Chapter 914

A twenty-two-year-old Shosuke Menou appeared to be a woman of very gentle disposition, with soft, moist eyes; at first glance she did not look as strikingly beautiful and imposing as Mai Xuejie, nor as sharp-eyed and aggressive as Ikeda Erena, nor did she immediately appear as intelligent, wise, and skilled at manipulating people's hearts like Minami Ojou-sama.

On the contrary, she was the kind of beauty who grew more attractive on second look, belonging to the durable type; her features were not exceptionally stunning, and taken individually none would score above ninety, but combined they appeared very harmonious, exuding the grace of a Yamato Nadeshiko; she spoke softly yet with propriety and decorum, her whole bearing radiating a natural aristocracy, and one could tell at a glance that she was a young lady from a noble family.

Hmm, indeed she was from a noble family—her grandfather was a former prime minister, her father a minister; if this isn't nobility, what is?

Only this and the so-called nobility of Uesugi Muneyuki are two different concepts.

Moreover, let me complain: Japan's political system actually remained largely unchanged for a thousand years until the reform of the Five-Star MacArthur Emperor; while the MacArthur Emperor firmly pushed through reforms that shattered the millennium-old shackles of aristocratic politics, historical inertia is such that after he changed Japan, its political traditions and inertia slowly reverted.

"If Mr. Uesugi says so, then indeed there are similar clauses in the contract; since I adopted Nanakoshi Sauce, the other party has also visited many times, though it's always handled by the staff." Shosuke Menou, puzzled by Mr. Uesugi's strange question, still forced herself to answer faintly while suppressing her confusion: "Mainly it's the servants and the grandfatherly butler who receive them; occasionally, if visitors insist on seeing me, I will meet them……Mr. Uesugi, is there a problem?"

"I see now." At this moment Uesugi Muneyuki finally had a complete breakthrough; he glanced at Shosuke Menou a few times, then suddenly smiled and said: "If I'm not mistaken, Miss Shosuke, the other party must be very annoying, right? And if I'm not mistaken, you must have already given them quite a bit in tribute, am I right?" Okada Masayoshi, hearing Uesugi Muneyuki say this, couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, thinking Uesugi's words were indeed as sharp and hurtful as ever; he quickly tried to make amends: "Miss Shosuke, we're not mocking you; it's just that this matter is related to the current Kobe Da Lihua case, and your choice to adopt is admirable—we also agree with your decision."

"I can't think of what connection this matter has with the current case." Shosuke Menou indeed showed a slight change in expression; she glanced gratefully at Okada Masayoshi, thought for a moment, and spoke softly: "Indeed, there are some……annoying people, and after adopting Nanakoshi Sauce for a year, I've probably spent around four million yen in total, though I'm not entirely sure of the exact figure."

Shosuke Menou simply stated her experience of adopting Nanakoshi Sauce.

As before, such extreme animal protection organizations mainly target these two types for adoption, or wealthy full-time housewives, or young ladies from rich families like Shosuke Menou.

Since Shosuke Menou adopted this Silver Gradation big cat, the other party's harassment has never ceased, showing up every few days demanding visits, spontaneously organizing various activities and donation drives, incessantly promoting all kinds of insurance and animal welfare events, plus occasionally asking her to promote for the organization. "Four million yen?" Ikeda Erena gasped in shock—4,000,000 yen! That could cover half her annual salary!

"Well, I'm not entirely sure exactly how much I've spent, possibly more than 4,000,000 yen." Shosuke Menou's face looked a bit unpleasant, obviously she had some regrets, but due to her status she couldn't conveniently say: "But Grandfather Ancestor taught me that problems solvable with money aren't really problems, right? It's just occasionally needing to spend money, just occasionally needing to open the door, having the grandfatherly butler and others receive them, needing a bit of money, the amount not large—just give them that." Okada Masayoshi: ……."

Ikeda Erena…?"

Only Uesugi Muneyuki sighed: "Really, Miss Shosuke, you're very frank."

"If Mr. Uesugi has already understood what he wanted to know, may I be excused?" Shosuke Menou spoke in a low voice, her youthful cute face already showing a hint of gloom.

Nobody wants their wounds exposed, especially not for such a true noble young lady.

"Does it feel unpleasant to be cornered, Miss Shosuke?" Uesugi Muneyuki gestured for you not to leave, hearing you say~

Oh no, I mean, please listen to me: "Actually, I believe everyone has already heard that adopting such things has already become a kind of social currency." "Social currency?" Erena still had that clueless look.

"Sorry, sorry, Miss Shosuke, could you spare a bit more time? Uesugi Chief, he's just like this." Okada Masayoshi could only go over and apologize.

Shosuke Menou had no choice but to turn back: "Mr. Uesugi, what do you mean?"

"Your grandfather and father are both in Tokyo, living in such a huge mansion, you don't go to work and have already graduated from university, Miss Shosuke, you must feel lonely, right?" Uesugi Muneyuki said quite naturally: "You desperately want a social entry ticket, your own business card, an excellent persona."

"And adopting a pet just happens to satisfy your need—adopting a pet equals I'm a cat lover+I'm a progressive+I have compassion+feminist narrative; through this method, you achieve a low-key show-off, a high-key persona, a high-end cultivation and sense of superiority revealing your virtue, prompting you to adopt Nanakoshi Sauce from that 'Cat's Wall Outside Investigation Corps.'" Uesugi Muneyuki continued: "Moreover, from your perspective, the other party repeatedly visiting to harass you is not only not annoying, but rather a great emotional value."

"Because, you are needed!" Uesugi Muneyuki said in a deep voice.

Shosuke Menou's face turned pale, her body suddenly swaying.

"Hey! Uesugi!" Okada Masayoshi hurried to support Shosuke Menou, but after reaching out he was frightened and quickly pulled his hand back, thinking she was an unmarried young lady.

Oh, I forgot—I'm already divorced too!

Okada Masayoshi smiled helplessly.

However, Shosuke Menou seized the moment to grab Okada's sleeve and prevent him from pulling back; her gaze grew even colder: "Mr. Uesugi, I respect you greatly, but I can't see how this relates to the case; if you're just trying to humiliate me, then you've succeeded, so may I be excused?" "Sōsetsu! Could it be that you mean Miss Shosuke is the murderer? But I……I don't think it's likely!" Ikeda Erena also felt heartbroken, she said one sentence to Uesugi Muneyuki, then quickly took Shosuke Menou from Okada Masayoshi's hands: "Sorry, Sōsetsu, his personality is just like this……" While Uesugi Muneyuki's attention had already completely shifted.

If that's the case, then everything makes sense now!

To put it plainly, adopting such things is just like the famous Peking University duck leg—essentially it has become a kind of social currency.

Showing off duck legs in your Moments = I'm a Peking University student + I'm progressive + empathizing with the lower classes + supporting female entrepreneurship + respecting the elderly + female perspective narrative. Unintentionally revealing your high-end cultivation and sense of superiority, engaging in intense humblebragging.

The same logic can also be applied to pet-loving altruism and the female-empowerment model of feminism.

Many people online especially love pets to hide the fact that they don't actually love people.

Likewise, a group of people from elite national universities all posting "Auntie, legs, hungry" this kind of silly talk doesn't mean they're truly silly, but rather to satisfy their emotional value and show off that they've entered an "upper-class" community, displaying that they are needed, are high-status; Shosuke Menou choosing to adopt is also to display her identity as a young lady from a rich family, her wealth and compassion.

To put it plainly, Shosuke Menou has already been cornered.

Just like her ex-husband's older brother Kuroda, who was cornered—he could only knock out his teeth and swallow blood, dare not boast externally, divorced from Yanaka Rinka, pretending not to know about the children to continue paying child support, and still having to tolerate Sosuke Souda hitting him.

For such cornered people, what they need most is dignity!

Extreme animal protection organizations prey on exactly this group!

"I understand! I completely understand!" Uesugi Muneyuki immediately stood up: "Our previous reasoning was all wrong!"

"What?" Everyone failed to grasp his leap of thought.

"No, I mean, I've always been unable to figure out one thing: if the murderer is neither Sosuke Souda nor the ex-husband's older brother, then the problem arises—single divorced women, also mothers of children, this family should be relatively wary of outsiders, not opening the door easily to strangers!" Uesugi Muneyuki said repeatedly: "Even assuming the door was opened, if it was an unfamiliar person, the children in the house would also rise up in resistance, but why is there only a small amount of bloodstain in the room? No signs of struggle?"

"The reason is very simple!"

"Because the cat in Yanaka Rinka's family is also adopted!"

"As long as visitors come under the pretext of checking the cat's condition, then whether it's Yanaka Rinka herself or the children, they will without doubt open the door for him! Moreover, they will let him enter the house! They won't suspect his inspection or any actions he takes!"

Uesugi Muneyuki slapped his forehead: "Ah! I get it! I get it all!"

Okada Masayoshi and Ikeda Erena showed expressions of surprise; at this moment even Shosuke Menou came to her senses, she said cluelessly: "Uesugi Chief, what do you mean? I thought you were going to say I'm the murderer.."

"How could a young lady like you possibly be the murderer……you wouldn't dare kill a chicken, let alone five people……" Uesugi Muneyuki said offhandedly. "Sorry, sorry, Miss Shosuke, Uesugi meant no offense……" Okada Masayoshi and Erena took responsibility and bowed again in apology. "If that's the case……then the answer is very clear!" Uesugi Muneyuki's attention had now completely shifted to the case: "Following Old Ren's elimination method, if it's not Sosuke Souda, not Eto Miyabi hiring a killer, also not the ex-husband's older brother, then who has both sufficient physical strength and medical knowledge, also knows Sosuke Souda and Yanaka Rinka's private affairs, understands his physique to impersonate him, can openly learn Sosuke Souda's schedule to Kobe, appear simultaneously with Sosuke Souda in Kobe, and can follow him and commit the crime?" "What?" Ikeda Erena's mind couldn't keep up.

"Eh, what? You're asking me? Mr. Uesugi, I'm just a cat keeper, you're asking me?" Shosuke Menou was completely lost.

Only Okada Masayoshi reacted: "Uesugi, you mean the Seibu Lions teammates and staff?!"

"Bingo!" Uesugi Muneyuki snapped his fingers, he said excitedly: "Just follow the lead—investigate those people in the Seibu Lions who have contact with the Cat's Wall Outside Investigation Corps, and they're very likely the murderer!"

However, saying this, Uesugi Muneyuki suddenly gasped for cold air.

"Wait!" he shouted again.

This guy actually always solves cases like this? Shosuke Menou then understood Uesugi Muneyuki's usual work style; she and Okada Masayoshi exchanged glances, both seeing the helplessness and amusement in each other's eyes.

"Too bad!" Uesugi Muneyuki continued: "Those four kids!!"

"Too bad!!!"