"I'm back!"

Aoyama Xiu Xin burst through the door with a shout.

"Welcome home, Xiu Xin."

Aoyama Haruko, who had been playfully engaging her child on the sofa, immediately abandoned Aoyama Tianze to greet Xiu Xin.

"Has the little guy been causing any trouble while I was out?"

Xiu Xin stood at the entryway, letting his sister-in-law squat down to help him change into his slippers, and asked casually.

"Not at all, he's been very good, just too active and won't sleep, can't stay still," Aoyama Haruko replied with a sweet smile as she looked up at him.

Xiu Xin flashed a grin, "My son is just different from others; he truly is my seed."

Aoyama Haruko rolled her eyes. At this stage, even if the child pooped on Xiu Xin's head, he'd think it was because his son was extraordinary.

"Good boy, Daddy's back."

Xiu Xin could already hear Tianze's babbling and quickly moved towards the living room after changing his shoes.

Wrapped up snugly, Aoyama Tianze was significantly larger than other newborns, looking plump and healthy, with a cherubic face; though he couldn't crawl yet, he lay on the sofa flailing his tiny arms and legs, like an upturned turtle trying to flip over.

On seeing Xiu Xin, he smiled with his toothless little mouth, flapped his limbs more rapidly, making babbling noises, and saliva dripped from his mouth, bubbles forming at the corners.

"Tianze is such a good boy." Xiu Xin stepped forward, lifted him into his arms, and nuzzled his face against his son's.

The child also showed his affection, giggling away, and then a warm stream of urine sprayed out towards Xiu Xin.

"Oh my! Didn't you just pee?" Aoyama Haruko exclaimed, quickly stepping forward to take the child from Xiu Xin's hands, "You better go wash up."

"This little stinker is still the only one who gets to pee on my head," Xiu Xin pinched his son's chubby cheek, "I'll settle the score with your Mom tonight."

Haruko's face turned red, and she gave him a piercing look.

Although she hadn't fully recovered from childbirth and couldn't have sex yet, Xiu Xin's teasing wasn't limited to that; there were many roads leading to Rome.

The next morning, as arranged, Takashita Kanji visited Beihai Family's headquarters to formally meet with Qingshui Yi.

"President Qingshui, sorry to disturb you."

He bowed deeply as soon as he entered the office.

He showed the utmost respect, very reverential.

After all, Qingshui Yi wasn't just Xiu Xin's fellow traveler; he also counted as his spiritual son.

At least he admitted to himself that he couldn't go that far.

"Welcome, Mr. Takashita." Qingshui Yi put down the documents in his hands and stood with a smile to greet him, pulled him to sit on the sofa, "We're all working for the Minister, so we're family. There's no need to be overly formal—it just makes us seem estranged. Have a seat, have a seat. I've prepared tea for you since early this morning. Try it and see how you like my tea leaves."

It was a slightly awkward gesture given his age, lending a sense of discomfort.

"Hi!" Takashita Kanji replied, picking up the still-warm tea cup in front of him and taking a sip, then smacked his lips pretentiously, "Delicious! Truly a fine tea, remarkably sweet, lingering flavor. It's my first time drinking such fine tea; it mustn't be cheap, right?"

"Ha ha ha ha, this top-tier tea was imported from China. If Mr. Takashita likes it, you can take some back with you later," Qingshui Yi seemed quite proud of his tea leaves as he laughed heartily.

"Then I must thank President Qingshui," Takashita Kanji set down his teacup with a slight bow, and then he broached the main topic, "President Qingshui, my visit today is..."

"I know, I know." Qingshui Yi raised his hand to interrupt him and then stood up to go to his desk to fetch a document and hand it to Takashita Kanji, "The Minister has given his instructions, and, naturally, I have prepared everything in advance. The demolition work on a plot of land in Hakodate City is still in progress, and I'm entrusting it to Mr. Takashita. Don't let the Minister down."

This was a tough nut to crack. He had been worried about how to handle things quietly without making a fuss or alerting Xiu Xin, but now he was happy to hand the problem to Takashita Kanji. If Takashita couldn't handle it well, he would certainly lose the favor of Minister Aoyama.

"Hi! President Qingshui, rest assured, I will definitely not disappoint the Minister's expectations! I will have my people arrive in Hokkaido to begin work as soon as possible." Takashita Kanji solemnly promised, not even bothering to look at the document in his hand because he was not familiar with Hakodate City at all. Paper information wasn't going to tell him much.

Besides, he felt that Qingshui Yi must be wary of his arrival, fearing a threat to his position, so Takashita decided not to trust the information given to him and planned to conduct his own investigation.

"Uh-huh." Qingshui Yi nodded, always keeping a smile on his face, "Mr. Takashita, you're new here and unfamiliar with the place. If there's anything you need help with, please don't hesitate. Let's work together in sincere cooperation to complete the task for the Minister and make him happy."

"Hi! Thanks for your kind offer, President. If there is anything I need, I will definitely speak up," Takashita Kanji said with a smile, nodding, but internally, he had no such plans at all. He was actually wary of being hindered by the offer of help.

He knew this project was a litmus test thrown out by Xiu Xin; if he handled it well, he'd be given more responsibilities, but if he failed, that would be the end of it, and there would be no need to harbor illusions of becoming a confidant.

Qingshui Yi glanced at the time, "It's still early for lunch, so I won't keep Mr. Takashita any longer. I believe Mr. Takashita must be eager to get to Hakodate and understand the situation."

"I won't disturb President Qingshui any further, I will take my leave." Takashita Kanji stood up, bowed, and left.

Watching his departing figure, Qingshui Yi narrowed his eyes slightly, then after a moment called out, "Someone come."

"President." A middle-aged man quickly stepped inside.

"Arrange for someone to keep an eye on Takashita Kanji. I want to know his every move, but make sure he doesn't notice."

"Yes!" The middle-aged man responded, and then tentatively asked, "Should we give him a bit of trouble?"

"No," Qingshui Yi firmly rejected with a stern face, speaking in a deep voice, "He may encounter trouble in his work, but it must not be caused by us. The Minister would know if we're being too clever by half, and if he screws things up, he can pin the blame on us."

He knew well that his own abilities were insufficient, but loyalty was his greatest strength. Even if he knew Takashita Kanji might threaten his position, he would still follow Aoyama Xiu Xin's arrangements and cooperate with him establishing a foothold in Hokkaido.

"Besides," he added, "the task he's got is troublesome enough on its own, heh, let's see how he handles it."

After leaving the Beihai Family headquarters and getting into his car, Takashita Kanji began to look through the documents in his hand, extracting some basic information he deemed credible.

The plot he was responsible for was located in Hakodate Port Town. Most of the land there was in the name of the Hakodate City Mayor's brother-in-law, who was demanding a lion's share. Instead of compensation, he wanted half of the shares after the project was completed.

Hence, the demolition was stuck and couldn't be pushed forward.

Did this person not know that the real owner of the project was Aoyama Xiu Xin? Surely he did, but he still acted this way, which showed that he was determined to extort a hefty sum.

"Idiot, what a greedy fellow."

Takashita Kanji muttered to himself in a low voice.

Then, taking a deep breath, he picked up his mobile phone and dialed a number. After getting through, he spoke respectfully, "Sir, it's me, Takashita Kanji."

"Mm, what is it? Speak."

"Aoyama Xiu Xin has given me a task, quite a challenging one for me. I'm afraid I'll need your help to accomplish it," Takashita Kanji said tentatively.

He didn't know the identity of the person on the other end, but he was aware that they were working for someone influential, even the person contacting him was someone of significant status.

So, for them, dealing with the small matter of the Hakodate City Mayor's brother-in-law should be quite straightforward.

"What task? Explain it to me in detail."

"Yes!" Takashita Kanji immediately began to elaborate.

After listening, the person on the other end of the phone fell silent for a moment before saying, "Chairman Takashita, it does seem like something that you wouldn't be able to handle with your abilities. But if you were to easily resolve it, do you think Aoyama Xiu Xin would value you more, or would he become suspicious of you?"

"This…" Takashita Kanji was taken aback, quickly realizing the implications, and then felt troubled again, "But if I don't solve it, how can I gain his favor? Let alone become his confidant?"

"I didn't say not to solve it, I said it can't be solved too easily!" The person on the other side seemed to be losing patience, his tone turned cold, "You need to show an attitude of being willing to go to any lengths to solve his problems, and I'll give a push from my side. Only if things work out, will it seem natural and not raise his suspicions."

"Yes! I understand what to do now!"

In Tokyo, Hatanaka Zizi's secretary walked into his office carrying a steaming cup of tea and said while setting down the cup, "Sir, my man just informed me that the undercover agent we placed close to Aoyama Xiu Xin has made a call."

"What did he say?" Hatanaka Zizi leisurely picked up the teacup and took a sip, asking indifferently.

Tanaka Noriaki had deceived him, giving him false hope, which made him very angry, but even a useless person had their uses, so he used Tanaka Noriaki's life to arrange for Takashita Kanji to go undercover close to Aoyama Xiu Xin.

Yanchuan Shilang's position was too high, planting an undercover agent close to him was unrealistic, but Aoyama Xiu Xin was a good option, surrounded by a mixed bag of individuals as he was.

If he could obtain evidence of Xiu Xin's illegal activities, he could use his status to severely damage Yanchuan Shilang.

Even if no such evidence could be found, by next year when reelections came around, this valuable member of the Yanchuan Family would certainly be called back to Tokyo by Yanchuan Shilang to be at his beck and call.

If he could learn some internal movements of Yanchuan Shilang's election team through him, that would be great too.

At worst, if the undercover agent ended up being of no use, then there was no loss since he was just a disposable chess piece.

"It's..." The secretary relayed the situation.

After listening, Hatanaka Zizi said, "You handle this matter entirely by yourself, decide the extent of your involvement. Don't report back to me separately unless there's a significant breakthrough, I can't afford to be too distracted."

"Yes!" The secretary bowed deeply in response.

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