Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

Xiuming immediately breathed into her ear and said, "I'll teach you tonight, step by step. If you can't learn it, I'll soak you in milk..."

Riko's cheeks immediately broke out in goosebumps, and she shrank her neck, remaining silent.

The group moved quickly, and it was soon Hideaki and Riko's turn.

Xiuming deciphered a sentence from her conflicted face: "Actually, I don't want to fake it, but I really have no choice. I'm in a difficult position too..."

This idiot can't even impersonate someone properly...

Hideaki snatched the doll away, placed it on the table, and said, "Mrs. Sugita, this was made by my husband. I'm sure it meets your requirements!"

"Pfft!" Miyamoto, who was drinking coffee, spat out a mouthful of coffee, threw away the empty cup, took two steps over, picked up the doll in his hands, and said with delight, "Little sister, she did it better than you."

Mrs. Sugita's eyes twitched slightly as she stood up from her chair; she was over 1.7 meters tall.

Xiuming was stunned by his exaggerated height and figure, mainly because it was too unexpected.

She ignored Miyamoto and instead extended an invitation directly to Riko, asking if she could make other, more complex dolls.

Riko was indeed obedient; no matter how high a salary Sugita offered, she remained silent from beginning to end.

Sugita then set his sights on Hideaki, hoping he would agree to let Riko go.

She adopted a very sincere and solemn demeanor.

But Hideaki remained unmoved, after all, he only wanted to get back the 1000 yen deposit and the 200 yen labor fee at the beginning.

Anything more than 1200 yen is a pleasant surprise.

Moreover, his time is quite limited right now:

I haven't even checked the home security footage yet, and who knows when the police will come. Also, the wedding photo frame in the master bedroom needs to be taken down and burned. Then there's the makeup test for Riko, and then the new driver's license photos... and so on, a whole bunch of things to do.

If it weren't for the agreement and the fact that the materials for the doll were provided by the other party, he would have turned around and left, taking it to the roadside to sell.

In the end, he received 100,000 yen.

As Hideaki pulled Riko away, Miyamoto's scream echoed behind them: "Are you crazy?"

Even at retail, you couldn't sell it for this price!

Hideaki guessed that Sugita offered such a high price in order to win over Riko.

Judging from her appearance, she's not the type to suffer a loss; she'll probably go to a headhunter.

Chapter 13 I Feel Like I'm Committing a Crime

"We're out of rice at home, let's buy some!"

Hideaki, waving a wad of 1,000 yen bills, pulled Riko into the supermarket.

"Oh, right, also buy some meat and a box of salmon, fresh ones..."

Xiuming considered that there might be an unexpected event at any time, and he might have to move to a rented place, so he only bought necessities.

The 100,000 yen was like a windfall, but with debts weighing them down, the two of them tacitly refrained from squandering it.

When I walked to the corner of the toiletries shelf, I remembered that I also needed to buy a set of cosmetics, and I should also buy a set of toiletries and skin care products for Riko.

Three steps behind her, Riko was standing alone next to the toothpaste and toothbrush shelf, pointing at the price tags and scanning them.

Then she took off a blue toothbrush, looked up at Xiuming, and was about to speak when she suddenly remembered that she still didn't know his real name.

For a moment, I felt a tightness in my chest.

If Hideaki loses her identity as the suicidal Hideaki and disappears into the crowd, given her abilities, she'll never be found again in this lifetime.

"What's wrong?" Xiuming asked, turning around as she tossed the cosmetics into the shopping cart.

Riko walked to his side with her head down, poked his arm with her toothbrush, and murmured, "Can you tell me your name?"

Her cautious voice was filled with anxiety and uncertainty.

"Are you an idiot?" Xiuming pulled out his driver's license and held it up in front of her. "It's for life. Go back, put on your makeup, and I'll tear this up and take new photos. Replace all the photos in the house with mine—the wedding photos, the wedding pictures, everything! Including you, you have to be made into my shape too."

Riko was stunned.

"Don't ask such idiotic questions again." Xiuming put away her driver's license, pinched her ear and shook it back and forth, then asked, "What did you call me? If you answer wrong, I'll pull your ear off."

Riko's face flushed red again, her wide eyes glazed over, and her lips trembled as she murmured, "Husband~"

“That’s more like it!” Xiuming grabbed her ear and dragged her to the cosmetics shelf. “The time has come to test your sincerity and makeup skills. If you can’t get the documents, not only will you have to bear the debt alone, but you will also lose me forever.”

Riko blurted out, "I... I will try my best."

Riko even asked for Hideaki's driver's license, comparing the photo on it with his appearance, and then selected the corresponding cosmetics.

I got home at 3:30. Since I ate a lot at noon and it's not lunchtime yet, I'm not hungry.

Hideaki and Riko each carried the groceries they bought into the Western-style kitchen and put them directly into the refrigerator.

"Did you make these rice balls?"

Xiuming pointed to the only remaining salty plum rice ball lying in the refrigerator and asked.

Riko had just taken out two cartons of milk that were about to expire, preparing to drink them later, when she looked up at the plum rice ball, subconsciously swallowed, and looked embarrassed.

"Ah."

Have you tried it?

"Ah."

"Is it tasty?"

"Hmm...it's...it's alright..."

Riko felt her face burning and turned her head away from Hideaki.

Is it so hard to admit you're an idiot?

"I...I can learn, please...husband, give me a chance..."

A gentle and virtuous wife must be able to cook very delicious dishes, but she doesn't dare to disappoint him, so she secretly learns at night.

Xiuming blinked.

"Alright, I'll give you the chance to cook. From now on, when I come home, you must have the food ready and kneel at the door waiting for me."

"Thank you... oh... husband~"

She's getting more and more comfortable calling him "husband" now.

"Let's go, let's go do our makeup." Xiuming picked up two cartons of milk and walked out of the kitchen.

If time permits, you can get your driver's license replaced before you leave work. If you have more time, you can also take a large-format wedding photo while you're at it. You can just replace the wedding photo on the wall to fool them, since taking a complete set of photos is very expensive.

Riko's makeup skills are only so-so.

"You idiot, why are you always trying to be tough? Oh no, you're clearly lying. Just admit you can't do it. Do you expect me to call you an idiot?"

"Everyone says I'm good at makeup, so I believed them. I've never learned how to do ugly makeup..." Riko lowered her head, looking aggrieved as she fiddled with her eyebrow pencil.

"What, what kind of makeup?" Xiuming put his ear close to her mouth to listen.

"I've never learned how to do ugly makeup."

"Really? Then you've really been wronged. I've misunderstood you. It's all my fault. I'm so sorry."

Xiuming was in a good mood. "I won't do ugly makeup today. I'll watch the video, tidy up the room, and take down that ugly person's photo. I'll find someone who knows how to do ugly makeup to do it tomorrow."

Xiuming happily entered the master bedroom, took out the wedding video, and then a thought struck him: was it still necessary to imitate him again?

After all, I'm not going to work for his company.

As long as he replaces all the photos on his ID cards with his own, even if he comes back from the dead, he'll still be wearing a green hat before he leaves.

"Bang!"

He threw the videotape on the ground and stomped on it several times until it was smashed.

Just as she was stepping on it, Riko had already packed up her makeup box and went into the bedroom.

Then, she put down her makeup box, walked to the mattress, took down the large framed wedding photo hanging on the wall, and handed it over with a flushed face.

Xiuming took the photo frame and gave her a thumbs up.

She bit her lower lip tightly, covered her face in distress, then slumped onto the bed, slid under the covers, and curled up into a ball.

A muffled voice came from under the covers: "I have no choice, this is all I can do..."

"Riko-chan is the best, she perfectly suits my taste."

In the end, Hideaki and Riko worked together to collect all the traces of Hideaki's suicide attempt.

Because they separated after only one month of marriage and even had a trendy destination wedding, Xiuming didn't even stay in the new house for a full week.

His belongings consisted of the wedding videotape he had just stepped on, a picture frame, and a few pieces of clothing and shoes.

"I feel like I'm committing a crime," Riko said, her face flushed and conflicted. "I feel so sorry for him..."

The two men each carried a black garbage bag and walked towards the community garbage station.

"Are you stupid? That guy jumped off a building, all free and done with it, leaving you with a mess. You'll be too busy hating him to even think about it. Even if he had jumped a few months later, you could have gotten insurance money and wouldn't have been burdened with debt. I'd have to clean up your mess. You should thank me! Come on, let me see how dirty your ass is."

As Xiuming spoke, he swung his free left arm and snapped it open.

"Ouch~" Riko gasped softly, following closely beside Hideaki, burying her head to hide her flushed face, and whispered, "Wow, so many people..."

Not far away, an elderly woman pushing a stroller happened to be looking over.

"Is there a problem?" Xiuming waved at her. "Auntie, is that your grandson? He's so cute!"

The old lady nodded in surprise, then smiled to show her friendliness.

Hideaki grabbed the trash bag from Riko's hand and threw it into the trash can. Then he put his arm around her waist, waved to the old lady, and called out, "We've just moved in. This is my wife, Riko. Please take good care of her from now on!"

The old lady also waved.

Riko, who was originally too embarrassed to lift her head, immediately adopted a polite and courteous posture, even with a warm smile on her face, and bowed to the old lady.

Chapter 14 Threatening Letter

Hideaki led Riko to the old lady's side and they played with the baby together for a while.