Saiki placed the 10 boxes of coffee jelly on the checkout counter.
[200 yen per box, three coffee jellies in each one. Ten boxes means thirty in total. I can fill up the entire living room table with them.]
"Alright, ten boxes of coffee jelly comes to 2000 yen. Here's your receipt."
The clerk handed Saiki the receipt along with the neatly packaged coffee jellies, then took out a box of green chocolate biscuits and explained.
"Sir, since your purchase of coffee jelly totals 2000 yen, we're giving you a free box of wasabi-flavored bear biscuits as a special promotion."
Saiki accepted the bear biscuits, stepped out of the store, and took a look. Sure enough, they really were wasabi-flavored.
[Seriously, aren't these biscuits usually for kids? Does wasabi flavor actually taste good?]
"Mm… bear biscuits, huh."
Shin-chan stood beside him, eyes sparkling as he stared fixedly at the box of bear biscuits in Saiki's hand.
Saiki moved the bear biscuits he was holding in his left hand to the right. Shin-chan turned right along with them. When he shifted them to the left, Shin-chan turned left too.
Saiki held the bear biscuits and looked at Shin-chan, who was still staring intently.
Shin-chan spoke first, acting shy: "N-no, I couldn't possibly accept them, Saiki-oniichan…"
[I haven't even offered them to you yet.]
Ten minutes later, Saiki and Shin-chan, who was happily munching on bear biscuits, headed toward the vegetable market area.
[Since I already gave them to you, stop following me now.]
Shin-chan kept eating the bear biscuits while saying: "These wasabi-flavored ones are so addictive. No way, I still haven't repaid Saiki-oniichan yet. Plus I still have to run errands for Mom. Ugh, I can't stand it. We're having stir-fried green peppers and pork again today."
As he spoke, Shin-chan spotted a fish shop and walked over. "Hello, boss!"
Saiki looked at Shin-chan.
[To be honest, it's pretty rare to see someone this young out running errands for their mom. Back in my day… never mind.]
A middle-aged boss wearing a headband came out. "Here you are, little guy. What would you like?"
Shin-chan stepped forward, pulled out a slip of paper, and said: "Boss, I want to buy lettuce."
The boss paused. "We don't sell lettuce here."
Shin-chan looked at the paper again and continued: "Then I want bean sprouts."
The boss said helplessly: "We don't sell bean sprouts either."
"Then I want green… minced meat."
(What even is green minced meat? Some new species?)
The boss's expression grew increasingly serious: "We don't sell minced meat here either."
"Then you have soy sauce, right?"
The boss was already on the verge of tears: "We don't have soy sauce either."
Shin-chan put the paper away, turned around, tugged at Saiki's pant leg, and started walking out while complaining: "Saiki-oniichan, Saiki-oniichan, let's go. This shop is ridiculous. They don't have anything and still dare to open for business."
(You're at a fish shop. Why are you asking for that kind of stuff? You're not seriously just here to mess with him, are you?)
Hearing Shin-chan's brutally honest words, the boss finally couldn't hold back. He turned around and roared: "Cut the crap! This place sells fish!"
Saiki grabbed Shin-chan and jogged away.
[You really are something special when it comes to causing trouble.]
"No such thing!"
They arrived at the entrance of a vegetable shop. The boss was introducing yams to a woman.
"Ma'am, we have very fresh yams today. Great for vitality and energy. I guarantee your husband will turn into a dragon after eating them."
The woman seemed to picture something and said: "Oh, stop~"
"Hehehehehe."
"Hehehehehehe."
...Suddenly another laugh joined in.
"Hahahaha, ahahahahaha!"
Shin-chan had somehow run up in front at some point, struck an Action Kamen pose, and asked while laughing: "What's so funny about that?"
Saiki looked at the spot where Shin-chan had just been standing at his feet.
(When did he run over there?)
"Well…" The vegetable shop boss glanced at the woman and didn't know quite how to explain.
"Will eating this turn you into a real dragon?"
The vegetable shop boss explained: "Don't worry, kids won't turn into dragons from eating it."
Shin-chan looked innocently at the woman and asked: "What about oba-san?"
"Oba-san…"
The woman, now proven to be an "oba-san," got angry and walked away.
The vegetable shop boss laughed awkwardly: "Welcome anytime. Come back soon!"
[I told you you're especially good at causing trouble.]
Saiki stepped forward.
The vegetable shop boss saw someone approaching and greeted them: "Welcome! What can I get you? Looking for any vegetables?"
Before Saiki could speak, Shin-chan jumped out and asked the boss: "What about me? What about me? Why aren't you asking me, boss? Ask me! Ask me!"
The boss, unable to escape Shin-chan's persistence, said: "Alright then, what do you want?"
"I don't want anything."
Vegetable shop boss: ...
Vegetable shop boss: "Kid, if you don't want anything, then step aside. Don't interfere with my business."
"I don't want anything to eat. I'm just here to buy vegetables."
(That's literally wanting something.)
The boss finally couldn't take it anymore after hearing Shin-chan's words. He collapsed dramatically, then stood back up, dusted himself off, and said: "I really can't deal with this. You're exhausting. So, little guy, what do you actually want to buy?"
Shin-chan looked at Saiki: "Saiki-oniichan, what are you going to buy?"
[You buy what you need, I'll buy what I need. Why are you asking me?]
"Oh, okay."
Shin-chan seemed to understand, then said: "So Saiki-oniichan, what should I buy?"
[How would I know?]
Shin-chan fell into deep thought.
[Boss, I want lettuce, onions, and this, that, and this one…]
Seeing how much trouble Shin-chan was having just buying vegetables, Saiki decided to go first.
"Got it. Just a moment, it'll be ready right away."
Three minutes later, Saiki was carrying a full bag while Shin-chan was still thinking beside him.
The vegetable shop boss saw Shin-chan looking like he was about to fall asleep: "Kid, have you decided what you want yet?"
"Mm, I want a Gundam robot and bear biscuits."
"I'm not asking what you want in general. I'm asking what your mom told you to buy."
Shin-chan looked shocked: "Ah! You even know that? Are you good friends with my mom?"
(He doesn't need to be friends to figure that out.)
The vegetable shop boss said speechlessly: "How could that be? Kids like you who come shopping are usually running errands for their mom, right?"
"Oh, yeah. I do have a list."
Vegetable shop boss: "A list? You mean a shopping list? Hand it over and let me see."
"I'll get it for you right now."
Shin-chan said that, then reached into his right pocket, then his left pocket.
"Weird, where is it?"
Shin-chan reached into his collar, then tugged at his pants. Before anyone realized, he had already stripped off all his clothes.
Shin-chan was still swinging his clothes around, completely unaware that a crowd was slowly gathering.
(Does this kid have no sense of shame at all? Even I wouldn't strip in public like this… wait, no, I wouldn't do that anyway…)
Because Shin-chan's movements were so smooth and fluid, even Saiki hadn't noticed exactly when he had taken everything off.