Chapter 357: Strange Things Are Everywhere in This World!
"Ah, it's fine. Read as long as you want." The shop owner put his hands on his hips and interrupted.
"For real?!" Kagura turned her head and looked at the shop owner in surprise.
"Golgo 17 is a wonderful manga. After reading it, you'll become smarter. You'll become the prime minister." The shop owner exaggerated, "But your mouth will be crooked."
"Can I read Abu-san, too?" Kagura asked again.
"Go ahead." The shop owner replied.
"Ah, Kagura-chan, you've got some beefy taste in manga." Shinpachi twitched the corner of his mouth and smiled awkwardly.
"Abu-san's another good manga." The shop owner sighed, "Who would have thought that they could go thirty years just by catching abu(horsefly)."
"I can't even imagine what that manga's about." The corner of Shinpachi's mouth twitched and he was speechless.
"Well, I don't get any customers anyway. Feel free to come read whenever you like." The shop owner continued.
"Huh?" Shinpachi asked doubtfully, "Business is bad, Pops?"
The shop owner suddenly looked a little disappointed. He slowly explained, "There is a new beauty parlor across the street. I guess they call them hair salons now? Or is it haircut studios? Ever since, my customers stopped coming. I don't know if they've got some charismatic hairdresser or a guy with scissor hands, but their business is through the roof. They charge outrageous prices while providing half-assed service for their customers."
At this point, the shop owner cross his hands over his chest and continued with a sigh, "A barbershop isn't just for cutting hair. It's a place for people to interact with one another. In the old days, you could go to a barbershop and learn everything about the town. People would gather to have fun. I cared more about that aspect than being fashionable or whatnot. You can cut through hair, but you can never cut through the bonds between human beings."
After saying this, the shop owner turned his head and opened the curtain behind the barber area and walked in, then came out with a tall stack of manga and placed it on the table in front of Kagura.
"Here, the complete collection of Abu-san." The shop owner wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"Thank you, Master." Kagura smiled excitedly and reached out to pick up a book from the tall manga collection in front of her.
...............
"And in the end, curious fellas like you guys were the only ones that still came around."The shop owner lit up a cigarette, took a light puff, and slowly puffed out a mouthful of smoke. He felt a little relieved and a little sad, "Yeah, the world's become a hard place to live in~"
"Pops..." Shinpachi looked up at the shop owner.
At this time, Gintoki, who was a little impatient from waiting, narrowed his eyes and walked over. He reminded, "Uh, enough of that crap already. Could you cut my hair already?"
"Don't worry. We don't come here for the sole purpose of getting our hair cut. We also come to see you, Pops." Shinpachi comforted.
"Oh, this sentence really makes me happy." A smile appeared on the shop owner's face as he praised.
"Right, right. However, you're still here to cut my hair. Can you help me cut my hair first?" The veins on Gintoki's face, who had been ignored, bulged. He curled his lips and continued, "Human interaction is important, but..."
Before Gintoki could finish speaking, he was suddenly interrupted by Kagura.
"Master, volume 7 of Abu-san is missing!" Kagura raised her little face with a serious look on it.
"What?!" The shop owner's expression instantly became serious, and then he quickly bent down to check the manga on the table.
Gintoki, whose face was filled with bulging veins, twitched his eyes and reminded him again, "You know, this is a barbershop, so you should cut my hair..."
"You're right!" The shop owner's face was solemn, and he stood up straight again, "Abu-san volume 7 is missing! Where did it go?!"
"I don't see it anywhere," Kagura replied.
"I...Impossible! How could it be lost?" The shop owner was in disbelief.
Gintoki, who was suppressing the anger in his heart, reminded again, "'Yeah, can you stop talking about Abu-san and cut my hair..."
Without waiting for Gintoki to finish, the shop owner turned and rushed to the door. At the same time, he did not forget to remind, "Then I'll go run and buy volume 7! Look after the store for me!"
"Got it!" Kagura and Shinpachi stood up and saluted at the same time.
"Cut my hair!!!!" Gintoki finally roared out.
However, the shop owner had already rushed to the door and got on his bicycle. He rushed angrily in the direction of the manga store...
...
On the other side, Kawaki and Shige Shige, who was wearing a turban were slowly walking towards the barbershop.
"Speaking of which, why are you so tightly wrapped every time?" Kawaki asked curiously, "Is it because you are afraid of the sun? Or are you too shy to show your face?"
Shige Shige smiled but did not answer. Instead, he changed the topic, "Don't talk about me. Let's talk about Kawaki-san. I am very curious about Kawaki-san."
"Young Shogun," Kawaki sighed earnestly, "This level is not good. Men are basically all the same. Men only need to be interested in women and games. If you are interested in men, you can't become a good man. You have to remember these words well."
"Game?" Shige Shige was puzzled.
"Ah, it's something I'm interested in," Kawaki explained. "To me, it's a game. What about you?"
"Something you're interested in?" Shige Shige murmured. Then he turned to look at the children happily playing with spinning tops in the side alley. Then he looked at the hawkers on both sides of the street and the people coming and going.
"Do you like brats?" Kawaki was puzzled, and then twitched the corners of his mouth, "I hate little brat the most. Just like Seita. He's so noisy that I almost want to sew his mouth shut."
"Didn't everyone grow up from a child?" Shige Shige asked with a smile on his face.
"You can say that, but little brats are different from the little brats from the past! When I was young, I was much more sensible." Kawaki said disdainfully, "It is different from the current little brat who only knows how to act coquettishly and beat others!"
"If you say it like that, I am more curious." Shige Shige smiled, "Kawaki-san, what do you think of this country and the people of this country? Can you tell me about it?"
"Hey, hey, we are not the Shogun. If we talk about this, people on the street will hear it and spread it to Bakufu. I don't want to get into trouble." Kawaki frowned and complained in a low voice.
"O...kay" Shige Shige asked after a pause, "Then what does Kawaki-san think of Samurai?"
"I don't hate it." Kawaki shrugged and replied casually, "But I can't say I like it."
"Why?"
"There is no reason." Kawaki curled his lips and replied, "I just feel that Bushido is too unsophisticated. Isn't it better to switch to faith or goals? Everyone lives according to their own Bushido? It's too unsophisticated. It is no longer suitable in this ear."
Shige Shige turned his face away and looked at Kawaki with a puzzled expression.
"Don't show that kind of expression." Kawaki sighed softly, then shifted his gaze to the front and slowly said, "There is nothing in this world that can be perfect. If you want to get something, you have to pay the price. This is the rule that is difficult to change. But those guys, those samurai who I had met before, each and every one of them could not see anything except for their own Bushido. They placed all those equally precious things under their so-called Bushido, as if saying, "Even if you lose these things, it doesn't matter, because I have never violated my own Bushido." It was really unpleasant. This attitude was like finding a high-sounding excuse for his previous failure."
"But," Kawaki changed his tone, "Even if you lose a lot or even everything, you must carry out the Bushido you believe in. I admire this kind of spirit very much. So I don't like or hate samurai. If you want me to evaluate it, it's just a group of stubborn people in my eyes."
"Kawaki-san's view is really novel." Shige Shige smiled, "No one has ever analyzed a samurai from this angle. I, who have lived in this country since childhood have never heard such a statement."
"Probably the so-called fan of the authorities?" Kawaki turned to look at Shige Shige.
"Maybe that's the case." Shige Shige sighed slightly and then smiled gently.
"Oh, we're here!" Kawaki stopped in his tracks and looked at the shop before him, "It's the barber shop that the uncle mentioned!"
As he spoke, Kawaki turned his head and compared the shop across the street with the deserted old-fashioned barber shop.
"It would be strange if this shop was popular in such a place." Kawaki curled his lips.
"Let's go in." As he spoke, Shige Shige opened the sliding door and walked in.
...
"Is anyone here? I'm here to return the manga on behalf of the shop owner's friend," Shige Shige said as he stepped into the shop and took out the manga in his arms.
The shop had just half-heartedly dealt with a gorilla who wanted plastic surgery to become a handsome man and a certain Jouishishi who wanted to change his image. At this time, the Yorozuya trio, who were about to run away, were wearing hairstylist clothes and wigs. When they saw Shige Shige and Kawaki enter the shop, they were instantly stunned.
"You are the shop owner?" Kawaki asked doubtfully.
"That..." Wearing a Mediterranean wig, Shinpachi squeezed out his voice and smiled apologetically, "The shop owner just went out. If you are looking for the shop owner, please come back tomorrow."
"Is that so, then there's nothing we can do." Kawaki looked at Shige Shige beside him, "Then let's go? Didn't you say that you want to go to Yoshiwara? I can take you to experience the new stores that Yoshiwara has recently opened. It is definitely worth it!"
'The Shogun?!' Gintoki and Shinpachi twitched their faces at the same time.
"Wait, Kawaki-san." Shige Shige slowly pulled off the turban on his head, "Before that, can you get them to do my hair in a Mage? It seems very interesting."
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