Chapter 126: The Current Situation (Requesting Initial Subscription)

The four of them took their seats. Tao Zhiming gave instructions to the waiter before sitting down and saying, "This is the general manager I have hired, Mr. Zhao."

Having spent time in Japan, Zhao Yuanxi handled the etiquette with practiced ease: "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Suzuki, Mr. Irie."

Suzuki Daiki nodded with a smile and immediately asked Tao Zhiming, "You mentioned there were important matters to discuss together. Is this regarding the disco?"

"We will discuss that in a moment." Tao Zhiming produced a check, placed it on the table, and pushed it forward. "Mr. Suzuki, here is the 75 million yen return for the first month on your 500 million yen principal."

Suzuki Daiki was momentarily stunned. He looked at the check and saw that the amount was indeed correct, with all the necessary seals in place.

Zhao Yuanxi felt a jolt. *Tao is still helping the yakuza with their finances? This guy has some nerve...*

Irie Yuta was even more conflicted. *How did this guy manage to do that?*

Tao Zhiming smiled and said, "I decided to keep the capital in the market for a few extra days to wait for the trends following the recent interest rate cut."

"This is truly..." Suzuki Daiki held the check, staring at it. "Mr. Tao, I heard that a lot of people lost money today."

"Where there are losers, there are winners. I happen to be one of the winners."

"...It is always the clever ones like you who know how to make money." Suzuki Daiki pocketed the check and smiled. "I should be the one hosting tonight."

"Is that so? Mr. Zhao, what else would you like to eat? Let's order a few more things."

Zhao Yuanxi was impressed, shaking his head. "Don't joke around."

*How can this guy be so carefree and chatty? Isn't this man a high-ranking lieutenant of the Shindo-gumi with hundreds of subordinates under him?*

Tao Zhiming continued to tease: "Yuta, where have you been studying? I’ve missed you lately."

Irie Yuta was also taken aback. "The old man sent me to Shinjuku."

"Kabukicho, by any chance? That is certainly a great place to learn!" Tao Zhiming praised. "In that case, we can be much more confident about our future disco!"

"...It was just to see how they handle emergencies. As for how to run it, that is still up to you." Irie Yuta had begun to feel a sense of respect for Tao Zhiming.

Regardless of anything else, someone who could so easily produce 75 million yen in profit was someone worthy of his respect. He knew all too well how much the entire Shindo-gumi earned in a year. This man had pulled it out of the financial markets with ease.

The food and drinks arrived. Suzuki Daiki raised his glass first: "Mr. Tao, would you like to go out and have some fun? We could go take a look tonight."

"That won't be necessary." After taking a drink, Tao Zhiming said, "There are more important things to focus on. Mr. Suzuki, the matter I want to discuss tonight—if we can succeed, it will be vital for all our futures."

"Oh?" Suzuki Daiki’s eyes suddenly sharpened. "How so?"

Tao Zhiming set down his glass, invited him to eat, and then said, "Brother Hidekaze is planning something. The head family should have told you about it, right?"

"Are you talking about Takeda Manufacturing?" Suzuki Daiki’s eyes lit up.

"Exactly." Tao Zhiming nodded. "Brother Hidekaze cannot come forward himself, so he asked me to handle it. If this succeeds, the position of head of the family should be secured, right?"

Suzuki Daiki looked at him deeply. "The head family only said to be prepared to assist President Kinoshita when necessary."

"I suspect it isn't just the Shindo-gumi; other groups have received similar orders." Tao Zhiming pointed at himself. "In reality, the person you are to assist is me. However, everything is being conducted in secret for now. Brother Hidekaze has promised me that he will not interfere with how I operate this."

"And now you have come to me." Suzuki Daiki felt a ripple of excitement.

"Who else but us, given how well we know each other?" Tao Zhiming smiled and raised his glass. "Mr. Suzuki, I intend to open the disco on the land currently held by Takeda Manufacturing."

Suzuki Daiki stared at him in astonishment. "How can that be achieved?"

After finishing his drink, Tao Zhiming pointed at Zhao Yuanxi. "I hope that when Mr. Zhao is working in Tokyo, Mr. Suzuki can have a few unfamiliar faces keep a quiet eye on his safety. Of course, there will be no outward connection."

Suzuki Daiki looked at Zhao Yuanxi. "Is Mr. Zhao an important figure in the plan?"

Zhao Yuanxi, being stared at by a yakuza boss, forced himself to remain calm.

Tao Zhiming nodded. "My relationship with Brother Hidekaze is too easy to trace. Mr. Zhao is from Hong Kong; he will come forward in my stead."

"I understand," Suzuki Daiki asked. "So, what is the plan?"

"Mr. Suzuki, not even Brother Hidekaze knows the full plan," Tao Zhiming laughed. "Takeda Manufacturing is at the center of a vortex. It is best not to let them deduce any useful intelligence from any unusual arrangements. So please forgive me for keeping the plan confidential."

"I see..." Suzuki Daiki nodded. "I trust that when the time comes, you will make the necessary arrangements."

He took this matter very seriously. What Tao Zhiming had said was easy to verify. As long as it was confirmed that he was indeed acting on behalf of Kinoshita Hidekaze, he could offer his full support. After all, the head family had already issued the order. If he could get a piece of this action, his status within the organization would be guaranteed. At the very least, he would become a trusted force for the successor.

"By comparison..." Tao Zhiming became much more solemn, looking directly at Suzuki Daiki. "Mr. Suzuki, I hope we can develop together. So, regarding what we asked from Obata Yusuke—the investigation into the truth behind the death of Department Chief Morinaga of Henghe Trading—you have indeed been conducting it in secret, without alerting the head family or anyone else in the group, haven't you?"

Suzuki Daiki nodded seriously. "Of course. Since I took the responsibility of having the group provide you with 500 million yen, I am fulfilling our agreement. When President Kinoshita asked why you invited Yuhe Trading to cooperate, and the head family inquired, I only mentioned Yuta's unexpected discovery and your suspicions, calling it a stalling tactic. I told them no more. On this, we are allies."

This was the only reason Tao Zhiming had invited Suzuki Daiki.

He smiled upon hearing this. "That is good. I believe we may be able to play that card very soon. Please keep the fact that I have already begun my operations a secret, so as not to alert our opponents. As for Brother Hidekaze, I will make sure he remains at ease."

The message had been delivered, the demands had been made, and the rest of the evening was spent in pleasant conversation. The initial return of 75 million yen had completely put Suzuki Daiki at ease and made him even more convinced of the future Tao Zhiming had described.

As for Zhao Yuanxi, this dinner provided her with her first glimpse into the extent of Tao Zhiming's influence. Indeed, even though she was sitting across from a yakuza, she suddenly felt much safer.

*What a strange feeling...*

...

There was one more person running around Tokyo now: Zhao Yuanxi had begun her work.

Tao Zhiming returned to Mogami Real Estate and met with Kinoshita Hidekaze.

"Stop worrying about the Mogami Paradise project," Kinoshita Hidekaze muttered as soon as he saw Tao Zhiming asking about it. "I thought you were here to focus on the current situation with Takeda Manufacturing."

"These things are all connected," Tao Zhiming replied calmly. "After all, didn't Yuhe Trading participate? I keep feeling that their involvement in the Mogami Paradise project might be part of a larger plan."

"...Perhaps. In any case, after the news was released, the 1-billion-yen design proposal caused quite a stir; the effect has been very good. Since Yuhe joined in, the acquisition of leasehold rights has progressed much faster."

"I heard from President Inoue that after Yuhe joined, they made demands and introduced others to participate in the acquisition of leasehold rights." Tao Zhiming was very concerned about this. "Of the initial 5 billion yen in capital, aside from the 1 billion yen design fee, most of it is being used to acquire leasehold rights within the commercial district. Yuhe is acting so quickly—surely a portion of that 5 billion yen will be recovered in this form, right? After all, President Inoue’s competitor is someone from Yuhe. The scope has even expanded; their people are getting involved in the residential leasehold rights, making money off of you, Brother Hidekaze."

Kinoshita Hidekaze remained noncommittal. "That is reasonable. As long as it doesn't exceed my original budget, faster speed is a good thing. What is wrong with that?"

Tao Zhiming spoke with hidden meaning. "President Inoue is also working very hard now. Brother Hidekaze, you said last time that Yuhe had made a move on Takeda Manufacturing. Has that been confirmed?"

Kinoshita Hidekaze frowned. "At first, I did believe Yuhe had made a move. However, the people at Takeda Manufacturing have been running around like headless chickens lately, searching for a way to save their company. Furthermore, the latest news is that Yuhe does not have any additional capital to participate in the Takeda Manufacturing situation."

Tao Zhiming was surprised. "How can that be? They are, after all, a newly emerging conglomerate!"

"This time, it is quite a spectacle!" Kinoshita Hidekaze said cheerfully. "In my view, industries like real estate, which are linked to unique and limited land, are the only proper businesses. But the major conglomerates have all thrown their money into the foreign exchange market this time, and they’ve been trapped."

Tao Zhiming looked at the confident Kinoshita Hidekaze, speechless. This guy was making a fortune in real estate, but he understood so little about finance that he could say something like that.

*Impression of nouveau riche +1.*

But Tao Zhiming couldn't understand it. "How could the major conglomerates have no sources of information? How could they be trapped so easily?"

Kinoshita Hidekaze clearly found the matter very amusing. "Of course, it’s because someone set a trap. It was Mitsubishi. Do you know about the news that Takeda Takanao was going to sell his properties? Mitsubishi had previously only been restraining other conglomerates from using extreme measures, but who would have thought they would use the pretext of supporting the Ministry of Finance and protecting the Mitsubishi manufacturing industry to mobilize a massive amount of capital? They made their moves right around the time the interest rate cut was announced. I don't know the specifics, but Sumitomo, Mitsui, and even Yuhe are all stuck in it now."

Tao Zhiming recalled that the market was quite sluggish now. "Could it be that, aside from Mitsubishi, the others all bet that, just like last time, the Japanese yen would continue to appreciate after the rate cut announcement, so they bought a massive amount of yen?"

"Probably... In any case, isn't the yen depreciating now? If they were to sell now, their losses would be immense, so they have no choice but to continue pouring capital into the foreign exchange market. Because of this, it has become much harder for them to use financial leverage to swallow Takeda Manufacturing in the short term. Mitsubishi is brilliant!" Kinoshita Hidekaze actually praised his competitor.

"No... as major conglomerates, they want to take over Takeda Manufacturing—can they really not come up with a mere 10 billion yen?"

"Ha, it’s not that simple," Kinoshita Hidekaze sneered. "There is too much capital that needs to be deployed around the entire National Railways' assets. The key issue is that after Mitsubishi cleared out those real estate firms that didn't understand the situation, Takeda Takanao realized that he couldn't even sell his properties. He probably understands everyone's true intentions by now."

He sighed. "You acted too late. Now, you need to be prepared with 10 billion yen in capital to win the battle for Takeda Manufacturing."

Looking at his somewhat frustrated expression, Tao Zhiming actually felt relieved.

"So, my original plan was not bad after all."

Kinoshita Hidekaze looked at him in astonishment. "Don't tell me you were planning to get it at a low price from the beginning? With 10 billion yen in capital required, even I won't make much profit."

Tao Zhiming said languidly, "Takeda Takanao is, after all, a man who has managed his company for so many years. It would be strange if he didn't figure out the truth when faced with such an encirclement."