Chapter 16: Silence Is Golden
Guan Ling carried the food container with cold food intentionally left to cool down for easy preservation.
Although Yagyū Simozi said it was an extra portion, she knew it was a kind gesture from the other party, otherwise how could there be so much extra.
It was enough for her and her mother to eat for three days.
Her arms and bridge of the nose felt a bit sore, and she rubbed her eye sockets.
Having started working at the age of fourteen to subsidize the family income, she has now become the sole breadwinner of the household. She has experienced too much in the past two years.
If it weren't for her good luck of always stumbling upon kind-hearted people, she would have collapsed long ago.
Every day she had to work three jobs, ensure a minimum of three hours of study time to prevent deteriorating grades, do housework while striving to keep up with her compressed schedule, and sleep for less than four hours each day.
She had considered dropping out of school, but she was well aware that, if she did drop out, life would only become even more difficult.
At least she feels an improvement in herself while studying, and after graduation, with her diploma in hand, she should be able to secure a more stable job.
…the future will be better.
It is one of the very few pillars of support in her heart.
In Yingzhou, orphaned girls and widowed mothers have always been among the most marginalized groups in society, and many single-parent families are struggling to survive without financial support.
The social benefits provided by the shogunate are aimed at normal families and certainly don't include single-parent families, especially single mothers, who, even if they do receive benefits, are subject to layers of deductions due to an unwritten rule that is already widely accepted.
Don't cause trouble for others.
Don't add burden to the society.
If you cannot work, you should obediently wait for death and give social resources to others.
Guan Ling sniffed and wrapped her thin clothes around her body, thinking about the various setbacks she encountered at work and the bullying she faced at school, making each step of her journey more difficult.
Things will get better in the future, won't they?
She looked down at the food container, realizing she hadn't eaten meat or sweet fruit for a long time.
My performance at the dinner table just now must have been unpleasant. I had to exert great self-control to avoid gobbling up the food.
Only a short distance and a wall separated her from the mansion, but it seemed like a dream that she could never reach.
A warm and spacious prosperous household, an amiable and handsome elder brother, and a clever and beautiful younger sister who is knowledgeable and refined.
She suppressed the urge to turn back and take another look at the Yagyū residence, for fear that lingering there any longer would sap her courage to go home.
That was not where she should be, as her bedridden mother who was seriously ill awaited her return home.
She felt even colder and quickened her pace, as if trying to escape and move away quickly, until she could no longer see the location of the mansion even if she turned back.
There were quite a few people ahead.
She looked up carefully and saw that under the street lamp, a group of men in suits had gathered together in twos and threes.
Tattoos, floral shirts, and even weapons were present.
At a glance, it was clear that they were not good people, dressed like debt collectors.
She quickly lowered her head and hurriedly passed through, pressing against the wall.
The gangsters paid no attention to the little girl walking past them.
"Tsuyoshi, everyone is here," the person said.
"As long as you give the order, we will…"
As Tsuyoshi Goto rolled the car window down and tossed his cigarette butt on the ground, he admonished them, "You fools, do you know the consequences of trespassing into someone's home? With so many people present, there will definitely be evidence left behind. If the shogunate catches you, even the Kanto Federation cannot save your heads!"
There's no need to explain much, the government of this country is indeed useless.
At this time, the Yingzhou shogunate still possessed formidable power, as the exceptional personal martial prowess of the shogun provided a sense of sanctity to the ruling class, attracting more strong individuals to join the shogunate. This process had been repeated for centuries, solidifying and strengthening the basis of military power required for governance.
Gangster may dare to challenge officials, even the police department, but they never dare to confront the shogunate.
Otherwise, the consequences often involve several swordsmen coming to engage in a restaurant battle, much like the one that ended with the killing of Bill in the movie "Kill Bill".
The former enforces the rules, while the latter doesn't require it as much.
The sword hunt order placed 99% of the people in the same social class, and everything was done according to the rules.
However, the group of shogunate officials or swordsmen who carried swords still had the samurai class privilege of being able to kill civilian criminals without being responsible for it.
Only the number becomes extremely small, turning into the invisible top of a pyramid.
In old Edo, the "Warrior Society" referred to the group of former samurai who lost their samurai status after the sword hunt order was implemented.
Tsuyoshi Goto didn't intend to break in, and he only arranged personnel here to monitor the situation.
The Sanada Group currently fears the identity of Yagyū Simozi the most. Students at Far East University are all national elites. After being selected through a rigorous screening process of written and oral examinations, the pass rate is less than 5%. She is also an elite who has returned from abroad and has attracted even more attention.
The shogunate provides special policy support for these future social elites, including personal safety. As long as she doesn't leave Yingzhou, her safety is absolutely guaranteed by the shogunate.
It's one thing to forcefully enter an ordinary residential house, but breaking into there directly, the Sanada Group may be targeted by the shogunate. This cannot be resolved by just paying a fine. The Kanto Federation may choose to cut all ties, and even resort to finger amputation, regardless of the consequences for the Sanada Group.
This is a line that must not be crossed, so we must find a way to bypass Yagyū Simozi and go directly to the young man of the Ming Country.
Tsuyoshi Goto couldn't come up with a good solution and decided to continue to stay at the observation point, just like last time.
He thought that he could force him to yield after kidnapping and beating him, but in the end, he ended up losing four of his subordinates, which made him quite upset.
"Boss Tsuyoshi," a gangster bowed, "the high school girl who just walked by seems to have come out of the house."
"I've seen her, so what?" Tsuyoshi Goto asked impatiently.
"Could she be related to this family? We could consider kidnapping her and see," the gangster underling suggested.
"Fool, he's from the Ming Country. Can you go to the Ming Country and kidnap his relatives and friends?" Tsuyoshi Goto snorted. "That would complicate things. Why not think about kidnapping everyone he knows? If you do that, the police will forget about those cultists and come after you!"
"Boss Tsuyoshi, don't worry about it. They won't report us. The other party dare not do so," the gangster underling said confidently, patting his chest. "The high school girl who just walked by, I know her. Her family situation is like this…"
The underling bent down and whispered a few flattering words.
"Oh?" Tsuyoshi Goto raised his eyebrows. "Since there's no risk, we can give it a try… Leave a few people to keep watch, and take some of our guys over there," he said.
"Yes!"
Six people broke away from the group and chased towards the tram station.
The person in the front passenger seat asked, "Mr. Tsuyoshi, even if we kidnap her, how do you plan to make the young man aware of it? If we go and tell him, he will definitely be cautious."
Tsuyoshi glanced at the middle-aged man in the front passenger seat, who was the company's financial officer. Although he was not a member of the Sanada Group, he was very close to them.
He handles all the financial statements of the Sanada Group, and is the right-hand man of Sanada Ryoichi. Many of the group's schemes for making money are based on his ideas and previous cases.
Seemingly well-mannered, but in reality, all sorts of low tactics can be employed.
"Speak your mind." Tsuyoshi said impatiently, "You must have an idea already, Yamazaki."
"Of course," said Yamazaki, pushing his glasses up, "I can arrange for that. I only have a small request."
"What?"
"I have to be present when he signs it." Yamazaki opened the car door. "I don't intend to let go of this merit."
…
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
When she was ten years old, her parents were both doing well, they loved each other, and it was a moderately affluent and stable family.
She had her own large room, a beautiful wardrobe, and a wall covered with family vacation photos.
But ever since she visited the vicinity of Aokigahara Forest near her tenth birthday… everything changed when she returned.
In just six short months, her father lost his job, became irritable and short-tempered, fell into gambling, pawned off everything of value, even borrowed from the gangster at exorbitant interest rates, and lost everything.
The family's financial situation took a nosedive.
Her parents divorced and separated, and she struggled to make a living with her mother.
However, her stay-at-home mother had difficulty finding work and could only take on physically demanding jobs, earning very little, and was often chased down by debt collectors.
Even her once gentle and virtuous mother became difficult to bear, aging quickly and sporting an expression filled with exhaustion and a more desensitized spirit.
When she was fourteen years old, her mother coughed up blood after being pushed down by her father, who had come to ask for money.
She didn't get a very serious illness, but she simply had no money to cure it, which worsened with the passage of time and ended up lasting until now.
With proper nurturing alone, she could have gradually recovered, but how could she provide a warm and comfortable environment?
Looking at the building warehouse, wrapped in an iron shell, and appearing like a dangerous structure in the darkness, she didn't want to admit that this place was her home.
She forcefully slapped her cheeks and exhaled hot air onto her frozen hands, walked up to the front door, took a deep breath, opened it, and forced out a smile.
But after pushing open the door, the lights inside the house were on.
A pot-bellied middle-aged man, wrapped in tattered clothes, sat on a stool and showed a flattering smile to three men.
Guan Ling heard a buzzing sound in her ear and instinctively wanted to go out. But then she heard the sound of machinery biting hard behind her back.
The door has been locked.
The gap was closed, covering up the cry for help that had not been able to escape the room, and it turned into a sob.
