When the car drove into the Saionji Main Residence, it was already starting to get dark.
The rain had stopped for a while, but the stone slabs in the courtyard were still wet.
The wheels moved slowly forward along the familiar road.
Leaning against the window, Kenjiro watched the main residence gradually emerge from behind the trees.
Six years.
The courtyard wall seemed to have been rebuilt, and the lights under the porch had been changed, but the location of the entrance hall remained completely unchanged.
Back then, that was where he had been driven out.
To be precise, he was dragged out.
That shoe dropped at the doorway, and the feeling of his socks stepping into the rainwater—he remembered it vividly to this day.
Kenjiro lowered his head and glanced at his own feet.
The shoes were very ordinary, bought for him by his wife last year, and the uppers already had quite a few creases.
This time, both of them were still there.
After the car came to a steady stop, Shuichi got out first.
Kenjiro picked up the old canvas bag and followed him out from the other side.
When he stood before the entrance hall, he still paused for a moment.
Shuichi had already walked up the steps and looked back at him.
"What?"
"Just looking."
"Looking at what?"
"Looking to see if anyone is planning to throw me out after six years."
Shuichi's face darkened.
"If you want, I can call someone right now."
Kenjiro chuckled and followed him up the steps.
"Never mind then."
The door was already opened from the inside.
Chizuru stood beside the entrance hall, first bowing to Shuichi, and then her gaze fell on Kenjiro.
She had never met this uncle of the Saionji Family before, and had only seen his name and photos in the files.
The photo was from many years ago.
The person before her was much thinner, and his skin tone was much darker than in the photo.
His clothes could not be considered decent, and in his hand, he carried a canvas bag that had clearly been used for many years.
If they only met on the street, it would probably be hard to connect him with Saionji.
"The eldest miss is in the study."
Chizuru shifted slightly to the side.
"She has been waiting for a while."
Kenjiro nodded.
When changing his shoes, he instinctively glanced up at the stairs.
Empty.
Naturally, the little girl from six years ago who stood on the second floor hugging a bear and looking down would no longer be there.
He suddenly felt a bit like laughing.
To think he could actually hate a twelve-year-old child for so many years in the past.
Only the two lamps near the window were turned on in the study.
Satsuki sat behind the desk, with a very thin folder placed in front of her.
Really very thin.
After Endo fell ill, the fact that Kenjiro was the first person who came to her mind was actually somewhat unexpected even to herself.
Probably because her father had mentioned this name too many times in her ears before.
At first, it was just an occasional remark about what Kenjiro had been doing lately.
Later, he said that he seemed to have truly changed a bit.
After that, Shuichi had even started tentatively asking when his younger brother could be brought back.
Satsuki had never relented.
Her impression of Kenjiro still remained from six years ago.
Conceited, impatient, fond of taking risks, and especially fond of proving his capabilities to others.
A bankruptcy could certainly make someone well-behaved for a few years, but whether it was because he learned his lesson or simply because he no longer had the capital to keep tossing about, she was not ready to jump to conclusions just by listening to a few words from her father.
As for those changes in Shuichi's mouth, after Satsuki heard them, she just casually kept them in mind.
He learned to read books by himself.
He was more serious about work than before.
He had discovered problems in the warehouse.
It seemed he had even written something for the management personnel.
Every time Shuichi brought it up, he could add one or two more things.
Satsuki sometimes even felt that in order to bring his younger brother back, her father had probably started specifically collecting Kenjiro's merits.
She could not even be bothered to expose it.
As long as Kenjiro was still alive and did not cause any trouble again under the name of Saionji, her father being willing to take care of his younger brother within boundaries was not something worth her wasting effort on anyway.
Until Endo suddenly fell ill.
Satsuki sat there, running through everyone in Saionji who could truly enter the core from beginning to end, and the name Kenjiro popped up almost immediately.
Only then did she recall what Shuichi had said before.
If her father had not exaggerated...
This uncle, perhaps he really was worth a look.
That was why she had Shuichi bring him back.
Just bringing him back to take a look.
The folder before her eyes was still temporarily compiled today.
Construction sites, warehouses, delivery, stores, and later job transfers—it only recorded the most basic experiences inside.
After flipping through it, Satsuki only roughly confirmed one thing—
Kenjiro had indeed not been idle these past six years.
As for the extent of the "changed a lot" in her father's mouth, how much capability he had, whether he could be put back into Saionji, and whether he was worth her trust, it was obviously impossible to tell just from these few pieces of paper.
Therefore, today's meeting was originally meant to see these things.
Footsteps came from outside the door.
Satsuki raised her head.
When the door opened, Shuichi walked in first.
Only then was Kenjiro.
Satsuki's fingers paused at the edge of the document, watching Kenjiro walk in.
The change was indeed huge.
If no one had told her in advance that the middle-aged man wearing an old jacket and carrying a canvas bag before her eyes was Saionji Kenjiro, she would probably need to take a few extra glances to recognize him.
Kenjiro looked at her in return.
Six years was enough to turn a twelve-year-old girl into an eighteen-year-old Eldest Miss.
Satsuki before him was wearing very simple light-colored loungewear, with her long hair loosely tied behind her head.
Several documents were piled by the desk, and a teacup was placed beside her hand, making it look even much more casual than he had imagined.
But after truly walking into this room, Kenjiro still instinctively stood a bit straighter.
Six years ago, he had never taken this niece of his so seriously.
Thinking back now, it was somewhat laughable.
"Long time no see."
Satsuki spoke first.
Looking at Kenjiro, a very natural smile appeared on her face.
"Uncle Kenjiro."
This address startled Kenjiro for a moment.
He had originally thought Satsuki would at least call him Mr. Tanaka first.
"Long time no see."
Kenjiro also smiled.
"Satsuki."
Shuichi walked over to the side and sat down, his movements somewhat stiff.
"I brought him to you."
"Mhm."
Satsuki motioned for Kenjiro to sit down.
"Father praised Uncle so much yesterday that I was a bit worried whether the person I am meeting today is someone else."
"How could I have praised him that exaggeratedly?"
Shuichi reflexively retorted.
But Kenjiro had already sat down.
He placed the canvas bag by his feet and glanced at the folder on the table.
Then he looked back at Satsuki.
"You have worked hard all these years."
The smile on Satsuki's face paused for a moment.
What?
Before she had time to speak, Kenjiro bowed his head very earnestly.
"The things from the past—I was too stubborn."
"You had already reminded me back then, but I felt I understood better than everyone else."
"Therefore, I have no qualifications to blame you for everything that happened afterwards."
Satsuki looked at him somewhat unexpectedly.
It seemed six years had indeed ground a person to be much more sober-headed, at least daring to face one's own mistakes.
Do not look at it as simple; the act of "admitting that one was wrong" is something most people cannot do.
Just as she was about to pick up the conversation, Kenjiro continued.
"And also the things afterwards."
"Thank you."
Satsuki blinked.
What things afterwards?
She looked toward Shuichi without changing her expression.
Shuichi sat to the side, his facial expression unexpectedly very calm, and even had a trace of gratification that "it has finally been talked out".
He also glanced at Satsuki, giving her a look that said "I understand too".
A very strange feeling suddenly popped up in Satsuki's heart.
Wait.
What on earth did these two people talk about on the way here?
"What does Uncle mean?"
She decided to listen first.
But Kenjiro smiled.
"Satsuki, it is already come to this point, are you still going to pretend not to know?"
"..."
Satsuki picked up her teacup.
Very good.
Now she could not understand at all anymore.
"I just want to hear Uncle say it himself."
She took a sip of tea.
The smile on Kenjiro's face became even more obvious.
Just like before.
Clearly having done everything, yet stubbornly unwilling to say it out oneself.
"Big Brother was still doubting all the way here."
"I talked with him for a long time."
Satsuki's hand holding the cup paused for a second.
She looked toward Shuichi again.
Shuichi actually nodded.
"At the very beginning, I indeed felt he was overthinking."
"And later?"
"Later..."
Shuichi touched his nose.
"I felt what he said made quite a lot of sense."
Satsuki fell silent for two seconds, putting on a smile of "everything is under control".
She put down the teacup.
"Oh? What sense? Let us hear it."
Kenjiro and Shuichi looked at each other.
That look made Satsuki even more baffled, and the smile on her face almost failed to hold together.
In the end, it was still Kenjiro who spoke.
"Six years ago, you already knew that Japan would later experience a bubble, right?"
"Of course."
There was nothing to hide about this point.
"You also knew that with my personality back then, once I stayed in Saionji, I would definitely get involved."
Satsuki nodded slightly.
She looked at Kenjiro.
This sentence...
Was not wrong either.
"That is why you first made me go bankrupt, cut off my relationship with the main family, and forbade anyone from paying off my debts."
Kenjiro leaned forward slightly.
"And back then, I could not even get a normal loan, let alone use Saionji's credit to buy stocks and land."
Satsuki's expression still maintained a smile.
In her heart, she was already starting to guess in a very absurd direction.
Could it be...
"When the bubble truly began, I could only stand below and watch."
Kenjiro continued to speak.
"I watched those company employees use bonuses to buy stocks, watched banks chase people to lend money, and watched land prices get higher day by day."
"If I still had money back then, I definitely would have gone in."
"Regarding this point, based on my understanding of myself, that is certain."
"And there was only one way to stop me."
Satsuki did not pick up the conversation.
Because she had already roughly guessed what came next.
Kenjiro looked at her, his tone growing more and more earnest.
"So when you drove me out back then, it was actually to save me."
"..."
Satsuki almost looked at Shuichi.
But she held back.
Six years ago, she did indeed know that Japan would later experience a massive asset bubble.
And she did indeed drive Kenjiro out.
But at the time, these two matters were not linked together like this at all.
She thought very simply back then.
The Osaka factory had become a trouble.
And Kenjiro thought every day about expanding production, financing, and proving himself.
Since he liked to gamble so much, let him bear the consequences himself.
After he went bankrupt, take back the factory and quality assets, leaving the debts to him.
Matters ended right here.
As for whether Kenjiro would run off to buy stocks and land a few years later...
How could she have had the time to worry about this for him back then?
But Kenjiro had obviously finished thinking it through for her.
"And this was only the first step."
The first step?
Satsuki suddenly felt a bit like supporting her forehead with her hand, but she held back very well.
Turns out there was a second step.
Kenjiro pointed at the canvas bag by his feet.
"The subsequent jobs were also arranged by your tacit consent."
"Construction sites, warehouses, delivery, stores, cold chain, catering."
"I used to only sit in the office looking at reports. Yet you made me truly walk through all these industries of Saionji from the very bottom."
Satsuki finally looked toward Shuichi again.
Shuichi's gaze was very complex.
Probably saying—
Look, I also felt it was absurd just now.
But what he said really makes a lot of sense.
I did not expect you to have actually done this.
Satsuki slowly withdrew her gaze.
She suddenly understood.
Her father had indeed secretly taken care of Kenjiro all these years.
She had always known this.
As long as they did not clear Kenjiro's debts or give him a chance to re-finance, Satsuki could not be bothered to care.
As for where specifically to send him, she had never arranged it.
Now Kenjiro had strung together all those piecemeal bits of care from her father.
And then added herself to the front.
Thus, a complete plan spanning six years just appeared like this.
What was even more absurd—
Her father was actually almost believing it too.
Satsuki picked up her teacup and took another sip.
What should she do now?
Tell them directly:
You two are overthinking.
Back then, I just found Uncle Kenjiro annoying, so I casually threw him out.
Later, Father secretly helped, and I could not be bothered to stop it.
As for those jobs coincidentally covering Saionji's different industries, the main reason was that the places easiest for Father to arrange were inherently within the Saionji system.
That seemed possible too.
But Satsuki looked at Kenjiro before her eyes and suddenly changed her mind.
When this person spoke of the past six years, that resentment from back then could no longer be found in his eyes.
He was even grateful to her.
An uncle who once could not wait to prove her wrong was now sitting here, interpreting the six years in the lowest valley of his life entirely as tempering given to him by Saionji.
Why correct it?
Right, exactly, this was arranged by me!
However, she still had to guide him to patch up some small logical loopholes himself.