Chapter 30 Section 30

After Miharu started working, her whole person changed obviously.I can also see that she has become more vigorous and her expression has become more lively.Not only that, but she also put a lot of effort into makeup and clothing, and she became more beautiful.I thought to myself, this woman is really suitable for going out to work, and it was the right decision to allow her to work. At first, she would be home by midnight.At that time, I was still awake most of the time. I was used to having a nightcap with her and listening to her talk about work.When she talks about work, she looks so happy.

However, that good time didn't last long, Meiqing gradually came back late, from before twelve o'clock to after twelve o'clock, and then to one o'clock again.Whenever she came home and saw me awake waiting for the door, she would show a surprised expression. "Oh, are you still awake? You can sleep first, don't wait for me." This sentence sounds to me like "I will save trouble if you go to bed first." I asked her, what's the matter with coming home late recently?She replied without changing her face: "Because of the shortage of manpower, my friend asked me to work late. My friend doesn't have much money to hire another work-study student. She is also very troubled."

"Will you always come back so late?" "It should only be recently. You also know that many companies will have dinners these days, right?" "That's right..." "So it's only recently. You can sleep first." "yes……" She verbally said "only recently", but the time to go home was not brought forward.Staying up late after one o'clock is a torment for me.So when I started changing clothes in the morning, Miharu was still lying on the bed and sleeping soundly more and more.If I force her to wake her up, she's visibly displeased.

"I'm so tired, please spare me this morning. Go and buy bread for breakfast yourself." She would even say that, and then pull up the quilt to cover her head and continue to sleep. I'd love to complain, but I don't have time to argue with her.Anyway, I don't want the husband and wife to quarrel early in the morning, so I have to leave the bedroom silently. She was still asleep when I went out in the morning, and she was not at home when I got home from get off work at night.In addition to the nature of my job, I have to go to work on Saturdays and Sundays, so it is difficult to have a few words with Meiqing.What's more, when I was on vacation, she mostly lay in bed.

At noon on a holiday, I finally couldn't bear to lose my temper.The trigger was that she went straight to the living room to order pizza delivery without changing her pajamas after waking up. "You're almost there! Do you want me to eat that kind of thing even on holiday?" I threw the newspaper in my hand on the table. Miharu stared at me dumbfounded, then tilted her head in confusion and said, "Don't you like pizza?" "The point is not that. Miharu, you haven't prepared anything lately, have you? You said before that you would prepare dinner before going out, but when I got home, you didn't prepare anything, didn't you? What was agreed at the beginning , have you forgotten?"

Holding the pizza menu in her hand, she stood there blankly, staring at the floor, and didn't move for a while.I look at such a wife. After a long time, Meiqing put the menu back on the phone cabinet and whispered to me, "I'm sorry." "Just an apology?" Hearing my question, she shook her head. "I'm going to go shopping now. There's nothing in the refrigerator. I'll cook something quickly, can you bear it a little longer?" She said flatly. "It doesn't matter if you wait." "Then, I'm going to change clothes now." As soon as she finished speaking, Meiqing was about to go back to the dormitory.

"Wait a minute." I called to her. "Are you going to let it go?" She put her hand on the doorknob and turned her head to face me. "What do you mean by that?" "I mean, you can quit your job or not. There's no point in working if you can't juggle family at all." So Miharu turned her head back to face the door, lowering her head dejectedly. "If I quit my job, I will lose the meaning of life again. I don't want to go back to a life where there is no fun." "Is it so interesting to work part-time at an izakaya?" "You can't meet anyone if you stay at home."

"But you can't just because of this..." "Didn't I apologize to you? I said it all. I will do my housework well in the future, won't I?" "Is this just an apology? Let me tell you..." "You're very wordy." "what?" She turned to face me.Seeing her fierce expression, I closed my mouth. She looked like a ghost.I had never seen her expression like that before, and I was taken aback and speechless.However, that look was fleeting.Her originally fierce face suddenly became expressionless.She bowed her head and dropped her shoulders.I heard her exhale forcefully. "I'm sorry." She bowed her head in apology. "I said it wouldn't bother you. I'll pay attention in the future." Her tone of voice suddenly calmed down, and she was completely different from just now.

I don't know what to say, I still have her expression just now in my mind, and I haven't recovered from that blow. "As you please!" I finally spit out this sentence, turned and left. For a while, Meiqing did the housework as agreed, but it didn't last long.Whenever I come home, the table is often filled with either ready-made dishes that look like they were bought in a convenience store or supermarket, or frozen meals that are ready to eat in the freezer.At the beginning, she would put a note of apology on the table, but as time passed, the note disappeared.In the end, he barely cooked with his hands anymore.

In addition to not cooking, other household chores also clearly show that she is lazy.There was dust in the corners of the room, which meant she wasn't cleaning at all; the washing machine didn't show any signs of operation, and the laundry basket was overflowing with dirty clothes.Even so, I still have clothes to wear because she is constantly buying new ones. I couldn't help but read her for a while, and she repeated the trick again, bowing her head and honestly apologizing to me. "I'm sorry. I know I can't do it, but I just don't have the time." Then I ran to clean and wash clothes immediately.

As long as I open my mouth to read someone, she will obey, but it lasts for a few days at most, and after a week, the whole family returns to its original state.After repeating this situation several times, I gradually became too lazy to read.Besides, I was also afraid that if I nagged too much, I would have to see her furious face again. I hardly ever complain anymore.In other words, I gave up.I'm used to watching TV while eating a cold convenience store bento in my dusty home, and going to work while my wife is fast asleep. Thinking about it carefully, this might be Miharu's goal.She probably saw through my personality completely. Anyway, as long as the other party apologizes, I will have nothing to say, and I hate constant swearing. In terms of self-analysis, I think I don't want to be hated by her.I don't want to lose the home I got so hard to get, and I don't want her to file for divorce because she can't stand my complaints. Probably because I stopped talking about it, Meiqing's behavior became more and more reckless, and she was rarely at home even on Saturdays and Sundays. I found that the clothes and jewelry on her body were getting more and more gorgeous, and they didn't look cheap.I asked her what was going on, and she replied without changing her face: "I bought it at an auction a while ago. These are brand-name goods, but the price is less than half of the original price." "It's not cheap even if you move?" "My pocket money can afford it, it's not very expensive." To my ears, I feel that she puts special emphasis on the part of "my pocket money".All in all, what she wants to say is that since I bought it with my own money, there is no need to listen to your long-winded words. However, I can't let go.Her new clothes, purses, and jewelry kept adding up, stuffing her closet to the brim, and those that couldn't fit were pushed on the ground.Although she said that everything is cheap, the total amount should be more than one million. I don't think that working in an izakaya can make that much money. So, just when I started to have doubts about Miharu, one day, a new encounter happened to me. Rieko Teraoka was slender and looked to be in her mid-thirties.She came to our store and asked me to serve by name. "My friend bought some furniture in your store and he was very satisfied, so I wanted to come and see it too. According to him, he was accompanied by a salesman named Tajima." Teraoka Rieko explained to me her Name my reason.When I asked her who her friend was, she only vaguely mentioned it. I guess she works in a hotel.The friend she was talking about might be a regular customer in the store, and she was afraid that if she said his name, it might reach his wife's ears. She has enough charm to make people guess like this.Although not too beautiful, the whole body exudes a kind of coquettishness that stimulates a man's heart.When she was asking about furniture prices, she would lift her chin and stare up at me.As soon as I saw her slightly moist eyes, it was as if an electric current ran through my whole body. Teraoka Rieko came to the store to buy lighting fixtures. She said that the current lamps did not match the atmosphere of the house, so she wanted to replace all the lamps. I took her to the floor of the lighting fixtures.There are all kinds of lamps hanging from the ceiling, and the incandescent lamps make you feel hot when you stand under them.Rieko seems to like Spanish-made lamps quite a bit, but she doesn't like them enough to decide to buy them. "It looks very beautiful here, but I don't know how it would look in my house." She tilted her head and looked up at the exquisitely carved lamps.It seemed that she was also very hot, and the skin from neck to chest was slightly sweating.I look away. "Besides, it doesn't make sense to buy just one, does it? You have to consider how it works with other lights. What a headache." "How does the furniture in your house feel?" "Well, if you really want to say it, it's modern." "Modern." "However, they are not all modern. I still have antique chests of drawers, some of which were gifts from friends, so it is difficult to unify." I thought to myself, it was a gift from a guest. "If you have a photo of your house, I would recommend it." "Yes." "Is anyone living with you?" "No. I live alone." Teraoka stared at me suddenly after walking around on this floor for a few times, and a smile with a deep meaning appeared on her lips, which made my heart beat wildly. "I want to ask Mr. Tajima one thing." "What's up?" "Could you please come to my house? Then I hope you can recommend suitable lamps." "me?" Honestly, I'm amazed.It is not that no customers have made such requests so far.Sometimes a guest asks me to come to his home to measure the size of the curtains, take a look at the house, and discuss the decoration, but those are all guests who know each other’s personalities well. this request. "Can't you?" She tilted her head. "No, of course there's no reason not to." "All right, then." "If the time can cooperate. Then, when do you think it is convenient?" "I'm available anytime. Say a time that's convenient to you." "You said it can be done at any time, do you mean it is also available on weekdays?" "Yes. As long as you decide the date in advance, I can always find a way to make time." "Oh...that's it." I checked the calendar and asked her how next Monday would be.I had a day off. "Okay." She replied immediately.So we agreed that I would visit her apartment in Toshima Ward at four o'clock that afternoon. After she went back, I was still inexplicably excited.I haven't been to a woman's house for a long time.I wasn't expecting anything, but I felt like I was on a first date, and I couldn't wait for Monday to come. That Monday, when I was making coffee and reading the newspaper by myself, Miharu got up and walked out of the room, sat across from me, lit a Marlboro (Marlboro) and exhaled.Her smoking habit has become more and more blatant since she started working at an izakaya.She has smoked since before, but she always suppresses her cravings in front of me. "What do you want to eat?" she asked me in a rude tone. "what?" "What do you want for dinner? I'll go shopping later." She looked troublesome. I don't want her to put on such a displeased face about cooking.I wanted to tell her what I thought, but I gave up. Today I have to go to Rieko Teraoka's house. Before that, I don't want to spoil my mood. "There's no need to prepare dinner today," I said. "I'm going to a guest's house to discuss the decor, so I won't be back until I eat out." "That's right, that's it." Meiqing looked uninterested, extinguished the cigarette, and went back to the dormitory. After three o'clock, I changed into my work shirt and left the house.Miharu didn't come to see me out either. Teraoka Rieko's apartment is said to be in Toshima District, but in fact it is a few steps to Nerima District.The apartment is covered with brown tiles and looks new. As soon as I arrived at her home, I saw that she was wearing a curvy knitted sweater, and the skirt was also knitted, with a very short skirt and no stockings.Her body was slender, but her breasts were so high that my eyes didn't know where to look. "I'm sorry to make you make a special trip." She looked at me with a smile on her face, with light pink lipstick on her lips. "Where, I hope I can help." "Please come in." Her house has one bedroom and one living room. In the dining room, there are dining tables with glass tops and metal chairs, which are typical modern shapes, but the sofa is a solemn leather sofa, and the coffee table is like a wooden coffee table made in the United States. The overall decoration is as expected. Very inconsistent. "The house feels good." I still want to talk about the scene. "But taste is messy, isn't it?" "However, this is not a problem that can be solved by feeling unified." I sat on the dark green sofa and sketched the location map of the room in the notebook I brought.Rieko came over with black tea. "If you want to highlight the furniture, it's best to avoid lamps that are too eye-catching. Like this crystal chandelier, it's too dazzling." I said, pointing to the lamp hanging from the ceiling. "This is a souvenir room." She looked up and said in a low voice. "That's it." "When I got married, my husband and I went to a second-hand furniture store to buy it." "Ah... are you married?" "Divorced two years ago." Rieko smiled slightly. "I'm sorry to say such unsightly words." "No..." I shook my head. "Mr. Tajima, are you married?" "yes." "Are there any children?" "No." "I see. Is it still in the honeymoon period?" "Nothing." I waved my hand. "My wife is also working, so it's hard to get in touch with each other. We seldom talk, and it's already a period of burnout. Like today, when I was going out, she was still sleeping." "No way." After saying that, Rieko smiled. "I often think that it's better to be single. Is Miss Teraoka not married anymore?" "Get married..." "Ah, this is personal privacy, I shouldn't ask more." I hurriedly lowered my head. "It's all right. I'm not thinking about marriage at the moment. It's fun to work anyway." "What kind of work do you do?" "How should I say it?" She stood up, took a business card from nowhere, and handed it to me. It had the name of the Ginza Hotel printed on it, and Rieko Teraoka was written in the place of the name. "I won't ask you to visit," she said with a smile. "Because it's expensive here. I don't know what people think about drinking in places like that." "Are the celebrities going too?" "Well, there are very few people here." Rieko told me about various things that happened in the store.Those things seemed like stories from another world to me.I said "ah" for a while, and "yeah" for a while, and all the exclamations came out of my mouth. After that, we also chatted cheerfully about non-decor related topics.Suddenly, three hours had passed. "Oh shit, it's so late," she said, looking at her watch. "Sorry for keeping you so late." "Where is it? I have been bothering you for too long. Then, I have a general idea of ​​the situation of the room. I will think about which lamp is more suitable when I go back to the store." "I can also choose from the catalogue?" "of course can." "Then," Rieko said. "Could you please come back next week with the catalog? I think it's better to discuss it at home." "That's all right, but..., um... so next week is Monday as well?" "Well, Monday is more convenient." I was surprised, I didn't expect to be alone with Rieko again.From the next day, I immediately started looking for lighting fixtures for her home.I found the catalog and read it whenever I have time.Sometimes when I imagine Rieko relaxing under the lighting of the lamp I chose, I will feel an inexplicable sensory stimulation. So next Monday came.She asked me to arrive at six o'clock in the evening, and I was a bit regretful that I didn't have time to get along with her. Rieko who came out to meet me was wearing an apron.This alone was enough to surprise me, I didn't expect that there was still a smell of stewed meat in her house. "I think, since the guests come here specially, they also order food occasionally." "You're welcome, I'm not a guest..." I looked at a loss, but of course I didn't feel uncomfortable. "I'm resting in the store today. Shall we eat slowly while discussing the decoration? Or is your wife waiting for you after cooking?" "No, how is it possible." I shook my hand violently. "She went out to work. She won't be back until midnight." "Yeah, that's just right." "Really can?" "Can anything be done?" "That's, um, eating here." "Of course. It's just to treat you to dinner. I'm not good at cooking, so I wash my hands and make soup." "Really. Then, I will not be polite." I have absolutely no idea what's going on.Thirty minutes later, I was face to face with Rieko, eating the dishes she cooked herself.Although she said she was not good at cooking, she was actually quite skilled in cooking.We also drank fine wine. I thought to myself, it seems that Rieko seems to be interested in me, and I also like her.I usually always see Meiqing's sloppy side, and I can't help but compare them together, thinking: "This kind of woman is the ideal marriage partner." We continued to drink after the meal.I was a little drunk, unknowingly slumped on the sofa, with my arms around Rieko's shoulders "Do you have to go back tonight?" She looked up at me with coquettish eyes. My mind was filled with hesitation, confusion, and joy.In fact, alcohol robs me of judgment. "No, it's okay." I replied. "That's great." After she finished speaking, she hugged me tightly.I put my arms around her hard.