Chapter 57: Gossip

Asano Aiko made up her mind, greeted Akiwara, walked to the kitchen, and opened the refrigerator, finding it empty, without any ingredients.

She sighed. Although she had been mentally prepared, she felt a little helpless after seeing it.

After all, a clever woman cannot cook without rice, and she has no way to conjure up a big meal.

She walked back to the room and found Akiwara Yuto reading, so she asked: "Akiwara, accompany me to the nearby shopping street, I want to buy some ingredients."

Akiwara Yuto looked up and was surprised: "No need to be so troublesome, why don't we just have a simple meal at the izakaya?"

He didn't expect Asano Aiko to want to cook by herself, and thought she would just eat something simple.

Asano Aiko pretended to be "puzzled" and said: "Oh, if that's the case, then I can't treat you to a big meal, after all, I didn't bring my wallet when I went out today."

Akiwara Yuto's mouth twitched when he heard this. When he saw Asano Aiko take out the envelope just now, the other hand was clearly holding a light-colored wallet.

However, he also saw that Asano Aiko just wanted to make a dish by herself.

It seems I haven't eaten the food she made. I don't know what the level is, but judging from the craftsmanship of Lady Asano, it should be good, right?

He doubted Asano Aiko's cooking level a bit, but still agreed. The two sat in Asano Aiko's small car and drove to the nearby Tushan shopping street, starting to purchase.

In Japan, local families buy ingredients generally by going to shopping streets or comprehensive markets.

But the two also have different places. Comprehensive markets are often operated by large groups or chaebols, and shopping streets are usually small vendors holding together for warmth.

Although the price of ingredients in comprehensive markets is usually slightly higher than that of shopping streets, due to the convenience of purchasing methods and the cleaner environment, the younger generation in Japan prefers comprehensive markets. This makes the living space of shopping streets in the future further squeezed, resulting in a large number of closures.

However, these are all things that happened in the future. Now the economy is not good, and many families still prefer to go to shopping streets to save money.

Asano Aiko parked the car, and the two walked into the shopping street together, starting to visit shop by shop.

In this process, Asano Aiko bargained with the shopkeepers while occasionally weighing the ingredients in her hands. After spending about 1 hour, she finally bought all the ingredients and got on the car with satisfaction.

After arriving home, Akiwara Yuto returned directly to the study, and Asano Aiko came to the kitchen, tied her apron, and prepared to start cooking.

Because of eating with Akiwara Yuto before, she found that the other party likes to eat hamburger meat, so she specially bought the corresponding ingredients.

Japanese hamburger meat is very common in Japanese diet. From high-end Western restaurants to chain restaurants and even roadside convenience stores, you can see its figure. In some elementary school canteens, it has become one of the standard dishes.

And its origin is inseparable from European hamburgers, just because Japanese people prefer to eat rice, so there is a way to eat it separately.

Usually, a portion of hamburger meat, paired with vegetables, rice, and miso soup, constitutes a simple meal.

Asano Aiko thought about the production method and began to operate in an orderly manner.

She first cleaned the ingredients uniformly, then stirred the minced beef bought from the shopping street into meat paste, put in onions, black pepper powder, salt, sugar, etc., and stirred evenly, then sealed it in a fresh-keeping bag and put it in the refrigerator.

30 minutes later, she took out the meat paste, poured it into the pot, started to fry both sides, and added a little water and covered the pot lid.

After a while, she opened the pot lid, took out the cooked hamburger meat with long chopsticks, placed it on a white dining plate, poured the special sauce, and finally put it on the square table in the living room together with the served rice and green vegetables.

Confirming that the gas stove was turned off, she wiped her hands and walked out, and greeted Akiwara to wash his hands.

Akiwara Yuto looked at the dishes and bowls that had been set, and was a bit trance-like for a moment.

How long has it been since I had a meal at home like this?

He thought of his past life and felt a bit sad for a moment, but didn't show it on his face.

"Akiwara, try the taste first, and tell me if it's not good."

Asano Aiko said so, but had different thoughts in her heart. This dish was practiced many times after she knew the other party liked to eat it, and the taste had been done to perfection.

If Akiwara is still not satisfied, although she won't say it, she will definitely be a little angry in her heart.

Akiwara Yuto put down his thoughts, expressed his gratitude with a smile, went to wash his hands, and then sat in front of the square table, put his hands together, and said "I'm starting."

After saying this, he picked up his chopsticks and directly clamped a small piece of hamburger meat and put it into his mouth.

He likes this dish very much. The taste is a bit like the lion's head he often ate before. It is soft and soft when bitten down, but it is also fresh and juicy, with the chewiness of beef.

Asano Aiko saw Akiwara Yuto's expression and felt a little happy, and then also picked up her chopsticks and started eating.

While the two were eating, they chatted about things that happened in the editorial department recently. In Asano Aiko's description, Akiwara Yuto learned more inside information.

Because the sales of the recent issues have increased greatly, the performance wages of all employees in the "New Novel" editorial department have received a certain increase. Besides that, Kikuchi Tai's emphasis on himself is even better. Before Asano Aiko came, he repeatedly told her to take care of herself in life and work.

In addition, according to the reader feedback collected recently, the popularity of his works has further increased, and the favorability has reached 93%, which has never been encountered since the establishment of reader feedback in the magazine.

I don't know if Kadowaki Yuzhen was affected, but his works have also begun to become interesting recently, and the favorability has reached 44%, but the gap with him is still very large.

Besides these, the magazine cover design of "New Novel" recently has been outsourced to a design company outside, and even caused dissatisfaction among some art editors.

Speaking of this, Asano Aiko paused, but still continued: "Recently there are some gossips, saying that there is some interest transfer between the editor-in-chief and that design company."

Akiwara Yuto frowned and asked: "Did Editor-in-chief Kikuchi say anything?"

Asano Aiko put down her chopsticks and replied: "Editor-in-chief Kikuchi's statement to the outside world is that he thinks the design style of that company is more suitable for your works, Akiwara."

Akiwara Yuto pondered after hearing this.

He has seen the covers of these few issues, and found that except for "Poem of Facing the Sun," other covers are themed on horror and terror.

To be honest, he is a bit dissatisfied in his heart, because he thinks that the content he wrote should be a glimmer of human nature contained in darkness, not just pure horror.

And if it is mainly horror, the art editors within the Mantan Society should theoretically be able to achieve the same degree of cover, so there is no need to spend extra funds to invite people, right?

He was a bit puzzled, but thought about it and didn't say anything. After all, Kikuchi Tai just entrusted Asano Aiko to send 2 million yen, and it is not appropriate for him to make suggestions now.

However, when the stand-alone book is released in the future, he still has to take the initiative to communicate with Editor-in-chief Kikuchi to adjust the style of the cover.

After all, the quality of the cover directly affects the sales of the stand-alone book, and the amount of sales is directly related to his specific income.

After chatting about these, the food on the table was also eaten seven or eight, Akiwara Yuto wanted to take the initiative to clean up the bowls and chopsticks, but was refused by Asano Aiko on the grounds that "this is a woman's work," so he could only watch her take the bowls and chopsticks back to the kitchen one by one.

Listening to the sound of washing dishes coming from the kitchen, Akiwara Yuto felt a bit emotional, remembered what Lady Asano said to him before, and couldn't help but be a bit curious.

Such a good girl, why has she been single all along? ===== CHAPTER 58 =====