Homo Ludus (English edition)

A couple of months ago, with their questions and innuendo, they had scared off one of his possible victims in this very same parking lot. The short, frail girl had obviously noticed Gustav, but she had gotten into her car immediately when she saw the two men. There was no point in chasing after her, she was not so beautiful and interesting from the looks of it. But the residue remained, and it was certainly not worth waiting for it to happen again.

Of course, there was no one in the store except the salesman. In fact, the salesman was not quite present, either – a short, full-figured woman of about 55 was watching TV, watching some program about geography, without paying attention to anything.

Actually, the last time he'd come into this place and asked what he could get from cheap but quality products, he'd gotten the final answer: "Buy and don't fuck around!", which came out like an advertising slogan. Now it fit as well as it could.

The Irishman looked at the shelves with alcohol: "I'd like some cognac… There's

Stone land No. 5. 0.7 liter."

He had long known this brand with the inscription "We will change your attitude to Armenian cognac" placed in a frame. This phrase justified itself completely: the original product itself was of low quality, and it was often counterfeited, so that at the first sip there was nausea and a desire to spit it all back out, and under the tongue there was a very unpleasant aftertaste with a completely inappropriate for this type of alcohol tinge of cheap chocolate. Compared to Ararat, which is of high quality made in Armenia, this cognac spoiled the whole attitude and, indeed, changed it, but only for the worse.