Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

It's right in the direction of Omori Station indicated by the street sign; you can take the train from there to Shinjuku Station.

"Thank you." Xiuming turned and left.

"Sir, please wait a moment!"

Xiangzi, a policewoman who is still in her probationary period, catches up with Xiuming.

"Is there anything else?" Xiuming asked.

Xiangzi slipped a 500-yen coin into his hand and whispered, "Good luck."

Xiuming was taken aback; he was being treated as someone with suicidal tendencies. This little girl was unexpectedly kind.

"Thank you. May I ask your name?"

Xiangzi blushed slightly and skipped away, "Don't worry about it, bye-bye!"

Just then, the male police officer picked up the business card from the ground, and Xiuming immediately turned around.

Because their attire was too conspicuous, they needed to change clothes to avoid unnecessary further questioning.

Xiuming was just waiting for the secondhand goods recycling shop to open.

Unsure of the value of his walkie-talkie, watch, and platinum ring, he specifically sought out two recycling shops on this street to compare prices.

Surprisingly, they all used the same wording: half price for everything.

Xiuming even suspected that they had been in cahoots, since they lived on the same street.

He only sold the Panasonic walkie-talkie he had taken, making 10000 yen.

After browsing through clothing stores again, I found the cheapest option at Uniqlo: a casual outfit consisting of a navy blue shirt, black casual pants, and blue canvas shoes, which cost 9900 yen.

With the remaining money, they couldn't even afford underwear.

The shuttle bus runs every 8 minutes.

As the blue-green tram slowly pulled into the station, hordes of people rushed toward the doors.

There were workers in aprons at the wholesale market, and office workers from Nishi-Shinjuku carrying briefcases, all crammed together. There was no air conditioning in the carriage, the fans were blowing hot air, and the air was filled with the smells of fish and hairspray.

No wonder perverts often occur on trams; it's a perfect storm of circumstances.

In this situation, being touched is a painful experience, and the victim has no way to turn around and see who is doing it to her.

Hideaki, at 1.79 meters tall in flat shoes, was still the tallest person on the train.

During the 30-minute drive, I saw several women with their lips tightly clenched and faces flushed, ranging in age from teenagers to women in their fifties.

Upon arriving at Shinjuku Station, I avoided the dense crowds heading towards Kabukicho at the East Exit and exited the station at the West Exit.

Hideaki intended to go directly to the ward office to report the loss and reissue his resident registration certificate, but an unexpected incident occurred when he walked through Shinjuku Central Park, which was filled with the scent of cherry blossoms, and exited through the north gate.

Just across a one-way street, only a dozen meters away, stands a huge billboard:

Shintoshin-ku, Nishi-Shinjuku 5-chome 7-12 - Shintoshin Luxury Apartment.

The billboard was old and faded, still displaying the original price from a year ago: 120 million yen per property, with gimmicks like zero down payment and the property being passed down through three generations.

Below the billboard was his home address, which was on his driver's license, in a cluster of low-rise apartment buildings with gray and white walls.

To the west, there was an abandoned construction site with rusted steel frames, where several children were playing and causing trouble.

To the east is a mortgage company marked "Tokyo Financial".

Beyond the rows of low-rise apartment buildings, you can see the newly built Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building to the north, representing national capital.

The apartment building has a row of ground-floor shops on both sides of the entrance, but only the shops right next to the entrance are open for business.

One is a high-priced imported supermarket, another is a curry bakery, and the rest have their shutters down and signs advertising for rent.

The location is quite good, just across the street from the government office building, but unfortunately, it was bought at the peak of the bubble.

There were only a few residents shopping in the supermarkets and bakeries on both sides of the main entrance, so it's estimated that not many houses have been sold.

"Ok?"

A young woman carrying a shopping basket walked out of a small door on one side of the apartment building's main entrance.

Her long, wavy hair was tied back with a black hair tie, revealing her fair face.

The coat was a beige pleated trench coat, which looked quite high-cut.

A mismatched white nylon rope was tied around her waist, and the trench coat accentuated her slender waistline.

She wore dark gray wide-leg pants and rubber-padded ankle boots.

Xiuming took out the photo from his wallet.

No wonder she looked familiar. At 24, she was at the peak of her beauty. You could remember her after just one glance. She was so beautiful that you'd want to go up and strike up a conversation with her.

After entering the high-priced imported supermarket, Mrs. Riko paused briefly at the checkout counter before turning into the "near-expiry discount area".

It seems she's also facing some financial difficulties.

Xiuming took the opportunity to quickly cross the road, took out the owner's key as he walked, swiped it to open the small gate of the iron railing, and entered the community.

Since we've already arrived at our doorstep, and Mrs. Riko isn't home, but we still have the house key... naturally, we'll choose to go inside and get it first.

Chapter 4: The only option is to tie her up.

After all, going to the ward office alone and lying about "losing" the item to get a replacement would be a waste of time.

Although the government office system was quite relaxed at that time, it cannot be ruled out that the clerk was a meticulous person.

They would stare at the photo on the driver's license and carefully compare their appearance.

She herself was unaware of Xiuming's suicidal behavior, speaking style, and personality.

If Hideaki, who attempted suicide, had met the clerk, or encountered a neighbor or old friend at the ward office, it would be very troublesome.

There weren't many people in the community, only a few elderly people pushing strollers, their faces seemingly filled with worry.

Xiuming entered from the south gate, traversed the community between ten 20-story steel towers, and walked to the northwest corner of the north gate.

I didn't meet a single neighbor until I took the elevator to the fourth floor. There were no residents in rooms 401 and 402. I used my key to open the door to room 403.

The entryway is tiled with marble patterns, which has already developed cracks, and I've covered them up with crayon.

An exquisite wooden double-layer shoe cabinet is placed against the wall.

The two pairs of fabric slippers on the upper layer are both light blue and embroidered with cherry blossom patterns, so they should be a couple's set.

Women's slippers are worn frequently, and the soles are flattened from being stepped on. Men's slippers are covered with transparent dust bags.

At the bottom were a pair of black high heels and a pair of men's leather shoes, both covered in dust bags, which were covered with a layer of fine dust.

The oak floor, which is a step higher, looks like it has just been wiped clean and is still slightly damp.

Xiuming took off his flat shoes and walked around the room barefoot.

In the miniature Western-style kitchen, an aluminum steamer sits in the sink, with a layer of burnt rice at the bottom.

The refrigerator contained two rice balls made from burnt rice, a small bowl of natto, two raw eggs, a packet of instant miso soup, and a packet of instant curry rice.

Xiuming took out a rice ball, took a bite, quickly spat it into the sink, and then casually threw it into the trash can with the new trash bag.

Mrs. Riko committed murder; she beat the salt seller to death.

Next was a six-tatami mat Japanese-style room. On the tatami mats was a handmade flower basket containing some tangled red ropes, beads, and several oddly shaped handicrafts. There was also a pack of band-aids next to it.

Mrs. Riko seems to be doing handicrafts part-time, but unfortunately her skills are appalling; she used a lot of band-aids. Next to the tatami mat is a small mahogany table with a celadon tea set that hasn't been used in a long time.

A children's room was separated from the Japanese-style room, with a stroller still in its packaging and cardboard boxes and other miscellaneous items piled up next to it.

Next was a small restroom, where the showerhead was still dripping water, and below it was a plastic basin overflowing with water, making a "ding-dong" dripping sound.

The purchase contract shows the apartment as 56 square meters. Because it's an apartment building, the common area is over 20 square meters, requiring a property management fee of over 70 square meters. This reminded Xiuming that in a certain location, a similar apartment would likely be listed as 80 square meters in the purchase contract.

It perfectly matches the advertising slogan: a transitional wedding home for working-class families with basic housing needs.

Before taking his own life, did Hideaki overestimate his abilities? Perhaps he planned to pay off his mortgage early and buy a bigger house?

Xiuming finally went into the master bedroom, which was eight tatami mats in size.

In the center was a double mattress, on which lay a light purple silk nightgown.

A framed wedding photo hangs on the wall above the bed, just like an enlarged version of the photo in my wallet. Another framed photo, with the same picture, sits on the bedside table.

Xiuming placed his briefcase on the mattress, then opened the bedside table drawer. Inside was an empty lipstick, followed by the resident ticket that Xiuming had been longing for.

Below is a "Marriage Acceptance Certificate" handwritten in Chinese characters by a calligrapher; this is a collectible item intended only as a memento.

The document that serves as valid proof of marriage is the "household registration transcript," which is similar in nature to a marriage certificate.

Should we also take the "household registration transcript"?

"Ring ring, ring ring..."

The shrill ringing of the landline in the living room almost startled Xiuming, who was already feeling guilty.

"When I install a landline phone in the future, I'll definitely get one with a customizable ringback tone..."

Because there were no other residents on the entire floor, Hideaki felt secure and fearless. Even if Mrs. Riko suddenly came home, he wasn't afraid of her yelling.

I went straight to the living room, picked up the phone, and waited for the other person to speak first.

It seemed that the person on the other end was also waiting for Xiuming to speak first. After about five seconds of silence, a slightly frivolous male voice came from the receiver.

“Mrs. Yamanaka, I heard that your husband committed suicide. In that case, you will have to bear the debts he owed alone.”

"Okay, I'll pass it on to her."

"Huh?" A surprised exclamation came from the other end, followed by a shout from further away from the microphone, "Brother, those bastards at the stock exchange lied to us! That guy didn't commit suicide, he ran home..."

Xiuming hung up the phone immediately.

There's no way to communicate with loan sharks; all they do is harass you about debts, threaten you, and so on. Of course, as a distinctive violent gang, they'll also come to your door.

However, as soon as I put the microphone back on its base, it rang urgently again.

Xiuming answered the phone again and waited for the other person to speak.

A very polite young woman's voice came through the receiver: "Hello, this is the Kyoto Prefectural Police Headquarters. Is this Mr. Hideaki Yamanaka's home?"

Hideaki's breathing became slightly labored. Could it be that they've discovered the identity of the suicidal Hideaki?