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"Xiaoyue?"
Seeing that the atmosphere was becoming awkward again, the super hard-working warm-up machine Hiiragi Rinka tried hard to smile and try to remind Jiuhuayue.
Unexpectedly, Jiuhuayue, who had been silent for a long time, looked directly at Xinchun and said:
"envy."
"Jealous?" Matsumae Shinchun placed her hand on her heart.
"Yes, from the beginning I was jealous of you. Jealous of your identity."
".Because I'm the only daughter of the Matsumae family?"
Jiu Huayue shook her head and lowered her head slightly, obviously recalling something unhappy. "I'm not jealous of your noble status or anything like that, but I'm jealous of what your status attracts."
".I don't quite understand, Xiaoyue."
"Do you remember when the Matsumae family and our Jiuhua family separated? At that time, the Jiuhua family was in name only. Some people in your family followed tradition and wanted to help our family rebuild, while others were against it. Xinchun, your father, Uncle Beiguang, has always been against it.
"My father wanted to restore the former glory of the Kuka family, so he had to go to the Matsumae family to curry favor and build relationships."
Matsumae Shinchun's eyes trembled slightly.
"So Xiaoyue always came to my house back then, actually..."
"That's right. My father always dragged me to the Matsumae family just to please your family. It was also at that time that I met you and always went to play with you."
"But this has nothing to do with us. Why did it change later?"
"Xinchun, you had a special identity at the time. Uncle Beiguang and Aunt Qianqin didn't want to have any more children, so you were the only daughter of the head of the Matsumae family. In order for my father to successfully approach those people, Xinchun, you were an indispensable means of contact."
"No wonder Uncle Ryuichi always asked me to contact my aunt," Matsumae Shinchun muttered silently.
"Of course, this is something I only found out about later."
Jiuhuayue continued.
"I couldn't see it at the time. I just felt that Xinchun was you. Do you remember how my father treated you? He did everything he should do for me, caring, taking care of me, giving me clothes and gifts. He always gave them to you, making you look like his daughter. But she never gave me these.
"He didn't care about anything at home. He didn't care when my grandfather came home drunk, and he didn't care when his creditors who failed in business came to the house and banged on the door.
"In my eyes, when my mother and I needed help, he was always at the Matsumae family, always happily hanging around you, Matsumae Shinchun.
"Xinchun can understand, right?
"In this situation, you came with a smiling face and said we are good friends."
"."
Hearing this, Matsumae Shinchun finally understood what her childhood sweetheart thought of her in the past.
A criminal who enjoys stealing other people's beloved things.
Am I such a person?
Matsumae Shinharu fell into self-doubt.
Jiuhuayue closed her eyes and said:
"Of course, I didn't blame you completely at that time. At least you were serious about being friends with me. You just stole my daughter's identity accidentally. So after I left Hokkaido, I still kept in touch with you through letters."
"So what happened afterwards?"
Jiuhuayue continued, “After I left Otaru, my home has always seemed to be shrouded in a dark cloud, making it hard to breathe.
“My father always told me:
"Xiaoyue, if you don't work hard, our family will be completely destroyed!"
"Xiaoyue, if you don't pay attention, you will never see your father again!"
"Xiaoyue, you are the first step in our revival of the Jiuhua family!"
"Xiaoyue, the humiliation your grandfather caused to the Jiuhua family will be washed away by you!"
Jiuhuayue read these words calmly.
"My parents rarely really care about this family. They have been discussing how to revive the Jiuhua family. They have been instilling a theory in me.
"We must restore the past glory of the Jiuhua family."
Jiuhuayue paused here.
The tone sounded somewhat like mockery.
"Want to restore the past glory of the Kuka family? In the final analysis, they just want me to marry into a big family in one of the three major metropolitan areas through the stage of Takarazuka, and then use my identity to attract a large amount of resources for my father's company in Tokyo.
"This is what my father called 'the first step to recovery.'
“It was also a step for him to raise a large amount of funds and support for his comeback.
“Of course, I didn’t know this when I was a kid.
“I only know that my father has high hopes for me, and I really want to shine at the Takarazuka Conservatory of Music.
“I don’t want to fall behind, and I don’t want to lose to anyone.
"Because I am younger than the average student and don't have enough experience, I am always the last one to be selected into the monthly group. I have actually been eliminated for one term. After this incident, my father was always dissatisfied with me when he returned home.
“In the 106th term, my teacher told me that I had a good chance. I worked harder because of that and wanted to prove myself even more.
"But." Jiuhuayue was silent for a while, "Xinchun, do you remember the time when you went to Osaka with your aunt when you were a child?"
"I have a little impression. My aunt took me to meet many people, although I didn't know them very well." Matsumae Shinchun replied.
"It's because of you, Xinchun, that you came to Osaka this time and squeezed me out of my position."
"how come!"
"Don't you remember? Your aunt took you to Tokyo to watch a stage play. You thought the performance of the actors on the stage was very beautiful and it was very interesting. You said you wanted to try to join in."
"."
Jiuhuayue's words brought back scenes of memory to Matsumae Shinchun's mind.
She did remember.
At that time, I was attracted by the lively demeanor of the actors on the stage, and I told my aunt and an old lady who came to watch the stage play with me that I wanted to try it too.
Afterwards, I did visit a group in Takarazuka as an intern.
Because Osaka is much closer to Kyoto than Hokkaido, he could see his mother more often. He wanted to stay and study, but his father took him directly back to Matsumae's home in Hokkaido.
Because my father said it wasn't a very good place
He didn't agree to stay in this treasure tomb.
"Xiaoyue, are you going to -" just because of what I said
"Yes, it was because of what you said, Xinchun, that I lost my intern status and had to wait another year. Although you left afterwards, the monthly group of interns had already been fixed, and it was impossible for me to be included. I think you should know what another year of failure meant to me. My father showed his disappointment in me for another year."
Matsumae Shinchun looked at Jiuhuayue at this moment, and felt only guilt in his heart.
She wanted to apologize, but saw Jiuhuayue shaking her head.
"It's been so long. After I understood the root cause of everything my father did, I don't hate you that much anymore, Xinchun. But your image in my mind has been ruined, even if you stole unintentionally. But this is also the reason why I don't want to be friends with you."
"I'm sorry! Xiaoyue, I really didn't mean that! I really didn't mean to do this to you! Xiaoyue."
Kokoharu's sudden outburst startled both Chitose and Rinka.
Jiuhuayue was very calm. She looked at Xinchun and said comfortingly:
"I said, it's over, it's okay."
"Then we, Xiaoyue, can also——"
Matsumae Shinharu's words of reconciliation were only halfway through when they stopped abruptly.
Something was blocking her heart again.
But Jiuhuayue didn't notice it, and shook her head and said:
"I just said that I came here because I already knew what Rinka meant. If I didn't mean that, I wouldn't have come here."
"Besides, this is an opportunity for us to talk after Rinka worked hard. If we quarrel again, Rinka will also become unhappy. I don't want to see this."
Matsumae Shinchun stared at Jiuhuayue's purple eyes: "What does Xiaoyue mean?"
"Well, reconciling with Xinchun is not a big problem. After all, we are childhood sweethearts and classmates. We will have to work together to participate in the national competition. We can't keep being at odds with each other. But I need a promise from Xinchun."
"What guarantee?"
"As long as you promise not to do anything like what happened to me again, that's all, isn't it?"
Jiuhuayue smiles brightly and beautifully.
This instantly reminded Matsumae Shinchun of the childhood sweetheart who held her hand and was as dazzling as the sun.
She agreed immediately without thinking.
"Of course I do!"
but
but
At this moment, there was another thing that was weighing on Matsumae Shinchun's mind, making it impossible for her to keep her promise.
"It's good that Xinchun agreed. I'm relieved from now on. I also want to apologize to you. I'm sorry, I misunderstood you that time. Qiansui thinks you're fine, so I should do the same."
Jiuhuayue saw that Matsumae Xinchun wanted to agree immediately at this time, but she didn't notice that she didn't even finish her answer.
Because at this time, Chitose Yangkui clapped happily.
"Okay! Okay! That's it! Everyone is happy! Everyone is happy!"
As she was talking, Matsumae Shinharu saw that she took the initiative to pull her own hands, Satsuki's, and Rinka's hands together and stacked them together.
Chitose happily said some celebratory words.
Rinka was infected by the atmosphere and was very happy, even with a little cry in her voice.
She was almost scared to death just now.
Afterwards, everyone happily started to drink tea and eat snacks and chat about girlish topics.
Matsumae Shinchun even felt that she had integrated into it.