Chapter 192 Meeting with the "Father-in-law"
The August sun burns the earth, and the hot wind blows through the streets. I always feel uncomfortable as if my heart is stuffy.

The place where Matsumae Kitahiro agreed to talk was in the center of Sapporo.

Even in summer, there are still crowds of people here.

I don't know if the people in the Matsumae family prefer traditional tastes, but the place where we had dinner this time was a Japanese restaurant. Tatami, courtyard, tree branches, rockery, flowing water.
All in all, it is a very suitable place for negotiation.

"Mr. Fujii, please."

"Sorry to bother you, Mr. Yongshan."

Nagayama Sakura, who opened the door for him, smiled and said, "It's what I should do."

Entering the room, Fujii Itsuki saw the man sitting on the prayer mat in front of the small table and was stunned for a second or two. First, he thought the head of the Matsumae family looked quite majestic and fierce, and second,
Isn’t this the man who was drinking by the moat at Xinchun’s birthday party last time?
Matsumae Kitahiro glanced at Fujii Itsuki standing at the door, closed his eyes, and spoke in a soothing tone:

"Please take a seat. This is the third time we've met."

"The third time?" Fujii Itsuki sat down in front of him.

"Once today, once at Xinchun's birthday party, and once at Chiqin's memorial service eight years ago."

After Matsumae Kitahiro said this, Fujii Itsuki's past memories gradually emerged.

At the professor's memorial service that year, there was indeed a man who came later and remained silent facing the professor's portrait, followed by a butler-like character.

I think they are Kitahiro Matsumae and Sakura Nagayama.

Matsumae Kitahiro took the initiative to make tea for Fujii Itsuki and said calmly:

"Mr. Fujii, Chiqin and I are childhood sweethearts. We grew up together and I have always had deep feelings for her. Just like what you saw me do that day, from beginning to end, I was unable to walk out of the rain that day."

There is one thing that Fujii Itsuki guessed correctly.

Kitahiro Matsumae loves professors very much.

It's just that the professor doesn't seem to love him very much.

Relying on the relationship between families, he and the professor became husband and wife, but their hearts could never be close to each other.

He is also a man with a very tragic love life.

"At this point, I believe you already know something about the Kuka family, about the things between Kuka Ryuichi, me, and Chikoto. I won't explain any more. Mr. Fujii knew Chikoto for a while when he was a student at Kyoto University. What kind of person do you think she is?"

While Matsumae Kitahiro was speaking, Fujii Itsuki kept observing his facial expressions.

In his heart, he was also combining some of his past events, trying to come up with certain information.

After all, the other party is the head of the Matsumae family, and he shouldn't ask me to meet him for no reason.

"Life mentor." Fujii Itsuki replied.

"What about personality?"

"Pretty soft."

"Yes, she is quite gentle. Chiqin is actually like that. But Chiqin has always been very tough towards me and even towards Xinchun."

There was a look of nostalgia in Matsumae Kitahiro's eyes.

"If I say that Chiqin doesn't really consider Kokoharu her daughter, what would Mr. Fujii think?"

"impossible."

"So decisive?"

"Given the professor's personality, this is indeed impossible."

"But it is true."

Fujii Itsuki frowned.

Fact? It shouldn't be.

Based on his impression of the professor, even if the professor ran away from the Matsumae family, he should not treat Xinchun as his own daughter.

"It is what it is."

"Please give some explanation, Mr. Matsumae."

Matsumae Kitahiro was neither anxious nor impatient. "Chiqin was sent to the Matsumae family by the Jiuhua family to be raised as a child bride when she was six years old. From the beginning, she was destined to be my wife. Therefore, in the long and long life thereafter, she carried the pressure that she should not have - the pressure from the Matsumae family.

"The Matsumae family has many rules for outsiders, many of which seem quite unreasonable to modern people. Foreign women cannot speak loudly in front of their parents, cannot eat at the table when there are elders, and the family has only fixed role expectations for women. They only need to obey orders and do not need to have their own ideas."

Fujii Itsuki: ". In other words, even if the professor allowed her to enter the Matsumae family as a child bride, she is still not considered a member of the Matsumae family?"

Matsumae Kitahiro did not deny it. "In the eyes of the elders in the family, Chiqin is just a reproductive machine who needs to learn the arts of music, chess, calligraphy and painting. What she needs to do internally is to give birth to as many children as possible for the Matsumae family. Externally, she needs to show her excellence and cultivation as the wife of the head of the Matsumae family, and show the demeanor of the Matsumae family."

"."

Fujii Itsuki didn't know what to say.

The professor obeyed the orders of the Matsumae family and did this and that. He had been in the Matsumae family all his life but was never treated as a family member by the elders.
This... No one can stand it, right?

"But what does this have to do with the professor not treating Xinchun as his daughter?"

Matsumae Kitahiro heard this and asked:

"What do you think is Kokoharu's greatest quality, Mr. Fujii?"

"Be obedient." Fujii Itsuki blurted out.

"Yes, I will."

Matsumae Kitahiro went on to say, "Compared to other children, Kokoharu has been much more obedient since she was young. She doesn't have the mischief, childish personality, or desires of a child. Kokoharu's personality is simply perfect for the needs of those old guys.

“And this is exactly what Qianqin dislikes the most.

"In Chiqin's opinion, Xinchun is a curse. It was a curse that was born when the Matsumae family forced her to give birth. Xinchun was too obedient and cared too much about the family. Xinchun always talked about what the elders in the family thought.

"Xinchun's words actually attributed herself to the 'Matsumae family', which was a fact that Chiqin, who had always been an 'outsider', could not accept.

"Compared to the mother, the daughter is actually more suitable for the Mukasuma family?

"Qianqin spent quite a long time after she realized this fact. She tried to change, but during this period, Xinchun did not change at all.

"Chiqin's feeling towards Kokoharu's 'daughter' is getting lower and lower, and her feeling towards the Matsumae family is also getting lower and lower. She has always been considered single.

"The Matsumae family had been unfair for a long time, and under the long-term pressure of Kokoharu, her daughter, who could not understand her, Chiqin chose to run away from home.

"After that, I rarely contacted Xinchun."

"."

To be honest, it was difficult for Fujii Itsuki to accept this fact.

After all, Xinchun is a child.
Xinchun always feels very happy whenever she mentions her mother.

Her study is filled with novels written by the professor, and her treasured boxes are filled with memories of her and her mother, but the professor never treated her as a daughter?

It is hard to imagine what kind of state Xinchun will fall into after learning the truth.

The more Fujii Itsuki thought about it, the more he shook his head.

"I have a lot of new understandings about the professor. I think what the professor did to Xinchun was too cruel. I can't accept it. But it's not that I can't understand it. I can only say that this is a tragedy caused by the past dregs of the Kuka family and the Matsumae family."

"So I subsequently cut off the thousand-year-long exchanges between the Kuka family and the Matsumae family."

".? Was this matter led by you, Mr. Matsumae?"

Matsumae Kitahiro seemed to be caught in a very unpleasant memory, and he said while recalling:

"Chiqin and I were childhood sweethearts. It was the family tradition that led her to a place she didn't want to be and to become a wife she didn't want to be. The constant pressure at home made her run away from home, and then she left this world in Kyoto with regrets."

It was only then that Fujii Itsuki realized something.

The professor entered the Matsumae family as a child bride at the age of six. Doesn't that mean that Matsumae Kitahiro has been watching the professor face everything that the Matsumae family has bestowed on her since she was six years old?
Matsumae Hokuhiro loved the professor very much.

But he was powerless to help the professor with the pain he was facing.

I also have to watch the professor grow in pain.

The mental pressure that Matsumae Kitahiro had to face in the past was definitely not low.

Matsumae Kitahiro closed his eyes, "After Chiqin passed away, I started to push forward the plan to separate the Kuka Family and the Matsumae Family until now. Because of this, Kuka Ryuu hated me very much. In his opinion, my move made it difficult for the Kuka Family to revive, so he chose to take Yue and leave for Tokyo."

If I remember correctly, these guys have been playmates since childhood, right?

Inexplicably, Fujii Itsuki was able to imagine a family drama full of love, hate, and vengeance.

"Thank you, Mr. Matsumae, for telling me these secrets. But this is not why you invited me here today."

"Of course, it's mainly for Xinchun. I was under a lot of pressure at home because I needed to push for the separation of the Matsumae family and the Kuka family, and I neglected this child a lot, which led to her subsequent anxiety disorder, which has not been cured.

"I said all this to Mr. Fujii because I wanted you to understand that I am on Chiqin's side. I owe Xinchun too much, so I don't want to disappoint her. At the same time, I don't want my family's arranged marriage to continue. You are the last one."

"reason?"

"The reason is that I pushed for the separation of the Kuka family and the Matsumae family, which caused some elders in the family to be dissatisfied with me. My father was also among them. My father and his family urgently needed to train the next head of the family to speak on behalf of the Matsumae family. With the promotion of my sister Kako, you became one of the candidates."

Fujii Itsuki still finds this incident very funny.

How come I was chosen?

"You have a clean background, graduated from a prestigious school, and can be trained. In Kasumigaseki, quite a few people are from the 'Kyoto faction'. Your identity and your past can be a great help to you. After marrying into the family, you will only belong to Matsumae. This is why those old guys chose you."

".That's quite reasonable."

"For Xinchun's sake, I will not deny her choice, even though you are ten years older than her. But on the other hand, Mr. Fujii, you need to promise me that after I step down, you need to continue to push forward the separation of Jiuhua and Matsumae, and completely eliminate those who oppose this matter in the family. What do you think, Mr. Fujii?"

Fujii Itsuki did not respond immediately, but after thinking about it carefully, he had no objection.

After thinking for a moment, he nodded in agreement.

Having said that, the matter was almost over. Matsumae Kitahiro stood up and was about to leave.

"I have official duties to attend to, so I'm sorry I can't stay with you for long. Since Mr. Fujii has agreed to my request, I have no objection to what's going on between you and Xinchun."

Is this considered consent?

Should I call this man father-in-law now?

Beijing Broadcasting Institute is only a dozen years older than me, so I always feel something is weird about it.

"My family is anxious for your marriage to Xinchun, hoping to add a child to the main branch of the Matsumae family as soon as possible. But in reality, I believe that you, Mr. Fujii, don't want to rush it, and Xinchun is too young. I will delay this matter for a while, but I also hope that you can get on the right track as soon as possible."

"How long can it last at most?"

"Until Xinchun graduates."

"."

That's pretty short.

Kitahiro Matsumae left.

As the head of the family, he has a lot of things to do every day and must have a lot of affairs to take care of.

Fujii Itsuki had a lot of ideas about what he just said, but it was too early and could not be realized.

In fact, he still has some admiration for Matsumae Kitahiro.

As the head of the family, he can actually go against family traditions for the sake of the person he loves.

It’s better to go back now.

Fujii Itsuki will leave later.

"Hmm? Mr. Nagayama, are you still waiting here? Isn't Matsumae Kitahiro——"

Nagayama Sakura bowed to him, "Mr. Fujii, the master has asked me to take you back."

".It's quite troublesome."

"Mr. Fujii, both the young lady and the master think highly of you. Where are you going now, Mr. Fujii?"

"Go to Xinchun's place. Sorry for the trouble."

"no problem."

Sitting in the Maybach, Fujii Itsuki was sent to the doorstep of Matsumae Shinharu by Nagayama Sakura.

After ringing the doorbell, Fujii Itsuki was still thinking about the professor's lack of interest in Xinchun when he heard hurried footsteps, and then a girl with a happy face and a snow fox standing on her shoulder appeared in front of him.

"teacher"

"Good afternoon, Xinchun."

"Good afternoon, teacher. Did you come here specially to visit me?"

"That's natural. Let's go inside first."

"Ok!"

After Fujii Itsuki entered the house, he saw the girl's pitiful expression as she looked at him, so with her consent, he hugged her in his arms.

The girl is really fragrant and sweet.

After they separated, the girl was blushing and confused.

"Teacher, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just want to treat you well."

"Teacher, why are you saying such embarrassing things?"

"Is it embarrassing?"

"Um"

Matsumae Shinchun was a clinging little fox, she was a little shy, and her eyes were full of water. But despite this, she still took the initiative to kiss her face.

Fujii Itsuki knew that this was her reward for her taking the initiative to visit her.

Sometimes the girl craved too much warmth in his arms, and Fujii Itsuki felt even more distressed when he touched something deep in her heart.

He even felt reluctant to kiss her a little longer.

Fujii Itsuki held her in his arms, remembering the fact that she was not considered a daughter by the professor.

"teacher?"

".Xinchun, sometimes I really feel that I have become a little too bad."

"Isn't it good now?"

"I feel like I'm taking advantage of your vulnerability."

"Then please take advantage of it, teacher."

".Don't say that."

Fujii Itsuki held Matsumae Shinharu in his arms again.

The more I held her like this, the more I could feel her immensely deep love for me.

She must have considered herself the only one.

How should I tell her that I can't give up on either Qiansui or Xiao Jiuhua?

Xinchun's love is so deep.

Fujii Itsuki was worried that if he told her, she would face the fact of collapse.

In this situation, he needs to keep playing dumb between her and Jiu Huayue.
I really feel so ashamed of them.

After spending some time together, Fujii Itsuki gradually felt sleepy, and Matsumae Shinchun took the initiative to help him to the bedroom to rest.

Returning to the living room, Matsumae Shinchun noticed that the phone was ringing on the sofa.

It was a cell phone that the teacher accidentally left on the sofa.

The girl moved closer and picked up the phone with her good hand.

The caller's note was "Jiuhuayue".

Matsumae Shinchun hesitated for a moment.

She had two choices. One was to answer the phone so that Xiaoyue would know that the teacher was with her. This would undoubtedly make Xiaoyue angry and would also put the teacher in an awkward position later.

The second option is to hang up the phone, which is much simpler, but the teacher will also be in a dilemma afterwards.

Matsumae Shinharu chose the third option.

Using the smart reply function of the phone, Teacher Dai replied to Xiaoyue that he was busy outside.

In this way, it will be easier for the teacher to explain when he goes back, and it won’t make the teacher feel embarrassed, right?

Matsumae Shinchun didn't want to make her teacher feel embarrassed at all.

Not at all.

She held Fujii Itsuki's phone to her heart.

In just a moment, warmth seemed to emerge from my heart.

This is love, right?

It's really amazing.

Matsumae Koharu felt sweet in her heart. She quietly returned to the bedroom and looked at Fujii Itsuki who was taking a nap on the bed.

Somehow, or maybe because I liked him too much, just looking at his sleeping face made me feel at ease and gradually I became obsessed with him.

The girl approached quietly and pecked him on the cheek again.

Immediately, a lovely and beautiful smile appeared on her face.

The girl was bright, gentle and sweet. She approached the sleeping Fujii Itsuki's ear with a hint of mischief and whispered:

"Teacher Xinchun likes you very much."

After she finished speaking, the girl's face became more flushed, and her hands were clenched together. After a while, she returned to her usual smile, walked happily to the kitchen, and began to prepare afternoon dinner for the teacher.

After she turned and left, Fujii Itsuki, who was pretending to be asleep, looked at her back in fascination.

There is also an inexplicable liking in my heart.

Even with my eyes closed, the words “I like you so much” seem to linger and echo in my heart.

Is this what everyone calls the sweetness of love?

Really good.

The corners of Fujii Itsuki's mouth also curled up.

(End of this chapter)