Starting a New Life in Tokyo by Inheriting a Shopping Street [68]

"What’s the 'Top 100 Ramen Shops'?" Chiba Shuuichi abandoned the idea of interrupting with more underhanded tricks and asked curiously instead.

Akiyama Tsuki gave him a strange look. "The Tokyo Top 100 Ramen Shops selected by Tabelog? You’ve never used Tabelog?"

Now that she mentioned it, Chiba Shuuichi remembered what it was—Tabelog was basically Japan’s version of Dianping.

But it wasn’t really because he lacked common sense as an outsider. His predecessor rarely used such things, always just casually grabbing half-price bentos from supermarkets at night.

"Could your ramen shop get on that list?" Chiba Shuuichi asked.

"How is that even possible?" Akiyama Tsuki said, somewhat speechless. "Our little shop can’t compete in terms of size, ambiance, or reputation—we’re way below even the hundredth place."

"But the taste shouldn’t be worse than that so-called champion, right?" Only after Chiba Shuuichi said this did he realize he'd forgotten to eat. He quickly gulped down two mouthfuls of soup and let out a satisfied sigh.

"Not sure, haven’t had spare money to eat there," Akiyama Tsuki said, also starting to eat her noodles.

Sitting across from them, Akiyama-san smiled quietly as she watched the two kids discuss serious business while eating.

"Then I'll treat you to it sometime. If your taste is better, maybe you can try competing for the Tokyo ramen championship."

As soon as Chiba Shuuichi said that, Akiyama An, who had been eating quietly, suddenly picked out the keyword, her small ears twitching. She hurriedly swallowed and raised her hand.

"I wanna eat too!"

"Eat, eat, eat—that’s all you ever think about. You never show this enthusiasm when studying." Akiyama Tsuki irritably pinched her sister’s ear.

Lecturing her sister on one hand, she turned to Chiba Shuuichi on the other. "Aren’t you simplifying things a bit, Chiba-kun? Having the best flavor doesn’t mean you’ll reach the top."

Chiba Shuuichi smiled amusedly and rubbed her head, messing up her hairstyle. "You mean Tabelog might not be entirely fair, right? But something like that might not be a problem on my end."

"I almost forgot—you’re an actual rich young master," Akiyama Tsuki suddenly remembered. This guy owned an entire street, unlike a commoner like herself.

She had played maid-and-master games so often in private, she'd forgotten she was only pretending to be a maid—but he wasn't pretending to be a master!

However, Akiyama Tsuki obviously wasn’t used to Chiba Shuuichi’s affectionate gesture and attitude, quickly slapping his hand away.

Honestly, she’d rather have him do something perverted than treat her like a child.

Hmm, rough spanking is fine, gentle head-pats are not.

"It's not just about fairness. Ambiance, service, popularity—they’re all factors considered in the rankings. There’s no way we could match up."

"Aim for the top, and you’ll land somewhere close. Who cares if it’s achievable or not—first, you’ve gotta have the ambition to take first place."

Chiba Shuuichi secretly pondered: If the ramen shop won first place, the System’s evaluation should skyrocket, right? Wouldn’t that bring him another step closer to passing the assessment and taking over the shopping street for real?

"What you're saying sounds reasonable and very nice, but look at…" Akiyama Tsuki nodded towards her mother sitting across from them. "Look at Mom’s face right now. Does she look like someone who has the ambition to win?"

Hearing this, Akiyama-san puffed up her cheeks unhappily. "Tsuki-chan, don't underestimate Mama. Mama is very impressive too."

Akiyama Tsuki laughed coldly. "Alright then. Let’s start correcting all the flaws Kizaki-obaasan pointed out. We'll help you plan for the championship. With Chiba-kun’s help, fairness at least shouldn't be an issue."

"Well…" Akiyama-san’s eyes immediately started wandering. "The shop just opened, isn’t this too far ahead to be thinking about? Maybe later?"

"See?" Akiyama Tsuki sighed, looking at Chiba Shuuichi.

"…"

Chiba Shuuichi felt he’d overestimated things too. Clearly, Akiyama-san was just a lazy salted fish—expecting her to become some Tokyo Ramen Queen was obviously delusional.

"But if we won the championship, Kizaki-obaasan would be really happy, right?" Akiyama An said, placing down her bowl after drinking the last of her soup. "Obaasan did say the other day she hoped Mama could slap someone’s face with her success."

Akiyama-san immediately shrank her neck, trying to minimize her presence. Face-slapping or whatever… she really wasn't interested. That just sounded exhausting.

Seeing her reaction, Chiba Shuuichi chuckled gently. "Akiyama-san is already amazing enough, raising Class Rep and Kaichou so well—you're definitely above at least ninety percent of mothers in all of Japan. No need to ask for more."

Hearing this, Akiyama-san’s confidence immediately soared. "Exactly! Mama really works hard, you know—I’m absolutely not lazy."

"…"

Akiyama Tsuki had no objections there, but her mother's personality really was…

"Sigh…"

"Tsuki-chan, you're sighing." Akiyama-san placed her hands on her hips. "Mama is hurt. Was Chiba-kun wrong? Mama is clearly amazing!"

"No, he's right. Mama is indeed very impressive. My sigh was purely because I'm a little emotionally exhausted…" Akiyama Tsuki lowered her head, quietly eating her food.

"So… are we still going to eat that champion ramen?" Akiyama An bit her chopsticks, asking blankly.

Akiyama Tsuki: …

"Yes, we'll go. Whenever we're free, I'll take you both there to see how good their ramen really is," Chiba Shuuichi promised with an amused smile.

Regardless of whether Akiyama-san was interested in winning, he planned to take them anyway, to properly gauge the current level of Akiyama Ramen’s taste.

He himself always ate with a 600% Buff, so he had no idea what their ramen tasted like to ordinary people.

"Yay~~~!" Akiyama An cheered excitedly.

"Honestly, An-chan is such a traitor. Is Mama’s cooking worse than something outside? Mama’s food is clearly better than Obaasan’s," Akiyama-san muttered in dissatisfaction.

"No matter how tasty, it’s natural to want something new sometimes, right? After all, I’ve been eating Mama’s cooking for over a decade now…" An-chan let out an uncharacteristic sigh.

"This hurts. Neither of my daughters cares about Mama’s feelings," Akiyama-san said, sulking.

...

The lively breakfast finally ended, but today, due to repeated delays, there was no time to play special games with Akiyama Tsuki on the way to school.

The three of them hurriedly rushed to school, barely making it on time.

However, once at school, the topic of ramen still wasn’t finished. During the break, Chiba Shuuichi suddenly noticed some classmates discussing the Akiyama family’s ramen shop!

With his enhanced senses, he quickly pinpointed the three-girl group chatting.

"Hey, tomorrow’s already the weekend. Wanna go eat ramen?"

"Huh? What’s so great about ramen? Crowded with sweaty old men, eating hot noodles until you're sticky and dripping with broth—isn't that gross?"

"It's not that bad. I've been to 'Hushinbo' before—they give you hair ties and aprons. Plus, it only serves female customers, and the air-conditioning is strong."

"True, but it’s not me who wants to eat. My younger sister keeps bugging me, claiming she found an amazing women's-only ramen place, insisting I try it."

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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!