Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

The supermarket was full of unfamiliar faces, so Xiuming didn't go in and went straight back to his home in apartment 403.

I called Riko from outside Sofia's house earlier, and Hideaki overheard what she said. He probably thinks I'm not coming home that night.

Xiuming didn't knock; he simply used his key to gently open the door.

The room was dark, but the lights of the city's skyscrapers outside the living room window did not obstruct the view.

Xiuming didn't turn on the light, and walked towards the bathroom while taking off his clothes, preparing to take a shower.

There seemed to be someone lying on the tatami mat in the Japanese-style room. I guessed it was Funakawa Yoshiko, who was staying at home. Since it was past one o'clock, she seemed to be sleeping soundly, so I ignored her.

After taking a shower, I went straight into the bedroom.

The bedroom curtains were drawn, making it somewhat dark. Considering that turning on the light would wake Riko, I climbed into bed in the dark.

Xiuming held the soft, fragrant baby in his arms, pondering tomorrow's plans while drifting off to sleep.

Tomorrow's going to be busy... Should we go to Sophia's to move first? Or maybe we should leave it to Riko... Jiro's situation is more important...

When I called Ezaki from the car earlier, she didn't answer the phone... Was she practicing her leg-raising dance and didn't have time to answer?

As Xiuming drifted off to sleep, the person in his arms suddenly turned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Hideaki was somewhat surprised; this wasn't like Riko's personality... She could only wriggle and whisper: What should I do...?

Of course, it's also possible that his sudden return home gave her a big surprise, and she was very happy about it...

Although Xiuming was getting sleepier, it didn't affect his behavior. After all, he hadn't done anything completely with Sophia today.

The dark bedroom was filled with the smell of sweat.

The foam mattress creaked softly in the dim light.

Although Xiuming was busy despite feeling sleepy, he didn't only think about himself. After all, love is something that is given to each other, and that's how a couple's relationship can last.

A faint, suppressed cry, filled with intense shame and barely suppressed, "Help..." echoed as if in a dream. Only then did Xiuming contentedly gather her long hair behind her head, then pull her soft body into his arms and fall asleep peacefully.

The morning sunlight streamed through the curtains.

Xiuming was awakened by the warm, damp feeling on his face. In his vision was a flushed face with watery eyes filled with a variety of emotions: shyness, joy, trepidation, and inexplicable admiration and gratitude.

She was being held face-to-face in Xiuming's arms, her hands also around Xiuming's armpits.

Xiuming closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, and the events of last night resurfaced in his mind.

I should have noticed it last night, since Riko is so shy, it's not my style at all. But with the die already cast, I not only didn't suspect anything, but I kept thinking about why Riko was surprised.

The way she's staring at me now, with a look that's both adoring and apprehensive, makes it hard to just push her away and yell at her for ambushing me.

After all, it seems like I was the one who ambushed her last night. Speaking of which, why is she in Riko's bed? It feels so familiar, like the time with Chieko.

Looking back at Riko, Chieko, and Hitomi Shiraishi's reactions yesterday, it seems that ever since I said I wanted to see Hitomi Shiraishi wearing glasses, a teacher's blazer, a black miniskirt, black stockings, and high heels, they all tacitly agreed.

Last night on the phone, Riko said that she, Chieko, Misako, and Hitomi Shiraishi beat up Yoshiko Funakawa. So they're a small group? Are they close sisters?

"Shiraishi...Hitomi-chan?"

Xiuming's gaze slowly moved down her beautiful face, which was flushed and glowing...

"Mmm..." Shiraishi Hitomi blinked her eyes, bit her lower lip, nodded her head, and made a soft nasal sound. Her eyes were full of happiness.

"Where's Riko?" Hideaki asked.

Hitomi Shiraishi slowly placed her hand between the two of them, extended her index finger, and pointed backward.

Xiuming sat up abruptly.

Behind Hitomi Shiraishi, in a corner close to the wall, Riko was huddled up in a ball, covered by a blue sheet, her shoulders trembling from time to time.

"What exactly is going on with you guys?" Hideaki's mind went blank. Riko would never do something like this. Could she have been sidelined and threatened?

"My bed and blankets in the dorm were soaked with water, so President Riko let me sleep here for the night. It's just... well... quite unexpected. Um, I'm sorry..."

Xiuming's sudden look of surprise made Shiraishi Hitomi's heart clench. She immediately realized that Xiuming had just hugged the wrong person last night, and she thought Xiuming knew it was her.

The joy and happiness that filled her heart were instantly replaced by inferiority and unease. As she spoke, she forced back the tears that were welling up in her eyes, and silently shrank into the sheets to look for her clothes.

"Why are you crying?" Xiuming put his arm around her slender waist and pulled her up. "Have you been wronged? I'm so sorry, I didn't notice last night. But things are already like this, are you going to stay with me and suffer, or are you going to slap me and leave?"

Shiraishi Hitomi stiffened, then suddenly tilted her head back, tears streaming down her face from her wide eyes. She whispered, "No, I'm not wronged..."

"Then why do you look like you want to run away? Are you dissatisfied? Perfect, I'm not entirely satisfied either, shall we continue?"

Shiraishi Hitomi's face, which had already lost its rosy hue, flushed red again. She took a slight step back, a hint of lingering fear in her eyes, and whispered, "I didn't run away, I just wanted to go to the restroom..."

"Really? Then let's go."

As Shiraishi Hitomi slowly shrank into the sheets, she glanced at Hideaki's face with trembling eyelashes, then suddenly pecked Hideaki on the forehead, quickly slid off the bed, and ran barefoot out of the bedroom with her clothes in her arms.

As the bedroom door closed gently, Riko, huddled in the corner and completely covered by the sheets, trembled again.

Xiuming pulled her over.

"Honey, I'm sorry, I thought you weren't coming back last night."

Riko covered her flushed face with both hands, but her neck and ears were also bright red. Her weak voice trembled with shame.

"continue……"

"what?"

"Even if I die, I cannot let my wife suffer. I must make her happy."

"Honey...it's daytime now, they'll hear us...what should we do..."

Riko's cries for help continued for thirty minutes. Then, Shiraishi Hitomi gently knocked on the bedroom door. "Mr. Hideaki, President Riko, um, I've made breakfast. Please come out and eat in a bit. I'm going to work."

"Hmph! Shameless! Humph! Shameless... Why are you pulling me, Shiraishi Hitomi! If you pull me again, I'll hit you, you shameless..."

A series of hurried footsteps sounded outside the bedroom, accompanied by Funakawa Yoshiko's angry voice. With a loud bang, Funakawa Yoshiko and Shiraishi Hitomi came downstairs.

Eight o'clock in the morning.

Hideaki sat down at the dining table with Riko in his arms. Hitomi Shiraishi's cooking was superb: five abalones baked in the oven, along with lemon slices, goji berry and millet porridge, and cold sea cucumber salad... all medicinal dishes.

Riko's cheeks were flushed. She held her rice bowl, half of her head buried in it, her eyelashes fluttering as she glanced at Xiuming's face before quickly looking down again.

"What are you looking at? Hurry up and eat." Xiuming said while chewing on the sea cucumber.

"Um..." Riko shrank back, glanced at Hideaki again, and whispered while holding her rice bowl, "Honey, could you... please not work so hard?"

Riko's voice was weak and she was panting heavily.

"How can you earn money to support your family if you don't work hard?" This was the first time Riko had shown such direct concern, and I was quite pleased.

"It's not about pushing myself so hard... I mean..." Riko buried her flushed face in her rice bowl, her voice trembling with conflict, and whispered, "Don't push me so hard... I... I have to go to work during the day... If I can't stand up, it'll be embarrassing..."

"Then don't go to work, stay home and rest. You are the most important person, worth fighting for, no one can compare to you."

"..." Riko fell silent, burying her head and frantically shoveling rice into her mouth.

I won't answer, let him get anxious.

(The 189 chapters that haven't been released yet need multiple revisions, and I don't know what they'll look like. The pre-designed attitudes of the female characters towards Sophia in subsequent chapters, as well as their interactions, need to be revised accordingly, which is simply impossible. I'm just writing and publishing as much as I can for now, and if it goes well, I'll release it; if not, I'll just leave it as an outline. My new book, *Life After the Bursting of the Tokyo Bubble*, has been released.)

After breakfast, Riko got up unsteadily to clear the dishes.

Although she was in great spirits, her physical condition was somewhat weak.

Xiuming stopped her from tidying up and called the supermarket downstairs to call Chieko up.

Less than two minutes after hanging up the phone, Chieko, wearing a light green knee-length skirt, knocked on the door. She had a layer of fine sweat on her forehead, her oval face was flushed, and she looked breathless.

I guess he ran all the way here as soon as he hung up the phone.

“You…you guys are busy, um…” Riko’s eyes darted around as she walked to the front door, picked up the black blazer hanging on the coat rack, and said, “I, I’ll go find a moving company.”

"Moving company?" Chieko, blushing as she changed into her slippers, looked up and asked, "Aren't you living here anymore?"

Because Hideaki had previously discussed the plan for employee welfare housing, Riko was quite interested and asked Chieko to consult with the property management about the occupancy rate of the community. Since buying a large number of houses would cost too much money, she only kept the sales office's phone number from the developer and waited for Hideaki to make a decision.

Chieko also knew that Hideaki made money very quickly, and once he made a decision, especially regarding money, he would always get it done quickly, so she assumed that Hideaki had already bought the house.

"It's to help Miss Sophia move..."

Riko recounted the family situation Sophia had been told to her by Hideaki, then put on her blazer and sat down on a small stool next to Chieko. She took out high heels from the shoe cabinet and whispered, "My husband said he'd like you to come over. Sophia will be waiting for you at the door… I'll be waiting for you at home. My husband is going to buy this building; he said Sophia can live in apartment 401 across the street… Oh, by the way, if you want an apartment, tell my husband quickly, preferably 402… We can discuss anything…"

Because Hideaki was going to the "Night Paris Pachinko Parlor" in Kabukicho, he called Daisuke while eating and learned that after he took Yagami Katsuyuki out of the hospital last night, Haruo and Keizo returned to the parlor.

There's still no news from Fukai Jiro. If he comes back, he'll definitely go to the shop first.

As for buying houses, Xiuming had already set his sights on this area as employee welfare housing. He contacted the property management office directly and agreed to buy all the unsold properties in the building where he was currently living on the 15th of next month at market price. Only apartment 501 upstairs had an owner; the others were unoccupied.

At first, the sales staff thought it was a joke, but when they heard that it was Riko, the president of the "Miyamoto 100 Yen Supermarket" downstairs who wanted to buy it, they brought over the deposit contract and keys, saying that as long as the deposit was paid first, they could move in now.

Because the other thirteen stores have already been renovated, although they haven't officially opened yet, Misako has done a lot of promotion in the flyers and brochures she designed, and she has also arranged for employees to distribute coupons in nearby residential areas, which has indeed raised awareness in a small area.

Some of the older women who were shopping for groceries nearby greeted Riko with "Good morning, President Riko!"

After getting dressed, Riko greeted Hideaki and went downstairs.

Xiuming was sitting on the sofa in the living room, holding a mobile phone, repeatedly pressing the number on it.

He was calling Ezaki, but no one answered. His face grew increasingly dark, and he clenched his fists, pounding them on the table...

Esaki is currently practicing high knees in the ship's cabin, her mobile phone ringing incessantly on the desk behind her. They'll arrive at Yokohama Port at 2 PM, which is only a few hours away.

What does it mean to call now? I have a bad feeling. Could it be that they don't want to come to the port to pick me up?

It's been half a month since we last met, and that's what Ezaki is most concerned about right now.

It's not good to keep ignoring him. Let him get anxious for a while. Once he's finished practicing his high knees, I'll call him back. That bastard actually wants me to do the high knee dance for him. Dream on! I'll kick him in the chin.

In the restaurant, Chieko carefully and slowly picked up the bowls and chopsticks, even though she had a lot to say.

For example, judging from what President Riko said just now, she seemed worried that Sophia would find out that she is Mrs. Hideaki. So how should I introduce Riko? If I say something random, wouldn't that upset President Riko? Should I repeat the situation that happened with Miss Tachibana?

For example, regarding the house. Although she also wanted to live in 402, reason told her that she couldn't be so arrogant. Ayako and Ezaki were a huge obstacle, but she couldn't ignore Riko's request.

But Xiuming was so angry she was jumping up and down, so she didn't dare go over.

"Chieko-chan?" Hideaki put down his unreachable cell phone. "What's wrong?"

"Ah, no, it's nothing."

Chieko didn't dare to bother Hideaki any further at this point. His expression was really bad, and he looked like he was about to hit someone. It would be best to wait until Ezaki returned and go to her, since it was she who caused this trouble...