In Lin Jing's first year in Japan, she found an izakaya called "Luming" deep in the alley of Kagurazaka.
The store is small, with only eight seats. The boss is a young man with a lame left leg. He doesn't speak much. He just hangs up a dark blue curtain every evening and polishes the last wine glass alone after closing time in the early morning.
She sat in the corner next to the radiator, drawing on her picture book. He stood behind the bar, cooking his meal. The two of them didn't talk much, but the wine in her glass was always warm, the cushions under her seat were one more layer than others, and every time she drew Sueyoshi, there would be an extra bowl of red bean soup on the table.
Grandma Sato said: "My child, you prepared the ingredients very carefully the day you came."
Mr. Miura dipped his drink in wine and wrote a haiku on the bar: "I go, you stay, for two autumns."
Mr. Ohashi drank too much and said with red eyes, "My wife doesn't remember me anymore."
Grandma Ishikawa waited for someone for sixty years and said to her: "You will get used to waiting, but you can't get used to it."
This is the most ordinary store in Kagurazaka, and a group of not-so-ordinary people.
Her employment period was one and a half years, and he didn't ask when she would leave. He just repeated the same sentence in his mind every day -
Today's もをしてある.
[Reminder before viewing]
1. BG, 1v1, HE
2. Chinese picture book author × Japanese izakaya owner
3. The Japanese part used in the story will be marked with [].
4. Not all confessions need to be spoken. Some people's "I love you" is a bowl of ginger pork soup, a transparent umbrella, and a seat in the corner that is always empty.
Intention: Silence is sometimes a kind of confession, dedicated to everyone who is not good at words but still treats the world gently in his own way.
