Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 79, 10. "Aquarium and Seaside Park - End"

After the penguin show, everyone decided to go to the restaurant in the aquarium for dinner.

This restaurant inside the museum also faces a huge aquarium, where palm algae and fern algae weave into a carpet of algae, and colorful tropical fish swim among the coral reefs.

They sat down at a long table and the waiter handed them menus.

Masumi took a quick look and saw that they were all seafood dishes. He complained with a strange look on his face:
"After seeing so much marine life, I'm going to eat seafood right away. Is this really a good idea?"

"Isn't it good?" Mami tilted her head slightly in confusion, then said matter-of-factly, "Doesn't this just prove the ingredients are fresh?"

"I remember there was deer hot pot in Nara." She propped her chin on her fingers, a look of nostalgia on her face. "I went there with my family."

Local stores will also specifically note that the ingredients used are not local deer in Nara.

Watching deer in Nara Deer Park during the day and feasting on deer hot pot at night, humans are also very cruel to life.

No, perhaps it is precisely because of this mentality of the strong that humans can stand at the top of the food chain and dominate the earth's biosphere.

While Masumi was daydreaming, he suddenly heard a question:
"What about you, Masumi-kun? What are you eating?"

"Hmm..." He looked at the menu and remembered that he had just seen a garden eel half buried in the sand and swaying with the water in the Marine Life Museum, so he ordered a grilled conger eel.

It shouldn't be grilled eels from the aquarium, right?

I feel like the garden eel is so thin, so its meat won’t be tasty.

Mami chose fatty tuna and salmon nigiri, paired with a spicy sake.

Kaizuki had a seafood toast pizza, Chiai and Rinone each ordered a seafood bowl, and Kurokawa Mio ordered a paella with shrimp and clams.

Except for Masumi's grilled conger eel, the other dishes did not take much time to prepare, so they were served one after another quickly.

"——Please enjoy your meal."

The grilled conger eel in front of Masumi is the authentic Kansai white-grilled style, not Kabayaki.

When processing, the eel is cut from the belly to retain more fat, and then grilled directly without adding sauce. After being baptized by charcoal fire, the eel meat is tender and plump. It is eaten with soy sauce, wasabi and grated radish to better reflect the original flavor of the eel.

Masumi sprinkled some sansho powder on it to remove the fishy smell. The fine green powder looks a bit like matcha.

Then use chopsticks to pick up a piece of eel meat and put it into your mouth.

Chew ~ chew ~
"Masumi, do you want some shrimp?"

Kurokawa Mio said with a smile: "It's peeled."

Although it was a question, there was no intention to seek his opinion. The peeled shrimp meat was naturally handed to Masumi's mouth.

"Come on, open your mouth."

She pretended to feed the baby.

"Thank you, I'll just do it myself."

Masumi put down his chopsticks, wiped his hands with a wet towel, and took the shrimp from Kurokawa Mio's fingers.

"stare--"

Hearing a murmur so soft that it sounded like a soliloquy, Masumi turned towards the direction of the voice and saw Kaitsuki staring at him.

"I want to eat...shrimp..."

"Oh, then I'll give this to you."

Masumi extended his forearm nonchalantly and handed her the shrimp.

Although this mysterious girl was wearing gloves, she looked dazed and didn't seem to intend to catch it with her hands.

When he was confused, Haiyue suddenly came closer, opened her mouth and bit Masumi's finger that was holding the shrimp.

"Eh!"

Masumi was startled and quickly retracted his shorter thumb, but his index and middle fingers were a little slow and were wrapped inside, subconsciously pinching the soft mass.

Haiyue immediately hummed "wooooo" and begged for mercy at him with her innocent and beautiful eyes.

Masumi sighed quietly and pulled out his wet fingers.

A crystal clear string of saliva was pulled out, hanging between the fingertips and lips.

"Haiyue! What are you doing!" Qian Ai came back to her senses from her surprise and pulled her to her side as if she was taking care of a child.

“…eat shrimp.”

"Well, you can't do that! I still have sweet shrimp in my bowl. Here, here you go."

This time Haiyue reached out to take it obediently.

"Haiyue's behavior is always unexpected." Mami narrowed her eyes and sighed meaningfully.

She looked at Rinyin who was eating silently, and her lips curved into a mischievous arc: "Little Rinyin, you have to take good care of her. After all, you are the woman who can become her mother."

In response to Mami's teasing, Rin only nodded slightly.

"……I will."

Clang——

The sound of a metal fork poking a porcelain plate.

Kurokawa Mio gripped the cutlery tightly, pierced the squid in the paella, then picked it up with a fork and put it into her mouth.

◇

After lunch, we left the restaurant and walked through the depths of the hall to reach the souvenir shop, which was also the end of the tour passage.

The gift shop is decorated with great care, and the marine style decoration complements the aquarium.

"Ooooh, look at that, it's such a big doll."

Inadvertently, Asami grabbed Masumi's arm and pointed at the killer whale doll that was as tall as a person on the shelf and said.

"Do you want it?" Masumi asked, "Do you want me to buy it for you?"

"Wait! Masumi-kun, why are you suddenly so nice to me?"

Mami suddenly let go of her hand, then glanced at Kurokawa Mio warily. When she found that she was lingering among the display cases with shark dolls, she breathed a sigh of relief and met Masumi's eyes again.

"Also, if you want to give a girl a gift, just buy it and don't ask." Asami sighed: "What girl would say "Yes, I want it, thank you" in that situation."

"Oh, then I'll go check out—"

"Wait! I didn't want that doll, I was just surprised by its appearance. Besides, what's wrong with you? Why did you suddenly give me a gift?"

"After all, today is your birthday."

"Huh?" She was slightly stunned, then suddenly said: "So that's how it is."

"Thank you for your kindness, Masumi-kun." Asami chuckled and patted his shoulder. "But forget about the birthday present. I'm not the type to celebrate birthdays."

"why?"

"Because a birthday is just another day of the year, isn't it?"

"Just because it's my birthday, I feel like there has to be something different on my birthday. I always feel like I have to do something special, and it has to be meaningful. This actually puts pressure on me."

Asami said this, she frowned as if she was troubled.

"But I can't figure out what to do, and I'm too lazy to think about it, so I feel upset and even a little sad. I feel like celebrating my birthday is really weird, and I wish it could just go by quickly."

"Rinne-chan, Chiai-chan, and Mirai-chan all know my personality, so they all go along with my mood and won't go out of their way to celebrate for me."

“Just visiting the aquarium with everyone like this makes me feel very satisfied.”

"What do you think? It's a weird idea, right?" Mami smiled.

Masumi shook his head slightly: "Not really."

“Actually, I don’t really like celebrating birthdays.”

"Are you saying this to comfort me?"

"Am I the kind of guy who likes to comfort girls?"

Asami blinked, "Isn't it?"

"..."

Masumi ignored the retort and stared at the dorsal fin of the killer whale doll at the end of her sight. She said, "I feel that... celebrating my own birthday is like meeting someone else's expectations."

"If it's a day worth celebrating and it's not a public holiday, then it's mine."

"I just want to spend this day my own way, without caring about anyone else. If this were just an ordinary day, there would be no need to celebrate."

"...In terms of awkwardness, it seems Masumi-kun is the better one."

Asami shrugged, grinning widely.

"..."

"Happy birthday."

Mami was slightly stunned when she heard this, then she patted Masumi's shoulder with a smile and said, "Have fun together, have fun together."

Then he walked briskly towards Qian Ai, Hai Yue and others who were choosing souvenirs.

"What are you picking?"

"Ah! Sister Mami, we're opening blind boxes."

Qian Ai held two small boxes in her hands. They were limited-edition blind boxes from the Amagi Aquarium, and when opened, they contained random marine life figurines. "Hai Yue wanted a jellyfish, but she opened three boxes and didn't win."

"Isn't this just a jellyfish?"

"That's an octopus."

"Hey... they look a lot like each other." Because it's a Q version.

"So what did you guys get?"

"Rinyin and I each won a regular seahorse and octopus, and Haiyue won the hidden killer whale, dolphin, and king penguin, but she couldn't get the regular jellyfish she wanted."

"Great, that's amazing." Mami was stunned, her eyes suddenly sparkling, and she held Haiyue's small hands tightly with both hands: "Let me get some luck!"

"Goddess Haiyue! Please bless me so that I won't get the well card or the guaranteed card again when I draw cards! I'll buy you some bread to repay my vow."

"Ms. Mami, you look so useless."

"Before the goddess of fate favors me, none of this is worth mentioning! Xiao Haiyue's hands are so soft and smooth, they really feel like jellyfish..."

"Well……"

In the midst of all this fun, Haiyue didn't draw the jellyfish in the end. It was surprising that good luck also had its troubles.

When she was about to take ten photos of Fukuzawa Yukichi fishing for jellyfish in the sea, Rin stopped her immediately, saying that if she kept buying, there would be no end to it.

Masumi also took the change from the cashier.

Among them were a few five-yen coins, and he subconsciously wanted to throw them into the donation box, but suddenly he remembered the "Ninefolds of the Goddess" that two girls gave him at the shrine in Tajima last time, and then he put the coins into his wallet.

After paying the bill, he heard the sound of high heels behind him. He turned around and saw a huge shark doll coming towards him.

"Masumi, what did you buy?"

Honey-blonde hair peeks out from behind a shark doll.

"Some ordinary souvenirs." Masumi said perfunctorily.

Kurokawa Mio was not satisfied with this answer, but since Masumi didn't want to say it, she didn't ask any more questions and just frowned slightly.

"Bill, please."

◇

After buying souvenirs in the store, everyone left the aquarium, went outdoors, and headed straight for the amusement park.

The sun is shining brightly, the weather is clear, and the faint fragrance of flowers is carried by the gentle breeze.

Following the map, Masumi and the others arrived at the food street where the judging competition was about to be held. Open-air stalls were lined up on both sides of the street, making it look like a B-level gourmet festival.

It's just an empty shell now.

A young man dressed like a staff member was patrolling the street. Masumi approached him and said, "Hello—"

The man turned around when he heard that and met Masumi's surprised eyes: "Oh, isn't this Mr. Miyazawa? What a coincidence."

"You...are you guys here to play?" He glanced at the five girls behind Masumi and asked doubtfully, "Isn't today a holiday?"

"I came to take a look ahead of time to prepare for the Sea House project in this seaside park," Masumi explained briefly, then asked, "Does Mr. Hojo...work here?"

Wearing the work clothes of the amusement park, the person who met everyone was none other than Mr. Hojo, a regular customer of the Starry Sky Cafe and a light novel writer.

"That's right." Mr. Hojo nodded. "Because writing novels can't support myself, I usually have to rely on part-time jobs to make a living."

"It just so happened that Amagi was hiring ahead of time to avoid staff shortages during the summer vacation, and I happened to be hired at the right time."

Using two idioms in one sentence, he is worthy of being a light novel author.

Masumi's gaze slid down his cheeks, which were slightly tanned from working outdoors, and stopped at the employee name tag on his chest.

Hojo Hachijuku

"Is this your name? Mr. Hojo." Masumi asked.

He never knew Mr. Hojo's full name.

"Hmm." Mr. Hojo gave a wry smile and said, "Sounds weird, doesn't it? Like a code name."

"A little bit."

"When my mother was pregnant, she listened to the fortune teller and thought it was a girl, so she planned to name her 'Hojo Hana'."

"We didn't find out it was a boy until after the baby was born. But during the pregnancy, I kept calling him Xiaohua Xiaohua. I didn't want to change the pronunciation, so I named him Bashiqi, which has the same pronunciation."

Having said that, he sighed softly.

(Note: The first sound of "八十七" is pronounced as "hana" in Chinese, which is the same as "华" and "花".)

"Why not just name it 'Hojo Hana'?"

Kurokawa Mio took a step forward with a smile on her face, her shoulder naturally resting against Masumi's upper arm.

"That's more like a girl, isn't it?"

Mr. Hojo let out a quiet breath, then belatedly glanced at the girl with honey-blonde hair before him and asked Masumi, "Who is this?"

He had met the other four girls in the store, but Kurokawa Mio was a stranger to him.

"It's my...ex-girlfriend."

Masumi only said this, and the imaginative light novel writer quickly filled in a huge amount of information in his mind, and then patted him on the shoulder gently.

"Mr. Miyazawa is like a real-life light novel protagonist."

"Please don't be like Mr. Ito. Be like Mr. Hyoudou. Only then can you have a happy life."

He spoke in a serious tone, as if he regarded himself as Taihara Yukisai, the military advisor who painstakingly assisted Imagawa Yoshimoto.

"Mr. Hojo, I'm not greeting you to consult you about relationship issues." Masumi shook his head.

"Feel sorry."

Mr. Hojo coughed lightly and then said to the others, "Is everyone going to participate in the 'First Gun' judging competition? It will be held on this food street on Saturday."

"The scene has been almost set up. This food street is located between several popular attractions, so it has a lot of traffic."

"The organizers have also provided equipment. It's in the warehouse next door. I can take you there to have a look."

"Thank you." Linyin bowed slightly as per etiquette.

"It's okay, it's just a small favor." Mr. Hojo waved his hand and said, "Then everyone, please follow me."

"The coffee shop equipment... I remember it was over here..."

Walking into the warehouse and following Mr. Hojo's footsteps, what comes into view is a row of coffee-making equipment.

Apart from the most basic ones, such as coffee machines, bean grinders, and cream guns, the remaining equipment is so diverse that it is simply dazzling.

"There are so many coffee equipments." Asami exclaimed.

"It's Kobe, after all." This city already has a long and rich coffee culture. Mr. Hojo explained, "This time, we have the largest number of coffee shops registered."

Qian Ai picked up a hand-brewed kettle and examined it carefully, then asked, "Were all these pieces of equipment purchased by the organizer specifically for this project?"

"Some of it is, but it's mostly old stock. The old ones have already been disposed of. These newer ones were purchased last year when the park operated the Ocean House itself."

"How is it? Not bad, right?" Mr. Hojo smiled.

"There's also dessert equipment over there."

Everyone followed Mr. Hojo around again and came to the dessert making equipment, which was also very comprehensive.

Linyin nodded, seeming satisfied: "This way we don't have to send equipment to the Sea House."

If she is successfully shortlisted for Haizhijia, she plans to rotate existing employees between Haizhijia and the main store, giving her equal attention to both.

However, considering the large number of customers at the Sea House, there are relatively few people left at the main store. She, Mami-san, and Masumi cannot be placed in the same place...

While she was thinking about the personnel arrangements, she kept up with the crowd. Suddenly, the light in front of her eyes brightened and she was back in the food street of the amusement park.

"Come on, everyone."

Mr. Hojo heartily encouraged him, "Although many coffee shops are participating this time, Fanxing is indeed the one I'm most optimistic about."

"Also, if I make it through, you'll be able to see me at the beach often throughout the summer."

"What does it mean?"

"Doesn't Mr. Hojo work at the amusement park?" Qian Ai asked.

"I am currently working there, but once the review competition is over and Ocean House officially opens, I will be transferred to Ocean House and be responsible for the settlement and comparison of sales revenue."

Mr. Hojo explained, "After all, this is a competition, so we need a neutral person to act as supervisor. I just happen to be one of the supervisors."

"But since you and I are quite familiar with each other, I will probably go to other stores to avoid suspicion."

"I see." Masumi nodded.

"So... what's the special surprise prize?" Asami blinked, her face filled with curiosity. "Tell us a little, Mr. Hojo."

"If you tell a surprise out loud, it's no longer a surprise."

Mr. Hojo said this mysteriously and let out another breath.

"Anyway, everyone, please do your best this summer."

　Thanks to Black Cat 17th for the tip, and thanks to everyone for the subscription, monthly tickets and recommendation tickets.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)