My wife believes me; how could I be a cuckold?

Another apartment is right next door; it's just a short walk away.

Makoto Asano opened the door and led the two inside. He then stood aside so that the two could inspect the house more carefully.

"Take a good look at it first and see if there are any problems. If there are no problems, we can sign the contract now."

Makoto Asano paused for a moment before continuing, "Of course, if you're not comfortable with this, you can stay one night and decide whether to sign the contract tomorrow morning."

This is the first step in Makoto Asano's plan—to extend goodwill to the other party as the landlord, and then quickly build a closer relationship with them.

Sometimes people are actually very simple; if you treat others sincerely, they will treat you sincerely in return.

This is especially true for newcomers like Yuta Yamada, who have just graduated and entered the workforce and haven't been exposed to the unspoken rules of society for long.

In Japan, everyone is divided into different social classes based on their status, age, and gender.

In this rigidly class-based society, everyone does their own thing according to their class and follows the unspoken rules of society.

One of the most basic rules is that subordinates must show respect to superiors.

For Yuta Yamada, a recent college graduate, Makoto Asano, who owns at least two luxury apartments in Tokyo at such a young age and is likely to become his landlord soon, definitely belongs to the upper class.

This is why he has always been extremely respectful to Makoto Asano.

But now, the fact that Asano Makoto, who is of a higher rank than himself, cares so much about his thoughts makes Yamada Yuta feel somewhat flattered.

So, after sensing the goodwill shown by Asano Makoto, he immediately stopped looking around, bowed to Asano Makoto and thanked him: "Mr. Asano, thank you so much for your trust! We have no problems on our end, please sign the rental contract with us!"

Eriko Miyajima, who had been carefully inspecting the room, quickly came over after hearing this, leaned close to Yuta Yamada's ear, and whispered, "Yuta, we haven't finished inspecting everything yet. Wouldn't it be a bit much to sign the contract right now..."

However, before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by Yuta Yamada waving his hand in dissatisfaction.

Seemingly feeling that he had been humiliated in front of the "respected" Makoto Asano, Yuta Yamada said in a somewhat reproachful tone, "Eriko, there won't be any problems. Mr. Asano is a good person. He trusts us so much, we can't let him down!"

Yuta Yamada spoke loudly; he didn't deliberately hide these words from Makoto Asano, or perhaps he simply said them intentionally for Makoto Asano to hear.

Although he has just entered the workforce, he is already an employee and knows some basic people-pleasing techniques.

Upon hearing this, Eriko Miyajima opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end she said nothing.

Chapter 4 He just wanted to save himself, what did he do wrong!

In Japan, men have more rights than women.

In most Japanese families, this means that men make all the decisions, big and small, while women have virtually no say and can only offer suggestions at most.

Eriko Miyajima knew her boyfriend's personality well, and she was also very clear that she couldn't change the decisions he had already made.

So she remained silent in the end, and simply continued to carefully inspect the room.

She now only hopes to discover the problem here as soon as possible and resolve it quickly, because they will likely be living here indefinitely.

On the other side, after apologizing to Makoto Asano and exchanging a few more words, Yuta Yamada had already started taking money out of his pocket.

He took a thick envelope out of his briefcase and handed it to Makoto Asano: "This is the deposit and the first month's rent, totaling 200,000 yen. Please check it, Mr. Asano."

Makoto Asano took the envelope, opened it, and took out a stack of Fukuzawa Yukichi (the figure on the 10,000 yen banknote) and counted them briefly.

There are 20 in total, no problem.

However, after confirming that the number was correct, Makoto Asano did not speak. Instead, he looked somewhat troubled and began to ponder.

Seeing Makoto Asano's expression, Yuta Yamada and Eriko Miyajima, who had already finished checking the room, also became nervous.

"Asano-Mr. Asano? What's wrong? Is it because you don't have enough money? There shouldn't be any problem. Would you like to count it again?" Yamada Yuta asked nervously.

"Ah!" As if jolted awake by Yamada Yuta's voice after drifting off into thought, Asano Makoto said, "No, that's not it. There is enough money, but..."

At this point, Makoto Asano visibly hesitated again.

After waiting a while, he continued with a somewhat troubled look, "To be honest, this is my first time being a landlord, so I didn't know the specific market conditions in this area before."

“After you contacted me last night, I went to check out the apartments rented out by landlords in the neighborhood and found that the prices…”

Upon hearing this, both Yuta Yamada and Eriko Miyajima knew what he wanted to say.

Makoto Asano continued apologetically, "To put it simply, 100,000 yen in rent is actually not enough. You found me on a rental website, so you naturally know what the prices of apartments in this area are like. They are generally 200,000 or even 250,000 yen or more. And a house as nice as mine could easily be rented for 300,000 yen."

With each additional word Asano Makoto spoke, Yamada Yuta and Miyajima Eriko's expressions grew even more somber.

They naturally knew the prices of houses in the area and how low Asano Makoto's rent was.

At first, Yuta Yamada thought it was some new kind of scam, maybe just a prank, maybe the address that person left on the website was just a wasteland.

It was only after Eriko Miyajima found a high-end apartment at the address on a map app and advised Yuta Yamada that "there's no harm in taking a look, and if it's a scam, we can just not rent it" that they decided to contact Makoto Asano on the website to view the apartment.

"But Mr. Asano——!"

Since it was only a verbal agreement and no contract had been signed, it wouldn't be a problem even if Makoto Asano wanted to raise the rent or even not rent to them in the end. However, Eriko Miyajima still wanted to try her best.

After all, it's practically impossible to rent such a nice apartment in Shinjuku for 100,000 yen.

Honestly, even if the monthly rent for Makoto Asano's apartment were to rise to 200,000 or even 250,000 yen, they would still be making a profit.

The problem is that they don't have enough money left to cover the increased rent.

Yuta Yamada was a recent graduate who had only been working in Tokyo for a short time and didn't have much savings.

She used to help out at a small shop in her hometown, and was only recently brought to Tokyo by Yuta Yamada. Since then, she has been staying at home managing the household chores.

Moreover, because she had run away from her parents without their knowledge, she didn't have any extra money on her.

So they actually didn't have enough money.

After paying the deposit and the first month's rent, they only had enough money left to live on for another month, and they wouldn't even be able to pay the next month's rent until Yamada Yuta got his salary.

As for those houses outside that require a three-month deposit and one-month rent payment, they don't even dare to dream of them now.

Moreover, after she had carefully inspected the apartment, she found that it was not only large and well-lit, but also completely free of any minor problems, which made her even more eager to live there.

So in the end, Eriko Miyajima hurriedly tried to say something.

However, before she could finish speaking, Asano Makoto interrupted her.

"Of course, of course, Ms. Miyajima, I know what you want to say, but please don't get excited."

Makoto Asano raised his hands and placed them in front of Eriko Miyajima, signaling her to calm down, before continuing, "This is a mistake I made due to my negligence, so of course it is my responsibility."

"As an apology and compensation, I can still rent the house to you at the original price."

Hearing this, Eriko Miyajima, who had been somewhat flustered, finally felt relieved.

However, she quickly regained her composure and her expression became wary again.

Suspecting she had been deceived, her beautiful eyebrows furrowed, and her cheeks unconsciously puffed out slightly.

Yes, she has begun to doubt whether her boyfriend's previous guesses were true, and whether it was all a scam.

Asano Makoto's claim about renting out a room for the first time is likely a lie; he probably had ulterior motives from the very beginning.

Eriko Miyajima had even started considering whether she should call the police immediately or leave the area to avoid any accidents.

As for Yuta Yamada, he had long been excluded from the discussion.

When Makoto Asano said that the money wasn't enough to pay the rent, he stood there speechless, as if betrayed by the person he trusted most.

It must be said that, despite her seemingly naive appearance, Eriko Miyajima, who helped her family run a small shop right after graduating from high school, clearly had more social experience than Yuta Yamada, who had just graduated from university.

Just then, Makoto Asano continued, "In exchange for renting the house to you at a low price, I hope you can do me a small favor."

As soon as she finished speaking, Eriko Miyajima's wary expression reached its peak, and Yuta Yamada slowly came to his senses.

Everything went exactly as Makoto Asano had planned.

Faced with the gazes of the two men, Makoto Asano tried his best to control his expression and put on a sincere smile.

Forgive him, he didn't want to be a yellow-haired guy either, he just wanted to save his cow.

Chapter 5 Exclusive Housekeeper

"Well... Mr. Asano, how can we help you?"

While Eriko Miyajima was still pondering a solution, Yuta Yamada, who had just come to his senses, hurriedly asked her for advice.

Clearly, he didn't see through Makoto Asano's plan, nor did he realize that Makoto Asano had a purpose from the very beginning.

In this respect, he actually has far less social experience than his girlfriend.

Or perhaps he was too honest, just like the "deaf and blind" victims in NTR works.

However, this is naturally a major benefit for Makoto Asano.

He feigned a sigh and gave Yuta Yamada and Eriko Miyajima a wry smile: "It's hard to explain here. You two should come with me for a bit."

As he spoke, he walked out of the apartment and then returned to his own room. The two people behind him hesitated for a moment before following him.

After returning to his room, Makoto Asano did not go in immediately. Instead, he stood at the door, turned around, and blocked the two people in the doorway with an awkward expression, as if he was a little embarrassed.

But in the end, he turned to the side to show the two of them the whole view of his room, and said somewhat awkwardly, "The room is a bit messy, please excuse me."

As Makoto Asano turned to the side, Yuta Yamada and Eriko Miyajima finally got a clear look at the house.

It's not just messy, it's downright unbearable to look at.

Washed and unwashed clothes were piled up haphazardly, with coats, shirts, and socks scattered everywhere.

A mountain of dishes could be vaguely seen near the kitchen sink, and two stuffed garbage bags were placed in the corner of the entryway.

To call a house like this a chaotic mess would be an understatement.

Neither Yuta Yamada nor Eriko Miyajima had the habit of prying into other people's privacy, so they hadn't noticed the state of the place when they first arrived. Only now did they realize just how dirty and messy the room was.

Leaving aside Eriko Miyajima, the future housewife who is very clean, even Yuta Yamada was somewhat dumbfounded.

"Actually, I live alone. Because I have some bad living habits and I'm usually quite busy, I don't have much time to clean. As a result, my room has become like this and has become more and more messy."

"Although I've always wanted to tidy up properly, I just can't manage it all by myself. And the thought of having to clean like this countless times in the future makes me even more at a loss. So I've always wanted to find a helper to help me clean."

With Makoto Asano's explanation, the two naturally realized the reason for his strange behavior just now, and also knew what his purpose was.

After learning this, Yuta Yamada breathed a sigh of relief and accepted Makoto Asano's explanation.