"Father told me before that Uncle really has changed a lot."
Satsuki looked at Shuichi.
"It seems he was not exaggerating this time."
"When have I ever exaggerated about something like this?"
Shuichi immediately looked a bit smug.
Satsuki could not be bothered to remind him who it was a few days ago that, in order to get her to agree to bring Kenjiro back, had repeatedly talked on and on about everything his younger brother had done over the years.
She picked up her teacup again, her gaze falling back onto Kenjiro.
"I have seen your ability, and the past has been cleared up. There should still be one thing Uncle has been waiting for my answer on, right?"
Kenjiro and Shuichi exchanged a glance.
The two of them had talked for so long along the way, and this was the sentence they had been waiting for.
"Are you willing to talk about it?"
Kenjiro looked at her with a smile.
Satsuki took a sip of tea.
Willing to talk about what?
Admit that she had foreseen the bubble ahead of time when she was twelve, and incidentally designed a six-year uncle-rehabilitation plan?
This was the first time she had ever heard of such a thing today.
But looking at Kenjiro's expression, and then looking over at Shuichi, who clearly already believed most of it, Satsuki suddenly felt that explaining things clearly did not seem to have much benefit.
Kenjiro had found meaning in all the hardships of the past six years.
His resentment toward her had turned into gratitude.
Even her father's private care for his younger brother over the years had been crammed by the two of them into her "plan."
Why go out of your way to dismantle such a complete conclusion?
"When all is said and done, Uncle, you were able to reach today because you walked out of it yourself."
Satsuki gave the safest answer first.
Kenjiro laughed after hearing this.
"I knew you would say that."
Satsuki found these words a bit strange.
"What do you mean?"
"You have been like this since you were a child."
"How was I when I was a child?"
"You never liked admitting that anything was your doing."
Kenjiro wore the expression of someone who had seen right through her.
Satsuki was momentarily at a loss for words.
What left her even more speechless was that Shuichi actually nodded thoughtfully beside them.
She turned her head to look.
"Father, do you think so too?"
Shuichi probably realized that nodding like this in front of his daughter was somewhat strange, so he picked up his teacup and took a sip.
"This is your own business, why are you asking me?"
"Look at that."
Kenjiro smiled even more smugly.
Satsuki looked at her uncle, then back at her father who clearly had no intention of explaining on her behalf, and finally was amused to the point of laughter by the two of them.
Very good.
It seemed that all along the way, they had already finished discussing everything that needed to be discussed.
Now all that was missing was a nod from her, the "person involved."
If she were to seriously tell them right now that back then she just wanted to drive out an uncle who was in the way and prone to trouble, and as for the subsequent work, most of it came from her father's soft heart while she had not spent much thought managing it at all—
Kenjiro probably would not believe it.
Shuichi probably would not necessarily believe it either.
The more she said, the more likely it would be misunderstood as her deliberately hiding it and refusing to admit it.
Looking at the completely certain uncle in front of her, Satsuki knew that her verbal guidance had mostly taken effect.
Since they had already filled in the reasons, process, and results for her, it seemed she only needed to do one final thing.
"Fine."
Satsuki put her teacup back on the table.
Kenjiro instantly perked up a bit.
"Since Uncle has already thought of it to this extent, there is not much point in me continuing to explain."
She paused slightly, met their gazes, and nodded very calmly.
"Yes, that is exactly what I was thinking back then."
Shuichi froze.
He had been lectured by Kenjiro in the car for so long, and still harbored a few doubts in his heart; now, even those few doubts dissipated with this single sentence from Satsuki.
Kenjiro's reaction was even more direct.
He burst into laughter.
Satsuki could tell almost at a glance that smugness of "As expected, I have already seen right through you."
"I knew it."
"Are you very happy, Uncle?"
"Of course."
Kenjiro leaned back.
"I was played around in the palm of your hand six years ago, and now I finally understand you for once."
Looking at him, Satsuki suddenly really wanted to tell this uncle that he actually still did not understand this time either.
The words reached the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them back down.
Forget it.
Let him continue to "understand" it this way.
"Since you are satisfied, let us talk about business."
Satsuki put away her smile.
"Endo has fallen ill."
Kenjiro's expression quickly turned serious.
"Is it serious?"
"Overwork, he needs to be hospitalized for rest temporarily. Every company in the S.A. Group has a person in charge, so normal operations will not stop because of this. The troublesome part is another matter."
Satsuki looked at him.
"Some things involve the internal family affairs; no matter how capable professional managers recruited from outside are, we cannot hand everything over to them. Father wanted Uncle to come back before, but I never agreed. After Endo fell ill this time, I felt we could give it a try."
Hearing this, Shuichi could not help but glance at his daughter.
Kenjiro, however, was very calm.
"How to try?"
"First, come to the Head of Family's Office."
Satsuki had already thought about the arrangement.
"Three months. We do not need to set a specific position for now; I will pick some tasks that require cross-departmental handling for Uncle. Do well, and there will naturally be new arrangements afterward; do poorly—"
A smile appeared on her face again.
"It seems they really still need someone to mix cement over at Saionji Tower."
Kenjiro smiled quite openly.
"Alright, at least there is a fallback plan this time."
"It starts tomorrow."
"So fast?"
Shuichi instinctively glanced at his daughter, but Kenjiro had no objections.
"What time?"
"Arrive at the Head of Family's Office before nine o'clock."
"Alright."
Seeing that he agreed so readily, Satsuki smoothly arranged another matter.
"Tonight, I will have Chizuru send someone to accompany Uncle back to Minami-Senju once. Pack up whatever needs to be brought, and your living arrangements here will be rearranged."
Kenjiro was slightly stunned.
He had been thinking about what to do after returning to Saionji the whole time, and it was not until Satsuki mentioned living arrangements that he remembered his wife was still waiting for him to come home in Minami-Senju.
"Then she..."
"Of course she will be brought back together."
Satsuki glanced at him.
"Aunt has spent six years outside with Uncle; it would not do for Uncle to return to Saionji by himself while leaving her behind alone there, right?"
Kenjiro opened his mouth, originally intending to say something, but in the end he only lowered his head with a smile.
"If she finds out, she will probably be even happier than I am."
Hearing this, Shuichi chimed in.
"Then tell her earlier. When I took you away today, she probably did not know whether she would be able to wait for you to go back tonight."
"She is probably already starting to overthink things."
Thinking of his wife's personality, Kenjiro himself could not sit still anymore.
Satsuki was very decisive.
"Then do not make her wait any longer. Once things are done here, Uncle, go back first to pick her up, and let the people below handle packing the other things."
After speaking, she glanced at Kenjiro again.
"As for work, still tomorrow at nine."
"Understood."
"Are not you planning to take a rest on your last day off, Uncle?"
"I have already been resting outside for six years."
Kenjiro patted his legs.
"If you let me stay idle any longer, I will not even know what to do."
Shuichi shook his head upon hearing this.
"In the past, asking you to stir up less trouble was like taking your life. Look at you now, actively looking for things to do the moment you step through the door."
Kenjiro glanced at him sideways.
"It is still better than only being looked down upon by you like before."
"That has not changed; I still look down upon you just as much now."
Kenjiro let out a laugh.
"That is good, I was afraid your temper would have improved as you grew old."
The two brothers began to mock each other again.
Satsuki listened for a moment, then reopened the initial document on the table.
The first page was written with the name Kenjiro had used all these years.
Tanaka Ken.
Satsuki looked at it for a moment, then turned the file toward him.
"And this too."
Kenjiro lowered his head and saw his name.
"What is wrong?"
"You will not be using it from now on."
He raised his head.
Satsuki reached out and tapped those three characters.
"Uncle's debts still have to be paid by yourself, and the events of the past six years will not disappear just because you came back today."
She paused.
"But starting today, you can call yourself Saionji Kenjiro once again."
Kenjiro lowered his head to look at that piece of paper, not moving for a long time.
Six years ago, when he first used the name "Tanaka Ken," he merely wanted to strip the three characters of Saionji from himself.
Later, the people at the construction site called him that, the people in the warehouse called him that, and when his wife accompanied him to handle paperwork, she wrote down "Tanaka" in the surname column time and time again.
Over six years, he had grown accustomed to hearing it.
Tanaka Ken had moved cement, slept in warehouses, dozed off on the last train while hugging his safety helmet, and little by little learned things that the Saionji Kenjiro of the past would never have learned.
This name had accompanied him through the hardest six years.
Now, it was time for it to stop here.
Kenjiro reached out, picked up the document, looked at it for a moment, and then turned past the first page.
"Then it will not be needed."
Satsuki watched him.
Kenjiro smiled.
"Tanaka Ken has already finished what he needed to do."
After saying this, he himself seemed to become much more relaxed.
When he lost that surname six years ago, he felt he had nothing left.
Now that he was taking it back again, the feeling was completely different.
This time, he was very clear on why he could still be called by this name.
"Now, it is Saionji Kenjiro's turn."
Kenjiro placed the document back onto the table.
"Tomorrow at nine, I will come over."
Satsuki revealed a smile.
"Do not be late, Uncle Kenjiro."
"Rest assured."
He stood up.
"Saionji Kenjiro's first day back at work, surely he cannot get caught being late."
Kenjiro stood up, walked two steps, and then stopped again.
He turned around, looked at Shuichi, and then looked toward Satsuki.
When he left this house six years ago, he had nothing left in his hands.
Walking back in today, his debts still existed, and his past position would not be restored, but he could finally proudly speak that name once again.
Kenjiro lowered his head slightly.
"Well then, please take care of me from now on."
Satsuki looked at him, the smile on her face softening slightly.
"Welcome back, Uncle Kenjiro."
Shuichi sat beside them, looking even happier than the person involved.
After being quiet for a moment, he ultimately could not hold it in.
He quietly leaned close to Satsuki's ear and said in a low voice.
"Satsuki."
"What is it again?"
"Did you really foresee even that I would secretly take care of Kenjiro back then?"
Satsuki turned her head.
Her father asked extremely seriously.
Clearly, that six-year layout had completely rooted itself in his brain.
Satsuki instantly felt a bit of a headache.
"Father, Uncle has already come back, why are you still dwelling on things from six years ago?"
"I am just curious."
"Then continue to be curious."
"So did you foresee it or not?"
Satsuki looked at him for a moment and suddenly smiled.
"What do you think?"
Shuichi pondered for a moment.
Kenjiro beside them had already started smiling first.
"Big Brother, I told you so long ago."
Shuichi looked at his younger brother, then at his daughter who had picked up her teacup and clearly had no intention of continuing to answer, and finally slowly nodded.
Satsuki brought the teacup to her lips, silently watching the two of them reach a consensus once again.
It seemed explanations were completely useless now.
Fortunately, the result was not bad.
Kenjiro was back.
His ability was much stronger than she had anticipated, and he had truly let go of the past.
Beyond that, he was extremely grateful to her, and even took the initiative to complete a set of arrangements spanning six years on her behalf.
An uncle like this was indeed much more useful than she had originally imagined.
As for whether that twelve-year-old Saionji Satsuki had actually thought about all this in advance...
Let them be.
Perhaps, that really was what she had been thinking all along?