A Little Harem Mess (5K)

After thinking for a moment, he remembered and nodded.

"Hello, Shippou Qibao."

"Hello, Shippou Qibao."

Mitsui Honoka chimed in.

On their faces, there was no joy or closeness in seeing classmates; only polite smiles.

However, the young man known as Junior Brother Shippou didn't care; his target was Miss Luna.

According to his father, the Mitsukoshi Trading Company signed numerous orders as soon as it was established, so his father told him to cultivate good relationships with them no matter what.

However, Gamma, who was using the alias Luna, merely glanced at him, gave a polite smile, and then looked away, showing no intention of paying him any attention.

Even before Shippou could speak, Gamma bowed slightly to Mahiro.

"Mahiro, I'll be taking my leave now."

"Um."

With Mahiro's nod of Mahiro, Gamma left.

Moreover, instead of leaving Mahiro to socialize with others, he left the business dinner altogether.

To her, how could a mere banquet possibly be more important than the task assigned by Lord Mahiro? If she hadn't known that Mahiro would be coming, she wouldn't have attended such a thing at all.

Watching Luna leave without giving him any face, Shippou froze in embarrassment, a wave of shame and indignation washing over him.

When has the young master of the Shippou Family, ever been turned away like this?!

Their family clearly holds a certain degree of influence within the sect!

However, the woman nestled beside Shippou, possessing extraordinary looks and figure, became interested in Yotsuba Mahiro.

He stepped forward with a smile and said:

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Kitayama, Ms. Mitsui, and if I'm not mistaken, this must be Mr. Mahiro? I'm Kowamura Maki, nice to meet you."

This brief self-introduction, although it placed the speaker in a humble tone, revealed...

Rather than saying she's low-key and not good at showing herself, she actually has a strange arrogance, as if everyone should know her.

Indeed, that was the case. Honoka, after introducing herself, asked in a somewhat excited voice:

"Kowamura Maki, are you the actress Kowamura Maki? The one nominated for Best Actress at the Pan Pacific Film Awards for her role in 'Summer's Drifting Ice'...?"

"Oh, you've seen that movie?"

Kowamura Maki responded to Honoka's question with an elegant smile, a hint of smugness hidden in her eyes.

"I knew it! I saw that movie in the theater. It was really good! By the way, my name is Mitsui Honoka, nice to meet you!"

"Hehe, thank you for the compliment, Ms. Mitsui."

Honoka and Kowamura Maki got along very well, and they were like... no, more like fans of idols.

But Kitayama Shizuku's reaction was quite indifferent; she simply stared at Kowamura Maki with dead fish eyes, then nodded and said:

"Hello, nice to meet you, Miss Kowamura."

His tone was flat, and the handshake was merely a polite, perfunctory one.

But the Mahiro is even simpler.

"Oh, hello, I'm Yotsuba Mahiro."

Even more concisely, he didn't even bother to shake the woman's outstretched hand, nor did he make any move to get up. Instead, he crossed his legs, swirling a champagne glass in his hand, and looked at the woman with a playful expression.

This made Kowamura Maki a little embarrassed, but with her years of experience as an actress, she calmly withdrew her hand and smiled, saying:

"I apologize for my overstepping my bounds. I didn't know the young master of the Yotsuba Family disliked handshakes."

This time, Kowamura Maki gave Mahiro a gentle and composed smile.

She can skillfully use a smile that exudes strong femininity, or a smile that doesn't come across as flirtatious, depending on the occasion.

Hmm, why does this sound a bit too effeminate?

Mahiro heard that, he almost furrowed his brow into a figure eight.

But he quickly calmed down, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"I'm sorry, it's not that I dislike handshakes, I'm just curious what makes you worthy of shaking my hand, Miss Kowamura."

Upon hearing this, Honoka's face showed surprise.

She couldn't understand why Mahiro, who was usually so friendly to everyone, would say such a thing.

However, it was merely out of curiosity. She understood that Mahiro must have his reasons for doing this, so she didn't say anything and instead followed Kitayama Shizuku's example of keeping quiet.

As for Kowamura Maki herself, she immediately lost her composure and looked extremely embarrassed.

Unexpectedly, the young master of the Yotsuba Family killed the conversation as soon as he came up.

The way he looked at her didn't have the greedy desire of other wealthy men or rich young masters; instead, it was full of mockery.

This made Kowamura Maki's heart skip a beat.

Have I been exposed?

The thought had barely crossed her mind when she immediately dismissed it. No matter how good the Yotsuba Family's intelligence was, she felt she couldn't possibly give herself away.

After all, almost everything was done by the young man beside him, the young master of the Shippou Family, Shippou Takuma.

Shippou Takuma to the side, frowned deeply at Yotsuba Mahiro's words.

"You're from the Yotsuba Family?"

Yotsuba Mahiro: "?"

That guy is so reckless.

He scrutinized the young man standing before him, his eyes filled with disdain and mockery.

Shippou Takuma seemed oblivious to his disdain, and even asked directly:

"I remember that Miyuki -Yotsuba Family is currently the head of the Yotsuba family and also the president of FLT, right? Why didn't she come to the banquet tonight?"

That almost made Yotsuba Mahiro laugh.

"I say, Young Master Shippou, are you questioning me or the head of the Yotsuba Family? Forgive my ignorance, but when did your Shippou Family become so powerful that you dare to interfere in the Yotsuba Family's affairs? Do you expect Maya Yotsuba to come and kowtow to you next time?"

His words were full of sarcasm and irony.

Furthermore, Mahiro raised his voice a few decibels, which attracted the attention of the banquet guests, who all gathered in his direction.

Especially when they heard him say, "Next time, will you have to have Maya Yotsuba come over and kowtow to you?", everyone present was shocked and turned their bewildered gazes to Shippou Takuma.

You're pretty brave, kid.

Not only are you going to cause trouble for the Yotsuba Family, but you're also planning to have the former head of the Yotsuba Family come and pay his respects to you, kid?

Rumor has it that the Shippou Family will be promoted to one of the Ten Master Clans at the next clan meeting, replacing the former Kudou Family. It's true, but isn't that a bit too arrogant?

Even the Kudou Family and Saegusa Family wouldn't dare provoke the Yotsuba Family, which is currently a dominant force. How dare the Shippou Family, who are about to become one of the Ten Master Clans?

Do you really think titles like "Queen of the Dark Night" and "Far East Witch" are just empty boasts?

The whispers among the guests naturally reached Shippou Takuma's ears, and the disdainful and mocking glances made Shippou Takuma cheeks flush red.

He quickly defended himself:

"No, no, I was just asking casually..."

"Oh, I see. Well, I can tell you that my fiancée, Miyuki, is busy and can't come over. Also, next time you want Maya Yotsuba to come and pay her respects, let me know, and I'll bring my mom to your house to do so in person."

I just don't know if your Shippou Family can afford it."

Shippou Takuma: "..."

This made Shippou Takuma's face turn a deep shade of liver.

The words were not only insulting, but also blatantly threatening.

"You... is the Yotsuba Family really this domineering?"

"Overbearing? I don't think so."

Mahiro troubled. "Compared to your domineering ways, I think we can't compare to your Shippou Family at all. We haven't even entered the Ten Master Clans yet, and you're already planning to make things difficult for my Yotsuba Family. You're even planning to have Maya Yotsuba come over and kneel down to pay her respects, and kowtow to her while you're at it."

"That official's arrogance is just too much."

As he spoke, Mahiro also adopted a submissive posture.

Upon hearing him bring up the matter of kneeling to pay respects again, the surrounding guests began to chuckle.

Although most of them didn't know Yotsuba Mahiro, they had already figured it out from the few words they heard.

This must be Maya Yotsuba's son.

Many people are still curious about when Maya Yotsuba had a son.

In the end, Shippou Takuma the humiliation, immediately led Kowamura Maki away from the banquet in disgrace.

It's like a joke about running away in disarray.

"Hey, Mahiro, do you have any grudges with Shippou -kun and Kowa-mura-san?"

After the two left, Honoka couldn't help but ask.

Even Kitayama Shizuku cast an inquiring glance at him.

"No, not at all."

Mahiro shrugged and said, "It's just that that woman isn't a good person."

As for Shippou Takuma from the Shippou Family... he's an even bigger fool, a stupid deer who doesn't think before he speaks, and he even wants to stand up for a woman.

He didn't even realize they were using him as a pawn; he was being sold out and he was still counting the money for them.

Mahiro's words were merciless, making Kitayama Shizuku and Honoka chuckle.

"Mahiro- kun, you're still as blunt as ever."

Kitayama Shizuku said softly, but it wasn't a accusation; it was just a sigh.

Honoka also agreed with this point.

However, what she was more curious about was why Mahiro would say that Miss Kowamura had ill intentions and was not a good person.

Chapter 322 A Small Shura Field (5K)

The business banquet has ended.

Despite his utter humiliation at the banquet, Shippou Takuma did not immediately return to the Shippou Family. Instead, he turned around and followed Kowamura Maki to her home.

As I stepped into the apartment building's elevator lobby, the view outside the window and the numbers on the screen were changing rapidly.

Apart from exceptional supertall buildings like the Yokohama Bay Hills Tower, few buildings in the late 21st century exceed 100 meters in height, and residential buildings are even rarer.

This is because, from the perspective of land use efficiency, it is more efficient to have a cluster of high-rise residential buildings than to construct isolated, stand-alone supertall buildings.

Maki's family home is one of the units in a "high-end residential area" where 20-story buildings, each 80 meters high, are arranged at equal intervals.

Her apartment was a corner unit on the twentieth floor.

Even though lower floors are equipped with mirrors and fiber optic cables to ensure ample natural light, residents still prefer higher floors, making the top floor the most expensive.

Although Maki is a well-known actress, given her relatively junior status, it should be very difficult for her to own a penthouse apartment in a high-end residential building in Tokyo unless she has a sponsor.

However, Kowamura Maki is not just an ordinary actress.

Her father is the president of a holding company that owns multiple media enterprises, including a television station.

Although not comparable to a business conglomerate like the Kitayama Family, the Kowamura Family is still a member of the upper class with considerable wealth.

"Alright, you've all worked hard today."

After returning home, Maki dismissed the guards, leaving only Shippou Takuma and Kowamura Maki in the empty room.

But Maki didn't care.

"Zhuomo, you take a rest, I'm going to take a shower first."

Maki walked straight into the bathroom, and gradually the sound of shower water could be heard from inside.