Mrs. Yukinoshita sat in the back seat with her eyes closed, thinking about how to completely resolve the crisis facing the Yukinoshita family business.
But how could something like that be figured out in such a short time? For the sake of the family business, she had barely slept these past few days, busy every day with various networking efforts.
As she thought about it, Mrs. Yukinoshita's eyelids began to droop, and she slowly fell asleep.
The female driver glanced at the rearview mirror and, seeing that Mrs. Yukinoshita had fallen asleep, slowed the car down as well.
It was not until more than two hours later that the Maybach came to a stop in the garage of the Yukinoshita family's upscale apartment building.
"Ma'am, we've arrived home."
The female driver called out twice before Mrs. Yukinoshita woke with a start.
She straightened herself up a little and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
After getting out of the car and saying goodbye to the driver, Mrs. Yukinoshita carried her bag and took the elevator back home.
As soon as she got home, she tiredly tossed her bag aside and sat down on the sofa, troubled.
What the Yukinoshita family business lacked now was capital. If she had to say how to resolve the crisis facing the Yukinoshita family business, she did have ways.
But all of those methods would bring trouble.
Borrowing from institutions similar to banks meant high interest rates, while other lenders would most likely demand shares in the Yukinoshita family business, changing the company's structure.
The Yukinoshita family business was a family enterprise and was not publicly listed, which made it difficult for outsiders to intervene.
But once that opening was made, external threats would likely continue to emerge through it in the future, and one day the family business might even be taken over by others.
Even if it was only a possibility, Mrs. Yukinoshita did not want to face it.
"Let's take it one step at a time. If it really comes to that, some things won't be for me alone to decide."
Letting out a sigh, Mrs. Yukinoshita tried hard to stop herself from overthinking.
Just then, the sound of the door opening came from inside the house.
Mrs. Yukinoshita frowned.
Although her eldest daughter had said she would return from Tokyo today, it should not have been this soon. Her younger daughter usually lived on her own and had not finished school yet, so it was impossible for her to be home either.
Then the only person who would come home at this time was one person.
The nominal head of the Yukinoshita family, the father of the Yukinoshita sisters who had married into the family, opened the door and walked in. When he saw his wife, his expression froze for a moment, looking somewhat awkward.
Mrs. Yukinoshita said sternly, "Why are you back so early today?"
The male head of the Yukinoshita family had not expected his wife to be home. Secretly cursing his bad luck, he said evasively, "There wasn't much work today, so I came back early."
"Came back early? Do you know what time it is? It's election season, and your term as a Chiba Prefectural Assembly member is about to expire. Why aren't you out there trying to win votes for yourself? How dare you come home so early?"
Mrs. Yukinoshita, already in a terrible mood, scolded him furiously. "...Do you think you're guaranteed to be re-elected as a Chiba Prefectural Assembly member this time?"
The male head of the Yukinoshita family stammered, "Well... I'm not completely sure. The opponent this time is quite strong."
"Since you know your opponent is strong, why aren't you working harder? Why aren't you desperately trying to find a way to defeat him? Look at yourself now, so timid, completely lacking initiative. Why did I marry you back then?" Mrs. Yukinoshita was furious.
How would I know why you married me?
The male head of the Yukinoshita family muttered to himself inwardly.
Back then, he was just a small-time delinquent. He was not particularly bad, but he was the kind of person people could do nothing about.
If he had one advantage, it was probably that he was quite handsome and fairly respectful toward women.
The former eldest daughter of the Yukinoshita family, now Mrs. Yukinoshita, had inexplicably pursued him and made him marry into the Yukinoshita family.
A small-time delinquent from an ordinary family, with no power or influence and not much ability, seeing that a young lady was actually pursuing him, was instantly swept off his feet.
The two quickly got married. He took the Yukinoshita name and married into the family, and soon after the marriage, Haruno was born.
At the time, the old head of the Yukinoshita family was still alive and had also focused on training him.
Back then, the father of the Yukinoshita sisters had been quite ambitious too, studying hard, involving himself in the affairs of the Yukinoshita family, and managing to gain the approval of the old head of the family.
However, his married life was not happy. Aside from his wife being too strong-willed, the relationship between the couple had become very distant after Yukino was born, to the point that they could not even touch each other.
And he was someone with a relatively weak personality, even less daring to look for women outside, and for the sake of his two daughters, he had endured it all this time.
Married life had become the two of them each handling a different part of the Yukinoshita family's business.
Mrs. Yukinoshita inherited the business and the Yukinoshita family's connections in Chiba, and used the wealth and connections of the business to help her husband run for office, thereby stabilizing the Yukinoshita family's business.
This male head of the Yukinoshita family also understood very clearly that his own abilities were insufficient, and that his becoming an assembly member was entirely thanks to his wife.
Sometimes he would sigh too, thinking that if his wife had been born a man, the Yukinoshita family's business would probably have reached an even higher level, and she would not have needed to choose a husband to help her.
Seeing her husband's meek and submissive appearance, Mrs. Yukinoshita could not help but feel annoyed.
Their relationship had always been one where the woman was strong and the man was weak. In the past, Mrs. Yukinoshita had thought that was quite good. Her husband was weak, but at least he listened to her.
But seeing him again now made Mrs. Yukinoshita feel a wave of disgust.
As a man, when problems arose now, he could do nothing. Not only could he not help the Yukinoshita family overcome this crisis, he could not even handle his own work properly. How could that not make Mrs. Yukinoshita frustrated?
She waved her hand and said irritably, "Alright, I don't want to see you right now. Go back to your room."
The male head of the Yukinoshita family let out a sigh of relief, quickly agreed, and hurried toward his room.
He also blamed himself. If he had known his wife would come back so early, he should have stayed out longer even if he had nothing to do, maybe found someone to have a drink with in the evening and pretended to be busy with work.
Speaking of work, he was worried too.
Although his abilities were lacking, the male head of the Yukinoshita family was still very concerned about his family, and he did not want to lose his position as an assembly member.
That position did not bring him much power, but more importantly, it was an important bargaining chip for maintaining the Yukinoshita family's business and his own marriage.
At this moment, Mrs. Yukinoshita was also thinking about this issue. The Yukinoshita family had many enemies. If they lost the assembly seat and faced an economic crisis, those people would definitely seize the opportunity to strike them down completely.
The more she thought about it, the more her head hurt, so she simply decided not to think about it for now, got up, and went to the kitchen...
Tomorrow was the weekend. Her two daughters would come home tonight, and she had to cook for them.
...
Around six in the evening, Haruno hurried back from Tokyo.
Yukino also did not go back to her own apartment and came home as well.
This was the family's only requirement of her: she could live outside on her own, but she had to come home on weekends.
Mrs. Yukinoshita was a very good cook and made a lavish Japanese meal.
The family of four happily gathered around the table and enjoyed dinner.
The male head of the Yukinoshita family did not speak and only ate with his head lowered.
Yukino had a cool and detached personality and was essentially very fragile. At home, she did not talk much either and simply ate in silence.
Only Haruno and Mrs. Yukinoshita talked a lot.
"Mother, Toru-kun will come to Chiba tomorrow to participate in the karate tournament qualifiers."
"We still have a few guest rooms at home. I invited him to stay with us, and he agreed. He's not planning to stay at a hotel. I'm just letting you know in advance."
Haruno sounded as if she were asking for her mother's permission, but it was more like she was stating a fact.
Mrs. Yukinoshita said gently, "Toru-kun saved your lives. If he wants to stay at our home, then of course Mother welcomes him with open arms."
She did not mind her daughter's assertiveness at all, and was even quite satisfied with Haruno's decision.
It was not because of Toru's identity, but because this was the kind of personality she had cultivated in Haruno.
Yukino suddenly said, "I won't go back to my apartment tomorrow. I'll stay home too."
Haruno looked at her sister with a half-smile.
Yukino ignored her sister's teasing gaze. She said coolly, "Toru-kun saved my life. If he comes to visit and I'm not home to receive him, that would be too impolite."
"Yukino, you don't have to do that. It's fine if I, your sister, host him."
"No. If word of this gets out, people will say the Yukinoshita family has no manners."
"Our family isn't some great house. Why would we care about what gets out?"
"We are a prominent family in Chiba!"
...
Mrs. Yukinoshita watched her two daughters bicker back and forth with amusement, thinking that Yukino was finally arguing and competing with her sister, which was a good thing.
In the past, Yukino had always been at a disadvantage when facing Haruno, always getting bullied by her sister. Mrs. Yukinoshita had actually disliked that kind of personality.
The current little Yukino was very good.
"I'm done eating."
The male head of the Yukinoshita family finished his meal, got up, and left.
It was not his place to make decisions about matters at home.
"I'll wash the dishes."
Yukino also stood up and proactively took on the task of washing the dishes.
Haruno wanted to help her sister with the dishes, but Mrs. Yukinoshita stopped her. "Haruno, come to my room. There are some things I want to tell you."
Haruno was puzzled and followed her mother into her room.
...
The next day, Toru arrived in Chiba by JR.
The Yukinoshita sisters were waiting for him outside the station.
Toru walked out of the station. Just as he greeted the Yukinoshita sisters, he saw an acquaintance standing beside them.
"Yo, Hiratsuka-sensei, you're here too."
Shizuka, standing by the car with a lady's cigarette between her fingers, said, "...I heard you came to Chiba, so I had to come question you."
"Are you going back on our agreement?"
(To be continued.)