National Tide 1980.

When people think of youth, the first thing that comes to mind is romance.

At least for Japanese people born in big cities in the 1960s, those "new generation" who are roughly comparable to the post-70s or post-80s generation in the People's Republic of China, their youth was inextricably linked to love.

It was from their generation that Japanese society developed a consumerist culture of romance, which eventually reached the pinnacle of love capitalism during the bubble economy era.

For example, the emergence and flourishing of the social activity of "Valentine's Day" was created by their generation.

Although as early as the late 1950s, Xipu Department Store followed the Americans and launched a promotional slogan on that day - "Valentine's Day, give your family a gift".

However, progress was very slow.

Although the "baby boomer generation" born after World War II did not experience the pain of war, most of them had a childhood that could be described as impoverished. As adults, they still maintain their frugal and simple nature, and few of them are willing to spend money on such superficial things.

It wasn't until the mid-1970s that the idea of ​​giving chocolates on Valentine's Day became established and popularized by the next generation—the "new generation" who had never experienced hardship and were in their adolescence.

With the help of candy stores, the custom of "White Day" on March 14th, where people give and receive gifts in return, even emerged.
In addition, giving "cotton candy" as a return gift is a coded message to express "sorry," while giving candy means "please take care of me in the future."

In addition, around the same time, the practice of celebrating Christmas with family also gradually became more popular.

Initially, the celebrations were simpler. Japanese office workers would usually take the chocolate cakes provided by their companies home to share with their families.

But by the 1980s, magazines and media outlets began marketing Christmas as a time to spend with one's lover.

Those who suffer losses and are manipulated by businesses are still the "new generation" who have just reached marriageable age.

However, the popular trend at the time was to have parties with a large group of people in a small suite.

Ultimately, after the Plaza Accord in 1985, customs changed again, and "spending Christmas alone with your lover" became the most representative symbol of the "bubble economy culture".

From then on, around Christmas, high-end hotels in Tokyo and Yokohama were fully booked, especially hotels with lounges and bars offering night views, such as ANA Hotels, Nagafumiya Hotels, and Haneda Tokyu Hotels. The room rates for that day were more than double those for weekdays.

This resulted in the unusual sight of young people going out together on Christmas Eve.

December 24, 1989, was Christmas Eve in the early years of the Heisei era.

On this day, you can hear foreign Christmas music on the streets and on FM radio.

People put these songs into a hodgepodge of popular songs and listen to them repeatedly.

In Tokyo, the streets of Shibuya and Harajuku are all decorated with a wonderful atmosphere.

It's like a magical and colorful world like Disneyland, a place that feels like stepping out of everyday life.

People come to the streets on special days, and it is the social event of Christmas that gives rise to this carnival-like scene.

The recent stock market surge has fueled people's desire for celebration, and no one seems to care about the passing of the Showa era.

The stock index has now successfully broken through 40014 points, giving the Japanese people a greater sense of optimism to welcome the many joys of the year-end, enough to give them confidence to spend Christmas.

Young men are saving up their wallets to make their goddesses happy today, while also being incredibly excited about the romantic night that's about to begin.

The young women were also carefully calculating, secretly anticipating what kind of hospitality and gifts they would receive that night.

Have you made any plans for Christmas Eve?

Who are you planning to spend Christmas with?

Phrases like these have even become a common greeting among young people.

In this group, regardless of gender, if someone spends Christmas alone at home, it is almost always seen as an act of exclusion and unbearable suffering.

This is the most beautiful picture of the heyday of the "bubble economy culture" in the late 1980s.

Like the pink afterglow of a setting sun, it emitted the most dazzling and captivating afterglow.

Even Zuo Haiyou couldn't resist this temptation.

Perhaps it was the soaring stock market that fueled his lust, but his good mood made him crave unrestrained sexual desire. Unfortunately, his wife, Miyoko, was six months pregnant and unable to have marital relations with him.

It was the deep-seated guilt and too many secrets that drove him to want to escape his family. He felt increasingly unable to face his wife and sister-in-law with a clear conscience.

On December 24, although it was a Sunday, Zuo Haiyou still left home after noon under the pretext of needing to go on a business trip. He also used the same excuse to invite his subordinate, Gui Zi, out in the afternoon.

I want to spend Christmas Eve with this mistress and indulge in a life of extravagance and debauchery.

Keiko sells insurance under Yujiro; she has been working for him for less than six months.

She is twenty-six years old and just got married last autumn. She is beautiful and petite, the kind of woman who is delicate and charming.

She doesn't look like someone her age; she looks more like a female college student in her early twenties.

She married a man named Changfu, who was five years older than her and worked as a mechanic at a car repair shop.

This husband was introduced to Gui Zi by a female colleague from when she worked at the trading company.

Although this person has an ordinary appearance, his good points are that he is very honest and has a decent income.

In Japan's blue-collar class, someone like him, with a monthly income of 600,000 to 700,000 yen, is considered a highly skilled individual. He can provide a stable life for his family and give Keiko a respectable wedding.

As Guizi grew older, she still hadn't found a more suitable partner, which became the reason that prompted her to marry him.

Despite this, Gui Zi herself was restless and not a woman who could be a good wife and mother.

She loved to have fun and enjoy life. She didn't want to have children and had dated many men before marriage. Even after marriage, she couldn't settle down.

At first, she tried to be a dutiful housewife, but after a while, she couldn't stand it.

She began to find her dull husband boring, and she became increasingly perfunctory in her housework. Moreover, whenever she was in a bad mood, she would go out and spend money recklessly.

A few months later, when Masao needed money, he was stunned to find that his wife had almost squandered the five million yen that had once been in his account.

As a result, the two began to argue frequently.

Later, her husband, Changfu, stripped Keiko of her financial control and began to strictly control the money he gave his wife each month.

Ultimately, economic status determines family status, and the husband holds complete control over life. Gui Zi has no choice but to either borrow money from the Jin Company or go back to work if she wants to spend more money.

In short, she didn't get along well with her husband and wasn't used to married life as a housewife. Although she had enough to eat and drink, she often felt short of money, which is why she started selling insurance.

She originally just wanted to earn some extra money to increase her financial freedom, but as soon as she joined the company, she was assigned to Zuo Haiyoujiro's group and met a man who interested her.

The handsome Yujiro Sōkai not only directly appealed to Keiko's taste in appearance, but more importantly, he seemed to be highly regarded by the department head and seemed to have a bright future.

In particular, Gui Zi was unaware of Zuo Haiyou Erlang's true financial situation, which involved massive debts and stock speculation.

Even though Zuo Haiyou Erlang's income as the team leader was only around 400,000, in Guizi's eyes, Zuo Haiyou Erlang had not only bought a house but also a car, and looked like a successful person and an elite in the insurance industry.

She felt that Zuo Haiyou Erlang was very generous and would often pay for his subordinates to win clients and business.

As she continued working with him, she became attracted to him. One night, after drinking, she went to a love hotel with him, and the two began an ambiguous relationship...

Ultimately, it's because she's too young and always wants to seek out some excitement.

As for Zuo Haiyoujiro, what he got from Keiko, besides the thrill of infidelity, was more importantly the kind of adoration from the opposite sex that could give men a sense of satisfaction.

Ever since his losses from borrowing money to speculate in stocks were exposed, he felt as if he had been stripped naked and had lost all face in front of his wife and sister-in-law.

Although he later managed to turn his losses around and even make a considerable profit by mortgaging his property to borrow money, he still couldn't regain his dignity in front of his wife and sister-in-law.

On the contrary, he should thank his wife for her understanding and for enduring the Kagawa sisters' nagging that he should sell the stocks as soon as possible and stop feeling smug.

The thought that he works so hard to earn money, occasionally makes a mistake, but is not understood by his wife, and instead feels guilty for the rest of his life is unbearable.

In the end, in order to earn a little more, he had no choice but to lie to them again, pretending that he had paid off the debt, and he felt utterly bored.

That's not all. In order to advance his career, he desperately tried to curry favor with Ninomiya Hideo and Hirose Hideo, only to become a fool who let wolves into his house.

Last month, during a family dinner, he drank too much and fell asleep. When he woke up in the middle of the night, he found the house in a mess, his wife crying, and his sister-in-law cursing him.

Half an hour later, with a splitting headache, he finally figured out what had happened. It turned out that while he was drunk, Ninomiya Hideo had left, and his only guest, Hirose Yasuo, had become a beast and tried to take advantage of his pregnant wife.

Fortunately, his sister-in-law, Rinko Kagawa, happened to return home and stopped him in time. She stabbed him with a fruit knife, scaring Hirose Yasuo into fleeing in a sorry state, leaving his pants behind.

Otherwise, not only would Miyoko be violated, but perhaps even the baby in her womb would be harmed.

Needless to say, he went to settle accounts with Hirose the next day.

But then something even more inexplicable happened.

Hirose Yasuo, who claimed that it was all the fault of alcohol, offered him a compensation deal that he could hardly refuse: as long as he didn't pursue the matter, he would find a way to make him the branch manager.

As a result, persuaded by Hideo Ninomiya, he didn't know why, but he stammered and agreed.

The situation that followed turned into him having to find a way to persuade his wife and sister-in-law not to pursue the matter and to let it go.

In short, all of this made him feel guilty towards the Kagawa sisters, and he constantly suffered from an insurmountable psychological weakness.

This pressure suffocated him, and even haunted him to the point that he didn't want to look in the mirror anymore, afraid of seeing the cowardly and wretched person reflected there.

It's easy to imagine that someone who hates himself like this can't possibly regain a sense of self-worth in front of his wife and sister-in-law. What kind of manly image can he possibly maintain?
Even though Minister Ninomiya did send him the promotion order the day before yesterday, congratulating him on starting his journey into the ranks of middle managers next year.

He couldn't bring himself to tell his wife and sister-in-law the news he had been eagerly anticipating.

Now, he's afraid they'll investigate further, and he's not confident he can give a flawless explanation.

He felt that they were all his creditors, and that he could never hold his head up in front of them. No matter what he did, he could no longer change this situation.

So without realizing it, his state of mind had already undergone a subtle change. Now, he was only a dignified man in front of those who didn't know the inside story.

Just like Gui Zi, only by regarding him as someone far superior to her husband can he experience the joy of life and the meaning of promotion.

Therefore, in addition to physical enjoyment, the more important thing is the emotional value.

On this day, he would book a room in a luxury hotel, buy a bouquet of flowers, and a gift, treating this married woman like a real princess, giving her a little surprise.

Sure enough, as soon as they met, Gui Zi smiled like a girl in love after receiving the flowers.

After admiring the beauty of the flowers, she got into the passenger seat and, as usual, began to act coquettishly towards him.

"Wow, team leader, I really didn't expect you to come see me instead of spending time with your wife today. Do I have that much charm?"

"Of course, because you're my most obedient subordinate. Naturally, I want to tell you about good things first."

"What good thing?"

"I'm going to become the branch manager. The appointment was given to me by Ninomiya the day before yesterday."

"Really? After the New Year, I'll have to call you Branch Minister."

"Yes, that's it."

As he spoke, Zuo Haiyou Erlang took out his cigarette case, intending to smoke.

Unexpectedly, Gui Zi suddenly grabbed his hand and pressed it against her face, saying, "This is indeed the hand of an important person. From now on, this will be the hand that signs documents and gives us instructions..."

"Huh?" Zuo Haiyou Erlang was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. "It was this same hand that signed the termination order. Employees like you with substandard performance are all to be dismissed..."

Gui Zi's petite body immediately snuggled against him like a squirrel. She raised her chin, pouted, and said, "How can you be so heartless? Are you going to abandon me now that I've been promoted to branch leader? Are all important people this cold and ruthless? I thought you would be different..."

“I wasn’t heartless, to put it so harshly? I was just doing my job.”

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, I'm just a lowly employee, and I'm married, so there's no way I could be the branch manager's wife. You're so young to have become a branch manager, and you'll definitely rise to an even higher position in the future. It's just that I have to say, the thought of even prettier girls in the company liking the branch manager makes me so jealous. Believe it or not, Yujiro, to someone as insignificant as me, you are the most outstanding person. I will always love you and admire you..."

Zuo Haiyou Erlang simply smiled and didn't answer, but every word Guizi spoke was like the most beautiful song, making him feel refreshed and happy.

My mood instantly improved.

Sure enough, she was the one who truly matched her good mood today. (End of Chapter)