18 “Eh?” Hearing Fūju’s words, the cashier girl, who was none other than Aoyama Nanami, immediately covered her mouth with an intensely embarrassed look.
Her reaction made it seem as though letting her Kansai accent be heard by others was the most mortifying thing in the world.
However, speaking of the actual situation, she wouldn’t feel this embarrassed over a mere regional accent.
The real reason was that her Kansai accent frequently acted as a major roadblock in her career path to becoming a voice actress, causing her to get cut during various auditions.
Because of this, Aoyama Nanami had spent a long time trying to correct her speech so that she could sound normal like standard speakers.
That way, in future voice acting interviews, even if she wasn’t guaranteed to be chosen, it would at least increase her chances.
At least, that was what Aoyama Nanami herself believed.
It was just that a regional accent was a habit formed over more than a decade of growing up, so it naturally wouldn’t be easily changed in a short period of time.
Even though under normal conditions Aoyama Nanami could communicate using standard speech, whenever she faced unexpected situations or when her emotions flared up, her accent would slip back into Kansai without her being able to stop it.
Just like right now, because she saw Fūju, Aoyama Nanami felt shocked and joyful at the same time, causing her speech to unconsciously revert to her Kansai roots.
“Uuuh…” Seeing Fūju looking at her with an amused gaze, Aoyama Nanami let out a soft whine from her mouth that sounded like a cute little animal.
“Boss, you’re still just as annoying as ever!” Aoyama Nanami said with a slight pout after finally managing to calm her embarrassment a few moments later.
“Doesn’t that just show that I’m still the exact same as before, without changing one bit?” Fūju replied with a chuckle.
Thinking about it, Aoyama Nanami was also counted as one of the friends he could talk to easily, and they shared a relatively close relationship.
When compared to Shoko Nishimiya, the difference between the two might only lie in the duration of their time together, given that their bond had only developed over a few months back when the Shōchiku restaurant was still open.
Furthermore, because the nature of their relationship at Shōchiku was that of an employer and employee, it indirectly created a sort of invisible boundary between them.
Fūju himself didn’t view that as an issue, but Aoyama Nanami tended to have a very rule-abiding personality, so she frequently showed a reluctance to step over that line.
This condition didn’t just apply to Aoyama Nanami; the other girl who worked alongside her displayed the exact same attitude.
“By the way, Nanami, are you working part-time here now?” “I used to come to this place pretty often too, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you.
Is it because of your shift schedule?” Fūju asked out of curiosity.
“I only started working here a few days ago.” “As for my previous job, I was originally working part-time at a family restaurant.
However, the owner went bankrupt and ran away without paying our wages.” “Since I had no other choice, I was forced to look for a new job, which is how I eventually found this place and started working,” Aoyama Nanami explained.
As she recounted the story, a look of profound regret briefly crossed her face.
Of course, Aoyama Nanami didn’t feel sorry for the irresponsible restaurant owner, but rather for the fate of her own lost wages.
Working hard for days on end without receiving a single yen in return would obviously make anyone feel miserable, wouldn’t it?
Especially since she was someone who desperately needed money.
Moving all by herself from Osaka to Tokyo required an immense amount of funds, particularly because the cost of living in Tokyo was exceptionally high.
Logically speaking, someone living alone in a different city ought to receive financial support from their family to ease the pressure of life.
However, because Aoyama Nanami had ignored her family’s wishes for the sake of pursuing her dream of becoming a voice actress, their relationship had become strained.
This resulted in her family completely refusing to send any money to support her life in Tokyo.
Unless she backed down, admitted her mistake, abandoned her dream of being a voice actress, and returned to her hometown, her parents wouldn’t be willing to extend a helping hand.
But Aoyama Nanami wasn’t the type of person to just give up like that.
Therefore, every single expense, including room rent, living costs, and even the tuition fees for her voice acting academy, had to be borne by Aoyama Nanami entirely on her own.
To meet those needs, during her absolute toughest periods, Aoyama Nanami would even take on six to seven part-time jobs in a single day just to cover all her expenses.
Despite working that hard, in order to save even more money, Aoyama Nanami would sometimes choose to skip a meal or two to save on food costs, scraping together savings bit by bit.
Fūju could still clearly remember that on the very first day Aoyama Nanami came to work at his Shōchiku restaurant, the girl hadn’t eaten for an entire day.
In the end, because she pushed herself too hard coupled with her poor physical condition, she had actually fainted from starvation right then and there.
Fortunately, the wage rate provided by Fūju was quite high, plus free meals were provided at the restaurant.
That allowed Aoyama Nanami to stop taking on so many part-time jobs, and she was able to eat until she was full, making her life significantly more stable.
It could be said that the time spent working part-time at his Shōchiku restaurant constituted a few of the happiest months for Aoyama Nanami.
She could eat her fill, had enough money to get by, and still possessed ample time to practice her voice acting skills.
Therefore, one could easily imagine that Fūju’s decision to close the restaurant afterward came as a devastating blow to Aoyama Nanami.
However, since that turn of events wasn’t Fūju’s fault, Aoyama Nanami wouldn’t act unreasonable or hold a grudge against him.
She chose to quietly look for a few more part-time jobs to restart her hectic work life just like before.
Naturally, Fūju didn’t know about all these specific details, as he himself hadn’t given it too much thought at the time.
“So that’s how it was,” Fūju nodded in understanding.
Then, something suddenly crossed his mind, and he looked back at Aoyama Nanami.
“Right, Nanami.
In the near future, my Shōchiku restaurant is going to resume operations.
The working hours will most likely be in the evening after school, from six to nine at night.
For Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays, the schedule will be adjusted depending on the situation.” “When the restaurant reopens, would you be willing to come back and work part-time to help me out?” Fūju asked.
“Eh?” “Is that true?” “Is the Boss’s Shōchiku restaurant really going to open again?” “Can I really come back to work and help you, Boss?” Upon hearing the question, Aoyama Nanami stood dazed for a moment before blurting out several questions in rapid succession, her face instantly lighting up with sheer joy.
Even now, she still maintained that working part-time at Fūju’s Shōchiku restaurant was one of the happiest experiences of her life.
Therefore, hearing Fūju say that Shōchiku would soon reopen and inviting her back to work made Aoyama Nanami incredibly happy.
“Of course you can!” “Didn’t you always work incredibly hard back at Shōchiku?
And you received excellent reviews from the customers too.” “If Shōchiku reopens without you there, I feel like the regular customers would find it strange when they look around.” “If I, as the restaurant owner, don’t secure an employee as excellent as you right away, wouldn’t that mean I’m a boss who lacks the ability to judge people properly?” Fūju said with a light laugh.
“Thank you so much, Boss!” Aoyama Nanami said, immediately bowing deeply toward Fūju with joy.
However, after finishing her bow, Aoyama Nanami’s facial expression suddenly turned a bit conflicted, showing the demeanor of someone who wanted to say something but felt hesitant.
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