Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

Chapter 18 Intelligence + Skills

Young people always have boundless energy, and when they get deeply emotional, they squander it without restraint.

It didn't quiet down until 11 p.m.

It was too hot inside the small tent, so Xiuming put the pillow outside the curtain.

Since it was only early April, the night air was still a bit chilly.

Considering that he had sweated too much and was prone to catching a cold from the cold wind, he only stayed outside the tent up to his chest.

Riko's head rested on his left chest.

The night sky was painted with colorful lights by the city's neon lights.

Xiuming gazed at the night sky, his right hand resting on Riko's smooth shoulder, gently stroking her soft back.

Riko seemed to have forgotten her earlier recklessness, and like a docile puppy, she closed her eyes slightly and quietly enjoyed the touch from her neck and back.

The faint sounds of sirens and ambulances echoed through the surrounding area late at night.

Before I knew it, it was almost midnight.

"Riko-chan, what are your dreams?"

The watch's pale green luminous hour hand is just a little shy of 12, while the minute hand points to the number 11.

"without…"

Riko let out a soft, contented nasal sound. The arms wrapped around his waist inside the tent tightened slightly, and her crossed legs rubbed gently against each other. She still kept her eyelids slightly closed and rubbed her cheek against his chest.

"This can't be allowed!"

Xiuming stroked her smooth waist and pinched her buttocks, completely shattering the warm atmosphere.

Riko trembled, looked up and opened her eyes wide, filled with grievance and confusion.

"Think of one, think of one now," Xiuming prompted gently.

"For example, if you are eager to learn a very powerful skill, and then use this skill to demonstrate your value in life and realize your dreams, then yes, just follow that requirement."

"Then...then I dream of opening our own plush toy shop? And I hope to learn how to sew plush toys soon?"

"No, this one's expired. Let's think of something else."

Xiuming already has this skill, but in the current situation, it's a very useless skill.

Not only does it require costs, but the profits are also too small, and you also need to know how to operate capital.

For those who have never been capitalists, they will inevitably encounter many pitfalls in the future, and the costs will increase further.

Moreover, with the current economic bubble bursting, the general public's consumption is gradually shifting from "luxury and showing off" to "cheap and practical".

Uniqlo has a good eye for business; they've already started developing affordable clothing...

Although the widening gap between the rich and the poor has made the rich richer and more extravagant, they are still a minority, and I don't have the connections to easily get close to them. Besides, they are not stupid.

Therefore, if you want to start a business and carve out a path to success in this economic downturn, you can only target the massive base of hundreds of millions of ordinary people in the lower and middle classes.

Focus on essential needs!

Fast food restaurants, affordable clothing stores, bottled water retailers, affordable pharmacies, and convenience stores that are not yet on a large scale... all things related to people's livelihoods.

Of course, scaling up these methods requires a significant investment of capital, connections, and time.

Given the current low morale among the public, offering therapeutic and emotional support could be a viable entrepreneurial avenue, including projects in entertainment, publishing, gaming, and other forms of spiritual comfort.

"I really didn't expect that."

Riko rubbed her forehead against his chest as if she felt guilty.

"Then tell me about your childhood dreams!"

Xiuming lay on his back, put his arm around her shoulder, turned her face to face him, and pinched her little cheek, saying...

Riko had many dreams when she was a child. At first, she wanted to be a cartoonist, but she didn't have enough money to take tutoring classes. Then she wanted to be a writer, but she failed her Chinese language exam.

Her mother wanted her to become a child star, but her father, though poor, was principled and believed that showing his face in public was shameful, so he strongly opposed it...

"I love you so much, you silly little thing," Xiuming rolled over and gently placed her head on the pillow. "From now on, don't use your brain. Just listen to what I say and do it. Can you do that?"

"Um…"

Riko seemed used to Hideaki calling her an idiot and agreed, saying it was fine this way, as she didn't have to think about anything. However, she still felt a little embarrassed and blushed.

"Let me think about what dream you should set for yourself..."

Xiuming lay on his side next to her right, his left hand gently rubbing her collarbone.

Riko, a brilliant but somewhat silly girl, has dreams that all correspond to the entrepreneurial path of the spiritual realm.

Cartoonist? Writer? Child star?

Regarding skills, judging from the "exquisite handicraft making technique" acquired, this skill is extremely precise, so precise that it can only be used to make dolls by hand.

Therefore, it can be inferred that if Riko can truly identify the skills that are most urgently needed, they must be extremely precise.

A cartoonist might be someone with exceptional drawing skills, a writer might be someone with outstanding writing skills and literary cultivation, and a child star might be someone who acts or sings.

None of these are good.

After all, even with superb manga skills, one cannot become Akira Toriyama; even with exceptional literary talent, one cannot become Murasaki Shikibu. What they lack is their intellect.

As for performance and singing, they are too passive. It's not as good as composing and writing lyrics. With a high level of musical talent, you can remember any song you hear immediately.

They stole them?

It's too risky to become famous easily; it's better to collaborate and split the copyright fees.

Thinking of this, Hideaki picked Riko up again, holding her under her armpits and lifting her in front of him, saying, "Riko-chan, you dream of becoming a music composer. From now on, you will learn music composition techniques, understand?"

"Huh? Is...is that even possible?"

Riko was initially ashamed of being lifted up like that, but when she heard Hideaki's brainless request, she completely lost her mind.

From her bewildered eyes, Xiuming deciphered a single sentence: Don't make things difficult for me... I can't do it...

"What did you promise me? Have you forgotten? Don't think, just do it. Can you do it?"

“But… okay!” Riko tilted her head hesitantly. “If you can’t do it… don’t call me stupid, this is simply…”

"Throw your brains away! Whether you can do it or not is not your concern. Come on, let's get this straight. Tell me loudly, what is your dream?"

"I...I dream of becoming a music composer, and I want to learn amazing music composition techniques..."

Riko blushed; this was a very presumptuous thing to do.

At exactly 12 o'clock, the process of identifying key figures and gathering intelligence began again.

Hideaki focused on Riko again; the information she had probably wasn't very important, mainly her skills.

As in the previous case, the intelligence obtained is about the three events that the target will "engage in" and "encounter" that are related to them within the next 12 hours.

Even when targeting humans, a reward mechanism still exists.

If you take action based on the information provided, you can choose to have the target "evaluate" the action.

If the target gives a "three-good evaluation", you will randomly receive a "professional skill" reward.

At this moment, three pieces of intelligence were presented one by one:

Intelligence 1: Riko is feeling embarrassed and ashamed because of your actions.

Information 2: For some time to come, Riko will strictly follow your requests and refuse Ayako Sugita's high-paying job offer.

Information 3: At some point in the future, Riko will be delighted by your actions.

How can there be such an adorable little idiot?

Chapter 19 explores the feasibility of a plan to share copyright fees with creators through "theft".

"Riko-chan, do you have a favorite celebrity?"

As someone who can disregard even social death, Xiuming hasn't yet found any actions of hers that have caused her embarrassment and shame, and can only explore step by step.

"The Heisei era diva, right?"

Riko was still being held under Hideaki's arms on both sides. The nerve endings under the armpits are very sensitive, and his fingers kept stroking them.

"Who?"

"Miyuki Nakajima..."

"Oh, it's her."

I've heard of her. She's a super talented singer-songwriter and idol actress. Even after thirty years, she's still as charming as ever. Her music videos are all over major video websites. She's quite beautiful, and what's even more amazing is that she's still unmarried after thirty years... uh.

Hideaki quickly pulled his thoughts back and couldn't help but ask, "How old is she this year? Does she have a boyfriend? Oh no, let's change the subject, Riko-chan~ you're so beautiful."

While Riko was stunned, Hideaki quickly changed the subject, put her back on the pillow, and brought his nose close to her ear to gently smell her hair.

"..."

Riko was already in a daze and her mind was about to go blank. After Hideaki's actions, she threw all her thoughts aside.

Young people have it great; they have unlimited energy to squander.

As the moment drew near, Xiuming suddenly remembered the issue of having children. After all, because she didn't have the money to raise them right now, she really didn't dare to have any...

One time, when he was nagging on and on, Riko could no longer hold back her grievances and cried out, "Husband, please don't bully me..."

Due to the different physiological structures of men and women.

In such circumstances, Riko, as a woman, found it difficult to take any initiative while she was still rational due to her own modesty, shame, and the constraints imposed by public intellectuals.

What she endured was not only physical, but also a mixed torment of psychological and spiritual suffering.

For Hideaki, who was a man, it was like standing in a free land without any constraints.

But deep down, Riko was still worried that her lack of restraint might cause Hideaki to dislike her, a torment that was more than ten times greater than Hideaki's.

Hideaki finally deciphered the connection between "Intelligence One" and himself.

Although it was about planning for the future and was unintentional, bringing it up at this juncture was indeed inappropriate, even a bit excessive, so I promptly shut up.

(For loving couples, guys, please prepare some goji berry tea so as not to embarrass the ladies. P.S.: The video is full of jokes.)