Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

The shelves were packed full, and a group of people squatted on the ground, leaning against the bookshelves reading.

Hideaki didn't know much about Japanese celebrities. He only remembered Miyuki Nakajima, who supported half of Hong Kong's entertainment industry, and a few of her more famous songs, but he didn't know any other details.

There's also Izumi Sakai, who sang for "Slam Dunk" and "Detective Conan." I hadn't paid much attention to her either, only knowing that she was quite pretty, and I made a poster of her and put it on my bedside table.

The others know quite a lot of details, such as Aoi Sora, who is eight years old now, Hatano Yui, who is two years old now, and Mikami Yua, who will be born in two years.

Hideaki first let Riko wander around and play by herself, then walked through the music album section and onto the book section.

Although I can clearly remember the melody of the music playing in my ears, it's just that. I can write down 1234567 based on the tone, but the musical staff is completely black.

With his "extremely high musical talent," he is perfectly capable of learning and applying what he has just learned.

I bought several books on basic music theory related to composition.

Riko didn't wander around on her own; she stayed with Hideaki the whole time. When she saw the books he was buying, she just stared at him with wide eyes without saying a word.

Hideaki then casually picked up a Miyuki Nakajima record, paid for it, and walked out of the bookstore.

"What are you looking at? I'll sing you a song called 'I Only Care About You' when we get home. The others are just for fun."

Before Riko could even feel her surprise, she was stunned by his follow-up words, and couldn't help but stomp her foot and jog after him.

The setting sun casts its rays.

Hideaki then took Riko to the supermarket to buy some vegetables for dinner.

I got home at five o'clock.

Today was quite strange; the debt collectors didn't show up.

Xiuming didn't think this was a good thing. If he wasn't mistaken, the next group to come and collect debts might be yakuza.

Post-meal digestion time.

The two sat down on the sofa.

Riko, holding a basket of needlework, sat in Hideaki's lap, head bowed, practicing her sewing skills little by little.

Xiuming casually flipped through a music theory book; it was quite simple—he had already learned how to "copy" pieces.

I can easily copy and paste the melody of any song I've heard before, except for the lyrics.

To make it easier to practice, I hummed the tune of "I Only Care About You" while writing it down.

Riko stopped her crafts, tilted her head back, and listened with hazy eyes. Her lips parted slightly, and she breathed out warm air, "Honey~ you're so good..."

"Let's go, it's seven o'clock, let's go to the rooftop!"

I still can't stay at home. What if the debt collectors come knocking on the door again? Wouldn't that be a huge downer?

Not long after Hideaki and Riko went up to the rooftop like thieves, Ayako Sugita came out of the elevator carrying a bag of tangerines and a package of handmade embroidery.

She knocked on the door, but no one answered.

Remembering that Xiuming had mentioned at noon that they had moved to the rooftop to hide from their debts, she went straight back into the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.

She came today with an unwavering determination to win.

Laymen watch the spectacle, experts watch the details.

The gold thread embroidered on the tiger doll demonstrates extremely high embroidery skills, combining various embroidery techniques, and also resembles a new type of embroidery method.

She can be called an embroidery master.

She couldn't believe that someone with such exceptional embroidery talent would be content with mediocrity.

She reasoned with her, appealing to her emotions... After all, she disassembled the tiger doll, submitted it to the embroidery exhibition, and won second place.

She only wanted to advertise her studio, but she didn't expect it to be so successful that she even received an invitation. Now she was in a bind.

If people find out that it wasn't your work, you will be ruined.

The elevator arrived at the 22nd floor, a floor without any residents, which indeed appeared desolate and quiet.

Ayako walked up the stairs to the fire door and found that it was chained and locked.

"That guy lied to me!"

Ayako grabbed the chain and slammed it down. The padlock clicked and fell to the ground.

"Ok?"

Ayako instantly understood; it seemed to be a deliberate attempt to mislead others.

Then remove the iron chain and gently push open the fire door.

"Help... help me..."

Riko is crying for help!

Ayako's heart skipped a beat. She quickly dropped her handbag, kicked off her wooden clogs, and rushed straight towards the tent.

Sizzle—!

Ayako Sugita's eyes widened.

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

"Are you an idiot?!" Xiuming grabbed a pillow and threw it at her face.

Chapter 22 You're already on the verge of ruin, so don't try to negotiate.

Riko covered herself with the blanket, knelt down in the corner of the tent, and curled up almost into a ball.

Xiuming hurriedly found his pants and put them on.

Ayako stood with her back to the camera, her right hand clutching the pillow out of shape, her head bowed, her whole body trembling.

Xiuming pulled up his pants, checked the tent, and found that the zipper had been torn and couldn't be repaired.

We absolutely have to squeeze some money out of her...

“She was indeed screaming for help just now, I really thought…” Ayako kept her head down, her voice trembling.

"Shut up already! You're such a spoilsport..."

Xiuming grabbed the pillow from her hand, threw it back onto the tent's bedding, bumped her with his shoulder while shirtless, and then walked away from the tent toward the open space on the rooftop.

Ayako was still standing there with her head down and her back to the tent.

Her heaving chest was reminiscent of a hydrogen balloon that was constantly being deflated and inflated. Each time it was inflated, her flushed face was almost buried inside the balloon, as if she was deflated because she could no longer inhale.

Hideaki said irritably, "Don't stand there. Don't you know how embarrassed Riko is by your rash behavior? Come over here and let's talk."

The sun had already dipped below the horizon, its reflected light illuminating the sky. The entire city was immersed in the transition between day and night, with clear distinctions between light and shadow in the shaded and sunlit areas.

The wind howled in my ears from the rooftop, which was twenty-two stories high.

Ayako stood facing Hideaki, two steps away. One side of her face was bathed in sunlight, turning golden red, while the other side, in the shadows, was a dark reddish-black.

“She was indeed calling for help, so I…”

Again?

"There are many reasons why someone might cry for help. Can't you tell just by their voice? You're a wife, don't you know this basic common sense?"

"What common sense?"

The expression in her eyes and brows revealed a surprising innocence.

"Don't you have a marital life? Haven't you ever cried for help? Isn't this common sense for a wife?"

"I don't understand what you're saying!" Her eyes widened suddenly, and her hands clenched tightly at her sides. "I was just doing a good deed."

She seemed to have something she couldn't say, and abruptly changed the subject.

Xiuming didn't want to continue this pointless topic, but he also didn't want to let her off easily.

We must pay compensation!

"What do you mean? Are you prejudiced against me? Do you subjectively believe that I am hurting her?"

"Can't we think of it that way?"

Ayako tilted her chin slightly, her face flushed red under the dim sky, almost dripping blood, the redness spreading to her neck. "Many people like you who are burdened with high-interest loans have a tendency towards domestic violence. Besides, you clearly lack the ability yourself, yet you prevent others from making progress."

"I see you now. You just don't think you've done anything wrong, do you?"

"It's clearly your fault!"

Ayako seemed to have instantly found the source of her confidence, which made Hideaki laugh in exasperation.

"Should I praise you? Should I give you a banner?"

"Humph!"

Hideaki's obviously sarcastic attitude made Ayako feel a little guilty.

But if we can't achieve our goal today, our future career path will be at great risk. So he changed the subject and headed toward the tent, saying, "I'm here to see Riko."

“You’ve embarrassed Riko. She’s trying to avoid you and definitely doesn’t want to talk to you, especially now.” Hideaki grabbed her wrist.

"I'm just worried about her personal safety, she'll understand."

Ayako's voice trembled along with her trembling wrist, clearly indicating that she was embarrassed but was just putting on a brave face.

"Can you tell me what makes you so shameless?"

Xiuming thought about the three pieces of information he had obtained from her and felt that he was about to touch her weakness.

"Please let go of me, or I'll sue you for harassment! I really will! You'll not only have to pay money, you might even go to jail!"

At that time, the law, in order to crack down on numerous tram harassment incidents, was absolutely biased towards women.

This has led many women with ulterior motives to file malicious lawsuits in order to repay the huge debts incurred from excessive consumption and obtain huge sums of money for emotional distress, thus settling their debts.

This has even spawned numerous small alliances, where members discuss various ways to file lawsuits.

Some people who are not very familiar with legal provisions will post their suspected harassment incidents in the group so that the women who are knowledgeable about the law can estimate the success rate or improve their response.

I will also share some success stories with my fellow women for reference.

Today, with a large number of people, there is great strength, and it has already reached a considerable scale.

In this increasingly sluggish economic situation, due to the malicious behavior of a few Japanese women, more and more Japanese men have become wary of all Japanese women and avoid them like the plague, which in turn has led to a large number of apathetic otaku.