Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Funakawa Yoshiko handed the white handkerchief she had used to wipe her tears to Hideaki. "Are you alright?"

She was now filled with surprise, guilt, and gratitude; she never expected him to be so trustworthy.

Funakawa Yoshiko had even considered sneaking away when no one was around.

But when I thought about how I had registered my marriage with the old man, even if we hadn't done anything, we were still husband and wife. Besides, when he was alive, I treated him well and provided him with good food and drink. Now that he's dead, if I just leave without anyone to keep vigil, it would be too pitiful and make me look bad.

Xiuming's eyes were red and swollen, as if he had been punched.

He snatched the white handkerchief she offered, wiped his face haphazardly, then threw it back into her arms, saying, "Fine, I'm such a gentleman, I forgave you after you splashed pepper water on me, shouldn't I get a good review?"

"Huh?" Funakawa Yoshiko's face screamed, "Are you out of your mind?" But seeing Hideaki's increasingly gloomy expression, she subconsciously took a small step back and tentatively asked, "Then how about I give you a good review?"

[One good achievement achieved]

"Do you think a 'good review' is all it takes to get away with it?"

Xiuming instantly turned hostile, leaping in front of Funakawa Yoshiko like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey. He wrapped his left arm around her neck and tucked her under his armpit, while his right hand clenched into a fist, pressing his index finger knuckle against her skull and forcefully pushing it in. "Does it hurt? Tell me, does it hurt?"

"It hurts! It hurts! It hurts..." Funakawa Yoshiko cried out in pain, struggling violently and kicking over the bucket. The bucket hit the well opening and rolled over, soaking her clothes.

"I don't believe it!" Xiuming ignored his wet pants and continued to drill into her head.

Hideaki only released Funakawa Yoshiko with satisfaction after she burst into tears.

As she walked back to her room, she took the opportunity to assert her moral high ground, saying irritably, "I was worried you were hungry, so I brought you cucumbers to eat, and you actually splashed me with chili water! You're such a good Samaritan, you ingrate!"

"I didn't mean to...it hurts so much..." Funakawa Yoshiko gasped for breath, clutching her head, gritting her teeth. "Why didn't it burn you to death just now...you beast, you're not a man, you have no gentlemanly manners at all..."

"You're lucky I didn't throw pepper spray at you."

Xiuming gave a curt reply, shook his pants which were soaked with well water, and his shirt was also soaked while washing his eyes. He quickly went back to his room to find a change of clothes.

The sun has set, and dark clouds cover the sky. The yard is damp and humid, and quite chilly; you'll catch a cold.

Xiuming couldn't find any clothes in the room, and the closet was empty.

Since Masataka Oki was hospitalized, Kenichiro has been giving away or burning all the clothes from his old home.

The only blanket on the tatami mat now was brought over temporarily by an elder in the village, who thought that the person would need to rest during the vigil.

In the afternoon, because Xiuming was sleeping under the covers, the villagers felt embarrassed to take it away.

Wet clothes are definitely not something you can wear, so Xiuming took off all his clothes and shoes, hung them up to dry, and then crawled into bed.

The blanket is so warm; it must have been aired out during the day, as it still smells of sunshine.

Once inside, I didn't want to leave, and I dozed off for a while longer.

At 8:10 p.m., a flash of lightning illuminated the night sky.

In the transition from spring to summer, rumbling thunder rumbled, and soon after, the sound of rain pattering came from the courtyard.

Xiuming was awakened by the sound of thunder and rain. He turned on the indoor light, wrapped himself in the blanket, and sat by the window. The rain curtain obscured the darkness, and the temperature in the countryside on a rainy night was lower than in the city. He couldn't help but think of the taste of his childhood...

He stared blankly for a while, then his eyes lit up when he saw the "Intelligence Information" screen. He immediately wrapped himself in the blanket, ran barefoot across the floor into the mourning hall.

The third piece of intelligence has changed: [Sometime between now and noon tomorrow, Funakawa Yoshiko will fall into a coma with a high fever.]

Funakawa Yoshiko was still kneeling on the cushion, her black kimono already soaked through and clinging to her body. She hunched her neck, hugged her shoulders with both hands, and trembled uncontrollably, her upper and lower teeth chattering.

When Xiuming walked to her side, she opened her eyes wide and tilted her head back. Her lips were bluish-purple and her face was deathly pale, like a ghost.

Xiuming, wrapped in a blanket, slowly squatted down and asked, "Are you stupid? You're so cold, don't you know to go to the kitchen and start a fire?"

Funakawa Yoshiko's teeth chattered as she stammered, "Quick...quick, quickly cover me with the blanket...I...I'm freezing to death..."

Because no one lived in the house for a long time, there was no firewood stored in the kitchen. They used a gas cylinder brought by the villagers, which they took with them when they left.

Funakawa Yoshiko used the only pot of hot water to pickle chili peppers.

I was eating cucumber and drinking some chili water just now, and I almost burned myself to death. Plus, cucumber doesn't keep you full at all; in fact, it makes you even hungrier. The only thing that was okay was the saliva rice ball I ate today.

She never dreamed that she would be starving and freezing in such a modern society.

"This is the only blanket we have," Xiuming said, her eyes wide. "If I give it to you, what will I use?"

Funakawa Yoshiko's upward gaze froze slightly, a blush rising to her pale face before she scrunched up again, closing her eyes and saying, "You, you stop nagging... Can't we share a blanket? It's just for warmth..."

"No, your clothes are all soaked. If we cover each other, I'll catch a cold. I'm not wearing anything."

Funakawa Yoshiko's face, which had been pale from the cold, turned bright red, and her eyes snapped open in disbelief. "You, how could you be so perverted?" she exclaimed.

"What can I do? My clothes are completely soaked, and I still have to sleep under this blanket tonight. It's raining so hard outside, how can I sleep if I'm all wet?"

"..." Funakawa Yoshiko was speechless.

That seems to make a lot of sense...

She had already searched the other rooms but couldn't find a single piece of clothing.

I hadn't planned to come back here, since I didn't belong here at all. So, before leaving, I took all my clothes with me.

But when I think about what we're going to do next, that physical intimacy... although... but how is that even possible? Especially in a room like this.

"You, you should go... Go back to your room and sleep..." Funakawa Yoshiko almost forgot the cold, covering her flushed face with her hands, curling her whole body into a ball, overwhelmed with shame and indignation, feeling wronged and sad, and couldn't help but cry, "Let me freeze to death here..."

Before Funakawa Yoshiko could finish speaking, a warm feeling enveloped her, and a warm hand rested on her shoulder. Then, she was pulled into Hideaki's arms by a strong force, followed by a blanket tightly wrapped around her body.

She instinctively tensed up, her heart pounding wildly. She wanted to run away, but the blankets were so warm… and this guy wasn't wearing anything… what should she do… what should she do…

Funakawa Yoshiko's mind was in chaos. She was so frightened that she dared not move, and even her breathing became subconsciously soft, for fear of provoking some kind of bestial outburst.

But the more I tried to breathe, the more suffocated I felt, as if I was lacking oxygen, and I could almost hear my heartbeat.

"Hey, can you cooperate a little?" Xiuming was also startled by the cold and couldn't help but complain, "Move closer, this is letting in the wind."

"Okay...okay..." Funakawa Yoshiko stiffened and leaned in slightly. Her kimono was very thin, and her shoulder brushed against Hideaki's chest. Startled, she flinched and tried to pull away, but Hideaki pulled the blanket tighter around her. She couldn't leave. Instinctively, she cried out, "You, you can't do this! You're married...even if you're handsome, a marriage agreement isn't enough...I...we haven't even dated...we don't know each other...I'm so pitiful...please don't do this..."

She cried and screamed, and finally huddled in Xiuming's arms and sobbed.

Hideaki seems to have seen Riko... What a dramatic contrast!

Xiuming yelled, "Shut up right now! I won't allow you to imitate my wife!"

Funakawa Yoshiko trembled, and her crying immediately stopped.

She slowly raised her head, her wide eyes momentarily dazed, then a look of shame and indignation welled up in them.

She's definitely not Riko's personality, but she was just so nervous that she blurted out everything on her mind.

However, Xiuming's disdainful shout did bring her to her senses somewhat.

He must have rejected her, that's for sure... He's expressed his dislike several times before... He even wiped his hand after holding hers...

Since I'm not interested, I'm safe, I should be grateful, so why am I so sad...?

"Hey, why aren't you saying anything?" Xiuming shook her soft shoulders. "Dead?"

"Where did I imitate your wife? I've never even met your wife. It's all your own talk. Who knows if you actually have a wife? It's all just your imagination! A guy like you is not a gentleman at all. You could never have a wife."

Funakawa Yoshiko vented all the words she could think of, along with the inexplicable grievances in her heart.

As she spoke, she listened to her own words, and after thinking it over in her mind, she realized that it made a lot of sense.

Xiuming was speechless for a second.

"Didn't we sign a marriage agreement? The witness is lying right next to us, and you are the one."

"I...I'm not..." Funakawa Yoshiko's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that she was right? And he didn't have a wedding ring on his hand...he made it all up...She felt a strange sense of joy, but couldn't help feeling shy. She subconsciously lowered her head and whispered, "You, you're talking nonsense. It doesn't count, it doesn't count."

"The lawyers took it all, how can it not count? Are you going to donate 100 billion yen to dissolve the engagement? I won't donate, will you?"

Hideaki would rather establish his own charitable foundation factory in the real economy than donate to a charitable foundation in the financial industry.

"I'm not donating either," Funakawa Yoshiko blurted out, as if it were her own initiative, then quickly explained, "Where would I get the money?"

"Then you are destined to be my wife."

Funakawa Yoshiko swallowed hard, lowered her head deeply, and retorted in a voice only she could hear, "No...no...it's..."

Her heart was pounding so hard, her mind was in turmoil, but she felt pretty good.

Chapter 158 Let Riko answer the phone

Early morning, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

Although it is early May, the transition period between spring and summer, the rain from last night has not stopped yet. The continuous drizzle has given off a chilly feeling, as if autumn had arrived overnight.

"ah!!!"

The piercing scream made Xiuming's ears ring. Just as he was about to cover his ears, the blanket on his body was suddenly pulled away, followed by a kick to his stomach, and he rolled off the tatami.

Funakawa Yoshiko wrapped her entire body in the blanket, with only her disheveled head showing, her face flushed red.

When she looked at Xiuming with shame and indignation, her expression froze instantly. The shame and indignation in her wide-open peach blossom eyes turned into a blank stare, and her pink lips seemed to open unconsciously due to excessive surprise.

"What are you doing?" Xiuming rubbed his ears and got up. "Hurry up and pull back the covers so I can come in. It's quite cold outside."

Funakawa Yoshiko blinked and jerked as if pricked by a needle, seemingly unable to believe what she was seeing. She blinked again, shuddered reflexively, and then took a deep breath: "Ah!!!"

While yelling, it tucked its head into the blanket, then curled up into a ball in a kneeling position, forming a round bulge on the tatami mat, like a turtle hiding in its shell.

The double quilt was quite large, and the quilt behind Funakawa Yoshiko was spread out on the tatami mat.

Xiuming was shivering from the cold and didn't bother to say anything more to her. He simply lifted the blanket behind her and wrapped it around himself.

Then he kicked her with his heel, hitting something soft, and said irritably, "You better lie down, or I'll blow air into your lungs."

With a soft gasp, Funakawa Yoshiko arched the blanket she was wrapped in, and began to pat and scratch Hideaki's feet and calves with her hands inside the blanket.

Filled with shame and indignation, she shouted, "How can you act like nothing happened? Shameless... shameless... I'll kill you..."

After finally managing to warm up the damp blankets, a cool breeze blew into them again.

"Nothing happened in the first place. If you scratch me again, I'll kick you," Xiuming said irritably.

Funakawa Yoshiko was filled with shame and indignation and wouldn't listen to anything. She even wanted to grab his foot and bite off his toes.

The violent movement caused a corner of the blanket to brush against a white plastic medicine bottle next to it. The plastic medicine bottle rolled off the tatami mat with a "clattering" sound, and then rolled along the wooden floor to stop next to a wooden lunchbox. A white towel was draped over the wooden lunchbox, and an umbrella was placed next to it.

Funakawa Yoshiko froze, silently straightening her legs and changing from a kneeling position to a side-curled position with her back facing inward.

She remembered.

Last night, Xiuming insisted that she was his wife, and then I became a little confused and didn't dare to say anything more, so I drifted off to sleep.