"After all, there's only so much cake. Which capitalist would be willing to share their cake with your family? Wouldn't anyone who did that be a complete idiot?"
Shiro began analyzing for this foolish girl, as it seemed she took too many things for granted.
Yukino was stunned when she heard that, and then realized that she apparently didn't understand the real state of her family at all. According to what this guy said, the situation was extremely bleak.
"So, now we're at the stage of hitting walls everywhere?"
Yukino's tone carried both doubt and concern.
"Yes, you could say that your family is hitting walls everywhere. Even if there are some small companies willing to cooperate, the price would be very high and so on. In short, there are many problems, and the main reason is that you cannot get involved—no one will do business with you."
"And even if someone were willing to cooperate with you, they would be small players with ill intentions."
"Your relatives know very well that if this fails, the scope of your group will drastically decrease, and you may even have to retreat back to Chiba, probably becoming just an ordinary household."
"To be brutally honest, what was once a prestigious rural family will become just ordinary people from the countryside."
"Do you understand now? The reason those people were willing to sell everything at once is that they saw your family as a sinking ship and didn't want to go down with you."
"Selling at double the original price, as it is now, is the best possible outcome."
Yukino fell silent after hearing that. She hadn't expected so much was happening within her family, and the problem was that she had no idea about any of it.
Or more precisely, her sister had never mentioned it to her.
"Little Yukino, what are your thoughts now? In a sense, this group is no longer the Yukinoshita family, nor is it still called Yukinoshita Group. It could fully change its surname to Shiro."
Yukino didn't immediately react after hearing that, but after about a minute, she slowly spoke.
"What do you mean by telling me all this? Or are you just trying to show off? If that's the case, I can only say that you succeeded."
Shiro pursed his lips when he heard that, his tone full of contempt.
"Am I such a shallow person? Am I so idle that I'd show off something like this? What's there to show? Tell me."
Yukino at that moment sadly realized that there really was nothing to boast about.
Or rather, for this person, it wasn't worth boasting at all.
"You're not seriously going to return those shares to me, are you?"
Yukino said this with a mocking tone that even she didn't know she was capable of using.
Shiro again pursed his lips and said with contempt:
"You're overthinking. What I've already put in my mouth, how could I spit it out? You should know that I didn't acquire this by breaking rules or using some supernatural power; it was obtained through trickery, but everything was legal and completely legitimate."
"So, there's no chance I'll spit it out. You need to understand this, alright?"
Yukino really wanted to say: "To be honest, isn't that cheating again?" but obediently remained silent.
After all, he wasn't using illegal means to pressure her, which was already quite considerate. What more could she ask for?
"Then what do you want? Do you plan to directly change the name Yukinoshita Group to something like Shiro Group?"
Shiro hadn't thought that far; he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Honestly, I haven't planned that far ahead. I just came to inform you, so you wouldn't think I'm using underhanded means to threaten you or something."
When Yukino heard that, she thought to herself: "You're overthinking. If you really wanted to use underhanded means, you wouldn't do it this way."
"According to my estimate, your sister will probably come personally to find me either today or tomorrow."
"To be even more direct, my name is already in every zaibatsu, so I'll probably be quite busy again soon."
"As for your family's situation, tell me, what if I use it as a marital gift for you and your sister?"
Although she was somewhat prepared, Yukino knew this shameless guy wouldn't be so generous as to tell her all this without hidden intentions. Still, she didn't expect such an idea, which made her bite her lip and mutter the word "underhanded."
Shiro quickly interjected to correct her.
"I'll say it again, what I proposed has nothing to do with that. Actually, I estimate that your mother will be happy, because I'm obviously a big fool."
"You should know that, in a sense, the life your family of three—no, four, will live from now on depends on me."
"After all, once you are removed from the group, I can even imagine many ways to dilute and take over your shares and so on. In the end, your family will have nothing, and in this human-eating country, you were once a powerful family in Chiba. The consequences of having nothing would be extremely severe."
"That's why I think, if I propose this, your mother will agree without hesitation. To be honest, it's a matter of saving your family's life."
"Don't question me with things like: 'Is it really that serious?' Because, to be frank, whether it's your sister or your mother, the way they ran the group wasn't entirely clean."
"In short, they definitely have enemies."
Shiro spoke with obvious confidence.
Yukino again fell silent, thinking about countermeasures.
"Of course, I suppose you're currently thinking about how to break this deadlock. I'll show you a clear path: Chat Group. The Chat Group store sells everything. You could even become the master of one of the Ten Great Zaibatsu if you have enough points."
"Of course, you could also directly try to acquire transcendent power to threaten them or something like that."
Yukino pouted when she heard that and said in a cold voice:
"I won't do that."
Shiro clapped his hands when he heard that. Although he said nothing aloud, he thought to himself: "Just as I expected from you. You're so easy to manipulate. You have a Chat Group, but don't know how to use it, what a loss."
However, thinking about it, Shiro realized she didn't have points anyway and it would be difficult for her to gain transcendent power, or rather, no one would dare to help her. After all, he was involved, and all were smart people. Getting into conflict with him over this would be asking for trouble, right?
"Little Yukino, are you willing to accept this marital gift?"
"I have connections with so many zaibatsu, I can fully integrate your family into that circle."
"Your sister won't have to act as a courtesan anymore, going out to perform and facing failures day after day."
Yukino's expression grew quieter as she listened to these words. She had to admit that this guy was a devil, a master at catching human weaknesses and ruthlessly exploiting them.
"If I say I don't accept, is there a chance you won't do it?"
Yukino said this in a cold tone.
Shiro lifted her chin, a smile appearing on his face.
"Of course not."
"Since you already have the answer, why are you even asking me?"
Yukino very well knew she didn't have the ability to resist. Even with the Chat Group, it was useless, because with such a dominant person pressing and deeply involved in her life, everything was probably already predetermined. The only thing she felt regret about was her sister.
"Can't you just let my sister go?"
Yukino knew she couldn't escape, so she didn't want the other party to fall into this trap.
Shiro didn't expect her to beg at this moment. However, considering she knew the whole course of events and was aware of her sister's true feelings toward her, it was normal for her to try.
"Of course I can't. After all, considering your mother's personality, if I use this as a marital gift and you marry me, meaning you marry outside the family, she will definitely want to keep someone here to control everything. And the ultimate outcome would be that your mother chooses a son-in-law who will live in the house."
"Why would I allow someone else to benefit when I can? Why would I push her away and hand her over to those ants when I can have her myself? Do you think I'm that kind of idiot?"