Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

When Hideaki thought about the time he was eating a fancy eel bento with Tachibana, she inexplicably punched him, and he forgot to hit her back.

"Huh?" Chieko was stunned. Judging from the voice on the phone, it sounded like a cute type, but she had never met Tachibana before. She wondered if she was the "muscular" type like Ayako. If she was the big-chested type, she would be crushed to death. "Me, can I beat her?"

“You and Riko can definitely do it together,” it was almost midnight and he still had to go check the Nikkei 225 futures index on the Singapore trading board. “I’m going now.”

“Show…show…” Chieko opened her mouth, but finally sighed, “It’s so hard to fall in love with a jerk…”

Chapter 128 Tachibana and Eri

Wearing the new Chanel little black dress that Xiuming had bought for her yesterday, Tachibana hesitated for a long time in front of the Chanel women's clothing store. Finally, facing the expectant gaze of the sales clerk, she braced herself and walked in.

"Hello, um... could you please return these three items of clothing? I just bought them yesterday... do you remember me?"

Tachibana could barely hear what she was saying, and she didn't even dare to look at the saleswoman's face.

The saleswoman's fawning smile suddenly froze. Her eyes widened, and she said loudly, "Madam, why do you want to return it? Is there a quality problem? If so, we can replace it with a new one for you."

"There's no quality issue, it's just... well, I don't want it anymore."

"Oh?" The saleswoman was taken aback at first, then looked like she understood. Then, a fleeting look of disdain flashed in her eyes as she said, "I'm sorry, ma'am, we don't support returns here. Since there's no quality issue, we won't exchange it. If you urgently need money, you can turn left after you leave. There's a secondhand shop about 50 meters away. Many ladies have done this before. You can go there and ask. You should be able to get a very good price."

"Oh, is that so? I'm sorry to bother you..."

"Please don't be shy, I hope you'll come again next time." The saleswoman wore a distant, professional smile. "Good luck."

There were other female customers in the shop, and they all seemed to be looking at Tachibana.

Tachibana felt her face burning and hurriedly left the store. Inside, she heard a saleswoman mutter, "What kind of world is this? Good men are all being ruined by these gold diggers... Shameless..."

Falsely accused, Tachibana staggered a few steps, her face flushed red, and she clenched her fists before heading towards a secondhand luxury goods store.

The high-end clothing, worth a total of 3.5 million yen, was thankfully still with the tags intact, the packaging unopened, and the purchase invoice included... and was bought back at 10% of its original price.

Tachibana received 35 yen in cash, her heart bleeding.

I haven't received my salary yet, and I'm broke. I was forced to resign yesterday, and I haven't found a new job yet. Since I have some free time, I'm going to visit Riko.

That scumbag openly told his current girlfriend that he liked Riko.

Through her two phone conversations with Riko, Tachibana found Riko's voice to be soft, pleasant, and beautiful, suggesting she must be a kind and gentle girl.

My previous guess was that Riko might have a crush on Hideaki.

So the question is, does Riko know this?

Tachibana was conflicted.

There was a strange sense of crisis, a fear that Riko and Hideaki would get together and kick him out of the picture.

She wanted to expose Hideaki's true colors to Riko as soon as possible. Although it felt like she was being a villain, she genuinely had a sense of justice and couldn't bear to see Riko deceived by a scumbag.

With 35 yen in cash, Tachibana bypassed Sanyo Securities and returned to her rented apartment via a side road.

Because she was visiting Riko, whom Hideaki also liked, even though she didn't have any hostility and even considered her a good friend, she subconsciously wanted to dress herself up carefully, preferably to be prettier than Riko.

Tachibana went up to the second floor, walked to the door of her rented room, took out the key from her bag, and was about to open the security door.

Suppressed sobs could be heard coming from the house next door.

The rusty green-painted security door was open, and the small green wooden door inside was also half-open.

In the room, a girl with short, ear-length hair, wearing a green dress and carrying a pink backpack, was lying on her small bed crying.

The annoying female tenant I hadn't seen for three days, who always fought with me for the bathroom, is back.

When Tachibana came to rent a house here, Eri had already rented it.

The two had never spoken to each other and didn't even know each other's names.

As for meeting, it was only when it was late at night and someone needed to take a shower, they would meet briefly at the entrance of a public bathhouse, and neither of them would give each other a friendly look.

Both of them were vying for the chance to shower first, because if they arrived late, there wouldn't be enough hot water, and they would have to shower with cold water for the second half of the shower.

Eri cried so hard today, she looked like she couldn't breathe.

Tachibana stopped opening the door, walked to Eri's room, opened the iron-barred security door, gently knocked on the small wooden door, and asked softly, "Um... are you alright?"

After all, they had fought over the bathroom several times in a row, so they had become friends through fighting. They usually put on an arrogant face that said, "What are you looking at? Look again and I'll hit you."

Seeing her crying so sadly today suddenly brought a great sense of loss, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of sympathy for her.

Eri stopped crying, slowly raised her head, and turned around.

Her eyes were swollen from crying, her gaze was dull and lifeless, and she looked haggard. She pouted, then suddenly buried her face in the blanket and started sobbing.

She looks so sad and pitiful; she must have just broken up with her boyfriend.

"Um...may I come in?" Tachibana hesitated for a moment before gently pushing open the wooden door.

Now that you've already greeted her, shouldn't you offer some comfort? Otherwise, it would seem too cold-hearted.

The room was a complete mess; clothes and socks were scattered everywhere, and there was even fermented noodle soup...

Tachibana stumbled around the clothes scattered on the floor and carefully squatted down beside Eri's bed.

She didn't know what to say to comfort her. Eri's pink backpack looked heavy, so she raised her hand and whispered, "Um, may I help you take your backpack off? You look uncomfortable..."

Eri continued to sob, her face buried in her hands, her arms tucked behind her back as she cried.

She doesn't seem like a difficult person to talk to... Tachibana breathed a sigh of relief and took off her pink backpack.

"Um, is something wrong?" Tachibana realized it wasn't appropriate to pry into someone's privacy like this, so she quickly added, "I mean... um, is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Waaah~" Eri suddenly burst into tears, throwing herself into Tachibana's arms, almost pushing him over. Between sobs, she cried out, "I'm heartbroken... I'm heartbroken... I love him so much... I love him so much..."

"Uh... well... then cry..." Tachibana placed her hand on Eri's back. "Cry, it'll make you feel better..."

It's true, she's heartbroken. But I don't know how to comfort her anymore. Come to think of it, I think I'm on the verge of heartbreak myself.

Hearing Eri's heart-wrenching cries and thinking of Hideaki's nonchalant attitude yesterday, Tachibana's heart clenched, her nose suddenly stung, and tears streamed down her face. She instinctively leaned her head against Eri and began to sob softly.

Eri's crying stopped again, and she looked up with teary eyes, asking, "Why are you crying?"

"Seeing you cry so hard," Tachibana said, wiping away her tears, "I feel like I'm about to experience heartbreak too..."

Eri asked blankly, "You're not trying to comfort me by lying to make me feel better, are you?"

"It's true, my boyfriend is a jerk. He told me to my face that he also likes other women, and he even asked me to understand him and apologize to him. When we parted yesterday, he didn't care about my feelings at all and just turned around and left..."

Tachibana became increasingly upset as she spoke, then grabbed Eri's waist, threw herself into her arms, and burst into tears.

"Uh……"

Eri had stopped crying and was patting Tachibana's back in a daze.

Chapter 129 Eri VS Tachibana

As Tachibana cried, Eri heard her boyfriend's behavior and felt a sense of déjà vu.

Could it be that jerk? It can't be that coincidental, since all men are the same… Should we ask him?

No way! What if it really is that scumbag? I'm not even considered a dumped guy... She's still his girlfriend, and I'm nothing... I'm more shameful than her.

Eri isn't the type for pure love stories, and she's not particularly sensitive to Hideaki's scumbag behavior.

Tachibana cried so hard that tears or snot soaked the front of her clothes.

This dress was her only possession, and it made her feel very uncomfortable. She felt ashamed and frustrated, as if she were nothing.

Eri shouted, "Hey, have you cried enough?"

Tachibana didn't respond and continued to cry while holding Eri.

"Are you ever going to stop?" Eri finally couldn't hold back anymore and pushed Tachibana onto the small bed.

Tachibana lay on the small bed, tears streaming down her face, staring at Eri in a daze for about three seconds before instinctively asking, "What's wrong?"

Eri stood up, put her hands on her hips, and said loudly, "You were the one who comforted me, so why are you crying?"

"I..." Tachibana paused for a few seconds, "I, I'm about to break up with my boyfriend too, and, and I cried..."

"I was the one who got dumped first!" Eri waved her hand and said, "You should comfort me first!"

"Oh..." Tachibana responded subconsciously, but something felt off. After a moment's thought, her anger flared up, and she stood up abruptly, hands on her hips, and shouted, "Didn't I comfort you? I was crying so hard just now, and not only did you not comfort me, you even found me annoying?"

"I'm heartbroken enough myself, how can I have time to comfort you?" Eri looked down and tugged at her shirt. "Look, you've dirtied my clothes. These are my most precious clothes."

"You're even thinking about your clothes? Can't you think about other people at all?" Tachibana said incredulously. "No wonder your boyfriend dumped you. Haven't you ever considered his feelings?"

Eri's face flushed red, and she shouted, "I dumped him! I dumped him! Get out, get out!"

"Do you think I'd believe that? You're just being stubborn. You cried so much, huh!" Tachibana raised her chin, walked to the door, and turned back to say, "A selfish woman like you deserves to be single."

"You...you actually cursed me?" Eri's face turned pale with anger. She grabbed a sock and threw it at him, shouting, "A vicious woman like you will stay single forever! Just you wait! Your boyfriend will dump you too!"

Tachibana was hit in the face by a sock thrown at her, and was also enraged by Eri's curse. She wanted to say something to provoke Eri, but couldn't think of anything for the moment. So she grabbed a sock and threw it at Eri's face, then pulled over the iron bars of the security door and slammed it shut with a loud "bang".

As she walked to her door, seething with resentment, she turned back and shouted, "We haven't broken up yet! He'll accept me anytime I apologize!"

"Didn't you say he's a scumbag?" Eri ran to the door, grabbed the iron bars of the security door with both hands, jumped up and down while pouting, and said, "You also said that he told you in front of you that he liked other women. He definitely doesn't really like you. He just wants to sleep with you, just wants to sleep with you! You should apologize while wearing a green hat! Shameful, shameful!"

Tachibana was so angry that she trembled all over. She took two steps to Eri's door and tried to grab her hair.

Eri screamed and jumped back to avoid it.

Tachibana kicked and pounded on the security door, the metal door banging loudly as she grabbed the iron bars and shouted, "Open the door! Open the door!!!"

The two have similar body proportions, but there is a slight difference in height. Tachibana is half a head taller than Eri. In this situation, he can definitely overpower Eri.

"Do you think I'm stupid!" Eri said with a smug grin, pulling the small wooden door shut with a bang as she spoke. "You incompetent cuckolded woman, you'll get dumped even if you wear a hat!"

As the door closed, Eri's grin vanished instantly. She squatted on the floor, covering her face and muttering in frustration, "Because he's a womanizer, I even found someone for him... wasn't that all for his sake...?"

"Asshole, bastard!"

Tachibana cursed a couple of times, kicked the iron gate a few times to vent her anger, then took out her key and angrily opened the door to her room.

The wooden floors were polished to a shine, and the small room was spotless and tidy.

Tachibana kicked off her shoes, walked barefoot to the small bed, plopped down on it, put her hands on her hips and breathed heavily, her toes throbbing with pain.

“I’ve never seen such a selfish woman,” Tachibana said, rubbing her aching foot. “I’d better not let me catch her. No, no, I can’t seem too angry. I have to seem indifferent. Anyway, I haven’t been dumped yet, but she has. I have to make her angry…”

Tachibana tried to calm herself down, took a few deep breaths, and slowly suppressed her anger. Then she took out a bath towel and toiletries and went into the bathroom.