Chapter 49: The Single-Family House

Kitahara felt that if Hayami Rina truly had feelings for that "single-family house," then he could absolutely buy it for her.

As everyone knew, Japanese people had a special complex about single-family houses, and were especially fond of them.

A "single-family house" meant one family, one household, one building.

Buying land and building an ideal home of one’s own according to one’s own preferences and wishes was the lifelong pursuit of most Japanese people.

Owning one meant the fulfillment and success of one’s life.

According to statistics, more than half of all Japanese people lived in this kind of "single-family house."

The rest did not necessarily not want to, but simply did not yet have the ability to buy land and build one.

As for the reasons for this situation, Kitahara thought it was probably due to a complex about land, complete control over the land, and the quietness and privacy of the living environment.

Anyway, he felt it was fine. Living in an apartment was also quite convenient. That thing was just like a villa back home, nothing special.

But if Hayami Rina liked it, then that was another matter.

Moving into the "single-family house" carefully built by the ex-husband together with her and little Aya-chan—just thinking about it made him rather look forward to it!

And he could also earn a large rebate. Why not do it?

It was just that he did not know what that house was like, or whether it suited his aesthetics.

It should probably be not bad?

Mm, he actually was not very picky either!

Hayami Rina still did not know Kitahara’s thoughts, nor did she dare imagine that Kitahara would actually want to buy that house for her. After all, that house was astonishingly valuable, and ordinary people would never even have such a thought, let alone be able to afford it.

Hearing this, she pondered for a moment, then slowly spoke:

"That house is over in District Two, quite close to here. Kitahara-kun, you probably know as well that land prices here in Chiyoda Ward are especially expensive, and in earlier years they were even more absurdly expensive.

The land area of that house is close to two hundred square meters. At the time, the selling price was close to two hundred million yen. When Watanabe bought it, he basically used loan funds..."

"What? Two hundred million yen?" Kitahara exclaimed.

"Yes, two hundred million yen."

"How much could Mr. Watanabe earn per month back then? How dared he borrow so much money?"

Kitahara could not quite understand. Wasn’t that just too brainless? Were they even going to live their lives anymore?

Carrying a loan of two hundred million yen—how could anyone sleep at night?

If it were him, he definitely would not be able to sleep.

Come on, was this "single-family house" really something they had to live in no matter what? How big must their hearts have been!

"Back then, Watanabe’s monthly salary was about two million yen. Adding year-end bonuses and other benefits, his annual income was about thirty million yen.

Kitahara-kun, you might not understand, but at that time, being able to spend two hundred million to buy land like this was still a gain. This kind of land was very scarce. Generally, once it appeared, people would snap it up, and the price rose by about ten percent every year. It could be said that buying it was already a profit."

Afraid that Kitahara Chiki would misunderstand that she and her late husband had overestimated themselves and caused the current situation, Hayami Rina patiently explained.

Back then, they had also been a high-income family, high-net-worth individuals, not ordinary people.

Only then did Kitahara understand. So they really had earned quite a lot at the time, and borrowing two hundred million was not too absurd. With good luck, it could have been repaid in a few years.

Still, Tokyo land prices were really fierce! No wonder back then Japan dared to boast that it could buy the entire United States!

Seeing that Kitahara could understand, Hayami Rina continued:

"The later construction and decoration, buying furniture, and so on cost another roughly tens of millions of yen. Compared with the land price, these actually counted for little.

At the time, Watanabe and I poured far too much effort into this house. When the house was built and we were about to move in, Watanabe lost his job.

We still held onto hope then, hoping that through effort everything would get better again. Watanabe looked for work every day, and I tightened my belt and saved some money to repay the loan, even if it was only a drop in the bucket.

What happened afterward, Kitahara-kun, you can probably guess.

Watanabe hit walls again and again and could never find a high-paying job again. As for ordinary jobs, forget repaying the loan—they could not even maintain basic living. His faith collapsed..."

"Ah, Rina-nee is so gentle, and little Aya-chan is so cute. Mr. Watanabe really should not have taken that step," Kitahara sighed.

Hayami Rina also nodded in agreement:

"Yes, that’s what I told Watanabe too. We had not truly reached a dead end. I could live a hard life too. But he just... gave up on us, and also gave up on his own life."

"Ah, yes. Why did it have to come to that?"

...

"So that means, Rina-nee, you really like that ’single-family house’?" Kitahara asked this question again.

"Yes. For that house, Watanabe and I discussed all kinds of details countless times and spent an unknown amount of time and energy. It may be the thing I have put the most into in my entire life. Unfortunately, I should never be able to live in it."

Hayami Rina said with endless sorrow.

"Which bank were those people just now from?"

"Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. Why, Kitahara-kun? You’re not thinking...?" Hayami Rina asked in surprise.

"I’m just asking casually. Rina-nee, don’t overthink it. All right, I’ll go back and write first, and you can also recover your mood a bit. Everything has passed. Thinking too much is pointless. We always have to look forward, don’t we?"

Kitahara Chiki did not reveal this matter first.

It was still unknown whether it could be done, so it was better not to say anything yet.

Otherwise, if it really could not be done, it would only create trouble and bring sadness for nothing.

After going out, Kitahara did not go home, but prepared to go directly to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation to ask around, to see how much the house was selling for now, and also what it actually looked like.

As for the price, he really did not care much.

This was the only thing he did not care about!

While waiting for the elevator, suddenly, a figure appeared in his mind.

It seemed the original owner still had an acquaintance at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation!

Mm, it was a girl.

After carefully recalling and thinking for a moment, Kitahara no longer went downstairs. He took out his keys, opened the door, and returned home.

After rummaging around at home, he found a stack of envelopes. Kitahara took out page after page of letter paper, searching, and finally found the page with contact information.

This was a girl named Matsuda Yumi. She was a junior schoolmate of the original owner, and also the girl who had once pursued him, bravely confessed to him, and hoped to date him.

This girl had always had feelings for the original owner. Basically all the letters here had been sent by her. The most recent one was from a month ago.

Inside, she also expressed her longing for Kitahara, as well as her hope of receiving a reply and having him agree to date her.

Kitahara felt that even if he did not give the girl this chance, simply because she had loved the original owner for so many years, giving this big order to her could count as a kind of repayment.

In his impression, this girl named Matsuda Yumi was indeed not particularly outstanding in appearance. She could only be called ordinary. But her smile was very charming and full of vitality.