readease Chapter 184 Ajinomoto
Chapter 184 Ajinomoto
(Thanks to "Love Brings Cowardice" for the amazing certification and the bonus chapter! Thank you to "aichicken" for the amazing certification! Thank you to "Yetes" for the amazing certification! Bonus chapter is here~)
The elevator came to a stop on the second basement level.
The metal car doors slid open to both sides.
A pungent smell of epoxy resin and amino acid synthesis hits you.
The stark white light of the incandescent bulb shone on the stainless steel test bench.
Beside an old centrifuge stood a disheveled man. He wore a stained white lab coat and was copying data from the instrument panel into a notebook with a ballpoint pen. His heavy eye bags revealed the weariness of someone who had spent years in a basement, never seeing the light of day.
Hearing the chaotic footsteps, the man stopped writing and turned his head around, somewhat bewildered.
The executive stepped out of the elevator. His leather shoes made a soft sound as they hit the anti-static floor. He took out a neatly folded white handkerchief from his pocket, gently covered his mouth and nose, and frowned slightly, trying to shut out the stale air of the basement laboratory.
"Chief Researcher Takeuchi."
The executive officer's voice was soft, and his tone reverted to the rigid politeness typical of Japanese workplaces.
"Miss Saionji has come down specifically to inspect the place. Please bring out your sample of the byproduct of the amino acid insulating resin. Please be quick and don't waste your guest's precious time."
The man called Takeuchi paused for a moment. He clearly hadn't expected such a high-ranking figure to visit this marginal department, whose budget was almost completely cut.
He hastily wiped his hands on his white coat and hurriedly walked to the temperature-controlled storage cabinet against the wall. He opened the metal cabinet door and took out a translucent amber-colored film.
He held the film in both hands, bowed his head, and walked up to Satsuki.
"This is a byproduct of the research process," Takeuchi said, his voice lacking confidence and his eyes darting around. "It has extremely high insulation properties and an extremely low rate of thermal expansion and contraction. Its biggest drawback is that it's too brittle..."
Satsuki took a pair of white cotton gloves from Fujita Tsuyoshi and slowly put them on.
She reached out and took the thin film.
My fingers gently rubbed the amber surface. Smooth, hard.
Apply slight pressure with your thumb and forefinger.
"Click".
A crisp snapping sound rang out abruptly in the quiet laboratory.
The film shattered in two at my fingertips and fell onto the stainless steel test bench.
Satsuki frowned slightly.
"It's too crispy."
She pinched the fingertips of the glove and removed it. The pure white cotton glove arced through the dim light and fell into the nearby recycling bin.
"It breaks with the slightest impact. This physical property makes it completely unsuitable as a sealing film for lunch boxes."
Satsuki's voice instantly turned icy. Her face turned cold.
She turned around and took the "Annual Special Supply Price List of Seasonings" from Executive Director Endo's hand, a document they had just been discussing happily in the tasting room.
The paper trembled in the air, making a piercing "whoosh" sound.
"Mr. Executive, is this your company's crowning achievement? You want to waste my time on this garbage?"
"I originally had very high expectations for Ajinomoto's basic research and development capabilities. Now it seems that your company has wasted its money on producing this useless industrial waste."
Satsuki's wrist loosened slightly.
The heavy quotation slipped from his fingertips and landed on the stainless steel test bench with a dull thud.
"S-Food cannot entrust the lifeline of Japan's three largest convenience store chains to a company that can't even make good packaging materials."
She turned her head to the side, her gaze passing over the face of the executive director of Ajinomoto, who had turned deathly pale in an instant.
"Executive Director Endo, inform the purchasing department. The turnkey contract for the seasonings still needs some consideration. Contact Kikkoman tomorrow."
After saying that, she walked straight toward the elevator.
The executive's forehead was covered in cold sweat, which slid down his cheeks and dripped onto the dark gray collar of his suit.
He seemed to see his dream of pushing open the door to the group's core board of directors shatter before his eyes.
"Miss Nishi-Saionji! Please wait a moment!"
The executive rushed forward in a panic, his leather shoes leaving a gritty black mark on the floor. He bent over deeply, his hands gripping his knees tightly.
"I'm so sorry! Please forgive my rudeness!"
"This is just a peripheral project of the Basic Chemistry Department! It absolutely does not represent the capabilities of our Food Department! Please give us another chance!"
Satsuki stopped in her tracks.
She didn't turn around; her back was to the executive director.
"A company that manages even peripheral projects so poorly will only drag down S-Food's brand image."
Satsuki's voice was harsh.
"I don't want to see this perennially loss-making, garbage division still listed under Ajinomoto's name in future financial reports. It would make me feel like my money has gone down the drain."
The executive was panting heavily, his brain racing wildly in extreme fear.
It cannot appear in the joint venture's financial statements. It cannot be listed under the Ajinomoto name.
Peel it off!
By spinning off this department, we can save that huge food order!
"We'll dismantle it immediately!" the executive shouted hoarsely, as if grasping at a straw. "Our company will shut down this lab immediately! We'll completely remove them from the group's structure!"
In the corner, Chief Researcher Takeuchi was pale-faced, nervously clutching the hem of his white lab coat, not daring to utter a single word in rebuttal.
Why did the atmosphere suddenly become so tense? I was just conducting an experiment, how come it seems like I've caused a huge disaster?
Satsuki slowly turned around.
She looked at the executive director, who was covered in sweat, and a faint, mocking smile appeared on her lips.
"Layoffs? Let these poor researchers end up on the streets because of a single sentence I uttered? The Saionji family can't afford such a reputation for being mean-spirited."
The executive was stunned.
Laying off employees would give others ammunition to criticize them, while keeping them would mean losing orders.
He was caught in a dilemma, cold sweat pouring down his face. His gaze inadvertently swept over the briefcase with the "SA Investment" logo in Executive Director Endo's hand.
A bold, almost absurd idea popped into my head.
The Saionji family is wealthy. SA Investments has been throwing money around in the market lately, even buying up some useless bankrupt companies.
"What about... transferring ownership?"
The executive swallowed hard, tentatively raising his head with eyes full of pleading and flattery.
"If you don't agree to the closure... our company is willing to transfer this laboratory, along with Researcher Takeuchi's patents and those byproducts, to SA Investment free of charge as compensation for wasting your time!"
The more he talked about it, the more brilliant the idea seemed. It would get rid of a loss-making burden, please this young lady, and most importantly, keep the orders! As long as the orders were secured, everything would be fine.
"If you're willing to take on this mess, our company can even cover the equipment installation costs! Consider it a way to find a shelter for these people!"
Satsuki looked at the executive director's face, which was eager to shift the blame.
The induction was successful.
She frowned slightly, seemingly quite troubled by the suggestion, and sighed reluctantly.
"A shelter?"
She walked back to the testing table and gently touched the cover of the discarded quotation with her fingertip.
SA Investment never accepts junk.
The executive's heart jumped into his throat.
"but."
Satsuki then changed the subject.
"Saionji Corporation has always admired researchers with unwavering dedication. Since the Managing Director has made such a strong recommendation, I cannot refuse you."
"There's no need for a free transfer. SA Investment will set up a venture fund."
"We'll spin off this lab from Ajinomoto and establish a joint venture. We'll invest 1 billion yen to cover its future R&D and trial-and-error costs, taking an 80% stake. As for the five-year S-Food order, everything will remain the same."
She leaned forward slightly, looking directly into the executive director's bloodshot eyes.
"How about we consider this a somewhat irrational angel investment?"
The executive was stunned.
A few seconds later, his tense shoulders suddenly slumped, and he let out a long breath.
Trading a loss-making, industrial waste-producing, marginal laboratory for a huge food order, and even a billion yen in funding, is a deal that is virtually impeccable by traditional financial reporting standards.
"Your tolerance is truly admirable!"
"The Saionji Group is truly a company with a conscience and a strong sense of social responsibility!"
The executive bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle without hesitation, his voice trembling with the joy of surviving the ordeal.
"I immediately instructed the legal department to prepare for the contract stripping!"
Takeuchi stood frozen beside the centrifuge. He stared at the fragments of the membrane on the worktable, his lips trembling slightly, utterly unable to comprehend the dramatic reversal of fate that had occurred in that single minute.
In the corridor, Executive Director Endo and Managing Director Ajinomoto exchanged preliminary letters of intent that had just been stamped with the company seal.
The papers rubbed against each other, making a soft "rustling" sound. The sound of leather shoes gradually faded into the distance, eventually being swallowed up by the roar of the exhaust fan.
Satsuki stood alone in front of the lab table.
She extended the index and middle fingers of her right hand and gently pinched the half-broken amber-colored membrane.
Raise your arm slightly and hold the membrane in mid-air.
The pale light penetrated the translucent material at my fingertips, which lacked flexibility.
The halo refracted on the sharp, broken surface of the thin film, casting a tranquil amber spot of light into the depths of her eyes.
This fragile waste, which couldn't even be sealed in a bento box, will be sent to a top-standard cleanroom in a few years. As the only special substrate material that can support nanoscale transistors and completely isolate short circuits in internal precision circuits, it will precisely lock the physical bottleneck of all high-end chip packaging worldwide. Another technological monopoly barrier built by the Saionji family in the semiconductor industry chain is quietly closing in along with this amber glow.
The old exhaust fan in the corner was running heavily.
The rusty metal fan blades cut through the air, drawing the pungent smell of amino acid resin from the basement into the bottomless black ventilation duct.