This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame
Chapter 163 - 158. Satisfied (Vote for monthly ticket! 4000 words!)

Chapter 163: Chapter 158. Satisfied (Vote for monthly ticket! 4000 words!)

Beichuan Si stared at his phone expressionlessly for about two or three minutes before he got up to make tea.

Initially, he wanted to sneak in a short break, but since Shen Gu Mirai was coming over, he felt obligated to fulfill his duty as the host of the Beichuan Family and entertain her properly.

Moreover, Beichuan Si vaguely guessed the reason for Shen Gu Mirai’s visit.

About a minute after Beichuan Si had made the tea, Shen Gu Mirai’s energetic voice came from outside the courtyard gate.

"Mr. Temple! Mr. Temple~! Mr. Temple."

She deliberately elongated her voice, acting overly spirited and did not even ring the doorbell.

Beichuan Si silently opened the door and welcomed Shen Gu Mirai inside.

"I’m disturbing you, Mr. Temple." Shen Gu Mirai blinked, changed into slippers, and quickly sat down beside Beichuan Si.

She was carrying a large plastic bag, apparently filled with groceries, giving off the vibe of a high school home economics teacher.

To this, Beichuan Si just handed over a teacup: "Tea."

"Mr. Temple, did you make this tea just for me—"

"I wanted to drink it myself."

Uh—

Beichuan Si’s words made Shen Gu Mirai swallow what she was about to say. Her pale face flushed with embarrassment, and she ultimately sighed helplessly,

"Mr. Temple... you can’t treat me like this! Do you know why I came here?"

Hearing this, Beichuan Si emotionlessly lifted his head and slightly pushed the teacup towards her, sincerely thanking her:

"Thank you, Shen Gu."

His earnest yet somewhat perplexing response struck Shen Gu Mirai like a direct hit, turning her already huffy face even more flushed. She pulled her own teacup closer, took a light sip to calm her fluctuating emotions, and then asked somewhat joyfully,

"Mr. Temple, did you guess why I came?"

"I guessed," Beichuan Si nodded, "You came to tell me about the situation with the Sanmu Abandoned Doll Factory."

Shen Gu Mirai’s heart skipped a beat at Beichuan Si’s sharp-featured face. When she realized it, she coughed dryly and complained somewhat,

"Mr. Temple appears somewhat cold and indifferent at times, but in reality, as long as you understand him a bit, you’d know that Mr. Temple is actually a shrewd person. Really..."

She was at a complete loss with the type of guy Beichuan Si represented, feeling as if everything she did was expected by him.

However, she didn’t dislike Beichuan Si; in fact, she found such a man particularly charming.

Shen Gu Mirai took another sip of tea and then, with a serious face, she got straight to the point: "Indeed, I came here to tell you about some things I’ve already investigated."

She placed her simple white purse on the table, removing her wallet and keychain and took out some newspapers and a notebook, clearly stating,

"The Sanmu Doll Abandoned Factory was established in 1988 on the outskirts of Tokyo in the Ogao Mountain area. The factory owner was a master craftsman in making dolls, and many clothing stores at that time contracted him to make mannequins."

"At the time, the Sanmu Doll Abandoned Factory was indeed very famous, aside from some purely malicious comments from competitors, its reputation was exceptionally perfect."

As she spoke, Shen Gu Mirai took out a newspaper, her delicate face showing no signs of playfulness: "This is the news from that time, Mr. Temple, you can take a look too."

Beichuan Si took the old newspaper in front of him and cast his eyes upon it.

’Sanmu Puppet Factory! Dolls made seem to host living souls!’

Below this bold headline was an article praising the factory owner’s exquisite craftsmanship.

Clearly, in the late eighties, the Sanmu Puppet Factory was indeed very famous.

Moreover, the Sanmu Puppet Factory’s business was quite broad, not only handling orders for clothing stores but also educational, medical models, entertainment industry, etc... Beichuan Si even spotted some hints of the adult industry.

One could imagine that the original factory owner surely made a fortune—

Without a doubt, this was excellent information; Beichuan Si hadn’t expected that Shen Gu Mirai could be so reliable in investigating what he wanted to know.

"But this also aroused envy from peers," blinked Shen Gu Mirai, seemingly able to read Beichuan Si’s mind, "Overly aggressive expansion led the Sanmu Puppet Factory to have already dominated about a quarter of Tokyo’s doll factory market, which naturally bred jealousy from others."

In a capitalist world, everything revolves around capital, which cannot be denied.

But behind the expansion of the Sanmu Puppet Factory, who knows how many peers’ factories went bankrupt, closed, or were sold.

The bloody capital expansion caused many in the industry to lose jobs and even resulted in broken families and death.

Which doll factory wouldn’t harbor resentment towards such a place?

And that resentment might very well be the major cause of the huge fire at the Sanmu Puppet Factory.

"These are the documents I found in my parents’ study room, and afterwards I specifically investigated in the Ogao Mountain area. I think such an incident must still have some clues in the local area," asserted Shen Gu Mirai.

Aside from her way of speaking and personality differing from Beichuan Si, her thought process on matters unexpectedly matched his quite well.

"I’ve asked workers who once worked at the Sanmu Puppet Factory... Most of those workers are now middle-aged or older, and for them, it undoubtedly brings back extremely painful memories."