Chapter 114: Youhe Begins to Act

Tao Zhiming watched his car drive away, pondering the farce from last night and what Ryu Inoue had said. Hiroshi Omiya seemed to be accelerating the "Mogami Paradise Town" project with great vigor and determination.

Tao Zhiming got into his own car and contacted Yusuke Obata. It wasn’t until he reached the University of Tokyo that Obata finally returned the call.

"Regarding the unusual movements you mentioned before, is there any further information?"

"Not yet..."

"Fine. Just keep an eye on things, don't ask questions; there's no rush. Since I bought the car, you've been stationed here in Minato Ward. Besides keeping track of my activities, do you have any other assignments?"

Yusuke Obata was silent for a moment before answering, "That is correct. Recently, things have been quite open. My father has assigned me to another small organization in Minato, the Uebayashi Group, to assist with real estate acquisitions."

"The building next to my place last night—was that you lot?"

"...Yes."

"You're being that aggressive? I heard the sound of walls being smashed."

"...I wasn't the one doing the smashing."

"I'm not blaming you," Tao Zhiming said, frowning. "Is there something special about that unit? Why the extreme measures?"

"There's nothing special about it," Obata replied, sounding puzzled. "Though... it seems to be working. I heard they agreed to sell today."

"I see." Tao Zhiming couldn't yet fathom what Hiroshi Omiya was planning, so he instructed, "So, since you've temporarily left the Hokujo-kai, you can't monitor the unusual movements there anymore?"

"Unless I actively ask, I can only rely on what I hear when I hang out with the brothers."

Tao Zhiming thought for a moment and said, "That's enough! It's actually good that you were sent here; keep an eye out for anything unusual in the work you're handling."

"Anything unusual? Now that you mention it, there is one thing that's quite strange..." Obata hesitated. "There is one unit we were strictly instructed not to touch..."

"There's such an instruction? Which unit?"

Tao Zhiming’s heart skipped a beat, and he pressed for details. If Hiroshi Omiya was up to no good, his target would surely be Hidemaze Kinoshita. And if the plan was worth Yuhwa putting up 5 billion yen as a sign of good faith, the goal could only be the power struggle surrounding the privatization of the Japanese National Railways. It might even be related to Takeda Manufacturing.

***

"Has the plan to defeat that guy, Jiro Mori, not started yet?"

When he arrived at the Kendo club, Kana Ueda came running over immediately. Tao Zhiming started up the machine while saying, "Teacher Kana, don't you have classes?"

"No!" Kana Ueda sat down, looked at him, and said nonchalantly, "You did okay yesterday. You did manage to score one point against Yokohisa Yamane, after all."

"That's nowhere near enough," Tao Zhiming sighed. "I practiced hard for a month, and I could only land one hit on him in nine attempts!"

"He has been practicing Kendo since middle school! If it weren't for me supervising and guiding your practice, you wouldn't be able to land a single hit on him even if you practiced for another year!"

Tao Zhiming looked at her haughty expression and smiled, saying, "It's all thanks to Teacher Kana's excellent teaching! I know, the plan has already begun, don't be anxious. I still have a year until graduation."

"What is the plan like?" Kana Ueda asked with concern.

"The less you know, the better!" Tao Zhiming said, eyes fixed on the current market data without looking back. "Even if you are gathering information when you meet that Jiro Mori, what if you know the plan and he senses something off? After all, isn't he the rising star of the younger generation that even your father highly regards?"

"...I see." Kana Ueda mumbled, looking a bit dim-witted.

Seeing Tao Zhiming go silent, Kana Ueda asked again, "Is that Senior Kobayashi not coming today?"

"In the evening."

"..." Kana Ueda ground her teeth, looking at his profile. She had to attend a gathering at the Kasumigaseki Country Club with her mother that evening. She stood up, agitated, and said, "Then I'm leaving."

"Close the door on your way out." Tao Zhiming still didn't look at her, already busy making a phone call.

Kana Ueda left with pursed lips, hearing his faint voice from inside: "Chang Le, another payment has come in..."

This guy was just like a money-making machine, constantly earning, earning, earning. She looked down at her new spring clothes and felt a pang of resentment. He hadn't even noticed them!

After finishing his call with Chang Le, Tao Zhiming began to browse the newspapers he subscribed to. The data on the Bloomberg terminal was real-time, but the news had some lag—after all, Bloomberg had not yet established or acquired a media arm. He decided to hold onto the 200 million yen that Ryu Inoue had just brought him, waiting for the interest rate cut announcement to bet on the depreciation of the Japanese Yen.

This market movement would be slightly different from the last one. Last time, the appreciation of the Yen was unstoppable, but this time, there was a sense of immediate impact in the short term. Therefore, he planned to close his positions right before the press conference. Hidemaze Kinoshita might know the exact timing of the announcement, but Tao Zhiming didn't want to ask him. If Kinoshita became aware of the scale of the capital Tao now possessed, it wouldn't be good for his future plans.

Tao Zhiming was afraid that Kinoshita might have ways to figure out exactly how much money he had. After reading the papers for a while, he turned on the newly installed television in the laboratory. For the next two days, he would just focus on this. Only by leveraging this interest rate cut would he have the strength to participate in the competition for the Takeda Manufacturing land. The next opportunity for a major market move caused by an interest rate cut wouldn't come until October. Moreover, a large portion of the funds needed to be transferred as soon as possible to the offshore company that Zhao Yuanxi was registering.

Just as he was making his preparations, Hiroshi Omiya received a reply from Akira Watanabe.

"Mitsubishi says the strategy is feasible! Go ahead and do it!"

Hiroshi Omiya was overjoyed. "Great! I'll start right away!"

***

"President! President!"

The door to Takanao Takeda's office was pushed open, and a middle-aged man walked in, drenched in sweat.

"What's the new situation now?" Seeing his disheveled appearance, Takanao Takeda stood up, pressing his hands nervously against the desk.

The man took a deep breath and drank some water before smiling. "Good news!"

"What good news?" Takanao Takeda asked with surprise, urging him to sit down. "Did Henghe Trading agree to delay delivery, or has the procurement of magnetic powder been sorted out?"

"Neither," he replied, shaking his head with a smile.

"Then what kind of good news is that! Speak up, Kazuo!"

The Marketing Director of Takeda Manufacturing, Kazuo Tanimura, finally said, "Yuhwa Trading has agreed to cooperate with us!"

"Really?" Takanao Takeda asked eagerly. "How much are they ordering? How much is the deposit? With this order, the bank will have no reason to refuse our loan!"

"The promised amount is very large, but..." Kazuo Tanimura paused. "President, they made a condition."

"...What condition?" Takanao Takeda felt a sense of foreboding.

"They require us to terminate our agency contract with Henghe Trading before they will cooperate."