The eighth floor was noticeably much quieter.
A staff member was already waiting by the nurses' station.
Satsuki walked over and immediately asked about Endo's condition last night.
"He slept fairly soundly, has already eaten this morning, and his blood pressure is more stable than yesterday."
After finishing, the staff member proactively added another sentence.
"The secretariat called last night, but Mr. Fujita did not let it through. The documents were not sent up either."
"Very good."
Kenjiro stood listening nearby and could not help casting a glance at Satsuki.
"Are you here to see a patient, or are you here to check if he is sneaking around to work?"
"Both."
Satsuki answered as a matter of course.
"The person Endo needs to guard against the most right now is probably Endo himself."
In the ward, Fujita was originally sitting by the window, still holding a newspaper in his hand.
Hearing the commotion at the door, he looked up and saw Satsuki, immediately folding the newspaper and setting it aside, then rising to greet her.
"Eldest Miss."
Satsuki nodded at him, her gaze already falling onto the hospital bed.
Endo was propped up against the head of the bed, his complexion still somewhat pale.
Seeing Satsuki enter, he instinctively reached for the glasses on the nightstand, preparing to sit up straight in the process.
"Eldest Miss."
"Lie down."
Endo paused in his movement and ultimately leaned back.
Satsuki walked over to the bedside and looked at him.
"How are you feeling today?"
"Much better. The doctor said the few tests did not show any major issues, except that I still need to—"
He stopped himself right there.
Satsuki was looking right at him.
Endo smiled helplessly.
"Keep under observation."
"Then stay under good observation."
"But the group's side these past few days—"
"Endo."
The rest of his words instantly vanished.
"...That is true, I really should rest."
Kenjiro stood nearby, looking at him with a somewhat complicated gaze.
Only then did Endo truly notice him, his expression clearly blanking for a fraction of a second.
"Lord Kenjiro?"
"Long time no see."
Kenjiro took two steps forward.
"It seems my return was quite timely. On my first day of work, I was brought to see you first."
Endo's gaze fell upon the briefcase in his hand, which was clearly packed quite full.
"You are starting at the Head Family Office today?"
"The first day."
Kenjiro glanced at the briefcase in his own hand.
"I originally thought I would be taking on matters by morning, but I did not expect to come to the hospital first."
Endo's gaze lingered on his face for a moment.
Six years was enough time to change many things.
"It is good that you are back."
Kenjiro paused slightly.
"Thank you."
There were no more words between the two for a moment.
Right at that moment, the ward door was knocked on, and the attending physician walked in holding the medical record.
He first explained the situation to Satsuki.
Acute myocardial infarction and cerebrovascular accidents had been ruled out; the real problems were still long-term fatigue, abnormal blood pressure, and severe sleep deprivation.
Flipping to the later records, the doctor's tone became slightly heavier.
"Actually, during the physical examination last November, I already suggested that Mr. Endo undergo further tests."
"Later, one was scheduled in February, but it was cancelled again; we rescheduled for April, and he did not come either. The follow-up examination in May was ultimately postponed once more."
Satsuki had originally been lowering her head to look at the medical record, but upon hearing the third time, her hand turning the page stopped.
Endo turned his face away, gazing out the window.
"That time in April happened to coincide with Mikhail Gorbachev's visit to Japan. In May, the group's matters became a bit more numerous, and I felt at the time that it could be pushed back a little."
The doctor glanced at Endo.
"It truly was not serious yet at the time, but if he had been able to do the follow-up exams on time and control his working hours, it probably would not have developed to yesterday's extent."
Satsuki lowered her head and glanced at the several records on the medical chart.
"November, February, April, May."
She raised her eyes.
"The doctor has already reminded you to this extent, and you still dragged it out time and time again?"
"At the time, I always felt that once the matters at hand were dealt with, going then would still be in time."
"And then the matters were never finished being dealt with?"
Satsuki's tone was not heavy, yet she did not leave him much room for defense either.
Endo did not say anything more.
Satsuki looked back at the doctor.
"What about now?"
"Continue resting and observe blood pressure and sleep conditions. As long as there are no new abnormalities these few days, subsequent follow-up exams on schedule will suffice."
"Then let us follow this arrangement."
"Eldest Miss, I actually right now—"
"If you feel your spirits are truly too good, I can ask the nurse to take away both the phone and the television."
Endo looked at her for a few seconds and finally gave up struggling.
"Then let us keep the television."
After leaving the ward, Satsuki did not go downstairs immediately.
By the nurses' station, Endo's physical examination records for the past two years had already been prepared, along with a health management roster for the core personnel of the group.
Kenjiro stood nearby and flipped through them for a few glances.
There were not many names on the list; Shuichi, Fujita, and Endo were all inside, and long-term medications, allergy information, and emergency contacts were also recorded afterward.
After finishing reading, he instead frowned.
"The documents have been made to this extent, yet the person still collapsed."
Satsuki did not pick up the conversation.
Kenjiro put the documents back on the desk.
"The doctor reminded, and the follow-ups were scheduled. But as long as Endo says he is busy, you all keep pushing it back. Then no matter how detailed this set of things is made, it does not seem to be of much use."
"That is why we came to see him today."
Satsuki handed the materials to Chizuru.
"I went to the Soviet Union late last year, and before leaving, I also strictly ordered him to go rest."
"That time he actually obeyed and rested well for a period of time."
"But after resting, his work intensity became even greater, because the work that only he could do would not decrease just because he was resting; instead, it would become more urgent due to the accumulation."
Listening to this, Kenjiro did not know what he was thinking.
The elevator had already arrived.
After the three of them walked in, Kenjiro spoke again.
"So you called me back partly for this reason too?"
"Of course, otherwise why would I have suddenly agreed with Lord Father."
"Preparing to use me to fill Endo's position?"
Satsuki was amused to a chuckle by what he said.
"Uncle has only been back for a day, and you are already preparing to take over Endo's position?"
Kenjiro heard that she was giving him a hard time again.
"I am just asking."
"Then the answer is that it is still way too early."
Satsuki leaned against the elevator handrail.
"However, just as I said, many things indeed need you to do them."
"But as for many things currently in Endo's hands, you do not even know the background right now."
"Try assisting Endo from the side first, and see if you can share some of the matters to do."
Kenjiro thought for a moment and said:
"You value him a lot."
Satsuki looked toward him.
"Of course."
Kenjiro looked at the continuously descending floor numbers.
"I spent six years at the lower levels, and I have seen factory managers suddenly hospitalized and warehouse shift supervisors resign. No matter how experienced a person who leaves is, things will be chaotic for a while at first, but as long as the company is still there, someone can always be found to step in."
"With Saionji being so large, it is even less likely to lack people who know how to work."
Satsuki nodded.
"There are many people in the group who know how to run a company."
"There are even more people who can manage factories, make investments, and deal with banks. If a president is truly lacking, promoting one from below or hiring one from the outside with a high salary will both work."
She spoke very calmly.
"As long as they can do the things in that position well, that is enough for Saionji."
Kenjiro turned his head to look at her.
"So the 'people' you mentioned yesterday did not refer to these people at all."
The numbers in the elevator skipped past another floor.
Satsuki did not answer his question directly.
"You have an advantage that others do not possess, and that is—I call you 'uncle'."
"Whether the group has hundreds of thousands of people or a million people in the future, it makes no difference to the Head Family Office. The vast majority of positions should inherently be replaceable at any time."
"If the president resigns, change the president; if a department manager's ability is insufficient, change the department manager; if a factory's management team all have problems, replacing the entire batch of people is fine too."
"As long as Saionji's machine can continue to turn, they are merely parts in different positions inside the machine."
Kenjiro listened quietly.
Satsuki's tone was not deliberately emphasized, and precisely because of that, it sounded even more cold.
"Endo is different."
"Fujita is too."
"Endo's father worked under my grandfather, and Fujita Kiyoshi and Fujita Tsuyoshi have also served the Saionji Family for generations."
"They are 'our own people', 'people' in another sense, rather than parts."
She paused for a moment.
"Only with these 'people' would I dare let them touch things that truly belong to the Saionji Family."
Listening to this, Kenjiro always felt his heart beating very fast.
At this time, the elevator door opened.
The sounds from the lobby flooded back in.
Satsuki walked out first, and it took Kenjiro a good while to snap out of it before hurriedly following.
There were quite a few people in the lobby, but this time when Kenjiro caught up to Satsuki, he vaguely sensed something—within a two-meter radius around them was completely empty.
Saionji security's overt guards and covert plainclothes officers jointly constructed a vacuum zone.
Isolating the people from the "people."
This discovery made Kenjiro's back turn cold, yet he also felt faintly excited.
A distinct emotion planted a seed in his heart.
Satsuki, waiting on the side for Kenjiro to catch up, continued speaking without looking back.
"With Saionji having developed to the present, I certainly will not boast that we are some sort of 'conscientious enterprise'."
"To be honest, we are very dirty. That is also why many things need 'people' to do them."
"The family's own assets, shareholdings that cannot be placed within the ordinary group system, some political arrangements, and those overseas matters not suitable for leaving complete records cannot be casually disclosed either."
Kenjiro calmed his emotions down a bit.
"How difficult are these jobs?"
Satsuki shook her head slightly.
"Many of them are not difficult."
"Pick a few professional managers with sufficient ability from the group and split up the matters in Endo's hands; they would probably learn them very quickly."
Kenjiro had already heard the rest of the words.
"But you will not give them to them."
"Why should I give them?"
"A professional manager taking Saionji's salary this year might go to Mitsubishi five years later, and could even become a competitor ten years later."
"Even if he stays here for a lifetime, on what grounds should I lay out all of the Saionji Family's things in front of him just because his resume is pretty?"
Kenjiro fell silent for a moment.
"So Endo's real problem is that many tasks can clearly be divided out, yet you cannot let other people touch them."
"Mhm."
The two of them crossed the lobby.
"I would rather have ten tasks crushed down on someone I trust than split those ten tasks among ten people I do not understand just to make him a little more relaxed."
Speaking to this point, Satsuki glanced at the inpatient building behind her.
"It was very convenient doing it this way in the past."
"Now it seems there is a price to pay as well."
Kenjiro lowered his head and glanced at his own rough hands.
That unusual feeling from just now appeared once more.
He suddenly recalled those places he had spent the past six years in.
The workers clocking in on time every day in the factory, the shift supervisors in charge of counting goods in the warehouse, the people still preparing ingredients for the next day in the central kitchen at midnight, and those people whose names he had not even remembered, having only spent a few months together at a certain position.
The longer he stayed in those places, the better he could understand what a person would leave behind after being replaced.
Proficiency, habits, experience, sometimes even just someone remembering when a machine needed an extra application of oil.
Yet what Satsuki described right now was completely different.
She had not denied the value of these people.
She simply had not put this kind of value into the same set of evaluation standards at all.
Those people were all parts.
As for Saionji's increasingly massive machine, as long as someone could still be found to fill that position, the machine would not stop.
The ones who truly needed to be remembered by the head of the family were those who could reach out and touch the control levers.
The glass beside the walkway was wiped very clean, reflecting Kenjiro's figure.
He instinctively glanced at himself.
Saionji Kenjiro.
Merely this name already made him stand in a position different from the vast majority of people in the lobby.
And Satsuki's inspection yesterday was judging whether he was qualified to take another step forward.
Thinking of this, his heartbeat quickened by another few beats.
This feeling was not entirely comfortable.
It was even somewhat dangerous.
Yet he could not deny that he was indeed looking forward to it.
Looking forward to Satsuki one day placing files that ordinary managers would never see in front of him, looking forward to truly participating in the deepest operations of this machine, and even looking forward to once again possessing the power to decide certain matters.
Six years ago, what he wanted was the Saionji Family's power.
At that time, he felt that the higher the position, the more companies he could control, and the more money in his hands, the greater the power would naturally be.
Yet standing beside Satsuki at this moment, Kenjiro suddenly felt that those things were all too simple.
There were many people coming and going in the lobby.
Company employees, hospital staff, and those management personnel who could be told at a glance to have handsome incomes and high positions.
They all occupied their own positions within Saionji's massive system.
Yet the ones who could truly walk to Satsuki's side, know what she was thinking, know what this family truly possessed, and even be able to reach their hands into those places that could not see the light on her behalf were only those few.
Eldest brother.
Endo.
And...
Kenjiro's heartbeat quickened a bit more.
He suddenly realized that he was actually looking forward to that name someday being able to add "Saionji Kenjiro" to it.
This kind of anticipation was even more intense than regaining a company.
It even made him feel somewhat unusual himself.
Satsuki, standing to the side, glanced at Kenjiro without leaving a trace.
Mhm... In every sense, this uncle of hers had not disappointed her.
When walking to the hospital entrance, Satsuki's pace slowed down.
"Uncle should have thought of it just now as well."
Kenjiro looked toward her.
"You carry the surname Saionji and are Lord Father's younger brother, which is why I am willing to let you return and willing to give you the opportunity to come into contact with these things."
Satsuki paused.
"But this does not yet mean you are already the same as Endo, Fujita, and the others."
She stood in place and looked toward Kenjiro.
"So, Uncle."
"Do you want to become a person, or 'people'?"
Kenjiro was stunned for a moment.
He could now understand the difference between these two "people."
The former could be a company president, could be a group executive, could have a pretty resume, a generous salary, and a sufficiently large office.
But as long as a replacement could still be found, they would still merely be a part on this machine.
The latter, however, meant that Satsuki was willing to let him truly become a member of the Saionji Family.
Kenjiro remained silent for a very long time.
That trace of excitement in his heart that made his back turn cold still had not disappeared.
Instead, it became clearer and clearer.
Finally, he looked at Satsuki.
"I want to become 'people'."