Chapter 157

In Xiao Ri Zi.

After getting off work today, Mr. Yamagami took the wages given by the store manager and counted them.

"Manager, why is it so much less today?"

Mr. Yamagami asked in confusion.

The store manager could only sigh helplessly and say, "I'm really sorry, Mr. Yamagami."

"Due to the tax increase, the store's burden has become heavier."

"I have no choice but to cut your wages a little."

"You can see it yourself in the store."

"How many fewer customers there are compared to before."

"There really is no other way."

"The store can barely keep operating now."

"Any more expenses, and the whole store will go bankrupt."

The store manager said painfully.

Mr. Yamagami could only look at the store manager and sigh helplessly.

He turned and left.

The store manager wasn't lying to him.

Ever since Abe announced the tax increase,

the number of customers in the store had dropped significantly.

Because the store had to pay taxes, fewer people came to the store.

Because fewer people came to the store, the turnover naturally decreased.

But the necessary expenses remained the same.

Under these circumstances, it was natural to cut expenses in all areas.

In the end, the wages Mr. Yamagami received were nearly twenty percent lower.

Actually, Yamagami was only doing odd jobs, so it was at least twenty percent.

Some formal corporate slaves not only had to endure the demands for lower wages,

but also had to pay an additional fifteen percent surtax after receiving their pay.

It was precisely because people had less money in their hands

that the store's turnover declined.

The store was forced to raise the prices of some products.

Thus, this situation appeared throughout all of Xiao Ri Zi.

The wages people held in their hands were much less,

but the things sold in stores were even more expensive.

This simply made it impossible for people to live.

Mr. Yamagami sighed.

He arrived in front of the pinball parlor that Xiao Ri Zi people love most.

He walked inside.

This kind of place is called Pachinko, but Mr. Yamagami had no feeling for this kind of game.

But for others,

the temptation of this game was simply too great.

Divided seats, noisy, yet a space that belonged entirely to oneself.

Dazzling screens.

Stimulating sound effects.

The pleasure of winning prizes.

All of this stimulated the people of Xiao Ri Zi to scramble to the pinball parlors.

Mr. Yamagami went to the back and began looking for someone.

He walked up to a man who was playing pinball.

He said, "Kitajima. So you're here."

The disturbed Kitajima turned his head angrily.

But when he saw it was Yamagami,

he suddenly started laughing.

"So you like playing pinball too, kid?"

"Come, come, sit next to me."

"I have some pinball cards here, do you want them? I'll sell them to you cheap."

Mr. Yamagami shook his head and said, "I don't like these things."

"Then that's a real pity. You haven't been able to experience the fun of this thing."

Kitajima said, staring fixedly at the screen.

"Enough small talk."

"Did you find the tools I wanted?"

Yamagami asked.

Kitajima wasn't exactly a hoodlum in this area, but he was a similar character.

He had ways to get his hands on things that were hard to come by.

And he was actually Yamagami's elementary school classmate.

The two were very familiar with each other.

"You really want them, huh?"

"As a classmate, I still advise you to forget it."

"That thing isn't for you to use."

"Isn't it better to just buy one online?"

Kitajima's gaze finally left the screen of the pinball machine.

He looked at Yamagami and said,

"The precision of things bought online isn't enough."

"You know what I'm going to do."

Mr. Yamagami said frankly.

"That's why I wanted you to help."

"Fine."

Seeing Yamagami so persistent, Kitajima had no choice but to say.

Afterward, a huge winning pop-up appeared on the screen in front of Kitajima.

Various animations flashed continuously.

"Look, you really are a lucky star."

Kitajima excitedly used a box to collect the pinballs spat out by the machine.

Mr. Yamagami shook his head helplessly.

A lucky star?

If he were really a lucky star,

how could he have lost his father at the age of four?

Later, his mother also left him.

His brother and sister were nowhere to be found.

A lucky star?

He didn't deserve it.

Yamagami let Kitajima pull him along to the lobby service desk.

They handed the pinballs and the tickets spat out to them.

After they were busy for a while,

they took down a doll hanging in the back; the bottom of that doll was marked with one million.

The clerk handed the doll to Kitajima.

"Mr. Yamagami, you really are a lucky star."

"I've been waiting for this machine for a long, long time, and it never had a big payout."

"But as soon as you arrived, it had a big payout! Hahahaha!"

Kitajima said excitedly.

"Then, for the sake of the prize, hurry up and send over the things I want. I really can't wait."

Mr. Yamagami said.

"Wait, wait."

Afterward, Kitajima took Mr. Yamagami to a recycling shop next to the pinball parlor.

He gave the prize and the receipt given by the lobby service desk to the staff at the recycling shop.

After a while, the staff gave Kitajima one million yen in cash.

Mr. Yamagami watched all of this.

He knew that this was gambling.

Although the laws of Xiao Ri Zi do not allow gambling,

there are policies from above and countermeasures from below.

A pinball parlor is divided into three shops: one for playing games, one for giving prizes, and one for exchanging prizes for cash.

Of course, on the surface, these three shops belong to different companies.

And these measures are just to avoid the supervision of Xiao Ri Zi's laws.

But, does the Xiao Ri Zi government really not know?

They know.

It's just that even the government doesn't dare to touch this industry.

In Xiao Ri Zi, the tax revenue contributed by the Pachinko industry is equivalent to a full five percent of the annual fiscal budget.

It is simply too important.

Thus, the Xiao Ri Zi government calmly watches as people who lose everything and have their families torn apart because of Pachinko commit suicide in painful despair every year.

Mr. Yamagami sighed.

How similar this phenomenon is to the Unification Church.

Both are prohibited by law,

but both exist in Xiao Ri Zi.

Afterward.

After Kitajima got the money, he took Yamagami to a small house of his own.

The small house was full of items Kitajima had collected.

Mr. Yamagami couldn't help but cover his nose.

The smell was simply too unpleasant.

Kitajima kept rummaging around inside.

He finally found something black.

"Mr. Yamagami, we've been friends for so many years."

"I really can't bear it."

"I'll say it one last time now."

"I don't have it, Mr. Yamagami, give it up."

Kitajima suddenly stopped.

He turned around and said to Yamagami.

And he gave Yamagami a way out.

However, Mr. Yamagami's mind was made up.

Nothing would work.

Knowing this, Kitajima had no choice but to sigh helplessly.

He said, "Fine."

"I really can't bear to see you live like a walking corpse."

After he finished speaking,

Kitajima dragged that black thing out.

"Here, something discarded from a military factory during World War II."

"A manual lathe."

"The precision should meet your requirements, right?"

Yamagami looked at these things and nodded.