Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

Ayako, standing outside the door, burst out laughing. Wasn't she talking about Riko?

“Well, thank you for your kind words~” Ayako laughed, her clothes fluttering. “But this is between me and Hideaki, it has nothing to do with you. What you need to do is mind your own business, swear an oath first, then move, hurry up.”

"I won't swear, I can live wherever I want," Tachibana exploded on the spot. "Your husband and I are still in the 'cooling-off period' after the breakup. Cooling-off period, do you even know what a cooling-off period is? If you talk to me in that annoying tone again, you'll regret it! Riko won't let you off the hook either!"

Tachibana silently decided that she would call Riko later and first condemn Ayako's misdeeds. She could even imagine that Hideaki's married life with her would definitely be unhappy, since they only got married for money... What she could do was to save Hideaki from his terrible marriage. Riko was so kind and liked Hideaki so much. Knowing that Hideaki was suffering from marital torment, she would definitely agree...

"I knew you'd stick your tongue... Ouch~"

Ayako laughed until her stomach hurt. It was the first time she had stood on Riko's head. Even though it was fake, it was still quite amusing. If everyone in the world thought so, that would be wonderful.

Tachibana repeatedly avoided the issues of swearing an oath and moving, and Ayako was certain she couldn't be driven away—as expected, given the annoying "cooling-off period" she was kept in check. Hideaki, that bastard, has so many wicked schemes… Now, it all comes back to the annoying Eri…

Then Ayako kicked the door and said, "Do you know that you and your best friend Eri have the same boyfriend?"

"When did I become best friends with that woman?"

Behind the door, Tachibana was still silently summarizing Ayako's misdeeds and preparing what to say when she called Riko later, but when she heard Ayako's words, she subconsciously retorted, and then her mind went blank.

Same boyfriend?

Didn't that woman outside already marry Hideaki? She just came to beat up Eri; could it be because Eri cheated on her?

That's right. When Hideaki was speaking just now, he seemed to know Eri very well.

No wonder she wasn't angry at all when I cursed her to be cuckolded; she'd already done it... She's a real pervert.

Wait a minute! Something's not right!

Tachibana's throat tightened. She'd been arguing with Eri for the past few days, and the boyfriend they were talking about was the same person? She was even thinking of bringing Hideaki over to show off to her... What a close call!

Uh… we shouldn’t be focusing on this issue…

Why did that woman outside tell me this? What's the point? Is she deliberately trying to make me look bad and embarrass me?

Wait a minute, if Eri knew everything from the beginning, wouldn't I be just like the clown?

How could it be the same person? This is even more dramatic than my forced resignation... Does this mean every woman in the world has a relationship with Xiuming? How can he be so promiscuous?

Uh... no... I shouldn't be paying attention to such awful things... There's so much information, my head is spinning...

Tachibana's mind was in turmoil, filled with countless questions she didn't know how to organize. She only instinctively asked, "Does Eri know?"

“She doesn’t know yet, I only told you,” Ayako thought to herself with a surge of joy. Judging from Tachibana’s tone, she seemed to dislike Eri. Wouldn’t that make it easier to sow discord? She then probed, “Shouldn’t you two have a good relationship? After all, you stopped me when I hit her just now.”

"Even if someone hits a stray cat or dog, I will stop them. What does that have to do with whether we have a good relationship or not..."

Tachibana didn't want to explain this to Ayako, whom she still disliked, so she just muttered something under her breath. However, after learning that Eri didn't know either, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then became wary. "Why are you telling me this?"

He silently muttered to himself: "Pervert, cuckold fetish... Even so, I'll still call Riko. Hideaki-kun must have suffered a lot of unwilling torment and torment. I've heard that wealthy women form a circle of socialites... Poor Hideaki-kun, I'll rescue you..."

Tachibana tacitly accepted that Hideaki was forced to marry Ayako for money. That means Hideaki was bound by money... So, she'll work to earn money and buy Hideaki's freedom.

"Don't be so resistant, I still quite like you! After all, you have such sweet words~" Ayako smiled. Since Tachibana thought Ayako was married to Hideaki and was a proper wife, having Riko above her was just a bonus. The main thing was that it greatly satisfied Ayako's fantasies, making her feel lightheaded. Of course, she still had to be driven away when necessary, but for now, before she learned the truth, she wanted to hear a few more nice words... She continued, "Since you hate Eri so much, how about we discuss giving her a little surprise?"

"Forget about it! Even if I hate Eri, I would never team up with someone I hate even more to fight her."

Tachibana stood through the door, a cold smile on her face.

Now Ayako is even more annoying than Eri. Not just annoying, but also enviable and jealous. Her plan is to work with Riko to deal with Ayako.

As for Eri, since neither of them knew they had the same boyfriend before, it's a draw. Now, she has just gained an advantage, but she doesn't want to use it, since it was given to her by the woman outside the door.

"Yo~ yo~ yo~" Ayako said gleefully, "I really love the way you sound so envious and jealous of me. I married Hideaki-kun, you're the homewrecker, shameless~"

"I'm not!" Tachibana slammed the door angrily. "At most, I'm your ex-girlfriend! Don't think you're so great just because you married Hideaki. You'll regret it! You'll definitely regret it! I don't want to talk to you, get out of here!"

Although Ayako was still not satisfied and wanted to hear Tachibana scream in impotent rage again, she guessed that Eri would be finished taking a bath soon. In order to avoid Eri finding out about Tachibana's relationship with Hideaki, she stopped provoking Tachibana and returned to Eri's room with a smile.

Hideaki no longer read Eri's lewd comic. Instead, he sat with his back to the door at a small table by the window, writing and drawing on the comic paper, looking very serious.

Ayako subconsciously thought that Hideaki was also drawing some lewd pictures, and cursed under her breath for being vulgar. She couldn't help but steal a glance and realized that he had drawn the Pokémon pictures before drawing them.

Now, Satoshi Tajiri's studio has been fully integrated into Hideaki's company. Hideaki has compiled the information about the finished game from his memory and handed it over to Shota, who in turn handed it over to Satoshi Tajiri. In addition, Hideaki has also drawn pictures of more than 150 Pokémon. Now that they are not short of money, the game development is progressing at lightning speed. It is estimated that they can start promoting the game in another month or two.

Ayako did remember that Hideaki had previously devised a plan to make Pokémon plush toys, but that was just a side project; the main focus was on developing games and releasing anime.

Back then, I had twisted my ankle and was limping when he dragged me to Akihabara to sell plush toys. It seems like a long time ago, or maybe not so long ago, but I was really angry with him.

"That jerk, he's so annoying..."

Ayako muttered something to the back of Hideaki's head, walked over to Eri's messy little bed, sat down, looked around, and found a layer of Hideaki's portrait under the messy clothes, as well as full-body portraits in various poses. She even took out a colored photo of Eri and Hideaki from under the pillow. The painting was super realistic, and it was a wedding photo. At first glance, it looked almost like a real photograph.

"Damn it!" Ayako was so angry that her head was throbbing. She was about to tear it up, but then she thought, even if she tore it up, she could definitely draw it again. After all, she couldn't just chop off her hand... So why not have her draw one for me too? How can I get her to agree?

While idly flipping through the comic books, Eri walked in with her head down, carrying a washbasin.

Her wet hair was tucked into a pure white cotton towel. Her white spaghetti strap nightgown was in the basin. She was wearing a pink and white fluffy princess dress with a floral collar. The hem of the dress just covered her knees. She wore white stockings that went just past her knees and black leather shoes. Her skin, which had just been bathed, was fair and rosy, and her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes, with long eyelashes, swept over Ayako, wrinkled her nose at her, and then glanced at Xiuming like a thief.

"Hey, whose little girl is this? She's fifteen already! Have you finished your homework?"

Ayako crossed her legs, wrapped her arms around her elbows, and supported her forearms under her chest, lifting them up to show off her domineering chest.

Well, Eri's outfit is really infuriating; it must have been planned for a long time...

However, now is not the time to attack her. First, I'll have her draw a group photo for me, and then find out how she and Tachibana next door are not getting along... find out her purpose. Anyway, the trick she played on me just now made me furious. Spanking her won't help; it'll just leave a bad taste in my mouth.

As Ayako spoke, she tilted her head and glanced at Hideaki.

Xiuming stopped painting, glanced back at the painting, looking uninterested, and then continued painting.

Eri's expectant expression instantly turned sour. She opened her mouth, her lips trembling, and stood at the door for a long time, holding the washbasin. Finally, she lowered her head, walked to the crib, and stuffed the washbasin under the bed.

Ayako chuckled to herself, casually reaching for the hairdryer at the foot of the bed, and said, "Come here, little girl, let me dry your hair for you."

"I don't need your help."

Eri snatched the hair dryer, moved a little further away from Ayako, and sat on a small stool.

Ayako's smiling face made Eri suspicious and wary, after all, she had just fooled her and almost made her cry.

When I ran out the door to the bathroom, I didn't have time to play the victim; I must have been exposed. She must have been pretending to be stupid, trying to take advantage of me when I wasn't looking. I'm not falling for that…

"Don't be so wary, I'm very magnanimous~" Ayako shook her huge chest to show off her magnanimity, then took out a drawing that looked like a wedding photo of Eri and Hideaki. "Draw one for me too, and I'll forgive you for lying to me earlier. Isn't that a good enough reason?"

Eri was initially ashamed of the drawing Ayako had shown her, and that Ayako had given herself a new identity without Hideaki's permission... She instinctively tried to snatch it away, but Ayako's next words made her pause.

How should I put it? In Eri's eyes at this moment, Ayako's behavior was the same as a principle.

The fact that Xiuming hadn't left meant there was still hope for him. Since Ayako dared to ask for a wedding dress design photo so arbitrarily, it meant Xiuming didn't care. He might as well draw one for Ayako too, so he wouldn't have to feel awkward all by himself. After all, being kicked out was really embarrassing...

"I can draw it for you, but you can't tell Riko-chan." Eri thought Ayako's reasoning was quite reasonable, but considering that Riko had never hidden her dislike for Ayako, she knew she'd be resented if she drew Ayako's picture. But to avoid being beaten by Ayako, she had no choice but to agree...

“Tell her? Do you think I’m the kind of person who wants to talk to her? That kind of incompetent wife can’t even control her husband, I don’t even want to look at her.” Ayako glanced at Hideaki, then leaned back on the small bed, reached for the small table where Hideaki was, pulled out a blank sheet of paper, and threw it into Eri’s arms. “Draw it quickly.”

Eri looked at Hideaki in surprise, but he was still drawing and seemed not to have heard her.

Eri wanted to yell: "Hey, someone's insulting your wife! Are you deaf?"

However, Eri already knew that she was insignificant and could not influence anyone, so she silently cursed in her heart. Thinking about how easily she had drawn a photo of Ayako and Hideaki together, she felt quite uncomfortable. She then said, "Besides not telling Riko-chan, I have another small condition. Can you agree to it?"

"Oh?" Ayako raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "Tell me about it."

Eri glanced at Hideaki, carefully considered her tone, and whispered, "It's just a little cooperation with me, although it might make you uncomfortable... but reality is already bad enough, and you don't seem to have any other choice. After all, the one who should be the most upset is Riko-chan, right?"

Ayako's heart skipped a beat. She glanced at Eri without making a sound, signaling her to continue.

"If you cooperate with me, I'll draw whatever you want from now on." Eri sensed a glimmer of hope and couldn't help but smile. She continued, "You know Tachibana next door, right? I don't get along with her very well. She's always bragging to me about how great her boyfriend is..."

Ayako blushed, suppressing a laugh, and pointed at Hideaki, saying to Eri, "You wouldn't be thinking of taking this scumbag to the Tachibana University campus to show off your boyfriend, would you?"

"Don't say that..." Eri blushed, glanced at Hideaki, and whispered, "It's just pretending, just pretending. Can you help me persuade him?"

“No need to persuade me, I agree,” Xiuming suddenly turned around and continued, “But I have a small condition: we’ll split the money you earn from drawing comics 90/10, I’ll get 90% and you get 10%.”

Chapter 213 Where's Your Boyfriend?

Eri's eyes widened, and she almost blurted out: Why don't you just rob it?

But thinking about it again, if we really split things like that, I'd have trouble even finding food and a place to rent. Wouldn't that make it perfectly legitimate for me to stay at his place?

And with Riko being so easy to talk to, and Chieko having once done him a favor, borrowing money from either of them would be very easy...

Eri was considering whether to politely decline when Hideaki continued, "How much savings do you have right now?"

Eri paused, then blurted out, "Twenty-five thousand yen? What's wrong?"

"So little?" Xiuming asked in surprise. "You must make a lot of money drawing comics, right?"

After all, it was a deluxe edition, and it even came out on videotape and appeared on midnight adult television programs.

"I guess... uh, they gave me about two million yen, a one-time buyout..." Eri said, rubbing her head. "I'm a newbie, and a girl at that. I was too embarrassed to talk to them face-to-face about this kind of manga, so I got scammed..."

Hideaki's focus wasn't on whether it was a lie or not; he asked in surprise, "Two million yen, and now only twenty-five thousand is left?"

Eri's eyes widened, and she said, "Yes, they're all smudged."

Where did the flowers go?

Hideaki glanced at the shabby apartment she was still renting. There didn't seem to be any high-end luxury items in the room. Ezaki hadn't asked her for the debts she had incurred before. Moreover, when Riko kicked her out of the supermarket, she had given her a bank card with 300,000 yen.

"I don't know. The money arrived in my account, and within a few days it was gone... I can't remember what I bought..."

Xiuming was speechless. Many people have high salaries, but they don't know how to spend money and have no financial sense. They spend all their savings little by little on small things in daily life.

"When will the next payment arrive? How much will it be?" Xiuming asked.

"I should be able to get 550,000 yen tomorrow..."

"Then I need to redistribute the comic book revenue. I'll take 100%, and you'll only get pocket money. What do you think?"

Eri swallowed hard, her eyes twitching, looking embarrassed. She whispered, "It's not that I can't, but I haven't had any inspiration lately, so I might have to stop updating and break my contract..."

Ayako, who was secretly chuckling and watching the show silently, suddenly froze, grabbed the comic book that Hideaki was still holding on the bedside table, threw it into Eri's arms, and said, "What kind of inspiration do you need for this kind of lewd comic? To find new positions?"

Eri's coy and sullen demeanor looked rather lewd, and it was obvious that she was plotting how to move into Hideaki's house.

Ayako instinctively jumped out to object.

Eri, her face flushed red, tilted her head and whispered, "Don't be so dirty. Adult comics are all like this... This is clearly a healing romance anime... What's wrong with me making money from it? I'm not stealing or robbing, and it's not illegal..."

“You…” Ayako couldn’t think of a suitable rebuttal. She wanted to hit her, but considering the good show to come, she held back. But being confronted like this was still quite unpleasant. After a long pause, she finally said, “Drawing this kind of thing is vulgar, shows a dirty mind, and has impure motives…”

"You dare say you haven't done certain positions depicted in comics? I dare say I absolutely haven't." Eri glanced at Hideaki, still with a pitiful tone, and continued, "It's really unreasonable for a girl who's never even been in a relationship to be called vulgar by a woman who's done everything..."

"I..." Ayako was speechless, both ashamed and angry. Finally, she couldn't help but jump up and yell at Eri, "I'll beat you to death, you shameless bastard!"