I became the King of Ryukyu

Speaking of his sister, Zheng Yi remembered that, like his classmate Yu Ji, she didn't have any elective classes this afternoon.

After all, it's not a real medical school; the veterinary medicine department is much easier academically.

Of course, the income after graduation is also far from what it used to be.

A chief physician at an Okinawa Prefectural Hospital can easily earn over 1500 million yen a year.

Meanwhile, livestock quarantine physicians of the same level earn only 600 million yen annually.

Only independently operated veterinary clinics that are well-managed can potentially earn over 1000 million yen.

Thinking about it this way, if we were to be pessimistic, the work-study job of scrubbing sharks might actually be an insurmountable peak in life.

Shake your head and banish this bad ending from your mind.

"Bearing the glory of Kumejima on my shoulders, the fact that I, Zheng Yi, could eat three of Yuki's horseshoe pastries already proves my greatness!"

"The great Zheng Yi." I stood on the street corner like Gu Youji, my little face terribly gloomy. "The inner monologue is something I don't need to say out loud."

"My sincerity is one of the reasons I am great," Zheng Yi boasted irresponsibly.

After spending some time together, he realized that although Yuki wasn't very petty, managing the izakaya, raising Tetsuya, and completing her studies were all demanding tasks, leaving her with very little energy for bickering.

If Zheng Yi was born with a hand of weak cards (3, 4, 5), then his father's accident and subsequent coma a few years ago shattered the good hand that the Rugu family had been dealt.

In fact, Zheng Yi knew the purpose of the siblings' trip the moment he saw Yugi—they must be visiting their father, who had become a vegetable.

He was rambling on in an attempt to ease the heavy atmosphere.

As someone who comes from a family with a long-standing friendship, I can't just walk away when something like this happens.

The three walked more than 500 meters along the main street and boarded the only monorail in Okinawa Prefecture.

The tram traveled a considerable distance, and the bustling shops outside the window gradually gave way to quiet suburban residences.

As I walked out of the station, I passed a shop with a sign that read "Okinawa Prefectural Agricultural Association Fruit and Flower Specialty Store".

The address of the Ryukyu Farmers' Cooperative is 2-9-1 Tsubogawa, Naha City, 8th Floor, JA Hall. The chairman's name is Maeda Akio.

Zheng Yi knew this so clearly because his father would complain about these bastards at the dinner table every time it was time to buy fertilizer.

The seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and agricultural machinery sold by agricultural cooperatives are more than 30% more expensive than market prices.

However, if farmers do not buy, they will face sanctions: reduction of agricultural subsidies, cessation of purchasing their own agricultural products, tightening of loans, and refusal to sell key agricultural inputs.

The exorbitant prices of Japanese agricultural products are largely attributable to the agricultural cooperatives' efforts to drive up prices.

Even so, thanks to channel monopoly and administrative suppression, the agricultural cooperative's specialty stores are quite popular because other stores are more expensive.

Zheng Yi went inside, picked up a simple flower basket, looked at the price, and silently exchanged it for a sunflower wrapped in individual tubes next to him.

Growing towards the sun is a very auspicious meaning.

As for fruit baskets or the like, Zheng Yi hadn't even considered it.

Firstly, if you bring a fruit basket to a person in a vegetative state, it will inevitably end up in Tetsuya's belly.

The tropical fruits that are a specialty of Ryukyu are generally rich in fructose, which is a powerful tool for increasing visceral fat.

Secondly, even locally produced fruits are ridiculously expensive. A gift box of three mangoes costs nearly 10,000 yen, which is practically robbery.

These things that he could pick at will on Kume Island, through the agricultural association's efforts, ended up in the big city in a way that made them unaffordable for him.

In Zheng Yi's memory, his uncle's family, who grew a lot of mangoes, was even poorer than his own.

"Those adorned in silk robes are not the ones who raise silkworms," ​​he sighed again.

"You even know Zhang Yu's 'The Silkworm Woman' from the Song Dynasty, such an obscure piece of Han poetry?" You looked at him with the same expression you'd seen when the cat did a backflip. "I thought you were the kind of academic bum who wasn't interested in anything except the college entrance exam syllabus. Or perhaps you've considered applying to the Chinese Classics Academy?"

"The nearest extraterrestrial galaxy is Alpha Centauri. Humanity knows only a fraction of it, just as we know only a tiny fraction of it, and so does your understanding of me." Zheng Yi looked up at the north, as if there truly was an endless starry sky there.

"Shakespeare said that pride will destroy you." Yuki covered her forehead, as if afraid that the gazes of those around her would sweep over her and him together.

"Vanity is about how others see you, pride is only about how you see yourself." Zheng Yi held the sunflower between his fingers, pointing it at her like a sword. "From 'Pride and Prejudice,' woman, you can't beat me when it comes to endorsements—the number one genius of Kume Island."

Seeing the boy's radiant spirit, as if he were fearless in the face of any storm, yet with an expression that was exceptionally narcissistic and arrogant, Yuki finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Her laughter was crisp and clear, like the gentle swaying of a wind chime. A smile appeared on her tired face for the first time that day, and even her dark circles had faded a little.

……

In an old-fashioned special care ward at Shuri-Momohara-cho Rehabilitation Hospital.

Zheng Yi always felt that names like Yuta, Sota, and Yuta should be associated with the perpetually immature, clingy younger brother of the female protagonist in Japanese manga, rather than with a weathered, middle-aged man.

Zheng Yi looked at the middle-aged man with tubes inserted in his hospital bed and a wrinkled face, and found it hard to associate him with this name.

"Mr. Koyuta's condition remains stable, and the prepaid fees are running low. Please remember to top them up promptly."

The doctor, in his thirties, wore gold-rimmed glasses and had his hair precisely parted in a 3:7 ratio, perfectly embodying the public's perception of a medical elite.

He gave a brief explanation and then left.

This attitude unconsciously reminded Zheng Yi of the civil servants in the Shuri Police Station.

But then I thought about it again, and I guess it was the regret of not getting into medical school that was holding me back, and I was being too harsh on others.

After years of struggling in this industry, witnessing life and death, and the coldness and warmth of human relationships, it's hard for anyone to maintain the same level of enthusiasm and provide unnecessary emotional support to the families.

"Thank you so much!" Yuki saw the doctor off and sat by the bedside.

She took a carnation from her shoulder bag and placed it in a slender glass vase.

Buying them from the market at the dock is much cheaper than buying them from a flower shop.

Zheng Yi also inserted sunflowers into the arrangement, gently adjusting the angle to make the two mismatched flowers look as pleasing to the eye as possible.

Your flower arrangement skills were looked down upon by Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji.

You have received 5000 yen.

Cheye looked at his older sister, then at the eldest, and reluctantly took out a yogurt stick from his pocket. He imitated her and stuck it into the bottle, making a complete mess of Zheng Yigang's flower arrangement.

Tetsuya-kun, you are not loyal enough! You dare to hoard yogurt sticks now, I don't even want to think about what you might hoard in the future, you deserve to die!

If his comatose father and landlady weren't around, Zheng Yi would yell at him like this.