Reborn in Tokyo: From Heiress to Global Tycoon

Chapter 339 The Tea Room of Baishui Society

(Two chapters~)

October 29, 1990.

Tuesday.

Osaka. Kitashinchi.

8:17 PM.

The noren curtain of the ryotei "Chikufu" was lifted slightly from the inside. The female ryotei knelt on the partition wall in the entrance hall, her forehead almost touching the back of her hand, watching the last guest's shoes disappear at the end of the corridor.

Then she straightened up and closed the lattice door at the end of the corridor.

After the door closed, no more sounds could be heard from inside.

This restaurant was built during the Taisho era. Its walls are made of double-layered earthen walls with sound-absorbing cotton—it is said that it was originally used by a shipyard tycoon to entertain important military officials. Nearly seventy years have passed, and the people he entertained have changed time and again, but the soundproofing has remained the same.

Second floor. Eight-room annex.

Five people were kneeling inside the shoji gate.

The person sitting in the seat of honor was an elderly man in his early seventies. His hair was completely white, combed neatly, and the skin on his cheeks was loose and drooping, but his eyes were still bright and alert.

Masaaki Urakami. Former Secretary-General of the Hakusuikai. Currently an "Advisor".

In Japanese business organizations, the title of consultant means two things: either someone who has truly retired and is only a name left, or someone who doesn't need a name and can change the mind of the current secretary-general with just a phone call.

Urakami belongs to the latter category.

To his right sat Yasui, the managing director of Sumitomo Bank's Osaka headquarters. He was fifty-seven years old, with thin lips and a sharply defined jawline.

He has been working in the financing approval department since he was thirty-two years old, for twenty-five years. Sixty percent of the real estate financing amount of the entire Osaka headquarters has been approved by him.

Yasui was standing next to Umeba. The vice-minister who had been reading out those four rules yesterday was standing in the conference room on the third floor of Ito's building.

He wore a dark blue suit today, and his posture was more relaxed than yesterday—after all, this was his home turf.

Two people are sitting on the left.

One of them was the head of the planning department at Ito Mansho, named Kawauchi. He was forty-eight years old, with gray hair at his temples and neatly trimmed nails.

The "Planning Office" he was in charge of was known internally as the "Second Finance Department" at Ito Man—meaning that while the official finance department managed the public accounts, he managed the private accounts.

The last one was a young man near the sliding door. He was thirty-two years old, wearing thin-rimmed glasses, a gray suit, and a Sumitomo Bank badge pinned to his chest. His business card read "Deputy Director, Secretariat, Sumitomo Bank Osaka Headquarters".

A B5-sized notebook lay open in front of him, and the pen cap had been unscrewed.

Meeting minutes.

There was only sencha on the table, its color so pale it was almost transparent. When poured into a Shino ware cup, the surface was covered with a very faint green.

Urakami picked up the cup, took a sip, and then put it down.

"Umeba, please tell me about what happened with Ito Man yesterday."

Mei Chang bowed slightly.

"Saionji sent four people. The leader was their group's executive director, Endo."

"SIS's audit director, legal department head, and two technical document clerks."

"Where's the equipment?" Yasui asked.

"Four hard-shell briefcases. No scanners or mobile devices were found."

Yasui tapped her fingers on her knee. "What did they see?"

"This morning I only looked at the trade contract ledger. The one from 1989," Mei Chang said in a very calm voice. "This afternoon I looked at the warehouse receipt financing number sequence."

Urakami's gaze did not fall on Umeba. He stared at the teacup on the table, as if looking at the tea stains at the bottom.

"What restrictions have you imposed on them?"

"Four points. Internal bank information is not made public, customer files are not copied, credit approval processes are not within the scope of verification, and reconciliation is done through postal channels."

"Did he accept?"

Meichang paused for half a second.

He didn't argue on the spot. He just said he respected the bank's rules.

Urakami's eyebrows twitched.

"Then what."

"Then he produced a deposit payment voucher." Umeba's voice dropped a half-tone. "It was paid by Ito Man to the Osaka main store's third escrow account, and he asked me where the corresponding letter of credit copy was."

The room fell silent.

Outside the shoji screen, from the end of the corridor, came the soft sound of a woman tidying up dishes. The clinking of bowls and plates sounded like rain falling in the distance.

Yasui turned his head and glanced at Hanoi.

Hanoi's expression didn't change much. He rubbed the knuckle of his right index finger with his fingertip—there was a faint cigarette burn there, from when he accidentally burned himself while smoking.

"Regarding the letters of credit—" Hanoi began, his voice a little hoarse, "the five deposits, and the corresponding letters of credit were indeed opened."

"Who are you going to?" Yasui asked.

"Hanwa Metal."

Yasui's jawline tightened.

"Has the goods arrived?"

"No," Hanoi answered crisply. "Those five were purely financing letters of credit. The money went into a custodian account, went through a loop, and finally ended up in the accounts of those two shell companies in Kitahama."

After he said that, the air in the room froze again.

The young secretary's pen nib rested on the paper. Ink gathered at the nib into a tiny bead, hanging suspended.

Urakami put down his teacup.

"Here's the problem," he said in a low voice. "Endo has already seen the numbering gaps. He knows there are five margin deposits that don't correspond to actual trades."

He looked up.

"He doesn't need the bank's original documents now, because Ito Man's own ledger has already pointed out the problem."

Yasui's lips were pressed into a thin line.

Mei Chang lowered his head.

Urakami glanced around at the four people present. Then his gaze returned to the table, settling on the clear sencha cup.

"Everyone."

His speech slowed down.

"The eldest daughter of the Saionji family is seventeen years old this year."

Hanoi stopped. Mai Chang looked up.

Yasui opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something.

Urakami raised a hand to stop him.

"Please don't misunderstand what I mean by this."

He pulled his hand back to his knee.

Age is not the point.

"Everyone knows who paid for that young lady's tuition over the past few years."

"The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Construction, those guys on Wall Street, and Yoshiaki Tsutsumi of Seibu—which one of them has ever gotten the better of her?"

No one in the room answered.

Urakami continued.

"The real problem is Sumitomo Yoshio."

His fingernail scratched a line in the crevices of the tatami mat.

"The main family has already given authorization. There's a written authorization letter in black and white, stamped with Yoshio's personal seal. The people from Saionji took this authorization and entered Ito Man's territory to check the accounts."

"The official guise was to help the family settle old accounts. In reality—"

He didn't finish his sentence.

Yasui answered it for him.

"In reality, it was the main family that brought outsiders into the Sumitomo Group."

Urakami nodded slightly.

"That's what we're going to talk about tonight."

He pushed the teacup aside.

"Whether it's bad bank debts or Ito Man's financial problems, these are our own issues. We'll handle them internally, clean them up behind closed doors, and no one outside will be able to tell."

"But Yoshio's move—"

He raised his eyes and glanced at Yasui and Umeba.

"That's breaking the rules."

……

There was a silence of nearly ten seconds.

The young secretary's pen fell to the ground, leaving a small ink dot on the paper. He quickly pressed his finger against the dot and turned the notebook to the next page.

Yasui was the first to speak.

"Mr. Urakami. The audit team's current progress—if they only look at Ito Man's trade ledgers and warehouse receipts, they can at most deduce two layers: 'abnormal prepayments' and 'empty warehouse numbers'."

"To connect the whole chain, they must obtain the original letter of credit from the bank, credit approval records, and transaction details of the third escrow account."

He tapped his knee with his index finger.

"If the bank doesn't provide these three things, they won't be able to cross the bridge."

Mei Chang immediately took over.

"But when Endo asked for the margin certificate yesterday, I could sense that he wouldn't stop there."

"He knows the bridge is on the other side; he just hasn't gone there yet."

Urakami didn't reply. He was waiting.

Yasui took a deep breath.

"As a first step, I suggest continuing to use compliance systems as a barrier to limit the audit team's ability to cross-validate."

He reached out and broke off a finger.

"Specifically—have Ito Man provide the relevant information, and starting tomorrow, we will implement a 'departmental hierarchical filing system.' Trade contracts will go to the Trade Management Department, warehouse receipts to the Logistics Department, margin deposits to the Finance Department, and invoices to the Tax Department."

"Each item requires a separate application. The application form can only be submitted after it has been approved by the head of the relevant department."

Applications with incorrect format, misplaced stamps, or overly vague reasons will be returned for resubmission.

Urakami nodded slightly.

Yasui broke off the second finger.

"The signatories who directly handled those unusual transactions were Matsuzaki from the Trade Division and Yoshida from the General Affairs Division, both subordinates of Mitamura."

"Matsuzaki will be on health leave starting tomorrow. I'll arrange the diagnosis; he'll be hospitalized for a follow-up examination of his stomach ulcer for two weeks."

"Yoshida has been reassigned. The reason given is the job rotation system."

Hanoi added a comment from the side.

"I'll take care of things with Matsuzaki. Just let him relax and take his vacation."

Urakami did not object. His fingers tapped slowly on his knees, the rhythm very even.

Yasui glanced at Urakami's expression and continued.

"Step two."

He lowered his voice.

"We need to let the Kansai business community know."

Hanoi turned his head.

Yasui's gaze fell on a non-existent point on the table.

"The Chamber of Commerce and Industry's magazine will have a special issue next month with the theme 'Kansai Industries' self-rescue after the bubble economy.'"

"I have connections in the editorial department. They can add a commentary."

"What should I write?" Urakami asked.

"Write 'Tokyo capital is taking advantage of the bursting bubble to erode the foundation of Kansai's industries.'"

Yasui's tone was very flat.

"Saionji Trading Co., Ltd. was just promoted last month. The first thing they did was set up a temporary office in Osaka. The second thing they did was come to check on Ito Man's accounts. The third thing—they hosted a private dinner last week, inviting the presidents of Sumitomo Metal, Sumitomo Chemical, and Sumitomo Electric Industries."

"When these three things are put together, anyone can see the difference."

Urakami raised his eyebrows slightly.

"You want the presidents of manufacturing companies to feel—"

"I think Saionji is coming to Osaka to steal business," Yasui chimed in. "Letters of credit, overseas procurement channels, trade settlement—these are the lifeblood of traditional trading companies. Once Saionji Trading Company establishes itself here, local trading companies and banks in the Kansai region will be squeezed out."

"Those company presidents were afraid of being dragged down by bad bank loans, but they were even more afraid of letting a wolf into their house."

Urakami did not immediately respond. He picked up his teacup, found it was completely cold, and put it down.

"The direction is right," he said. "But don't write too explicitly."

"Just let people feel the essence of it. Don't include the three characters 'Saionji'."

Yasui nodded. "Use 'Tokyo Emerging Capital Group'."

"Can."

Urakami stopped pointing. He turned to Hanoi.

"Step three."

Hanoi sat up straighter.

Urakami looked at him, his eyes half-closed.

"Financing tools"

Hanoi understood. He moved his hand from his knee to the table, his fingers spread as if measuring something.

"Sumitomo Chemicals' standby credit line was frozen by Citibank last week. If our side also tightens restrictions—"

"Don't tighten it," Urakami interrupted him.

Hanoi paused for a moment, stunned.

"Don't let anyone say 'Shirai will take revenge on the manufacturing company president,'" Urakami said softly. "Once that impression forms, they'll run even faster."

Yasui frowned slightly. "Then—"

"Technical review," Urakami said, uttering four words.

"Letter of credit margin ratio - recalculated according to the latest real estate valuation model".

"Short-term financing renewal - add a 'cross-verification of related risks' step to the approval process."

"Overseas standby facility - latest assessment report requiring supplementary collateral."

He pushed the teacup further away.

"Every step we take is compliant with regulations, and every step is based on established systems."

"But each step will delay the arrival of funds by three to five days."