Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

"Well, if I have time, I'll call him and tell him I'm going to invest in stocks. I'll lend him 1 million yen and give him 1% of the profits."

Riko opened her mouth, then lowered her head and said, "Okay... I'll tell Dad."

Dinner was relatively light this time: three bowls of shredded pork udon noodles, a plate of sushi for three people, with cucumber strips, carrot strips, corn kernels, pork floss and wasabi.

When cutting cucumber and carrot strips to make sushi, Hideaki watched Riko's clumsy movements and worried that she would cut her fingers, so he could only push her away and do it himself.

At times like this, Riko felt incredibly happy. Usually, he would scold her, but suddenly she felt cared for, which made her heart pound.

Ayako is not going downstairs.

"Riko-chan, bring her the udon noodles and this plate of sushi!" Hideaki said, picking up a slice of sushi roll and stuffing it into his mouth while chewing.

Riko's lips trembled as she placed a bowl of udon noodles and a plate of sushi on a tray, carrying it upstairs. As she turned to leave, she muttered, "I can accept it... I can accept it..."

Hideaki nodded in satisfaction; Riko had truly accepted it.

While they were eating, Hideaki suddenly looked up and asked, "Riko-chan, how did you pray in the garden behind the building this afternoon? Did you imagine yourself as a level 10 kendo master?"

Xiuming only now realized that he hadn't received any skill rewards.

"I..." Riko held her rice bowl, her face flushed, and whispered, "I... I imagine I'm Ultraman... You are my light... my light..."

"Go to hell with your light!" Xiuming slammed the chopsticks on the table with a "bang," they bounced twice, fell to the ground, and spun around.

Riko's shoulders trembled, and she almost jumped up from her chair. She held her rice bowl and lowered her head deeply.

It's just imagining it! It's not real. Besides, I've never actually seen a level 10 swordsman, but I've seen Ultraman fight monsters on TV many times, so of course I'll imagine the most powerful one.

“Still light…” Xiuming muttered as he crawled under the table, picked up the chopsticks, stuck them in the bowl, scooped up some udon noodles and stuffed them into his mouth, then pointed at her with the chopsticks, “You ‘malicious brain’ woman, I’m going to teach you a lesson tonight.”

Riko, who was bowing her head in fear, subconsciously swallowed and stole a glance at Hideaki, "Hmm..."

He then quickly started eating.

"Hey!" Hideaki stood up from his chair, leaning half his body over Riko's head. "Do you feel happy when you annoy me like this?"

Riko held her rice bowl, almost burying her face in the soup. Her ears were bright red as she quickly shook her head, "No..."

That's definitely not what made her happy...

"Never mind, let's eat!"

Although the opportunity to become a master swordsman was wasted, there will be many more opportunities in the future.

Since Riko was in charge of boiling water, which was considered helping in the kitchen, it was exactly eight o'clock after the meal. Hideaki and Riko cleaned up the dishes and washed them together.

"I'm going out for a bit, I'll be back around 12 o'clock." Hideaki pulled Riko into Ayako's room, dragged over a small stool, pressed her down on it, and shoved a measuring tape into her hand. "Riko-chan, you're in charge of supervising her work here. She has to make twenty dolls before I get back. If she slacks off, I'll spank her."

"Huh?" Riko opened her mouth, a glimmer of light appearing in her eyes.

Ayako, who was still frantically sewing the doll with her head down, was stunned. She looked up and said, "What do you mean? Are you really going to treat me like a slave? I won't accept that!"

“I’ll keep working to pay you back until you give me a billion yen,” Hideaki said, picking up a black briefcase containing 60,000 yen. “I’ll go buy a wheelchair now and go out to sell things in it first thing tomorrow morning. A plush toy costs 2000 yen. You can calculate how long it will take to pay it off.”

"Whatever, it's your fault for not signing the transfer agreement in the first place. Anyway, I'm sticking with you now..." Ayako's face stiffened. Riko, who was squinting at her, turned and said, "Riko-chan, you're not really going to hit me, are you?"

"Hmph~" Riko tightened her grip on the soft ruler in her hand and turned her head to glance at Xiuming's reaction.

"You guys have fun!" Hideaki said as he walked out of the room, then suddenly turned back. "Ayako, do you have any monthly passes?"

"What monthly pass?"

"What other monthly tickets could there be? Give me any monthly tickets you want!"

Besides tram passes, what other monthly passes are there?

Ayako reached into the second drawer of the bedside table, took out a blue suspender-style train pass, wrapped the blue suspender around the pass, opened her shirt, slipped it inside, and with a slight shake, it disappeared without a trace.

He then placed his hands together on his lower abdomen, sitting upright, which even gave him a sense of holiness.

But as she performed these actions, she kept looking at Riko, which gave off a sense of defiance.

"Bring it to you!"

Xiuming strode over, retrieved the monthly pass, and turned to leave.

Time is of the essence; there's no time for this kind of frivolous behavior.

As soon as he reached the first floor, Xiuming checked his pockets and hurriedly went back upstairs.

Riko was holding up a measuring tape in front of her, staring intently at Ayako, while Ayako remained seated on the white mattress, her eyes wide open as she looked at her.

Xiuming stood at the top of the stairs, took the clubhouse prepaid card out of his pocket, and called out, "Ayako, what's the password for this prepaid card?"

Inside the room, Riko's shoulders trembled, and she quickly rolled up the measuring tape into a ball and stuffed it into her bosom.

“Your wife is going to hit me,” Ayako said.

"Stop talking nonsense and hurry up and tell me, or I'll hit you."

“I stole it from my brother, I didn’t know.” Ayako’s eyes darted around.

"Riko-chan, teach her a lesson!" Hideaki was getting impatient; he knew he couldn't do it himself.

"Really? Is it possible?" Riko suddenly turned her head. "Then... how do we do it?"

"Do whatever you don't like."

Riko glanced at Ayako's chest. Before Ayako could react, Riko quickly covered her flushed face. "This...this is so embarrassing..."

Riko peered through her fingers.

"Riko-chan," Ayako exclaimed in disbelief, "your husband is going to take that card to a brothel?! Are you crazy?"

Riko froze, looking up at Hideaki.

“A man needs to see the world when he’s out in the world, otherwise people will look down on him,” Xiuming said righteously. “I’m just going to exchange ideas and learn from them, to experience their hardships. You can accept that, right?”

Riko pursed her lips, and finally nodded: "I can accept it... I can accept it..."

"Using 'marital relationship' as a shackle and 'exchange and learning' as a fig leaf? Your rhetoric should be registered as a patent for fraud," Ayako sneered.

"Stop talking nonsense," Xiuming tilted his head, looking like a beast with a human face, and beckoned to Ayako with his index finger. "Hurry up! If you tell me the password, I won't let you go out to sell dolls tomorrow."

After a struggle, Ayako still tried to fight back, saying, "You're insulting me. Apart from a slight injury to my ankle, what part of my body can't I have?"

Riko blushed, pouting, and glared at Hideaki from where he couldn't see her.

Xiuming remained unmoved and used his trump card: "My wife has already agreed, what right do you have to talk nonsense? If you don't hand over the password, your workload will double tonight!"

[Note: Exploiting emotional relationships for economic gain violates both the law and basic human decency. In reality, such behavior may involve psychological manipulation and economic crimes.]

Ayako compromised: the password is six eights.

Chapter 42: What's wrong with learning this? Learning about trams!

The Tokyo Stock Exchange, TSE Section 1 Main Board business, trading hours are from 9:00 to 11:00 in the morning session and from 12:30 to 3:00 in the afternoon session.

The exact location is in Hashikata-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo; you need to take a train to get there.

The nearest station is Seibu Shinjuku Station, and the last train departs at midnight.

Xiuming checked the station and route in front of the crowded platform. He could get there in half an hour, so there was no rush.

It's only 8 p.m. now, and the tram is packed with people and there aren't any seats. Why not go see the world and take the tram later when it's less crowded?

He then blended into the surging crowd and headed towards Kabukicho Ichiban-gai.

At this moment, during peak business hours, at the entrance of the main street, under the giant archway lightbox with the words "Kabukicho Ichiban-gai" hanging high, groups of tourists are taking photos and checking in, their faces glowing with the neon lights.

As you walk into the neighborhood, you're greeted by a dazzling array of neon signs: private detective agencies, love hotels, animated effects for winning pachinko prizes... even the asphalt pavement is illuminated with colorful, flowing light effects.

The crowds were a chaotic mess. There were office workers in suits and leather shoes with loose ties and carrying black briefcases, as well as young men in studded leather jackets and dyed yellow hair, leaning against motorcycles and smoking. There were also young women in short skirts and high heels, handing out flyers with photos of women to passersby in sweet voices: "Hey bro, wanna hang out?"

Of course, in more secluded alleyway locations, you can always see a black Toyota Century sedan parked there, along with a group of men in black suits and sunglasses, silently patrolling. If they spot someone drunk and causing trouble, they'll pounce on them, baring their teeth and dragging them directly into the alley.

At the police booth next door, uniformed officers were gentle with tourists asking for directions, yet ignored the screams coming from the alley.

Although it appears chaotic on the surface, the area is actually controlled by gangs who manage their territories, and overall, the security situation is relatively stable. Of course, it's important to stay away from organized crime.

Xiuming looked around but couldn't find the thugs who were banging on his door to collect debts, so he stopped paying attention to them.

He turned around and went into the pachinko parlor.

This is currently one of the most popular leisure and entertainment venues in Japan, mainly offering pinball games. Winning pinballs can be exchanged for various "prizes" at the bar, such as instant noodles, energy drinks, and plush toys. Alternatively, you can take your prizes through the back door into a small alley where someone will buy them back for cash.

Police generally don't allow shop owners to cooperate with recyclers, so they rarely enter the alleys.

In the coming years, pinball games will become even more popular, with annual revenue reportedly reaching 20 trillion yen.

Investing in a pachinko parlor? Of course not, that will only yield small profits.

If you have the money, you should take control of the source and invest in equipment manufacturers.

Xiuming walked around inside, intending to try it out, check out the machine's features, and find out what he was going to invest in in the future.

But once inside the store, the pungent smell of cigarette oil was overwhelming, the sound and light effects were overwhelming, and there were long queues of people, with roughly the same number of oddly dressed young people and office workers tearing off their ties.

Some come to make money, while others come to relieve stress.

A machine that runs continuously from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., being manipulated and abused by countless people, will break down after a few months.

Xiuming left the store because he couldn't get in line and the store was too noisy and filled with smoke.

Afterwards, taking the club's prepaid card given to her by Ayako, she headed straight for the "Night Paris Soap Paradise" club, where she had to leave last time because she didn't know the password.

Although the clubhouse is in a prominent location, only members can enter.

Although the law prohibits "on-the-spot" transactions, shops often use the guise of "just a quick fling" to evade regulation, making it difficult for the police to obtain evidence, which is tantamount to tacitly allowing the business to operate.

The brightly lit signs and the billboard advertising a woman sitting in a bathtub covered in foam are the facade of this club.

Xiuming immediately took a liking to the woman on the billboard.

Welcome!

Pushing open the heavy glass revolving door, soft, gentle music fills the air. The interior is decorated in a pure Japanese style, with a rockery and pond in the center, where clear water ripples, creating a very elegant atmosphere.

Xiuming had been here before, so he was too lazy to look at the layout again. He simply tossed the prepaid card to the female receptionist in a maid outfit standing behind the bar.

"Call the best massage therapist here, male or female, as long as they have the skills."

"Huh?" The waitress seemed to be working part-time and had never encountered a customer with such a preference for both men and women before, so she was momentarily stunned.

"Ah, Mr. Yamanaka, you know the password?"