Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

[Information 1: Sometime within the next 12 hours, Riko will be questioned by the police.]

[Second piece of information: Sometime within the next 12 hours, Riko will be verbally abused by her father over the phone.]

[Information 3: Sometime within the next 12 hours, Riko will be going to rent a room with you.]

Hideaki was quite certain that he would be with Riko for the next 12 hours. Could the reason he was renting a room outside be because a debt collection gang had come knocking on his door?

Rent a place? What kind of place? Wouldn't it be better to stay at Ayako's place?

As soon as he came up with this idea, the third piece of information became: Sometime within the next 12 hours, Riko will be very aggrieved and will once again move into Ayako's house with you.

They're dirt poor now, but Li Zi has to endure some hardship for now. Good days are waiting for her in the future!

Even in the worst-case scenario, I'll support her with Ayako's loan.

Hideaki discovered a characteristic of the intelligence: if things were done step by step, the events described in the intelligence would occur; if one deliberately avoided them and succeeded, the intelligence would change.

Regarding the first piece of intelligence, there's no way to avoid the police coming to check; you have to face it head-on. Otherwise, if they can't find the person for a long time, they might conduct a thorough search.

The second piece of information is quite interesting.

"Riko-chan, how old is Dad this year? What does he do for a living? What's his personality like? Does he have any hobbies? Is he single or widowed... oh no, is Mom still in good health? Hehe!"

The two were walking on the sidewalk under the shade of trees, with waist-high, evergreen broad-leaved plants on their right.

As Xiuming spoke, he noticed that the leaves were growing lush and green. He plucked a tender leaf, bit it, tasted its saltiness and the bitterness of the green leaves. Finding it unpalatable, he spat it out.

He's just bored.

Chapter 33 Please do not carelessly trample on the flowers by the roadside.

Riko stared wide-eyed as she witnessed Hideaki's series of inappropriate behaviors.

Why do I spit when I talk about my parents?

Is it disdain?

In a daze, I recalled the scene at the dining table at home, when Xiuming was licking the knife and asking about his family.

The image from that time had become blurry because he had been so kind to me lately. But when fear resurfaced, it reassembled the blurry image, weaving it into an even more terrifying picture.

It stuck out its long tongue, licked the blade, and grinned maliciously; it must have killed someone... How terrifying...

"Husband...can...can I...not have a father...and...not have a mother..."

Riko's slightly flushed cheeks, which had been smiling just moments before, had turned pale.

The plastic bag she was carrying was clattering as her arm shook, almost falling to the ground.

"Um!?"

When Xiuming heard this reply, he couldn't help but grin as if he were looking at an idiot.

He quickly took the bag she was carrying from his own hands. "What do you mean, 'can I not have it'? Do you want to pop out of a rock? You idiot."

"No...no...I...I..." Riko stammered, her eyes red and swollen, unable to utter a complete sentence, her legs suddenly buckling.

Xiuming quickly helped her up and led her to the nearest roadside bench.

This kid has such poor mental fortitude!

"What are you afraid of if you tell your husband the truth?"

Xiuming helped her sit side by side on a wooden lounge chair painted green. Her hands were cold and trembling.

"I..." Riko's lips trembled as she lowered her head, "Do you dislike... my parents...?"

"Of course I dislike it, it's too much trouble!" Xiuming said casually.

She didn't know what her deceased husband's personality was like, and they even looked different; he was a substitute son-in-law. And that deceased son-in-law must have met and been familiar with her father-in-law.

Riko's face turned deathly pale, and her body swayed as soon as she sat down.

"Please...please don't hurt them...husband...I, from now on, I'll do whatever you say...no matter how unreasonable your request is..."

He's been very obedient these past two days, and Xiuming is very satisfied...

He stroked his chin thoughtfully, then glared at him: "What constitutes an excessive request? Put your hand on your heart and think carefully, have I ever made an excessive request?"

"I...I didn't...I..." Riko was speechless.

Riko was at a loss for words when she heard Hideaki's thought process. Honestly, she realized she hadn't made any unreasonable demands.

But that wasn't the intention...

"Okay!" Xiuming whispered in her ear, "Last night in bed, I did make a request. Although you seemed embarrassed at first, what happened later?"

Xiuming realized that he was putting too much negative emotion into her. Emotions have energy, and if negative emotions are not released quickly, they can easily lead to illness.

Of course, it's impossible to vent the negative emotions inflicted on her, since we're bullying her. We can't just turn around and try to please her, or we'd become sycophants.

There are many ways to release stress, and eliminating the mental stress associated with her personality is far too easy.

Riko's eyes widened in surprise, and as if by reflex, she quickly covered her already flushed face.

Hideaki abruptly turned his head, looked around, and shouted, "What are you looking at?! Haven't you ever seen people chatting about everyday things before?!"

This is on a busy sidewalk.

People passing by changed their original walking routes, walking in an arc. The highest point of the arc was the chair where Hideaki and Riko were sitting.

They slowed down, frowning, glancing sideways, and tilting their heads to listen, as if to say, "I'm not interested at all, I don't want to hear it, but this is my way, and I can't help it."

What a bunch of adorable little devils, are they deliberately trying to disgust people?

When Hideaki shouted at the pedestrians.

Riko couldn't bear the "shame" any longer. She slid off the chair, squatted down at Hideaki's feet with her back hunched, pressed her forehead tightly against her knees, and lifted the collar of her beige trench coat to cover her head.

Her body was still trembling with shame.

She had already forgotten about their earlier discussion about her parents, and kept praying to Xiuming: Take me away...take me away...

Although Xiuming didn't care about being watched, he hated this kind of "malicious watching": even though it had nothing to do with them, they still had to act disgusted and disgusted, craning their necks to look.

After all, it's on the street. If you scold one away, there will be thousands more. It's a thankless task.

Riko was already at the peak of her negative emotions; if she were to be provoked any further, she would probably kill herself by banging her head against the wall.

Xiuming gently nudged Riko's calf with the top of his foot, stood up and said, "Don't squat here like a monkey. Get up and go home for dinner."

Just as Hideaki had predicted, Riko wrapped her trench coat even tighter.

Xiuming thought for a moment, then tied two food-grade white plastic bags containing seafood to his wrists. He then walked behind Riko, bent down, and straightened her large, wrinkled trench coat so that she could be wrapped up more tightly.

"You'll be safe from now on. No one will be able to see your face. Don't worry."

As Xiuming whispered in her ear, he wrapped his arms around her petite body, grasped her curled-up legs by the ankles, and easily pulled her into his arms with a little effort.

"Ah~~~" Riko's body tensed, and she gasped softly.

Although the tightly wrapped trench coat appeared completely airtight to outsiders.

But in her line of sight, she could see red paving stones moving backward, as well as yellow paving stones with vertical lines for the visually impaired. On the paving stones, Xiuming was walking, his blue canvas shoes stepping on fallen leaves, appearing one after another in her line of sight.

"Haven't you ever seen someone hug their wife like that before?" Xiuming angrily scolded the "malicious onlookers." "If you're going to look, then look openly. Who are you trying to disgust with that sour face!"

"No, no, I don't want to be so humiliated..."

Riko felt dizzy and closed her eyes tightly, groaning inwardly.

The male and female office workers and passersby all wore indifferent and serious faces. When they passed Xiuming, they frowned and glanced sideways. After passing by, they turned back with an expression that said, "I'm not looking at you. I'm just checking if I've dropped anything."

Clearly, their inner thoughts are very active.

They were clearly a group of gossipy people, but due to the constraints of public appearances and superficial social etiquette, they dared not be too obvious in their behavior.

The long-term result of this is a crazy rebound after hitting rock bottom, which needs to be released before normal operation can resume.

This is mainly manifested in rebellion, subversion of authority, violence, harassment, mass riots, and rooftop protests.

It exhibits characteristics of being multi-stage, seasonal, and event-driven.

Private spaces, personal rooms, deserted corners, and grand carnivals are all popular venues for venting emotions.

They ignite easily, and explode when ignited, creating countless extreme personalities...

It's late April now, and the stock market is crashing. In July, the real estate market will plummet, and immense pressure will crash down on already depressed ordinary people… Add to that the agonizingly violent debt collection tactics…

Yes, in this kind of environment, "healing" songs will definitely become a hit.

Izumi Sakai's "Don't Give Up" and Miyuki Nakajima's "Riding on the Back of a Silver Dragon" have already been sent out, and I'm just waiting for a reply... Oh no! They're singers, but who are the lyricists and composers?

Xiuming never pays attention to who the songwriters are when he listens to songs, and he doesn't know much about Izumi Sakai and Miyuki Nakajima. He just listens because they are good-looking, or rather, they are the only two people he remembers in this era.

There's a high chance you'll end up with the wrong person. Oh well, it doesn't matter whether they're male or female.

As Xiuming carried Riko in his arms, his thoughts wandered. After walking about fifty meters, Riko's faint, trembling voice could be heard from inside the tightly wrapped, off-white, wrinkled trench coat.

"Honey...I...I need to go to the bathroom..."

It even had a sob in its voice, which reached Xiuming's ears and gave his auditory nerve and cerebral cortex a soothing massage.

Riko has reached her limit.

Just a dozen steps away, there was a small Western-style public toilet with red tiles, white walls, and a pointed roof, which looked like a church.

To enter a public restroom, you certainly can't carry her into the women's room; that's an extremely serious act of indecent behavior... At this point, every woman who dares to enter a roadside public restroom always carries pepper spray and a low-powered stun gun in her purse...

Xiuming thought he would have to wait for ten minutes or half an hour, but less than a minute later, Riko came out with her head down, her face flushed, and she took small, quick steps.

She stood beside Xiuming, rubbing the hem of her clothes, without saying a word.

"You want to carry me? Dream on, your arms will get tired." Xiuming shook his arms.

Riko pursed her lips tightly, and it looked like she was about to cover her face and squat down again, so Hideaki quickly grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up.

"You idiot, trying to slack off, huh! Walk by yourself, keep up!" Xiuming said, taking a step ahead.

Riko looked around with her head down, and seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she quickly jogged after them.

"Riko-chan, tell me," Hideaki slowed his pace, propped himself up on his right elbow, and gestured to her, "what did it feel like when I carried you for that part of the way just now?"

Riko's face was still flushed. She tilted her head slightly, her eyelashes trembling, and quickly glanced at Hideaki's face. She obediently took his arm, lowered her head, and whispered, "I feel like I'm going to die... It's so embarrassing..."

"Really?" Xiuming glanced down at her. "But it's not bad, is it? It's exciting, isn't it?"