They say you should strike while the iron is hot, so the thought of getting another beloved ride of my own instead of that ancient pickup truck whose model year I didn’t even know sent me looking up showrooms right away. The surprising part, though, was that before I could even make time to go to Fairfield, Dad came home driving a new car.
“How is it?”
There was a pride on Dad’s face, having bought a brand-new Mercedes S-Class, that was hard to put into words. He looked like he’d come home with a gold medal or something.
“It’s killer.”
“Right?”
But there was no arguing the fact that the S-Class was cool. Before my regression, I’d seen its later, more luxurious design, but that hadn’t been our car. This one, though—even if it was the 2006 design after my regression—was ours, and that made it impossibly cool.
“Wow... Even a fly would slip off this thing. That shine...”
Mom came out too and made a fuss over the new car Dad had bought.
“Oh my, isn’t this car too expensive? But it is nice... Expensive things really are different.”
“Mom, you’re already convinced just by the exterior design?”
“Well, you already bought it. It’s not like we can return it. But I guess they had one in stock? You brought it home right away.”
“The dealer asked what I did for a living, and when I told him I ran a winery in Napa Valley, he got me the fastest one available. He said they’d start sending me catalogs every month from now on, too.”
“Ah...”
Salespeople really weren’t just anyone, it seemed. The moment they realized he was rich, they went straight into customer management.
There were plenty of real estate and IT tycoons in LA and San Francisco, but out here in the countryside, the owners of Napa Valley wineries could be called the richest people around. Even farmers with hundreds of acres of land couldn’t hold a candle to winery owners.
“This much is all right, isn’t it?”
As he said that, he glanced at me, as if wondering whether he’d bought something too expensive.
“Of course. It’s fine.”
What was the point of earning money if you were just going to sit on it? You earned it so everyone could be happy. If we’d made this much, I thought it was good to splurge at least once.
Of course, that included me...
“Ahem. What are you thinking of buying...?”
“I’m still deciding, but I’m thinking of visiting a showroom tomorrow.”
“Where?”
“BMW.”
“Oh... BMW’s nice. We could swap cars once in a while.”
“Exactly.”
I said that, but I had no intention of driving the S-Class. If I drove it around, I felt like I’d look like a chauffeur.
The next day, to go to Fairfield, which was only about thirty minutes by car from Napa Valley, I had to drive nearly two hours all the way to Dare Ridge Country Club. That was because, when I said I was buying a car, Chloe screamed and threw a fit about coming along.
I couldn’t understand why she was the one getting excited, but in any case, by the time I picked up Chloe and set off, lunchtime was already approaching.
“I can’t believe I don’t have to ride in that beat-up old pickup anymore...”
“You didn’t like my beloved ride?”
“Honestly, even the cars the farmhands drive on our farm were better than that.”
That was another fact I couldn’t argue against.
“...... What about you, then?”
“If I made up my mind, I could drive a perfectly nice car too. But you know, my hands shake when I drive. If I’d gotten my license, Mom was going to buy me a car when I turned nineteen. What did your father buy?”
“An S-Class.”
“My dad has one of those too.”
Then again, for a family like hers, an S-Class probably wasn’t that big a deal. And it didn’t sound like they had just one, either.
“How many cars does Mr. Fredrick have?”
“Hmm... Three? Not that many. Some of Dad’s friends have more than five, and you know that nasty Mr. William Hartford from the Cherry Growers’ Cooperative? He even has a private plane.”
“Ah...”
America really was on a different scale. Of course, now that I’d grown into a small-to-midsize business bringing in six million dollars a year, I wasn’t all that envious.
After picking her up and arriving back at the BMW showroom in Fairfield, more than three hours had passed since I’d left home.
“What model would you like to see?”
The moment we stepped in, a salesperson hurried over with a friendly smile.
“I haven’t decided yet. I’ll take my time looking around.”
We walked slowly through the showroom. On one side, I saw the solid sedan body of the 5 Series, and on the other, the aggressive curves of the M3 caught my eye. I ran my fingertips along a car body and murmured.
“Nice... This is nice.”
Before my regression, I had never bought a new car even once. I’d always lived my life with used cars. So just coming here to buy a new one made my heart race.
Then, suddenly, a car in front of the glass wall caught my eye. A low-slung body, a long hood, two leather seats...
A silver color with a living gloss. It was a 2006 BMW Z4 Roadster.
When I stopped in front of the car, the salesperson spoke as if he had been waiting.
“When you drive this car, you feel like the protagonist of a drama. Would you like to see the top open?”
How could I refuse that?
“Sure.”
“Then please get in and start the engine first.”
I opened the door, sat down, and pressed the ignition button. The engine woke with a deep breath.
“Sounds good.”
Chloe tapped the dashboard with her palm as she spoke. When I opened the top the way the salesperson showed me, the feeling was incredible all over again. Even if I wouldn’t be able to keep it open long because of the dust, this feeling right now was hard to describe.
“A clean silver metallic Z4. The 3.0i manual combination is, in itself, a work of art for the driver.”
At the salesperson’s explanation, I smiled and said,
“I’ll take this one.”
“An excellent choice, sir. You’re in luck, because this vehicle happened to remain at our showroom. That means immediate delivery is possible. We’ll have the vehicle you came in transported to your home. As a service, of course. We’ll attach temporary plates for you, so the two of you can enjoy a wonderful drive back.”
Chloe, who had come prepared, took sunglasses out of her bag, put them on, and grinned.
“Hurry up and pay so we can go.”
Today was going to be a truly memorable day.
---
No matter how much I focused on winery production, the fact that my official status was still student didn’t change. So on days with classes, commuting by driving more than an hour was normal. Today, though, I hadn’t commuted because of class.
In front of a department building on the UC Davis campus, we had pushed several desks together and hung up a banner that said “Liquor Tasting,” and we were shouting at the top of our lungs.
“Come try a sample!”
“It’s East Asian-style soju. Please give it a taste!”
“You must be twenty-one or older.”
Shouting toward the people passing by, Chloe, Armando, Jacob, and I kept calling people over.
“Um... What is this?”
“It’s a traditional Korean liquor that we remade in an American style. All you have to do is sample it once and fill out an evaluation form.”
Chloe diligently explained to the student who asked.
“The aroma is unique.”
“There’s liquor like this too?”
Compared to the various liquors commonly drunk in the West, East Asian-style soju definitely had a different feel. Perhaps because of that, the students hesitated at first, but free things were impossible to refuse anywhere, so one by one, they tasted it, filled out the evaluation forms, and put them into the white box we had prepared in advance.
“The response seems pretty good, doesn’t it?”
“Who knows.”
Seeing the people who sampled it make expressions that seemed favorable, Armando spoke positively, but Jacob wasn’t convinced.
What Jacob had prepared this time was a Korean-style premium soju, mostly distilled in a pot still, leaving behind a strong grain aroma. From my perspective, it was extremely familiar, and before my regression, it had been a drink I liked even more than wine, so I could see it favorably. But from the position of someone who had to sell a product, it needed to suit the public’s taste.
Depending on the response to this premium soju made for the first time with this year’s harvested rice, we would decide whether to release it or focus mainly on “The One” vodka, which was currently selling well.
“One thing’s certain, though. The professors like it.”
Chloe gestured with her eyes toward the back of the professor who had just walked away after giving us a thumbs-up, and I frowned.
“Ah... If only middle-aged and older people like it, we’re sunk...”
Of course, having a buyer demographic that clearly liked it was a good thing, but from experience, people in that age range didn’t easily change what they preferred. There were even plenty of people who avoided the latest music, so the chances of them changing the liquor they habitually drank and buying something else were low.
Why had I been happy about getting vodka into clubs and having it featured in Blender magazine? Because young people were quick to follow trends and had a tendency to accept new things easily. So if it wasn’t a preference Americans already had, targeting the young demographic was always the right move.
“Is that bad?”
“Let’s see it through to the end first.”
I patted the shoulder of Jacob, who was about to look dejected, gave him encouragement, and we continued the tasting.
Friends who had class disappeared briefly and returned after it ended, and after continuing the tasting that way, it wasn’t until past five that we gathered in the second-floor meeting room of the student union, our hideout of sorts.
“Good work, everyone.”
“Haa... My throat hurts.”
Chloe collapsed onto the desk, and Armando, who still had stamina left, opened the white box first.
“I’m sure the response will be good.”
The giant Jacob watched tensely as Armando opened the box.
“Let’s see... ‘It’s difficult to compare with single malt, but it has a strong personality. It would come alive better if poured into a chilled glass...’ Judging by the wording, this is definitely staff or a professor. This one is... ‘The smell is too weird.’ Well... There are always people whose tastes don’t match. This one... ‘You’re not seriously planning to sell this for money, are you?’ Hmm... Rude bastards really do exist everywhere.”
As Armando’s face gradually fell too, Chloe, unable to watch anymore, cut in.
“I’ll read some. ‘The aroma has class. It’s good.’ See? There’s a perfectly good response.”
“I guarantee you, judging from the tone, that’s an old geezer. It’s probably Professor Clayton, the one who gave Jacob a thumbs-up earlier.”
Armando’s point was sharp. As Chloe continued reading, her expression grew darker and darker. There were certainly evaluations praising the East Asian-style premium soju, but a considerable number of people were put off by the unfamiliar and overly strong grain aroma.
“That’s strange. Vodka definitely had some grain aroma too, didn’t it?”
Armando sounded unable to understand, so I answered him.
“That was at the level of an added aroma. Basically, it was a colorless, odorless vodka with a bit of grain aroma added, so it felt like a different kind of vodka. But this has a reaaally strong aroma, so I think it feels too different from the liquor they’re used to drinking.”
Jacob nodded.
“Then we should definitely design this with middle-aged and older drinkers in mind. Completely exclude the younger demographic and appeal to seniors instead. There’s no need to lower the price, either.”
“That’s true, but...”
I agreed with Jacob, but something still left me troubled. Seeing me like that, Chloe asked cautiously,
“Why?”
“Because it feels like a shame. Releasing it as a Korean-style premium traditional soju isn’t the problem, but I don’t think we can expect much in sales.”
“But if it seems like middle-aged and older people will like it, can’t you just market it to them? They have strong purchasing power, so if you make them properly recognize the brand, it might actually be better, right?”
“That’s true too. I don’t think you’re wrong, but... I’m not a marketing expert. And Jacob doesn’t have a lot of funds, so we can’t push it with sheer volume either... It could definitely become a powerful weapon for Golden Grain Soju House, but I’m just thinking it might be hard for it to show much strength right away.”
“Then it can show its strength later.”
At Chloe’s clean summary, Jacob nodded.
“Yeah, I agree with Chloe. There’s no need to rush anyway. ‘The One’ is doing well too, so it’s not like we urgently need money, and the brewery isn’t taking losses. Everything is going well.”
He seemed a little disappointed, but Jacob trying to rein in his greed because things were going well now was definitely positive.
“Yeah, well, that attitude isn’t bad either. But how about this?”
“Hm?”
Under the bright gazes of my three friends, I spoke carefully.
“We mix syrup into the soju.”
“What?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Mix what into it?”
I began calmly explaining to my friends, whose eyes had gone round with surprise.
“Syrup is the simple way to put it. More precisely, you can think of it as a natural flavoring. It’s an aroma extracted and distilled from fruit. It dissolves well in alcohol and water. If we do that, it becomes fruit-flavored soju.”
At my explanation, Jacob looked like he couldn’t understand at all.
“You want to make liquor fruit-flavored? Liquor?”
“Yeah.”
“......”