Tokyo: Starting with a fake boyfriend

Although he relentlessly climbed the ladder, even if it meant bowing to others or drinking to the point of incoherence for business, all in an effort to bring happiness to his wife, his mother-in-law's attitude towards him improved over the years after he became wealthy.

Even after he became the president of a company with assets exceeding tens of billions, his father-in-law still disliked him.

This is probably the old father's fate: to see his daughter in the arms of another man, yet be powerless to stop it, and to hate his son-in-law.

"..."

Seeing his lonely figure and hearing his sighs that seemed to hold a thousand unspoken words, Yamabuki Minami couldn't bear it any longer. She raised her arm to try and stop him, but she restrained herself from doing so.

They spent half an hour together in the restroom, and Shiratori-san talked to her a lot. Before opening the door, he gave her some important instructions.

All of this is thanks to Shiratori-san; she can no longer hold us back.

"Dinner will be ready soon."

Seeing her husband like this, Yamabuki felt a pang of heartache. She took a deep look at Shiratori Osamu, but her gentle nature prevented her from uttering any words of blame.

As her parents passed away, Minami Yamabuki stood still, not moving an inch.

"Ugh."

Minami Yamabuki felt very guilty and remorseful, and couldn't help but sigh.

Although her purpose in hiring Shiratori Osamu to pretend to be her boyfriend was to spite her father, she didn't intend to make him so sad.

"You don't need to blame yourself too much. Your dad's behavior just now did show genuine emotion, but it also had an element of playing along."

Shiratori Xiu, who was leaning against the wall, peeked out to make sure his parents-in-law weren't eavesdropping before walking over to her.

"Playing along with their plan?"

Minami Yamabuki, who was feeling dejected, looked up with a somewhat confused expression upon hearing this.

"His sigh was an attempt to win over your mother. Did you notice the look in your mother's eyes before she left? All the goodwill I had worked so hard to build up in her eyes was probably wiped out by your father's sigh."

Shiratori Osamu nodded firmly and stated his discovery.

My mother-in-law is too easily influenced and has a very soft personality. Even though my father-in-law cheated on me, it made her very sad and tearful, her eyes were red from crying.

But when her husband lowers his head, even if she is angry or feels wronged, she will still feel heartache.

"Is that so...?"

Yamabuki Minami was taken aback upon hearing this, but then she understood.

She wasn't the only one who saw her father's behavior; her mother did too.

"That's the situation, squad leader. There's no time for you to blame yourself or feel guilty. What we're about to face is a double whammy from husband and wife."

Seeing her quick reaction, it was clear that the half-hour of talk therapy had been very effective. Shiratori patted her on the shoulder as a warning.

"So what should we do?"

Realizing the situation was unfavorable to his side, Yamabuki Minami put aside his distracting thoughts and sincerely sought advice.

After working together for so long, she has already figured it out.

When it comes to dealing with her father, none of her strategies work; only Shiratori-san can handle it.

"Come closer to your ear."

Seeing her reaction, Shiratori Xiu waved to her.

Upon hearing this request, Yamabuki Minami nodded, stood on tiptoe, and tilted her head to bring her ear close to his face.

Looking at her delicate, fair ears, Shiratori paused for a moment before explaining the strategy to her.

Mrs. Yamabuki is easily swayed and lacks her own opinions... and her daughter, Minami Yamabuki, is no different, being very easy to fool.

Chapter 14 Couples Mixed Doubles

After leaving the restroom, Minami Yamabuki followed instructions and returned to her room.

Tomoya Yamabuki was still sitting on the single sofa with his legs crossed, but this time he had a cigarette between his fingers and was puffing away, looking quite annoyed.

Seeing this, Shiratori Shu didn't say anything, but simply returned to his previous seat.

There's no rush to talk; half a sentence is too much for those who are on the same page. The two of them remained silent.

Tomoya Yamabuki's gaze remained fixed on him, his eyes deep and his thoughts racing.

Shiratori Osamu didn't look at him. Instead, he took out his phone from his pocket and relaxed on the sofa, playing with it.

Seeing his rudeness, Yamabuki Tomoya's fingers twitched, feeling somewhat annoyed, but he didn't lash out.

This behavior is very fake. You should know that sons-in-law are usually very careful when they meet their fathers-in-law, afraid that they will not perform well enough. How could they be so presumptuous?

Even after many years of marriage, he still behaves very honestly when accompanying his wife back to her parents' home and facing his father-in-law.

It wasn't that he was afraid of his father-in-law, but rather that the better he behaved, the more it would demonstrate his respect for his wife.

He loves his wife and doesn't want his father-in-law to think that his daughter married the wrong person.

"Dinner is ready."

Not long after, Yamabuki came out of the kitchen, untying her apron as she greeted everyone.

After she finished speaking, she suddenly noticed a cigarette in her husband's hand, and looked at him a few more times with some concern.

Why has my husband started smoking again? Didn't he quit a long time ago?

In the early stages of my business, my husband developed the bad habits of smoking and drinking in order to entertain guests and build good relationships with them.

As the company grew and living conditions improved, the husband quit smoking, only occasionally having a few drinks with important clients.

However, she didn't say anything more in the end and went back to the kitchen.

When Shiratori Osamu saw his mother-in-law's worried reaction upon discovering his father-in-law smoking, he immediately chuckled.

"So that's where you were waiting? What a clever scheme."

A man who's three-tenths drunk can make you cry while acting.

Although my father-in-law wasn't drinking, but smoking, it still achieved the same effect.

After all, smoking and getting drunk are often behaviors that stem from being troubled by worries.

If he wasn't mistaken, his father-in-law probably rarely smoked, or hadn't touched a cigarette in a long time, otherwise his mother-in-law wouldn't have reacted this way.

Just then, Minami Yamabuki heard her mother's voice and came out of her room.

In just a short while, she had already untied her ponytail and brushed her teeth.

Back in the living room, having completed her task, Minami Yamabuki subconsciously glanced at Osamu Shiratori, but her attention was immediately drawn to the cigarette in her father's hand.

"Minami, Shiratori-kun, wash your hands and eat."

After finishing his fourth cigarette, Yamabuki Tomoya stubbed it out in the ashtray, stood up, and proactively reminded him to stop.

"Yes, father-in-law."

Seeing that he waited until Xiao Nan came out before stopping smoking, and that he put aside his misunderstanding and greeted her as if in resignation, Shiratori Osamu stood up with a smile.

As the contest continued, he found the charade of pretending to be her boyfriend increasingly interesting.

Is this the back-and-forth battle of wits and courage that's what real-life PvP is all about?

Seeing him happily call him "father-in-law," Tomoya Yamabuki felt a pang of unease, but he didn't show it.

The advantage of a large single-level apartment is that it is spacious, with the dining table placed in the room next to the kitchen.

Before long, the four of them sat down at the table.

"Because Konan didn't give us any advance notice, we didn't prepare enough ingredients. I hope you don't mind, Shiratori-kun."

Yamabuki was the last to sit down because she had to set out the bowls and chopsticks, serve the dishes, and prepare the rice cooker.

Normally, when a daughter brings her boyfriend home, she would cook red bean rice. However, things happened too suddenly, there were no red beans at home, and the husband's attitude was unclear, so she had to give up.

"How could I mind? This is already a very generous meal."

Shiratori Osamu remained very polite to his mother-in-law.

After exchanging pleasantries, everyone said, "Let's dig in," and officially began eating.

"Mmm...this radish is so delicious...Mother-in-law, your cooking skills are amazing!"

Shiratori Shu picked up a piece of stewed radish, put it in his mouth, and his eyes lit up.

"I started simmering it over low heat this afternoon."

Although Yamabuki was somewhat displeased with Shiratori Osamu for taking his daughter to do something naughty in the bathroom and causing her husband heartache, she was still very happy to see his reaction.

To ensure her husband and daughter could find the best comfort when they returned home after a long day, she put a lot of thought into their daily meals.

"Xiao Nan, how long have you been with this guy?"

Seeing this, Tomoya Yamabuki noticed that everyone was present and spoke up.

"Three months." Minami Yamabuki had a contingency plan for this kind of problem.

"Three months?" Upon learning this timeframe, Tomoya Yamabuki muttered to himself, shook his head slightly, and then continued eating without asking any further questions.

"?"

Silence fell over the dining table again. Minami and Yuki exchanged a glance and looked at each other blankly.

"What's going on?" Minami Yamabuki wondered, not understanding why her father had stopped asking further questions.

"Is my husband regretting it...? If he hadn't met that philanderer six months ago, and had focused on the home like before, he would have had a chance to stop this." Yamabuki had a different opinion, after all, husband and wife are of one mind.

"Speaking of which, Dad, weren't you supposed to be going on a business trip? Why are you still at home at this hour?"

Unable to get any new questions, Minami Yamabuki pondered for a moment and then took the initiative to find a topic to discuss.

"not going."

"When are you going on your business trip?"

We'll talk about it later.

At this point in the conversation, Tomoya Yamabuki couldn't help but glance at her.

What did his daughter mean by asking that? Did she wish he would go on a business trip soon, leave the house, and make room for him?

"Ok."

Seeing his attitude, Yamabuki Minami nodded with some regret.

Upon seeing this, Yamabuki's eyes changed, suddenly becoming sharper.

Although she has a gentle personality and dislikes fighting with others, she couldn't ignore this conversation.

Xiao Nan is actually hoping her husband will go on a business trip? How can that be?

Noticing this, she turned her gaze to Shiratori Osamu.

She doesn't like to judge people by their appearance, so even though Shiratori Osamu has dyed his hair blonde and wears a T-shirt and ripped jeans, giving off a roguish vibe, she doesn't think much of it and just considers it a trendy style among young people.

However, given her daughter's change, and how bad it had become, as if she had been led astray, she had to re-evaluate her daughter's boyfriend.

Dinner was over in no time.

"Dad, Mom, I'm going back to my room with Xiu-jun to read." Yamabuki Minami wiped her mouth, said goodbye, stood up, and pulled the arm of the person next to her to leave. "Let's go."

"Father-in-law, mother-in-law, I'm full. Thank you for your hospitality. I'll go with Xiao Nan now."

Shiratori Osamu stood up, greeted her, and then followed her away.

"Ugh……"

Watching them walk away until they went into their room and closed the door, Tomoya Yamabuki sighed deeply, then took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and started smoking.

"I'll call the teacher."

Seeing her husband looking troubled, seemingly helpless and weary, Yamabuki stood up.

Why did you call the teacher?

Seeing that she had finally started to take action, Tomoya Yamabuki was overjoyed, but pretended to be puzzled and asked.

"I would like to inquire about Shiratori-kun's background."

Although Yamabuki doesn't like to use her brain and always listens to her husband's decisions, it doesn't mean she's stupid.

As the saying goes, if you know yourself and your enemy, you will never be imperiled in a hundred battles.