Starting a New Life in Tokyo by Inheriting a Shopping Street [55]

Staring at the bowl of noodles before her, Kizaki-obaasan sank into self-doubt. Her very faith in ramen was beginning to waver, as if the decades she’d spent making it had all been a lie.

Though she hadn’t watched this disciple make the broth or knead the dough—time hadn’t allowed it—just one look at her still-too-fragile build told her enough.

Not to mention the boiling, scooping, and draining process she had seen with her own eyes, all full of flaws.

Of course, Kizaki-obaasan also knew her standards were strict—too strict, maybe. An ordinary customer wouldn’t notice such differences.

But for something made like that to taste this good—impossible! It didn’t add up!

“Obaa-san?” Akiyama Tamako peeked out from behind the pot lid, calling carefully.

The old lady came back to herself, gaze complicated as she looked at the shrinking “girl” before her.

“The points I’ve repeated over and over, you’re still making mistakes. It’s not easy for a woman to run a ramen shop. If you don’t hold yourself to strict standards, how can you keep it going?”

Tamako bowed her head, listening to the scolding with practiced ease.

“But…” Kizaki-obaasan sighed, looking down at the noodles with a particularly complex expression.

“Maybe I really am getting old—old enough that I can’t see what clever trick you’ve used, not only covering every flaw but even making the taste surpass my own cooking.”

“Sorry, I’ll make sure next time… knead the dough properly three times…”

Tamako apologized on instinct, then froze, eyes widening in surprise.

“Eh? It’s already tastier than yours? Then I don’t have to fix anything, right?”

“…!” The old lady’s face darkened. “Fix it! If you can make something this delicious without fixing those mistakes, with your talent you could become one of the top ramen masters in the country.

Show those men who look down on women just how wrong they are! Slap them in the face with it!”

Tamako quickly ducked her head, muttering under her breath, “But that sounds tiring… I don’t really want to slap anyone’s face…”

Watching, Chiba Shuuichi wanted to laugh. This lady really was like a child. He grew curious and asked Tsuki beside him:

“By the way, what made your mom want to learn ramen in the first place? It’s not exactly an easy field for women.”

Compared to other foods, ramen took a lot of physical strength—a natural disadvantage for women. And Tamako was clearly not the physical type.

There were even customers who, upon seeing a woman behind the counter, would turn right around, assuming it couldn’t be any good.

Tsuki gave her sister a sidelong glance. “What else? An-chan liked Kizaki-obaasan’s ramen when she was little."

"My mom’s the type with no real sense of her own abilities—once she gets an idea, she just does it, no thinking things through.”

The old lady heard this too. Thinking of how An now preferred her mom’s ramen, she snorted.

“If it weren’t because An-chan was such a cutie, I’d never have taught this fool."

"And with how scatterbrained she is, how sloppy her technique is, if it weren’t for Tsuki-chan reminding her and suggesting a women-only ramen shop, the place would have gone under long ago.”

“Women-only ramen shop? Even ramen shops can target only women?” Shuuichi was a little surprised—he’d never looked into this.

And what kind of thing was this? Beauty salons and gyms targeting women were one thing, but ramen shops too? Was this street going to turn into a women’s street?

“Of course. They’ve been around a long time,” Tsuki nodded.

“Mom’s cooking was decent but not outstanding. Add the gender disadvantage, and it was hard to compete with other shops. So—why not take a different path?"

"In the past, there weren’t many female ramen customers—eating noodles didn’t look good, and the broth could splash onto clothes."

"But in recent years, ramen’s been much better accepted by women."

"One of the other big deterrents was that ramen shops were usually narrow, and women had to squeeze in next to men. A women-only ramen shop solved that perfectly."

"Add matching services—like offering hair ties and paper aprons—and there’s even less for female customers to worry about.”

Shuuichi suddenly saw the pervy Kaichou in a new light. Serious in her work, sharp in perception, quick in thinking, clear in logic.

If she didn’t have certain “special attributes,” she’d be the perfect honor student—miles ahead of her peers.

“What are you looking at me like that for? Another perverted thought? Kizaki-obaasan’s still here, don’t try anything weird…” Tsuki lowered her voice, uneasy under his gaze.

Her mom might be open-minded from her youth, but you couldn’t scare the elderly.

Shuuichi smiled. “Nothing. Just thinking… it’s more fun to bully such an excellent Kaichou.”

Tsuki felt a sudden shiver—like a cat’s fur brushed the wrong way. No telling what kind of thrill-seeking idea this guy had just come up with.

The old lady sighed again. “If it weren’t a women’s ramen shop, with female customers less picky about taste than men, there’s no way Tamako could have raised two children like this.”

Tsuki’s mouth moved ever so slightly—clearly, she didn’t quite agree.

Shuuichi arched a brow, recalling her stance on women-only train cars. Obviously, a women-only ramen shop faced tricky problems too.

Especially with Tamako’s personality—most likely, it was the eldest daughter who really kept things running.

“Wasn’t the flyer something Chiba-kun helped with? It says it right on there.”

While the others were talking, An had already polished off a whole bowl of noodles. Now she had time to speak up, holding up a flyer in puzzlement.

Shuuichi leaned forward to take it from her. The distance was a bit far, so his hand naturally pressed onto Tsuki’s thigh—

And gave it a firm squeeze.

Tsuki instantly clamped her legs together, her whole body trembling slightly.

Shuuichi sat back with the flyer, glanced over it—sure enough, it advertised a women-only ramen shop.

By the time breakfast was over, the funeral wreath Shuuichi had ordered yesterday arrived. Tamako was delighted, her sense-of-belonging jumping another ten points.

But were those ten points from the wreath? From surpassing her master’s cooking? From the official opening of the new shop?

Shuuichi couldn’t be sure. More importantly—Tamako, with 60 points of belonging, had just surpassed Ogawa Fumika!

[Akiyama Tamako — Belonging: 60]
[Ogawa Fumika — Belonging: 50]
[Ogawa Sayuki — Belonging: 30]
[Current Monthly Salary: ¥1,500,000]

He stared at the numbers for a long time, comparing the two very different “excellent shop owner” cases. The more he looked, the more he suspected he’d misunderstood the system. Maybe raising belonging… didn’t need to be so exhausting?

Perhaps the true way to use the ¥100,000 “omnipotent butler” premium service was simply to provide timely help to shop owners?

After seeing the three teenagers off after breakfast, Kizaki-obaasan turned to Tamako, who was humming and admiring the wreath.

“As their mother, you’re not worried? Seems like both sisters like the same boy.”

“Eh? Really?” Tamako blinked. “An-chan and Tsuki-chan have such similar taste? As expected of sisters~”

“…,” The old lady wanted to whack her with her cane—but she was too old now, it would take too much effort. “Aren’t you worried they’ll fight later?”

Tamako tilted her head slightly. “Things in the future… we can worry about in the future. An-chan’s so much like me, she’ll definitely be happy. And Tsuki-chan’s so smart—she’ll be fine too.”

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This is a fan translation of 从继承商店街开始东京生活 by 净消尘土 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!