Didn’t you say you were just using me as a substitute?

After teasing Bai Yingui, Kitahara Tsutomu stopped reading what she sent and turned around to open the chat with Tsuchima Mei.

Doma Yui: [I really like this figure, but it's a shame it costs 20800 yen.]

Doma: [It's already the end of the month, and I'm so hesitant. Do you think I should buy it?]

Kitahara Takashi didn't transfer the money immediately, but thought for a moment and replied: "If this figure was 800 yen, would you still hesitate?"

Yui Doma: [Definitely not!]

Doma Mei was hiding in the quilt, secretly sending messages to Kitahara Tsuyoshi.

Her brother didn't seem to have a good impression of Kitahara Tsuyoshi, so she only dared to send him messages secretly.

【Ding! 】

The sudden sound of a text message startled Domama.

She quietly stuck her head out to take a look, and seeing that her brother was still sleeping, she breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the text message.

[20000 yen credited to bank card, current balance...]

Before Doma Yui could figure out how she ended up with an extra 20,000 yen for no apparent reason, Kitahara Takashi's message arrived: "It's my fault for making you hesitate."

Doma Mai turned over, buried her face in the pillow and laughed secretly, "Hehehe..."

*

"I found that you are really good at picking up girls."

When Kitahara Takashi was coaxing his younger sisters, Ogitsu Yoshiko was right next to them.

Looking at the messages sent by Kitahara Takashi, those little boys can't beat him.

This Dogecoin is really good.

"Learn to guess what girls mean when they say something, understand their needs, and give them little surprises. Is it difficult to pick up girls?" Kitahara Tsutomu shrugged.

He didn't understand why some boys didn't understand such a simple thing?

When the car arrived at the hotel, Kitahara Takashi opened the room that Ogitsu Yoshiko had booked for him and fell headfirst onto the bed.

He is so sleepy.

Let’s talk about taking a shower and other things tomorrow.

"Have a good rest tonight. By the way, the Shinomiya family has invited you to their birthday party tomorrow. Will you attend?"

"Yeah, yeah, all right."

Beiyuan Zun replied vaguely and soon fell into a dream.

Ogizu Yoshiko shook her head and then gently closed the hotel room door.

*

September 5th is the day when the Lin Ba people weep and the Wu Si Liu Ying flag is raised, Saturday.

Hayasaka Ai got up early in the morning, wearing a white apron decorated with ruffles and a solid white-collared long dress. She tied a bow and put on her bangs, then she pushed open the door.

"Miss Kaguya, it's time to get up."

This is the beginning of Hayasaka Ai's day.

It's just that today she might be busier than before.

Because today is Shinomiya Yanan's birthday.

For an old man who is nearly 85 years old and is dying, every birthday he celebrates may be his last.

And on this day, everyone in the Shinomiya family will be present.

Then these servants will be busy.

Whenever Shinomiya Gan'an celebrated his birthday, Hayasaka Ai only had one thought: "Why hasn't this old man died yet?"

*

It was almost noon when all the members of the Shinomiya family arrived one after another.

Those present today are the backbone of the Shinomiya family.

From corporate group bosses to politicians behind the scenes, from bank presidents to the Supreme Court judge, almost all the bigwigs from all walks of life have come to the Shinomiya family's old house.

Most of these people are not called [Sigong], but they are all from the [Sigong] family.

The Shinomiya family’s development to this day is not just due to its sheer toughness.

The Shinomiya family has always been very good at winning people's hearts.

For some younger generations that they are more optimistic about, the Shigong family has always adopted three strategies: treating them to a meal, beheading them, and keeping them as dogs.

The last move is to accept someone as a dog, or to put it more appropriately, to marry into the wife's family.

Marrying into one's wife's family is a very common thing in Japan.

During the Japanese War, Ise Ujiyasu, the daimyo of the Izu and Sagami regions, married a concubine.

Tracing the concubine's family tree back many generations reveals a connection to the Hojo clan, the ruling family of the Kamakura shogunate. Ise Ujiyasu keenly sensed this opportunity and made a rather surprising decision at the time: he changed the surname of his entire family to Hojo. Even more outrageous, he even required his unborn child to bear the same name.

If this kind of thing happened to a flower grower, it would seem incredible, or even crazy.

After all, in traditional Chinese concepts, letting the entire family follow the concubine's surname is already against common sense; what's more, changing the surname of one's deceased father is also difficult even for a son-in-law who marries into the wife's family.

But it is very common in Japan.

Because in Japan there is a system of adopting a son-in-law as a son-in-law.

This is a unique model of family inheritance and business succession. When a man marries into the woman's family, he not only becomes a son-in-law, but is also treated as an adopted son. He changes his name to his wife's family name and can naturally inherit his wife's family business and property.

The biggest advantage of this system of adopting a son by a son-in-law is that if a son is born, his future development is full of uncertainty, just like opening a blind box.

Because once the son's qualifications are mediocre, in a highly competitive environment, his family is very likely to be swallowed up and eroded by other powerful families until it disappears completely.

But if a daughter is born, the situation is completely different.

Families can independently select their sons-in-law. Based on their needs, they can select a son-in-law from among many candidates who meets their requirements in terms of ability, character, resources, etc., and then allow him to marry into the family. In this way, by leveraging the advantages of the son-in-law, the family can continue to develop and even achieve further growth.

Among these people, Yukino Yukinoshita's father is the best example.

He originally came from an ordinary family, but was favored by Yukinoshita Yukino's mother and inherited the woman's family, surname and everything. With his own means and the help of Yukinoshita's family, he firmly sat on the seat of the second councilor of Chiba Prefecture at a young age.

If you started from scratch, you would never be able to sit in this position.

In today's Japan, there is no chance for you to start from scratch.

"Commander, long time no see."

"Commander-in-Chief, you must live a long life."

"Commander-in-Chief, why do I feel that you look better than before?"

......

These big shots who usually hold high positions and have great power, and whom ordinary people may never even meet in their lifetime, are now surrounding Sigong Yan'an and asking about his well-being.

This is not an attempt to please.

Rather, this group is a community of interests tied to Shigong Yanan.

Many people have climbed to their current high positions thanks to Shigong Yan'an.

For them, their loyalty is not so much to the Shinomiya family as to the person of Shinomiya Yan'an.

This is the personal charm that is unique to Shinomiya Yanan.

As for Sigong Huangguang, I'm sorry, in the eyes of many people they do not recognize this head of the Sigong family.

the reason is simple.

Under the leadership of Sigong Yan'an, the Sigong family prospered.

But when it fell into your hands, Sigong Huangguang, the Sigong family began to go downhill.

In the eyes of this group of older generations, they are people with poor abilities and mediocre qualifications.

This is also the helplessness of all rich second generations.

Born into wealthy families, they possess wealth, knowledge and status that ordinary people can hardly believe, but they have to live their entire lives in the shadow of their parents.

This is also the reason why many rich second-generations give up on themselves. They know they can never surpass their parents.

Is the yellow light in the fourth palace bad?

the answer is negative.

He is not bad, but Sigong Yan'an has brought the Sigong family to such a high level that no one in the future can surpass him.

Just like the achievements made on the Jade Dragon Flag where Beiyuan Zun is located.

From now on, everyone who receives the Dare Fighting Award will compare him with Kitahara Tsutomu.

Even if someone is lucky enough to achieve Beiyuan Zun's achievements, he cannot surpass Beiyuan Zun.

Because Kitahara Takashi is the first one.

"Dad, happy birthday to you all."

Shinomiya Kaguya took the gift she had chosen and walked to Shinomiya Gan'an in small steps wearing a black and red kimono.

"okay."

Shigong Yan'an had a calm expression and nodded slightly.

"Little Kaguya is becoming more and more beautiful." An old man looked at Shinomiya Kaguya with a smile, and the look in his eyes was as if he was looking at his own daughter.

"Thank you, uncle."

Shinomiya Kaguya nodded slightly, a nearly flawless smirk plastered on her face.

"Are you in love? Do you have someone you like? If not, I can introduce you to one." Another old man also said.

"Not yet." Shinomiya Kaguya said this, but she does have someone she is more satisfied with now, and that is a man named Shirogane Miyuki.

This is more in line with her aesthetic.

Thinking of Shirogane Miyuki, Kaguya Shinomiya showed a faint smile on her face, but the figure of Kitahara Takashi flashed through her mind.

'I'm totally crazy.'

Shinomiya Kaguya didn't know what was wrong with her. She had been comparing Shirogane Miyuki and Kitahara Takashi recently.

"Father, everyone is here, we can start now." Sigong Huangguang said.

This time it was a family dinner.

Everyone who comes is our own people.

"Someone hasn't arrived yet." After saying this, Sigong Yan'an closed his eyes silently.

He could feel his life force slipping away.

The time spent awake each day is decreasing.

He knew he didn't have much time left.

That's why he wanted to get close to the protagonist of this era before he died.

I want to see if he can shoulder the future of the Shinomiya family.

"Who else?"

Shinomiya Huang Guang and Shinomiya Kaguya were both stunned.

The two looked around and saw that the seats were almost full, wondering who was missing.

Shinomiya Yan'an said nothing, just closed his eyes as if he was asleep. Shinomiya Huangguang and Shinomiya Huiye had no choice but to wait.

five minutes.

ten minutes.

half an hour.

Gradually, some people began to whisper.

"I'm so annoyed. I'm so annoyed. What the hell is this old man doing?"

'Why don't you start yet?'