I’M Really Helpless In Tokyo

71 convenience store in Arakawa Ward.

"The next person, Araki Sosuke, is a man who aspires to become the store manager of 71 convenience stores in the Kanto area! On the first day, please advise."

Sosuke Araki, wearing a peaked cap, a green long-sleeved uniform and a big "7" printed on his chest, is bowing ninety degrees to two other men who also wear shop assistants.

After failing the interview for several days, he resolutely activated the "Plan B" in the face of his empty wallet.

Joined 71 Convenience Store and started his "convenience store career."

Since high school, he has often worked part-time in 71 convenience stores and has about 5 years of part-time experience.

A few days ago, when I heard that he was about to graduate, a senior who had a job in a convenience store asked if he needed to recommend him for the position of "reserve store manager".

However, Sosuke Araki was focused on the "communication business" at the time, so he naturally looked down on the work of the convenience store and kept saying "consider".

"Well...Welcome...Araki-kun, it's really too timely to recommend someone like you to come here. I don't know what to do with the recent shortage of manpower."

One of the middle-aged Mediterranean men, who is short and fat, looks very talkative, is the franchise manager of this convenience store, Kento Misaka.

In the face of Araki Sosuke's obvious introduction of himself, he was a little bit dumbfounded, rubbing his hands in front of him.

However, according to the resume, Araki Sosuke in front of him, although he looks like a gangster, is actually not only a college graduate, but also has more than five years of experience in 71 convenience store hourly workers. It can be said that he is the best helper right now.

"Yeah, yeah, it's great that you can come. After Sano resigned, I have been on the night shift for three consecutive days..."

Another male clerk named Moto Oida also echoed in a bitter voice.

Hearing him say this, the store manager glared at him immediately.

After the introduction, Sosuke Araki began to work formally.

As a "golden hourly worker" in a convenience store, loading goods, sorting shelves, checking inventory, cleaning, cashiering and living services are all familiar to Sosuke Araki.

There are a large number of convenience stores like 71 in Japan, about one every 500 meters, and most of them are open 24 hours a day. In addition to providing a variety of food, daily necessities, and magazines, they also take care of ATM, photocopying, and payment of utility bills. , Handle all kinds of cards, take ID photos, send and receive express delivery, and many other businesses.

The store manager Misaka only checked Araki Sosuke's work status slightly, and left with satisfaction. Only Araki Sosuke and Oida Moto were left.

In the afternoon, the store was close to the industrial area, and there was an endless stream of guests coming to the convenience store. The two of them were busy until eight o'clock in the evening before they went out for a lunch.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of leisure, Araki Sosuke's eyes began to scan on the shelves and refrigerators.

The hourly wage in the convenience store is not high, and the reason why he can insist on working here is naturally because there are many "hidden benefits" in the convenience store work.

With the continuous deepening of industrialization, 71 convenience stores provide more and more various kinds of fresh food, such as sushi, salads, fried food, oden, all kinds of microwave oven heated instant noodles and rice.

The taste period of most fresh foods is 1-3 days.

For expired food, according to the regulations of convenience stores, it must be discarded.

However, in practice, in line with the principle of not wasting food and avoiding the trouble of garbage sorting, most franchised shop owners will allow shop assistants to buy back "just expired" food at a very low price.

Sosuke Araki, who had just entered university that year, was so poor that he couldn't afford the meals in the school cafeteria, so he solved three meals a day by working at a convenience store.

After scanning a circle, he placed a few of his favorite foods that were about to expire and placed them on the bottom left corner of the shelf, and Araki Sosuke returned to the cashier with satisfaction.

Most of the customers are right-handed and will give priority to the upper right products, so the products placed in the lower left corner are the easiest to "expire". This is his valuable experience summed up over the years.

Seeing that Sosuke Araki had finished patrolling the shelves and there were no customers in the store, Moto Oida asked him to go out and smoke a cigarette.

"Araki-kun is really okay for two consecutive periods?"

After the two lighted each other's cigarettes, Moto Oida asked worriedly.

"Of course it's okay. At the store that had the best business in Shibuya, I also topped a record three consecutive classes."

Araki Sosuke let out a puff of smoke, revealing a bright dissolution.

Unlike others, he prefers to work late at night.

Late-night work is not too busy, and the hourly salary will be more than other times. More importantly, the food that has just passed the "appreciation period" can be recovered as soon as possible.

"Ah, if everyone is as energetic as Araki-kun. Recently, many convenience stores have changed to an 18-hour system because they cannot find a late-night man. This is the same store, especially the one that came out. After the matter..."

Moto Oida said with emotion.

Late-night hours are often the most short-lived period among the five working hours of convenience stores.

"That thing?" Araki Sosuke immediately asked curiously.

"Eh? Didn't you hear about Araki-kun before you came? I thought you came here under the premise of knowing..."

Moto Oida immediately lowered his voice, and went to Araki's ears with a gossiping look, and said: "In the last month, when the shop was often handing over early shifts, I found that the money in the cash box was not counted, but there were more leaves. , Broken copper coins and other weird things... They all said that they are ghosts in the nearby cemetery. Come here to buy things... The day before yesterday I heard the manager of Sansaka call someone to come and remove the spirits."

"Oh, that's the case." Araki Sosuke replied with a perfunctory expression.

In his opinion, most of the clerk used this as a cover, and his hands and feet were not clean.

"Don't believe it, Mr. Araki, not far behind this shop is the recently popular "Shared Cemetery". It is said that a tomb can hold the ashes of six people..."

"Huh? Sharing the cemetery?"

Japan's aging and land area restrictions have caused the price of cemeteries to rise year by year, and this has created something like "shared cemeteries".

However, this kind of cemetery is also an option for the poor with limited financial means, or the elderly who are single.

"Sano, who recently resigned, is said to have forgotten to put chopsticks on the oden of the customer. When he chased him out, he saw something terrible... After more than ten days of bad luck."

At this moment, more than a dozen boys wearing high school uniforms and wearing the same airplane head as Araki Sosuke walked into the store happily.

The two immediately put out the cigarette in their hands and returned to the cash register.

After a while, Moto Oida put on his coat and prepared to leave when the time was up.

"These are industrial students from a nearby high school, and their hands and feet are occasionally dirty. As long as it's not too much, you can just open your eyes and close your eyes. Don't conflict with them."

Moto Oida exhorted so and left work.

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