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Chapter 46: Saya Takagi: I Lost My Mom?
Inside a quiet room in the Takagi estate.
"Please, Suyan. Have some tea."
"If I remember correctly, Soichiro went to great lengths to acquire this specific batch of tea leaves from someone at Tokyo University. He's been treating it like liquid gold ever since. I believe it's called Da Hong Pao?"
"As an alumnus of Tokyo University, I'm sure you must be somewhat familiar with it, right?"
After sending Saya away, Yuriko gracefully lowered herself into a traditional kneeling seiza posture at the low table.
With practiced, elegant movements, she prepared a cup of tea and gently pushed it across the table toward Suyan.
Hearing her description, Suyan couldn't help but click his tongue inwardly.
If this was the genuine, legendary Da Hong Pao he had heard about, then this single cup of tea was worth a small fortune.
But he highly doubted it was authentic. For a prominent family like the Takagis, even acquiring the scraps that weren't hoarded for domestic consumption within China would be nearly impossible. Some right-wing foreign politician getting his hands on the real deal?
In his dreams.
Still, if it was treasured this deeply, even a fake was likely an exceptionally high-quality tea.
The problem was, Suyan simply didn't care about tea. Given the choice, he vastly preferred a sugary milk tea or a cold glass of soda over some bitter brew.
He picked up the delicate teacup and unceremoniously downed the contents in a single gulp, like a swine being fed pearls.
He smacked his lips. It smelled incredibly fragrant, but it still tasted bitter.
He set the empty cup down and looked directly at Yuriko. "I drank the tea. Can we get down to business now?"
Seeing his reaction, Yuriko easily deduced that he had absolutely zero appreciation for the tea.
She didn't bother offering him a refill. Instead, she cut straight to the chase. "Very well. I'll be direct."
"I'm sure you must have noticed Saya's feelings toward you by now, Suyan."
"I have to ask: what exactly are your intentions regarding my daughter?"
"She's definitely pretty," Suyan answered without a second's hesitation, completely dropping any pretense. "But that's all there is to it."
He might view Saya through a slightly biased lens because she was a canon heroine, but that was it. She wasn't irreplaceable to him.
Look at Rei. Didn't she have far more screen time and relevance in the original anime than Saya?
But if they hadn't spent the last half-month getting to know each other, and if she hadn't immediately chosen to follow him when the outbreak started...
His attitude toward Rei would have been exactly the same.
She would have just been an NPC.
"Just 'pretty'? That's a rather ruthless assessment."
Yuriko carefully analyzed Suyan's response. Because he had answered so swiftly and decisively, without a hint of hesitation or guilt, she knew instantly that he was telling the exact truth.
She shook her head, letting out a soft, helpless sigh. "It seems my daughter's feelings are entirely unrequited."
"Is there anything else you want to say, Madam Takagi? If not, please hand over my payment so I can leave."
Suyan had no interest in engaging in idle banter with her.
He had absolutely zero interest in the Takagi family, nor did he intend to plot against them.
Rather than wasting his time playing verbal chess here, he would rather go home, wrap his arms around Saeko or Shizuka, and get a good night's sleep.
Wasn't that infinitely better than sitting here having a dry conversation?
"In that case, what do you think about me?"
Yuriko brushed a lock of pale purple hair behind her ear. She blinked at him, striking a pose that practically overflowed with mature, intellectual allure.
"What do you mean?"
Suyan blinked, genuinely caught off guard by the sudden shift in topic.
Yuriko clarified, her tone utterly scandalous. "Since you aren't interested in a little girl like Saya, surely you must be interested in a mature woman like myself?"
"Huh?!"
Suyan was completely dumbfounded.
He nearly choked on the aftertaste of the tea he had just swallowed.
What the hell is going on here?!
Watching Suyan's flabbergasted reaction, Yuriko looked like a mischievous fox whose prank had succeeded perfectly. She covered her mouth with a delicate hand, giggling softly.
"Ahem."
Suyan coughed a few times to cover his embarrassment before composing himself. He looked at her seriously. "Madam Takagi, you're misunderstanding something. I'm not into married women."
"What a childish way of thinking."
Yuriko shook her head, her smile widening. "But that makes it even better. I'm even more interested in you now."
Suyan was left entirely speechless.
To be fair, he genuinely didn't have a comeback for that.
There might be plenty of people who liked to joke about being a 'Cao Cao' and stealing wives, but Suyan fundamentally repulsed the idea.
It was partially due to his own moral compass, but also heavily influenced by his Contract ability.
In his mind, if a married woman was willing to betray her husband, what was stopping her from eventually betraying the next guy?
To Suyan, that inherent risk of betrayal was absolutely intolerable, regardless of her justification.
His Equivalent Exchange demanded a true heart for a true heart.
"Because, you see..."
Yuriko's red lips parted slightly, her voice dropping to a seductive whisper. "...Big Sister here is actually still a virgin~"
"Ah?!"
Suyan's pupils violently dilated.
A virgin married woman?!
What kind of trash-tier anime trope is this?!
If an author actually wrote a trope like this into a novel, the readers would tear them apart in the comments, wouldn't they?!
Wait... actually, maybe not.
After all, there were some novels where the heroine had dated a playboy for years, was deeply passionate about him, and would happily bully the protagonist for his sake... yet the moment the author declared the heroine was somehow still a virgin, a massive chunk of the audience would instantly accept and worship her.
Thinking about it that way, a virgin married woman trope didn't seem quite so outlandish.
Suyan opened his mouth. "Um... Madam Takagi..."
But before he could finish, Yuriko cut him off. "Are you thinking about Saya? Tell me, do you really believe a woman who isn't even thirty years old could have given birth to a high schooler?"
As if to prove her point, Yuriko deliberately slipped the wedding band off her left ring finger.
When she held her hand out to Suyan, the skin beneath the ring was perfectly smooth. There was absolutely no indentation or pale mark that would signify years of constant wear.
"Not even thirty?"
Suyan stared at the elegant, mature woman sitting across from him in disbelief.
But now that she pointed it out, he did notice the inconsistencies.
They say youth is a woman's greatest asset. No matter how much money a forty- or fifty-year-old woman poured into skincare and makeup, she couldn't entirely erase the harsh marks of time.
Yuriko's skin was absolutely flawless. There wasn't a single wrinkle or blemish to suggest aging. Her complexion rivaled even Shizuka's.
If she hadn't explicitly brought it up, he just would have assumed it was standard anime logic.
After all, there are no ugly women in anime.
But what was her endgame here?
Wait, no. Suyan, what the hell are you thinking?
Who cares if Yuriko Takagi is a virgin or not?!
You rejected Saya because you wanted nothing to do with the Takagi family's politics. Does swapping her out for Yuriko actually change anything?
Suyan narrowed his eyes, staring at Yuriko with a complex expression.
He had to admit, the sheer absurdity of the information she had casually dropped had successfully thrown him off balance.
To manipulate a person's emotions so effortlessly... what a devious adult.
He immediately hardened his resolve. No matter what she said next, he would treat it as absolute nonsense.
As long as he refused to listen, she couldn't get in his head.
Seeing Suyan rapidly compose himself and remember his initial stance, Yuriko's eyes practically gleamed with satisfaction.
Her instincts had been entirely correct. This man was a brilliant, unpolished gemstone. She wanted him even more now.
Just the thought of claiming him made her want to squeeze her thighs together.
Yuriko leaned forward slightly. "Would you be interested in hearing my story, Suyan?"
Suyan sat up straight. Everything I just told myself about ignoring her? Yeah, that's out the window.
A sick mother, a gambling father, a younger sibling to put through school, a broken home...
Was there a man alive who could resist listening to a beautiful woman bare her tragic backstory?
It was like refusing an intense game of Gwent from a random NPC while you were supposed to be saving the world.
Suyan: Well, I literally have no choice but to listen now.
Yuriko smiled softly and began to weave her tale...
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