CHAPTER 561: CHAPTER 467: NEWS, COMPLETE FALLOUT, FISHING MASTER (TWO-IN-ONE FOR MONTHLY PASS)_3

Akimoto Jiancheng’s face changed color, an unexpected event that completely caught him off guard. He had never anticipated that the person he sent to follow Panasonic Izumi would be discovered so quickly.

This left him unprepared and aware that his purpose for coming this morning had completely fallen through.

Still, he wanted to make one last struggle.

"Mayor, please hear me out," he pleaded. "I had someone follow Miss Izumi with no ill intentions, just to find out why she framed my son. It was precisely because we followed her that we were able to promptly discover the role Aoyama Xiu Xin played in this matter..."

"Slap!" Panasonic Youkang had finally had enough and harshly slapped Akimoto Jiancheng across his face, saying fiercely, "I thought you would admit your mistake, beg for mercy. Instead, you have come merely to make excuses, throwing all the blame on my daughter. I’ve been too lenient with you over the years! It has made you confuse who is the master and who is the servant!"

Seeing his father get slapped, Akabon Hero’s chest heaved violently, his fists clenched so tightly that his fingernails nearly pierced his skin, yet he dared not utter a word.

"Mayor..." Akimoto Jiancheng immediately knew that Panasonic Youkang was truly angry upon hearing this. Ignoring the burning pain on his cheek, he hurriedly tried to explain.

But Panasonic Youkang no longer wanted to give him a chance to make excuses, saying indifferently, "I need to reconsider the allocation of various projects in Asahikawa City this year."

"Mayor, please think this over!" exclaimed Akimoto Jiancheng, going pale. The projects in Sapporo City were already a lost cause, and in Asahikawa City, he had relied on home-field advantage to secure half the share promised by Panasonic Youkang. If this fell through, Akabon Construction Co., Ltd would suffer a heavy loss this year.

Akabon Hero, who had been holding back his temper, finally couldn’t bear it any longer, "Mayor, these projects affect not only our profits but also yours. So please, think it through before making a decision."

"Are you threatening me?" Panasonic Youkang suddenly turned and stared icily at Akabon Hero, his gaze as cold as ice.

Akabon Hero’s breath hitched, feeling a tightness in his chest under that gaze and lowered his head.

"Slap!"

"Idiot! Who asked for your opinion!" Akimoto Jiancheng backhandedly slapped Akabon Hero and then turned to apologize to Panasonic Youkang, "My lord Mayor, please calm your anger. My son merely spoke out of turn in his urgency..."

"You, Akimoto Jiancheng, your son frequently loses his composure. I’m used to it. After all, not only baseless talk, but even misconduct like harassing my daughter at a charity dinner has happened before," Panasonic Youkang interrupted coldly, disinterestedly continuing, "Forget about this year’s projects and funds for Asahikawa City. Wait until next year. Akimoto Hidekazu will be punished strictly by the law. Moreover, I advise you not to think about mutual destruction. Sometimes, even if the fish dies, the net might not necessarily break! I’m not in a good mood today, so I won’t be hosting you any longer."

With that, he closed his eyes, signaling that the meeting was over.

Akimoto Jiancheng was extremely reluctant, but he knew the other’s temperament and recognized that any further pleading would only backfire, so he bowed and left.

"Dad, they won’t really mess things up, will they? Should we strike first?" Panasonic Tiger asked as he watched the two figures disappear from view.

"No need," Panasonic Youkang shook his head and confidently said, "Even without this year’s projects, Akabon Construction Co., Ltd remains one of the largest construction companies in Hokkaido. They’ll earn less, but it won’t bankrupt them. As for Akimoto Hidekazu, even with the maximum sentence, it won’t be many years."

"He won’t do anything, and when Akimoto Hidekazu gets out, he’ll still have no worries about food and clothing. If he dares make a move, it will certainly harm both sides, and he’ll be the one more severely hurt. Without his family business, when Akimoto Hidekazu gets out, he might not even find a job."

He paused briefly, then added somberly, "If he doesn’t cause trouble, everyone can part on good terms. Otherwise, he will pay the price."

"Dad!" a crisp voice called out.

Panasonic Youkang turned around to see his daughter, dressed in a nightgown and tearfully looking down from the railing, unclear how long she had been listening.

"Dad!" Panasonic Izumi called out again emotionally, then ran down and threw herself into Panasonic Youkang’s arms, sobbing, "I heard everything just now. Dad, you’re really wonderful."

She looked overwhelmingly moved by her father’s love.

"You are my daughter. Of course, I cannot tolerate people bullying you," Akimoto Jiancheng said as a matter of course. Bullying might be tolerated, but repeated bullying is not just against his daughter but against him as well, and that required him to strike back.

Then he turned to Panasonic Tiger, "Release the Akahone Family dog we caught last night. Since everything has been laid out, there’s no use in keeping him any longer."

"Right!" Panasonic Tiger nodded and acknowledged.

As Panasonic Youkang had expected, Akimoto Jiancheng indeed was not prepared to engage in a mutual ruin with the Panasonic family—it wasn’t worth it. He planned to try to repair his relationship with Panasonic Youkang as much as possible, even if they couldn’t return to how things once were, to avoid being despised by him; simultaneously, he would look for new official patrons or collaborators.

And yet, he wasn’t prepared to swallow his anger.

He only planned to vent his anger on Aoyama Xiu Xin, the root cause of this predicament. He speculated that now he had been turned away by Panasonic Youkang, and with Aoyama Xiu Xin having Panasonic Izumi’s connection, with his greedy nature, he surely wouldn’t miss this opportunity.