Volume 1 Chapter 15
by Golden DragonVolume 1 + Chapter 15: Evaluation
A person has value, and this value is assessed differently across various domains.
Such value depends on the amount of work you have done and the achievements you have made in each field.
The Black Tiger Gang is a first-class organization within the Japanese underworld.
Due to its amicable relationship with the government, it holds a unique position among both the yakuza and the authorities. While wielding considerable power, it also finds itself in an extremely precarious phase.
It serves as a buffer between the government and gang forces, a special syndicate with which the government is willing to establish friendly ties, yet against which it remains highly vigilant and guarded.
The current reality is that a single misstep could lead to being devoured by either side.
Since several decades ago, the Black Tiger Gang has revised its rules, becoming remarkably clean and upright, a stark contrast to other criminal organizations.
There are relatively few ill-intentioned individuals here, most are simple-minded folks who act impulsively.
This has given the government and other gangs the illusion that the Black Tiger Gang’s existence is of no consequence.
After all, why worry about an insect you can crush at any moment?
And this is precisely the perception that the leaders of the Black Tiger Gang are eager to cultivate.
The Watanabe couple has made significant contributions among the members who foster this illusion in the government and other gangs.
Not only do they appear harmless in appearance, but their personalities are equally innocent, childlike, even.
They serve as mascots within the gang. Though they are mascots, they are mascots granted considerable authority.
How else could one make others entertain the delusion that ‘if the Black Tiger Gang lets people like this become important members, maybe they’re on the verge of collapse’?
What this couple talks about most often is their only daughter, a little girl named Watanabe Yuu.
According to their accounts, their child Watanabe Yuu seems to be a prodigy.
She would cry once when hungry, cry once when she needed changing.
After letting them know, she would not make another sound. When she grew old enough to walk, it became even more remarkable.
She would find safe places on her own to practice walking.
Aside from an initial fall, she never tumbled again.
The same went for speaking.
By the time they heard their child talk, she was already articulate and clear.
Around the age of three or four, she would order food for herself at home.
They said that when they first discovered this, it gave them quite a fright.
Seeing the takeout containers in the living room, they initially thought an intruder had broken in.
At four or five, she apparently became the neighborhood’s child leader.
Among the children in that area, she commanded considerable respect.
And the parents of those children were quite willing to let their kids be under her care.
The games she organized were fun and wholesome, sometimes, they would even compete to pick up trash from the ground.
She was, one could say, cherished and trusted by the entire community in that neighborhood.
Some of the elderly folks would give her snacks, or treats for the whole group of children.
However, after she turned six and a half, she stepped down as child leader for some reason. The scene of a flock of children dancing and doing morning exercises in the park also vanished.
The Watanabe couple was even visited at home by concerned neighbors, asking if something had happened to their child.
Why had they stopped playing?
Respecting their daughter’s wishes, the Watanabes simply relayed the inquiry to her.
No one knew what their child arranged afterward, but before long, many children were once again doing morning exercises and dancing in the park.
Only this time, without their child leading them, fewer and fewer children showed up.
Eventually, after all the children reached school age, the neighbors stopped bringing it up.
Once she started school, she was consistently an honor student, a child whom teachers and the school never stopped praising.
At parent-teacher meetings, they were always told she was an outstanding child who deserved to be nurtured well.
They gave her a substantial amount of money, only to come home and find she had used it to buy a wall of bookshelves and books.
She caused them no worry, and from time to time, she would even show concern for them, leaving out snacks or prepared meals.
At first, the gang members who thought the Watanabes were just spinning tall tales merely smiled and paid no mind.
But when the Watanabes brought out photos of their daughter standing before other children, with those children all crouching down while listening to her speak, the members finally realized the couple was not exaggerating.
They also gained a concrete impression of Watanabe Yuu.
Her reputation had already reached the group leader.
Hearing the rumors, the leader told his own daughter, who was no less intelligent, about Watanabe Yuu.
His daughter simply nodded to show she understood and had no other reaction.
Thinking she was uninterested, he was surprised when she suddenly brought it up again two years later.
The leader greeted the Watanabe couple and, incidentally, gave them a promotion.
In terms of treatment and authority, their position finally began to match their merits.
At six o’clock on Saturday evening, they arrived at the Watanabe residence.
Unexpectedly, the couple’s child, Watanabe Yuu, was not at home.
Hanging in the living room was a 12-inch electronic whiteboard with blue lettering on it.
[A friend’s house. Tutoring.]
The handwriting was beautiful, not something one would expect from a child. One could sense both the writer’s unique character and their straightforward, efficient style of handling matters.
[…Ha ha… It seems Yuu went to a friend’s house today and is also tutoring someone, so she’ll probably be back quite late. We are truly sorry, leader.]
Only a family member who lived with her day by day could decipher that handwriting. Mr. Watanabe scratched his head apologetically, then bowed to the leader in apology.
After all, this visit was sudden, giving the Watanabes no time to inform their daughter. Under the circumstances, it was unavoidable.
His wife went to the kitchen and brought out an elegant ceramic pot.
[Leader, this is congee made by little Yuu. It’s delicious.]
Watanabe immediately introduced it to us, lifting the lid with a rather proud expression.
A wonderful aroma wafted out immediately. The congee inside the pot could only be described as perfect in color, aroma, and flavor.
Meanwhile, his wife placed small bowls and spoons on the table, then cautiously looked up at me and the leader.
[Mari, would you like some?]
[Yes, Father.]
Hearing my agreement, the Watanabes breathed a sigh of relief.
They divided the congee quickly and efficiently, arranged it neatly, and set it before us.
The congee was not bad at all.
For someone who has tasted countless delicacies to give such an evaluation, it was enough to show just how delicious this congee truly was.
My curiosity about Watanabe Yuu grew a little more.
After finishing the congee, it was nearly seven o’clock. The Watanabes, smiling awkwardly at us, had beads of sweat forming on their foreheads.
It seemed they had been unable to get in touch with their daughter, Watanabe Yuu.
Suddenly, as if struck by an idea, Watanabe pressed his palms together and suggested we look at old photos of Watanabe Yuu.
It occurred to me that the Watanabes probably did not have much time to take pictures of their child, and I grew curious.
I nodded to my father, who was looking down to ask my opinion.
Afterward, I saw photos of Watanabe Yuu as a newborn. Because Watanabe’s wife had taken maternity leave, the couple had some free time for photography back then.
But once we finished looking at the newborn photos, there were only a large number of pictures from when she was four.
Beneath each photo were notes written in a script that was clearly the early form of the handwriting on the electronic whiteboard.
The notes recorded the date and the occasion.
The occasion was always ‘taken by a kind-hearted person,’ and the date was when they received the photo.
There were many later photos as well. In them, Watanabe Yuu was either standing before a group of little rascals speaking, or holding various books while reading.
There were also pictures of her doing morning exercises and picking up trash.
Flipping further, the pattern continued: leading the little rascals and reading books.
The school photos were much the same, except that toward the end, her smiling expressions at the camera became more frequent.
Whether this was because the photographer had changed or for some other reason, I did not know.
The thought arose and then faded just as quickly.
Even if I knew why Watanabe Yuu smiled more in her later photos, it would be of little use to me.
Nevertheless, looking at Watanabe Yuu’s photographs cemented in my mind the impression that she had leadership abilities and a love of reading.
Another half hour passed looking at photos. Having exhausted even this method of passing time, the Watanabes slowly began to show signs of despair.
Just then, a chorus of loud voices from outside brought to the nearly desperate Watanabes a sense of relief akin to being delivered from suffering.
Apart from the gang members’ shouts, there were no other sounds. Soon, the atmosphere returned to complete silence.
Mr. Watanabe kept bowing and apologizing, while my father gently stopped him.
Then the living room door slid open, and Watanabe Yuu appeared before us.
Compared to her photographs, the real person possessed a unique aura. Combining the best features of both parents, Watanabe Yuu exhibited both feminine softness and a boyish handsomeness.
But more than the handsome, refined Watanabe Yuu in the photos, the one before us had a stronger feminine grace.
Even adults would have been intimidated by the scene, yet Watanabe Yuu remained completely composed and self-possessed.
Meeting her dark crimson eyes, I found myself unable to discern her thoughts at all. Finally, I showed a satisfied smile.
[This is a person of very high value.]
Ordinarily, anyone facing my smile would show some kind of expression, but Watanabe Yuu did not.
Her expression remained calm as she nodded to me with natural grace, then walked forward and stood beside the Watanabe couple.
[It is an honor to meet you. My parents have always been in your care. I am their daughter, Watanabe Yuu. Pleased to make your acquaintance.]
Though her words and demeanor were those of an adult, she carried them off with surprising naturalness.
There was neither the ridiculousness of a child playing grown-up nor any off-putting air of arrogance.
[May I ask how long you and your daughter have been waiting here?]
Watanabe Yuu engaged my father in conversation very naturally. Watching him smile with genuine delight, I knew that he, too, had concluded that Watanabe Yuu was an exceptional talent.
The conversation was genuinely enjoyable. Some of the books my father mentioned, I had not even heard of, yet Watanabe Yuu kept up with the topics effortlessly.
When the time was right, my father led me and the members away.
Looking back, I saw Watanabe Yuu standing with her parents, bowing respectfully in farewell.
Sitting in the car, my father suddenly burst into laughter, slapping his knee several times with a hearty “Ha ha ha!”
I had never seen my father so delighted. After he finished laughing, he gazed out the window as if lost in recollection.
[Mari, do you know why that Watanabe child wanted to talk with me?]
He asked me.
[Because she didn’t want her parents to have to face you alone?]
[Correct! But there’s another important point you missed.]
My father turned his eyes from the window to look at me.
I thought carefully, replaying Watanabe Yuu’s behavior and words.
An unexpected idea surfaced in my mind, and my mouth fell open in astonishment.
Seeing that I understood, my father nodded approvingly.
[Yes, she was testing me.]
He spoke aloud that audacious thought.
[That Watanabe child is truly remarkable. I should invite her over during the holidays to play chess, it would certainly be interesting.]
Seeming to be plotting something, my father wore an expression like a child who had found a beloved toy.
Never having seen him like this, I raised my evaluation of Watanabe Yuu’s value even further.
[Mari, spend more time with that Watanabe child when you can.]
[You will gain unexpected rewards.]
Heeding my father’s guidance, I nodded in agreement.
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