[Black Basket] Winter Cherry Blossoms

The tea ceremony is a traditional indoor art, and the tea event is a gathering of tea lovers.However, in a famous shop with a long history on the outskirts of Kyoto, there is a unique tea party every year. The people who come to participate are heirs of famous families in the domestic business circle. They regard this tea party as a gathering. In addition to reminiscing about old times and discussing business, the purpose of their visit is also to find a marriage partner for their son.

At the same time, unmarried female members of major families were also invited to the tea event. They were candidates for brides favored by the wealthy families. Many small families who wanted to reorganize their businesses wanted to take this opportunity to climb into the wealthy families. And use her daughter as a prop.In this regard, some women have become numb to the actions of their elders, and some choose to protest, preferring to pretend to be sick and not to participate in this tea party. Find a good husband and son-in-law at a tea party.

If one were to ask the young men of those famous families what type of wife they were looking for, they would probably agree that the beauties from Kyoto with all kinds of styles were the most suitable.For decades, women from famous families in Kyoto have been popular candidates for brides. Unfortunately, since the appearance of Kasuga Reiko, the eldest daughter of the Kasuga family born in Tokyo 20 years ago, the value of women in Kyoto has plummeted. , but cast a big net and choose among the many women who came to the tea party.

Akashi was not interested in the beauty or ugliness of any lady. On the way to the tea party in the car, he felt more ominous. He didn't understand why his father asked him to do that. Before the appointment, Saya's uneasiness was a hidden secret. The bomb, once the fuse is detonated by other factors, will definitely bring the relationship between the two to an irretrievable low point.

"Master, you did that for the benefit of the family, Miss Saya will understand you." Masao Nakamura, who was driving, comforted Akashi, "Maybe you think it's cruel, but the reality is like this. In order to achieve your goal, you must give up something. , you also agreed with this approach before..."

"Why did Saya have to suffer that kind of pain? I don't understand my father's intentions." Akashi still couldn't accept the task that his father entrusted to him temporarily, asking him to chat and laugh with other girls in front of Saya, and even at the tea party Writing words of admiration to other girls clearly pushed Saya's anxiety to the brink of collapse.

"Master, the president believes in your ability, and also believes that Miss Saya can survive this test. If she really wants to become the future mistress of the Akashi family, she must survive today's cruel test. If you argue, she loses."

"According to her personality, she will not argue with me or quarrel with me. I know exactly what she will do." Akashi recalled Saya's dream talk. Although he knew that sentence would not come true, he was sure that she could do it. Until he gave up this relationship and left alone.

"Are you afraid that if there is a crack in the relationship, someone will take advantage of it?"

Akashi did not answer, expressing his acquiescence to Masao Nakamura's guess. As for who the person who took advantage of the situation was, he would meet him later.

The car drove into a tree-lined place in the suburbs. In the parking lot surrounded by maple trees, Masao Nakamura parked the car before getting out of the car to help Akashi open the door. At this time, the car parked next to him also opened The door, the person who got out of the car happened to meet Akashi face to face.

"Long time no see, Uncle Hirochi." Akashi's greeting was none other than his uncle Kasuga Hirochi, who was also the head of the Kasuga family, Kasuga Naoki's father.

"It's Seijuro, I haven't seen you for many years, you look more and more like your father." I don't know if this sentence is a compliment or a sarcasm, whenever he sees the appearance of that boy, Kasuga Hirochi thinks of his long-lost sister , as the boy grows up, his father's shadow can be seen between his brows, especially the eyes. If you are not a person who has been in the business circle for a long time, you may be frightened when you come into contact with that kind of eyes for the first time. Compared with other people of the same age , Akashi's rapid growth surprised him.

"I'm very sorry. Father is unable to come because of work. He wants me to convey his apology to you." Akashi replied calmly and completely relayed his father's words to the other party.

Kasuga Hirochi was a little disappointed that Akashi Shunji did not show up. He originally wanted to see his opponent return in disappointment, but it seems that today is not possible. He smiled and said to Akashi: "Recently there are many things in the alliance, and he can't get away. It's justifiable, by the way, this is also the first time for Naoki to attend a tea party, you haven't met, before the tea party, you two cousins ​​should say hello."

"Nice meeting, Cousin Seijuro, I'm Naoki Kasuga, please give me your advice." The boy with short black hair greeted Akashi politely.

"I'm Akashi Seijuro, please give me your advice." Akashi and Naoki looked at each other. The person in front of him was not much different from the information he had received before, and his face was indeed somewhat similar to him, but To put it another way, Naoki is very similar to him in one aspect. The two of them both put on a gentle mask in front of their elders, but actually hate others arranging their own lives. Interesting, let him see how capable the opponent is Play to the end.

The first meeting between the two cousins ​​did not spark hostility, but they used each other's eyes to test their opponents. If the time for the tea party was not approaching, the two cousins ​​might have to spend more time in the parking lot.

"President Kasuga, Master Naoki, it's getting late, it's time to go to the tea party venue." Masao Nakamura reminded at the right time.

"Indeed, this is not a good place to chat. Let's chat slowly at the tea party. Today's show is very exciting. Don't miss Naoki and Seijuro."

Kasuga Hirochi left the parking lot with his son first, and Akashi and Nakamura Masao also walked towards the store where the tea party was located. What kind of tricks Kasuga and his son were playing could only be seen by entering the tea party scene.

*****

If it is said that Akashi and the others enjoy VIP-level treatment, then Saya's situation is completely different from theirs. First of all, in terms of the location arrangement of the tea party, as Saya's heir, he should be in the forefront of other family members , but the organizer of the tea party arranged Saya in the last position, and even the seat at the dinner party was the farthest from the male guest of honor tonight. Such a differential treatment clearly did not take the Hashimoto family seriously.

Mrs. Chiyo was naturally furious over this matter, but Saya was unexpectedly calm, as if she had known about this arrangement for a long time. Even though the organizers deliberately excluded her, she still dealt with the tricky questions raised by those noble ladies in an orderly manner.

During the ikebana assessment, some noble ladies chatted about Miss Kuroki, who was born in a famous family and was the youngest daughter of the president of Kuroki Trading. As a mother, Mrs. Kuroki also showed off to others, talking about her The fact that her daughter has been favored by the two big families, Kasuga and Akashi, even pretended to be distressed and asked the other wives for advice on which family to marry her daughter to.

"Saya, you can't be distracted." Mrs. Chiyo was afraid that her granddaughter's emotions would be affected when Akashi's matter was involved, but unexpectedly, Saya was terribly calm. Perhaps Mrs. Chiyo told her before the tea party that the Miss Kuroki is Akashi's real fiancée candidate. From the beginning of the ikebana competition, except for socializing with those noble ladies, Saya has been very calm, without any emotional reactions at all.

"It's really beautiful. As expected of the heir of the Hashimoto family, Tachibana's technique is very ingenious, and the simple and plain style is just right for this tea room." Although the organizer deliberately made things difficult for Saya, Mrs. Sawa, who is a teacher of ikebana, gave her own fairness. evaluation of.

"You have given me too much praise. I am not good at learning, so I really don't deserve your praise." Saya replied modestly.

Mrs. Chiyo, who watched Saya pass the examination, breathed a sigh of relief. It was the first time she saw her granddaughter with such a serious expression. Ikebana practice has always been Saya's weakness. Of course she is happy to complete the project well now, but she has I have a hunch that the discriminatory treatment by the organizers will become more and more serious in the future, and it is still unknown whether the granddaughter can survive.

Sure enough, Mrs. Chiyo's uneasiness came true. After the ikebana assessment, the organizer prepared a kaiseki banquet for the guests. It was originally the job of the clerks to deliver food and serve the guests, but the organizer made Saya, the heir, and another family background not very good. A good lady was in charge of this task, and such treatment immediately caused the lady's family to protest on the spot.

Seeing this, Mrs. Chiyo also wanted Saya to refuse the organizer's insult to Hashimoto's family, and Saya made an amazing decision after careful consideration. She accepted the organizer's proposal to do lunch work.

"Saya, are you crazy? They obviously designed a trap for you to jump into." Mrs. Chiyo asked Saya to think twice before falling into the other party's trap.

"Grandma, don't you want to accept my special training results? Now is a good time." Saya calmed her anxiety in a low voice, "I will not let you down."

Everyone present was shocked when they heard Saya's decision. The organizer didn't dare to say a word, but Mrs. Heimu, who was robbed of the limelight, added an even more excessive request at this time, which once again made everyone His jaw nearly dropped.

"I heard that Ms. Hashimoto's Beijing dance is very good. I wonder if we are lucky enough to see your demeanor at the luncheon?"

It is already too much for the heir of the Hashimoto family to work as a maid, and she even acts as a maiko to dance for the joy of everyone. Some noble ladies have already seen Mrs. Kuroki's sinister intentions. Eliminating competitors and making them embarrass themselves in front of the guests, this method of killing two birds with one stone is really a dirty trick.

"If you don't mind, then I made a fool of myself at the luncheon, and I hope you will forgive me for my shortcomings."

Smiling and accepting the letter of challenge thrown by Mrs. Kuroki, Saya's fighting spirit was also ignited. Since others deliberately made things difficult for her, how could she make those people happy? , will definitely pay a high price.