Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

"No, I came here specifically to visit you."

Yesterday afternoon, we had already discussed it. Riko remained silent throughout. In her eyes, Hideaki was a chauvinist who wanted his wife to be a full-time housewife.

Of course, it's understandable, since this is the consensus in society: married women who are always in the public eye will not be loved by their husbands.

However, during the negotiations, Hideaki kept saying he would "go home and think about it," and always focused on the buyback price of the dolls, which made Ayako Sugita think that Hideaki cared about money and that the salary he offered was not enough.

When she visited today and saw the walls covered in graffiti demanding repayment, she became even more determined in her mind.

She also looked down on Xiuming: "He's drowning in debt, barely able to support himself, what right does he have to act like a chauvinist? Can he even afford it?"

My wife clearly has the ability to earn money, yet she keeps hindering me. I hate these kinds of scumbags who can't even recognize their own limitations.

"Me? What is it?"

The elevator was still going down, Xiuming asked, turning around.

"If you agree to let your wife work for me, I can give her the highest salary in our company."

"How many?"

It really was all about the money...

"An annual salary of 800 million yen is the highest level of authority I can command."

"It's not even enough to cover the high-interest loan, let's just forget about it!" Xiuming shook his head and sighed softly.

“Your wife is truly exceptional. Please do not waste her talent. With proper guidance and support, she could potentially become a national treasure-level artisan, and she might even be able to repay the high-interest loans.”

"Really? I borrowed 500 million three months ago, and now it's ballooned to 3000 million. Could you help me calculate how long my wife would need to work to pay it all back?"

Ayako Sugita's face stiffened, and after about ten seconds of silence, she said, "If you have your wife sign a lifetime employment contract with me, I can find someone to negotiate with the loan company. After all, this is a debt that you will never be able to repay in your lifetime."

A scumbag who made his wife pay off his debts...

"What do you mean? Do you want me to sell my wife to pay off my debts? Apologize to me immediately, or there's nothing to talk about," Xiuming said, pointing to the cosmetic box she was holding in her right hand.

Following the direction of his finger, Ayako Sugita looked down, stiffly picked up the gift box, handed it over, and said, "Mr. Yamanaka, you are the most shameless man I have ever met. Let's be frank! What conditions would it take for your wife to work for me?"

She believed she had seen through Xiuming's true colors; a man obsessed with money wouldn't risk his livelihood over a single rude remark.

She didn't want to say another word to him.

"You're too kind," Xiuming said with a beaming smile, taking the cosmetic gift box from his hand. "As long as my wife agrees, I have no reason to refuse. Would you like to talk to her?"

Do you think I'd believe that? You're just trying to raise the price!

"Annual salary of 900 million yen, with a ten-year exclusive contract."

"As I've already said, I fully respect my wife's personal wishes..."

“I can pay your salary in advance and deposit it into your personal bank account.”

"You not only insulted me, but you also betrayed your own employees. Capitalists are truly despicable; is money all they care about?"

Ayako Sugita paused for a moment, then said, "You just said that as long as your wife agrees, it's fine, right?"

"The topic shift was really awkward," Xiuming said with a laugh.

Ayako remained unfazed.

The elevator doors opened at that moment.

"Please wait a moment, I'll take Riko down."

Xiuming carried the gift box into the elevator and continued, "There have been too many debt collectors lately, banging on the door and harassing us at night, making it hard to sleep. We slept on the rooftop last night, which was quite nice."

"Please go ahead!"

Ayako Sugita maintained a dignified demeanor and smiled slightly.

Hideaki called Riko into the elevator.

"Riko-chan, Mrs. Sugita is here. She's trying to tempt you to work for her. Don't agree to it. I'll try to persuade you to agree after we get out of the elevator, but don't listen."

“Okay.” Riko nodded, holding Hideaki’s arm. “Even if I were to go, I wouldn’t know how to do it, and I would definitely be fired.”

"Why are you thinking so much? Don't use your brain. Is this a question of whether you can do it or not? As long as you study hard, you'll definitely be able to learn it."

Riko stuck out her little tongue.

Xiuming held up the cosmetic gift box in her hand again and said, "She also brought you a gift box, which looks very valuable. I'll take it first, and we'll open it after she leaves."

"Huh? Isn't this a bit inappropriate?" Riko asked cautiously.

"I told you, don't use your brain, listen to me, you won't regret it."

"Okay, okay."

The elevator returned to the fourth floor.

Before the elevator doors opened, Xiuming glanced at him and gestured: It's about to begin.

Riko pursed her lips and clenched her fist, indicating: I understand.

The elevator doors opened.

Mrs. Sugita stood at the door, holding a red tea gift box in both hands, smiling and bowing, appearing dignified and elegant.

Especially her exaggerated bust, it's just... Xiuming suddenly noticed that Riko was looking up at him.

Xiuming quickly looked at her and pinched her little bottom. Riko only trembled slightly and turned her head away.

"Hello, Riko-chan!" Ayako Sugita greeted him with a warm smile.

"Hello, Mrs. Sugita." Riko bowed.

After Hideaki and Riko stepped out of the elevator, Ayako Sugita deliberately walked between them.

She anticipated that if she, as a woman, walked past with her head held high and her chest out, Xiuming, as a man, would definitely step aside or take a step back to make way for her.

To everyone's surprise, Xiuming seemed to be blind; not only did he not dodge, but he even lowered his head and took a step forward.

Ayako Sugita was a little confused.

Why did you bump into me?

Xiuming looked down, took out the room key, stood there without moving, and asked.

Riko, standing next to them, stared wide-eyed at the spot where the two had collided.

Mrs. Sugita's exaggerated curves were truly enviable and exaggerated; her dress was already flattened by Hideaki's arm.

Mrs. Sugita's face flushed red with anger, and she quickly took a step back.

"I'm so sorry, I'm just too happy to see Riko-chan. Please forgive me."

"Don't take it so seriously, just be more careful next time." Xiuming patted his arm as if brushing something dirty off, walked past her, and unlocked the door with his key. "Come in!"

This shameless man… Ayako Sugita suddenly felt a throbbing pain in her chest.

"Mrs. Sugita, are you alright?"

Riko's worried expression and the apology in her eyes infuriated Ayako Sugita, who wanted to yell at her:

Your man is a jerk, he did it on purpose! Absolutely on purpose! He blatantly looked at my chest several times! Didn't you see it too? How can you be so naive?

Riko-chan, wake up!

But the purpose of my visit today is not to interfere in other people's family relationships. Once we bring Riko under our wing and make her the breadwinner of his family, we'll have plenty of ways to punish his rudeness.

“Riko-chan, please don’t be so polite,” Ayako said with a warm smile, taking Riko’s hand. “You can call me Ayako-neechan…”

Whether it was because of their aura, their height, or their bust size, or something else, when the two entered the living room and sat side by side on the sofa chatting, Ayako seemed to be the lady of the house.

She didn't mention inviting Riko to work for her, but kept praising her exquisite handmade sewing skills.

Perhaps Riko was suppressed because she felt guilty!

She gave a perfunctory reply, her eyes constantly glancing at Xiuming, who was boiling water in the kitchen, hoping to get some help.

Hideaki quickly received Riko's distress signal.

She came out carrying a kettle of hot water and asked, "Riko-chan, where did we put our tea leaves?"

"Ah!" Li jumped up. "I'm going to find..."

“Use this…” Ayako grabbed her and pressed her back onto the sofa, unpacking the tea gift box she had brought, and asked, “Riko-chan, how long have you been practicing your amazing handicrafts?”

"You already have the skills, why ask how long you need to practice?"

Before Riko could speak, Hideaki snatched the tea box from Ayako's hand, poured it into the teapot, and then asked, "Stop with the small talk. Don't you like to be direct? Just ask! Riko-chan, do you want to work for her?"

"No rush, let's talk about some women's topics. You can leave."

Ayako almost slammed her hand on the table, her teeth itching with hatred.

When talking to Xiuming, she could be direct and blunt, since he was scum and she didn't care.

However, when it comes to talented individuals, especially those we urgently need and highly value, we can't immediately establish any vested interests. We need to build rapport, get close to them, become friends, and even consider them confidants...

After all, Riko is innocent inside and out.

…That bastard ruined my plans!

Riko was already biting her lip and shaking her head.

"It's lunchtime, Mrs. Sugita. Would you like to stay for lunch?"

Seeing that it was almost midnight, Xiuming made an excuse to send people away.

"Really? Thank you so much!"

Ayako Sugita's feigned surprise almost made Hideaki blurt out: "Have you no shame?! Can't you tell what's good or bad?!"

As she spoke, she took Riko's hand and said, "Riko-chan, you're so good at making handicrafts, you must be a great cook too! Let's cook together!"

Riko's face turned bright red.

“My wife is an excellent cook, but she injured her hand and can’t cook. We’ve been eating out at izakayas lately.”

"It's alright, I can help you, Riko-chan. Can you help me cook? Let's cook together."

Chapter 21 I'm sorry, she kept screaming for help, I thought...

Because Xiuming follows the principle of buying food as needed, besides rice and noodles, his family only has a few bags of ready-made meals left, and there are no vegetables he can cook.