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

Makoto Asano didn't even drive; he found the hidden café in the business district in less than five minutes.

After entering the cafe and choosing a corner seat with floor-to-ceiling windows, Makoto Asano couldn't help but think to himself: Konno Yuuka's level of inviting guests is really much higher than that of Risa Kanno.

In Japan, in addition to coffee and baked goods, cafes also sell some common meals, such as omelet rice and sandwiches, which don't have a strong smell.

So compared to real coffee shops, Japanese coffee shops are more like restaurants, and they're not particularly upscale places; they're just places to eat and chat with friends.

Although the cafe chosen by Konno Yuuka isn't very big, its warm and homey interior design makes it surprisingly welcoming.

Looking at the prices on the menu that the clerk brought over, they weren't actually that expensive—slightly more expensive than the izakaya that Risa Kanno frequented, but far less expensive than the Western restaurant she ate at first.

The average cost per person is around 3000 yen, which is slightly on the higher end of the restaurant's price range.

Such a price will not put too much pressure on the invitees, nor will it make them feel that they are not being respected.

Following the staff's recommendation, Makoto Asano ordered a classic Americano, a croissant, and a bowl of crème brûlée.

The bread and pudding were delicious, but he only took a small sip of the 800 yen coffee before sticking out his tongue and putting it aside.

Although it smelled really good, it tasted too bitter, and he didn't like it.

After finishing breakfast, he ordered another latte that wasn't so bitter, then turned his head to look out the floor-to-ceiling window and began to wait quietly, gazing at the scenery outside.

He waited for about an hour, until 9:30 a.m., before he finally saw a tall figure slowly walking towards him.

The person had long gray hair tied in a high ponytail that reached their waist, and wore a clean and neat shirt.

Although she wore a light-colored coat over her shirt, the section of her long, shapely legs that peeked out from under the coat was only covered by a thin pair of black stockings and worn with a pair of flat white shoes.

In addition, she was wearing a mask and a white baseball cap, completely covering her face.

But her tall figure and long legs alone were enough to attract the attention of everyone passing by.

Regardless of gender.

Author's note: Dear readers, the 14 chapters owed for the July reward have been paid out as promised in July.

Although the updates of the pervert are often late due to the review process, he has never missed an update!

Dear readers, tomorrow is August! So...

Requesting monthly votes at the beginning of the month! Requesting monthly votes at the beginning of the month! Requesting monthly votes at the beginning of the month!

Although the bounty is capped at 30 chapters, if all you readers are supportive, it's not impossible for "The Pervert" to write 10,000 chapters a day or even a month (hint).

Chapter 138 Active and Passive (2/3, Bonus Chapter 2)

Although her face was completely covered by a mask and baseball cap, Konno Yuuka's tall figure and unique temperament still made her the focus of attention when she entered the coffee shop.

However, she seemed to have long been accustomed to the gaze of others, and was not swayed in the slightest by it.

After entering the coffee shop, she stood at the entrance and looked around, then her eyes were immediately drawn to a dazzling golden color in a corner seat.

Actually, she just wanted to find a suitable place to sit down, order a cup of coffee, and quietly wait for the person she was supposed to meet.

Before she could even choose a seat, she was surprised to find that the person she was waiting for had already arrived.

So when she saw who the person was, smiling and waving at her, she instinctively showed a surprised expression and then hurried over.

"Asano-kun, why are you here so early?"

"Ms. Konno, it's been a long time."

Hearing the long-unheard husky female voice, Makoto Asano first greeted her with a smile, then said, "Actually, I just arrived too, I haven't been waiting long."

Asano Makoto originally expected that Konno Yuuka would feel a little guilty or similar emotion for being "late" because of his early arrival.

Leaving aside Yuna Kanno, who isn't very adept at social etiquette, at least Eriko Miyajima or Risa Kanno would definitely have this thought.

However, to Makoto Asano's surprise, Yuuka Konno was quite different from the other three.

She is incredibly efficient and decisive in her work.

After hearing Makoto Asano's tactful excuse, she paused for a moment before nodding and accepting the explanation that he had "just arrived."

"Well... alright then. I'm sorry, Asano-kun, I've kept you waiting. I might be a little late."

She apologized like this and sat down in the seat opposite Makoto Asano.

Makoto Asano hadn't even had time to react before the matter seemed to have simply passed by.

After sitting down, Konno Yuuka immediately took out a box of sweets from her handbag and placed it on the table, saying directly, "Asano-kun, the main reason I invited you out this time is to apologize to you in person—I really didn't mean to make fun of you when we first met."

"Even if that wasn't my intention, I'm sure that laughing in that situation offended you, right? So I have to apologize to you. I'm really sorry."

Looking at her sincere attitude, and even her slightly bowed head as if she were bowing, Asano Makoto couldn't help but feel a little surprised, and for a moment he stopped paying attention to her decisive and efficient style of doing things.

In the eyes of most people, apologizing is equivalent to admitting a mistake, which means that one needs to take corresponding responsibility for one's mistakes.

Only a minority of people are willing to take responsibility, so most people will not apologize unless absolutely necessary.

However, the Japanese are somewhat different in this regard.

Although they apologize every day, the act of apologizing itself is meaningless because they do not take any responsibility for it.

For example, phrases like "I'm sorry" and "excuse me" are things they say every day. Essentially, they are just going through the motions of social etiquette. In fact, many people now use apologies directly as a form of social communication.

To give a simple example, when Japanese people visit someone's home, they always say "Excuse me, sorry to bother you" first.

In reality, they weren't really apologizing for bothering others; their "excuse me" sounded more like a greeting like "hello."

The apology Konno Yuuka gave when she sat down further illustrates this point.

Because she wasn't actually late, but rather arrived half an hour earlier than the agreed time.

So even though Asano Makoto waited for a long time, it was definitely not her fault, but she still apologized to Asano Makoto for it.

These examples show that, in the eyes of most Japanese people, apart from a few very serious issues that require an apology or even repentance, an apology is just a trivial matter in daily life, and most people don't really care much about other people's apologies.

Therefore, it is extremely rare for someone like Konno Yuuka to go out of her way to apologize by treating someone to a meal, and even bringing a dessert that looks expensive just from its packaging as an apology gift.

Just as Makoto Asano was surprised by this woman's unconventional behavior and was about to say something, Yuuka Konno explained again why she had asked him out.

"Although I apologized to you once at the gym, it was too rushed that time and I didn't prepare anything. I could only say it verbally, which was definitely not enough and lacked sincerity. So I thought I would find a time to ask you out and apologize to you in person again."

Seeing how sincerely she had spoken so much, Makoto Asano couldn't help but give a somewhat helpless wry smile: "Ms. Konno, I feel like you're taking this matter a little too seriously. Actually, if you hadn't brought it up, I probably would have already forgotten about what happened back then."

"And as I said before, I wasn't really angry at the time. I only left suddenly because I remembered that the gas at home was still on, so I rushed back to turn it off."

Makoto Asano has never forgotten this incident.

Although he knew that the other person might not have really been laughing at him, the incident directly changed the course of his life, so he couldn't forget it even if he wanted to.

Some might ask: Isn't it a good thing to have awakened the system? You've already benefited a lot from the system, so why are you still holding onto this so pettily?

To this, Makoto Asano could only say that even without this system, he could live a very comfortable life.

Moreover, even if we take a step back and say that he benefited from the system, it was the result of his own efforts in completing the task. What does it have to do with the two people who made him awaken the system?

However, even though that's what he was thinking, in order to make things easier for Konno Yuuka in the future, he could only make up nonsense like this in front of her for now.

As for why he felt helpless, it wasn't just because of Konno Yuuka's insistence on apologizing.

That might indeed be part of the reason.

But the main reason is that from the moment they met until now, Konno Yuuka has firmly held the initiative in the conversation.

In fact, Makoto Asano has never been very good at responding passively like he is now.

However, it is precisely because he is not good at being passive that he has a very strong ability to take the initiative in the conversation.

Even so, he still couldn't wrest the initiative from Konno Yuuka's hands.

By this time, he had already roughly figured it out.

Although it may seem unbelievable, it is very likely that all of this was planned in advance by Konno Yuuka.

Yes, from the beginning, she deliberately ignored the fact that he had arrived long in advance, then directly turned the topic to the important matter of apologizing to him, and finally said a lot of things without giving him a chance to speak.

All of this could very well have been planned in advance by Konno Yuuka.

Author's Note: PS: Dear readers! I'm asking for your monthly votes at the beginning of the month! If you don't vote, you'll waste the remaining thirty days!

Chapter 139 A High-Level Model? (3/3, Requesting Monthly Tickets at the Beginning of the Month)

Makoto Asano even suspected that the plan might have been conceived by Yuuka Konno the instant she saw him.

After all, Konno Yuuka arrived half an hour early, so it couldn't be because she was as bored as him.

As for why Konno Yuuka did this, it was naturally to guide the conversation, and after a while she brought up the real purpose of her invitation to Asano Makoto.

To be honest, Makoto Asano really hoped that his guess was wrong.

If that's really the case, then this woman's level is a bit too high.

As for Makoto Asano, he couldn't stay in this passive response state forever, because he also had his own things to do.

Therefore, he must find a way to regain the initiative as much as possible.

Thinking of this, he carefully considered his words and then quickly spoke up during the pause in Konno Yuuka's speech: "However, Ms. Konno, I think that your invitation to come out this time was not just to apologize to me, was it?"

"I don't think you're the type to beat around the bush, so if you need anything from me, just tell me directly. Even if it's something you need my help with, it's fine. You don't need to make up some excuse to ask me out."

He spoke in a stern and displeased tone.

Especially the last sentence, it's almost as if to say: You don't really want to apologize to me, you just want my help with something.

After saying that, he changed the subject and apologized to Konno Yuuka: "Of course, this is just my guess. If it's not like that, then please allow me to apologize to you."

When Asano Makoto laid his secrets bare, even with her high level of composure, Konno Yuuka couldn't help but feel embarrassed and showed a somewhat awkward expression.

Fortunately, despite the limited interior space, the cafe did not cram the seating together too much in order to accommodate more tables.

On the contrary, each seat in the coffee shop is still spaced far enough apart, and partitions are specially installed to separate each other, giving each customer enough space.

It's fair to say that this place is really perfect for chatting and talking, and it seems that quite a few people do indeed use it as their main conversation spot.

In the hour after Asano Makoto entered, he saw many people who were obviously "social elites" carrying briefcases, each going to different places, and then either ordering a cup of coffee like him and sitting quietly waiting for someone, or chatting quietly with their companions.