Hell's Handbook

Chapter 219: The Unfriendly Kano Family

In the end, Su Jin allowed Kano Mai to return to Japan, as long as he went everywhere with her. He initially contacted Situ Jin to ask him to come along as well, but Situ Jin was too busy to leave his post now. There were a lot of things waiting for him to attend to.

“You can’t come along, but surely you could send some folks over, right?” snapped Su Jin in a displeased voice.

Situ Jin was now following a man who seemed to be an owner. He whispered into an earpiece, “What sort of people do you want?”

“Someone from the government. I want her family to know that Mai’s under our protection!” said Su Jin.

Situ Jin was silent for some time, and he only started speaking again several minutes later. He also sounded like he had just been moving about very quickly.

“Someone from the government? You’re someone from the government. Why should I send you anybody else?” Situ Jin was losing his patience. This wasn’t a good time for Su Jin to call.

Su Jin paused and realized that Situ Jin was right. He was now an official member of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, and he carried special papers given to him by Situ Jin. He could bring these papers to the embassy, and they would certify that Su Jin was really who he said he was.

“Then forget about sending people to me. Let me think about how else you could help me.” Su Jin stopped to think for a while, only to realize that Situ Jin was actually useless to him. There was nothing else he needed Situ Jin’s help with.

Su Jin had plenty of money, since it took very few Handbook points to exchange for a lot of actual money. If Su Jin exchanged all his remaining points for cash, he would be a millionaire.

As for status, he was now an official member of the prestigious Department of Supernatural Affairs. If he wanted a sports car, he could use a few points to exchange for one. He didn’t need to worry about security either. Even if he were faced with the best mercenary soldiers, he would still be able to defeat them all in a minute.

“After thinking about it, I realize you’re completely useless!” Su Jin shook his head in disappointment and hung up, leaving one furious Situ Jin hanging on the other side.

Once they boarded the plane, Su Jin closed his eyes to rest. Kano Mai couldn’t help but look at Su Jin. She had allowed him to come along because he had promised to act as her boyfriend. It sounded childish, but… she was happy to be his girlfriend, even if it was just for a few days.

A few hours later, the plane landed in Tokyo’s international airport. As a top cosmopolitan city of the world, Tokyo was quite similar to S City. But of course, that was only on the surface. S City had become one of the world’s top cities now, and Tokyo wasn’t as majestic in comparison.

There were people already waiting for Kano Mai after they had gotten off the plane. Just like what she told him, the Kano family was an influential one in this country. They had a foot in manufacturing, finance, and even the entertainment industry. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they owned nearly half of Tokyo.

“Most people are picked up at the arrival hall, but your family comes to pick you up straight from the tarmac?” Su Jin didn’t think he was being old fashioned here. This was pretty unusual.

Kano Mai replied awkwardly, “Well… the family funded the building of this airport, so nobody would stop them from coming all the way in here. Nobody would dare to.”

“You guys are really rich,” remarked Su Jin. His points could be exchanged for a lot of money, but it certainly wasn’t enough to build an entire airport of this size.

“Welcome home, Miss.” An old man whose skin resembled dried orange peel bowed respectfully toward Kano Mai.

She sighed and said, “Uncle Ishida, there’s no need for you to be so formal toward me, right?”

“We are on close terms, but I should not make use of that. There are some formalities that must be observed, no matter what.” Even though the old man said that, it was obvious from his expression that he was really happy that Kano Mai favored him.

Kano Mai shrugged and introduced the old man to Su Jin. “This gentleman here is Mr. Ishida Shouichi, who has been taking care of me since I was a child. Uncle Ishida, this is my boyfriend from China. His name is Su Jin.”

Ishida Shouichi’s previously genteel gaze suddenly hardened when he turned to look at Su Jin. He was clearly not going to be as friendly to Su Jin.

“Mr. Su, welcome to Japan.” Ishida Shouichi stretched a palm out to shake Su Jin’s hand.

Su Jin didn’t give it a second thought and reached out to shake the old man’s hand. But once he did that, the old man suddenly increased his grip strength. This was a very strong grip. If Su Jin were an ordinary person, this would have been enough to break his palm.

Su Jin raised his eyebrows slightly. If the man in front of him were a young man, then he might have assumed that the young man had something for Kano Mai and was doing this out of jealousy. But he didn’t understand why an old man would do such a thing.

His expression did not flinch and he did not even try to pull his hand back, which surprised Ishida Shouichi instead. The old man knew how strong his grip was. He could even crush a rock with his bare hands. Yet, Su Jin had no reaction whatsoever. If this was truly Su Jin’s hand and not a fake hand, then it meant that this young Chinese boy was no ordinary person.

“Mr. Ishida’s grip is really firm, just slightly sweaty,” said Su Jin with a smile. He flicked Ishida Shouichi’s palm with one of his fingers and made the old man feel like he had been poked by a spear, so he immediately pulled his own hand away first.

“Are you a martial artist?” asked Ishida Shouichi instinctively.

Su Jin didn’t say anything and just smiled faintly. Kano Mai quickly cut in, “Alright now, Uncle Ishida. I think the rest of the family must have been waiting for a long time, so let’s go home first.”

“Indeed, Miss is right. Let’s go back now,” said Ishida Shouichi with a friendly laugh. But he would glance at Su Jin from time to time, and was clearly very wary of the young man.

Su Jin walked alongside Kano Mai in a relaxed manner. He found Ishida Shouichi’s reaction very strange. Logically speaking, there was no reason for the old man to treat him like an enemy. It wasn’t as if Kano Mai were his own daughter. And even if he was actually romantically interested in Kano Mai, he was really too old for her. In that case, there must be some other reason why the old man was treating him like this.

“Does it have something to do with the man whom Mai is supposed to marry?” wondered Su Jin. But it didn’t really matter to him. None of the family’s schemes could possibly be a threat to him. If threatened, he would just fight them off.

Ishida Shouichi had brought along a few dozen people, so there were more than ten cars in total. They were all Japanese cars, but Su Jin wasn’t sure what model these cars were. Before becoming an owner, he couldn’t afford a car. And now, he didn’t need one, so he never bothered looking into them.

The old man led Kano Mai to the luxury car right in front. Su Jin took a step forward but was stopped immediately.

“Sir, I’m sorry but this car is specially meant for Miss Mai. Please take that car instead,” said the bodyguard who stopped Su Jin in a very solemn voice as he pointed to a rickety car that looked ready to be scrapped anytime.

Meanwhile, Kano Mai had already gotten into the car, followed by Ishida Shouichi. She said to the old man, “Uncle Ishida, leave some space for my boyfriend too.”

“The Kano family has more than one car and it’s not appropriate to make a guest squeeze into a car. That would not look good on us as the host. He will take another car by himself,” said Ishida Shouichi with a friendly smile. Kano Mai accepted his response without much thought and had no idea that Su Jin had been stopped from getting into the car.

Su Jin raised an eyebrow, but since he was here to lend Kano Mai support, he figured that it was alright to lie low for the time being. So, he turned around and got into the rickety car that the bodyguard had pointed to.

“What a lousy fellow. I can’t believe trash like him even dreamt of getting together with Miss Mai. He can dream on,” muttered the bodyguard after leading Su Jin to the rickety car. He spat violently on the ground and glared disdainfully at Su Jin.

Thankfully, the engine of the rickety car could still start. The only problem was that it couldn’t go as quickly as the other cars and was soon left behind. If Su Jin were a passerby looking at this line of cars, he wouldn’t have thought that this car was actually part of the same fleet.

Half an hour later, Su Jin finally arrived outside a Japonesque estate. The cars at the front of the fleet had clearly arrived quite some time ago, since they were all parked neatly and there wasn’t a single person inside them. There were several other luxury cars parked around the estate and Su Jin’s sharp hearing could pick up the sounds of a dance party happening inside the main building. It was probably a party to welcome Kano Mai.

Su Jin got out of the car and walked toward the main gate, but was stopped before he could even get past the main gate.

“Sir, the Kano family is having a private party inside. We cannot let you in without an invitation.” Two men stood in his way in front of the main gate, and Su Jin was pretty sure they were doing this on purpose, because he could see the disdain and mocking look in their eyes.

“I don’t know who told you to block my way, but I would like to warn you guys that letting me go in would be the better choice,” said Su Jin calmly. “Otherwise, you’re going to have trouble explaining things when the family’s Young Mistress comes out.”

“Oh? Please go ahead and call the family’s Young Mistress to let you in then!” said the two men with a snort.

Su Jin was in a bit of a difficult situation. He was at Kano Mai’s home, so it was not nice for him to get into a fight here. He used his phone to call Kano Mai, but there was no signal.

“Phone signals have been blocked?” Su Jin was a little surprised. He scanned the building in front of him and figured that some equipment to block phone signals must have been installed somewhere nearby.

But he didn’t panic and just shut his eyes. The two men immediately laughed at his actions and said, “Sir, are you too embarrassed to face the world after your lies have been exposed?”

“No, I’m just calling on the family’s Young Mistress to come out and let me in,” said Su Jin with a shrug.

The two of them sniggered. They didn’t care who Su Jin was. He was a foreigner in a foreign land, after all.

“Aha! Someone’s here!” said Su Jin with a smile as he suddenly looked toward the main gate.