Substitute Toyokawa Shoko, you can become stronger by breathing

"How did you get in here?"

Ruoye Mu tilted her head but didn't answer. She simply took a half step back, giving him room to enter, her movements as quiet as a house cat unwilling to disturb its owner.

It seems that there is no answer.

Mutou, I didn’t expect you to have a lock-picking personality.

Kujo Renji sighed, closed the door and changed his shoes.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small suitcase by the door—it was obvious that the girl was ready to stay for a long time.

"Are you hungry?" he asked casually, heading towards the kitchen.

Ruoye Mu followed behind him, as silent as a shadow.

She nodded, then shook her head, and finally raised her hand, with her thumb and index finger slightly apart - feeling a little hungry.

Fortunately, I can understand it.

"Then eat something."

He opened the refrigerator and examined the few ingredients inside.

Wakaba Mu stood aside, silently watching his every move. When Kujo Renji reached out to take the eggs on the upper shelf, she suddenly stepped forward and gently pulled his sleeve.

Jiujo Liansi turned around and saw her taking out a cucumber from somewhere.

She handed it over and poked Kujo Renji's cheek.

"Cucumber and eggs?"

Wakaba Mu nodded.

Kujo Renji sighed and took the cucumber.

Then I took out the ingredients from the refrigerator and started preparing dinner.

If Ye Mu did not offer to help, but just sat quietly at the dining table with his hands folded on his knees, the girl's eyes would always follow his figure, quickly moving away when he turned around, and then staring back at him when he was concentrating on cutting vegetables.

Just then, the phone vibrated.

He picked it up casually.

"Ms. Toyokawa, please be careful on the Osaka tour. Someone might be trying to harm you."

Jiujo Liansi frowned slightly.

Ishikawa's news came at the perfect time, almost like a confirmation of some kind of tacit understanding - today's conversation with Toyokawa Kiyoshige and this sudden warning obviously pointed to the same thing.

He tapped his fingers on the edge of his phone in thought.

He knew Ishikawa's character very well - he was a man of action, and once he encountered a problem that he could solve himself, he would quietly deal with it first.

If it was something that Ishikawa could easily solve, he wouldn't bother to inform me, but would just do it directly.

In other words, Ishikawa cannot easily resolve this matter, and the corresponding forces are not simple.

Maybe the Toyokawa family?

Kujo Renji's thoughts were racing.

Of course, it could also be other performing arts companies whose interests have been affected by Ave mujica.

Although this possibility is small, it is not impossible.

After all, in this world, the power of the entertainment industry is much greater than that in his original world - perhaps it is the difference between parallel worlds, or perhaps it is for some other reason.

"What's wrong?"

Toyokawa Shoko's voice sounded in his mind, sensing his thoughts.

"News from Ishikawa."

Kujo Renji answered briefly, typing quickly on the screen:

【understood. 】

The oil in the wok sizzled as Kujo Renji skillfully sprinkled in the seasonings, seemingly unaffected by the information just received.

"Do you think this is serious?"

Toyokawa Shoko's voice sounded in his mind, with obvious worry.

Kujo Renji added chopped eggs and cucumbers into the pot. The pot made a sizzling sound and hot steam rose, casting a thin layer of mist on his face.

"I'm not sure. I'll try to find out tomorrow."

Kujo Renji's thoughts began to drift away. He knew nothing about the internal situation of the Toyokawa family and could only piece together a vague outline from scattered fragments.

Toyokawa Kiyoshi's attitude today is very intriguing - worried and restrained, as if he knows something but can't say it out loud.

This made Kujo Renji think about the power structure within the Toyokawa family.

Toyokawa Sadaharu, Toyokawa Shoko's maternal grandfather, is the actual ruler of the family.

His attitude towards his "granddaughter" doesn't seem very clear?

On the one hand, he did not directly interfere with Toyokawa Shoko's decision, allowing her to leave the family residence and even participate in musical activities; on the other hand, he sent people to monitor her every move, as if he was waiting for something or guarding against something.

Logically speaking, his attitude should be the "same" as Toyokawa Kiyoshi's, after all, they belong to the same camp.

But Fengchuan Qinggao's "reminder" and "warning" today

Could it be related to Toyokawa Sadaharu?

This old guy wouldn't want to use the emperor to control the princes, would he?

Kujo Renji pondered the possibilities.

"So what should we do next?"

Toyokawa Shoko's question echoed in his mind.

Jiujo Renji paused for a moment before speaking:

"Tomorrow, find a way to stab your grandfather."

"?"

......

PS: This chapter has 11,000 words, which is equivalent to five and a half pages.

I owed 23,000 words yesterday.

Thanks for the tip QAQ

The bounty continues!

Chapter 73: Good granddaughter! (Thanks to the indescribable river crab boss for the cuteness)

"?"

Shoko Toyokawa couldn't help but be stunned, but this astonishment only lasted for a few seconds, and she soon realized that Kujo Renji didn't really want to hurt her grandfather.

This was just his usual way of speaking, using the sharpest and most direct expressions to stimulate her reaction. He was always like this, liking to see her panic because she was caught off guard.

After realizing this, Shoko Toyokawa deliberately suppressed her emotional fluctuations, not wanting to become the target of his ridicule again.

She hummed softly in her consciousness and responded in a deliberately calm tone:

"So, how do we do that?"

In the kitchen, a hint of surprise flashed in Kujo Renji's amber eyes.

He expected to receive a panicked or righteous rebuttal, but he didn't expect Toyokawa Shoko to accept his statement so calmly.

This actually made him feel a subtle sense of loss - one of the pleasures of teasing Toyokawa Shoko was to see her extreme and cute reactions.

However, the girl's growth is indeed gratifying.

Kujo Renji put the scrambled eggs with cucumber on the plate and turned to look at Wakaba Mutsu who was sitting quietly at the dining table.

As he placed the plate in front of Wakaba Mutsu, he responded to Toyokawa Shoko's question in his mind.

"Do you remember the interviews Nakamura arranged for us?"

In the conscious space, Shoko Toyokawa recalled those interview invitations - it was indeed a bit strange.

Some of the media are obviously not of interest to Ave mujica's current audience, and the schedule is so tight that it almost makes people suspect that it is deliberate.

"I do feel like something is wrong...those interviews seem..." Shoko Toyokawa pondered, trying to organize the scattered feelings into a logical train of thought.

Kujo Renji sat across from Wakaba Mutsu and watched the girl carefully pick up a small piece of scrambled egg, her eyes slightly lighting up as she put it into her mouth. A barely perceptible smile played at the corner of his mouth, while he continued his conversation with Toyokawa Shoko in his mind.

"It's not just the interview. Winwing's attitude is also intriguing."

Kujo Renji's mind captured and connected all the details of the past few months.

Given Ave mujica's current popularity and development momentum, it should have been Winwing's key support target, but the firm's attitude has always been ambiguous, neither fully investing resources nor letting it go.

They seemed to be following some instructions from their superiors, carefully maintaining a delicate balance.

"Logically, given Ave Mujica's potential and current popularity, it wouldn't be a stretch for Winwing to make it their main project. However, the firm's attitude is extremely ambiguous and vague."

Kujo Renji analyzed:

“They want to use the popularity of Ave Mujica to enhance the company’s influence, but at the same time they seem to be limiting the band’s development speed to some extent.”

"You mean..." Toyokawa Shoko grasped the key point, "Ave Mujica's interests are actually separate from Winwing's?"

Kujo Renji nodded slightly, satisfied with Toyokawa Shoko's speed of understanding.

Sure enough, in some respects, her thinking was quite consistent with his.

“To be precise, Ave mujica is ‘hosted’ at Winwing.”

The manipulator behind this trusteeship relationship is self-evident - Toyokawa Sadaharu.

The actual ruler of the Toyokawa family, Toyokawa Shoko's grandfather, is monitoring and interfering with his granddaughter's music career in a covert way.

Toyokawa Sadaharu's attitude was extremely contradictory. On the one hand, he did not directly prevent Toyokawa Shoko from leaving the family home, and even tacitly allowed her to pursue her "dream"; on the other hand, he maintained a certain degree of control over Ave mujica through intermediaries such as Winwing.

"So...Grandpa never actually let go?"

Toyokawa Shoko paced back and forth in her consciousness space, frowning and saying with a hint of surprise and realization in her tone

"He's been watching my every move?"

Kujo Renji corrected him, "To be more precise, it's 'concern.' From a business perspective, this is actually a form of protection. But the problem is that this protection may now have become a restriction, or even a threat."

Wakaba Mu put down his chopsticks, and his golden eyes looked at Kujo Renji quietly.

She seemed to have noticed something, and tilted her head slightly, revealing a subtle questioning expression.

Kujo Renji gave her a soothing look and continued communicating with Toyokawa Shoko in his mind:

"Your father's warning today, combined with Ishikawa's information, all point to one fact—the Osaka tour could be a turning point. Toyokawa Sadaharu, or perhaps a certain force within the Toyokawa family, is planning something."

"But why now? Why Osaka?" Toyokawa Shoko asked in confusion.

A thought flashed in Jiujo Liansi's eyes:

"Perhaps it's because Ave Mujica's influence has reached a certain critical point, or perhaps the power struggle within the Toyokawa family has entered a new stage."

He paused, as if considering his next words:

"But whatever the cause, we need to be preemptive."

"So your plan is..." Toyokawa Shoko had already vaguely guessed something, but she needed confirmation. "Completely cut off the connection between Winwing and Ave Mujica?"

Jiujo Renji smiled:

"No, we want to completely take down Winwing and control it in our own hands."

Shoko Toyokawa was stunned in her consciousness. This idea was much more radical than she had expected.

"So...how do we do it specifically?" she asked cautiously, feeling both curious and worried.

Kujo Renji glanced at Wakaba Mu, who had finished the food on his plate and was sitting quietly, as if waiting for something.

He stood up, took her empty plate, put it in the sink, and began to explain his plan:

"First, we need to understand Winwing's shareholding structure. I suspect that while Toyokawa Sadaharu has some say, he's not a major shareholder. Otherwise, he wouldn't need to manipulate the company so covertly."

He turned on the faucet and the water washed over the plates. The sound was particularly clear in the quiet kitchen.