The waitress returned shortly with the pot of mushroom broth. Three kinds of mushrooms floated on top. There were chopped up shitake, maitake and oyster mushrooms.
The delicious smell wafted over to Jiro, who deeply inhaled the scent with gusto.
"It smells so good," he announced.
"Yes, and it also tastes good," Hiroyuki replied.
"I can't wait to taste it," Jiro rejoined.
The waitress reappeared with the warmed-up sake. The strong scent of rice wine occupied the table, mixing in with the smell of broth.
Hiroyuki poured himself a cup and drank it slowly in one gulp. The sweet burning sensation lingered in the back of his throat.
As he put his cup down, he saw a pair of inquisitive eyes on him.
"Want to try it?" Hiroyuki asked.
Jiro shook his head, but then nodded yes.
Hiroyuki asked for another cup and then poured Jiro a half cup.
Copying how he saw Hiroyuki drink it, Jiro downed the sake cup.
Gasp!
"It tastes horrible!" the boy sputtered, as tears formed on the corners of his eyes. An apparent frown appeared immediately on his flushed face.
"That's why you shouldn't drink it too much," Hiroyuki told Jiro.
Hiroyuki's first time drinking sake was almost exactly the same as Jiro. Back then, Hiroyuki had it worst because he had to drink a whole cup. Although sake cups are small to begin with, but even a tiny bit of the strong alcohol was enough to make Hiroyuki feel sick from the burning sensation.
Afterwards, their food came. Jiro excitedly began to dip the meat and eat. He chewed each slice slowly, as he savored the taste.
"Don't just eat meat," Hiroyuki cautioned, "have some mushrooms as well."
Then he placed a few pieces of mushrooms into Jiro's bowl.
By the end of the meal, Jiro rubbed his bulging belly. It had been a long time since he was able to eat a meal like this.
The waitress returned with the bill. Jiro snuck a peek at the total price.
"That's a lot of money," he exclaimed. "That's enough for three homecooked dinners!"
"It's fine, if we just do it once in a while," Hiroyuki told him.
Jiro nodded his head. Now he knew why they bought food from the discounted section and why they hadn't gone out to eat before. It's because it was too expensive.
Jiro, who had recently learned about household finances, felt he would have to do a better job in the future on saving money. Looking at Jiro's mournful expression, Hiroyuki chuckled.