Tokyo: Starting with a fake boyfriend

In the blink of an eye, Yamabuki arrived in front of the sofa, looking down at Shiratori Osamu.

"Yes."

Shiratori Osamu put down his phone and looked up in response.

"I've finished talking with Xiao Nan. Now I'm returning her to you. You can go back to your rooms and continue reading."

Yamabuki gazed at his face and spoke with a soft laugh.

"Okay, thank you, mother-in-law."

Upon hearing this, Shiratori Osamu smiled and stood up.

"You are welcome."

Yamabuki gently shook her head, her attitude very friendly.

"Xiujun, let's go."

Following closely behind, Yamabuki Minami grabbed Shiratori Osamu's arm and led him towards the room.

"what?"

Hearing this conversation from the sofa opposite, Tomoya Yamabuki saw his daughter leading the blond-haired boy back to his room and couldn't sit still any longer.

This isn't right, is it? What's going on?

Not only did things not go as expected, but they also unfolded in a completely opposite way, leaving him utterly bewildered.

As Yamabuki Minami was leading Shiratori Shu back to their room, she heard her father's startled cry behind her, and her lips twitched involuntarily as she tried her best to suppress a laugh.

At that moment, Shiratori Osamu also smiled, the corners of his mouth involuntarily turning up.

In fact, even though he thought everything was going according to plan before his mother-in-law returned Yamabuki Minami to him, he still couldn't help feeling nervous.

Because Minami Yamabuki's cheating father was more troublesome than he had imagined.

Even after meeting his father-in-law, Yamabuki Satoshi was constantly provoked into a rage by his words and actions. There was even a time when he went completely insane and wanted to use his father-in-law's iron fist on him. But once he regained his composure, he was able to find a way to break free in the blink of an eye.

In this situation, once Mrs. Yamabuki is won over by him, this fake boyfriend act will be forcibly ended.

If parents are united, their children's opinions and resistance will become meaningless.

However, by learning from the barbarians' strengths to subdue them, as long as he brings Mrs. Yamabuki into his camp, all of Yamabuki Minami's struggles and schemes will become meaningless.

"Honey, what are you doing? Didn't you want to break them up? Why don't you kick him out?"

As soon as his daughter returned to her room, Tomoya Yamabuki immediately stood up, walked to his wife's side, and spoke in a suppressed and angry voice, like a volcano about to erupt.

He simply couldn't understand the situation at hand and needed a reasonable explanation.

“Honey, I’ve talked to Minami. Shiratori-kun isn’t a bad kid at all, unlike what Mrs. Yamada said.”

Alone with her husband, Shan Chuixue turned around and looked up at his angry gaze, offering gentle words of comfort.

"This guy is a delinquent. It's not just Mrs. Yamada who says that; Mr. Shinonome says it too."

When Yamabuki Tomoya heard this, he found it hard to believe.

“Honey, Shiratori-kun is actually very gentle. His delinquency is just a protective shell. He's different from other thugs.”

Seeing that he didn't believe her, Yamabuki held his hands and earnestly tried to persuade him.

"ha--?!"

Hearing familiar remarks and seeing his wife speaking well of the blond-haired boy, Tomoya Yamabuki exploded.

Chapter 18 The Incompetent Husband

Anger solves nothing; only calm reflection leads to positive results.

"Honey, what did you and our daughter talk about? Why did you suddenly start believing in Shiratori Osamu?"

In the living room, Tomoya Yamabuki pulled his wife to sit down and forced himself to have a calm conversation.

He was really going crazy. If he wasn't worried that his anger would lead him to lose his temper and cause uncontrollable consequences, he would have already gone into the kitchen to get a knife.

"Honey, do you know? Shiratori-kun was actually Minami's savior! Back then, Shiratori-kun helped Minami when she was in the hands of some thugs, and he was even injured because of it."

"Could this be a staged drama? You've probably seen similar plots before, where a guy hires some thugs to play the villains and threaten the girl in order to win her heart, while he plays the hero."

Upon learning that his daughter had such a connection with Shiratori Osamu, Yamabuki Tomoya simply couldn't believe it.

"Honey, how can you think like that? This is a life-saving favor! Besides, Xiao Nan is such a good girl, would she lie to me?"

Yamabuki frowned slightly, looking at him with a hint of annoyance.

"I'm not saying Xiao Nan lied to you, I just think this hero-saves-the-damsel-in-distress act was very likely orchestrated by that blond thug."

“Xiao Nan is so smart, she can tell the truth from the falsehood… Honey, you’re just prejudiced against Shiratori-kun, that’s why you see him this way.”

"I……"

Yamabuki Satoshi didn't know how to refute this claim, since he had no evidence to back it up.

“Honey, Minami told me that Shiratori-kun has a sad past that he doesn’t want to talk about. He became like this to protect himself. He’s pretending to be a delinquent.”

Having successfully stopped his wild speculations, Yamabuki continued speaking.

"Pretend to be a delinquent?"

Yamabuki Tomoya was so angry at these words that he laughed.

When people are extremely speechless, they can actually laugh.

"Honey, can we be a little more patient with them? I trust Minami. If we get to know Shiratori-kun better, we'll see his good points."

Seeing his expression, which was three parts disdain and seven parts mockery, Shan Chuixue reached out and placed her hand on the back of his hand, gently comforting and advising him.

"Honey, have you been drugged and brainwashed? Or have you been hypnotized?"

Upon discovering that his wife firmly believed Shiratori Osamu was a good person, Yamabuki Tomoya felt that the world had truly gone mad, and even began to feel afraid.

This was so bizarre that he began to question the meaning of life.

My wife had just learned from someone what kind of person Shiratori Osamu was, and she went to act with a stern face. But after going back to her room with her daughter and coming out again, her expression changed immediately.

Does hypnosis and brainwashing really exist in this world?

Otherwise, why would his wife and daughter trust a blond thug so much?

"What are you thinking? Hypnosis, brainwashing? I just believe in Minami and am grateful for Shiratori-kun's help. Besides, I've always thought Shiratori-kun is a good kid, polite, well-mannered, and very well-behaved, not at all like what the teacher and Mrs. Yamada said."

Yamabuki glared at him, somewhat annoyed and dissatisfied.

"Ahhhh!"

Upon hearing her praise of Shiratori Osamu, Yamabuki Tomoya immediately lost his composure, standing up and frantically scratching his ears and cheeks, feeling an unprecedented sense of malice and powerlessness.

He's breaking down, he's really about to break down!

The situation was completely out of control, far exceeding his expectations and understanding.

His daughter being infatuated with a hoodlum was already a major headache for him, but now his wife has turned against him, catching him completely off guard.

He didn't understand what he should say or do to make his wife and daughter see the true colors of that scoundrel.

……

Back in her room, after closing the door, Minami Yamabuki leaned against it and let out a long sigh of relief, feeling her body go limp.

"The plan went smoothly, well done."

Seeing her relieved expression, as if she had just fought a tough battle, Shiratori Osamu smiled and encouraged her.

"Will this really work for us?"

After hearing his praise, Minami Yamabuki was initially pleased but then began to worry.

The current situation is not entirely unrelated to her original plan, but not by much; it only retains the element of impersonating a boyfriend.

According to her initial plan, she wanted to introduce an external enemy to unite her parents in their hatred of the enemy, so that they could reconcile and get back together.

However, because of Shiratori-san's plan, her mother is now on her side and has started to oppose her father.

"As long as your dad still loves your mom, it will definitely work." Shiratori Osamu was very confident about this.

"What if Dad is very upset and goes to that philandering cat for comfort?" Minami Yamabuki thought of a possibility.

Given her father's infidelity, she specifically researched a lot of information online.

There are many reasons why a husband might cheat, such as lust, being tempted, or escaping reality.

When a man's wife doesn't understand him, he is very likely to fall in love with another woman once he meets one who is willing to accept and understand him.

Have you ever heard of loss aversion?

In response to her concerns, Shiratori Osamu pondered for a moment and then asked her a question in return.

"what is that?"

"This is a phenomenon documented in psychology and behavioral economics, which states that people are generally more averse to loss when faced with the same amount of gain and loss."

"oh oh."

Did you really understand?

"perhaps."

Minami Yamabuki seemed somewhat unsure of herself when confronted with his confirmation.

Although she had excellent grades, it was all for the purpose of getting into university. She didn't have time to study extracurricular books on subjects like psychology and economics.

To help her understand the situation and keep up with the pace, Shiratori Osamu thought for a moment and then began to explain it to her:

"If your dad continues to cheat, he can go and hug his young female secretary. Isn't that quite profitable? After all, no man dislikes a young and beautiful girl, let alone a middle-aged man."

"Uh-huh."

Reasonable statements are always convincing, and although Minami Yamabuki was reluctant to admit it, she had to agree.

"But what if the price he pays for embracing his secretary is losing his beloved wife and daughter? Do you think he would still do it?"

"will not."

"Ultimately, the reason your father dared to cheat might be partly because his female secretary seduced him, but the main reason is that he didn't need to worry about the consequences. Because your mother is too gentle, she would forgive your father even if he made a mistake. But now it's different. Because of my existence, your father will have to consider the cost before taking any action in the future."

"But Dad keeps cheating just because he doesn't have time for me...what does that have to do with Mom?"

"Do you remember when I first met your mother I praised her for being beautiful? I did this to let your father know that his wife is very attractive in other people's eyes. This will give him a very strong sense of crisis, so that if he doesn't let things go, I will not only take his daughter away, but if given the opportunity, I might also lay a hand on his wife."

"You thought of this method back then? That's amazing!"

Gradually understanding and realizing the situation, Minami Yamabuki couldn't help but raise her head to look at the man in front of her.

She realized that her decision to ask around and muster the courage to go to the internet cafe to pretend to be Shiratori-san's boyfriend was incredibly wise.

Although Shiratori-san's grades were poor, he was unexpectedly intelligent.

Moreover, he's not as scary as the rumors suggest; he's very easy to get along with.

“That’s true, but don’t get too excited. Confronting Mrs. Yamabuki is a risky move. If she finds out, not only will our efforts be in vain, but it could even backfire.”

Faced with her adoring gaze, Shiratori Osamu waved his hand, telling her to calm down.

Opening champagne at halftime is not a good habit, and besides, he's not that great; it's just that the identity card he received is too powerful—it's the fake boyfriend.

“I told her all the precautions you gave me, and her reaction was pretty much what you guessed. Seeing how hard I was working, she was determined to give it a shot.”

"Did you say that to her? The one I emphasized to you?"

"The key point... do you mean the sentence, 'Mom, you don't want to divorce Dad either, right?'"

When this matter was mentioned, Minami Yamabuki's expression became somewhat strange.

Although she didn't understand the meaning of tying her hair up before, she had heard of the "you don't want XXX" reference, which girls would use to joke around in private.

"Did you say that one sentence?"

"I told you."

“That’s enough. Now that Mrs. Yamabuki has realized the seriousness of the problem, the rest is easy to handle. Besides, she’s playing the role of a good mother who believes in and supports her daughter, which is a natural performance. As long as she doesn’t let anything slip, everything will be fine.”

"So, our plan has been a complete success?"

"It hasn't worked yet. As long as I stay at your house overnight, your dad will be completely obedient after tomorrow."