Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

Xiuming greatly admired her painting skills; how should I put it, they were incredibly lifelike. Looking at her portrait made him feel very close to her. "How about you paint a portrait of me? I'll frame it and put it at home."

"Let's talk about it when we have time!" Eri tried her best to stay calm. "Because I've already signed a contract, I need to devote myself fully to the creation. In fact, there's a high probability that it will be made into a TV anime."

"Really? That's wonderful! Is it using my portrait?"

Hideaki was somewhat surprised; among the future comic book writers, he had never heard of her name.

Didn't you grant me a free license?

"Use at will."

Xiuming casually took out his bank card, probably not much better than her. He probably didn't earn much money, so he just considered it a way of repaying her for the painting skills he got from her.

Of course, if she makes a fortune, then cut off her portrait rights and make her a eunuch.

Then I used my own image to collaborate with Kishimoto on Naruto, which he started publishing 8 years later. As long as I provide him with plot points and an outline, inspiration should flow in continuously, right?

I could use my likeness to play a major role, bringing my own audience to the production team—how great would that be?

Maybe he's the main character!

Eri pursed her lips and didn't say anything. Just as she was about to take the bank card from Hideaki's hand, Miyamoto took two steps over, blocked Hideaki's bank card, and handed his own stored-value card to Eri.

"Shuming-kun, don't spend money. When the factory calls back, just say you're interested in buying the plush toys... It doesn't matter whether you buy them or not, as long as you're interested..."

Miyamoto had come several times, all to attract business and treat clients, but many clients ended up not placing any orders after eating and drinking for free.

Of course, he had encountered this situation many times before, so it wasn't a big blow. The biggest blow was that the factory didn't allow him to make purchases.

How can we possibly close a deal if we don't spend money together? The customer might think we're trying to secretly film them as evidence!

Sugita is an idiot! He has absolutely no sense of social etiquette. Ayako was blind to marry him.

"I'm so sorry, I said I'd treat you..."

Xiuming rubbed his hands together and put the bank card in his pocket.

He didn't plan to waste time here today. The "100 Yuan Supermarket" is opening tomorrow, and if he doesn't make a plan tonight, he'll be in a mess tomorrow.

Bookkeeping, teaching Lizi how to make spreadsheets, entering all the products into the computer, stocking shelves and writing price tags, designing surprise events, grand opening promotions... customer acquisition plans.

The reason I brought Miyamoto along was so as not to disappoint this honest man. As long as I satisfy him, he'll be more than willing to help me in the future.

The more Hideaki watched Miyamoto's behavior, the more he appreciated it.

During our conversation, he mentioned that he enjoys investing in stocks, and if he could afford it, I could give him a hand.

"Don't be shy! It's public money anyway, spend it as you like." Miyamoto said generously. "Ms. Makimura, um, is Ms. Ayaka on duty today?"

I used to always watch my favorite Ayaka serve others, but today I can finally have her serve me... I'm going to use all the skills I learned from Hideaki-kun on her.

Eri flipped open the roster and pointed to a round-faced woman's headshot. "We just saw off a guest. You can go to room 666 to find her now."

Miyamoto's face lit up with joy, and he clenched his fist, saying, "Perfect timing, Hideaki-kun. I won't stand on ceremony. Please make yourself at home."

Eri shrugged and was about to hand the roster to Hideaki when the office door behind the cashier suddenly opened.

"Eri-chan, leave it to me!" Ms. Ezaki, dressed in a professional black suit, white shirt with a turned-down collar, knee-length pencil skirt, black stockings, and high heels, walked over to Eri, took the roster, and pushed it in front of Hideaki. "Mr. Yamanaka, didn't you say you weren't coming?"

Eri quickly took two steps back, her eyes, brimming with creative fervor, unblinking: Something exciting! Something exciting…

Hideaki pushed the roster aside: "Knowing that Ms. Ezaki was here, I couldn't help but come and take a look. Are you really not going to provide any service? I only like you!"

She was wearing that professional fake smile again. I really wanted to pinch her face open to see if her flesh was actually smiling.

Last night, Eri said she dared to throw people into Tokyo Bay to feed the fish, so she's probably not someone to mess with... Does she have any tattoos? I don't like any of them except for the magic pattern on her lower abdomen.

"Oh dear~ that's such a pity," Jiang Qi chuckled, covering his mouth, his blazer fluttering slightly on his shoulders and chest. "I..."

"Your service is terrible," Xiuming said, striding out the door before she could finish. "I'm never coming back. Thumbs down!"

The shop suddenly fell silent. Xiuming had already walked onto the street, and the glass door was still shaking.

Ezaki was still covering his mouth and chuckling, but the smile had vanished from his face. He turned to Eri and asked, "Was my service really that bad?"

Eri quickly shook her head: "You are the boss with the best service attitude I have ever met."

"So that means he deliberately tried to annoy me?" Ezaki's eyebrows twitched slightly.

"Mmm! Mmm! Mmm!" Eri nodded repeatedly.

"You just said the comic is going to be made into a TV anime? How much did you sell the rights for? Is it enough to cover the interest?"

Ezaki suddenly changed the subject, his scarlet lips curving into a devilish smile.

Eri instinctively opened her mouth wide, her voice trembling with sobs as she exhaled, "It's not done yet..."

"Really?" Ezaki pinched Eri's smooth little face. "Your debt has already reached 500 million yen, so keep up the good work~"

Ezaki entered the office in high heels.

Eri sat slumped in the chair.

She deeply regrets taking out a loan to attend a training course in comic creation...

The most despairing thing is that I only borrowed 10 yen at the beginning, how did it snowball to so much?

That despicable Ezaki, you will suffer the cruelest punishment in my hentai anime! Mr. Yamanaka, you are my pillar of strength, you must thoroughly humiliate her...

Chapter 59 Sincerity is Terrifying

After leaving Kabukicho Ichiban-gai, Hideaki went straight to the graphic design studio, which was still open for business.

Although it was already 10 p.m., the office buildings were still brightly lit, and behind the clear glass windows were countless busy office workers working overtime.

Since the mid-1980s, the Japanese have been working at a level of frenzy comparable to that of oxen and horses.

Capitalists constantly altered the national ideology, with their pronouncements of "money is everything" changing the Japanese people's concept of money, and their pronouncements of "competition and productivity are everything" changing the Japanese people's concept of labor.

They relentlessly exploit everyone, creating value for them.

Such frenzied high-efficiency work enabled China to achieve the world's highest per capita GDP in just twenty years, bringing glory to the country and leaving the United States firmly under its feet.

Behind the glory are the countless corpses of overworked oxen and horses; overtime has become a corporate culture that is widely accepted.

If done according to the rules, overtime work is compensated.

Therefore, in order to squeeze employees to get their free overtime, companies will set an overtime budget for the year, determine how many hours of overtime will be required this year, and then deposit the overtime pay into the employees' salary cards in advance.

However, in reality, employees work far more hours than the set maximum.

More than 40 percent of the employees work an average of eleven hours a day.

With such a high-intensity work schedule, aside from the miscellaneous time spent eating, washing up, sleeping, commuting on crowded trains, etc., there is almost no personal free time during the day.

It is not uncommon for employees to die suddenly at their workplace due to overwork.

Without more free time to relieve psychological stress, the feeling of mental fatigue is far greater than that of physical fatigue.

This intense social environment gave Xiuming the idea for a great entrepreneurial project: the psychological therapy industry.

When it comes to dealing with people's hearts and minds, you can refer to the psychiatric, neurological, psychological counseling, and psychotherapy industries in hospitals.

Of course, it's definitely different from theirs.

First, create a convincing identity related to psychology, such as choosing a returnee from overseas, or simply grab a blond, blue-eyed homeless man on the street and design some lines for him to memorize.

Then, rent a luxurious conference room in a high-end hotel and give it a catchy name, such as "Accepting Your Imperfections."

Then they would find some shills to recruit people, initially targeting "ambitious young men and women who are eager to improve themselves due to various pressures".

The male-to-female ratio should be kept at an equal number.

The specific operation involves using games, combined with methods such as pyramid scheme brainwashing, religious confession, and psychological comfort, to get them to make friends and share their secrets and inner pressures.

When they start sharing their private matters with complete strangers, even revealing their most shameful sexual secrets, their next month's salary will already be the registration fee.

Extreme caution is required; utmost carelessness is unacceptable: a single misstep could escalate into group sex, a very serious crime! (P.S.: minimum ten years imprisonment, hefty fines!)

Of course, a silver tongue is a valuable skill in any era.

For intelligent people, participating in such psychotherapy activities is not as effective as finding an amusement park, going bungee jumping, or skydiving to experience the feeling of facing death. It's more efficient and doesn't cost much.

But there are always some slow-witted, discerning individuals who give money to others.

"In this era of bursting bubbles, a blue ocean has emerged... money is everywhere..."

Xiuming walked out of the print shop with printed price tags and promotional brochures in his hand. The name "100-yen supermarket" was also printed out. In the upper left corner of the green background with white lettering for "100-yen supermarket," there was a red circle with the black characters "Miyamoto" inside.

I do hope that Ayako can help Riko out and assist her.

It seems unlikely that this will happen anytime soon; the two of them don't even exchange glances. Of course, this isn't without its advantages.

That way, they can't form a united front and gang up on me.

Because of Riko's gentle, vulnerable, and resilient nature, Hideaki was very concerned about her mental health. He would quickly address any negative signs to prevent her from developing depression.

As a gentle and obedient person, he usually wouldn't disobey any of Hideaki's decisions, but if Riko were to raise any objections to him at some point, he would definitely consider it carefully.

This brings us to Ayako, that slippery little devil. She basically never does anything that puts her at a disadvantage, and she's also the kind of person who gets stronger with each setback.

If she and Riko really became best friends, she would definitely try every means to instigate Riko to do things that were unfriendly to her.

Their relationship is just right right now.

The glass door of the studio was still open, and the red "super cheap" neon sign was already powered on.

Ayako lay dead in the massage room.

Riko was carrying a box of instant noodles, standing on tiptoe on a wobbly chair, and pushing it onto the shelf.

Her hair was slightly disheveled, her forehead was covered in sweat, and her face was flushed from exhaustion.

At 1.6 meters tall, she's not short, but the way she holds up the cup noodle box makes one think of an ant biting food several times its own size.

I'm really worried she'll fall and hit me.

“I’ll do it!” Xiuming pushed the cup noodle box into the shelf, then put Riko down on the chair with both hands around her slender waist. “Go turn on the computer, I’ll teach you how to make a spreadsheet later.”

Because of Hideaki's sudden return, Riko hadn't recovered from the surprise and just stared blankly, "Honey, you, you're back? Wow, that was fast..."

"If you can't speak properly, then shut up!"

Xiuming's face darkened, and he grabbed her ear and shoved her away.

Hideaki realized with alarm that he was actually being a little too concerned about saving face in front of Riko's adoring gaze, which was a very bad sign.