Tokyo: From Lawless Madpolice to Minister

It was past 9 p.m., and Asai Ayumi stood at the entrance of a movie theater in Shinjuku, wearing a sky-blue spaghetti strap dress, looking around for Aoyama Xiu Xin.

She would occasionally glance at the delicate ladies' watch on her wrist.

Impatience and complaints were unavoidably building up in her heart.

So many people yearned for the chance to watch a movie with her, yet Aoyama Xiu Xin, this guy, was actually late.

About ten minutes later, her feet were sore from the high heels when she finally saw Aoyama Xiu Xin stepping out of a taxi. She quickly walked over to greet him.

"Mr. Aoyama, why are you only just arriving? The movie is about to start; let's hurry inside," she said.

"Do I have a habit of being early?" Aoyama Xiu Xin shut the car door with a casual wave of his hand and asked with audacious righteousness.

At his words, the couples coming in and out of the movie theater all turned to look at him, the men becoming utterly respectful: Truly a role model for our generation!

As for Asai Ayumi, she was left speechless and choked up.

"Give me the money." Aoyama Xiu Xin tossed out the two words indifferently and went on his way into the movie theater.

Swallowing her irritation, Asai Ayumi took out her wallet with politeness, asking the taxi driver, "Sir, how much do I owe you?"

The damn taxi driver was dumbstruck.

Lady, you must be really starving!

"Sir?" Asai Ayumi urged.

The driver then came to his senses and gave her the fare.

"Keep the change," Asai Ayumi said in a rush, pulling out two large bills to hand over, and then turned, running in her high heels to catch up with Aoyama Xiu Xin.

After getting their tickets checked at the entrance, the two followed the crowd into the darkened theater and found their seats.

"Why is there no one around us?" Asai Ayumi looked around, noticing that although nearly every seat in front was taken, the ones next to them were empty, and she felt a bit puzzled.

Aoyama Xiu Xin chuckled lightly but didn't speak.

It must be that guy Fujimoto Yoshi who wanted to create a chance for them to be alone. He didn't just purposely buy seats in the corner at the back; he even bought out a dozen seats around them. He really went all out.

But now, it had inadvertently benefited him.

Aoyama Xiu Xin casually placed his hand on Asai Ayumi's thigh. Even through the thin layer of stockings, he could feel the smoothness of her skin and couldn't resist gently caressing it.

"Mr. Aoyama, you... stop that, someone will see," Asai Ayumi stiffened, sitting up straight and nervously looking around with a blushing face, pleading.

Aoyama Xiu Xin paid her no attention, but with a flick of his finger, he caught the stockings and with a tearing sound, her porcelain white thigh was suddenly exposed.

"Ah!" Asai Ayumi, caught off guard, let out an involuntary cry, drawing the attention of the viewers in front, who turned to look back. She hurriedly buried her head into her chest like a quail, her ears turning red in the darkness.

Aoyama Xiu Xin decided to stop there and calmly asked, "Where's the money I asked for, did you bring it?"

"I brought... brought it." Noticing that Aoyama Xiu Xin wasn't going to do anything more outrageous, Asai Ayumi finally breathed a sigh of relief and took out a bank card from her bag, holding it out with both hands, "You wanted it so urgently, I couldn't get more out in such a short period. There's only 20 million yen in it."

Although she said she couldn't get more, 20 million yen wasn't a small amount; after all, an official employee's monthly salary these days was only around 300,000 yen or so.

Aoyama Xiu Xin himself only earned 270,000 yen a month.

It just goes to show, coming from a family of police lineage, from her grandfather's generation, there was probably no lack of corruption, and who knows, maybe they even embezzled money from the Aoyama family's ancestors.

So now Aoyama Xiu Xin was just retrieving what was rightfully his, taking from the Asakai family to serve the public, without feeling any guilt whatsoever.

After all, 20 million yen was but a trifle; hadn't he just given Asai Ayumi several billion just the other day?

"I'll make do with this for now," Aoyama Xiu Xin accepted the bank card nonchalantly, recognizing it as the Agricultural and Forestry Bank's. They were currently the only bank providing ATM services.

Yet, absurdly enough, their ATMs only operated during business hours, shutting down after the bank closed.

Even the machines adhered to the nine-to-five routine, prompting one to lament the evils of unchecked capitalism.

"No one's worse than an ATM, right?"

"Hey," Asai Ayumi responded, and then cautiously reminded, "Mr. Aoyama, it's best to be a bit thrifty with your spending. This is all money I've saved up myself."

"Are you teaching me how to do my job?" Aoyama Xiu Xin stuffed the bank card into his pocket, looking askance with displeasure.

Asai Ayumi quickly lowered her head, "I wouldn't dare."

"Let's watch a movie," Aoyama Xiu Xin said.

"Hey!"

Asai Ayumi really sat up straight, her eyes glued to the screen without moving, not even daring to let her mind wander.

Meanwhile, Fujimoto Ryosuke, who had just designed a wedding dress for Aoyama Xiu Xin that evening, had turned his sorrows into motivation and was conducting an investigation on Yamamoto Hiroshi overnight.

If Yamamoto Hiroshi was innocent, he could slap Aoyama Xiu Xin in the face and vent his anger. If Yamamoto Hiroshi was truly the culprit, and he found out first, he would be credited with an achievement.

He wanted to advance!

He wanted to secretly outwork everyone!

After the movie ended, Asai Ayumi, her face flushed, kept her head down and her hands holding her bag over her face, carefully following behind Aoyama Xiu Xin as they left the theater.

"Walk me home."

"Hey!"

...

When Aoyama Xiu Xin returned home, he saw his sister-in-law, Aoyama Haruko, wearing a white silk nightgown and arranging flowers.

"Xiu Xin, you're back. Hard work today." Aoyama Haruko quickly put down the fresh flowers, stepped forward with small steps to fetch him slippers, and knelt down to place them before him.

Aoyama Xiu Xin changed shoes with his sister-in-law's help and looked at the flowers, "Why did you buy so many flowers?"

"I worked part-time at the flower shop today. The manager sold these to me for a low price," Aoyama Haruko lifted her head with a bright smile and proudly said, "I saved a lot more money than usual."

Suddenly, her expression changed slightly, and she slowly stood up, sniffing around Aoyama Xiu Xin like a little puppy.

"Wait a minute, sister-in-law, what are you doing?"

As she drew closer, almost squeezing into his embrace, Aoyama Xiu Xin quickly raised his hands and stepped back.

"That's not right, I smell a woman's perfume," Aoyama Haruko revealed a cheerful smile, "It seems our Aoyama is in love. That's such good news."

"Don't talk nonsense, there's nothing going on," Aoyama Xiu Xin lightly pushed her away and went to the living room, casually picking up two flowers to change the subject, "Let me help with the flower arrangement."

"You're getting nervous, aren't you? Alright, I won't pry anymore. In any case, it must be a very outstanding girl to be worthy of our Xiu Xin," Aoyama Haruko winked playfully, leaned closer to Aoyama Xiu Xin, and asked, "Does Xiu Xin also know about flower arranging?"

"Cough, I'm all too familiar," Aoyama Xiu Xin said with no exaggeration. In flower arranging, he was comparable to a grandmaster.

Aoyama Haruko admired the flowers.

He admired Aoyama Haruko.

Her loosely pinned up hair hung down in strands, and the loose nightgown couldn't conceal her body's curves. As she bent over to arrange the flowers, glimpses of her neckline revealed a hint of spring beauty, prettier and more vibrant than the flowers themselves.

Suddenly Aoyama Haruko seemed to sense something and lifted her head. As their eyes met, Aoyama Xiu Xin quickly shifted his gaze away, feeling guilty. "Sister-in-law, you don't have to work part-time tomorrow. Didn't I make a significant achievement before? There'll be a hefty bonus soon."

Thank goodness his elder brother wasn't home, otherwise, had he seen that look in his eyes just now, he would have let him know what 'an elder brother is like a father' really means, with a father's love as overpowering as a mountain's collapse.

"Really? That's the second piece of good news today," Aoyama Haruko's eyes sparkled. She was always so easily satisfied, not even asking how much money it was, before adding, "But I still have to work the job. I promised the manager. If I suddenly didn't go, he wouldn't find a new employee so quickly. Besides, Xiu Xin goes to work, and it's boring for me at home."

"Okay then, sister-in-law, please make sure not to overwork yourself," Aoyama Xiu Xin stood up, glanced at his watch, "I'm going to rest now, and you mustn't stay up too late either. Good night, see you tomorrow."

"Xiu Xin, good night to you too, see you tomorrow."

At the same time, near Yamamoto's house, Fujimoto Ryosuke, having kept watch all night, was finally poised to reap his harvest.