Stranded in the Future

Chapter Nineteen: The Surprise Visitor

Empty bowls decked the table as Ichiro helped Kumiko to her feet and breathed a sigh of relief that the redness in her face had faded. "Are you feeling better now?"

Kumiko smiled at him. "Yes. Turns out I really did just need to get some food in me." She turned to Izumi and Mrs. Konno. "Well, this is goodbye. I hope we can meet another time."

Mrs. Konno waved her hand before Izumi bolted out of her seat. "Wait, you two! You've forgotten something!"

Ichiro and Kumiko spun around as she caught up to them. Her well-kept hand stretched out in their direction, holding a card with kanji and so-called numbers printed on it.

"My business card." Izumi's finger slid to the bottom. "Please call this number to be connected to my store. State your name and tell the person that you're a friend of mine. They should give you a day to come in."

Ichiro could barely understand these instructions, but one thing stood out. Izumi was apparently a store owner, meaning she was of the same class as him.

He remembered the strange greeting from earlier and replicated it to the best of his ability. "What a surprise. I would never have taken you to be a merchant's wife. My parents-"

"Ichiro." Kumiko grabbed his arm with haste and gave an embarrassed laugh. "I think we should go. It's getting late."

She accepted the card from Izumi, then started leading him out of the bar to his confusion.

"What did I do wrong?"

"You can't tell a woman that she's a merchant's wife. It makes you seem like a really old man."

"Old man?" Ichiro questioned before realizing what she meant. "Never mind. What's become of merchants?"

The ensuing seconds of silence from Kumiko made him anxious.

"Class boundaries have blurred over the years," she explained after recollecting her thoughts. "Samurai are mostly extinct, and so are peasants. Merchants became so integral to society that they elevated in status."

Ichiro remembered the history lesson that Kumiko had given him a few days earlier and began to speculate how something so unprecedented could happen. He'd already heard of samurai losing much of their privilege, but he still didn't know how a country could function without the work of peasants.

Fortunately, Kumiko soon enlightened him on this matter. "To put it briefly, the advent of farming machines left many peasants out of work. They ended up with no choice but to move to cities, where they were employed in factories or as builders."

Ichiro looked at the lofty buildings around them. "Are you saying that this was all the work of such folk?"

"Pretty much."

"Incredible. Tell me more."

Kumiko took a deep breath. "Well, the demand for factory workers and builders eventually fell too. Of course, by then, most of the former peasants had forgotten how to farm. So, they had to find yet other ways to support themselves. You can guess what happened next."

"What?"

"They flocked to work for companies and became salarymen. Or started their own businesses in the hope of getting rich."

They reached their apartment building and crept in through the glass doors. As they ascended the stairs, Ichiro pondered all that he had been told. It finally occurred to him how this society worked, and a strained smile formed on his face.

"If that many people are trying to become merchants, then the competition must be fierce beyond belief."

"Exactly," Kumiko muttered. "That's capitalism for you."