Chapter 15

"Your singing voice and your character both appeal to me, so naturally I want to have you, but this is different from love. It's like when you're shopping and you see a very beautiful dress that makes you want to buy it no matter the cost. You might put it in your closet and rarely wear it, but the joy and satisfaction you feel when you buy it can't be replaced by anything else." When Deng Lijun indirectly asked about this issue, Li Xu responded in this way.

Although he quickly added, "Of course, you would definitely take good care of the dress and try to keep it as new as possible because you like it."

But this description was enough to make Deng Lijun laugh bitterly.

Not only was it straightforward and unreserved, but it was also... very sincere, at least that's how she felt, so the embarrassment she had felt for a long time gradually faded.

Just like now, even though she knew that in his mother's eyes, she was not worth mentioning, she couldn't get angry.

Before returning to Japan, she had considered whether she could shorten the ten-year contract and get out of Li Xu's control earlier, but after seeing him scold Boku and others, that thought was extinguished.

Deng Lijun had not failed to inquire about Li Xu's background. The fact that he could change her environment in the detention center and easily take her out of the police station indicated that his background was not simple. Moreover, Li Xu had never hidden his family background in Japan.

However, although some of her Japanese friends had collected information on the Kujō family at her request, it wasn't very useful.

After World War II, under American direction, Japan abolished the nobility system, and the former dukes and earls were all reduced to commoners and gradually retreated to the background. Although they still maintained connections through various associations, the information available to the public was limited. Additionally, Deng Lijun was embarrassed to admit that she was being kept, so the people helping her weren't very enthusiastic.

Moreover, Li Xu had not introduced his family background in the United States, nor had he taken her back to his home there or explained in detail what he had done. Plus, when they first met, he was almost 17 years old—she almost dropped her jaw when she found out later.

Thus, in Deng Lijun's understanding, Li Xu was a rich young man who had everything he wanted from a young age, and once he set his sights on something, he would do everything to get it, much like the Wu family in Taiwan or the Li family in Hong Kong.

However, when Boku was scolded in front of her, Deng Lijun was surprised to realize that her understanding of him and his family background was far from enough.

The Minister of Information was already a big figure, especially for a singer like her. Offending the head of a record company was one thing, but offending the Minister of Information meant being completely blacklisted.

Not to mention her, even big businessmen and wealthy people had to act humbly in front of powerful officials.

But the Minister of Information, who was scolded by Li Xu, did not argue back. So... what was she struggling for? After all, the other party was still treating her well, and... there was still a ten-year contract, right?

"Edward, what does Mrs. Mieko do?" After sitting down again, Deng Lijun couldn't help but ask.

Well, although she didn't dare to show dissatisfaction with Mrs. Mieko's coldness, she still felt a bit不服气 (unconvinced).

"She... " Li Xu was slightly taken aback at first, then smiled lightly and looked at Deng Lijun with interest without saying a word.

Deng Lijun then lowered her head in embarrassment, feeling as if she had been seen through.

However, Li Xu didn't let her be embarrassed for long: "My mother is currently the president of the Kujō Chamber of Commerce. Of course, it's more like an investment holding company, and she has close ties with the Mitsui, Fuji, and Sanwa conglomerates."

"Ah?" Deng Lijun looked puzzled.

"Let me put it this way, all the Kujō family's assets except for the shrine are currently controlled by my mother. These were all established by her after the war through her own efforts." Li Xu added after some thought.

"Ah!" Deng Lijun finally understood a bit and let out a small exclamation.

She had been in Japan for seven or eight years and had some understanding of the social environment there. It was relatively easy for women to become actors or singers or work in the service industry.

But to control a company or enterprise was almost impossible—let alone controlling a company or enterprise, even becoming a department head in a company was extremely difficult.

Even Wada Kazu, for example, had assisted her husband Wada Ryōhei in founding Yaohan, rather than founding it alone.

"You know, after Japan's defeat in World War II, the United States was dedicated to transforming Japan's social environment. One of the measures was to require the children of the upper nobility to study in the United States. While other families hesitated, my mother was the first to go to Harvard, where she met my father." Li Xu continued.

"After returning from the United States, my mother worked hard to gain some support from the family and started her own business. At first, things weren't particularly good, being a woman and all. But at that time, my father was in charge of investment in East Asia, and they soon came to an agreement. With my father's help, my mother's business went smoothly, and they naturally came together. Although there was an element of arranged marriage, their feelings for each other were also quite good." As he said this, he reached out and touched Deng Lijun's head.

"So, my mother is like this, with the right to look down on others, so don't take it to heart. To be honest, only I can tolerate her. If it were a regular person born into this family, they would have been beaten down by her and become very insecure long ago." Li Xu said with a grin.

Deng Lijun couldn't help but laugh, looking at him with curious eyes: "How can you say that? I think... I think your relationship is quite good."

"That's all from the usual sparring and polishing," Li Xu shrugged. "To give you an example of my mother's strong personality: you know my father is American, so I naturally have to take his surname. But my mother insisted on giving me a Japanese name and even held a genpuku ceremony for me last year—do you know what genpuku means?"

"Yes, I know a little," Deng Lijun nodded. "It's like the coming-of-age ceremony for young men and women."

"Very correct," Li Xu looked approvingly. "It's usually held between the ages of 13 and 18. If I were to have a coming-of-age ceremony at 18, it would definitely be in the United States, so my mother chose to hold the genpuku on my 16th birthday and even had Tokugawa Masahiro be my uchikaburi-shin—do you know what uchikaburi-shin means?"

"This... I don't know," Deng Lijun hesitated and finally shook her head.

"You can think of it as a godfather in China or a godfather in the United States. In ancient Japan, during the genpuku ceremony, a respected elder from a closely related family would place a black hat on the young man to signify adulthood," Li Xu explained. "My mother has many allies in Japan, and the Tokugawa family is one of her closest. You can see that our butler is named Hattori, right?"

"Ah?" Deng Lijun looked bewildered; her knowledge of Japanese history was clearly not very good.

Li Xu didn't mind: "Then we went to choose a name. Generally, in large families, when naming direct male descendants, they often use a common character, like Tokugawa Ieyasu, Iemitsu, and Ietsuna, or Kujō Michitaka, Michinori, and Michihira, and the emperors from the Meiji to the Shōwa eras, such as Mutsuhito, Yoshihito, and Hirohito, and my uncle Mutsuhito, the Crown Prince."

"Crown... Prince? Uncle?!" Deng Lijun's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes, my great-grandmother Kujō Setsuko was the Empress of Emperor Taishō." Li Xu nodded, completely ignoring Deng Lijun's shock and continued, "However, the head of the Kujō family, my uncle Michihira, who is in charge of the Meiji Shrine, is very traditional and refused to allow the character 'Michi' in my Japanese name. Although my mother didn't insist, she used the character 'Nori' from her father, my grandfather, so my Japanese name is Kujō Ryōnori."

"Is... that so?" Deng Lijun, still a bit confused, replied, "Then... what do you think?"

"I? What can I think? My mother's decisions, especially on such matters, are usually not subject to change." Li Xu shrugged helplessly and then muttered, "What a name, I might as well be called rice."

This was said in Chinese, and Deng Lijun couldn't help but laugh, reacting quickly.

As they chatted about these past events, the sky outside had turned completely dark, and a servant came to knock on the door.

"Master, dinner is ready," the servant bowed and said.

"Alright, put it in the garden pavilion," Li Xu nodded, then stood up and extended his hand to Deng Lijun, "Although this house is a bit gloomy and not many people like it, it has some nice places."

"Oh," Deng Lijun obediently took his hand and followed him to the garden.

Seven or eight stone lanterns had been lit, making the garden particularly quiet. The wooden pavilion, the only one with lights, stood out. The table inside was already filled with small dishes, which looked numerous but were not very substantial.

"Since we arrived late and I was talking with my mother, I forgot to instruct the kitchen, so they made some snacks at random," Li Xu said after sitting down.

"That's fine. I've already had some pastries on the plane and am not hungry. It's good to try some snacks," Deng Lijun smiled and picked up the chopsticks at his gesture.

At this moment, a maid in a kimono came in with a food box and placed it in front of Deng Lijun. Inside were fresh slices of tuna sashimi.

"Thank you..." Deng Lijun was a bit surprised. She knew that Li Xu didn't like sashimi, but he still had it prepared for her in such a hurry, which made her feel a bit touched, even though she was being kept.

Then, with a clatter, the chopsticks fell to the table, and she stared in shock at the woman who had placed the food box in front of her: "M... Miss Momoe?!"

Deng Lijun never expected that the woman in a kimono standing in the pavilion, who looked like a maid, would be Japan's national idol, Yamaguchi Momoe!