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

Mrs. Kudo's cooking is quite delicious; it's definitely better than anything produced by mass-produced machines.

Katsuhiko gave her a thumbs-up while stuffing food into his mouth, his stomach practically bursting...

Mrs. Kudo smiled, and her eyes became even more kind and friendly. However, since they were at Kotoha's house, it was not appropriate for her to be too enthusiastic. She simply nodded with a smile and did not forget to take care of Kotoha.

After the meal, Mrs. Kudo stopped Kotoha from helping and cleaned up the dishes by herself.

Katsuhiko asked in a businesslike tone, "Kotoha, you used to work in finance at the factory, right?"

Qin Ye's eyes trembled slightly, and she lowered her head to say, "Mm."

Mrs. Kudo collected the plates and went into the kitchen.

“I went to the factory this morning. The workers need to be paid, the factory needs to purchase raw materials, and my newly registered company also needs to purchase equipment. I’m not very familiar with the finance department, and I don’t trust the new accountant if I hire one. You can continue doing the finance work!”

Qin Ye's fingers, hidden in her sleeve, twitched. She glanced at the kitchen and whispered, "Okay."

“My loan application has been approved, and the workers are demanding their wages. It’s very urgent, so let’s go to the factory now.”

As Katsuhiko spoke, he stood up and called out "Mom" to Mrs. Kudo, who was busy in the kitchen, and then said, "I'm taking Kotoha out for a bit. You go ahead and do your work."

"Okay..." Mrs. Kudo subconsciously agreed, then suddenly paused, looked around, and felt... that Kotoha had become her daughter.

...Kotoha went back to her bedroom to change her clothes, since it was quite inappropriate to show herself in public wearing a widow's black kimono.

Katsuhiko then led Kotoha into Mikoto's silver-gray Mazda.

Kenta's "death certificate," various insurance policies, household registration transcripts, and his marriage certificate with Kotoha were all in the car.

Qin Ye sat in the passenger seat, still looking a little flustered.

Shengyan grabbed the seatbelt to fasten it for her.

Qin Ye jolted, quickly grabbed the seatbelt, and said, "I, I can do it myself..."

Didn't I tie it like this for you last time?

Kotoha turned her body away from Katsuhiko, lowered her head, and fastened the clasp, saying, "This time is different..."

"Fine!"

Katsuhiko walked around the front of the car, got into the driver's seat, started the car, and said, "Let's go to the insurance company first."

Qin Ye glanced down at him, pursed her lips, and asked softly, "Do you...do you still remember Ya Zhi?"

"Masae...Masae Suzuki?"

Sheng Yan frowned and tried to recall. The memory of "the one who disappeared" was unlocked. She was a college classmate. She had dined and sung karaoke with her boyfriend. She was also a close friend of Qin Ye. That was all. He didn't know anything else. Even her appearance was blurry.

"Hmm," Qin Ye tilted her head slightly and asked softly, "Do you have her contact information? I miss her, but unfortunately I can't find my yearbook..."

Katsuhiko spun the car steering wheel, tilted his head, and said, "Is it absolutely necessary to see him?"

Qinye lowered her head, fiddling with her fingers, and whispered, "Yes, there's something I need to confirm..."

Although Kotoha had largely accepted her future life, since Katsuhiko had always been domineering and made it impossible for her to resist, and he was indeed keeping Kenta's trust... she didn't want to become "like a parasite".

As a legal wife, Sayuri must have had a proper courtship. Katsuhiko used to work at Mikoto's convenience store, so it's understandable that sparks would fly between them from spending so much time together. As for Eiyo, she was the one who brought them together, so it all fell into place naturally.

But what about my own situation?

I need to ask Yazhi if Shengyan ever spied on me back then, and if he ever liked me. I don't want to be just an accessory here.

If you ask directly, Kenta has only been dead for a week, how could he possibly have the nerve to say that...?

Although he sometimes says embarrassing things, he's too casual... just like Sister Yingdai said before: it's impossible to tell what's true and what's false.

"I'm just passing by the apartment building, I'll go look there..."

Katsuhiko also went back to his apartment to get his bank card and pay off the 200,000 yen he had overdrawn from his credit card, thus freeing himself from debt.

Although Mikoto and Sayuri had a lot of debt... the couple worked together to pay it off, showing the idealistic romantic mindset...

Xiaobaihe had cleaned the apartment very thoroughly before, and now a week later, it's still spotless.

Upon entering, you'll find a tatami room. Bedding is drying on the balcony, along with several sets of clothes, including Xiaobaihe's clothes and a set of men's work clothes from a convenience store.

Mrs. Kudo's suitcases were neatly stacked next to the wardrobe door, and a brand-new suit was hanging on the wardrobe door, with the price tag still on.

Qinye stood at the entrance, stunned.

She had lived in this room for several months before, but she had never seen it so clean...

Katsuhiko turned around and asked, "What's wrong? Come in."

"Was it, Little Lily-chan who cleaned it?"

"What do you think of my wife?" Katsuhiko grinned. "She's cute, hardworking, and knows how to save money."

"Little Lily, you're amazing..."

Qinye lowered her head and murmured, feeling as if she couldn't take a step.

I can't compare to her, but I never even thought about comparing myself to her... I guess... It hurts, I feel so inferior... I'm so lazy...

"Come in quickly," Katsuhiko grabbed Kotoha's shoulder and pulled her to the closet. "The yearbook is in the drawer, you can look at it yourself! I'm changing, don't turn around."

As Sheng Yan spoke, he took the suit hanging on the wardrobe door down and held it up to his body; it fit him perfectly.

Little Lily is so thoughtful; she even bought clothes for her husband...

Katsuhiko was still wearing his light green "Watanabe Food Processing Plant" uniform, which he had been wearing for four days and needed to be changed.

As soon as Qinye sat down, she glanced at the calendar on the table: April 29th, Qinye's wedding.

Her hand trembled, and her heart seemed to skip a beat.

Shouldn't it be Kenta getting married? Why is my name written here...? Kotoha simply blurted out this question without thinking much about it, and then pulled open the small drawer.

There was a yearbook, the wedding invitation Kenta gave him back then, and a small pile of coins...

Qinye opened the yearbook, and inside was a crumpled piece of paper: "Wedding Speech Script"...

Qinye read the speech draft word by word; it was a very detailed draft. It even included parentheses indicating the tone, gestures, mood, and required expressions to be used…

Qinye's lips trembled, and her breathing became more and more rapid.

With a "snap," she closed the yearbook, then, as if afraid of being discovered by Sheng Yan, she turned around like a thief, her eyes widening and her mouth agape involuntarily.

Katsuhiko was wearing his underwear, just pulled it over his knees, when he heard the sound and instinctively looked up.

Qinye looked completely stunned, as if her worldview had been turned upside down.

Have you found Yazhi's contact information?

Sheng Yan remained expressionless as he asked questions while putting on his new underwear. He suddenly felt a sense of loss of freedom, so he took off his underwear and grabbed his trousers to put them on.

Qin Ye jolted, her oval face instantly turning bright red. She quickly pulled out her speech, clutched it to her sleeve, and hurriedly lowered her head, crawling towards the door on all fours, stammering, "No, I won't look anymore, I don't want to see you again..."

Katsuhiko fastened his belt and put on his white shirt, then casually said, "You didn't suddenly remember that you borrowed money from her, did you?"

Qin Ye didn't respond. She quickly put the crumpled paper into her pocket and silently put on her shoes.

Back in the car, Qin Ye sat stiffly in the passenger seat, lost in thought again.

Sheng Yan glanced at her and said, "Fasten your seatbelt."

Qin Ye's eyes twitched, her face flushed red as she turned her head to look out the car window without responding.

Sheng Yan stared at her flushed face, leaned over to her, pulled the seatbelt over, and inserted it into the buckle.

Qinye suddenly said, "Thank you, thank you..."

The sound was filled with intense panting, like a deflated tire.

She turned her head to look out the car window, her trembling hands gripping her knees.

“I didn’t say thank you before,” Sheng Yan said, turning the car key.

"I...I said it, I said it in my heart..."

"Really? Then I appreciate your honesty."

After the car started, Katsuhiko was surprised to find that as long as he looked at Kotoha for a full minute, a coin would immediately appear.

It's too big to fit in my pocket, so I have to put it in the car's storage box.

"Could you... could you please stop staring at me like that..." Qin Ye straightened her head, but her eyes were still glancing out the car window.

"What? You're good-looking, so you can't even look at me?"

"I...I..." Qin Ye's lips trembled, and after a long silence, "Thank you..."

Katsuhiko went to the bank first, and the 200 million yen had already been deposited into his account.

First, I paid off a credit card bill, then transferred 50 million yen into the "Xia Ying She" fund account, and used the company account to transfer 20 million yen to Tanaka Yutaka's bank card as operating funds.

"You'll not only manage the finances of your factory, but also my company, Mikoto's convenience store, and Sayuri's used goods store. Later, I'll integrate all of these and set up a group headquarters there. You'll be my financial manager, understand?"

Qin Ye's heart pounded, and she lowered her head and whispered, "I... I'm not a professional accountant... I probably can't do it."

The factory's bills alone were giving her a huge headache.

Katsuhiko decided that after finishing the insurance business, he would send her to the library...

I arrived at the insurance company in about twenty minutes and submitted the materials and application.

Qin Ye was so distracted that her hand trembled as she signed, and she almost misspelled her own name.

So much so that insurance staff suspected she was murdering someone to defraud the insurance company, and they actually called the police.

Despite some setbacks, the application was successfully submitted. The insurance company said they would make the payment in three to six months, and also said they would have to send someone to the police station to verify the claim... Anyway, all insurance claims are the same, I'm used to it.

It was already 2:30 pm when I left the insurance company.

Katsuhiko's pockets were full of coins, which rattled as he walked.

"Katsuhiko-kun, could I... could I take the subway home? Taking the car is too... too stuffy, I... I get carsick..."

Kotoha probably couldn't stand being stared at by Katsuhiko all the time, and she lied with a flushed face.

"Stop talking nonsense," Katsuhiko pulled her into the car and said, "Let's go to the library."

Qin Ye didn't resist and got into the car with a dazed look in her eyes.

Twenty minutes later, he delivered her to the Waseda University Library, handed her two bottles of mineral water laced with "Focus Potion," told her he would pick her up that evening, and drove off.

We still need to find a British agent to draft the company's equity agreement.