radicalducati Chapter 251 The old lady isn't a good person.
Chapter 251 The old lady isn't a good person.
Chapter 251 The old lady isn't a good person.
Akutagawa Hiko is the most admired detective by Kikuemon. He had just witnessed his observational skills firsthand. If he could get Akutagawa Hiko to take a look at his apprentices and their works, he might be able to decide on a successor sooner.
He then asked his apprentices to bring their works for Akutagawa Hiko to see. He didn't need to give professional comments; he just needed to see which one he liked better.
Even ceramic artists need to keep up with trends; the preferences of young people can sometimes be more telling.
Those who like Kikuemon of his generation, apart from some trend-following young people and nouveau riche who simply want to show off his works, are mostly people around his age who are also close to their graves.
The opinions of young people are also very important.
As a result, Akutagawa Hiko did not see the works of his three apprentices, but instead heard a series of crisp and loud cracking sounds.
For a national treasure-level ceramic master, he knows all too well what this sound means. In his nearly sixty-year career of ceramic making, he has heard this sound countless times.
Kikuemon clutched his chest and stood up abruptly. Akutagawa Hiko considered two emergency measures, but realizing that the nearly eighty-year-old man might not be able to withstand CPR, he immediately rejected the first option.
"How much of this was broken!"
He is indeed open-minded and optimistic, but that doesn't mean he won't feel sad about the loss of his works. Moreover, judging from the sound, at least one wall of works in the warehouse was not spared.
He only has a few pieces of his work in the warehouse, which is painful but acceptable to him, who is trying to take things a step further.
His apprentices were different; they didn't have his rich life experience, and those works were the fruits of their labor and the marks of their progress. It must have been hard for them to feel bad that their hard-earned masterpieces were ruined like that.
Akutagawa Hiko and Kikuemon ran all the way to the warehouse, where they immediately saw their three apprentices who were stunned and their daughter-in-law who had fallen to the ground. Of course, the corpses of the pottery pieces scattered all over the ground were also not to be ignored.
Kikuemon sighed: "These pottery pieces come from the dust and will eventually return to the dust. There's no need to be too sad about these material possessions."
It's unclear whether his words were meant to comfort himself, his apprentice, or his daughter-in-law, who was originally shrewd and capable but made such a big mistake at this time.
Because there were too many fragments, Kikuemon did not refuse Akutagawa Hiko's help. After a lot of work, the warehouse was finally tidied up, but the empty display cases in the warehouse looked rather awkward.
Kikuemon wiped the sweat from his brow and looked at the display case with some anticipation: "I'm having a burst of inspiration right now, and I'll soon be able to fill this case with new works. Detective Akutagawa must come and grace us with his presence then."
These words were naturally meant to ease the tension. After all, no matter how good Kikuemon's skills were, his age was a factor, and his aging made it impossible for him to work for extended periods.
Pottery making is never an easy job, especially since it's purely handmade; it requires a lot of physical labor.
The somber atmosphere didn't last long. Perhaps to make up for her mistake, or simply to entertain the distinguished guest, Akutagawa Hiko, or perhaps both, the dinner was exceptionally lavish.
Then, Akutagawa Hiko witnessed what contrast truly meant.
This woman, who was calm, dignified, shrewd, and capable during the day, suddenly started acting wildly and unrestrainedly after a few drinks: "Hahaha, hahaha, this isn't enough! Go get some more!"
Akutagawa glanced at the fact that almost everyone had only drunk half a bottle of sake, and then looked at the drunken expressions on the faces of the people around him, feeling slightly speechless.
He wasn't a heavy drinker himself, but he could still proudly declare, "Everyone here is trash."
Tsuchiya Masuko patted Akutagawa Hiko on the shoulder, her face full of praise, "Little detective, you're really lucky. Although my dad said he's had a new inspiration, he's old and frail and we don't know how many more years he can last. The price of the Feng Shui pills will definitely rise."
This was a bit too much of a frivolous remark. Kaoru Otani, who had a slightly pockmarked face, was about to stop him, but Kikuemon stopped him.
"Masuko is right. My physical strength is indeed not up to par. In the past year, I have only been able to create two or three high-quality pieces that I am satisfied with. But even so, I will devote the remaining time to pottery."
Akutagawa Hiko stroked his chin, looking somewhat hesitant: "Speaking of which, have you only produced two or three items in the last year? But as far as I know, there are at least ten—"
Before Akutagawa Hiko could finish speaking, Tsuchiya Masuko pounced on him and interrupted, "Hahaha, let's not talk about pottery at a time like this. Why don't you tell us about your detective experiences, little detective? We're all very interested!"
After saying that, he even tried to touch Akutagawa Hiko's face while looking drunk.
Akutagawa Hiko avoided the older woman's groping behavior by pretending to pick up food.
To be honest, Akutagawa Hiko actually agrees with the saying that getting drunk won't turn a good person into a bad one. Some people become violent and promiscuous when drunk, while others will feed their kittens water.
This auntie doesn't look like a good person.
However, Akutagawa Hiko knew that she wasn't actually completely drunk; she was just using the alcohol to vent her frustrations, not that she was truly intoxicated.
As for interrupting Akutagawa Hiko's words, it was entirely her doing, because it involved her selling a disciple's imitation of Kikuemon's work at a high price to nouveau riche who didn't know its value.
If this behavior is exposed, not only will she be unable to make money from it anymore, but it will also tarnish the reputation of Kikuemon, and she might even be kicked out of the family.
Just like when she threatened her apprentice who was closest to Kikuemon in terms of skill level.
Tsuchiya Masuko wasn't particularly bothered by Akutagawa Hiko's unintentional evasive behavior, as long as he didn't reveal that the number of works published by Kikuemon was significantly different from the number of works produced.
When the case was mentioned, Kikuemon was all for it, completely ignoring the doubts from before. He pushed his daughter-in-law aside and sat down next to Akutagawa Hiko.
He even tapped his chopsticks on the dishes in a light, rhythmic way, just like his daughter-in-law when she was drunk.
Akutagawa Hiko took a sip of sake.
The old lady was clearly unaware that Akutagawa Hiko's actions just now were actually to save her life. She was still full of relief and did not notice at all that the wide-chinned apprentice next to her was emanating a murderous aura.
"Then I shall respectfully accept your offer."
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