A Single Person's Infinite Wonderful Life

Li Wei nodded. He was in Japan, and every time he went to a bookstore, he would pass by the comic book shelves. Although most of the works did not make him want to buy them, he still had a certain understanding of the Japanese comic book industry. After all, he was an illustrator himself, and his industry was related to comics.

Sui Jin said, "Actually, comics can already explain a lot of things, because the more people lack something, the more they emphasize it. Like the friendship and passion, family and bonds in those shonen comics. The pure love, handsome men and beautiful women in shojo comics. To be honest, these are just placebos for ordinary people. It is precisely because they lack these things, and because the neon lights of reality are too indifferent, that people indulge in the world of fantasy."

Li Wei said, "You're being way too clear-headed. You don't have any of the romance a girl would have."

Sui Jin shrugged. Could romance really make her life better? Precisely because romance was useless except for self-deception, she viewed the world with a clear head. However, she hadn't completely given up on romance. At least by Li Wei's side, she could let go of all her burdens and experience what it was like to be a little woman.

Chapter 4. Seemingly a Couple

The two walked side by side, strolling slowly through the shopping street. Although many shops had not yet reopened, those lucky shops that had survived the previous fire were still operating. However, due to the short-term decline in the total number of shops, the flow of people here had inevitably been affected, and the business of these surviving shops had also suffered.

Li Wei bought two ice creams from the convenience store at home, and Sui Jinren bought one.

Sui Jin took the ice cream and smiled, "In Japan, eating while walking is considered impolite, but more and more young people are ignoring this old custom. I've wanted to do this for a while now, eating while walking."

Sui Jin took Li Wei's arm and leaned affectionately against him. To onlookers, the two looked like a perfect couple.

The sounds of birdsong, cicadas chirping, and wind chimes filled the air. From this vantage point, one could see the vermilion torii gates of a shrine near the shopping street. Li Wei had a very direct experience of just how crowded Tokyo was. Shrines in smaller cities were quite large, but in Tokyo, aside from a few large shrines, most small shrines were extremely cramped, squeezed into every available space. The smallest shrine occupied less than 100 square meters. Just a few steps from the torii gate was the main hall of the shrine, and apart from the main hall and side rooms for the priests to rest, there were no other buildings in the entire shrine.

Li Wei and Sui Jin stopped at the entrance of the shrine.

Suijin said, "If there really are gods in this world, why don't they come out and stop what's happening in Tokyo?"

Li Wei said, "It's probably because even gods aren't strong. If they were strong enough, who would dare to cause trouble in Tokyo?"

This world is not without its own mysterious forces, but from Li Wei's perspective, the extraordinary beings in this world are far too weak. Even if he were to send out his most minor clone, it would be enough to wipe out the entire extraordinary inner world of this world. The gap between the two sides is simply too great.

In Tokyo, during the so-called battle for the secret scrolls, the local gods all cowered, hiding within their shrines and temples, too afraid to venture out. Most small shrines are actually uninhabited; the gods and demons of this world are not only exceptionally weak but also extremely rare. Even in Japan, which boasts millions of gods and Buddhas, the actual number of deities is less than two hundred. This is the truth about the gods and Buddhas of this world: because they are both weak and few, they dare not act rashly when faced with outsiders.

Sui Jin looked at Li Wei and said, "Would you like to go in and take a look? Of course, it's fine if you don't pay your respects."

Sui Jin considered that Li Wei was a Chinese person who was not interested in Japanese gods and demons, so she would not force Li Wei to do things he did not want to do.

Li Wei said, "Let's go in and take a look. But the way the two of us are now, it's a bit like we're on a date."

Sui Jin blushed, but Li Wei's words gave her a sweet feeling. Indeed, now was a time for the two of them to be alone. When couples go on a date, they usually just wander around, find a place to eat, and then go to see a movie, or go to the theater to see rakugo or a live-action drama.

Sui Jin said, "It doesn't matter. Let others say what they want and do what they want. It's exhausting to always live in the eyes of others."

Li Wei said, "You really don't seem like a Japanese person, but that's not bad either."

Sui Jin laughed and said, "Li Weijun, you're not the first person to say that about me, but I've always appreciated such praise. Being a traditional Japanese person is too tiring and too hypocritical, so it's good to shed some masks to make life more comfortable. But that's probably because I run a shop. If I were just an ordinary employee or a temporary worker, I definitely wouldn't be able to maintain such an optimistic attitude."

Li Wei said, "I'm reminded of a quote by Sartre: 'Hell is other people.' This quote is very fitting for the oppressive social environment of Japan. When individuals are oppressed, they vent their resentment on the next person, creating a vicious cycle that turns the whole society into a hell where the big fish eat the small fish."

In fact, similar situations exist in China. After the collapse of the social moral system caused by the case of helping the elderly, everyone was forced to become selfish, to the point that the entire social moral system turned cold.

Therefore, in this respect, Li Wei can only say that the two sides are evenly matched. Although the reasons for this situation are different, the final result is similar.

Sui Jin laughed and said, "That's why I say the service industry in Japan can warp people. Foreigners who only come here for short-term tourism won't notice this; they'll just think that Japanese people are very polite. But that in itself is a kind of warping. Suppressing yourself for a long time can make you abnormal. Even someone like me who is my own boss can't avoid being mistreated, let alone those who make a living under someone else's thumb. That's why I say Japan is a living hell."

Li Wei nodded. This kind of thing isn't just happening in this world's neon lights; it's the same in the real world. Only a minority can live as they please; most people have to compromise with life and lower their heads.

The two arrived at the main hall of the shrine.

A young girl dressed in a long traditional shrine maiden robe approached the two and said softly, "You two are a couple, aren't you? Our shrine has always been very lucky in finding a partner, you two can give it a try."

Li Wei chuckled inwardly. This shrine didn't even have any gods, so how could there be any deity in charge of marriage? However, the other person looked rather timid and cute, and he was always quite tolerant of cute girls.

Li Wei laughed and said, "Is that so? Then let's pray for a marriage."

Upon hearing Li Wei's words, Sui Jin was stunned for a moment, then blushed.

The little shrine maiden had an excited expression on her face. Li Wei had already seen through her thoughts through his mind-reading ability. This shrine was her family's shrine. It had been doing well in previous years, but in recent years, with the economic downturn, fewer and fewer people came to worship at the shrine, and the shrine's income had also declined. The girl who relied on the shrine for her livelihood was naturally anxious.

Moreover, this girl's parents died early, and she now lives with her grandmother. She is an independent and self-reliant girl. Unfortunately, her appearance does not meet Li Wei's minimum standard, and she also lacks "great fortune" and does not meet the minimum standard of the "Huangdi Shengjing".

It doesn't matter if he doesn't meet the standards of fellow practitioners, nor does it matter if he lacks great fortune, but for Li Wei, who is obsessed with appearances, it's a pity that his basic looks aren't up to par.

Chapter 4. Not Enough Fate

Under the expectant gaze of the little shrine maiden, the two arrived at the front of the main shrine. After completing the hand-washing ritual, they began to pray. Of course, although Li Wei was not sincere in his heart, he had completed the necessary procedures, and his etiquette was so impeccable that even a professional like the little shrine maiden could not find fault with it.

Li Wei thought to himself, "It's fortunate that this shrine doesn't have any deities residing there. Otherwise, given the difference in their social standing, if he were to worship the other person, the other person would have to kneel and kowtow in return to repay that difference in status. And if that were to happen, the little shrine maiden's worldview would definitely collapse."

After completing his shrine visit, Li Wei took out his wallet, pulled out a stack of Fukuzawa Yukichi coins, and placed them in the offering box.

Seeing this, the little witch's eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief.

That makes sense, though. Most worshippers just toss in a few coins as a token gesture, and the more generous ones might toss in a thousand or two thousand yen, with a thousand yen being quite rare.

Someone like Li Wei, who simply threw a stack of banknotes into the offering box, the thick wad almost getting stuck on the wooden seal on the surface of the offering box, is a rare find.

After the two left the shrine, Suijin asked curiously, "Li Weijun, wasn't the money you donated to the shrine a bit too much?"

Li Wei smiled and said, "It might be a lot for others, but it's just right for me. That child and I are destined to be together, but our connection isn't strong enough, so I chose to sever that connection on my own initiative."

He had seen many girls who were relatively cute. Although he was a scumbag who fell in love with everyone he met, he was a scumbag but had very high standards. For him, any top beauty who wasn't blessed with good fortune was a "non-essential option." Cutting off his relationships in this way was one of the few things he could do.

Li Wei didn't turn around, but he knew that the little shrine maiden was standing under the torii gate of the shrine, her hand on the pillar of the torii gate, gazing at his back with fascination.

Li Wei knew that the little witch had fallen in love with him at first sight and would never forget his face. Unfortunately, she didn't quite meet his standards, and there were other reasons as well. So, for a girl like her, who was just an ordinary passerby, this was all he could do. As a charming and popular man, Li Wei couldn't possibly reciprocate every girl's feelings. Therefore, he would only choose the most beautiful flowers in the garden, while the rest of the nameless wildflowers could only be admired from afar.

This is very easy to understand. Put yourself in the other person's shoes: if a deity appeared in front of you and offered you two girls to choose from, and you could only choose the one from the two girls.

Both girls are incredibly devoted and loyal to you, and both are exceptionally talented and capable. However, one girl is of average appearance, while the other is Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy. Which one would you choose?

How many men would choose the girl with the average appearance? Men are visual creatures, and Li Wei and all the gentlemen here are no exception.

Sui Jin said, puzzled, "Li Weijun, but if you do this, you will leave a deeper impression on her, which is more cruel in some ways."

Li Wei smiled and said, "That's precisely why I have to compensate her. Completely severing ties is such a cruel thing. My abilities are ultimately limited; I can't make every girl happy. The only thing I can do is make the girls around me happy."

Sui Jin didn't know what to say. Although Li Wei's words were incredibly despicable from an outsider's perspective, it was also true; being too popular was such a problem. Human energy has its limits; it's impossible to cater to everyone's emotions. Therefore, Li Wei's approach of only taking care of those close to him wasn't wrong.

On the contrary, it can be said that Li Wei is good enough to be called a good man simply because he can take good care of the people around him.

The two continued walking and soon left the shopping street area, arriving at the main road. Compared to the purely pedestrianized commercial street, the main road was bustling with cars and pedestrians, giving it a vibrant feel. Of course, in Li Wei's opinion, this was just an illusion.

Li Wei said, "We don't want to go home yet. Where should we go next? Are there any scenic spots around here?"

·Requesting flowers·· ······

Suijin said, "This isn't Kyoto, so there aren't that many tourist attractions here. The little shrine we just passed is already the most famous attraction in this area."

Li Wei said, "Really? That shrine we just saw was really small. As a tourist attraction, it didn't seem very impressive."

Suijin said, "There's nothing we can do about it. Our area is a well-known working-class district in the 13th ward. The attractions here, whether in terms of scale or features, can't compare to those in other areas. However, we're still better off than Nerima Ward. When people think of Nerima Ward, most of them immediately think of daikon radishes. At least here, we don't give people that kind of stereotype."

........

Li Wei wanted to complain inwardly. At least people in Nerima Ward could remember the shiraboshi (white radish), but this area really had no special features. Not only was it at the bottom of the economic rankings in Tokyo's thirteen wards, it also had almost no presence. In a sense, it was even more pathetic.

Of course, Li Wei wouldn't be foolish enough to reveal his true thoughts. He wasn't fond of the neon lights of this world, but this was, after all, the hometown of Suijin and Sunohara Ayaka, so even if there were problems here, he couldn't say them outright. Besides, there was even less need to mention such a minor issue.

Li Wei asked, "Is there a movie theater nearby?"

Sui Jin blushed instantly. She understood Li Wei's meaning perfectly. The chaotic environment of a movie theater was perfect for couples in love to do something fun. Although she lacked experience in this area, in this internet age, even if she hadn't eaten pork, she'd surely seen pigs run. So, her heart began to race, and the blush spread all the way to her ears.

Sui Jin said, "There's a small movie theater nearby, but I don't know if they have any good movies showing lately."

Sui Jin didn't care what movie they watched, because this was a rare time alone with Li Wei, so it didn't matter what movie they watched. The key thing was that the person she was watching the movie with was Li Wei.

Chapter 4. Let's go see a movie.

Sui Jin said, "There is indeed a movie theater nearby. It's not very big, and the owner is a very strange person. He always likes to show old-fashioned movies, such as sword and spear movies and yakuza movies."

The so-called sword and spear films are Japanese martial arts films, which mostly tell ancient stories. In a sense, they are the predecessors of the so-called "Taiga dramas". Although limited by the technology and budget of the production era, the visual presentation is not as good as the new movies today. However, because of their hardcore core, they still have many fans today.

Just like in China, although there are new movies every year, many people still prefer classic old movies. After all, the new movies are a mixed bag, and you can easily "step on a piece of shit" if you're not careful. So many people don't go to the cinema to watch movies, but wait until the theatrical release is over and then watch them online. By then, which movie is good and which movie is bad has already been decided online, so the audience doesn't have to worry about stepping on a piece of shit.

Li Wei said, "Old movies are good too. Those old movies that have stood the test of time are all classics. The boss who specializes in showing old movies is capricious, but also quite romantic."

Sui Jin said, "That boss is a rich man who doesn't lack money. He's not a spendthrift at all, and he's quite good at doing business. He has properties all over the shopping street. His only hobby is watching old movies. He not only watches them himself, but he also gets the people around him to watch them. That's why the movie tickets at this cinema are very cheap, and each movie ticket comes with a bottle of drink and a large bucket of popcorn."

Li Wei laughed and said, "There are quite a few weirdos here in Japan, but I don't dislike them. Isn't it nice to be able to live the way you like and share your hobbies with others?"

Sui Jin said, "Yes, if I were as rich as him, I would probably be just as willful. That movie theater has been operating at a loss every year, but he can afford to lose money, so he has kept the prices low and provided free drinks and snacks. He has only raised the prices once since it opened, and the audience has been understanding, so business has always been good."

Li Wei could understand this behavior. The boss was no fool. This was a kind of losing money to gain publicity and build a persona for himself. He wanted to create a persona of being eccentric but approachable and lovable. As long as this persona held up, he could make the money back from other sources by monetizing his fame.

It's very similar to online live streaming in China, where traffic is monetized. Traffic is a variation of fame, whether it's good or bad. As long as the traffic goes up, you can use the popularity to drive sales and monetize in this way.

However, Li Wei didn't intend to spoil the mood by explaining the underlying principles in this way. He let Sui Jin continue to maintain her good nature. After all, people always need to be a little romantic. If everyone were like him, seeing through everything, then this society would really be devoid of any color.

The two of them walked for a short while before arriving at the movie theater that Sui Jin had mentioned. The movie theater didn't look very big, and it was indeed so when they went inside. The entire movie theater only had two screening rooms. Li Wei extended his senses and found that there were only about four hundred seats in the movie theater. He looked at the movie schedule and saw that the earliest movie was about ten minutes away.

Suijin said, "Huh? 'One-Armed Swordsman vs. Zatoichi'? What kind of ultimate Frankenstein's monster is this?!"

Sui Jin couldn't help but be surprised, after all, the One-Armed Swordsman and Zatoichi were two completely different stories. One was a one-armed swordsman wielding a broken sword, while the other was a blind man wandering the world. Moreover, both of them were considered positive characters. How could such two people be brought together and fight each other?

Li Wei just smiled. He had the same "Holy crap" expression when he first saw "Alien vs. Predator," which was perfectly normal.

The Japanese are known for their wildly imaginative minds. Let alone a crossover between protagonists from different storylines, they wouldn't be surprised if it were Godzilla versus Ultraman. After all, the real-world shonen man has not only made a Godzilla film, but recently Ultraman, and is also planning a remake of the original Kamen Rider. He's got all the romantic fantasies a man could muster. Moreover, Ultraman and Kamen Rider share some overlap in their Showa-era worldviews, so a real crossover wouldn't be surprising.

To add to the fun, the world of Showa Kamen Rider can even overlap and connect with the Marvel superhero universe. This is because Japan once produced a video called "400 Grandmas," which is a mispronunciation of Spider-Man's English name. This all comes down to copyright. Marvel was once very poor, so poor that it sold the copyrights to its own characters, including Spider-Man, to Sony. This led to the much-criticized "400 Grandmas." Later, Marvel became wealthy and wanted to buy back the Spider-Man copyrights, but Sony refused. Sony granted Marvel the usage rights but held onto the core copyrights tightly. So, with each company operating independently, many crossover events occurred. The Showa Kamen Rider universe, for this reason, can connect to the Marvel superhero universe, with Spider-Man, or rather, "400 Grandmas," serving as the bridge between them.

That's why the one-armed swordsman's battle with Zatoichi is no problem at all, and Levi is also looking forward to the release of this movie to see how far the Japanese can take this kind of content.

Li Wei said, "Then let's watch this one. I'm also very curious about the movie. I'll go buy the tickets now."

Sui Jin said, "Okay, my curiosity has been piqued too. I hope the content of this movie won't be too offensive. The owner of this movie theater has a really bad taste. He sometimes mixes old B-movies into the regular screening list. If you're really lucky, you'll get caught in them."

Li Wei bought two movie tickets at the front desk. Just as Sui Jin had said, the tickets were very cheap, only 1,000 yen for two tickets. What can you do with 1,000 yen in Japan? Have a simple single-person set meal at a family restaurant, or a bowl of ramen at a ramen shop, or buy some rice balls with fillings at a convenience store, or have a small beef bowl at Yoshinoya. But let's skip Yoshinoya, they've raised their prices recently, and a small beef bowl is already 1,300 yen.

Two tickets cost about the same as a fast food meal, and they come with two 100ml bottles of iced drinks and two large boxes of popcorn. It would be a miracle if they didn't lose money. At this price, they can't break even just from movie tickets, and if the venue is rented, it's even more likely to be that way.

Li Wei returned to Sui Jin's side and said, "A hundred yen note, I feel like I've returned to the Showa era."