Chapter 8

It rained all night yesterday, and the pasture is covered in mud.

Kurosawa Shiran walked slowly on the pebbly path, adding water to the chicken trough inside the fence.

An elderly ranchman came over to check on things and couldn't help but say a few words when he saw the young man working, "Young man, make sure to clean the water trough before adding water."

"It's already been cleaned. Thank you for making the trip." As soon as he finished speaking, the handle of the wooden bucket suddenly snapped with a "crack." Kurosawa Shiran's nose twitched slightly as he smelled a faint scent of blood, and he immediately composed himself.

Clearly, he was tired of the job.

Why would you go to a place like this to feed chickens?

Even if he killed the leader, he shouldn't be in such a sorry state...

Who would have thought the leader would be so weak? During sparring, he was beheaded after only a few moves.

There were so many officials present at the time, yet no one intervened to stop him.

They were clearly just standing by and doing nothing!

Well, even if he committed murder, he should still be the leader.

The Mafia has a long tradition of killing their own executives or leaders in order to take their place.

He's a top-level cadre, so why can't he?

He didn't do anything wrong... yet they call him cruel.

And he'll still be hunted down by that person.

But it's strange, why haven't those people who are hunting him come knocking on his door yet? It's been half a year, and they haven't even seen a trace of him.

Has the Mafia degenerated to this extent?

If it were that old geezer, he probably would have sent all the higher-ups down to hunt him down.

"That's good, these chickens are really expensive." The old man walked over, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his steps faltering with age.

Dong Tao chicken, originally from Vietnam, has delicious meat, but it is difficult to raise, requires a large space to move around, and has a long breeding cycle, resulting in very low production and being almost exclusively supplied to the royal family.

Moreover, the price of a chicken is high, equivalent to two or three months' salary for an average person.

But for the Kawashima family, who bought this mountain, raising as many as they want is not a problem.

People are capable of anything when they're bored. Kurosawa Shiran smiled politely, a strange idea suddenly flashing through his mind.

Should we kill Yuriko or not?

If I kill her, my sister will definitely trace it back to him.

"Hoshino-kun!" The girl greeted him from the ranch entrance, then walked quickly over. "Hoshino-kun, how about we go mushroom picking together today?"

Despite his less-than-ideal hairstyle, he was still very popular, and girls would come up to chat him up almost every day.

"I'm planning to go in a bit." Kurosawa Shiran threw the broken handle into the barrel, deciding to let the damned chickens go for now.

"After the rain, lots of mushrooms will sprout up on the mountain, and we'll definitely have a great harvest!" The girl imagined the joy of returning with a full load and enthusiastically followed his steps. "By the way, where has Hoshino-kun been these past two days? I've come here several times, but I haven't seen him."

Kurosawa Shiran narrowed his eyes, pondered for a while, and slowly said, "When I went to deliver the meat to the annex, the head chef called to say that the annex was out of meat."

“So that’s how it is. I thought…” The girl rubbed her cheeks, trying to clear her head. “I thought… Hoshino-kun already had a girlfriend.”

"Hmm?" Kurosawa Shiran smiled, casually expressing a hint of surprise. "Working on a chicken farm, it must be hard to find a girlfriend, right?"

“No, no,” the girl’s expression became very serious. “Hoshino-kun is very outstanding. Yes, many girls like him.”

Kurosawa Shiran pretended not to understand and tilted her head, "Really?"

"Yes," the girl nodded with a smile, but also looked flustered, subconsciously tugging at the hem of her clothes. "Would Hoshino-kun worry about something like this?"

The gloomy weather really affects people's mood.

Having a girlfriend as a pet would probably make life more interesting, right?

Kurosawa Shiran looked up at the sky, suddenly remembered something, and spoke more calmly than usual, trying to maintain his usual image as a melancholy young man.

"It's not surprising that you have these thoughts, given your age, right?"

His ideas were extremely arbitrary.

But the girl was unaware of this. She simply closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them after a long while. "Hoshino-kun has a girl he likes."

Kurosawa Shiran didn't know how to answer her, so he bent down, walked to the corner, picked up his vegetable basket, and smiled at her nonchalantly, "Going to pick mushrooms."

His silence left the girl feeling empty, and she forced a smile. "Okay."

However, before the two had even left the ranch, a man suddenly ran up to him and called out, "Hoshino! Do you have time to go to the annex and deliver the key there?"

Here it comes! An opportunity to get closer to my sister.

He had originally planned to ignore his sister and not see her today.

After all, the book says that young and naive girls are afraid of gaining and losing, but they are also addicted to this feeling. If the older sister realizes her importance...

Then the day he gets a pet won't be long!

He enjoys hunting, and naturally, he also enjoys savoring the prey he catches.

Kurosawa Shiran's spirits lifted, and she turned to hand the vegetable basket to the girl. "Forgive me, I have other things to do, so I'm afraid I can't pick mushrooms with you today!"

The girl took the basket, her head bowed, as if she was enduring something, but the other person had already turned and left.

She could only whisper, "It's okay, Hoshino-kun has his own things to do... Hoshino-kun cherishes the people he likes."

At such a distance, an ordinary person would not be able to hear it, but Kurosawa Shiran was completely oblivious.

"Haha, Hoshino is still so helpful," the man patted Kurosawa Shiran on the shoulder. "Take an umbrella with you. It looks like it might rain. If it really rains heavily, just tell the gatekeeper to stay there. Anyway, there's no one at the villa these days."

Kurosawa Shiran accurately captured the key point: "Nobody here?"

The man looked at him with an air of "you don't know this," and said, "There's a cocktail party at the manor. The lady went to the party with the chairman and will probably be staying at the manor for the next few days."

Hideo Kawashima is back... and still living at the manor.

Kurosawa Shiran's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and her expression instantly turned frighteningly cold.

The man was completely unaware. "When Madam heard that the chairman had returned, she immediately went to the manor. After so many years of marriage, she's still like a young girl in love. I guess it won't be long before she's holding a baby."

A calm that was extremely unstable appeared on Kurosawa Shiran's face. He groaned and covered his face.

What should I do? I want to kill someone.

Just pick any target.

Rina never expected that Hideo Kawashima, who was away on a business trip, would return, and she was even more surprised that the two of them would be attending a cocktail party together.

As evening fell, the purple crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling of the auditorium lit up, and the guests entered one after another.

When the news of the party came down, Takase used more than a hundred people to clean the entire auditorium until it was spotless, including the Western marble sculptures and antique artifacts.

Rina was dressed in a kimono, with the sleeves of her robe revealing a full-length ukiyo-e print from the Edo period. Paired with dazzling gemstone earrings and rings, she possessed a breathtaking beauty.

She stood on the second floor observing the guests' every move below, and returned to the lounge when almost all the guests had arrived.

These were all people that Natsume Kanon had met in public, even if they had only met once, Kawashima Hideo invited them under the guise of a cocktail party.

There were about thirty people in total. Excluding her female companions, there were only fifteen, which wasn't too many, considering she rarely appeared in public.

The room was shrouded in dim darkness. Hideo Kawashima, dressed in an ordinary suit, was sitting on the sofa watching television, with the news playing on the screen.

Seeing her come in, he asked, "How was it? What did you find?"

Rina lowered her eyes and leaned against the door: "Just taking a look around."

Hideo Kawashima frowned slightly as he scrutinized the refined appearance, his expression icy. "I'm talking about the case."

The case he was referring to was the death of Natsume Kanon.

The two were working together; she wanted to find out why Natsume Kanon committed suicide, and Kawashima Hideo was offering his help. However, Rina kept the photo a secret, so she didn't even tell him the reason she came to ask him to host the party. "I have no ideas, and no clues."

"Is that so?" Hideo Kawashima asked calmly. "Didn't you find anything at the annex either?"

Rina crossed her arms: "Mr. Kawashima, you should have investigated my background. A second-rate detective can never compare to Takizawa Nanase."

"Takizawa Nanase was a genius detective who shocked the world, but unfortunately she died young." Their curiosity about the unknown was unmatched by ordinary people, but curiosity killed the cat. Kawashima Hideo looked regretful and lit a cigarette. "You two are lovers?"

Rina's feelings instantly became complicated. She closed her eyes tightly and remained silent.

Kawashima Hideo stared intently at her and continued, "Kane has always been worried about your safety, but you often go missing? Have you explained the reason to her?"

No. Rina has never explained it.

She would only say she was busy with work or studies.

Another silence followed.

Hideo Kawashima paused for a moment, stubbed out his cigarette, slowly stood up and walked to her side, whispering in her ear with the authority of a superior.

"If you can't find the cause of Xiangyin's death, you'll go down and join her."

Rina was taken aback, turned her head to look at his back, and was a little confused for a moment.

From informing him of his sister's death to their current contact, Hideo Kawashima has maintained a cold and indifferent demeanor.

He didn't say a word or express any emotion.

She had to believe that this marriage was just her sister's wishful thinking.

She was wrong.

Excessive grief can numb people and even deprive them of the ability to feel sadness.

It takes some time before we realize what has happened.

Now, Hideo Kawashima is finding it increasingly difficult to suppress his grief, which is even beyond description.

This kind of sadness cannot be acted out, nor is it necessary to act it out in front of her.

What my sister wrote to her in the letter was true.

She is very happy.

However, things don't seem to be that simple.

Yuriko, imprisoned in the warehouse.

She was able to make Hideo Kawashima disregard the fact that his two wives had been murdered and even protect them.

Besides sharing common interests, there must be some other connection between them...

Rina glanced at her phone messages, but didn't see what she wanted, so she turned off the screen again.

I wonder what Sato gained from his trip to the sanatorium.

Hideo Kawashima's second wife might be able to provide some information.

Lina pulled herself out of her thoughts, straightened her clothes, and headed to the auditorium on the first floor.

She dislikes these kinds of occasions and rarely participates, but dealing with these people wouldn't cause her any trouble.

Moreover, Hideo Kawashima stood beside her and accompanied her to meet several important figures before pretending to have something urgent to attend to and leaving.

Before leaving, he even thoughtfully tidied up the strands of hair on her forehead.

As the center of attention, Rina pretended to be shy and kept an eye on the gazes of those around her.

About an hour later, halfway through the party, all the women who came to talk to her were wealthy ladies; there were no men.

Left with no other choice, she had to put down her glass and go to the smoking area.

Suddenly, a voice came from behind: "Who are you looking at, sister?"