"Uncle."
Satsuki put down her teacup.
"I have a question."
Kenjiro immediately sat up a little straighter.
"Go ahead."
"If I really started arranging these things six years ago,"
Satsuki looked at him.
"Why did not I go to see you even once in six years?"
Shuichi frowned slightly.
He really had not thought about this question in the car.
But Kenjiro only considered it for a moment.
"Because there was no need."
"Oh?"
"If you came to see me, I would soon know that the Main Family was still keeping an eye on me."
Kenjiro answered very naturally.
"With my personality at the time, as long as I knew someone was backing me up from behind, would I still honestly move cement?"
Satsuki fell silent.
To think...
It made total sense.
"Besides, you also needed to see if I could walk out of it on my own."
Kenjiro added.
"If I kept hating you and felt that all the problems were caused by you, even if I worked in the warehouse for ten years, I would still be the same as before."
"So you said nothing."
"And let me think for myself."
Satsuki looked at him.
A few seconds later, she nodded gently.
"So that is how Uncle understands it."
A bit more certainty grew in Kenjiro's heart.
Look at that.
There was indeed no denial.
Shuichi was sitting nearby, and his expression also began to turn serious.
Satsuki noticed this.
Very good.
Father has completely fallen for it.
In that case...
"Then let me ask another one."
Satsuki reached out and opened the thin document on the table.
"Why does Uncle think it just had to be today?"
Kenjiro was slightly stunned.
He had actually already thought about this question in the car.
"Because you felt it was about time."
Satsuki's brows moved slightly.
"About time?"
"I used to just do manual labor down there, but later I started finding problems on my own."
Kenjiro took out a thin notebook from his canvas bag.
"I have made some adjustments to the warehouse vehicle scheduling, shelf routes, and temporary worker shifts. Recently, I have also started reviewing finance and management."
"You probably felt that I could finally be put to use."
Satsuki looked at the notebook that had clearly been leafed through many times.
This time, she really gained a bit more interest.
Shuichi had indeed mentioned these things before.
But he spoke very generally, only saying that Kenjiro had started learning.
Kenjiro placed the notebook on the table.
"Of course, I still do not know what you plan to have me do after calling me back."
"But I think, at the very least, it should not be to let me keep moving cement."
Satsuki could not help smiling slightly.
"That depends on how Uncle performs next."
"What if the performance is not good?"
"That is easy. Anyway, there are still many construction sites under Saionji... Are you interested in going to Saionji Tower to mix cement?"
Kenjiro was stunned for a moment, then laughed as well.
"Alright, the environment over in Odaiba might be a bit better anyway, it has been six years after all."
Shuichi, sitting nearby, finally could not help speaking up.
"You uncle and niece have not seen each other in six years, and on the first day you are already planning to rearrange cement?"
After saying that, he added another sentence.
"However, absolutely do not go to Saionji Tower to move cement."
Hearing his eldest brother deliberately emphasize it, Kenjiro felt a bit strange.
"What is wrong with Saionji Tower? I saw it from afar before, it really is magnificent."
"Uh..." Shuichi gave a light cough, "It is just that your niece sometimes 'deals with' some things over at the tower that... are not very convenient to leave behind."
The smile on Kenjiro's face paused for a moment.
"What things?"
Shuichi did not answer.
He only glanced at Satsuki.
Following his gaze, Kenjiro also looked toward his niece.
Satsuki was originally still flipping through the documents on the table.
Noticing that both men were looking at her, she slowly raised her head.
"Father."
"Hmm?"
"Why do you have to describe me as if I am burying people under Saionji Tower every night?"
Shuichi was slightly stunned.
That was not wrong, though.
But of course he would not say that out loud.
"I did not say anything about burying."
"Then what did you mean just now?"
"I was just reminding Kenjiro that it is best not to wander around certain places over there."
Satsuki was amused to anger by him.
"Saionji Tower is the future group headquarters, not an execution ground."
Kenjiro looked at Shuichi, then looked at Satsuki.
"So is there or is there not?"
"There is not."
Satsuki answered very quickly.
Shuichi fell silent for a moment on the side.
"Under normal circumstances, there is not."
"Father."
The smile on Satsuki's face was already somewhat dangerous.
Shuichi immediately picked up his teacup.
"Drink tea, drink tea."
Kenjiro finally could not help laughing out loud.
"It seems that in the six years I have been away, Saionji has indeed developed quite a lot."
"Uncle had better not count this kind of thing into the group's development."
Satsuki glanced at Shuichi.
"Especially do not listen to Father's nonsense."
Shuichi put down his teacup.
"How am I talking nonsense?"
"If you keep talking, I will really have to consider whether Saionji Tower is short a truckload of cement recently."
Shuichi instantly quieted down.
Kenjiro laughed even harder.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly relaxed a lot.
Satsuki did not continue discussing the so-called six-year plan.
She pulled out another document from the edge of the table and placed it in front of Kenjiro.
"Take a look at this first."
The smile on Kenjiro's face quickly faded.
The document was only a few pages long.
It was an operational summary of a distribution center from last week.
Vehicle utilization rate increased.
Unit transportation cost decreased.
Temporary personnel decreased.
From the numbers, several indicators were prettier than last month.
Kenjiro read very slowly.
He first finished flipping through the first page, went back to read it again, and then turned the document sideways, staring at the attached schedule for a long time.
Satsuki did not rush him.
Shuichi also quieted down.
After a while, Kenjiro raised his head.
"What about the out-of-stock rate?"
The corners of Satsuki's mouth twitched slightly.
"Why ask about this first?"
"The transportation costs dropped too neatly."
Kenjiro pointed to two rows of numbers.
"Look. The number of vehicles decreased, and the temporary workers also decreased, but the total shipment volume only dropped slightly."
"If they really raised efficiency by this much, driver overtime should have decreased."
"But here, it actually increased."
He pointed further down.
"Moreover, the warehouse detention time also became longer."
"So they are very likely just pushing a portion of the pressure back. There are fewer people loading, the goods are waited on longer, and the drivers rush together after arriving."
"Doing this makes the single transportation cost on the report look good, but the stores probably will not have it so comfortable."
Satsuki looked toward Chizuru.
Chizuru took out a sheet of paper from another pile of materials.
"Last week, store out-of-stock complaints increased by nineteen percent."
Kenjiro glanced at it without much surprise.
"Then that is it."
Satsuki leaned back into her backrest, crossed her arms, and looked at the middle-aged man in front of her who had clearly weathered a lot.
This person should not be Kenjiro, right? Should she drag him off for a genetic test first?
She straightened her body and turned another page of materials.
"If those problems just now were really handed over to Uncle to handle, I probably would not have to worry about you jumping to conclusions just by looking at a single report."
Kenjiro smiled.
"I finally got a decent evaluation."
"Do not get too happy too early."
Satsuki put the materials back on the table.
"Uncle sees the problem now and has your own way of dealing with it. But once you truly enter the Head of Family's chamber, the things you encounter in the future will not be this simple every time. Both sides have reasons, and neither can come up with an absolutely correct answer—situations like that are even more common."
She raised her eyes to look at Kenjiro.
"For example, if you insist that delivery vehicles should be increased, but after reading it, I feel that the group currently needs to control expenses more and insist on the original plan. What do you plan to do?"
Kenjiro pondered for a moment.
"Argue with you first."
Shuichi chuckled from the side.
"That is still the same as before."
"You cannot expect me to study for six years and only know how to nod when I come back, right?"
Kenjiro turned his head to reply, and looked back at Satsuki.
"If I think you are wrong, I definitely have to explain the reasons clearly. If the data is not enough, keep finding data; if the report cannot explain it clearly, go to the site to see. In any case, I must first confirm that you truly understood what I meant, and then you still do not accept it in the end."
Satsuki's brows raised slightly.
"Does Uncle still worry that I will not understand?"
"What does this have to do with whether someone is smart or not?"
Kenjiro leaned against the back of his chair.
"I have seen too many things like this down below over the years. The warehouse people report it upward once, the Section Chief understands it once, the department manager modifies it again, and by the time the thing reaches the Executive Director's table, it is almost unrelated to the original problem."
"The things in your hands are far more than theirs, so of course I have to confirm that what I truly want to say has been delivered to you."
"Then what if, after I understand, I still decide to do it my own way?"
"Then do it."
Kenjiro answered very crisply.
Satsuki looked at him for a moment.
"Can Uncle bear to let go?"
"Everything that should be said has been said, what else can I do? Could it be that I hug your legs and stop you from signing?"
Hearing this from the side, Shuichi's expression turned somewhat unfriendly.
"You cannot hug her legs."
Kenjiro himself felt that the image was a bit shameful, and there was also the risk of gloriously contributing to the foundation of the Saionji Family, so he waved his hand.
"Besides, I do not believe in myself as much as I did six years ago now."
Looking at the materials on the table, Kenjiro's tone also faded.
"At that time, I felt the eldest brother was too conservative and the bank people were too timid. Even when you ran over to remind me, what I thought was: what does a twelve-year-old child know about factories?"
"And the result? The contract was signed by myself, the money was borrowed by myself, and the factory was lost by myself in the end."
As he spoke, he raised his head.
"So now I will still argue. If I truly think you are wrong, I will try my best to stop you before you make a decision."
"But if you listen to all my reasons and still decide to continue, then for the part that I am responsible for afterward, I will do it well."
Satsuki took his words and asked a question.
"Even if problems arise, you still do it just the same?"
"Of course."
Kenjiro smiled.
"Since I have taken it, I cannot go around saying after something happens that 'this is Satsuki's decision, it has nothing to do with me.' If I really did that, these six years of mine would have been lived in vain."
Saying this, he paused for a moment.
"And when the time really comes for our opinions to differ, I will probably still trust you more."
Satsuki looked toward him.
Kenjiro smiled.
"Over the years, although I have not been home and could not see many things, you have almost never made a wrong judgment, right?"
Shuichi nodded in approval from the side.
That is right, his daughter was just that awesome.
"What Saionji has become now, I can see from the outside as well."
"So I can argue with you, and I can also feel that your decision has problems."
He spread his hands.
"But if I really have to choose someone to trust, I cannot think of any reason not to choose you."
After listening, a bit more smile appeared on the corners of Satsuki's lips.
"Uncle has so much confidence in me now?"
"I could not possibly look at the results of six years and still stubbornly claim that I understand better than you, right?"
Shuichi, on the other hand, patted his younger brother's shoulder with satisfaction.
"This is more like you. Hearing you talk so sensibly just now, I even doubted whether we picked up the wrong person."
"I have just made progress, I am not dead."
"You had better say less of that kind of talk."
"Why?"
"Do you still remember Nobuhiko?"
"Saionji Nobuhiko?" Kenjiro of course remembered, "What happened to that guy?"
Shuichi glanced toward Satsuki's side.
"Do you want to know where he went later?"
Associating it with Shuichi's earnest legend of "Saionji Tower" just moments ago, the smile on Kenjiro's face suddenly stiffened for a moment.
Satsuki had already turned her head to look at her father.
"Father, have not you talked enough about Saionji Tower just now?"
Shuichi immediately shut his mouth.
Kenjiro gave an awkward chuckle and ultimately did not press further.
Satsuki put away that set of materials.
Up to this point, she already had a rough idea.
Kenjiro had indeed changed.
He still had his own opinions and would argue when encountering things he believed in, but he could already distinguish between making suggestions and shirking responsibility.
Putting a personality like this into the Head of Family's chamber was at least much more useful than someone who only knew how to take orders.
As for the other matter, she still wanted to confirm it with her own mouth.
"Uncle."
"Hmm?"
"Do you still hate me now?"
The smile on Kenjiro's face gradually faded.
Shuichi leaned to the side and also quieted down.
Looking at Satsuki, who was already eighteen years old before him, Kenjiro suddenly remembered the little girl holding a bear and standing on the second floor six years ago.
At that time, he hated her bitterly.
During those most difficult months after bankruptcy, he almost cursed her along with Shuichi every single day.
But now, if he were asked to say what exactly he hated, many things could no longer be remembered.
"I do not hate you anymore."
"Because you feel I saved you?"
"That is part of the reason."
Kenjiro admitted it very readily.
"But later I also figured it out clearly; that matter with the Osaka factory should have been counted on my own head in the first place."
He reached out and rubbed his knee.
"You reminded me, and the eldest brother also advised me. At that time, I felt everyone else was timid and only I dared to gamble. In the end, I lost, and turning back around to say that you caused me to go bankrupt—I cannot even stomach hearing those words myself now."
Shuichi glanced at his younger brother.
Kenjiro smiled and shrugged.
"Do not look at me like that. Admitting that I was a jerk before is not some very difficult thing."
"Hmph, that jerk from six years ago definitely could not have done it."
"That is why it took six years."
Hearing this, some of Satsuki's concerns in her heart also let go.
Kenjiro's current attitude toward her was indeed influenced by that set of "six-year arrangements," but his understanding of that year's failure had already become independent.
In the future, even if that layer of misunderstanding underwent some changes, it would be very difficult for him to return to the past state of pushing all responsibility onto others.
That was enough.