Chapter 199

Fifteen minutes ago.

Because it is a private luxury cruise ship, there are no so-called tourist rooms in every room; they are all rooms with luxurious configurations.

As a guest of the cruise ship, Hayasaka Ai made arrangements for everyone's room.

Kozo Hatamoto's temper is relatively explosive; one person per room, and it is a room kept at a long distance from others, which is not a room that is easy to approach.

The rest of the Hatamoto family members were arranged in one area, but divided into different rooms according to whether they were married or not.

Of course, the room of Takehiko Zaiki, who had just become a member of the Hatamoto family, was assigned to a different area.

After all, the engagement with the second miss of the Hatamoto family was unilaterally canceled, so he naturally had no qualifications, and plus Takehiko Zaiki's identity was exposed, the hope was even gone.

The possibility of wanting to marry Hatamoto Natsue was almost wiped out.

As long as he gets off the ship, he will be a person from a completely different world in the future.

As for Hatamoto Natsue, she, who willfully canceled her engagement, was not arranged in the area where the Hatamoto family was, but was arranged in the room next to Kozo Hatamoto.

But even though the room was arranged, Hatamoto Natsue still stayed in Grandfather's room.

To this, even Kozo Hatamoto felt very strange.

"Natsue, why don't you go back to your room to rest?"

Natsue, who had just faced the cancellation of the wedding, should be very tired.

In fact, Kozo Hatamoto didn't want Natsue to know about such things, but who knew that things would still develop like this.

The final result was that his precious granddaughter was so unhappy.

"Grandfather..."

Although she was very unhappy because she canceled her engagement, Hatamoto Natsue still had some unease at this moment.

Especially when she thought of the last sentence that boy left behind.

[Remember that it is better to stay with the old man.]

She could vaguely feel that this was a reminder and a warning.

Hatamoto Natsue instinctively felt that it was best not to leave Grandfather's side today, otherwise Grandfather would still face danger.

Grasping her knees tightly with both hands, Hatamoto Natsue still didn't say those words.

"I just feel that it won't be very quiet today; it will be quieter at Grandfather's side."

Kozo Hatamoto could tell that his granddaughter was hiding something from him, and he also understood when his granddaughter's reaction started to change; it was after she was called down by the maid of the Shijo family.

"Natsue, did the maid of the Shijo family tell you about Takehiko Zaiki?"

"Yes... it seems not."

"Mm, explain in detail."

Having nothing to do, Kozo Hatamoto also became interested in this topic.

Hatamoto Natsue nodded slightly.

"The maid who invited me to talk was named Hayasaka, but the person she took me to talk to was not that Miss Shijo, but a boy."

"Although the boy didn't say his name, the maid's attitude toward the boy was respectful, and she was also very cooperative with the boy's words, and would explain to me at the boy's signal."

Kozo Hatamoto nodded slightly; he could also see that the boy was special.

Among that group where most were young ladies, only that boy was particularly abrupt.

He actually had an impression of some young masters and ladies of the upper class; after all, he is a businessman, and the most taboo thing is to encounter some key figures without knowing it.

So at the moment of meeting just now, Kozo Hatamoto could almost name most of the young ladies in that group.

Plus the daughter of that detective Kogoro Mouri, almost only that boy was someone Kozo Hatamoto couldn't name.

Very abrupt, very eye-catching, yet there was an indescribable weirdness.

However, considering that he didn't know everyone, Kozo Hatamoto naturally suppressed this weird feeling.

Now looking at it from his granddaughter's perspective, it can be determined that the boy's identity should not be low.

"That maid told me about Xiao Wu... Takehiko Zaiki."

"And then it was some things that Grandfather is planning recently."

Kozo Hatamoto was not surprised; after all, those idiots didn't know about his plan to withdraw funds, but that didn't mean others couldn't see it.

"The Shijo family's intelligence channels are indeed very broad; even our Hatamoto family's twilight family business has been investigated."

Kozo Hatamoto sincerely admired this intelligence management; if he had such intelligence channels, perhaps the Hatamoto family would have already taken off.

"It is indeed as the other party said; I recently got a very good piece of intelligence. If operated properly, perhaps the situation of our Hatamoto family will be completely reversed."

Kozo Hatamoto was very confident about this.

The problem with the Hatamoto conglomerate now is the problem of funds; in fact, as a conglomerate, the Hatamoto family still holds many heavy assets, but these heavy assets cannot be easily sold, and there are also many long-term businesses.

Unfortunately, the operation of the entire conglomerate requires sufficient liquid funds.

Now the Hatamoto conglomerate is heading toward decline, and it is the same.

Therefore, Kozo Hatamoto started to operate after knowing a piece of news, selling many important assets, just for this gamble, perhaps he could gamble a better sky for his precious granddaughter.

Thinking of this, Kozo Hatamoto looked at his granddaughter kindly, just like an ordinary old man in his twilight years.

"Natsue, I have already made a decision; in the future, the Hatamoto family will be yours alone."

"Grandfather..."

"You don't need to worry about those uncles and aunts of yours. Each and every one of them is nothing but a parasite clinging to the Hatamoto family."

"As for your aunt, I allowed her to marry a man with no ability precisely because I knew that was the kind of character she had."

"Your sister is a loose woman. She was messing around with boys at school while still young; she’s long since become something that’s been ridden by thousands, unworthy of being brought into polite society."

"The person I allowed her to marry back then was a hoodlum, simply because her level only qualifies her to marry a hoodlum."

"As for your uncle, that boy is a good-for-nothing. He liked cooking and opened a restaurant outside, but it went bankrupt due to poor management."

"He is a half-baked amateur with no standards; how could he possibly support a shop? He only came back for money. He is no good."

Hatamoto Gozo spoke of his sons and daughters without reservation. His harsh attitude, however, was more a case of hating that they failed to live up to his expectations.

He knew all too well what kind of people they were. Therefore, he had already made his decision: not a single cent of the Hatamoto family’s money would go to those parasites; it would all be left to Xia Jiang.

"Originally, I allowed you to get engaged to that boy because he had some ability, at least enough to help you out on the side in the future."

"That boy’s target for revenge is not you, and his intentions toward you aren't purely for revenge, either."

The old man saw things more clearly than anyone else. If he hadn't seen through to the boy's true nature, how could he have allowed his precious granddaughter to get engaged to such a person?

"Grandfather..."

At this moment, Hatamoto Xia Jiang felt her eyes welling up with tears.

Hearing her grandfather say these things, how could she not know his plan?

Her grandfather had long since prepared himself to be the target of revenge.

— Author's Notes —

PS: New book is out, seeking data.