Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

"What's the best part?" Xiuming asked with a smile.

That's such a quick change of expression... Riko froze, her face flushed red, biting her lower lip tightly, kneeling and shrinking into a ball: Destroy it! I don't want to live anymore, how can you treat me like this? So cruel...

“Oh~ I see,” Xiuming poked her slender neck, which had turned bright red. “This voice is nice too. Go take a shower.”

"Ah~~" Riko gasped softly, tilting her head to peek out from between her fingers, her eyes glistening with tears, and whispered, "I just... I just washed..."

"Then go wash it again."

Ding-dong! The doorbell rang.

Perhaps it's because it's a new house, the doorbell was particularly loud.

"Who is it!" Xiuming roared as he turned around.

Riko was completely immersed in the shyness of "my husband insists on having me, what can I do?" when she was startled by the doorbell. She instinctively pounced on the mattress, burrowed into the sheets, and curled up into a ball.

"Is this Mr. Yamanaka? We came from the Kyoto Prefectural Police Headquarters. Would it be convenient for you to open the door?"

"OK, wait!"

The police, whom we had been eagerly awaiting, finally came to confirm the deceased's identity.

Riko, who had just crawled into bed, lost all her shyness and sat up abruptly from the mattress. Her once rosy and delicate face was now deathly pale, and her wide eyes were filled with panic.

"Honey... what, what should we do?"

With her personality, she would never dare to go to a massage parlor in her entire life; she's timid and honest.

In this kind of social environment, it's impossible to survive without someone to rely on.

"Next, I'm going to pretend to be a husband who's become extremely irritable due to being heavily in debt, and I'll often beat you up, but you'll be devoted to me and refuse to divorce me no matter what, understand?"

“But…you never hit me…how…how can I act?” Riko grabbed Hideaki’s arm, her hands trembling more and more violently as she spoke, her lips almost bloodless. “I…I’ll be exposed…”

"Just be yourself, that's it."

Xiuming pulled his arm away, picked up the documents from the floor, and then straightened the small wedding photo on the bedside table.

"But...but you've been so good to me...you've never abused me, how could I...how could I frame you..."

“It’s the same as hitting someone in bed. Think about how scared you were and how many times you screamed for help…” Xiuming said, then placed the household registration transcript and marriage certificate in a conspicuous place.

Riko stared in disbelief, her pale face flushing red with a complex mix of fear and shame.

"Good, good, that expression is very good. Scratch a few more red marks on your neck, then I'll go open the door and greet the guests."

As Xiuming walked out of the bedroom, he scattered a stack of debt documents along the way. When he reached the living room mirror, he turned his head to look at himself, frowned, ruffled his hair, pinched his face a couple of times until it turned red, took a deep breath, held it in his lungs, and let the blood rush to his head until his eyes turned bloodshot before heading towards the bedroom door.

Chapter 38 Five Unconventional Men Who Came to the Door

Xiuming peered through the peephole and saw two policemen in proper uniforms standing there.

One was a policewoman, holding a light blue plastic-covered folder. She looked to be in her early twenties, with a serious expression and upright posture. Her youthful appearance made her look like a primary school student who had just been elected class monitor. Was she another intern?

The other one wasn't a policewoman; he looked like a seasoned veteran. He was carrying a paint bucket that the debt collector had left at the door in his left hand, and his right index finger still had a bit of yellow paint on it. He was holding it to his nose, smelling it, and exhaling through his mouth. He liked the smell of paint.

Xiuming thought for a moment, then unbuttoned all the buttons on his shirt and crumpled it up, pretending that he had just put on his clothes. He then opened the door a crack, revealing only a bloodshot eye.

"What are you doing in my house? I'm just owing money and not paying it back, that's none of your business!"

Xiuming didn't want them to come inside. What if the deceased's information included their height? After all, there was a difference of several centimeters.

Just as Xiuming had guessed, the policewoman's youthful face stiffened, and a hint of embarrassment appeared in her eyes.

"Ah, Mr. Yamanaka, please don't misunderstand, we're just here to conduct an investigation. I'm Nakamura Tsutsui, and this is Officer Habara Sonoko. Nice to meet you!"

Nakamura Tsutsui chuckled and tossed the paint bucket into the stairwell. Amid the clanging sound of the metal sheet, he extended his right hand, smeared with yellow paint, as if to shake hands.

“You have shit on your hands, I’m not shaking hands with you,” Xiuming stared at the spot of yellow paint on his index fingertip. “I’m not in a good mood today, I’ll only talk to you for three minutes. What do you want to investigate?”

Tsutsui's face stiffened. He looked at his fingers and smeared yellow paint on the wall. "One of your female colleagues called the police, saying you jumped off a building to commit suicide. We just came to confirm."

"What a busybody..." Xiuming muttered deliberately, "Now that it's confirmed I'm still alive, there's nothing else to do! Goodbye."

As Xiuming spoke, he tried to close the door.

This Tsutsui guy looks like an experienced fellow, and he's brought up the topic of colleagues, which is very troublesome. Hideaki doesn't know any of his colleagues at all, and the more he talks, the more suspicious he becomes.

"Mr. Yamanaka!" Tsutsui grabbed the door. "Don't you want to know who called the police? She is..."

"I don't care who it is!" Xiuming roared at the top of his lungs, looking extremely embarrassed and angry. "I was already dead the moment those debt-collecting demons stormed into the company and cornered me at my workstation demanding payment! They not only ruined my job, they killed me! I don't want to have anything to do with anyone anymore!"

I'm so grateful that the husband who jumped off the building was so honest and wrote a detailed suicide note. If we can get away with this, I'll make sure Riko is happy every day!

“Is that so…” Tsutsui muttered to himself, looking down.

Although the identity of the person who jumped has not yet been confirmed, by visiting the floors and receiving a call to the police from one of Xiuming's colleagues who attempted suicide, it was easy to find his company, Yihe Securities, and inquire about the situation at the time.

I strongly suspect that the person who jumped off the building was Hideaki Yamanaka.

After all, being cornered at his workstation by debt collectors in front of all his colleagues, resulting in a social death, and walking out of the company looking distraught, anyone would think he was going to commit suicide, especially since he hadn't gone to work for two consecutive days and hadn't returned his phone calls.

But what Xiuming described was exactly the same as what they had interviewed.

In that case, there seems to be no need to doubt that the reason he did not choose suicide is because, judging from his current state, he seems to have changed drastically due to being heavily in debt, no longer caring about his reputation, and even saying on the spot that he would renege on his debts.

But who was that dead person? Did they climb up to that building from somewhere else? That goes against common sense…

Ding!

The elevator announced that it had arrived on the fourth floor. As the elevator doors slowly opened, a wisp of light blue smoke emerged, and five tattooed, dyed-hair youths stepped out.

The young people wore either thin, floral-patterned shirts that exposed their chests or tank tops with non-mainstream slogans printed on them.

They either had shiny steel pipes or bright white machetes tucked into their waistbands.

Seven people stood at the elevator entrance; it was quite crowded, but no one spoke.

The five youths stared intently at Tsutsui and Maruko, who were also turning back to look at them.

Damn! Xiuming's heart sank. They were all naive young men in their late teens or early twenties, and at this time, the yakuza were rampant and had no fear of the police.

While they were silently staring at each other, Xiuming took the opportunity to pull Tsutsui's hand off the door and slammed the door shut.

Looking out through the peephole, the three pieces of information that appeared in his field of vision after locking onto Riko changed from "Riko will be questioned by the police" to: [During some time before midnight, Riko will scratch numerous red finger marks on her body as you requested.]

Xiuming was genuinely taken aback when he saw the information about the changes.

This thing works! There's no feeling of being swept along by fate; it's all up to your own skill.

Based on this, it seems that Tsutsui will not be able to get in. I wonder if he will be beaten to death by the five non-mainstream people outside the door?

Outside, the loud slam of Xiuming slamming the door shut seemed to be a signal flare.

"Hideaki Yamanaka!" a young man shouted, turning around abruptly. He rushed to the door and pounded on it with his fist. "Open the door!"

Tsutsui's expression changed, and he used his body to block Maruko, stepping back.

Xiuming blinked involuntarily; he was indeed a seasoned veteran.

"Stop!" Yuanzi shouted, walking around the well and standing next to the young man banging on the door. "What are you doing!"

"Of course I'm here to collect my debt! Don't cause trouble, get out of here!" The young man, his face full of impatience, continued to pound on the door and shout, "Hideaki Yamanaka! Open the door, it's time to pay your debt!"

The other young men also squeezed to the doorway, laughing and banging on it while whistling at Yuanzi.

Yuanzi's face turned pale and then red, the blue folder she was clutching changed shape, and her whole body was trembling.

Tsutsui, who was standing next to her, remained silent. He patted Sonoko's shoulder with his right hand, seemingly to soothe her, and then stared at her with a gloomy face and narrowed his eyes.

"You can't escape, we're living right outside your door..."

"Our boss knows you're broke, so he contacted a doctor who can help you get a kidney removed to pay off your debts..."

"Mrs. Riko is quite nice! We can offer her a job..."

The youths were extremely arrogant, not only hurling insults and shouting, but also seemingly not satisfied with just beating the door, so they pulled out steel pipes and banged on and kicked the door.

Inside the room, Xiuming observed each room through the peephole.

He paid no attention to the young man banging on the door, but rather to Tsutsui, who seemed to be observing from the sidelines, yet was deep in thought.

Although the information has changed, it cannot be ruled out that he will turn around and interrogate me.

Intelligence should only be used as a reference; you still have to rely on your own efforts to deal with it.

"I won't open the door!" Hideaki roared, observing Tsutsui's expression. "You bunch of loan shark devils! You've ruined me, I have nothing left, I'm a dead man... If you keep pushing me, I'll take my whole family and commit suicide, so you won't get a damn thing!"

Taking on this debt was definitely the right thing to do. Given the reputation of these yakuza groups, no one would risk their life for them. This indirectly cleared them of suspicion as fake people and solidified their identity as debtors.

Tsutsui winked at the embarrassed-looking Sonoko, seemingly trying to pull her away, but Sonoko seemed unwilling.

"Our boss said that as long as you cooperate, he won't lay a hand on you. Open the door and let's talk!" the young man said with a grin.

"If you want to talk, call your boss over, I'll talk to him!" Xiuming roared hysterically, "If I don't die with that bastard, I'm not human!"

"Bastard!" The youths' faces changed, and they began frantically pounding on the door. "How dare you insult our Mountain Alliance leader! You're dead! Open the door!!!"

Tsutsui's expression changed again. Ignoring Sonoko's struggles, he pulled her down the stairs.

Hideaki was secretly delighted; Tsutsui was gone!

"Open the door! Open the door! You bastard!"

Why bother with them? At worst, I'll just stay home today.

Xiuming stopped responding and continued to look out through the peephole.

The main problem is with the intelligence reports. I've decided not to go out anymore, but the intelligence information still says, "Take a reluctant and aggrieved Riko to Ayako's house to stay."

If things continue like this, the only outcome, if forced to evade debt, is that the door can no longer hold up.

Facing five hotheads wielding steel pipes and machetes was ultimately quite dangerous...

This requires the obedient and well-behaved Riko to change her urgent dream again.

"Riko-chan," Hideaki called out to the bedroom, "bring me a small stool."

A moment later, Riko came out with her head down and small, quick steps, carrying a small stool.

Hideaki was about to scold her again for her little shuffling steps, but when he saw the scratches on Riko's neck, he was stunned for a long time.

Xiuming took the small stool from her hand, and when he sat down, he laid his legs flat, grabbed Riko's arm, and made her sit on his lap.

Then, lifting her beige fitted knit top, her flat stomach, smooth back, and fair arms were covered in red scratches. Fortunately, she didn't have long nails, and there were no broken skin; they were just small red marks.