Tokyo: I took in a homeless girl

"It's a good thing you have such courage. After all, I have very high expectations for my offspring. However, from the moment you walked into the tea room, I knew you were someone with talents far beyond the ordinary, so there's no need for such a test."

"In that case, what the old man means is..."

"Do you know how our Ezaki family came to power?"

Tetsuichiro Esaki interrupted Sawayama Haruno.

The short but strong old man explained slowly, "It was under extremely cruel circumstances that the family has developed to what it is today. Of course, the Ezaki family has not had a smooth journey. They have inevitably encountered various "competitors" along the way, but one of the competitors said something that has always bothered me."

"What?"

Sawayama Haruno's eyes narrowed slightly.

He felt that the other party was about to say that "request".

"That's a thing of the past." Ezaki Tetsuichiro poured another cup of tea and said slowly, "Because they used dishonorable means in the course of their business, although the Ezaki family won in the end, they incurred the hatred of the other party."

"But this is inevitable in the business world, so I don't really take it to heart. It's just that something the other party said to me once made me feel a little bit upset."

"Rather than words, it's more like a curse. He cursed me, an old man with no moral principles, and said that my descendants in the future will also be abandoned by their friends and relatives because of their excessive pursuit of fame and fortune."

Tetsuichiro Ezaki took a sip of tea and said with emotion: "He really hit the mark. The eldest son worked too hard, and the youngest son ran away from home."

"."

Sawayama Haruno didn't say anything, but just listened silently.

It is said that the older people get, the more afraid they become of things they don’t know.

Especially for the current situation of the Ezaki family, there is no need to say much about Suguha's father's generation, even her collateral relatives and her mother are now in a situation that can be described as "being deserted by everyone."

As for Suguha herself, it was even more so. She came to visit with the intention of taking Suguha Ezaki away.

Therefore, standing in Tetsuichiro Ezaki's position, watching the curses uttered by his former enemies begin to come true one by one, he must have felt very uncomfortable.

However, this does not necessarily involve something really mysterious. After all, as the family business grows, the voices of dissent from within will also become louder. This is inevitable.

What's important is what this old man is thinking.

"I'm already old."

Tetsuichiro Esaki continued his narration.

After he put down his teacup, he said with regret, "Even if you don't want to admit that you're old, you have to admit that you're not as good as you used to be. I even accidentally sprained my waist while exercising this morning."

"Don't look at me sitting straight now, I'm actually in so much pain that I'm almost sweating."

"But I can't just sit back and relax now. Otherwise, the Ezaki family's business, this massive group, will lose its backbone. My descendants won't be able to maintain the current helm, and the tens of thousands of ordinary employees who rely on our Ezaki Group for their livelihoods will also face serious problems."

“I don’t think it will develop into what it is now.”

Sawayama Haruno hesitated for a moment and said tentatively, "Could it be that the old man is not satisfied with Senior Naoto? If I were to think so, perhaps Suguha's talent in this area is much worse than Senior Naoto's?"

"Well, you are right, but being recognized by others is also part of talent."

Tetsuichiro Ezaki said calmly: "This is not a question of whether I am satisfied or not. When I am completely old, there must be someone who can control me."

"In that case, wouldn't Naoto-senpai be more suitable?"

"He's too eager." Ezaki Tetsuichiro raised his eyelids and said calmly, "An anxious person will pay any price to achieve his goal. I don't want to see the curse of my enemy come true again."

"What about Suguha?"

Sawayama Haruno raised his head without hesitation, looked at the other person and said, "Doesn't Suguha's blind date count as part of the fulfillment of the curse?"

Tetsuichiro Esaki smiled dryly.

His laughter gradually became more unbridled, and in the end he just burst into laughter.

After laughing enough, he suddenly restrained his expression.

"What you said makes sense. I can't let my granddaughter fall into misfortune just because I'm soft-hearted towards other relatives. But this choice is inherently unanswerable, so..."

"so?"

"So, why don't we make a bet?"

The corner of Tetsuichiro Ezaki's mouth twitched, revealing a somewhat disdainful smile.

"The bet is Suguha, how about it?"

"It's not a good habit to use your granddaughter as a bet."

"Not having the courage to win the woman you love is the behavior of a coward, much worse than me."

Ezaki Tetsuichiro knocked on the tea table and said calmly, "Don't worry. Even if you lose the bet, I won't let them force Suguha to go on a blind date anymore. That's fair, right?"

"can."

Sawayama Haruno agreed without hesitation.

If the conditions were changed to this, it would be much more beneficial for him.

To put it another way, even if she lost, Suguha Ezaki could still live the life she wanted.

At least it will be much better than it is now.

"What are you gambling?"

"Let's bet on the multiple-choice question we just talked about."

Ezaki Tetsuichiro's expression suddenly changed. He stared at Sawayama Haruno and said, "I'll leave this multiple-choice question to you."

"I'll decide when to take the test. The earliest will be the week after next. It's up to you to decide how to do it then. How do you do it?"

Multiple choice question?

Is this an attempt to let me make the decision on the internal disagreements of the Ezaki family?

No wonder the system task said that this involved the demands of multiple forces. I guess if I made the corresponding choice, it would determine whether Naoto Ezaki or Suguha Ezaki would take the position.

I just didn't expect that the decision on the position of the head of the family would be made by an outsider like me.

Sawayama Haruno's eyes moved slightly.

No, maybe it would be better if an outsider made the choice.

After all, we are all made of flesh and blood, and Tetsuichiro Ezaki probably wouldn't want to see the "curse of the past" come true again because of his own reasons, so he asked an outsider like himself to do this problem.

However, the other party did not tell me what to do or what to choose. I guess I will know only when the "time" comes.

It’s like a student taking an exam. Until the test paper is released, he never knows what he will face.

Fortunately, the other party seemed to be unwilling to restrict the way I answered the questions.

Let’s look back and see if we can make further guesses about this multiple-choice question through the relationship between Naoto Ezaki or Suguha Ezaki.

After finalizing his inner thoughts, Sawayama Haruno slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

What the old man said before is not wrong. If you don’t have the courage to win everything for the woman you love, no matter how much you say, it will just be empty talk.

Since the other party has already made such a request, and if even if she loses, Suguha can be free, then there is no need for her to consider anything else.

Just agree to it without hesitation.

Thinking of this, Sawayama Haruno's eyes suddenly became much sharper.

"It's an interesting bet."

He paused for a moment and said slowly: "Although I don't know what the question is, but since this is the case."

"I took it."

Sawayama Haruno slowly stood up and looked at the short but strong old man sitting on the ground.

He said: "I'm going to win."

Chapter 231 Trampling Her Second Time

After coming out of the tea room, Sawayama Haruno walked around the mansion alone.

Since Naoto Ezaki had something to discuss with his grandfather alone, he had no choice but to pass the time in this way.

Fortunately, the woman who came with the kettle at the beginning appeared in time, took him to visit the mansion and chatted with him for a while, which made it not so boring.

"This is a small dojo. The master sometimes practices kendo here."

The woman led him into a larger room and, looking at the bamboo swords placed nearby, said with a smile, "Ms. Suguha also practiced here when she was little."

"Did the old man teach her?"

Sawayama Haruno suddenly became interested.

But the woman shook her head with some regret.

"Master doesn't have that much time, and as he himself said, he is the type who doesn't know how to teach."

"Since the Ezaki family has been supporting the Metropolitan Police Department, every year someone skilled in kendo comes to teach Miss Suguha."

"So that's how it is," Sawayama Haruno suddenly realized.

No wonder Naoto Ezaki said that during the previous competition at the Budokan.

I guess the people who are responsible for teaching Suguha kendo are some kind of competition champion or something like that.

“I seem to be somewhat interested in this thing now.”

Sawayama Haruno picked up a bamboo sword from the ground and waved it casually a few times.

There was a whooshing sound in the air all of a sudden, which sounded extremely terrifying.

"But with my skills, I guess I can only do this as a hobby, right?"

He turned to look at the woman and said with a smile, "I might as well let Suguha teach me something next time."

"I think Miss Suguha will be very happy too."

The woman also smiled somewhat gently.

But before she could say a few more words, the sound of a car was heard outside.

She immediately looked at Zeshan Haruno with some apology, and said softly: "Excuse me, Mr. Zeshan, please feel free to do as you please."

"okay"

Seeing this, Sawayama Haruno didn't think much about it.

Although he was allowed to wander around the mansion freely, there was no particular place he wanted to go by himself, so after picking up the bamboo sword, he began to "swing" it out of boredom.

The relevant "skills" were not triggered at all, he thought.

Or is it because there is no reference?

After pondering for a while, Sawayama Haruno closed his eyes and began to recall the kendo video he saw that night.

His brain has also been strengthened, and his memory is much better than before. Looking back now, it seems as if each picture is reflected in his mind, and he can clearly recall all the game videos he watched that day.

Not only that, you can also use the brain's excellent spatial imagination to "simulate" the videos you see on your phone to your surroundings.

"call--"

Sawayama Haruno still had his eyes closed, but he breathed a sigh of relief.

The muscles all over his body had begun to tense up involuntarily, and the bamboo sword in his hand was making a creaking sound as it could not bear the weight.

I can't use any more force, or the bamboo sword will burst.

Then try the effect of chopping it out.

Sawayama Haruno suddenly opened his eyes, aimed at the wall in front of him, and swung the bamboo sword a few times.

shhh-

There was still that terrifying sound of breaking through the air, but other than that there was no other feeling.

Well, this is not a fantasy novel. It is impossible to cut down the world with one sword. There must be a training opponent or a wooden stake or something to prove one's strength.

Sawayama Haruno laughed in silence, and imitated what he saw in the movie, turning his wrist, making a sword flower, and then retracting the bamboo sword.

Outside the dojo's door, Miki Ezaki walked out with a grim look on her face.

Yoshito Esaki, who was waiting, was a little surprised when he saw this scene.

He stopped the action of lighting a cigarette and asked with a little confusion: "Didn't you say you wanted to go in and check on that guy?"