Chapter 174: Nighttime Conversation with Suguha
The footsteps finally stopped outside Zeshan Haruno's door.
Through the moonlight shining into the courtyard, it is not difficult to see a very slim figure standing outside.
With just one glance, Sawayama Haruno guessed who the person was.
But for some reason, he had an inexplicable feeling of irritability, as if he was in a bad mood after waking up, and his mood gradually became irritable.
That's a bit strange. Are you tired?
Zeshan Haruno took a few deep breaths, and said patiently, "Please come in."
As if his permission gave the people outside courage, the sliding door creaked again, and Ezaki Suguha changed her clothes and appeared at the door carrying a small bag.
Different from the light green yukata she wore during the day, at night, Suguha Ezaki changed into a black silk nightgown with lace trimmed with gold thread, which made the tall girl look inexplicably noble.
Coupled with her pair of long and white legs, the contrasting colors make her look even more attractive, and she also has the firm and fleshy feel unique to sporty girls.
It’s a pity that there are no stockings, otherwise we would be able to see the way they are squeezing the flesh?
No, that's a bit far-fetched.
Sawayama Haruno came back to his senses and said in a slightly stiff tone: "What's wrong, Suguha?"
"I saw the email you sent. I didn't expect you to be still awake so late. I wanted to ask if you wanted to eat anything?"
Suguha Esaki's tone seemed calm, just like usual.
But her deep eyes seemed to contain other thoughts.
".Sorry, I'm actually a little tired today."
Zeshan Haruno rubbed his brows and said with a slightly tired smile: "If possible, I want to rest directly."
"Yeah."
"I won't have supper. Let's wait until tomorrow at noon," said Sawayama Haruno with a smile.
He originally wanted to say that he would take the two girls out for dinner tomorrow at noon, but before he could finish his words, Ezaki Suguha suddenly interrupted him.
"Well, can you have a drink with me?"
".Um?"
"Drink some juice, too." Ezaki Suguha turned her head away and said softly, "I can't sleep tonight, so I want to find someone to chat with."
".Is that so?"
Sawayama Haruno couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Since this is the case, there is nothing we can do. After all, there are still problems with Ezaki Suguha. The other party has said so, so I can't really just leave it alone, right?
Although I am really upset, it will be alright as long as I endure it.
"Then let's chat for a while. Anyway, we don't have to work tomorrow."
"Ah."
Naoha Ezaki responded with a faint smile, then closed the sliding door behind him.
It was still the familiar kneeling posture, forcing Sawayama Haruno to sit cross-legged again.
But after he sat down, something that Ezaki Suguha took out from the small bag he had been carrying made him instantly become a little uneasy.
".If there was juice, I could understand it."
"As for biscuits and snacks, it's not unreasonable, but..."
Sawayama Haruno looked at the pile of "food" stacked on the tatami and asked hesitantly, "Why did Suguha bring Cup Noodles to me?"
".Didn't I just tell you that I wanted to ask you if you want to have a midnight snack?" Ezaki Suguha said softly.
Is this the midnight snack you were talking about? I don't know why it's so down to earth.
The corner of Sawayama Haruno's mouth twitched, but he soon stopped taking it to heart.
"What flavor would you like to drink?"
"Orange juice, please?"
"Let me see if there's anything in my bag."
"Thank you." Sawayama Haruno said casually.
He wasn't too obsessed with things like taste, so tonight he would just assume that Ezaki Suguha simply wanted to find someone to chat with. This was a good thing for him anyway, as it meant that Suguha could finally confide in him about something.
As long as you know her "troubles", it will become much easier to resolve subsequent crises.
Thinking of this, Zeshan Haruno no longer hesitated.
After casually taking the orange juice that the other party opened and handed over, he couldn't help but ask curiously: "Speaking of which, do you usually go to bed so late? When I sent an email to Shiori just now, she received it very quickly."
"Master, it may be because you are busy with work."
Jiang Qizhiye stared at the bottle of orange juice in his hand for a long time, and then explained in a low voice: "I usually go to bed early, but today I occasionally want to rebel."
"Really? Staying up late isn't considered rebellious. It's not like it's one or two in the morning or anything like that." Sawayama Haruno said casually.
He felt that sometimes Ezaki Suguha was disciplined too harshly. Although the entrance exams and school examinations she faced were indeed very difficult, wasn't it normal for teenage boys and girls to sleep late occasionally?
In his previous life, not to mention going to bed late, he had often stayed up all night in Internet cafes at this age.
People often say that if you go to bed late you won’t be able to see the sun at six in the morning, but as Haruno Sawayama said, if you go to bed early you won’t be able to see the moon at three in the morning, right?
As long as you enjoy watching it.
He is such a casual man, consistent in his words and deeds.
"I go to bed early because I need to conserve my energy for the next day's training."
Suguha Ezaki stared at Sawayama Haruno bringing the orange juice to his mouth and said slowly: "But if I don't have to train, I actually want to sleep late too."
“Although I don’t know what I can do by staying up late, I just want to enjoy this time more.”
"I understand this too well." Sawayama Haruno took a big sip of orange juice, put it down and sighed, "Now I'm so busy every day, and when I have some free time, even if I'm too tired to do anything, I don't want to sleep." "That's about how it feels."
As she watched Sawayama Haruno drink the orange juice, Ezaki Suguha's expression became softer.
Soon, she also picked up a bottle of grape-flavored drink.
When she drank it, she didn't hesitate at all, but she didn't drink as much as it looked. In fact, she just took a small sip.
Don't drink too much because there are additives in this bottle.
In order to prevent Sawayama Haruno from not being able to drink the drinks with added ingredients, she deliberately tampered with all the drinks in advance.
Of course, there is another advantage to this, that is, even if the medicine has no effect on Sawayama Haruno, it will be effective on her.
In addition, arrangements had been made in advance for all other personnel to leave the outside of the Ginkaku-ji Temple, so it was impossible for anyone to disturb them tonight.
Right?
"Then, you just said you couldn't sleep, what was the specific reason?"
Zeshan Haruno had already started to unpack the potato chips. After tearing it open, he asked casually, "Is it also related to your unhappiness these past few days?"
"Um"
Jiang Qizhiye pursed his lips and whispered: "Since it has come to this, I might as well say it clearly. In fact, it is related to the family I mentioned before."
"Haruno may not know the relationship between me and my brother."
"Naoto Ezaki, the one who treated us to dinner last time?" Sawayama Haruno asked curiously.
He had a deep impression of that guy.
In addition to paying the bill and helping to reimburse the money for damaged items, the bigger reason was that the other party seemed very busy but was still willing to attend my sister's game.
Of course, the other party's insights into kendo are also very profound. Is this some tradition of the Ezaki family, that all family members must practice kendo?
Sawayama Haruno couldn't help but guess, but Ezaki Suguha, who was kneeling in front of him, spoke softly.
"I've said it before, my father ran away after having sex with my mother, which means that Naoto Ezaki is not actually my biological brother. To be more precise, he is my cousin."
"I used to have an uncle who was supposed to be in charge of the family business, but because there were so many members in the Ezaki family, it was inevitable that things would go wrong and there would be times of fatigue. It was because of this that my uncle became ill from overwork and finally collapsed."
"Too tired?" Zeshan Haruno hesitated and asked tentatively, "It shouldn't be that serious. Don't you have other relatives who can help you? Is your business a family business?"
"Do you know how many members there are in the Ezaki family?" Ezaki Suguha asked back.
"How many?"
"Nearly a hundred people."
"?"
Sawayama Haruno's expression suddenly looked a little strange.
Nearly a hundred people?
Suguha, don't you have too many relatives?
"The history of the Ezaki family can be traced back to several generations ago. Of course, there couldn't be so many people at the beginning, but as long as the family business has been prosperous, it only takes three generations to grow from seven or eight people to the current scale of nearly a hundred people."
Ezaki Suguha paused, then whispered, "When there are more people, everyone has more thoughts, and the big and small voices in the family will become more and more bothersome to others. It was under such circumstances that my uncle died of illness."
"Then, after my uncle passed away, my grandfather took the initiative to adopt Naoto to my father. It was at that time that he changed from a cousin to an official elder brother."
"I can understand this a little bit." Zeshan Haruno stroked his chin and said casually, "It's the kind of thing where you raise a son for your brother. But your father probably didn't know that he had already gone to Italy at that time, right?"
"Yes, he went there, but he may or may not know. I'm not sure."
Ezaki Suguha took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, and said with some difficulty: "This is part of it, but the arrangement made by my mother and other uncles is probably what makes me most uncomfortable."
"What do you mean?"
"They hope that I can compete with my brother for the position of the head of the family because my brother is too ambitious. The uncles are already old and no longer have the drive they once had. They are also afraid that my brother will settle accounts with them after he takes the position."
"So that's it."
Hearing this, Zeshan Haruno immediately understood.
Although Suguha Esaki's mother is now nominally Naoto Esaki's mother, it seems that this mother is not very fond of Naoto.
Yeah. That's right. It seems that the other party doesn't even care about his biological daughter, Suguha, let alone the adopted one.
Zeshan Haruno thought for a moment and said softly, "Can't you give up?"
"You can't just give up on this kind of thing, right?"
Naoha Ezaki looked at Sawayama Haruno and smiled helplessly.
"Actually, my uncles have already arranged everything for me, probably after we return from this trip."
"What to do?"
Sawayama Haruno instantly became alert.
His intuition told him that the cause of Ezaki Suguha's death was about to come to light.
Up to now, he has obtained enough information, which is nothing more than that the business empire controlled by the Ezaki family is so huge that it forces Ezaki Suguha to do things he is unwilling to do.
But he still doesn't know what specific arrangements the other family will make. Only after understanding this can he "prescribe the right medicine."
By the way, can I really "prescribe the right medicine"?
Even if I become a literary giant, it would be difficult to shake a family that can live in Ginkaku-ji at will, right?
Sawayama Haruno couldn't help but complain in his mind about the uselessness of the system, but before he could think about it, Ezaki Suguha's next words made him freeze in his tracks.
(End of this chapter)
