Chapter 5 Section 4

Zhiming Qiqi was a depressing day.It has been raining non-stop since morning. After finishing the ceremony in Zhenxian Temple, Gua Sheng's family prepared a banquet in the hall on the first floor.Although they are relatives, except for the new president, Masaaki Sugai, all the senior executives of UR Electric Corporation gathered here, so it is more like a meeting of executives than a ritual event. Misako and Ayako were busy greeting the guests together, while Akihiko sat in the corner with his younger brother and younger sister, moving their chopsticks silently. "That report is really well written, and it has improved your personal image." The flat-faced managing director poured wine for Masaaki Sugai.While speaking loudly, the voice reached Misako's ears.This man is Zhengqing's sister-in-law.Misako once heard from Akihiko that he was always by Masaki's side and it was boring. "The president looks very young in the photo, and gives people an impression of friendship."

"I didn't pretend to be on purpose." There was no emotion in Zhengqing's words, and he raised his glass and drank boredly.He must have drunk a lot, but he was very calm and sober.Although he has practiced kendo in his old age, he has no fat on his body. His dark face like a worker and his pair of piercing eyes give people a unique sense of oppression. "I really regret being interviewed by that newspaper. Li Zhengqing said, "I didn't expect them to write such a low-level report. Don't mention that again!" The executive director of the follower couldn't flatter him, so he shrank his neck.

They were talking about an article that appeared in the "Economie" about three days ago.A column reporting on the private life of executives in large companies mentioned Zheng Qing, emphasizing his youthful promise and vigorous vitality. Two photos were also published, one was a work photo of him directing at the scene, and the other was a photo of him in his body. A photo of visiting the grave in sportswear - the caption mentions: "Mr. Masaaki Sugai must jog after lunch. Especially at noon on Wednesdays, he always visits his father's grave." The ancestral grave of Sugai's family is also Behind the Zhenxian Temple where rituals are held today.

The small group of men reflects their status in the company, and everyone gathers around Masaaki Sugai.And their wives also formed a circle, with Zhengqing's wife Xinghui holding the initiative.She was the oldest among the women's family members, and her husband ascended to the leading position of the company, so she took off the crown among the women's family members as a matter of course.Because Yayezi is the second wife, she always keeps a low profile on such occasions. Their conversation swirls endlessly about everyone's children, including daughters of marriageable age and issues of inheritance.The topic particularly focuses on the future of Xinghui's only son, Junhe.Junhe just joined UR Electric this year.Of course, he did not receive training for new employees, nor did he go to the field for an internship, and went directly to the road of reserve cadres.In this way, the most interesting part of the female relatives naturally focused on whose daughter Junhe would marry as his wife.They all hope that it is best to be a girl who has a close relationship with them.

"It's not too early for this kind of thing. If you don't start looking for someone now, you won't be able to find someone by then." "That's right. Besides, if it's a girl of unknown origin, Xinghui will give you a headache, right?" The female relatives were chattering, but Xing Hui just listened silently, with a confident and calm smile on his face.Junhe, the subject of discussion, has been sitting beside Zhengqing, not saying hello to the Guasheng family at all.He is obviously a timid and nervous man, but his arrogance is exactly the same as his father.

Seeing this situation, Misako thought, Akihiko was right.When Naoaki fell and Masaki took over as the president, he said: "The era of the Guasang family is over." The person who laid the foundation of UR Densan was Akihiko's grandfather Kazuo Kazuki.But after his death, the company was taken over by his brother-in-law and subordinate Tadaki Subai, Masaki's father.Since then, the Guasheng faction and the Xubei faction have almost taken turns to hold real power.But recently the two forces have completely lost their balance. The biggest reason is that Naoaki has fewer cronies than Sugai.Although Naoaki has the eldest son Akihiko, he chose a completely different path from his father.There would be no benefit in following a general without an heir, so Naoaki gradually became isolated in the company.Even so, there were still a few people who served as his servants because of their popularity, but they were recruited by the Subai faction at the same time Naoaki fell.Zhengqing's basic policy is not to reject the Guasheng faction, but to take talents for his own use.

However, there is still one person who has not yet been absorbed by the Guarang faction - Kenji Matsumura.He and Naoaki are not relatives, but he has served as Naoaki's right-hand man since he was young, and has made great contributions. He is currently the top executive director.Rumors circulated in the company that Zhengqing was having a headache for Songcun and didn't know how to deal with him. Matsumura was sitting opposite Akihiko, talking about something, so Misako returned to the seat next to Akihiko to take a rest. "Oh, ma'am, it's really hard for you." Songcun picked up the beer bottle and expressed his condolences.

Misako held the cup and said, "Just a little." Matsumura said, "Hey, what's the matter?" He poured her a full glass.Matsumura has a round face and a round body, but there are a pair of squinted eyes like threads, with a few wrinkles at the end of the eyes, and a kind smile on his face. "What are you talking about?" Misako asked. "Send some boring complaints." Akihiko replied, "We are saying that life will be difficult in the future." "Akihiko is still smart." Matsumura lowered his voice a little, and glanced at the people around Masaki who were still chattering, "Frankly speaking, UR Electric is currently in a puffy state. It doesn't make sense to enter this kind of company. Power, and carve out your own destiny.”

"I sometimes have to attend boring shareholder meetings..." "That can't be helped, who told you that you are destined to be the eldest son of the Guasheng family." Songcun picked up the wine glass and made a toast, and then drank it down. Misako immediately poured wine for him, then extended her arm to point the bottle at Akihiko's glass.At this moment, a wine bottle appeared on the other side, filling Akihiko's glass with wine. It turned out to be Zhengqing.He twisted half his face into a smile. "You guys are very quiet." Zhengqing said. "We were just reminiscing about the past. After all, today is Qiqi, the former president of Gua." Matsumura said tactfully, the implication seemed to be satirizing those noisy guys.

Zhengqing sat down calmly. "Oh? Then, let me talk to Akihiko and his wife about what happened back then." He apparently asked Matsumura to leave the meeting.Matsumura noticed this, said "Okay, please talk slowly", and left. "He's such an interesting man." After Songcun walked away, Zhengqing said. "To Mr. Subey, isn't he a rotten apple?" "Rotten? Where?" Zhengqing grinned slyly, "I still have a good eye for people, and I plan to ask him to do something for me." "I see. Do 'some' stuff, eh?" Akihiko took a sip of the beer.Zhengqing filled it up for him again, then lowered his voice and asked, "By the way, what do you think? Have you changed your mind?"

Akihiko stared fixedly at Masaki's sharp-edged face and shook his head. "I don't think you're serious at all." "I've always been serious. The reason I said that is because I think about UR Electric and your future. Don't use your smart mind to fix other people's broken heads. Would you like to help me?" "You've got the wrong person. It's useless to ask a doctor to help you." "You are not an ordinary doctor, do you think I am blind?" "You overestimate me." "It's time for you to stop being stupid. It's just a waste of time." Zhengqing picked up the unused glass beside him, poured wine, and drank half of the glass in one go. Misako was surprised to hear their conversation.Zhengqing seems to want to bring Akihiko under his command, but he has never heard Akihiko mention it.The point is, why did Zheng Qing refuse to inherit Nao Ming's career and choose Akihiko who became a doctor? "Well, I heard that you are very familiar with Professor Maeda of Shugaku University?" A name that Misako had never heard of came out of Akihiko's mouth. Zhengqing's eyeballs moved. "You know it very well." "I heard what the professor in our hospital said. The students also said that UR Electric seems to have developed a computer system based on the human brain." Zhengqing snorted coldly. "Those students are pretty good." "Because the advisor taught well." Hearing this, Zheng Qing patted Akihiko's shoulder with the corner of his mouth crooked, and said, "You'd better think about it carefully." After speaking, he stood up. When they were full of wine and food, the topic of everyone turned to the artwork left by Zhiming.Many of the relatives didn't think the works of art were relics, and wanted a piece of the pie, so they cast jealous eyes on Akihiko, who got all the property alone. Akihiko may have noticed this atmosphere, so he summoned Suoto and ordered him to take anyone who wanted to visit to Naoaki's study.Much of Naomy's collection has yet to be sold to art dealers. "If someone wants it, it's okay to give it to him. Only, Ikihiko added, "Only visits are allowed today! If they scuffle in my father's study, it will be troublesome." " "Understood." Yuto replied. As soon as Suto conveyed Akihiko's meaning, many people stood up happily, including women and men.Since it is not possible to accommodate so many people to visit at one time, it has to be done in batches. "I don't think anyone will steal things, but you must be on guard against others, so you should watch." Misako obeyed Akihiko's instructions.Also came to the hallway. Zhiming's study room is about twenty stacks in size. There is a small art gallery in the room, and large and small picture frames hang on the entire wall.Zhiming loves art, but lacks professional knowledge. He belongs to the kind of people who are suddenly moved by paintings and will buy impulsively.Perhaps for this reason, oil paintings, Japanese paintings, prints, and etchings hung on the walls in a haphazard manner.Even so, as long as you appreciate it carefully, you can still feel a common nature from it.But art is not important to the relatives at all. They just talk about how much the painting is worth. "How much is this painting worth?" "I don't know. However, since it was painted by this artist, I don't think it should be less than one million." In addition to paintings, Naoaki has other collections.Along the wall is a display case lined with large expanses of glass, which contains a variety of items, including pendulum clocks, primitive printing presses, early car designs, and more.In addition to Western items, there are also Japanese slide projectors and mechanical dolls. "The president said that a well-made machine is also a kind of art." Misako was looking at the collections intently, and Matsumura came to him at some point, and said, "He also said that he has been the leader of UR Electric for many years. It's a pity that people don't create any works of art." "My father-in-law said that..." Perhaps Zhiming, who seems to be keen on pursuing cutting-edge technology, has a completely different inner world. Soon, Xinghui and Junhe also came.The interests of men and women are really different. Junhe looked at the items in the display cabinet with great interest, and Xinghui seemed to have no interest in the fine carvings of the ancients. He said, "Mr. Zhiming also collected strange things" and walked over .Then, her eyes stopped on a wooden cabinet next to the display cabinet, and the left and right doors were closed tightly.She looked at Misako as if asking what was inside.Misako could only tilt her head, expressing that she was not clear.Xing Hui opened the door without hesitation, took a look inside, then backed away, and said. "Ah" sound. "Wow, that's amazing!" Junhe also sighed. Misako also looked in, feeling as surprised as Xing Hui.In the wooden cabinets were models of guns, swords, and cannon, as well as arquebuses and crossbows. "Haha, it's a weapon. It's placed in this kind of place." Matsumura said without any surprise, "'The history of weapons is the history of making things', this sentence is the mantra of the president. However, he collects such things Doesn't seem positive." "Are these real swords and guns?" Joon-ho asks. "It should be, but it probably can't be used anymore. It should be a long time since they last killed people." "These seem to work." Junhe picked up a crossbow made of brown wood and shaped like a cross between a gun and a bow. "Haha, is this one? It was brought back by a man who traveled from Europe to Japan through Africa at the end of last year. He said it was a gift for the president. He probably bought it specially for the president's preference, but the president Seems like it's worthless." "It seems that there are also arrows." Seeing Junhe take out two arrows, Songcun warned him: "You'd better not touch it. I heard that they are poisonous arrows." "Huh? That's not good." Junhe hurriedly put the arrow and crossbow back to their original positions. Many relatives came to the study.As a member of the Guasheng family, Misako was asked many questions, but she couldn't answer them at all.Fortunately, Songcun was always by her side, which really helped her.He often accompanies Naoaki to shop for collections, so most things are clear. Finally, Hongchang and Yuanzi also came.They said they hadn't even looked at their father's collection.But they seemed to feel that the painting was boring, so they ran to look at the wooden cabinet immediately. "Look! There's something incredible here!" Hong Chang seemed to like crossbows very much. Misako left the study for a while, remembering that she forgot to lock the window and folded it back.Hongchang and Yuanzi are still there.Misako was about to unscrew the doorknob when she stopped when a voice came from the study. "I ask you, does Dad really hate Mom and us both?" It was Sonoko's voice. "what are you saying?" "Brother should have found out too, right? Mom and that person..." Yuanzi seemed to be hesitating whether to continue, but Hongchang immediately noticed what she wanted to say. "Don't talk nonsense! Mom can't have a serious relationship with that kind of man." Hongchang said angrily.After a while, Hongchang's voice came again: "What are you doing? Laughing so disgustingly!" "Because it's weird." Yuanzi said, "My brother is actually protecting my mother." "What do you mean by that?" "That's what it means. You don't want your mother to be snatched away by other men." There was a bang in the room, followed by Sonoko's voice. "It hurts so much! Let me go! Don't become angry just because I've told you what's on your mind!" "Who told you to talk nonsense! You are the one who is hysterical and paranoid because Dad is gone." "I'm not hysterical. I really hate her. My brother may not want to admit it, but it's true that my mother is stealing someone behind my father's back. Maybe it's because of her affair that my father lost his life. If that's the case..." There was another sound of things colliding. "What do you want?" Hong Chang asked. "If that's the case, I will never forgive her! I mean it." "Dangerous! Don't look at me!" Hongchang screamed. Misako couldn't resist knocking on the door and pulling the handle. "Sonoko... what are you doing?!" Misako held her breath. "It's nothing, we were just joking around," Yuanzi said.She holds a crossbow with arrows attached to it.Hongchang was stuck against the wall, his face livid with fright. "I'm just reluctant to part with my father's belongings. After all, none of them belong to us." After speaking, Yuanzi put down his crossbow and left the study.