Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

Having only a few friends to begin with, and then losing one of them, it's inevitable to feel sad.

"Riko-chan, come here." Hideaki sat on the small bed, stretched his legs out, patted his knees, and gestured for her to sit on him.

Riko, who was looking down, trembled her long eyelashes and quickly glanced at Chieko, who was still standing next to her. She seemed a little embarrassed, and a slight blush appeared on her fair cheeks.

Chieko was very perceptive; she knew that Riko had always been shy, so she quickly made a "I don't want to look" gesture, left the bedroom, and gently closed the door.

Riko pursed her lips, moved in front of Hideaki, put her hands behind her back to gather her skirt, revealing her rounded hips, and slowly placed them on Hideaki's lap.

She kept her head down, silent, her ears slightly red.

As soon as Xiuming placed his right hand on her shoulder, she obediently leaned into his arms.

Xiuming's right hand slid down her shoulder to her arm, gently pinching her arm; it was soft.

She had no excess fat on her body; no matter where you pinched her, it was soft and fluffy, just like her gentle personality.

Xiuming didn't say anything, but used his left hand to count her ribs one by one, lost in thought.

Without realizing it, because Riko was so obedient and docile, he became more and more concerned about her feelings and emotions.

Of course, it felt pretty good; when she was happy, I felt quite pleased too.

She's in a bad mood now because she followed her own advice and "killed" one of her best friends.

But on the road to success, some necessary sacrifices must always be made.

"Honey~~ it makes a sound..."

Riko had already lowered her head and curled up in Hideaki's arms. Her fair neck was covered with a layer of pink, and her already soft body became even softer. Her face, which was pressed against Hideaki's chest, was a little hot, and her soft moans were trembling.

“Oh,” Xiuming withdrew his left hand, which had been counting her ribs, and gently placed it on her knee. “I’ll give you a day off today! Go out and relax.”

Five skilled employees came to the supermarket, along with five other general helpers, and with Chieko overseeing things, it was manageable.

The 100 million yen of pocket money that was previously transferred to Riko's bank card has only been used as an advance on her salary; she hasn't spent it on herself yet.

Riko tilted her head back, her eyes filled with anticipation, and asked, "By myself?"

"You can do it yourself this time! I have a lot of things to do this afternoon."

At noon, I need to monitor the Nikkei 225 futures index on the Singapore Stock Exchange, and also share the good news with Ezaki's elderly father and get him on the bus.

The information about the shops provided by Ezaki is quite good, but it's best to visit them in person.

In addition, they discussed the development of an arcade game based on the Three Kingdoms theme last night, and they probably need to come back to discuss some more details.

"Then, can I not go?" Riko asked cautiously. "I... I like working."

"Go upstairs and rest now, go and slack off."

We must get Riko to put down her work no matter what; we can't let her guilt towards Eri transfer to her work.

Otherwise, if you subconsciously try to resolve any worries you have in the future by working yourself to the bone, what's the point of living your life?

"But……"

“There are no buts,” Xiuming interrupted her, thought for a moment, and said, “Well… if you’re good, I’ll bring you a small gift home tonight.”

At this point, Xiuming couldn't help but sigh inwardly: If it were before, he would have grabbed her by the ear and thrown her upstairs long ago. He never expected that he would resort to temptation today.

"Ah!" Riko's pink lips parted in a "wow" sound, her cute little face tilted up with a look of bewilderment, and her bright eyes sparkled with surprise. "What gift is it?"

What gift should I give her? I haven't even thought about it.

Riko's eyes are so bright, they seem to be able to blind people.

"Where does such curiosity come from?" Hideaki looked away, put Riko down, and waved his hand impatiently, saying, "You'll find out when the time comes. Hurry up and go upstairs to wait."

“Oh…” Riko didn’t move, tilting her head and looking at Hideaki’s face with her wide, bright eyes, like searchlights.

Out of the corner of his eye, Xiuming caught a glimpse of her searching, cat-like expression.

Xiuming got angry, raised his arm, spread out his palm as big as a palm leaf fan, and said, "Do you want me to hit you?"

"No..." Riko quickly covered her bottom with both hands, shaking her head as she backed towards the door, her eyes still unable to hide her happiness. "Honey, I, I'll go upstairs first..."

Riko ran out of the supermarket with a carefree air, just like a primary school student on vacation.

We've given her too much credit; we can't let her get carried away and take advantage of us... Her public image is about to collapse, so we'll have to put her down again later.

Chieko walked to the door, knocked on the door frame, and whispered, "Hideaki-kun, would you like to say a few words to the employees? They seem to look down on President Riko."

Riko's gentle and overly tolerant nature makes her easily bullied.

Just now, regarding the matter of firing Eri, because Chieko didn't want herself and Riko to be misunderstood and disliked by Eri, she simply confessed everything: it was Hideaki who instructed them.

This leads to the assumption that although Riko is the president, she has no real power and is like a puppet, completely subservient to Hideaki's arrangements.

This would be very detrimental to Riko's management.

In addition, Eri's outspokenness just now was a huge loss of face for any legitimate wife.

If anyone is dissatisfied with Riko's arrangements and skips Riko, sneaking into Hideaki's bed instead, what would happen?

After all, she knew Xiuming's personality to some extent.

Among these female employees, there might be a few close associates; not everyone has the self-awareness she possesses.

Perhaps the same situation as Eri's will happen again.

Therefore, it would be best if Hideaki could say a few words of advice to them, and also help establish Riko's authority.

"Then we need to do some serious ideological work with them."

Chieko's concerns are quite reasonable.

Riko is Hideaki's bottom line, after all, she is so gentle, cute, and well-behaved.

They not only allowed him to display colorful flags outside, but also brought them home for him to display.

Such a good wife is one of a kind in the whole world; no one is allowed to bully her.

Chieko gathered the employees again and had them stand in two rows of five, facing each other.

Hideaki stood between the two lines, and Chieko took over the cashier's job.

"Do you have any guesses about my relationship with Eri?"

Xiuming gave an opening speech, glancing at everyone at a glance.

The five female employees, who had experience working in supermarkets, appeared very calm, as if they were listening attentively to what was to come.

Opposite them stood a group of five AV actresses, their gazes varying—some unfocused, others calm.

Of course, some moved their lips, as if they wanted to express their opinions.

Hideaki ignored her and continued, "Do you know why I drove Eri away?"

The five AV actresses' eyes darted around. Although they didn't know if there was anything else going on, they knew that hiring them was one of the reasons.

Instead of answering his own question, Xiuming said:

"My wife, Riko, is the sole legal representative of this supermarket and the Miyamoto Corporation, which was established around the supermarket. It's in its initial stages, and I'm temporarily assisting her. In the future, I'll completely hand over the reins and let her run it herself. You are her first batch of employees. My wife doesn't have much work experience yet, but she does have management skills,"

As Hideaki spoke, he raised his index finger and stopped in front of the five experienced people in the group. He continued, "She needs your help. You should have seen her personality after what happened with Eri. If you treat her sincerely, she will consider you all as good sisters. She just gave Eri 80 yen in compensation because she considered Eri a good sister. But Eri doesn't know how to cherish this friendship and doesn't consider Riko's situation. I will keep an eye on you."

Hideaki then pointed to Chieko standing at the cashier and said, "I want to commend Chieko here. She did a great job and was completely devoted to Riko. I'm giving her a personal reward of 100 million yen today. Chieko, give me your bank card number later and I'll transfer the money to you."

Ten pairs of eyes, standing in two rows, immediately focused on Chieko's face, filled with astonishment and envy.

How sudden... 100 million yen... more than the monthly salary of a high-level white-collar worker in the high-end office building across the street.

"Ah... okay, thank you, Mr. Yamanaka. I'm doing my best for President Riko."

Chieko, the cashier, hurriedly bowed ninety degrees, blushing slightly. She had been so devoted, mainly for her own happiness… Speaking of which, suddenly receiving a bonus, and such a large one at that… she was a little overwhelmed… She really wanted to repay Hideaki-kun right now, but she didn't like overly direct repayments, so she held back…

The ten-person team bowed ninety degrees in unison, shouting in a loud voice as if chanting a slogan: "We are wholeheartedly considering President Riko's needs!"

"Very good!" Xiuming nodded in satisfaction, then changed the subject and continued...

"Of course, you shouldn't blindly flatter Riko just because there's a bonus. That won't work. Not only will I not give you the bonus, but I'll also fire you. You need to help Riko learn something, share her burdens, and help her run the supermarket well and make it bigger and stronger. Can you do that?"

"Please rest assured, Mr. Yamanaka!" It was another unanimous slogan.

The phone at the cashier rang. Chieko answered it; it was a call from the stock exchange bringing good news. They also mentioned that the company had distributed gifts to customers as a way of thanking them and asked if she could schedule a visit.

Xiuming deliberately turned on the landline speakerphone so that every employee in the supermarket could hear him, and told them the supermarket address to deliver the goods. He didn't chat with them anymore.

The three futures accounts each earned 5000 million yen.

Hideaki transferred out 1.5 million yen, and then immediately transferred 100 million yen to Chieko.

“Mr. Yamanaka, I, I…” Chieko’s hand holding the bank card trembled slightly, her eyes filled with tears, “It’s just too much… I… I…”

“Mind your image. People who don’t know better might think we have some kind of secret,” Hideaki said irritably. “This money is recognition of your work. Don’t get any other ideas. There are ten people in the store, so it’s only 1000 million yen. I don’t care about it.”

I made 150 million yen in just three phone calls.

The ten employees were full of energy, looking around for work to show their skills, but the supermarket was only about 50 square meters and the workload was so small that they seemed a little overwhelmed.

This is the allure of money; this society has been completely corrupted by money.

It was 11 a.m. when Xiuming took a break and went up to the 28th floor of the game development company across the street.

It's still under renovation. Ezaki specifically hired a decorating company to design the layout, and it looks pretty good so far. The floor-to-ceiling windows are bright and airy, and outside, under the blue sky and white clouds, you can see the bustling city buildings and it seems like you can overlook the whole of Tokyo.

Shota wasn't at the company; he went to discuss the copyright of the characters from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms anime.

The rest of the people were all crammed into a small, unfinished room, and they all worked diligently.

The floor wasn't tiled; it was cement. In the corner, there was a whirring floor fan, a sleeping bag, a folding bed, and a pile of lunchboxes—all bought from "Miyamoto Supermarket."

Xiuming glanced at the work progress, then called over Qiushan Hiroshi and said, "From now on, you don't need to spend money on meals anymore. Someone will deliver them from the supermarket downstairs at mealtimes..."

Hiroshi Akiyama was also a tech geek, not one for words of gratitude. He simply nodded to indicate that he understood and then threw himself back into his work.

Afterwards, Xiuming contacted the property management to have them install a telephone, then returned to the supermarket and instructed Chieko: "At mealtimes, just have someone who's free deliver food to the 28th floor, along with a few drinks. Keep a record of the food expenses, and the game company will pay for it monthly."

"Tachibana-chan just called. She said she's coming to visit President Riko at four o'clock this afternoon and wants to treat her to a big meal..." Chieko said, "Um, does she already know?"

Chieko wanted to know if Tachibana knew everything about Hideaki, especially whether Tachibana knew that Riko had married Hideaki and whether she knew that Riko had been passively made a third party.

“She probably doesn’t know,” Hideaki had already forgotten how Tachibana had said it in the first place. “It doesn’t matter, do whatever you want! So what if she knows?”

"Huh?" Chieko felt a little helpless. Although Hideaki didn't care, she couldn't help but think about his women, after all, it also concerned her own happiness.

"Oh right, if you come at four o'clock, you should be able to finish the purchase contract. Then you can go out with Riko and her! Tachibana has violent tendencies, so be careful. If she hits Riko, you can help Riko hit her back."