The Versatile Master Artist

This is the gift that Koshiba Tarou had his mother deliver to him today on the Treasure Ship.

A jade bracelet with an exceptionally fine quality.

She tilted her head, looking at the price tag on the jade bracelet, ”The bracelet is beautiful, thank you...”

”As long as you like it, Shengzi.”

”... But this gift is a bit too extravagant. There were many people in the afternoon, and I felt refusing outright might hurt your feelings, so I’ll transfer the money to you later.”

Koizumi Katsuko said softly.

This bracelet is priced quite high,

but Mr. and Mrs. Jiaokai trust their daughter’s conduct, adhering to the principle of raising her affluently, giving her the additional card linked to Professor Jiu Kai Yicheng’s Citibank account.

The monthly credit limit is set at fifteen thousand dollars, with an additional temporary limit of ten thousand dollars.

Koizumi Katsuko usually doesn’t spend much, but if needed, transferring the bracelet money is no big deal.

”Shengzi, why do we have to distinguish so clearly? It’s just a little gift.” Koshiba Tarou’s voice on the phone was full of helplessness.

”I think it’s not appropriate.” Koizumi Katsuko shook her head.

”The gift is inappropriate?” Koshiba Tarou’s tone was displeased, but he remained patient.

Koizumi Katsuko gently shook her head.

She was a well-mannered girl, unwilling to reject the goodwill of a senior.

On normal days,

Miss Sakai might have considered using more tactful words out of respect for her mother.

But today, after a moment of thought, she suddenly wanted to speak her mind completely.

”The gift is inappropriate, and we are also not a good match.”

She sat on the bed, looking at a line drawing she framed with a delicate frame by her bedside, and said softly, ”I’m sorry, Senior Xiaosong, I’m really sorry, but—I will not marry you.”

With this unspoken truth finally out, both sides on the phone fell into silence instantly.

Only the sound of Koshiba’s heavy breathing could be heard from the other side of the phone.

”Shengzi, you weren’t like this before.”

Koshiba said on the phone, articulating each word.

Koizumi Katsuko previously held a more indifferent attitude regarding the match between her and Koshiba Tarou arranged by the elders.

In Japanese high society, everything seemed to operate like gears within a specific program.

When a girl grows up, she always needs to choose a husband to marry.

Most likely, it would be someone from within the circle, with two families merging to form a stronger alliance, achieving great success together.

It sounds more like the logic of business operations than a union between a boy and a girl.

It truly is this way,

whether it’s tea ceremonies, arts, or Go, since the Edo Era governed by Tokugawa Ieyasu in Japan, people have started intermarrying within small circles, doing it this way for hundreds of years.

This method was previously known as the ”Family Head System.”

A ’Patriarch,’ chosen by a few reputable families within the small circle of the industry, oversees and leads this industry with authoritative management like a stern father, and everyone intermarried to consolidate their positions.

For instance, today’s large tea corporate in Japan, the patriarch elected in the early 2000s hailed from the Three Thousand Families.

The Three Thousand Families have been the head of the tea ceremonies since four hundred years ago during the Genpei War, and they still lead the industry today.

Regardless of skills, every year the new tea brewed at the Head of Family’s tea gathering could sell merely nine drops for one million dollars.

This is status.

This kind of industry management mechanism, post-war, changed its name to something like an association, but essentially it’s still the same old operational thinking.

Senior Xiaosong’s father, in terms of wealth, runs the profit-heavy Xiaosong Gallery, and in terms of status, he is currently the chairman of the United Painting and Calligraphy Association, holding substantial power.

In the Sengoku Era, a local daimyo would have received him with great respect.

Thinking this way, it indeed seems like a good match, also understandable that Mrs. Sakai hopes to have Koshiba Tarou as a son-in-law.

Koizumi Katsuko never opposed it.

Senior Xiaosong seemed to like her quite a bit, and she didn’t particularly like him nor had any compelling reason to refuse.

At least compared to marrying into political Hua Clan, where one might have to start as a dedicated homemaker from marriage, solely managing family connections daily as a graceful yet dull Duchess, it’s much freer.

Koizumi Katsuko simply didn’t care about those rumors of Koshiba Tarou with various women outside.

After marriage, cutting it off would be ideal,

if it didn’t cut, he continued playing outside... she would let him be.

In the art world, such things are too common, Koizumi Katsuko had grown accustomed since childhood.

Modern artists are like rock singers, messy private lives are not even news.

Master Picasso, even at fifty, still kept seducing beautiful underage female students to be his mistresses and laughed at the scenes where his lover and wife, who just bore him a child, wrestled and bit each other in front of him, taking it as self-satisfaction and amusement.

Compared to such thoroughly reprehensible behavior deserving a target board, and daily target practice, Koshiba Tarou’s mere flirting with a few TV actresses was hardly a moral failing, practically a model husband.

Because it didn’t stem from love,

so she really didn’t care.

She would bear him children, and he would host her art exhibitions, each getting what they needed—very fair.

Koizumi Katsuko had long accepted this outcome with tranquility, it’s also a lifestyle desired by countless others, she couldn’t say no.

Only now, Koizumi Katsuko completely changed her mind.

She had a thousand reasons to marry Koshiba Tarou, but unfortunately, liking is the one thing that doesn’t require reason.