Chapter 1254: Until the end, there will be variables~

The Rolls-Royce Silver Spur sped along the coastal expressway, heading toward Shizuoka.

Looking from the passenger seat, one side was the blue sea, and the other side was green fields and hillsides, as if driving on the boundary between mountains and the sea.

It would have been very difficult for a child to sit in a car for more than two hours, but Akina in the back seat told stories, played games, and even sang to the little one from time to time, which kept little Xia Hua very quiet all the way.

"Hua-chan, look over there, there are seagulls!"

Akina in the back seat pointed to the coast outside the window and said,

"Oh my, they flew up... when Hua-chan grows up, you can use bread to feed them!"

At this time, little Xia Hua in the safety seat also followed her mother's guidance to look out, only seeing the boundless sea and the ceaseless waves......

So she turned around and looked at her mother with confused eyes:

"Nani?"

"Right there.... Hua-chan, look, white, flying around...."

Naoki Nagayama, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was a little helpless:

"Too small, Hua-chan can't see clearly."

"Ah.... so that's it~"

Akina looked at her daughter's dark, bright eyes, looking very worried,

"Then will she have to wear glasses in the future?"

The driver, Tomoyasu Toda, who was driving, held back his smile, his eyes fixed on the direction of the road.

Naoki Nagayama next to him shook his head. How come Akina seems to have become stupid.... The buff of "one pregnancy, three years of stupidity" hasn't passed yet~

And he always felt that on the way back to Shizuoka, Akina was happier than Naoki Nagayama, the authentic Nagayama clansman.....

When the seaside town appeared, it wasn't noon yet. After a while, the car stopped slowly in front of an old house.

Naoki Nagayama, who got out of the car, looked at the other car next to the house and looked a little surprised.

"This should be... Hezi's car, right?"

Akina also carried little Xia Hua down, and Naoki Nagayama took all the gifts brought back from the trunk, left the car behind, and let the driver leave first.

The family had long known that Naoki Nagayama was returning, and before he could even knock, his mother Nanako opened the door:

"I heard the sound of the car and just knew you had returned!"

"Mother..."

Just as Naoki Nagayama was about to walk up to reply, he saw Nanako Nagayama shift to the side and go straight to Akina:

"Ah... Hua-chan is back... Do you still remember Grandma...?"

Perhaps because they had seen each other a lot during the vacation, or perhaps she had grown up enough to remember, little Xia Hua had not forgotten Grandma, and with Akina's encouragement, she boldly called out:

"Grandma~"

"Oh~~ Good Hua-chan!"

Nanako Nagayama happily took little Xia Hua into her arms and then walked toward the inside of the room,

"Grandma made delicious snacks for you!"

Akina also followed with a smile, leaving Naoki Nagayama on the side, who wanted to speak but couldn't get a word in... In the end, he could only shake his head and try to carry the gifts inside:

"e=(′o｀*))) Sigh~"

"Haha~"

At this moment, Hezi poked her head out from the entryway:

"Nii-chan is being ignored! Isn't that very sad?!"

"......"

Naoki Nagayama divided the gift boxes in his hands and stuffed half of them into Hezi's arms:

"You talk too much... Hurry and put these away... Some of them are for sister-in-law Xiangjia."

Hezi, who had been stuffed full, scrambled to hold the gift boxes and said resentfully:

"Baka Nii-chan!"

"Heh~"

The siblings walked into the Japanese-style room like this; their mother had already brought out the wagashi she had prepared earlier and was letting little Xia Hua hold one to taste~

Naoki Nagayama sat cross-legged, poured a glass of lemonade, took a big gulp, and then asked:

"Mother... is Father at the shop?"

"Hmm... After going to see the baby, he went to the shop today," Nanako Nagayama said. "Qingmu is currently accompanying Xiangjia, so your father went to fill in for the Master's work, saying he couldn't let the regular customers have nowhere to eat..."

Having run an izakaya in Shizuoka for most of his life, even though they were wealthy now, this job was no longer just about making a living, but a part of life; it could even be said to be the embodiment of the older generation's life value, so he wouldn't give it up until he couldn't work anymore.

"Is sister Xiangjia still at the hospital now?" Hezi interrupted and asked.

"Although the natural birth went fine, the doctor said it's best to observe for two days... and the newborn needs to be looked after as well."

Nanako Nagayama answered while teasing the little one.

"Then when can we go see the little nephew?" Hezi said. "I really want to see him~"

"Let's wait until noon; we'll eat a little earlier and then send lunch to Qingmu and Xiangjia at the hospital."

The hospital's patient meals really weren't very tasty.

"The ingredients have already been pre-processed..."

"Hai..." Hezi was satisfied.

Then Akina spoke up:

"I'll help at noon..."

"No need..." Mother Nanako quickly waved her hand, "I'll do it, I'll do it..."

"Daijoubu, Nanako-san, just play with little Xia Hua..."

Akina said as she stood up and walked toward the kitchen, looking like a good daughter-in-law.

And under her mother's gaze, Hezi also realized belatedly:

"I'll help too!"

Although Naoki Nagayama could cook, he didn't participate in the "interactions" between the women of the house; the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship and the father/son relationship had always been an eternal problem, and at times like this, one just had to trust their wife's actions.

So he drank his water calmly, as if he were truly very thirsty...

"Mother, where is Ye Cao? His mother gave birth to a younger brother for him..."

"Him? He's at kindergarten!" Nanako Nagayama said. "He can't just stay at the hospital."

"Uh..."

That's right, children have to go to school...

"How about we go pick him up today and go see his brother together?" Naoki Nagayama asked. "Hua-chan must really miss Ye Cao too~"

"That's not impossible..." Nanako Nagayama nodded; anyway, the kindergarten was very convenient. "Then let's pick up Ye Cao on the way..."

"Good~"

After playing with his mother and little Xia Hua for a while, the aroma of food from the kitchen began to rise, making Naoki Nagayama, who hadn't eaten for so long, feel hungry, but lunch would still take a while to be ready...

Seeing little Xia Hua holding a wagashi without eating it or putting it down, while her other hand was playing with a small toy, Naoki Nagayama's hunger gave him courage... He quietly crept up to his daughter's side...

"Hua-chan, what are you playing with... Ah, it's a little frog..."

It was that kind of wind-up frog that hops around, which Naoki Nagayama had had someone mail from the mainland because he was nostalgic; he didn't expect it to be monopolized by his little daughter as soon as she got her hands on it.

Little Xia Hua was completely unaware of her father's bad intentions and nodded, wanting her father to wind it up again... She didn't expect Naoki Nagayama to take advantage of the little one's lack of attention and swallow the wagashi she was holding in her other hand in one bite...

"!!"

Little Xia Hua was stunned for a few seconds before she reacted that a bad guy had stolen her snack; an angry look appeared on her face, but she didn't cry, and immediately went to Grandma to complain,

"Grandma... Grandma..."

"? What's wrong, Hua-chan?"

Nanako Nagayama, who had just gone to check the kitchen and hadn't seen it, saw little Xia Hua pointing at Naoki Nagayama and then saw her second son's mouth moving as if chewing something, and she was so amused she laughed...

She reached out and patted Naoki Nagayama on the shoulder:

"Naoki, you actually snatched your daughter's wagashi?! Do you have any appearance of being a father at all!!"

Naoki Nagayama, however, said shamelessly:

"I am teaching Hua-chan to be prepared for danger in times of peace; don't think that just because food is in your hand, it's safe. If it's not in your stomach, there's a possibility of it being snatched!"

Nanako Nagayama wouldn't listen to her second son's sophistry and reached out to hit him again:

"You rebellious son..."

"Ah... Ouch... Mother, you're using ten percent of your strength!"

Because of the media frenzy, the Kawasaki City Council had already set up a special task force to investigate the land bribery case, and the Recruit Intelligence Building had to stop construction...

Hiromasa Ezoe, because he had to attend to explain the situation, also came to Kawasaki City and stopped by the construction site.

Looking at the building that was almost finished, Hiromasa Ezoe felt very stifled at this moment; it was clearly only a few months away from being able to move in... At that time, his business empire would have stepped onto a new level!

Perhaps the next conglomerate would be the Recruit Conglomerate!

"Kisama!"

He looked at the many workers surrounding him, his thoughts surging and changing,

Hiromasa Ezoe knew that it was very likely that the Recruit traitor was among this group of people, but he couldn't find them for the time being.

He was annoyed in his heart, but instead had to do a good job on the surface:

"Minna-san... our project has encountered a small problem and needs to temporarily suspend construction..."

"Nani?" "How could this be?" "Could it be because of the news?" "I heard there's a problem with the land?" "..."

Various discussions buzzed like flies, making Hiromasa Ezoe increasingly irritable, but years of business experience allowed him to maintain his facial expression.

"Everyone don't worry, the suspension is only temporary... We will restart construction very soon; just consider this period as a short rest..."

Seeing that everyone hadn't regained confidence, he added another sentence,

"Rest assured, this period will be executed as paid leave; everyone's wages will not be less!"

For the wealthy Recruit, this bit of labor cost was nothing, but Hiromasa Ezoe's statement made the emotions of the workers on the scene instantly enthusiastic...

If there's money while on vacation, who cares if the project or the big boss has problems!

After saying a few more encouraging words, Hiromasa Ezoe let the workers disperse, and he instructed his trusted secretary:

"During this period, find some private detectives to investigate the people at the Recruit Building and see if anyone has suddenly started spending lavishly..."

"The Chairman means?"

"So many media outlets have received the news; someone must have sold the internal information..."

Hiromasa Ezoe suppressed his tone,

"Find them for me; when this matter passes, I'll make them pay later!"

"Hai!"

The secretary first nodded, then asked with some confusion,

"But... besides the Recruit Building and Director Komatsu of the Construction Bureau, the workers here couldn't possibly have access to other equity transaction information, right?!"

Those private transactions were all secretly handled by trusted subordinates; besides the secretary, there were also the directors of Recruit's financial companies and various key executives... all of whom were Hiromasa Ezoe's trusted aides.

Recent media reports also covered equity transactions between Recruit and other social celebrities, which was not something construction workers could know.

"Therefore, we still have a big traitor inside!"

Hiromasa Ezoe said resentfully,

"I will definitely find him!"

Speaking of which, Hiromasa Ezoe was also very confused at the moment; he didn't even know the whistleblower's purpose... His trusted subordinates were involved themselves and certainly wouldn't report themselves; did they want to go in?

If it were extortion, that would be fine; it's just money, everything can be negotiated!

Could this whistleblower really be doing it just for the sake of justice?!

Hiromasa Ezoe, who couldn't figure it out, got back into the car, took one last look at the Recruit Building before leaving, and sighed to the secretary beside him:

"Until the last moment, there will be variables in everything..."

"Let's go, I'm going to talk to Director Komatsu and let him admit to all the crimes..."

He had already received notice from the Takeshita faction to end this turmoil quickly so as not to affect the Prime Minister's election.

Recruit had already found a scapegoat, and now it was just a matter of convincing Hideki Komatsu; he wasn't worried that Hideki Komatsu wouldn't agree, after all, he would give him a price he couldn't refuse...

In the Shizuoka City Hospital, Naoki Nagayama and his group had already arrived at the maternity ward.

After eating lunch, Naoki Nagayama and Hezi drove the others to the hospital, picking up little Ye Cao at the kindergarten on the way.

Half a month later, when little Xia Hua saw Ye Cao again, she was indeed very happy, calling out "Brother Ye Cao," and was smiling the whole way...

Following Nanako Nagayama's steps, the group soon arrived at the VIP ward.

They saw that in the room, there were two beds; on one of them lay the round-faced sister-in-law Xiangjia, and beside her was a swaddled baby.

"Mom..." Little Ye Cao ran over at the first opportunity, then lay on the edge of the bed, curiously looking at the baby.

"Ye Cao..."

Xiangjia Nagayama was also very happy to see her eldest son, and then turned her head to see the others of the Nagayama family,

"Mother... Naoki, Akina, Hezi... you all came!"

"Hai..."

After Hezi greeted them, she ran over first to look at the baby with Ye Cao.

"And Hua-chan..." Akina also said with a smile, then held little Xia Hua and went to look at the baby together.

"So this is the little nephew, he's so small~"

"He's bigger than Ye Cao was when he was born."

Seeing people had arrived, sister-in-law Xiangjia sat up a little and said with a smile,

"Ye Cao came out first that time... This time he was full-term."

"What came out first?" Ye Cao asked, puzzled.

"It means Ye Cao couldn't wait and ran out of Mom's belly early."

Nanako Nagayama, who was more experienced, explained it to little Ye Cao, and then took the lunch brought from home out of the lunch box,

"Xiangjia, you must be hungry, eat quickly..."

"Where is Big Brother? Why isn't he in the room?" Naoki Nagayama asked.

"He went to pay the fees... and also to handle the discharge procedures."

Naoki Nagayama was very surprised:

"Eh? Discharging so early? It's only been two days, right?"

"The doctor said it's fine... said the second birth went very smoothly, and the baby is healthy, so we can just go home and rest..."

Xiangjia Nagayama was eating with great appetite and looked very healthy indeed.

"That's good, recuperating at home is better than at the hospital."

Mother Nanako also nodded in agreement; the older generation always had no good feelings about hospitals.

Just as they were talking, Big Brother Qingmu also walked in from outside; seeing the crowd of people in the room, he was startled for a moment, then smiled and greeted them one by one.

"Naoki, Akina, Hezi... sorry to trouble you for coming..."

"We came to see the little nephew." Naoki Nagayama patted his big brother's shoulder, "Congratulations, Big Brother... you've had another son."

"I originally wanted a daughter..."

Qingmu Nagayama looked with some envy at Xia Hua, who was gently touching the baby on the other side,

"I didn't expect it to be a son again..."

"Hahaha, this was never certain; boys and girls are both good..."

Naoki Nagayama shook his head, then asked very curiously,

"Has the baby's name been decided?"

"Hmm..."

Qingmu Nagayama was troubled,

"I'm not very good at naming... When I named Ye Cao, I only thought that he could have the vitality of wild grass and grow up healthy... As for now..."

"Then just think about what you hope for the little guy this time..."

"But, it still has to be related to grass..."

"... Uh, it doesn't necessarily have to be a herbaceous plant..."

Naoki Nagayama said; after all, their family didn't have a strict rule for naming.

"No... Grandfather said so... The next generation should be named after flowers and grass..."

"There's such a thing?"

"Father said so..."

"Uh..."

He didn't expect it to involve his late grandfather...

As they spoke, Qingmu looked at Naoki Nagayama... After all, the entire Nagayama family's cultural cells should have gathered in Naoki Nagayama:

"Naoki... why don't you help pick one?"

"Me?"

Naoki Nagayama declined,

"This isn't appropriate... Father should do it..."

"Forget about your father!" Mother Nanako said from the side, "Be careful he picks another name like 'Weed' or 'Wild Vine'!"

"..." (If I picked it, I might call him 'Leek'...)

Seeing everyone's eyes on him, Naoki Nagayama could only bite the bullet and accept it; he looked at Qingmu Nagayama:

"Big Brother... what is the biggest expectation you and sister Xiangjia have for the baby?"

"This..." Qingmu Nagayama looked at sister-in-law Xiangjia, "Probably that he has strong vitality and is a bit resilient..."

Sister-in-law Xiangjia added a bit more:

"I also hope that when this child grows up, he will have his own opinions and decisiveness, and can become a strong man!"

"Hmm... is that so..."

Naoki Nagayama stroked his chin; it still had to be related to flowers and grass...

"Ah... I've got it, let's call him 'Hiirago'!"

"Hiirago?"

Qingmu Nagayama chewed on the name; 'Hiiragi' (holly) is an evergreen plant that is green even in winter, so it has the meaning of vitality and resilience, while 'Go' in a name refers to oneself, so it has the meaning of emphasizing oneself and being independent...

"Hiirago!" Qingmu Nagayama was very satisfied, "Nagayama Hiirago... feels very good!"

Hearing this name, sister-in-law Xiangjia was also very satisfied...

And so, with everyone's approval, the name of the second boy of the fourth generation of the Nagayama family was decided.