Chapter 90: What, After All, Is the Great Secret?

After the expensive machine was installed, Lin Xiyu saw in the Kendo Club’s Financial Sword Research Room the wildest face of modern Japan, as Tao Zhiming had described it: the financial markets.

He told her how much money he had now, and how he had made it.

With a solid enough background in economics, Lin Xiyu grasped it quickly. Apart from being stunned by the sheer recklessness of his maneuvers, she did not feel that he was showing off his wealth to her.

But the scale of the fortune Tao Zhiming already possessed was enough to leave her reeling. In fact, she had blurted out, “With that much money, you could go back home and invest in building a factory!”

At the time, Tao Zhiming had only smiled at her in a very peculiar way.

Now, when he brought the subject up again, Lin Xiyu added, “I’ve been studying at school all this time, and I really haven’t had any contact with actual production or business operations. You managed to make money through financial means, so you really know more than I do. Was that suggestion actually that wrong? I’ve been reflecting on it these past few days too.”

“Reflecting on what? So serious,” Tao Zhiming teased, slowing his pace. “Actually, there’s nothing wrong with it. There’s money to be made investing and building a factory back home too; I know that. But after studying economics for so long, you must understand one thing by now. Under the present circumstances, with me having this much money, isn’t making money through financial means the best choice from an optimal-decision standpoint?”

Lin Xiyu could not help asking, “Through foreign exchange trading, can you really make that much money in just one month?”

Tao Zhiming’s gaze held a hidden meaning. “Your advisor is researching exactly that topic. And you said it yourself: starting last year, the home country adopted GDP accounting. Do you know the difference between the GDP accounting methods used at home and in Western countries?”

Lin Xiyu shook her head blankly. She had not yet studied that level of detail.

Besides, the domestic approach did not yet have enough data accumulated behind it, since it had only begun last year.

“Home uses the production method, while countries like the United States use the expenditure method. You have to understand that in statistics based on the production method, industries like education, healthcare, culture, finance, and so on are largely overlooked. But under the expenditure method, those industries are among the most important.” Tao Zhiming’s eyes seemed to look through history as he spoke leisurely. “So, Little Lin, don’t be fooled by surface figures. Finance does matter a great deal, but your suggestion to me was, in fact, the right one.”

Lin Xiyu again felt that he looked like a graduate advisor, and grew even more puzzled. “Then why didn’t you… consider doing that?”

“Because your advisor, and the object of Professor Yamamoto’s wisdom as well, are wondering the same thing: the Japanese government.” Tao Zhiming smiled with amusement. “Why has Japanese manufacturing become so powerful, why is GDP so high, and yet in this exchange-rate storm it seems so hard to resist? That’s a question troubling them deeply, but to me it is a feast. You might as well begin your thinking from there: why am I not considering investing in a factory or something, and instead still staying in finance to make money?”

Lin Xiyu pondered it for a moment, then could not help asking, “Could it be… that you already know the answer to that question?”

“I’m just as puzzled,” Tao Zhiming replied, though he was answering her question only on the surface, “by what these big shots are plotting.”

“...And all those schemes are related to your plan for making money?”

Tao Zhiming nodded solemnly. “Very much so.”

Lin Xiyu thought for a while, then asked a little uncertainly, “Are you telling me all this because you want me to help sound something out from the professor?”

“...What are you imagining?” Tao Zhiming laughed. “Your mind does turn quickly. Something this secret, something that has left me thinking for days without a clear conclusion—how could you possibly find anything out? Come on, let’s go to the cafeteria. Today I’ll fulfill your wish to treat me to a meal. Let’s have ramen.”

Being praised on one hand and underestimated on the other, Lin Xiyu muttered in frustration, “How do you know I couldn’t find anything out?”

“You’re quite competitive, aren’t you? But you’re an exchange student. Don’t go prying into the core plans being brewed at the very top.” Tao Zhiming gave her a meaningful look.

Lin Xiyu was startled. Only then did she realize that although he knew she was Professor Yamamoto’s student, he still had not asked her to help him—because of this very reason.

At the cafeteria, they ordered two bowls of ramen.

Watching Lin Xiyu lower her head to eat, one hand gathering her long hair, Tao Zhiming could not help asking, “Little Lin, have you ever received a love letter?”

Lin Xiyu suddenly choked, coughing with her face flushed bright red.

“...Was that really worth such a big reaction?” Tao Zhiming had simply seen her profile and asked whatever came to mind.

After she finally recovered, Lin Xiyu took another sip of soup with her head still down. “Weren’t you thinking about the schemes of those big shots?”

“That was just earlier. If I keep thinking about that, my head will explode. Change the subject. Relax a little.”

“So you decide to tease me instead?” Lin Xiyu shot him an irritated look.

Tao Zhiming smiled. “Sure, then I’ll tease you.”

“...”

Lin Xiyu had nothing to retort with, so she lowered her head and concentrated on eating her noodles.

Tao Zhiming’s words had been playful enough, but in truth he was deeply absorbed in thinking about Hidefumi Kinoshita’s great secret, and the more he thought, the more his head hurt.

The matter was not actually that hard to reason through: anything capable of driving a sharp rise in the value of a specific plot of land within a very short time must be linked to an information gap.

For instance, if land values across all of Tokyo were rising, that was because the next phase of planning for the entire metropolis was already an open secret, with only the formal approval of the overall plan still pending.

In the new master plan, manufacturing would be pushed further out of the Tokyo Bay area, while the central wards of Tokyo would focus on high-value-added high-end services such as finance, media, and education.

These were all industries that could create far greater value on the same amount of land.

So the vast tracts of land occupied by manufacturing in Tokyo naturally had enormous room for appreciation; the same was true of those low, old houses.

But such growth would be relatively gradual, foreseeable, and known to everyone.

Unless the plot of land Kinoshita had his eye on, or the area surrounding it, concealed a major plan still under secret discussion.

That major plan was not yet known to most outsiders. Only then, once the news was released, could a single plot of land surge in value and become the most coveted site in the city.

If Kinoshita could fully swallow that piece of meat, then the land he had already acquired was the target of the plan itself.

If he could only drink the broth, then the target of the major plan must lie in the areas around that land.

Judging from how much Kinoshita valued Tao Zhiming’s “Matsujou Paradise Town” proposal, he should only be able to drink the broth. Otherwise, he would simply wait for the major plan to take shape, and would not need to go to such lengths.

That had been Tao Zhiming’s conclusion for a long time, but it only increased his workload.

Because once the land itself, and the surrounding adjacent areas, were all taken into account, the amount of information involved multiplied several times over.

Yet for someone of Kinoshita Hidefumi’s wealth to be able to draw only a sip of broth from this plan, and still need a proposal like “Matsujou Paradise Town” to raise his profit ceiling a little, made the whole thing rather frightening.

That meant this major plan was very likely a top-level blueprint being discussed by Japan’s highest circles.

He had to uncover this secret.

In the library, Tao Zhiming searched through a great deal of history related to Minato Ward, examined recent scholarly discussions on the economy, and read proposals concerning the development of Tokyo Bay, hoping to find some clue.

He also knew that Hayato Yamamoto might know something. After all, Yamamoto was indeed one of Japan’s leading economists at the time, and an important member of the top policy think tank.

But Tao Zhiming was not yet close enough to him for Yamamoto to reveal even a small, unimportant fragment of such a great secret.

What he had said before was also true: a foreign exchange student like Lin Xiyu would never be able to find out anything.

Still, he could try in the afternoon to see whether he could find some materials that corresponded to the ones Hayato Yamamoto wanted to gather.

Perhaps Yamamoto’s research topic was serving that very major plan.

Tao Zhiming had only teased her a little and did not continue actually flirting with Lin Xiyu, which let her breathe a sigh of relief. She finished her noodles in peace.

The two of them returned to the Kendo Club together, and all the while Tao Zhiming kept frowning in thought.

Lin Xiyu wanted to hear more about the matter that was making his head “about to explode,” because whenever they talked about such things, she always learned something.

Besides, she was gradually becoming more aware that she could not afford to look like a fool in front of him. Every time serious topics came up, she felt like a grade-schooler beside him.

But once they reached the Kendo Club, they saw the vice president, Ueda Natsuna, already dressed in practice gear. Upon seeing Tao Zhiming, she asked him with a solemn expression, “Have you finished today’s five hundred repetitions?”

“Not today. I’m busy.” Tao Zhiming answered succinctly, then led Lin Xiyu straight to the research room.

Ueda Natsuna was furious.

In any case, she suddenly felt it had become her duty to supervise his practice.

Yes, at the very least, she would have to come to school once every three days to keep an eye on his training.

Once the term started, she could supervise him every day. Every day!

But what did he mean by being busy?