National Tide 1980.

Chapter 1359 Breaking Out

July 1987, 7, should have been a happy day.

Because not only was the weather sunny that day, but it was also Friday.

After finishing a day's work, most people working in businesses and companies will have a happy weekend.

Although Rinko Kagawa did not have the blessing of a full weekend because she also served as the manager of Keibundo Bookstore, she still had to go to the bookstore to work these two days.

But after all, she could at least sleep in at home for two days and sleep until almost noon before going to the bookstore. At least it allowed her to relax and take a deep breath.

So when she got up early this morning, she was in a very happy mood.

But just when she got up and went to the bathroom on the first floor to wash up, an unexpected situation completely ruined her mood.

Unexpectedly, when she passed the stairs, she could clearly hear the sound of her brother-in-law and sister arguing in the room upstairs.

"…Competition in the insurance industry is too fierce. It's not easy to become a branch manager, especially in Tokyo. I have no choice. Give me the money first. Please be patient. As long as I can become a branch manager, everything will be fine…"

"You always say that. You said the same thing last time you wanted to be the team leader, but our lives never get better. Can you take a good look at our current living situation? Ever since we got married and went on our honeymoon, it has become increasingly difficult to even go out for a meal. I don't even have a good vacuum cleaner to clean the room, and I try to save as much as possible when I cook. Now I wear Rinko's clothes when I go out. Life is even more difficult now than when we saved money to buy a house together before we got married. In order to make up for the household expenses, I even shamelessly accepted the rent paid by my sister. But even so, our savings have not increased, and your external expenses are getting bigger and bigger. Who can stand life like this? I've had enough..."

"Here you go again. Why are you so complaining now? You don't understand me at all. Don't I work hard? Don't I have a hard time? I have to get up at seven in the morning, wash up and eat breakfast within fifty minutes, and then leave the house to catch the subway to go to work. It takes more than half an hour to get from our home to my company one way. After going to work at 8:30, I will work until at least 9 o'clock in the evening, and the working hours are more than 12 hours. After drinking with colleagues, I often get home after 11 o'clock in the evening. There is only a short hour and a half from home to bed. After a late dinner and a shower, it is immediately time to go to bed. I only sleep six hours a day, and then it's a new day. And why do I get up early and work late, day and night? Am I not contributing to the family, am I not working to give you a better life?"

"I know you work hard. But do I have it easy? I get up at 5:30 in the morning, and I'm busy all day cooking, washing clothes, cleaning, and doing all kinds of trivial things. I can't go to bed until 10:30. I say, please don't avoid reality, okay? The problem that needs to be solved now is that the money you take from me every month is more than what you get back. Don't you know that we have to pay the mortgage? Let me tell you, the last bit of savings in the family has been used up by you. If I hadn't signed store contracts in Kyoto and Osaka for President Ning and received a labor fee, I wouldn't have been able to make it through these past few months. I finally held on until you gave me the half-year bonus, and I just thought I could breathe a sigh of relief, and finally I could live for two months without worrying about expenses. But the money hasn't even warmed up yet, and now you want to take the money away again. Tell me, how can I hold on like this?"

"Don't be so exaggerated. I know you're worried about your family expenses. But my half-year bonus this time is much more than we imagined. The company was very generous and gave me a full million yen. With salary and commission, the total is 1.5 million yen. I just want 200,000 yen for necessary entertainment expenses. I want the money all for work. Am I asking for too much?"

"Isn't that too much? Let's do the math. If there is no half-year bonus, then your salary and bonus last month would only be 500,000 yen. You need 30,000 yen in pocket money every month for smoking and drinking, and you have a fixed mortgage of 168,000 yen to pay back. And you asked for 150,000 yen at the beginning of the month with this reason, and you asked for 200,000 yen all at once. This is completely overspending, okay? Even if Rinko paid 60,000 yen in rent, it would all be put into the account. Don't we need money for our daily lives? Do you still think that a half-year bonus of 1 million yen is a lot? At this rate, how many days can we last? It's not that I don't want to give you money, but if you continue like this, our lives will be over."

The reason why Yujiro Sakai and Midori quarreled was very realistic: it was about money.

Listening to their heated verbal confrontation, Rinko Kagawa, who had unknowingly walked up the stairs, stopped at their door.

She didn't dare go in, but was quite worried.

You know, her sister and brother-in-law have always looked like a loving couple in front of her.

  Even though there were conflicts occasionally, no one ever took them too seriously. How could they have ever started a quarrel in the room early in the morning, refusing to give in to each other?

Like today, he was noisy enough to ignore working hours and was so loud that he was discovered by himself.

This shows that their conflict has become quite deep and cannot be avoided or resolved.

Even she felt sad for them when she heard it. It was the first time she realized that her sister and brother-in-law seemed to have serious financial problems after marriage.

However, before she could think any further, the quarrel in the room escalated further.

"It's because my position is not high enough. We have discussed this issue many times in the past two months. Why can't you understand me? You should know that although my salary and bonus as a team leader have increased, I also have more responsibilities to bear. I can't just take care of myself like before."

As if hurt, Zuo Haiyoujiro's voice rose again, full of grievance.

"As a team leader, in addition to continuing to sell insurance, you also have to recruit and train qualified insurance salespeople to complete a certain amount of business. In order to achieve this goal, there will be a lot of extra expenses. For example, when my salespeople call customers, they cannot use the company phone, but need to pay out of their own pockets to use the public phones installed in the company to sell. Now many people are unwilling to bear such expenses, so I have no choice but to buy some phone cards with my own money and subsidize them for everyone to use."

"That's not all. Even if we recruit salespeople, we still can't feel at ease because the turnover in this industry is too high and it's hard to retain talent. The reason is actually very simple. When people engage in insurance sales, they rely on personal connections and find some relatives and friends to sell. But think about it, this kind of resource will be used up in two or three months at the shortest, and less than half a year at the longest. If they can't sell, they will naturally not stay here. In this way, a lot of investment in phone cards will be wasted."

"What is most annoying is that after the salesperson leaves, the customers they brought in will soon come to ask for a refund. If the customers cannot be retained, the team leader will be criticized in the end. So in order to maintain the sales performance under my name and to retain customers, I have to give discounts or gifts, and the cost is naturally borne by me."

"You don't have to tell me that this is not good. However, all this effort is meaningful, and it will eventually come to an end. As long as I can climb to the position of branch director, I won't have to worry about specific sales performance like I do now. By then, both income and benefits will increase further, and I will also have my own office. Everything will be completely different from what it is now when I am just a small team leader..."

Yujiro Sakai confided the difficulties he encountered at work.

But Kagawa Rinko, who was standing outside the door, felt that he was a little too obsessed with a goal as uncertain as a promotion. Although it was understandable to seek advancement in one's career, one could not pursue the goal in such an unrealistic way that would even destroy the balance of family life.

After all, he is married, so he has to be responsible for his family.

  Where does this put my sister if I act so recklessly?

Sure enough, her sister Miyoko also holds the same view.

"You are walking a tightrope. You are just an office worker who works for a salary, but you have to pay out of your own pocket for your work. This situation sounds too bizarre. If this is the case, how can we guarantee our lives? You might as well not be the team leader."

But these words were unacceptable to Zuo Hai Youjiro, and his voice began to tremble.

"You...what did you say? You want me to stop being a team leader. You...you are really weird. Other wives hope their husbands can make a name for themselves, but you want me to be content with the status quo. Can you stop being so surprised? It's the same in any insurance company. What's the harm in suffering a little now? This is all for the purpose of becoming a branch leader in the future."

"I'm surprised by what I've seen? You're just taking it for granted. It's not that easy to be a branch chief. There are probably no less than 20 team leaders in your branch alone, right? I remember you said that only one branch chief can emerge from these people, right? Well, let's say you have the support of Minister Ninomiya, then it doesn't necessarily mean that others have a bad relationship with the minister. What's more, there are candidates favored by the deputy minister. How can you be sure that you will become the first? We might as well consider some realistic ways to improve our situation. Now I can still go out to work. Why can't we take it slow together like before? If you concentrate on selling your insurance, I'll go back to being a real estate agent, which is actually not too hard. If we make money together, it will probably be enough to pay off all the loans in two or three years. When we have a certain amount of savings, we can consider having children and other things. Isn't that good?"

It should be said that Midori's considerations were completely pragmatic.

Her step-by-step plan is much more feasible than Zuo Haiyoujiro's radical approach.

However, in this social environment where economic bubbles are rampant and everything encourages people to be quick to achieve success, her suggestions have a great impact on Zuo Haiyoujiro, who hopes to succeed immediately and has deep-rooted patriarchy in his bones.

"You just don't think highly of me. You're just blaming me for being incompetent. I know you make more money than me when you're working. But I'm also a man, at least I've been working hard. Now I know how much you look down on me. In your mind, is someone like me only worthy of being an ordinary little person? You just want me to be a person who always relies on my wife's work to have enough food, right? If you think I'm not good at all, then well, let's get a divorce! Whatever you say, it's up to you! From now on, no one should blame anyone for being useless."

Because he did not get the support he wanted from his wife, Yujiro Sakai misunderstood Midori's good intentions and took her advice as a contempt and insult to himself.

The feeling of frustration suddenly aggravated his inner inferiority complex, and he became so angry that he couldn't control his roar.

Even as he finished his hysterical words, he impulsively opened the door and rushed out, so much so that he almost bumped into Rinko Kagawa who was outside the door.

But even though this unexpected situation was shocking, what had a greater emotional impact on Zuo Hai Youjiro at this moment was undoubtedly the anger of losing face.

So he just glanced at Rinko Kagawa, then left with a fierce face without saying a word.

Rinko Kagawa stood at the door and heard silence in the house.

After a while, the sobbing sound of sister Midori was heard.

First there was a trickle of water, and then the dam burst.

Rinko Kagawa looked back and found that Yujiro Sakai had disappeared at the entrance.

She didn't dare to delay any longer and hurried into the room to comfort her sister who was lying on the bed crying.

She shook Midori's arm and said, "Sister! Sister! Don't cry! It's okay, it's okay! Sister! Don't cry! Sit up, sit up! Drink some water first."

Rinko Kagawa helped her sister sit up.

"Sister, don't be angry. How could you and your brother-in-law quarrel over money to such an extent? It's not worth it. Don't make it difficult for your brother-in-law, he has his own difficulties. Think about the bright side, after all, your brother-in-law also wants to make progress and give you a better life. What conflicts between you and your wife are irreconcilable? Isn't it that you should take a step back and I should take a step back? Nothing is more important than feelings and family harmony. What do you think? You had a really fierce quarrel today. You are no longer like the sister you used to be. It scares me!"

Miyoko wiped her tears and said incoherently, "Do you think I want to quarrel with him? He really hurts my heart! I'm not afraid of hardship, otherwise I wouldn't marry him. What I value is that he is really good to me. All I ask for is a stable life and a warm home. Is this too much? He is now dreaming an unrealistic dream. He even said that I look down on him and wants to divorce me! How can he say that!"

Kagawa Rinko wiped her sister's nose and said, "Wipe it! Harder!"

While combing his sister's hair, he said, "He was just talking in anger. He doesn't really want to divorce you. You obviously know this, so why do you have to take a few words seriously? Wouldn't that be hard on yourself? Let me advise you again. Your brother-in-law has his faults, but he works hard and is eager to get promoted. This is at least worth affirming! You've been together and you're still looking for trouble. Why bother? Why not look at his strengths and have a good talk with him to see if this path is feasible? If you really feel financially stressed, it doesn't matter. I have money. I'm working two jobs now and don't have much expenses. Just like this month, in addition to the company's mid-year bonus, President Ning also gave me a mid-year bonus. I've saved a lot of money this year. Can I give you one million for emergency?"

Miyoko sobbed and stopped talking, "No, I can't. Rinko, I can't even take care of my mother back home now, and I rely on you to send money back home. I'm already ashamed enough, how can I take your money for Yujiro's matter? Don't worry about me, you should save the money, for the sake of the future, don't be like your sister, giving without reservation, and trusting men without reservation. I'm not afraid to tell you that I regret it now, my mistake was to think that marriage was too simple. Now I have cut off my own retreat and handed everything over to others. Now I don't even have the right to work. If I had known this would happen, why would I have gotten married? I'm really asking for trouble..."