Chapter 831

Japanese Sakura Girls may be the earliest to embody this East Asian cultural trait—both progressive and conservative, doing everything halfway but never fully, with the ability to exploit loopholes.

Sakura Girls have a trait: no matter their true nature, they strive to outwardly appear as the so-called "wise wife and good mother," and do their best to meet external expectations.

Two typical examples are "roasted sweet potato" and "ice cream."

In Doraemon, the female lead Shizuka Minamoto exhibits a behavior hard to understand: she deeply craves roasted sweet potato, loves it immensely, yet never buys it herself, never eats it alone, and only "reluctantly" joins others or secretly eats when someone buys it for her or when everyone eats together.

This stems from traditional Japanese culture believing girls should be reserved and should not eat roasted sweet potato in public, as it dirties the mouth and hands. Another example is ice cream: on Japanese streets, it's rare to see women eating it alone; they often buy it to eat at home, and Sakura Girls frequently avoid buying ice cream alone, fearing staff might think "this person wants to eat ice cream alone," leading to judgments of being "undignified" or "not virtuous."

This is also why Japanese people love vending machines so much.

To be honest, Uesugi Muneyuki encountering those German Northeastern types who buy a cola at the convenience store and insist on chatting with Ooyama about east and west, he also fears it, but Japanese people obviously take this to an even greater extreme—everyone must learn to read the air and become invisible.

Similarly, there's "good girls shouldn't eat Yoshinoya alone," "good girls shouldn't eat ramen or yakitori alone," and so on—I won't elaborate here.

However, this does not mean Sakura Girls themselves are truly like this; they are merely putting on an act.

Introverted, considerate, independent, clingy, grateful, easily moved, and kawaii are genuine traits—but they are also performed.

For example, many Japanese men list as their "greatest fear after marriage" the scenario where their wife suddenly cuts her long hair short after marriage, because traditional culture views long hair as a sign of charm, but once married, they feel no need to pretend anymore.

Likewise, many Sakura Girls act as the "wise wife and good mother" until marriage, or until after childbirth, when they feel their husband can be controlled, their status feels stable, and they believe they can gain a major advantage in divorce litigation asset division—then they gradually reveal their true nature. At this point: "Old lady's not pretending anymore!" Hatred, curses, cold violence, infidelity—all arranged.

Just a meal ticket!

This is why Japanese couples often experience a blood-curdling drop in sexual activity after having children. According to Johns Hopkins University data……French cohabiting partners average 130–170 sexual acts per year, the highest globally.

While Japanese cohabiting partners average only 20–40 sexual acts per year, the lowest globally.

Yet even such Sakura Girls, when viewed by German and Korean men from the other two East Asian nations, possess unparalleled advantages!

What is this? She's actually willing to pretend for you? Willing to praise you? Willing to keep pretending to be virtuous until marriage? Willing to bear your children? Even willing to endure until your retirement before divorcing and taking half your pension?

A Sakura Girl earning 3 million annually actually only demands a man earning 6 million annually?

Good girl!

Thus, calling Sakura Girls "both progressive and conservative, both advanced and backward, but with levels that are comparatively derived"—to Western Caucasians they seem as cheap as "Argentinian beef steak," yet to German and Korean men they already appear quite conscientious.

Good girl!

"So this is your excuse for breaking up…… oh no, so this is your reason for continuously paying money and wealth?"

Sitting in the interrogation room, Uesugi Muneyuki said to one of the suspects sitting opposite him, Tadabe Kemi.

"I no longer trust women. No, I no longer trust society as a whole. Those happy people, those with families, those laughing on TV saying 'Today is also a beautiful day'—each and every one of them has no idea that someone in this world is crawling in the mud." Tadabe Kemi said coldly; this middle-aged man's face showed not a trace of regret, but only full contempt and resentment.

Yes, resentment.

He doesn't feel he did anything wrong; he calls this "heaven-sent justice."

Meanwhile, on the other side, Uesugi Muneyuki's facial muscles twitched slightly, or rather, as his leader, the faces of Okada Masayoshi, Date Nagamune, and Nango Yui all looked grim.

From a certain perspective, they have all been, or are currently, "Rolexes"—that is, so-called resource providers.

Nango Yui was thinking of the middle-element sisters; Okada Masayoshi was thinking of his irredeemable past; Date Nagamune suddenly recalled the Second Young Lady Moriya Akane; Uesugi Muneyuki was thinking of Nanami, Minami, Eirina, Mai Xuejie, Asuka, and Sakura……he suddenly realized that for him, Kashiwagi Misa and Tei Reiji were actually people he didn't need to be responsible for or provide many resources to!

Indeed, other people's wives are the version answer—being irresponsible is the most suitable choice for East Asian babies' constitution?

For example, Asuka—originally a gentle, virtuous, sweet, clingy little bird—after having a physical relationship with him, became both tsundere and sharp-tongued and willful, even directly calling his name, and even dared to ride him directly!

Wah wah wah, return my originally cute and lovable Ashūshū to me!

As for Mai Xuejie……she actually rode him from start to finish……

This point shows Korean men are at the forefront of East Asia: Korean men's group trait is "being stingy on dates, never spending more"; "in love, irresponsible, extremely cautious, never lightly discussing marriage"; "only entering the body, not entering life"—they are the earliest to learn male responsibility avoidance.

"These people are still old traditionalists." After the interrogation ended, Okada Masayoshi said with a drooping spirit: "They're all fairly traditional patriarchalists, believing that once married, they won't divorce; once they've paid, they'll get a return—at least enough to last until the other party and they have a child before divorcing; and as long as they can have a child, they feel they've honored their ancestors, and spending so much money also brings a return."

"Pfft!" Ikeda Erena couldn't hold back, turned her head and laughed: "I'll be honest—Muneyuki, I'll let it slide, but these guys—do their families have any peerage names to inherit?"

"What's funny about that?" Date Nagamune angrily shouted: "What's there to laugh about? Continuing one's DNA is a man's instinct? What's wrong with wanting to have children and carry on the family line?"

"Just 'Star Yu' is 'Star Yu'—why make it sound so lofty?" Eirina said coldly, sneering.

"Indeed, 'Star Yu' is just 'Star Yu'—only someone made it look lofty, oh, Akane-chan, good girl!" Maeda Toshihide said in a strange tone.

"Mouth promise tooth leak!!!" Date Nagamune raged: "She's not the same! Akane-chan is sincere to me! She's not that kind of girl!" Beside him, Okada Masayoshi broke into a sweat.

"Well, I'm too lazy to argue with you." Maeda Toshihide rolled his eyes: "If it's just about reproducing offspring, I'd suggest Vietnamese brides……but anyway, I'm not the eldest son and heir, so inheriting the family name doesn't fall to me……"

Okada Masayoshi sweated like a waterfall.

"I'm not the same! I'm the eldest son and heir—the future of the Uwajima Date clan rests on my shoulders, and my body is healthy, Akane-chan is also pure-blooded Japanese—we are the most orthodox……"

Okada Masayoshi became Genghis Khan.

We, the Okadas, in the future, will become what?

Fortunately, at this moment, Uesugi Muneyuki signaled them to be quiet.

The interrogation continued into the late night.

The five suspects' testimonies were like five shattered puzzle pieces; when assembled, the revealed image left all participating detectives silent. It was too orderly, too like a meticulously designed, layered, nested business model that calculated every human weakness—"Who is that woman? How exactly did you lot come together?"

"She called us the 'Cleanup Crew.'" He said, even the corner of his mouth hinting at a smile: "She said we are society's janitors, those women are trash, we help society sweep away the trash, society should thank us."

Those eyes held no madness, no fear—only a strange, nearly devout light.

"When was your first offense?" Uesugi asked.

"This March. Gunma Prefecture, Takasaki City. Not the Takahashi family—that's later. The first was a family of four: husband away on business, home only had wife and two children, plus an elderly woman." Tadabe Kemi's tone was flat, like reciting a shopping list: "We scouted the place a week in advance, checked her INS, saw when she posted, when her husband left on business, whether there were cameras near her home. That woman—she taught us, she said you must be like hunters, understand your prey, know them better than they know themselves."

Nango Yui was taking notes: "That woman? Which woman?"

"I don't know her name—I only know she told us to call her……Teacher, she said she's our teacher, teaching us how to be human. Before, we were fools deceived by women; now we are the ones holding the initiative."

Took a deep breath: "How many cases have you done?"

"Can't recall." Tadabe Kemi tilted his head, as if counting sheep: "March's case, April's two, May's……May seemed to have one that failed—new lock installed, door wouldn't open. June had one, July had two, August……August we rested a month, teacher said summer's too hot, easy to leave evidence. September's Kawaguchi case, October……"

"October's Takahashi family in Gunma."

"Right. Plus a few minor ones—burglary, no murder. Teacher said killing isn't the goal, killing is just the means. Our purpose is to make those women know: their happiness is given by us, we can take it away anytime."

Everyone at the scene stared in disbelief.

Not one incident, not two, not three?

Not1, not2, not3not7？？？！!!

Wait a moment, what exactly is the reason that it wasn't discovered until after this group of people had committed seven or eight cases, and only then did someone report to the police? ？？

Everyone almost simultaneously looked again at Uesugi Muneyuki.

Uesugi, you bastard, are you the doom of the Japanese police or their savior? ？？

"Regarding that 'teacher,' what else do you guys know?"

"I know......"