Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

[Sometime within the next 12 hours, Yoko Ezaki will demand 5 million yen from you.]

These three pieces of information appear to be in chronological order.

According to her, half of the working capital of the Shanhe Group is currently used by Shanhe Foreign Trade through illegal transactions.

If you offend Fukai Ichiro, he'll throw a tantrum and stop giving you small bribes.

Her foreign trade company operates on an import/export agency model, accepting commissions from various domestic companies to handle import or export business. She does not bear the profits or losses of the business, but only charges a certain handling fee.

On the surface, they export various aquatic products, but on the return trip, they import various high-quality fruits. Because they need to smuggle in some illicit goods, they only go to Southeast Asia.

Esaki was too hasty.

With her own "100-yuan supermarket" and Ayako's yet-to-be-launched embroidery business, if both of them were to take off, a cooperative model could be adopted to jointly produce goods, explore the market together, leverage each other's strengths, and share profits—truly a win-win situation.

But now, she is clearly eager to cooperate.

Do you trust me that much? I don't have anything here yet.

She only had 100 million yen that she had pried out of her, and she wanted to get half of that back tomorrow.

Chapter 82 Cartoonist's Part-Time Job at the Store

Once the money's in your mouth, how can you spit it out?

No way! I'd rather die than give it to you.

Take care of Fukai Ichiro.

These three pieces of information are highly interconnected; once the first one is resolved, the other two will change.

As for how to resolve this, sending him to prison wouldn't be a safe option; a meticulous plan needs to be devised.

I have two bullets, but I don't know if one bullet can eliminate an enemy.

However, bullets should not be used unless absolutely necessary. It is best to frame someone, use someone else to do the dirty work, and then leave without a trace.

I wonder if Fukai Ichiro has a bounty.

Xiuming jogged back to the supermarket in forty minutes, at 12:40.

There were four office workers in the supermarket, sitting at a long table by the entrance eating instant noodles.

Eri was laboriously carrying and dismantling cup noodle boxes, placing them on the shelf.

Riko was sitting at the cashier, typing away at the product list on the computer screen.

It looks like they're compiling statistics on best-selling products.

"How's today?" Xiuming tapped on the cash register.

"Ah, honey~"

Riko turned her head, jumped up, glanced around with fluttering eyelashes, covered her mouth with her hand, and, like a primary school student seeking praise from her teacher, whispered excitedly, "We sold 10 yen today!"

The store opened at noon and by midnight, it had a turnover of 100,000 yen with a net profit of 45%, which can be described as a booming business. This was all thanks to the office building across the street and the fact that there were no similar supermarkets around.

"Wow~ Riko-chan, you're amazing!" Hideaki echoed Riko's words, covering his mouth with his hand and whispering his response.

"No...no~" Riko rubbed the hem of her clothes, looking down and giggling like she'd eaten honey.

Sure enough, no woman outside can compare to Riko's cuteness.

Xiuming stepped over the counter, put his arm around Riko's slender waist from behind, rested his chin on her shoulder, and whispered, "Let's go home soon!"

"So...so many people are watching..."

Riko's body went limp, and she could barely stand. Her face was flushed, her lips were pursed, and she lowered her head deeply. Her ears also turned red.

"Cough! Cough!" Eri coughed loudly twice, then strolled over casually. "Mr. Yamanaka, please give me a reason for pulling me off the car."

Now that Hideaki has returned safely, he has obviously conquered the evil Ezaki. He missed a good plot point and can only imagine what might happen next.

So annoying!

Of course, there was also a major discovery today. This guy truly lives up to his reputation as the protagonist I chose. Not only does he have a beautiful, gentle, virtuous, and capable wife at home, but he also has another busty woman with whom he has an ambiguous relationship.

It's really big; if I joined, I'd definitely become a popular character.

Unfortunately, I have no grudge against her, but I can't go against my conscience, so I can only learn from her figure.

What reason do you want?

Hideaki casually gave her a perfunctory answer, helping Riko take all the large sums of money out of the cash register and put them into her purse, which she needed to deposit in the bank.

“Shouldn’t you be the one to say it?” Eri paused for a moment, then continued, “Anyway, you’ve been very rude. I need compensation. Pay me my wages first. I’ve worked here for 13 hours. My hourly wage is 700 yen, so it’s 9100 yen. Not a penny less. I’ll work part-time here from now on. Mrs. Riko has agreed.”

Working here is so enjoyable. Mrs. Riko has such a good temper; she even gave me a cup of milk tea, treated me to a meal, and helped me move goods.

Most importantly, it allows for a close-up look at the male protagonist's family situation. Mrs. Riko is so pitiful. If there's a chance, let Mrs. Riko stand up: punch Ayako, kick Ezaki, and have Hideaki Yamanaka begging for mercy sitting on her bottom.

Now that Hideaki has already won over Ezaki, she probably wouldn't dare say anything if he switched jobs.

"How can the salary be so high?"

Riko pursed her lips and nodded gently.

Xiuming glanced at the signboard posted at the entrance; the prices were too high. He then pointed to the massage room.

"Would you like to live here in the future? It has a private bathroom, you can take a shower and do laundry, and you can even create comics in the warehouse next door. If you live here, I'll pay you 350 per hour."

"Only perverts would stay in that massage parlor. If you deduct half of my hourly wage, I might as well find an apartment in your neighborhood."

Hideaki took out a 10000 yen banknote.

Before any more customers came in, Xiuming quickly told them to leave work.

Eri wants to work here long-term, as a part-time full-time employee, working 13-hour shifts like a slave, and they don't even have to pay for her insurance. She's really making a killing.

Judging from Riko's attitude towards her, they seem to get along quite well. Eri is a homebody manga artist, and so far, she doesn't seem to have any bad intentions. It seems she won't bully Riko. Her goal isn't to make money, but rather to have a good creative environment.

Turn off the lights and lock the roller shutter.

Riko's face was flushed, and she was clinging to Hideaki's arm, almost unable to stand. Hideaki was practically carrying her.

Following behind was Eri, who refused to stay in the massage room with transparent glass and insisted on going to Riko's house to stay.

Riko felt embarrassed to refuse, while Hideaki was completely indifferent.

Hideaki casually asked her about Shota.

Eri looked completely bewildered. "I have nothing to do with him, how would I have his contact information? Didn't he swear he would definitely go to the bubble bath? You could have waited for him at the shop every day! Anyway, that shop is already... um, right?"

Eri considered Riko's feelings and didn't reveal her guess about Ezaki's outcome... Besides, she still had to continue with her wife when she got home... Could he still handle it? It was truly worrying.

"I'm exhausted today, I need to take a shower first!"

Eri rushed into the bathroom, knowing full well what was going to happen tonight.

She would sneak into the Japanese-style room beforehand, eavesdrop, and then create her inspiration.

A pair of black women's trousers lay on the white ceramic tile floor of the bathroom.

Eri picked it up curiously, and it was clear at a glance that it didn't belong to Mrs. Riko, since the pants were quite long.

"Mrs. Riko, whose pants are these?" Eri asked, knocking on the master bedroom door with the pants in her hand.

Riko opened the door a crack, her eyes watery and her face flushed, and asked, "What pants?"

Eri pulled up her pants.

"Oh, give it to me!" Riko hesitated for a moment, clearly referring to Ayako's pants, then grabbed them.

"Mrs. Riko, what is this?"

Eri's eyes were filled with curiosity; her intuition told her it shouldn't be laundry detergent.

"Oh...maybe...you should go take a shower!" Riko said, picking up her pants and gently closing the door.

That annoying Ayako, she stole someone else's husband... She's so awful...

Riko sullenly took the pants to the balcony and threw them into the washing machine.

"Riko-chan, what's wrong?"

Hideaki was shirtless, sitting on the mattress counting money. He would call Miyamoto when he needed to order more goods tomorrow, and from then on, Miyamoto would be his full-time purchasing and delivery driver.

Chapter 83 Ezaki's Plan

After Riko turned on the washing machine, she quietly sat down next to Hideaki.

"Honey..." Riko lowered her head, fiddling with a loose thread on the off-white mattress, and whispered, "Can we...can we have a baby?"

.

Riko made breakfast this morning: toasted bread slices, fried egg, and milk.

Eri hadn't eaten breakfast and was furtively drawing manga on the tatami mats in the Japanese-style room.

Riko placed breakfast on the table and slowly sat down.

"Is the purchase order ready?" Hideaki asked, while thinking about information about Ezaki and biting into a slice of toasted mantou sprinkled with salt and pepper.

"I made it last night." Riko secretly glanced at Hideaki chewing on the bread slices. She wasn't sure if it suited his taste and was a little worried that he wouldn't like it.

"I'll give the purchase order and money to Mr. Miyamoto and let him buy it himself. I already told him that last night."

When Hideaki took Miyamoto shopping last time, he was thinking of continuing to use him, so he specifically gave him the wholesaler's contact information.

“Okay…” Eri handed the milk cup to Hideaki and stared intently at him.

Xiuming gulped down the drink in two gulps, put down the cup, and turned to leave.

Riko quickly followed him to the entrance and helped Hideaki put on his shoes.

She felt somewhat frustrated, unable to discern whether Xiuming liked the food or not.

"Honey, are you coming back tonight?" Riko asked softly from the doorway.

"I'll call you tonight, we'll see." Xiuming said as he stepped into the elevator. Just as the elevator doors were about to close, Xiuming suddenly poked his head out. "The toasted bread slices are pretty good, delicious, I'm satisfied. You should go try some too!"

"Okay...okay!" Riko's spirits lifted.

For Xiuming, good food is good food, and bad food is bad food.