not because of a long-term supply interruption, so he specially redesigned the menu. This is too much."
Ling also knew that what Chef Shigong meant by "redesigning the menu" was not just one or two dishes, but all dishes involving olive oil. In French cuisine, olive oil is one of the most basic ingredients. This meant that nearly half of the dishes in the restaurant had to be redesigned.
Regardless of whether it was laborious or not, Ling also felt that her taste buds could not taste any difference between the olive oil from Okayama and Morocco. She was confident that she could represent the vast majority of diners.
However, I don’t know if Ling has a talent for bad luck, but with just one sentence “long-term supply interruption”, problems arose at the olive plantation in Okayama.
TAC Team Headquarters
Yoshimura changed out of the TAC team uniform he wore all year round and put on a light outfit.
"What's up, Yoshimura, you are on vacation too?" Konno, who had just returned to the team after vacation, asked when he saw Yoshimura's dress.
"Yes, the captain approved me for ten days of vacation."
"So long?" Konno was a little envious. He had a relative who passed away, and the captain only approved five days of leave. Plus one day to deal with the super beast, a total of only four days of leave.
"It will be the tenth anniversary of my father's death in two days, so the captain allowed me to visit his grave."
"Oh, sorry, please accept my condolences." Konno realized that he had said the wrong thing and said a few words of Amitabha. "Then I wish you a safe journey. Don't be like me and encounter super beasts even on vacation. By the way, I remember that your hometown is also Okayama?"
"Yes, Kibitsu in Okayama."
"Kibitsu, that's a really remote place."
Kibitsu is located on the north side of Okayama, a little distance from Konno's hometown on the Seto Sea. In Konno's impression, there are many shrines there. There are eight million gods in Japanese legend, and there is no eight million shrine there, but there are many kinds of sacrifices, and there is even a "Fukudakai Shrine" dedicated to the sacrifice of the bull nose ring.
Among all the objects worshipped at the shrine, the most famous one is probably Kibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto. After all, the story of Momotaro is well known to everyone. As the prototype of Momotaro, the place name Kibitsu may also come from this.
"But I remember there was an olive grove there?"
"Yes, it's near my home. The owner is a nice man. When I was a kid, I followed my father to work there for a while when he was harvesting olives. The wages were paid daily, and that night I took the money and bought candy. My father slapped me on the head."
"Haha." Konno laughed twice. Who hasn't done this kind of embarrassing thing when they were young? When he was young, he also fished in the sea to exchange for candy, but children nowadays can't experience that.
At that time, everyone was poor and would spend every penny as much as possible. If you exchanged necessities such as money and food for candy, even if the food was earned by the child himself, you would be severely criticized by your parents.
After saying goodbye to his colleagues from the TAC team, Yoshimura packed a suitcase and went to the train station.
Not to mention that Yoshimura met a very familiar guy on the train, on this side, Reiya and the other three had a sumptuous lunch - but for Reiya, since the food was also prepared by his own chef, it was no different from eating at home.
At the dinner table, Lingye and Nadeshiko tacitly agreed not to talk about anything until they left.
"Mom, won't you come home with me? Why?"
Seeing Sakura's pitiful eyes, Nadeshiko almost softened her heart, but she knew very well what troubles she would bring to her family if she went home.
She was already a dead person. Unlike those who had been missing for many years and were presumed dead but returned home, her death was clearly recorded from the hospital, funeral home to the cemetery.
Regardless of whether Fujitaka believes that she is the real person, once she shows up among the neighbors, she will definitely be greeted by the police or even the TAC team.
She didn't want to bring any more trouble to the Kinomoto family.
"Sakura, Aunt Nadeshiko will be staying at my house for the next few days. I will take good care of her, and you can come over anytime."
Listening to Lingya's words, Sakura had no choice but to nod.
She was not a baby who knew nothing. In fact, she knew very well what the "messenger of the Yabo people" meant. The Yabo people, who suddenly declared war on the earth more than half a year ago, created many super beasts and had formed a blood feud with the people on earth.
If her identity as the "Yawa Emissary" is revealed, she will become the sworn enemy of the Earthlings, and the police, the army, and the TAC team will not let her go. But Sakura prefers to believe that she is the mother in her memory.
Back to reality, she also realized that letting her mother go home was not a good option. Perhaps only Lingye's manor had enough space to accommodate her without causing trouble.
What Sakura didn't know was that Ling couldn't completely let down her guard regarding the identity of this 'Awa Messenger'.
No matter how harmless Amamiya Nadeshiko acted, who could tell if it was a conspiracy of the Yawa people? Even if she knew nothing about it, how could we guarantee that the Yawa people didn't have a hidden hand on her?
Only by keeping him by her side can she feel a little more at ease.
As Ling also wanted to bring one more person in the car, the butler didn't ask any more questions and he started the car as usual.
"Miss, do you have any other plans today?"
"No, just go home."
Originally, she did, and she was going to go to the bookstore to buy some reference books.
Although she was a high school student, she only had math and English, and the other subjects were useless. If she didn't work harder, she couldn't afford to be looked down upon by elementary school students.
But there is no rush, it doesn’t matter if I buy it next time.
I kind of miss the old Dangdang, but as far as Ling knows, even in 2022, there is no systematic online shopping channel in Japan, which is really inconvenient.
Maybe after selling off some of the shares of companies that used to be owned by the Oshima Group, I can try to invest in this myself? Alibaba or something like that, it seems to be quite profitable.
But after thinking about it, I decided to forget it. In this world, a random super beast could destroy a bunch of express distribution points. Not to mention making money, it would be hard to make up for the losses. Even if the Yabo people were driven away, who knew if there would be other aliens?
Ace (Beidou) had once told her that in this galaxy, the Yabo people couldn't even get a spot. If the Kingdom of Light really wanted to target them, it wouldn't take much, just a small team of a few hundred Ultra Warriors, and these people from other dimensions would have already fled to the deepest part of the dimensional sea.
There are many more terrifying dark empires in the universe, such as the Gua Empire, the Anperla Empire, etc., which are enough to challenge the Kingdom of Light. These terrifying guys may set their sights on the Earth at any time.
While Lingye was daydreaming, the car drove all the way back to the manor.
Chapter 67 Negotiation
The next time I saw Nadeshiko was in the study.
She had already taken a shower and changed into new clothes.
Three days of living in the wild is not a good experience. No matter how beautiful a girl is, it would be unbearable to watch her not changing clothes or taking a shower for three days in such hot weather.
Although the clothes that Fuzi was originally wearing were provided by the Yawa people, they were not high-tech, but just ordinary clothes from Earth. It is easy to imagine what it would be like to camp among the dead branches and leaves in the jungle for three days.
Having filled her stomach before, and now taking a shower and changing clothes in the bathroom, getting rid of the mud, Fuzi finally felt truly alive.
"These are all my old clothes. I don't know if they will fit me."
Maria was the only one in Oshima Manor who could provide clothes of similar sizes. Nadeshiko and Maria were of similar age and body types.
At the age of 18, Nadeshiko was tricked by Fujitaka into agreeing to her marriage proposal. At the age of 19, she gave birth to Sakura. She died of illness when Sakura was three years old. She left the world at an age when her best years had just begun. Time stopped for seven years, and now she is only 21 years old when she died.
Maria is also in her twenties. (How much is still a secret)
Maria lent Nadeshiko a light yellow Bohemian-style dress with layered lace and Bohemian-style cutouts, which gave it a flamboyant temperament.
Wearing this kind of clothes is like wearing three bracelets just like others wear one. It is hard to imagine that the quiet Maria once wore such clothes.
It is difficult for most people to wear such clothes, and if they are not careful, they will become an overly flamboyant gypsy girl performing on the street. However, it looks surprisingly good on Amamiya Nadeshiko, perhaps because she is a beautiful woman who looks good in anything.
"The clothes are very nice, thank you Maria. I have something I want to talk to Nadeshiko... Sister."
Ling also hesitated about addressing Nadeshiko.
In front of Sakura, she would of course call Nadeshiko Auntie. But in front of Maria, if she called Nadeshiko, who was younger than her, Auntie, it might be seen as a veiled criticism. Ling also knew that Maria was the one who cared the most about her age.
"Okay, I understand. If you need anything, please ring me."
After Maria left and closed the door, only Reiya and Nadeshiko were in the study.
This used to be Mr. Oshima's study. There are many professional economics books on the bookshelves. The whole environment is formal and calm.
After all, this can be considered a negotiation between two civilizations. Even if it cannot be arranged at the circular table of the United Nations Security Council, it would not seem to match well if it were placed in a pink room full of stuffed toys. So Ling also deliberately chose this slightly solemn room.
She still thinks she is a human being, and there are things that she is unwilling to say, but this is her mission as a Yabo messenger, and it is set in her memory and she cannot resist it. The reason why she was chosen is that the Yabo people think that her identity overlaps with that of Gaia's spokesperson, and they can communicate better.
"If you have anything to convey, you can say it now."
Reiya's words seemed to have pressed a switch, and Nadeshiko was no longer herself in an instant.
Now she is the Yabo Messenger.
"Good day, Your Majesty. I come here with Yabo's sincerity. Because of some misunderstandings before, Barabas and Ace Killer hurt you. Please believe that it was not our intention. After realizing your identity, as long as you stop interfering in the dispute between Yabo and humans, we will never harm the earth."
These are the words set in Nadeshiko's memory. Ling also knows that at this moment she is just a repeating machine, and the one who is talking to her is Yawa.
"Not harming the Earth? So you use the demon star Koala to hit the Earth?"
"This is a huge misunderstanding! Your Majesty, you must know that the Metrons have nothing to do with us Yabo people! It was that idiot Metron who tried to make the evil star Koala crash into the earth!"
"But you sent out the Ultra Beasts at that time."
"Yes, we admit that we did want to use the help of the Metrons to eliminate Ace and the TAC team and force humans to surrender. But we definitely did not mean to destroy the Earth. We understand the value of this planet better than humans! Even without the Maria II missile, we Yabo people are ready with star-destroying weapons to destroy the evil planet Koala. We just took the opportunity to put pressure on humans! When it comes to protecting the Earth, we are more determined than humans!"
Ling also believed this. If the earth was destroyed, everything the Yabo people had invested before would be meaningless.
She took off the brooch that decorated her clothes and played with it casually. The bird-shaped brooch turned into a bracelet, then a ring, and then a hairpin.
Nadeshiko's eyes could not help but turn to the ornament. Yawa clearly felt the disgusting aura on the ornament - the aura from the Kingdom of Light.
"What about Gogda? This planet wasn't created by the Metrons, was it?"
"Yes, the planet Gogda was created by us Yabo people, but as you can see, this planet has a self-destruct device. It is just a trap we set for the Ultra Brothers. We never thought of using it to really harm the Earth. Even if the Ultra Brothers are not fooled, once they approach the solar system, its self-destruct device will be activated and blow it into powder. It will not have any effect on you in the dark universe."