Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 219 78. Scheduled Annual Meeting

"Meat and potatoes."

Haruko was reading the name of the dish when Chiyo came over from the door.

She knelt down beside Haruko, then stretched out her hands and took the box from Carl.

When he opened it, he found that the potato stew that he had just made in the morning was still warm in the box that Carl had specially bought, which had a very good insulation effect.

Chiyo looked at Carl and then at Haruko: "Please allow me to taste it first, Miss Haruko."

Poison testing?
Carl didn't mind.

And Haruko had no intention of refusing.

There are many opportunities for Carl to poison, such as secretly injecting neurotoxins into oranges when peeling them. There is no need for him to poison food openly. Haruko trusts Carl, but this inspection process is necessary for Chiyo.

Because this is Chiyome's duty, and given Chiyome's personality, she absolutely cannot fail in her duty.

The last person who she judged to be derelict in his duty was no longer even called "master", but was called "derelict in his duty" every day.

Chiyome was well prepared and took out a spoon and chopsticks. She activated her prosthetic eye and first did a detailed scan. After making sure there were no foreign objects, she took a spoonful of the stewed meat and potatoes into her mouth.

The soft potatoes and stewed pork tasted delicious, but Chiyome's expression did not change while she was eating, as if she was taking nutrient supplements in a training camp. Her mouth moved slightly, and the installed analytical prosthesis started up, analyzing everything in the potato and meat stew clearly.

A few seconds later, Chiyo looked at Carl and said the first words after swallowing the potato stew: "The taste is too strong. It may lack flavor for you, young lady. The pork used is not good. It is not produced in the culture room. The type of potato is not good. The spices used are not up to standard. As food, it is completely unacceptable."

"Uh"

Carl was severely criticized for the food, but he was speechless.

Because these are all facts.

The things he could buy in Night City were already something only the top people could enjoy, but compared to Haruko Arasaka's daily food, they were just so-so.

However, Chiyo only mentioned the taste and ingredients of the food. She did not mention any bad things found in the food itself. However, she still gave a reminder according to her duty:
"This food will not suit your taste, young lady. If you are embarrassed to refuse a good offer, I am willing to finish it."

"kindness"

After listening to Chiyo's comments about the food, Haruko looked at the meat and potatoes, then looked at Carl, and finally said to Chiyo:

"Don't worry about it. I'll still try it for the first bite."

One bite, it should be edible, right?
"Don't force yourself to eat if you're not used to it. I understand that aspect."

Carl didn't care. After all, he was used to eating good food, so he knew very well the feeling of eating something inedible. Although he had recently adapted to eating some synthetic meatballs, he still couldn't stand the synthetic steak that was soft and had some earthworm fragments and crunchy locust mouthparts in it, not to mention Haruko, who ate better than he did in his previous life.

"It's a thoughtful gesture, I should be able to do it."

Haruko said this, took another new spoon handed to her by Chiyome, and took a small bite.

The brows that were originally frowned due to nervousness slowly relaxed after entering.

"Do you feel that this is acceptable?"

"It seems my cooking skills are not that bad then."

Carl listened to Haruko's comments and nodded slightly.

I almost lost my self-confidence because of Chiyo.

Carl watched Haruko eat the stewed potatoes and meat slowly, bite by bite. When he was about to think that it would be too greasy without some staple food, Haruko put down the spoon.

"It's time." She said something that Carl didn't understand, but Chiyome understood it. She stood up and controlled something with her prosthetic eye. On the side of Haruko and Carl in the tea room, the place that originally looked like a wall showed color.

In Carl's eyes, the wall that Carl was originally looking at with a little curiosity as to why there was nothing placed around it, turned into a screen.

television?

It turned out to be a TV screen?
This is nicely decorated.

The screen lit up as Carl stared, and then the sound came out before the picture.

"fasten your seatbelt!"

?

Carl looked at the middle-aged man on the screen with a sunny smile on his face saying this, and he could only put a question mark in his heart.

"This is?"

"Hino Hidetoshi, late night stand-up host."

Chiyo explained: "This is the midnight recording that Ms. Haruko watches every day. His crosstalk skills are very high, and the language he expresses is also humorous enough, so it is very popular."

"Uh"

Carl was a little confused as he watched Haruko staring at the screen while handing him an orange that she had taken out from somewhere, obviously intending for him to peel it.

Miss, do you like watching stand-up comedy?
hiss.
If you think about it carefully, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with this?
But isn't this a bit
Looking at Haruko, who was well-mannered, and Hino Hidechi, whose faces kept changing on the screen, telling jokes one after another and occasionally making funny faces, Carl could only say:
"People really have all kinds of hobbies. They don't look alike at first glance."

“I don’t like crosstalk.”

Qingzi turned her head and took the orange peeled by Carl for the split, saying, "It's just because he looks like an elder I know and I respect him very much. His face and whereabouts are kept secret and he is usually very serious. So I found it very interesting to see the host of the crosstalk who looks very similar to him and put on all kinds of expressions."

"Is that so?"

Someone who looks very similar to someone he knows makes funny faces that that person wouldn't make. After thinking about it carefully, Carl would have to say that he would be interested.

To put it in an analogy, it sounds like Kenichi Shiro is on a show, performing a two-dimensional imitation show, covering his face with one hand and saying something like "The Power of the King". If Carl sees the related Mewtwo, he will buy every issue and pay close attention to subscribing.

Carl, who had nothing to do, followed Haruko to eat oranges and watch crosstalk. After watching for a while, he found that the host's level was very high and it was very interesting to watch. After he ate ten oranges unknowingly, Haruko, who shared half of them with him, remembered something.

"By the way, Carl, in a few days, I may need you to serve as my temporary guard."

"Temporary escort, oh, just the emergency and special situation that Kenichi Shiro mentioned, what time and where."

This is another way to make money.

While Carl was thinking this, Haruko said something extraordinary in a very ordinary way.

"In four days, at the annual board meeting at Arasaka Tower in Night City."

Annual meeting of directors?

night city
That is the time when the most powerful corporate dogs of the Arasaka Group in the entire United States will gather?
Four days later, Carl calculated the time.

He and Blanca have an appointment to have dinner the day after tomorrow on Christmas Eve, and then on the third day he will spend Christmas Day at the Wild Wolf Bar with Jack and the others.

Four days later, that is to say,
The day after Christmas.

By holding the annual meeting at that time, Arasaka in Night City can be considered to be integrated into Western culture.

(End of this chapter)