Uncle Hikigaya is Forever Young [30]

Miura Kōzō worked in foreign trade. Although his income had never quite matched Hikigaya Ryōhei’s former salary, he’d still managed to achieve a stable, middle-class lifestyle.

He had a house, a car, savings, and a lovely daughter!

But, as the saying goes, a person’s success depends both on individual effort and historical circumstances.

Recently, after seeing his good friend Hikigaya Ryōhei’s life collapse overnight, reverting to how it was over a decade ago, Kōzō’s own days had gradually grown tougher.

The global economic crisis showed no sign of improvement. Nations everywhere had become increasingly hostile, building trade barriers, starting tariff wars, anti-dumping campaigns, and currency battles!

Working for a foreign trade company, he felt the effects deeply.

In just the past six months, Japan’s foreign trade had shrunk by 20%. The entire industry was crying out in misery.

And the situation was only getting worse.

Now, Kōzō no longer even had evening overtime available!

His income was plummeting.

Damn, although it sounded masochistic, he found himself genuinely missing the old days of “996.”

—[Since the last quarter of last year, the global economic crisis is on track to become the most severe in history. Originating from the IT industry, this crisis will expand within two years to engulf the industrial, agricultural, commercial, and financial sectors…]

Today was a weekday, yet Kōzō had returned home early. He switched on the TV, only to be greeted by gloomy political commentators predicting impending doom.

Even watching TV felt oppressive now.

Feeling irritated, he stared blankly at the news program, and eventually rubbed his temples in frustration.

A faint headache was coming on…

Without him noticing, a pair of cool, gentle hands softly pressed against his temples, slowly massaging them.

Miura Fusako had always been close to her husband, their relationship loving and supportive. Seeing him frown at the news, she knew immediately he was worrying about their family’s finances.

Though the Miura family had accumulated considerable savings over the years, recently money flowed out faster than water.

In just the last month, their savings had dropped below one-fifth of what they’d had a year ago.

Kōzō quietly enjoyed his wife’s comforting touch for a few moments before turning around, pulling her delicate, slightly frail body gently into his arms, and placing her softly onto his lap.

Fusako’s figure, though not especially curvaceous, was slim and graceful. Wearing a pale blue long-sleeved sweater and a modest knee-length skirt, she exuded a comforting, homely beauty.

Due to her poor health, she’d resigned from work years ago and had become a full-time housewife.

“I’ve made things so hard for you. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have to struggle like this...” Fusako softly whispered, pressing her delicate frame closer to her husband’s warm chest, her voice filled with guilt.

The family-oriented middle-aged man buried his nose into his wife’s soft black hair, inhaling her familiar fragrance.

“I’ve told you, it’s not your fault. I don’t want to hear my wife talking like that in front of her husband.”

“But…if it weren’t for treating my illness, we wouldn’t have spent so much money! You wouldn’t be under such pressure! Maybe we should stop my treatments next month. Honestly, my health isn’t so—”

Before Fusako could finish, her husband sharply interrupted her, clearly annoyed.

“No! Absolutely not! We won’t stop your treatments! Your husband can still handle this!”

Kōzō playfully punished his wife by quickly sneaking a squeeze at her soft hips, startling her slightly.

Still pleasantly soft and springy, just like a young girl’s…

In fact, with his wife’s declining health and his own growing exhaustion, their intimacy had significantly dwindled in recent years.

Yet, their bond had grown stronger—perhaps this mutual support was what real love was about!

As soon as he spoke those words, Kōzō immediately regretted them, realizing he might have sounded too harsh.

“Don’t worry. The medication I bought recently is a new imported brand, costing nearly half the price. Of course, the quality is guaranteed. We’ll save a decent amount every month.”

Fusako’s face, which resembled their daughter Yumiko’s by about 70%, blushed faintly. Though still somewhat pale from illness, it now radiated happiness.

Seeing this, Kōzō felt a bittersweet ache in his chest and turned his face slightly away.

Damn, he was already in his mid-thirties, yet…why was it so dusty in here suddenly?

“Ah, enough! Really, you should find something else to occupy your mind so you don’t overthink things. Speaking of which, how’s your search going to find a potential partner for Ryōhei?”

Though feeling slightly guilty toward his friend, whenever Kōzō felt emotionally drained lately, he’d think of Ryōhei’s circumstances and instantly feel better about his own life.

At least he still had an incredible wife!

His friend’s only advantage was that he had a son!

Hmph! Once Fusako recovered, they’d also try for a son!

“It’s going alright. Ryōhei-kun may have divorced, but his conditions aren’t actually that bad…Ah, don’t fool around now! Yumiko went out this afternoon—she’ll be back soon!”

Blushing heavily, Fusako glanced nervously toward the entranceway, squirming away from her husband’s wandering hands to sit properly beside him on the sofa, shy as a young bride.

“That girl’s always out having fun! Thinks she’s invincible just because she got into Sōbu High. Look at her hair—it’s dyed blond like some golden drill-bit!” Hearing his daughter’s whereabouts, Kōzō snorted irritably. No wonder he hadn’t seen her at home all day.

If she kept playing around outside like this, she’d better not get tricked by some bratty boy.

“Isn’t that because you spoil her? You even insisted she must never know about my illness. Alright, alright. Anyway, how’s Ryōhei-kun’s job search going? It shouldn’t be hard for him to find something, right?”

“It’s going okay. A few days ago, I heard he’d submitted applications to several middle schools. From how he sounded, he seemed pretty confident.”

“Oh, that’s good. Ryōhei-kun shouldn’t have any problem. Actually, I recently chatted with Sonoko—her mother’s finally said that if she doesn’t marry soon, she’ll disown her completely. She was pretty desperate… After all, she turned 30 around this time last year.”

Recalling a certain female editor’s pitiful crying face, Fusako shook her head gently.

Society was harsh. Once a woman passed her ideal marriageable age, no matter how successful or attractive she was, her value in the dating market plummeted sharply. Men faced similar issues, though slightly differently: those steady, family-oriented men with stable jobs tended to retain or even increase their value, easily catching the eyes of women tired of chasing excitement.

“Wow, that bad, huh? Career women sure have it rough!” Hearing his wife’s description, Kōzō couldn’t help but chuckle slightly, feeling his mood lift.

“If Sonoko saw your schadenfreude right now, she’d probably take a knife to you, you know?”

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This is a fan translation of 比企谷大叔永远年轻 by Stargazer All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!