readease Chapter 41 The Price of Arrogance
Chapter 41 The Price of Arrogance
(Thanks to the great "Hoping for the Expectation" for the certification~ Thanks to "Huang Si Niang of Peach Blossom Spring" for the 20 consecutive update reminder tokens~ Thanks to the great "Zhe Qian official" for the certification~Bonus chapter is here)
In late March 1987, the cherry blossom front in Tokyo had just reached Ueno Park.
Inside the office building in Marunouchi, the air was dry and warm. The central air conditioning tirelessly delivered constant-temperature air, keeping the still chilly spring weather outside the double-glazed windows at bay.
Saionji Corporation, President's Office.
It's unusually quiet here.
"Click."
"Click."
Shuichi stood before a camphor wood table by the window, holding a pair of black steel pruning shears. In front of him was a five-needle pine tree that was over fifty years old.
The pine needles are lush and green, and the branches are twisted like dragons, but on a branch on the left, a cluster of miscellaneous leaves has grown, disrupting the overall balance.
Shuichi adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his expression focused, as if he were performing a precise surgical procedure. He tilted his head slightly, examining the direction of the branches and leaves, and then cut again.
"Click."
The clump of miscellaneous leaves fell with a thud, landing on a tray covered with white sand.
"President."
The secretary gently pushed open the door, her voice very low, as if afraid of disturbing the tranquility.
"Mr. Gonda from the Seibu Group has arrived."
Shuichi didn't turn around, nor did he even stop what he was doing.
"Let him in."
A few seconds later, a series of hurried and heavy footsteps broke the silence of the office. The leather shoes slammed on the floor with an uncouth "thump-thump."
"President Saionji, what a refined taste you have."
Quan Tian's voice came from behind.
Although he tried his best to maintain the composure typical of a high-ranking executive of a major conglomerate, the slight tremor in his voice betrayed his true feelings.
Shuichi remained with his back to him, gently fiddling with the pine needles with his fingers, searching for the next point of entry.
"Vice Minister Gonda, please make yourself at home."
His tone was flat, as if he were addressing a delivery person.
Gonda stood there, watching Shuichi's back, the muscles in his jaw twitching slightly.
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his anger, and walked to the sofa to sit down. He slammed his briefcase down on the coffee table with a dull thud.
"I'll stop beating around the bush."
As Quan Tian spoke, he took a check out of his briefcase and pushed it to the center of the coffee table.
"Regarding that piece of land in Meguro Ward. Seibu Corporation is an efficient company and doesn't like to waste time on these trivial matters."
He held up two fingers and tapped them on the check.
"Two hundred million yen."
Quan Tian raised his voice slightly, with a habitual condescending tone.
"As far as I know, you only spent fifty million yen to buy this land. And in just two months, you've achieved a fourfold return. President Saionji, you should be content. This profit margin is outrageous in any industry."
His voice echoed in the office.
Then came a deathly silence.
Shuichi seemed not to hear what he was saying at all. He simply tiptoed slightly and pointed the scissors at a dead branch at the top of the pine tree.
"Click."
The sound of a dry branch breaking was exceptionally clear in the quiet space.
Quan Tian's eyelids twitched at the sudden sound.
"President Saionji?" Gonda frowned. "I'm talking to you."
"I'm listening."
Shuichi finally turned around.
He was still holding the sharp scissors in his hand. Instead of looking at the check on the coffee table, he was scrutinizing Quan Tian from head to toe with the same scrutiny he would give a bonsai.
"Two hundred million," Xiu Yi repeated calmly. "That does sound like a lot."
"Of course!" Quan Tian thought he was interested, so he immediately leaned forward and put on a fake smile. "This is a cash check, it can be cashed right away. With these two hundred million, you can buy more of these... um, scraps."
Xiu Yi smiled.
He walked behind his desk, opened a drawer, and took out a pre-printed A4 sheet of paper.
The paper was very thin, with only a few lines of text on it.
He took the paper, walked around the large desk, and stood in front of Quan Tian.
Instead of sitting down, he looked down at Quan Tian, who was slumped in the sofa.
"Deputy Director Gonda, your math is quite good. Four times is indeed a huge profit."
Xiu Yi loosened his grip.
The piece of paper floated down and covered the two hundred million yen check.
"However, the math teacher in the Saionji family taught me another algorithm."
Quan Tian lowered his head, his gaze falling on the paper.
The content above is very simple, consisting of only one line of bold numbers.
Transfer price: 1,000,000,000 yen.
Quan Tian was stunned.
He blinked, thinking he had misread the decimal point.
One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand... hundred million.
Billion.
"bass!"
Quan Tian suddenly jumped up from the sofa, the movement so forceful that it almost overturned the coffee table in front of him.
"One billion?!"
His voice became shrill and even cracked due to extreme shock and anger.
"Are you crazy?! That piece of land is only thirty square meters! It's not even big enough to build a decent toilet! You want a billion?!"
"Thirty-three million yen per ping (3.3 square meters)?! Even the most expensive land in Ginza doesn't cost that much! This is extortion! It's blackmail!"
Spit sprayed into the air. Quan Tian's face turned a deep purplish-red, and the veins on his neck bulged like earthworms.
Faced with this furious roar, Shuichi didn't mind his rudeness. He simply took off his glasses, took out a deerskin cloth from his pocket, and slowly wiped the lenses.
"Deputy Minister Gonda, please watch your words."
Xiu checked the lenses against the light and put them back on.
"That's what a market economy is all about. Buying and selling are free; if you think it's too expensive, you don't have to buy it."
"Not buying?!" Quan Tian laughed angrily. "Your barbed wire fence cuts our construction site in half! Our bulldozers can't move, and our dump trucks can't get in! How can you expect me not to buy it?!"
"That's your problem."
Shuichi turned around and walked back to the table, picking up the scissors again.
He gestured towards the pine tree, seemingly feeling that the branches and leaves on the left were still a bit too dense.
"However, I've done the math for you."
As the scissors opened and closed, Shuichi's voice came slowly and deliberately.
"The land cost for that project in Meguro Ward was probably around 30 billion yen, right? With the initial demolition costs, I don't think it would be less than 40 billion yen."
"Click."
A branch fell.
"Of these 40 billion yen, at least half is bank loans. At current commercial loan rates, the daily interest would be approximately... five million yen."
"In addition to the rental fees for those dozens of heavy machines, the lost wages for hundreds of workers, and the expedited fees paid to meet the deadline."
"Click."
Another one.
"If construction doesn't start, the Seibu Group will have to throw 10 million yen into the water every day it opens its eyes."
Xiuichi stopped what he was doing, turned around, and looked at Quan Tian, whose face was gradually turning pale.
"One billion yen seems like a lot. But it's only equivalent to the loss from your project being shut down for three months."
"And I heard..."
A meaningful smile curved at the corner of Shuichi's mouth.
"Chairman Tsutsumi plans to list Seibu Estate this fall? This project in Meguro Ward is the core asset in the prospectus."
"If this land issue causes project delays, or even prevents us from obtaining a construction permit, thus affecting our listing process..."
Shuichi didn't finish his sentence.
He simply pointed at the paper with his scissors.
"Compared to stock price fluctuations, this one billion yen is practically a drop in the ocean when it comes to insurance premiums. Isn't that right?"
Dead silence.
Absolute silence.
Quan Tian stood still, his chest heaving violently. He clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly.
He wanted to argue, to curse, and even to rush up and punch this calm-looking man.
But he found that he couldn't do anything.
Because every word and every number that Shuichi said was like a nail, precisely driven into the Seibu Group's Achilles' heel.
This is an open conspiracy.
A blatant, overt conspiracy.
That's my decision. I want this price. Take it or leave it.
"you……"
Quan Tian squeezed out a sound through his teeth, his voice hoarse as if it had been rubbed on sandpaper.
"Shuichi Saionji, by doing this you are declaring war on the entire Seibu Group. Chairman Tsutsumi will not let you get away with this."
"Really? I don't know if Chairman Tsutsumi will let me go... but I do know he definitely won't let you go."
Shuichi turned around and continued pruning his pine tree.
"As for Chairman Tsutsumi... I just hope he can pay more attention to his company's image."
"By the way, this quote is only valid for three days."
The scissors in Shuichi's hand made a crisp closing sound.
"Three days later, the price will increase by 100 million every day."
"Because I see that land prices over there seem to be still rising."
Quan Tian watched that figure from behind.
Every time those scissors fell, it felt like they were severing the lifeblood of the Seibu Group.
"Good...very good."
Quan Tian grabbed the thin price list on the table, his fingers almost tearing the paper with his grip.
He didn't say anything more.
In the business world, losers have no right to make threats.
He turned around and strode towards the door.
The footsteps were still heavy, but the bluffing they had when they arrived was gone, replaced by a panicked sense of defeat.
"Bang!"
The office door was slammed shut.
The shaking caused the paintings on the wall to tilt slightly.
Xiu Yi did not turn back.
He looked at the five-needle pine in front of him, which had finally been perfectly pruned.
Excess branches and leaves were pruned, giving the tree a proud and vigorous appearance.
He put down the shears, picked up the spray bottle next to him, and carefully sprayed a layer of water mist onto the pine needles.
The water mist refracted rainbow-like light under the sunlight.
"A billion...!"
Xiuyi muttered to himself softly.
Just three months ago, this land was an unwanted garbage dump. When Satsuki spent 50 million yen to buy it, Shuichi was a little unsure of himself.
Now, it has been transformed into gold worth billions.
No, it turned into a billion-dollar fishbone stuck in the giant's throat.
Satsuki is right.
In this crazy age, even trash can be turned into a weapon if you're in the right position.
"But that's not enough. Now it's time for the little ants to show their power."