Store by the Corner II

Just gathering evidence, people. You're the last ones Aunt Tian saw yesterday.

Don't make things difficult for these darlings, Captain! I saw them leave myself!

I know. Door locks aren't damaged. Windows are shut. It's either someone you know, or a truly skilled professional.

Aunt Tian, can you tell us exactly what happened?

I came back and my house turned into a blighted mess. I can't even remember what I've lost...

Hey, there's a jar of something. I don't remember seeing it yesterday.

Oh! My memories are really failing me. It's straw mushrooms. Found it during housecleaning, but forgot about it and left it here.

No, not anymore. We used straw mushrooms when there was no meat, but meat's aplenty nowadays!

What baffles me is that young people nowadays are adding the mushrooms to the noodles again. I just don't know why...

Are you gonna add it to your braised meat noodles recipe, Aunt Tian?

Endmin, found anything yet?

This Connect-and-Win ... looks pretty familiar.

Wait! Isn't this the same Connect-and-Win that Ah Zai showed us before?

Don't tell me that... No. Does he look like that sort of person...?

Try not to overthink it, Chen. We should just tell Mi Fu what we found.

Yeah, let's do that. Better not let Aunt Tian know...

Mi Fu, we found some clues. Maybe we can help investigate the break-in for you?

Let me guess. The clues point to someone you know.

It's Ah Zai, right?

Spending years in the watchguards will sharpen one's intuition.

We'll definitely get to the bottom of this!

I'll take care of Aunt Tian. You can go ahead and take care of Ah Zai.

Thank you all! Oh, this place is more dangerous than I thought! Imagine getting killed over some straw mushrooms!

I'm just glad you're really here for the mushrooms instead of running away.

Running away? No! Straw mushrooms are sold out everywhere. We can only forage for them.

Sheesh. I wouldn't have had to come out here in the first place if she hadn't touched my stuff... I know my place is a dump but I know where everything is..

Wha?

Oh, I'm talking about someone else, not you of course.

It's just a shroom, but it's got a really interesting story.

This, my friends, is the very soul of my art! Without it, my plan would be a racing burdenbeast without a saddle!

Hey, Ah Zai, before we get into that, we got some serious questions to ask. Kinda need you to be honest with us.

Huh?

Someone broke into Aunt Tian's house. Here are the clues we found at the scene.

This evidence seems pretty unrelated to me...

Wait! This is the jar of shrooms I lost! How did it end up at her place? I never brought it there!

Hold up! You lost this jar? What do you mean you "never brought it there"...?

What are you trying to suggest? She took my jar of shrooms!

Yeah! She hates it when I add shrooms into the braised meat noodles... Can't stop going on about how her recipe is the popular choice...

A photo of Aunt Tian's kitchen. There's a jar of straw mushrooms in it.

This has to be yours, right?

Ugh. No wonder I couldn't find this thing anywhere...

What? Did you really break into Aunt Tian's place?

Break into her place? Hey, I'm not a thief, okay.

What?! The two of you are relatives?! Aunt Tian is literally *your aunt*?!

Uh... Yeah... My Dad and Mom passed away, so it was my aunt who raised me.

But I'm a grown-up now. Gotta start my own biz and go my own way... Hrrrngh. Let's just say my aunt and I don't really agree on everything.

She's got tons of outdated ideas and kept trying to get in my way!

Well, if you're family, why do you have to sneak around and act all sus?

Isn't it obvious?! I don't wanna run into my aunt again!

I'm a grown-up and I'm doing very well on my own. But someone refuses to believe in that!

This affair's getting more and more complicated. We should head back and double check with Aunt Tian.

A Connect-and-Win voucher found in the storage room. It is the same as those prepared by Ah Zai.

Come on, Endmin. Go ahead and ask if you got a question!

A diary...? Is this some kind of a joke?

I don't read childish scribbles. Just a bunch of stupid nonsense. Ugh...

...Maybe we should try the next.

...Maybe we should try the next.

Yeah... And I'm glad we got all that cleared up before you threw me into prison!

Wait. Are you saying that Aunt Tian took your stuff?

Sometimes her nagging is like a broken record! I can't take it anymore!

"Get those strange ideas out of your head!" "NO! Stop adding weird stuff to the noodles" "What a mess! You can't take care of yourself...!"

Just last year she wanted me to take over the noodle biz. But it's 'cos she doesn't want me to join the TGCC as a Catastrophe Rider...

What is a Catastrophe Rider...?

And I trusted you so much!

I went back to my aunt's place for my stuff... My Band Residence ID was at her place, and I need it to get a temporary business license.

We got into a big argument and I moved out after that.

Alright. Gotta get back to work. Just go ask my aunt if you have any more problems.

Someone broke into her place?! HOW?! WHAT HAPPENED?!

Aunt Tian, things would have been easier for us if either of you told us about it.

I'm sorry, Captain Mi, for causing you so much trouble.

Ah Zai got all sorts of ideas and inherited his mother's temper. Once he made up his mind, not even ten burdenbeasts can rein him in. I hardly have time to take proper care of him.

I was hoping to get that available stall so I don't have to work from my noodle cart again. The kid might even decide to come back and help at a proper shop...

Really sorry about making a scene, Captain Mi. I'll make some extra sweet rice cakes for the watchguards tomorrow.

It's alright.

Mi Fu and Aunt Tian! You're still here.

What happened?

Ah Zai said that Aunt Tian took his stuff.

Aunt Tian, I better leave this to you.

Oh darlings, you really went out of your way...

I really want Ah Zai to inherit my business so he'll have an easier time in life...

I tried talking sense but he raised his voice and riled me up. So after delivering some food to his place, I just decided to clean up his mistakes.

I'm not making things hard for him. As elders, we must rein in the young ones before they smash themselves into a wall.

But Ah Zai told us he needs these straw mushrooms for an important event.

Oh...? Well, maybe I didn't know about that. But Ah Zai is a kid with all sorts of crazy ideas. I don't want him to feel defeated...

You're right... Ah Zai's all grown up now...

But he kept adding straw mushrooms to the noodles instead of proper meat... He's ruining the brand name!

We should let the competition decide, then. I should see, with my own eyes, what that kid is up to.

What's this? A fairy tale book?

Oh, just something from a kid. Found it two days ago while going through stuff, but left it outside.

Well, the story's really interesting...