madnovel Chapter 59 The Funeral of Kiryu Seiichiro
Chapter 59 The Funeral of Kiryu Seiichiro
"Kiryu-kun, from now on..."
"Can you always stay by my side?"
After she finished speaking, Keiko Miyazawa did not continue.
She just stood there quietly, her eyes gentle yet earnest, as if waiting for an answer.
The wind blew the flags hanging under the eaves, making a soft fluttering sound.
Kiryu Yaya did not speak immediately.
He simply stood there, letting Keiko Miyazawa's hand gently pull him, letting the damp warmth of her body slowly seep through his skin.
It would be a lie to say I wasn't surprised.
It would be a lie to say I wasn't tempted.
A young lady from the Miyazawa family.
A gentle and considerate woman who also has feelings for him.
A conglomerate currently in a succession and power vacuum.
With just a nod, you can gain not only beautiful women, but also wealth, status, and even a chance to rise to the top in one step.
The saying "avoid thirty years of hard work" is really nothing more than this.
But he knew better than anyone what taking this step would mean.
A semi-transparent interface slowly appeared before my eyes.
The Life Choice System has been triggered.
Faced with Keiko Miyazawa's undisguised trust and confession, you've reached a new crossroads in your life.
Option 1: Agree. Take Keiko Miyazawa's hand and say, "Okay, I do."
(Rewards: Bank deposit increased by 500 million yen; "Conglomerate Management" skill at the beginner level; a new life path is unlocked - "The Son-in-Law of the Miyazawa Family")
Option Two: Firmly refuse. Tell Keiko Miyazawa that you will not enter the Miyazawa family in this way.
(Reward: Bank deposit increases by 50 yen; Keiko Miyazawa's favorability decreases; continue the main storyline as a bank employee - "The Storm of the Miyazawa Family")
Given the host's current condition, we strongly recommend choosing option one.
Kiryu Yaya shook his head inwardly.
Just as he thought, even if he accepted Miyazawa Keiko's confession, the difference in status between him and the Miyazawa family was too great.
After marriage, at best he can only be a son-in-law who lives with his wife's family.
Although the Miyazawa Group is facing a power vacuum, he will have a lot of room to make his move after he gets there.
But this unequal status.
He doesn't like it.
Besides, I have other things to do.
However, at this critical juncture, it would be somewhat inappropriate to decisively reject Miyazawa Keiko's confession.
That being the case...
Thinking of this, Kiryu Yaya raised his eyes and quietly looked at Miyazawa Keiko.
She is still waiting.
His eyes were soft, with a hint of unease, but he did not back down.
Then, Kiryu Yaya slowly raised his hand and gently tucked a strand of her hair, which had been ruffled by the wind, behind her ear.
The movements were very gentle.
Keiko Miyazawa's eyelashes trembled, and her breathing became erratic for a moment.
She looked at him, her eyes filled with a mixture of nervousness and courage, like a lamplight trembling gently in the night.
Kiryu Yaya looked down at her, his voice very soft:
"Keiko, I'm so happy to hear you say that."
There was no refusal.
But that doesn't mean I'm agreeing.
Her hand was still holding his fingers, her palm slowly tightening a little, as if trying to glean more from his vague words.
Kiryu Yaya neither dodged nor took the opportunity to go further.
He gently closed his eyes and said:
"But please forgive me, I cannot agree to that at the moment..."
Upon hearing the first half of the sentence, Keiko Miyazawa's heart sank slightly.
But when she heard the word "temporarily" at the end, a faint light returned to her eyes.
She mustered her courage and asked:
"Why... is it only for now...?"
Kiryu Yaya did not answer immediately.
He turned his head and looked at the night scene shrouded in rain outside the eaves.
The streetlights were blurred by the rain, and the headlights of passing cars in the distance left long, thin streaks of light on the wet ground.
It was as if something that had been suppressed for many years was finally softened by the night rain.
After a moment, he spoke in a low voice:
"You still remember my father, don't you?"
Keiko Miyazawa nodded, her lips slightly pursed.
"Um."
Kiryu Yaya closed his eyes.
When he spoke again, his voice was very calm.
"There's something I've never told anyone before."
After saying that, he stopped talking.
But her gaze fell into the depths of the rain, as if something had pulled her back.
Keiko Miyazawa stood in front of him, quietly gazing at him, her fingers unconsciously clenching tighter.
……
Winter 1986.
Seiichiro Kiryu's funeral was held in a small funeral home in Kita Ward, Osaka.
It was raining very coldly that day.
The mourning hall was filled with white chrysanthemums and the air was filled with the scent of incense. There weren't many people who came to pay their respects; apart from a few relatives, there were only a few old clients who were still willing to show up.
Seventeen-year-old Kiryu Yaya, dressed in black mourning clothes, knelt before the coffin.
The mourning clothes were a bit too big, with the sleeves and hem looking loose and baggy, as if they couldn't support the black attire that belonged to an "adult".
Around 2 p.m., the doors of the funeral home were pushed open.
Two people came in.
Wearing a black suit and black tie, carrying a briefcase, and with a perfectly measured expression of grief on his face.
Kiryu Yaya looked up, glanced at them, and recognized one of them.
Head of the financing department at Mitsubishi Bank's Osaka branch, liaising with Kiryu Metals.
Ko Utahiko.
The two offered incense before the altar, bowed, and exchanged a few polite words such as "I am sad."
Kiryu Yaya bowed his head in return, his face expressionless.
At that time, he was still resentful about Mitsubishi Bank's withdrawal of his loan.
If the bank had been willing to hold on a little longer, if the additional loan hadn't been demanded so urgently, if my father could have waited until the land price rose a bit more—
Perhaps, Kiryu Seiichiro wouldn't have died.
No matter how unwilling he was, he understood that banks always only lend umbrellas on sunny days and take them away on rainy days.
The Kiryu family is having a run of bad luck; they have no one to blame but themselves.
At least, that's what he thought at the time.
Later, after kneeling in the mourning hall for so long, my knees went numb.
Kiryu Yaya got up, wanting to go outside for some fresh air.
He walked to the corner of the corridor, and just as he was about to head towards the restroom, he suddenly stopped.
There were people talking in the toilet.
"Section Chief, you handled the Kiryu family case, didn't you?"
"Um."
This is Kouichi Kouda's voice.
"I remember you just approved an additional loan for him last month, secured by the property. Why did you withdraw the loan so quickly?"
The tap ran for a few seconds.
Then, Kouyuhiko said:
"That loan was never intended for him to repay in the first place."
The corridor suddenly became eerily quiet.
Seventeen-year-old Kiryu Yaya stood rooted to the spot, as if he had stopped breathing.
The younger colleague was clearly taken aback as well.
"What do you mean?"
"Land prices are rising every month now. But if we wait for the factory to go bankrupt naturally and the bank to go through the auction process, it will take at least six months to a year. By then, when the developer enters the market, the land price will have doubled, and the bank will only be able to get the amount that was initially assessed. The difference will have to be recognized as a loss."
Kouyu Tianyan paused, seemingly explaining a perfectly ordinary business logic.
"So the best way is to make him provide additional collateral, locking up his assets. Then find a reason to withdraw the loan. Once he dies, the bank can use its guarantee rights to recover the assets first. When the developer comes, they can resell it for double the profit. Meanwhile, with that land frozen under a fake seizure, he can neither sell it nor save himself."
"But... wasn't that company president driven to his death?"
Kouyu Tianyan smiled.
"He committed suicide. I didn't let him die."
The younger colleagues still didn't seem to quite understand:
"Then why not just auction off his house? That would get them twenty million back, wouldn't it?"
"You don't understand."
Kouyuki Hiko's voice held a newfound patience, as if he were instructing a junior.
"Auction? Do you know how long auctions in Japan take? From the bank's application, court acceptance, appraisal, announcement to the final sale, six months is considered fast, and a year is not uncommon. A company with dried-up cash flow can't survive more than three months. Besides—does the bank really need those twenty million?"
He paused for a moment, as if adjusting his tie.
"But if we freeze his house with a fake seizure, the bank's 20 million will be firmly at the top of the list. The suppliers' payments and the money from commercial bills will all be at the bottom, and they won't get a single penny. If those people don't get their money, they'll only pressure him more fiercely."
"And what about the banks? The banks hold the collateral and aren't in a hurry at all. If the company dies, the banks will reclaim the land and wait for the developers to take it; if the company doesn't die, the banks will continue to hold it, and every day the land price rises, the book value of the bank's collateral increases. Whether the company lives or dies, what does it have to do with the banks?"
The young colleague paused for a moment, then lowered his voice:
"That's too much..."
"Too much?"
Kouyuhiko's voice suddenly turned cold.
"Everything was legal. He signed the mortgage contract, and the bank legally recovered the loan and applied for a preliminary seizure. If he couldn't hold on, that's his own problem. Thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises go bankrupt every year; one more or one less won't make a difference."
Footsteps approached the door.
Kiryu also wanted to move.
But he didn't move.
Or rather, at that moment, he was unable to move.
The moment the door was opened, Kouyu Tianyan saw him.
The corridor was dimly lit. The seventeen-year-old boy was dressed in an oversized and overly long black mourning dress. His face was calm to the point of being blank, except for his eyes, which seemed to want to carve the face of the person in front of him into his bones.
Kouyu Tianyan was stunned for only a moment.
Then, he resumed the standard, polite smile of a bank employee, nodded slightly, and walked past Kiryu Yaya.
The sound of leather shoes stepping on the corridor floor was clear and jarring.
blah blah blah...
further and further.