Reborn in Tokyo: From Heiress to Global Tycoon

Chapter 265 A Twist of Fate

Akasaka, Tokyo.

A members-only convenience store (owned by Mitsui) hidden in a deep alley.

The rainy season, which began in early July, continued. A continuous curtain of rain enveloped the vast city, and the air was thick with a sultry, oppressive heat.

Inside the "Pine and Crane" private room.

The central air conditioning system inside quietly circulates cool air, isolating the outside heat and humidity. In the brass incense burner in the corner, a piece of agarwood burns silently, emitting a subtle and calming woody fragrance.

The supreme leader of the Mitsui zaibatsu, General Yagi, sat upright on the thick rush tatami mats.

He was wearing a dark gray traditional kimono today. On the marble table beside him sat a sandalwood cane with a pure silver handle.

The shoji doors were silently pushed open to both sides by a nakai dressed in a kimono. (Nakakai: a female server in a high-class ryotei (traditional Japanese restaurant) responsible for greeting guests and managing their living arrangements and meals.)

Shuichi Saionji stepped into the private room.

He was wearing a well-tailored dark bespoke suit and his tie was perfectly tied.

"Brother Xiuyi, it's raining quite heavily outside."

Yagi raised his hand, gesturing to the guests opposite him.

"Lord Yagi, I've kept you waiting."

Shuichi bowed slightly and sat down on the leather armchair opposite Yagi.

Dressed in a kimono, Nakai approached quietly with a tea tray in hand and knelt respectfully beside the marble table.

"Excuse me for disturbing you both."

She spoke softly, using silver tea tongs to place a small pinch of Shizuoka first buds into the bone china teapot. As the boiling spring water poured in, the sound of the water flowing and the very slight clinking of the porcelain filled the private room.

Yagi leaned back in his chair, watching the tea being filtered, and naturally started a conversation.

"This year's rainy season seems to be longer than usual," Yagi said casually, his hands clasped over his stomach. "It's been raining for days on end, and the Tokyo Bay sewers are probably about to break down."

Shuichi unbuttoned the first button of his suit jacket, allowing his body to relax a little.

"Yes, the humidity here in Kanto is really too high, making it hard to breathe..." Shuichi's gaze swept over the brass incense burner in the corner, "However, the sandalwood incense in this private room is perfectly blended. It just happens to suppress the musty smell outside."

"Hehe, if you like, I'll have someone pack a few taels for you when you leave."

Please enjoy your meal.

Zhongju placed the two cups of emerald green tea, which she had poured, beside them, and bowed slightly in greeting. Then, she bowed her head and left the private room, closing the wooden door tightly behind her.

The faintest noise in the corridor was completely cut off.

The two remained silent for a while.

Yagi picked up the bone china teacup in front of him.

"For the past few months, the air in Marunouchi has been filled with the smell of blood."

He blew on the white steam rising from the surface of the tea.

"With the release of the Ministry of Finance's 'Total Quantity Regulation,' coupled with the continuous decline of nearly 10,000 points in the stock market, real estate developers who relied on bridge loans to stay afloat went bankrupt in droves."

He took a small sip of tea.

"At the beginning of the year, after that Kansai nouveau riche from Matsuura jumped off the Keio Hotel, the mess he left behind caused several creditor banks to wrestle in bankruptcy court for a full six months. It wasn't until yesterday that the most crucial mortgage disputes were finally resolved. Now, those rare plots of land under his name in Minato Ward have been put up for auction by the court."

Yagi put down his teacup.

He slightly raised his eyelids, and the corners of his wrinkled eyes twitched gently.

"Thanks to Ms. Satsuki's advice to Yoshino a few months ago, Mitsui Bank was able to cut off those high-risk real estate pledges before the Ministry of Finance's gates closed, and recover ample cash reserves at the highest point. Mitsui remembers this favor."

He leaned forward slightly.

"Brother Xiuyi. Right now, the starting price for those plots of land that have been seized by the court is less than 30% of what it was at its peak last year."

"This is a risk-free opportunity. I wonder if the Saionji family would be interested in each contributing 30 billion yen to Mitsui, establishing a dedicated M&A fund worth hundreds of billions of yen, and taking over this lucrative piece of the Minato Ward before the other conglomerates can react?"

Yagi did not let this temptation remain merely empty words.

He pulled out a light blue cadastral survey map bearing the watermark of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Urban Development Bureau from a shelf beneath the marble table.

He unfolded it and smoothly pushed it towards Xiuichi along the smooth tabletop.

"Brother Xiuyi, you might want to take a look at this."

Yagi's fingertip touched a coastal area in the center of the drawing, which was highlighted in red.

"Shibaura 3-chome, Minato Ward, former dock warehouse area. The most important collateral under Matsuura's name."

"Matsuura spent five years of his life using the yakuza in Kansai to clear out those troublesome occupied houses and spent a huge amount of political donations to finally get a permit from the Ministry of Transport to expand a deep-water berth that would allow 10,000-ton roll-on/roll-off ships to dock."

Yagi leaned back in his chair, his hands clasped over his stomach.

"Mitsui Research Institute has conducted calculations. The Saionji Project is currently reclaiming land in Odaiba to build a tower, but Odaiba is ultimately an isolated artificial island geographically. If S-Food's cold chain goods shipped from Hokkaido to the Kanto region are unloaded at Oarai Port in Ibaraki and the trucks have to travel by land to enter the center of Tokyo, it will result in at least two hours of additional congestion and losses."

"A two-hour temperature difference corresponds to a 1.5% waste rate in the cold chain system. This deep-water node in Shibaura can perfectly offset the losses from this land route. It is your best choice to open up the main logistics artery of Tokyo Bay."

"Both Nakano of the Daiei Group and Yoshiaki Tsutsumi of Seibu are secretly coveting this berth. However, its first priority mortgage right is currently firmly held by Mitsui Bank."

Yagi leaned forward slightly and pushed the blueprint half an inch further toward Shuichi.

"Once we reach an agreement, we can use our status as the first creditor to apply for asset preservation in court, bypassing the lengthy public bidding process. Mitsui will provide the funding, and Saionji will provide the construction team. Together, we will cut off the throats of other retail giants entering the Tokyo Bay logistics hub."

Yagi's eyes held a smile.

He was not afraid of being rejected by the Saionji family.

This proposed collaboration was partly motivated by a desire to repay the Saionji family. Aside from Mitsui's profits, this land was indeed the most suitable for the Saionji family.

A brief silence fell over Tingsongxuan.

Xiu Yi sat upright on the sofa.

His breathing remained steady, and his hands rested calmly on his knees.

Faced with such a prime piece of meat being offered to him, he felt as if a huge boulder was hanging over his heart.

The Saionji family certainly doesn't lack this amount of readily available cash for bargain hunting in their current accounts.

However, the [CTRPS acquisition model] set by Satsuki has extremely strict triggering conditions and timelines.

At this critical juncture, if he were to unilaterally agree to establish a joint fund with Mitsui for such an unplanned large-scale merger, Shuichi would have no idea what kind of chain reaction it would trigger. He didn't know if this would prematurely alert the Ministry of Finance, nor did he know if this so-called "prime piece of land" concealed other traps set by Mitsui.

Satsuki is still lying in a sterile ward in the underground medical room.

The decision-making brain that can deduce the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars and the reactions of government and business in a second is still out of order.

Shuichi was very self-aware. He knew he didn't have his daughter's insightful perspective.

Faced with this new, uncontrollable variable, the only thing he could do was to firmly weld the defense line and never deviate from the predetermined route set by Satsuki.

He had to refuse. And he couldn't reveal the slightest flaw.

Xiu Yi picked up the teacup from the table.

He lowered his gaze, looking at the clear tea in his cup, his tone revealing a weariness that was hard to conceal.

"Lord Yagi, the land left by Matsuura is indeed of the highest quality."

Shuichi sighed softly and shook his head.

"But the Saionji family really doesn't have any extra appetite right now."

"In order to avoid domestic policy risks, we converted all the cash we had made into short-term U.S. Treasury bonds. They are now locked up in overseas accounts."

He looked up and met Yagi's gaze.

"And then there's the construction of the Saionji Pagoda in Odaiba. That's a bottomless pit. Domestic liquidity has been completely drained. We simply can't fight any longer now."

Yagi listened quietly.

He looked at Shuichi's posture, which seemed to be "burdened by infrastructure projects and unable to buy at the bottom." But the corners of his mouth slowly turned upward, forming a smile.

"Brother Xiuyi, this is hardly an obstacle."

Yagi reached for the sandalwood cane beside him and gripped the pure silver handle with both hands folded together.

"U.S. Treasury bills are the highest level of collateral in terms of liquidity and security in the international financial market."

"As long as you nod your head, Mitsui Bank can immediately open a dedicated channel. We'll use your overseas treasury bonds as full collateral. Tomorrow morning, an equivalent low-interest loan of 30 billion yen will be deposited into Saionji Construction's account."

"You don't even need to use a single penny of your capital to enter the game with Mitsui and share this irreplaceable piece of land in the port area."

The air inside the private room became extremely still.

Shuichi's fingers tightened slightly on the bone china cup as he held it.

Risk-free, low-interest leverage. A top-quality asset you can get for free.

For any capitalist seeking profit in the business world, this is an absolutely irresistible temptation.

If Satsuki were awake right now, what would she do?

Will she take advantage of the situation to borrow the money to expand her gains, or will she use some extremely sophisticated financial terminology to dismantle the other party's probing?

he does not know.

"No."

Shuichi's voice became extremely stiff.

"The Saionji family will never again increase its debt to banks by even one yen. This is my bottom line."

He looked at Yagi, his back ramrod straight.

"I appreciate Lord Yagi's kindness. But there's no need to bring up the joint venture fund again."

Yagi sat upright on the tatami mat.

His eyelids drooped slightly, and his gaze fell on the edge of the low table.

It's too stiff.

Shuichi... was panicking.

Yagi slowly rubbed his fingers against the handle of the sterling silver cane.

"Hmm, is that so...?"

"That's a real shame."

He raised his head again, his cloudy old eyes staring into Xiu Yi's eyes.

"Well, I wonder what Miss Saionji is thinking?"

He smiled, his tone carrying a hint of inquiry.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I'd like to hear Miss Satsuki's insightful opinion."

Shuichi's breathing rhythm became disordered for a moment.

Oh no, we've given ourselves away.

If he was only representing himself, then making such a conservative decision would be understandable.

However, from the outside perspective, he, Shuichi Saionji, also represents the will of Satsuki Saionji.

Given this, the decision he is making now is seen by outsiders as a principle jointly agreed upon by him and Satsuki.

However, the principles he is proposing now are completely different from Satsuki's usual style of doing things. This alone is enough to arouse the other party's suspicion.

He tried his best to keep his face calm and his tone was completely flat.

"My daughter has been suffering from the summer heat lately and has gone to Karuizawa to escape the heat."

"The recent macroeconomic fluctuations have been too great, and she agrees that we should take a break and reorganize our internal accounts. This summer..."

Xiuyi picked up his teacup.

"The Saionji family are just spectators."

Yagi looked at Shuichi's calm face.

He didn't try to persuade him any further.

"I see. Escaping the summer heat... that is indeed a good place to recuperate."

Yagi nodded and picked up his teacup.

"Since the Saionji family has decided to take a break, then Mitsui will take care of this land on its own."

……

Half an hour later.

A black Toyota Century sedan drove through the rain in Chiyoda Ward.

General Yagi sat alone in the back seat.

The carriage was extremely quiet.

He turned his head to look at the rainwater that kept gathering and trickling down the car window.

The rain scene appeared somewhat dim under the privacy film.

Yagi's fingertips caressed the silver handle of the sandalwood cane.

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

The Saionji family abhors debt.

A cold smile curled at the corner of Yagi's mouth.

A few years ago, the Saionji family swallowed up a 30 billion yen unsecured loan from Mitsui Bank without hesitation.

That young girl, despite her young age, was well-versed in using maximum leverage to reap huge profits. From shorting the dollar to sweeping up Tokyo real estate, each move was accompanied by extremely frenzied capital flows.

A witch with an extremely keen sense of smell and a bloodthirsty nature.

Faced with a prime piece of meat whose price has fallen to 30%, and faced with low-interest government bonds that offer virtually no risk, they are essentially using it as collateral for leverage.

Will she obediently stay in Karuizawa to "escape the heat"? Will she willingly "be a spectator" while the whole of Tokyo is bleeding?

absurd.

Yagi leaned back in the leather chair.

He was certain. Shuichi had lied in the tea room just now.

The zero-debt bottom line, the trip to Karuizawa to recuperate—it's all just a smokescreen deliberately released by the Saionji family.

There are two possibilities regarding why Ms. Saionji made such a gesture.

First, there's a problem with this land. The Saionji family doesn't plan to eat it.

Secondly, they are secretly plotting another, larger, and more covert killing scheme, and are unable to spare the time and energy to participate.

Did she foresee another great new opportunity that was about to emerge?

She deliberately had her father present himself as extremely weak and conservative, burdened by infrastructure projects. It's highly likely he intended to use these initially bankrupt land parcels as bait to lure Mitsui and other conglomerates into taking over on a large scale.

Once Mitsui's massive cash flow is locked up by these heavy assets, when the real market bottoms out and cracks appear in certain core financial assets, Mitsui will completely lose its ammunition for the fight.

"What a formidable opponent."

Yagi chuckled softly.

Before fully understanding the true strength of that little girl from the Saionji family, blindly jumping in to buy at rock-bottom prices will only make you a liability on someone else's chessboard.

He picked up the receiver of the car phone.

"Notify the local government headquarters." Yagi's voice was cold and hard. "The acquisition of the Matsuura construction site in Minato Ward is to be suspended indefinitely. Mitsui's large-scale bargain-hunting operation is to be completely put on hold."

"Let's observe from the sidelines for now."