Mingmei Apartment didn't have a stand for him to display his Girls' Day dolls, so he had to go downstairs and run to the nearest store to buy one.

There are fifteen human-shaped dolls in total, which is the scale of the seven-story building. Akemi specifically told him not to buy too many. As a Japanese, she, like most Japanese, likes to consider odd numbers such as 1, 3, 5, and 7 as auspicious numbers.

When Guangyou bought these stands, he glanced at the price of the dolls and was shocked by the price.

He only knew they were expensive, but he didn't expect that most of these Girls' Day doll sets would cost between 150,000 and 500,000 yen, with some even costing over a million yen...

On his way back, Kōyū sighed, "That was really expensive. Ai's parents were really willing to spend money back then."

Even today, many families still celebrate Girls' Day for their daughters, but they only buy the top two dolls, the Emperor and Empress, and display them on a single table.

Even when both families share the cost of buying dolls, some parents don't buy particularly nice dolls because their children are too young, and instead buy more and more each year.

Of course, Guangyou heard all of this from the older women in the shop.

He had stopped and watched the entire sped-up version of a video showing the process of making handmade dolls in the store.

Recalling what he had just seen in the video, Guangyou comforted himself, saying, "But they're all handmade, so the price is acceptable."

...

"I'm back."

Kōyū carried the assembled platform back to Akemi Apartment, put it down, dusted off his hands, and immediately began assembling it. After all, time was of the essence, and Ai would probably arrive soon.

"Mingmei, the platform is back. How about yours? The doll shouldn't be broken, right? If it is, I can still buy a new one."

Akemi is currently inspecting the extent of the damage to the doll.

She put down a doll, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "It's very well preserved, without any signs of damage. This thing might be passed down to future generations."

"Pass it on?"

As Guangyou assembled the platform, he asked curiously, "Can this thing be passed down as a family heirloom?"

Mingmei nodded and explained patiently, "Yes, these things can be passed down to the next generation and are part of the dowry for many girls. Many dolls in the homes of famous noble families in the past have a history of hundreds of years."

Mitsuyu was slightly surprised and remarked, "It would probably cost tens of millions of yen to buy it."

"You want to buy it, but they won't sell it to you."

Akemi rolled her eyes at Kōyū, and after resting for a while, she got up to help assemble the table, explaining, "This thing is basically a birthday gift from elders to female juniors."

“The doll sets in the homes of noble families can number in the hundreds. When displayed, they are quite spectacular and may even be designated as special cultural relics by the state. Their value cannot be measured in money.”

Guangyou had never heard of this before, but upon reflection, it made sense; having cultural relics at home sounded prestigious.

He asked, "It can't be that simple, can it? I guess this doll also represents their family's social status and economic situation at the time, like a status symbol?"

"That's absolutely right."

Akemi gave Kōyū an approving look and nodded. "So even if you offer hundreds of millions of yen, I doubt those people will sell. After all, at that level, they're not short of money. If you convert the unit to US dollars, I think they'll consider it."

"That's impossible. I'd rather use that money to buy a house, make investments, and then travel the world with Ai. That would be so much better."

After making his rant, Kōyū turned to look at Akemi and asked, "Speaking of which, Akemi-neechan, have you ever celebrated Girls' Day before?"

"These dolls were prepared for me by my parents. Of course, I had them when I was little. They were also going to prepare them when Shiho was born, but then something happened."

Akemi spoke these words with great ease, as if afraid that Kōyū would overthink things. After finishing her previous sentence, she quickly added, "Don't apologize. This happened a long time ago, and they wouldn't want to see Shiho and me stuck in this situation."

"That's true. To be honest, I really admire you for being able to face this kind of thing so calmly, Mingmei."

Guangyou has also seen people who can't get over similar things; one of his former "colleagues" was like that.

She also experienced something similar to what the two sisters went through, and she could only try to stop thinking about those things by taking on a lot of missions.

In the end, she seemed to have given up the emotions that a person should have, and she never emerged from the shadows until her death.

In the end, she died during a mission, and the second person to take over the mission was Guangyou, the only person she could call a friend.

"People, after all, have to look to the future; otherwise, they'd be lucky if they didn't even fall behind, let alone move forward."

With a faint smile on her face, Akemi stood up, clapped her hands, and said, "The stage is set up. Let's start placing the dolls now."

"good."

Kōyū also got up and picked up a doll to help Akemi arrange them, saying, "We should be able to finish arranging them before Ai arrives, and then I'll go take a shower."

On the top shelf are those two inner-covered dolls, the so-called Emperor and Empress. According to the Tokyo layout, the male is on the right and the female is on the left.

The second layer features three palace maids. Of course, these three dolls are not just ordinary servants. Each of them can compose poems and play various musical instruments. If they were alive today, they would be shining stars in the entertainment industry.

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