Tokyo: They say it's just dating, but they're serious about it.

Chapter 17 Chika-chan is sleepy; she wants to go home and sleep.

We arrived at the electronics store at noon.

At this time, Akihabara was no longer the "Kingdom of Home Appliances". Most of the streets were lined with computer shops, making it more like a computer street and technology market.

Buying a computer at this time allows you to play LAN games, do role-playing on BBS forums, and find interactive fun, but it's too expensive.

Chinatsu complained that she was hungry, and Katsuhiko, wanting to make things easier, took her into KFC.

While eating, Sheng Yan picked out more than twenty game cards from his backpack that were in good condition, had packaging boxes and instructions, and sorted them out.

Once you have these game cards in your hand, they will all have a "worth 2000 yen" mark. If you sell them to a used store, you will be severely undervalued. So you will definitely sell them to individual buyers to maximize your profit.

After the meal, Katsuhiko originally wanted Mikoto to hold Chinatsu and wait at the KFC, but Mikoto seemed very interested, so he took them both to browse the secondhand stores.

Because Sheng Yan selected only popular game cartridges, the used game stores were happy to buy them back, and sometimes the prices were deliberately lowered. Sheng Yan visited several stores and successfully sold the game cartridges by 3 p.m.

He received 280,000 yen, averaging 700 yen per sheet.

In the end, only twenty game cards remained, all in near-new condition.

"I'm going to buy Chika a candied hawthorn skewer."

Katsuhiko took the twenty game cards from Chinatsu, handed them to Mikoto, pointed to a game arcade across the street, and said, "You stand at that door and sell them first."

Mikoto almost dropped the game card she had just picked up. After holding it in for a while, she glared at Katsuhiko with annoyance, then turned and walked away with the bag.

After Katsuhiko finished queuing up and bought candied hawthorns for Chika, Mikoto was already smiling and waving the banknotes in her hand as she greeted him.

"So fast?" Katsuhiko was somewhat surprised.

“I bought it from the owner of the game store,” Mikoto said with a smile, covering her mouth as she pointed to the game store and whispered, “2500 yen a card.”

Katsuhiko turned his head to look at the arcade. Behind the counter, a slightly overweight man, probably in his thirties, was staring in their direction. Katsuhiko saw "astonishment," "disbelief," and "regret" in his eyes...

Katsuhiko pulled Mikoto over, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and said, "Let's go."

Back in the car.

Mikoto still couldn't quite believe it. Katsuhiko had said before that the total cost was 6 yen, and in just a few hours, there was a 500% profit. Mikoto's own convenience store only had a 1-3% profit margin.

“This is the golden opportunity to get rich,” Katsuhiko said, taking Mikoto’s bag and stuffing the money inside. “Even a pig could get rich if it stood on the right spot.”

Mikoto blinked and said, "How about you take me with you?"

Sheng Yan looked up in surprise and asked, "What about your convenience store?"

"I'm transferring it."

Mikoto frowned in exasperation, then continued, "Running a convenience store is such a losing proposition, and there are even yakuza harassing us at night..."

Mikoto inherited the convenience store from her father and doesn't need to pay rent.

Her convenience store's business model is too traditional, like a small supermarket that has everything, resulting in serious overstocking.

Mikoto had also considered turning the convenience store into a budget supermarket and had been planning to do so for some time.

Besides clearing out the inventory, we also need to find other suppliers and renegotiate business...

We haven't been troubled yet because of the connections my father had before he passed away. But if we were to re-plan in the future, without a man to help us, we would probably face obstacles and difficulties everywhere.

Katsuhiko thought about it for a moment.

In the next decade or so, with the development of the internet, "entertainment culture, emotional value, and spiritual sustenance" will be the biggest money-making opportunities, belonging to highly profitable industries that bring in money quickly.

However, we don't have the initial funding right now, so we can't get involved.

Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar convenience stores are also a lucrative opportunity. After all, this is the beginning of a nationwide trend of downgrading consumption, and with a foothold already established, it would be a shame to sell them off now.

My local secondhand economy can be considered a form of physical entrepreneurship, and in the future, it will become a chain of secondhand stores.

Why not separate a section of her convenience store and transform the traditional supermarket into a multi-functional store that combines the sale of daily necessities with the trading of secondhand goods?

Once the store is up and running, the funds here can be used to get involved in the entertainment and cultural industries related to internet media...

Of course, before that, the problem of harassment by the underworld must be completely resolved.

Harassment issues were a major reason why Mikoto failed to run her convenience store business well.

Although she reported the incident to the police station's safety division and there were patrol cars every night, the police couldn't do anything about those people who just shouted and threw excrement bags at her.

Then I'll have to solve it myself. A [Recovery Potion] to save my life, a [Focus Potion] to learn some fighting skills...

Of course, at this time, the legal atmosphere against violent gangs was still very strong, and many violent gangs were having a hard time. Those who had the means were busy transforming and going legal, while those who didn't were carefully collecting protection money to make a living, and none of them dared to get into legal trouble.

If the thugs who come to harass you know what's good for them, you can give them some pointers and suggest a way to make money, like an industry that stimulates emotions... This kind of industry isn't prohibited here... With a cheap camera, a cheap rental room, and one or two people, you can start production.

After all, it's a job market downturn. Many female students in school are working part-time while studying, and they don't even try to hide it. Many female classmates are saying "sour grapes" while being envious, and even idolizing them like celebrities.

That's how it was on university campuses back then: three or four out of five female graduates couldn't find jobs and had to take part-time jobs to make money quickly.

“Keep the convenience store; after all, it’s the legacy of my deceased father-in-law. You’re willing to part with it, but I’m not.” Sheng Yan started the car and continued, “While you’re at it, set up a ‘game corner’ in the supermarket. I’ll also get a business license and use the game merchandise to drive traffic to your convenience store…”

“Father-in-law…” Mikoto tilted her head and opened her eyes wide.

Is there a problem?

“Chika-chan is sleepy,” Mikoto said, her eyes glistening with tears. She pursed her bright red lips, turned her flushed face to the car window, and slowly slid her trembling hand across Katsuhiko’s lap. “She wants to go home and sleep…”

Behind the two, Chika, sitting in her child seat, had her eyes wide open, showing no signs of sleepiness.

It's only four in the afternoon, which is when children are most active.

"Little Lily-chan should have rested well by now!"

Mikoto was a little out of breath. She glanced at the radiant Chinatsu behind her, rubbed her feverish forehead, and whispered, "Could I ask her to... look after Chinatsu-chan?"

Sayuri has been working part-time at the store since Chinatsu was a baby and still breastfeeding, and Chinatsu likes to play with her.

"I'm buying a new outfit for Xiaobaihe. You can give it to her to make her happy."

"I'll do whatever you say..." Mikoto suddenly blushed.

After buying clothes together, the two copied a videotape of a variety show at a video store, and then drove back to their apartment in Okubo.

The sun was still high in the sky, the sky was blue with white clouds, and there was a gentle breeze. Many parents were playing with their children in the park, and it was not yet five o'clock.

Xiaobaihe woke up before 3 a.m.

The clothes that Sheng Yan had washed for her in the morning were already dry after being aired out for most of the day.

She got dressed, cooked herself a bowl of noodles in the kitchen, and after eating, she didn't know what to do next.

Chapter 18 Little Lily, Congratulations on finding a partner! Here's a piece of clothing for you.

It's the holidays now, and the dormitory manager locked the door to drive away the graduating students who were refusing to leave, so she couldn't move her things over.

The thought of sleeping here that night made Sayuri too afraid to help out at the restaurant where her mother worked.

It wasn't that her mother objected to anything; her mother had even asked her how things had progressed and whether she wanted to meet her boyfriend...

The main issue is that Xiaobaihe usually stays at her mother's dormitory during holidays. If she goes to the restaurant now and has to come back at night, her mother will definitely ask where she's sleeping.

If I don't come back, I'll feel restless and anxious, like a cat scratching at my heart. But if I tell her mother directly, "I'm officially moving in with my boyfriend..."

Wouldn't that be incredibly embarrassing?

It's better to go back in a few days. By then, they'll know without me even mentioning it, which will save me from being questioned and embarrassed...

Finally, Sayuri sat on the tatami mat, hugging her feet clad in white stockings every now and then, pressing the soles of her feet against her flushed face, giggling foolishly.

She lowered her head again, like a thief, and unbuttoned a few buttons on her shirt, glancing at her rather perky breasts. Then she brought her arms together, and the white skin there immediately created a deep cleavage.

She shuddered, quickly closed her eyes, and collapsed onto the tatami mat, rolling and thrashing about while clutching the blanket.

"How perverted... Why do I keep having these random thoughts? It's so annoying... Hehe..."

She thrashed about for a while, then put her hands on top of her head, ran her fingers through her hair, revealing her flushed face. Her wide eyes trembled, and her gaze slowly shifted to the white bath towel still on the floor.

She had been wearing that towel that morning. After helping Shengyan solve a small problem, she had gotten some stains on her body, and Shengyan had used that towel to wipe them off.

Like a thief, she reached out, pinched a little bit, pulled it close, and slowly brought her little nose to take a light sniff...

"Oh no! I'm going crazy, I'm going crazy..."

Sayuri shuddered again, jumped up, threw the bath towel on the floor, grabbed it again, quickly stuffed it into the washing machine, then knelt on the tatami mat, rolled around for a while, and finally pulled the blanket over her head, curling into a ball.

She acted "hysterically" and "crazy" in the apartment for over an hour, until the apartment manager knocked on the door, saying that the night shift tenant downstairs had complained about her...

The administrator also delivered a letter.

Since it was a private letter, Sayuri didn't dare to open it. However, she also included a brochure with a color cover of "Watanabe Food Processing Plant" on the outside.

It's probably an invitation to join the company.

Xiaobaihe also subconsciously thought about her job situation. In this job market slump, she wasn't from a prestigious university and didn't have many skills...

Sayuri wants to get married, but she doesn't know how to tell Katsuhiko...

Knock, knock! Two knocks on the door.

"Little Lily, are you awake?"

Katsuhiko, holding Chinatsu, knocked on the door.

Chinatsu stretched out her little hand, patted the door, and called out with a grin, "Sister Lily, the sun's already high in the sky!"

Mikoto stood right behind Katsuhiko, her cheeks slightly flushed, her eyes darting around. She was dressed in a black business suit and stood ramrod straight, just like a typical secretary.

She was carrying the new clothes she had bought for Xiaobaihe, her fingers unconsciously fidgeting with the straps of the camisole she was holding.

"Chika-chan?" Sayuri stood in the doorway, pulling at the door handle. "M...Mikoto, the manager? You, what are you doing here?"

The flush on her cheeks hadn't faded yet, and when she saw Mikoto, her eyes began to dart around, revealing the embarrassment of being caught "doing something naughty."

"Let's go inside and talk." Sheng Yan said, bending down without putting down Chinatsu, and put his right arm around Sayuri's waist, lifting her up as they walked into the room.

"Ah~" Xiaobaihe cried out softly, covering her face with her hands. Her legs seemed to have lost all strength and hung limply in the air.

Chika giggled like a silly little girl.

Mikoto, who was standing at the door, hadn't known how to start the conversation, but seeing Sayuri's embarrassed expression, she rolled her eyes, covered her mouth, and chuckled, saying, "Your boyfriend said you're sick, so I came to visit you."

Little Lily's dangling leg trembled slightly, but she didn't respond.