After breaking up, my ex asked me to win her back

Everything about humanity has a price.

Whether it's intangible emotions and intelligence, or physical body organs and labor.

In elementary school, teachers and children's cartoons would tell them that kinship is priceless, love is priceless, and friendships are priceless.

When they reached the appropriate age, they would gradually realize that those were merely fairy tales and slogans, and in reality, humans were openly priced and sold.

At an American hospital, patients waiting for liver or kidney transplants could be in line for a year or even longer. Just when their turn is almost up, another family with the same needs could sponsor the hospital with a "donation" and push you down the list, forcing you to wait several more months.

Asking the hospital, they would only evade the issue by saying that the patient in that bed had a more urgent situation. Who knows the truth? But this is medical privatization.

Take another example, most factory leaders would not replace workers with machines.

It's not because they care about workers going unemployed and starving, but because machines cost more than humans and require additional maintenance fees.

What about humans? If he falls ill and becomes immobile, what does the factory care? If he collapses outside, it's not even considered a work-related injury, and no compensation is required.

In even more extreme cases, in areas of conflict, human lives become even cheaper, sometimes worth less than a single shell.

This is what's happening in the world right now.

Whether one admits to these dark realities marks the divide between naivety and maturity.

But the problem Kagura Hikaru faced today was not dark to that extent.

He just needed to give Ruzaki's mother an "offer she couldn't refuse."

In the classic movie "The Godfather," the mafia chopped off the head of a man's beloved horse to coerce him. They silently placed it under his sheets at night.

When he woke up in the morning and flipped the blankets, his lower body was already smeared with blood. The dead horse's head lay on him, eyes wide open, as if foreshadowing the man's future if he refused the mafia.

If they could silently break into his house and kill his horse, how much harder would it be to kill him?

After that day, the man completely compromised and became an accomplice of the mafia.

That's the origin of the "offer she couldn't refuse."

Threats and temptations, seizing the target's weaknesses by any means to achieve their goal, giving them an offer they can't refuse, then waiting for them to bow their heads.

This time, the target was Ruzaki Mami's mother, and naturally, Kagura Hikaru could not resort to brute force — frankly speaking, he rarely did, a high school student hardly had that many occasions to resort to physical actions.

So, that left only temptation.

Everyone has desires, not to mention a common person who isn't even a monk.

After leaving the family restaurant, Kagura Hikaru searched online for Ruzaki Mami's mother, viewed all her information, and based on what Ruzaki Mami had told him, roughly pieced together an image.

Middle-aged woman, harsh, old-fashioned, an adherent of classicism, with a strong musical literacy, a professional violinist, and pianist, earning fame and fortune, harmonious family.

At first glance, she seemed to be a rather formidable figure.

But everyone has a weakness, and everything has a price tag, which is undeniable.

Getting a mother to let go of her control over her daughter was not beyond Kagura Hikaru's expectations in terms of cost.

He immediately came up with a plan.

That weekend, he went with Ai Cheng Hua Lian to visit the Ruzaki's house.

My mistake, it was Ai Cheng Hua Lian who brought him along for the visit.

Compared to him, Ruzaki Mami's family was more familiar with the occasionally visiting Ai Cheng Hua Lian, and Kagura Hikaru needed her to make the introduction.

Arriving by car at the mountain villa of the Ruzaki's house, Kagura Hikaru got a slight glimpse of their true financial capability.

It was a Western-style mansion located in the suburbs, the kind of manor surrounded by gardens that English nobility used to frequent.

The design was not particularly conspicuous, a standard symmetrical style, but very classical.

Just considering the area it occupied, it was not less than Chiyoko and Suse's houses, but not by much.

This was the so-called wealthy class.

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Ruzaki Mami usually didn't wear gold or indulge in luxury brands, but who knew her family was so wealthy.

Kagura Hikaru discovered an unusual number of wealthy students inside Yuqiu High School, and they were, to his awareness, all girls.

Bizarre.

After ringing the doorbell outside the gate, a maid quickly led them into the house.

Yes, a maid, dressed in the classic black and white long dress of a British maid.

The aesthetic preference for British style was evident everywhere in the house, which Kagura Hikaru blindly guessed was Mrs. Ruzaki's taste.

Guided by the maid through the garden and into the house, Ruzaki Mami was already waiting behind the door.

"Karen-chan!"

"Zhen Chun!"

The two girls leaned in together, then Ruzaki Mami turned to Kagura Hikaru with a shy smile and said, "Mr. Kagura, welcome to my home. I'll do my best to entertain you!"

"Ordinary entertainment will do, thank you."

Kagura Hikaru tightened his collar; he was wearing a casual-style grey Norfolk jacket today, but it was not bespoke and was slightly small.

For today's meeting, he had specially rented a handmade suit from a clothes shop. It wasn't branded, but the fabric and craftsmanship were superb, styled as if a designer had carefully matched it.

The first impression was critical; he couldn't let Ruzaki Mami's mother think he lacked taste and aesthetic sense, or else he would be at a disadvantage before the conversation even started.

Ruzaki Mami's mother was a classical enthusiast, which meant conservative taste.

Seeing this classical manor confirmed for Kagura Hikaru that he had made the right choice.

Their house was designed with complete symmetry; even upon entering, Kagura didn't see any asymmetrical decorations, suggesting that Ruzaki Mami's family had high standards for steadiness and decency.

The concept of 'decency' originally came from England, where societal norms required men to maintain a gentlemanly demeanor, from speech to dress, and even smoking had to be done in a very manly style.

Failure to do so would justifiably lead to being secretly regarded as a country bumpkin.

Fortunately, Kagura Hikaru's height and physique carried the suit well, as appearing juvenile would likely have backfired.

"Where are your parents?" Kagura Hikaru asked.

Ruzaki Mami's face tensed slightly as she forced a smile and led the way inside, with Kagura Hikaru following behind her.

Soon, they met a middle-aged man and woman in the living room, clearly the masters of the house.

Ruzaki Mami's father was chubby and had a wealthy appearance, dressed in a suit, shirt, and trousers, smiling warmly at them.

Ruzaki Mami's mother, however, seemed to have some objections to Kagura Hikaru and his company, not even offering a smile but merely pursing her lips and nodding with lips so colorless that she seemed very stern.

She was exactly as Kagura Hikaru had imagined, in terms of demeanor; he had already seen her appearance online a few days earlier.

Ruzaki Mami's family seemed familiar with Ai Cheng Karen, who simply greeted them with a 'uncle and auntie' before it was Kagura Hikaru's turn.

"I hope it's not too presumptuous of me to visit, Mr. Ruzaki, Mrs. Ruzaki, good morning. I am Ruzaki Mami's classmate, Kagura Hikaru."

Kagura Hikaru bowed slightly.

Ruzaki's Father stood up happily and came over to warmly shake Kagura Hikaru's hand, "So you are Kagura Hikaru. You saved our Mami once before, thank you very much."

"You're very welcome."

"You're here to hang out with Mami, right? I can have the maid take you to the garden. It's a nice place with juice to drink, and if you want ice cream, you can tell the maid too."

Ruzaki's Father was frequently winking at him, seemingly hinting at something.

Kagura Hikaru took the hint, glancing at Ruzaki Mami and noticing her sweating profusely, visibly anxious and trembling.

He sighed silently.@@novelbin@@

It seemed that this third-grade senior, as timid as a rabbit, had already spilled all her secrets.

No wonder both her parents were here, knowing they were coming.

"No, there's no need to see the scenery," Kagura Hikaru knew who the real obstacle was, and looked towards Mrs. Ruzaki, who was still sitting on the sofa, meeting her gaze, "We are here to discuss the matter of Ruzaki forming a band."

He disliked the trivial pleasantries of probing; better to get straight to the point.