pertwk Chapter 292 Returning to School
Chapter 292 Returning to School
(Thanks to "Chihaya Rinna" for the "There's no particular reason, but putting the two chapters together is more appropriate, so here's an extra chapter" message. Two chapters today~)
Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo.
The inner courtyard of the Saionji main family.
The deer in the courtyard, its body filled with clear water, slowly tilted downwards.
"when--"
Hollow bamboo tubes struck the moss-covered round stones, their crisp sounds echoing in the quiet afternoon.
Saionji Satsuki, dressed in a loose-fitting pure cotton kimono, leaned comfortably against a cushion on the edge of the room. Her fair, bare feet were casually crossed, enjoying the cool breeze of early autumn.
She was holding a gray-white Game Boy handheld console in her hand.
"Drip, drip, drip..."
A crisp eight-bit electronic sound echoed in the air beside the edge. Satsuki's eyes were lowered, her left thumb rapidly pressing on the D-pad, adjusting the constantly falling geometric shapes. Her right hand lightly tapped the A key, and a long rectangular block was precisely filled into the deep groove at the bottom.
With a pleasant click, the stacked pixel blocks at the bottom of the screen flashed and disappeared instantly, and the numbers on the scoreboard jumped up.
These past few days have exhausted her. She'd barely gotten off the plane when someone set up such a huge mess for her; she felt like her old illness was about to flare up again.
He was just one step away from collapsing from exhaustion, shocking everyone.
Fortunately, not all members of the Saionji family are incompetent. With Maki around, she can feel much more at ease about the group's internal affairs.
A figure walked along the wooden corridor.
Executive Director Endo, carrying a black briefcase, stopped two steps away from Satsuki. He bowed slightly and placed several newly bound financial reports flat on the low rosewood table.
"Young Miss".
"The internal compliance review report for this week from the General Affairs Department has been compiled."
Satsuki pressed the pause button on the handheld console. The squares on the screen came to a standstill.
"How's the construction going at Saionji Temple these past few days, Maki?"
She casually placed the game console on the cushion beside her, sat up straight, and her gaze fell on the blue-covered document at the top.
"Ms. Maki's internal audit of Saionji Construction has been remarkably effective." Endo's tone was full of admiration. "Those people under President Eguchi originally prepared a thick stack of dual procurement contracts, attempting to use inflation losses to cover up the price difference of rebar they had pocketed."
"Ms. Maki directly retrieved the heavy truck weighing data recorded at the logistics terminal by SIS (Saionji Information System). She cross-calculated the total physical weight of the building materials when they were delivered to the construction site with the standard density of the high-strength steel purchased from the books."
"The density of high-strength steel is an objective physical constant. Faced with undeniable weight discrepancies, those purchasing managers who attempt to profit from price differences through dual contracts will find no room for argument."
"President Eguchi personally chaired an internal meeting this morning and removed all those involved from the company. At the same time, he also submitted an application to headquarters to be punished with a one-year salary deduction, in order to take responsibility for the dereliction of duty in internal supervision."
Endo paused for a moment.
"This first cut has been made firmly. At least within Saionji Construction, the trend of sacrificing core assets for personal gain has been effectively curbed. Next, Ms. Maki will gradually extend this review mechanism to other business segments."
Satsuki opened the blue review report.
My gaze swept over the physics conversion formulas circled in red.
"She's doing a great job. Let her keep this pace and investigate."
Satsuki closed the file and placed it on a corner of the rosewood table.
She turned her head and looked at Endo.
What about the external market?
Endo opened another macroeconomic market briefing, his expression turning serious.
"After the Ministry of Finance issued the 'Total Regulations,' the effect of the loan cutoff has spread throughout society. A large number of small and medium-sized enterprises have experienced cash flow disruptions, and a large number of bankruptcy and sale cases have emerged in the market. The heads of the M&A team have recently submitted frequent requests to inquire whether we need to use the cash on our books to take over those real assets that have been dumped in the market."
Satsuki picked up a cup of barley tea from the low table and took a sip.
What's your opinion?
"I suggest we continue to remain silent."
Endo looked at Satsuki.
"The market is indeed in dire straits right now, but those business owners who are eager to sell their assets still harbor unrealistic fantasies about a rebound in land prices. When we made tentative contact, we found that their asking prices were still full of inflated figures, and they even tried to pass on their old bank debts to us intact."
"If we try to negotiate now, we'll only get a figure that's already overpriced. It's far from the point where their psychological defenses will break down."
Satsuki nodded slightly.
"Then let's hold back."
"Tell the M&A team to hold onto their cash reserves tightly. Patiently wait for the target company to bleed dry."
After finishing dealing with these heavy data reports, Satsuki leaned back on the cushion.
She glanced at the idle handheld console, then turned her gaze to the shadows of the trees swaying in the breeze in the courtyard. Several days of intense planning and numerical simulations had left her feeling somewhat weary.
She raised her hand and gently massaged her brow with her fingertips.
Endo.
Satsuki lowered her hand and her gaze fell on a blank schedule.
"It seems like it's been a long time since I've been to St. Hua Academy."
Endo paused for a moment. He glanced at the schedule and saw that there were indeed no official arrangements regarding the school.
"Do you need me to notify the security department to arrange a convoy?"
"Okay, go ahead."
Satsuki stood up and straightened the hem of her kimono.
"Looking at bankruptcy figures on paper for too long can get a bit boring."
She looked at the bamboo deer scarecrow slowly tilting in the courtyard, her tone relaxed.
"The Ministry of Finance's loan cutoff order has been in effect for so long. I also want to take this opportunity to check... whether those young masters and ladies who are usually so high and mighty still have the leisure to discuss the Hawaiian sun and the latest jewelry."
……
A black Toyota Century sedan smoothly stopped outside the ornate iron gate of the high school section of Sheng Hua Academy.
Fujita got out of the car first, opened a black umbrella, and opened the back door.
Satsuki stepped out of the car and onto the tree-lined avenue of the campus.
During lunch break, a number of students usually gather in twos and threes at the school gate. The boys are dressed in smart, tailored uniforms, and the girls are carrying expensive handbags, chatting happily. It seems that the downturn in the overall environment has not affected them.
As the black sedan with the special license plate came to a stop, the figure in the dark dress stepped into the school gate.
The surrounding conversations fell awkwardly lower within seconds.
Several girls who had been standing in the middle of the main road, talking loudly, stopped abruptly after seeing Satsuki's face. They quickly stopped and moved to the sides of the road, creating a clear path in the middle of the passage.
Many people lowered their heads, deliberately avoiding direct eye contact with Satsuki. Several boys who were about to play around were grabbed by the arms by their companions and dragged into the shade of the roadside trees.
No one made a sound, and few dared to linger their gaze on her for long. Most students merely glanced at her out of the corner of their eye before quickly lowering their heads or pretending to look elsewhere, avoiding direct eye contact.
Many of their parents are mired in a cycle of bank loan defaults and high-interest debt, desperately pleading for an extension agreement outside the offices of major conglomerates every day.
The "non-school" heiress who walked towards them, though roughly the same age, possessed resources far beyond their own. Even their fathers would treat her with utmost respect, let alone the younger generation. After all, this young lady truly held the power to decide the rise and fall of their family at will.
Moreover, who knows what this great-aunt, who is practically just a figurehead at the school, is up to when she suddenly returns? It's not impossible that she might kill a few families she doesn't like if she gets upset.
Satsuki watched the crowd disperse automatically, but didn't feel uncomfortable at all. Several acquaintances came up to greet her, and she returned their greetings with smiles.
She didn't slow down, but walked straight through the tree-lined path. Instead of going to the classroom, she headed towards the Rose Society's private salon room based on her memory.
Pushing open the double walnut wood door, she stepped into the Rose Club's exclusive salon room.
Satsuki looked around. This salon, which had once been filled with laughter and daily comparisons of Hawaiian resorts and new Patek Philippe watches, now appeared empty.
The air inside felt slightly chilly, and the small afternoon tea parties that used to be held here were nowhere to be seen. The girls who used to crowd the sofas, sipping red tea and discussing luxury and haute couture deals were now mostly gone.
Ayako Yoshino was sitting on a chair nearby, flipping through a magazine. When she saw Satsuki walk in, she immediately closed the book, quickly went to greet her, and led Satsuki to the head seat.
"Lord Satsuki, it's been a long time since you've been to the salon." Ayako sat down on the single sofa next to her and gestured to the waiter to bring over freshly brewed Darjeeling tea.
Satsuki walked to the main seat and sat down on the single sofa.
"After taking care of some chores, I stopped by to take a look. It seems quite deserted here."
Ayako sat down on the sofa to the side, her hands folded on her knees.
"No one can laugh anymore." Ayako leaned forward slightly, her voice even lower. "These past few weeks, people have been withdrawing from school every day."
She glanced at the empty sofa opposite her.
"Do you remember Watanabe from Class B? His father had several large residential projects in the Kanto region. Last Wednesday, Watanabe suddenly dropped out of school without even saying goodbye."
Ayako clenched her fist slightly. Unlike Satsuki, she had interacted with these classmates to some extent, and seeing them suddenly disappear, she couldn't help but feel a sense of shared sorrow.
"I heard from my father in the business that the Watanabe family's company had all its bridge loans withdrawn by the bank, and their cash flow was cut off on the spot. To cover the losses, his father borrowed money from underground money lenders at exorbitant interest rates."
"Last Tuesday night, debt collectors blocked their front door with red paint. To escape the yakuza, the whole family fled Tokyo overnight in an old car, without even having time to sell their house. Now no one can contact them."
Ayako swallowed hard.
Everyone is scared. They don't know if it will be their family's turn tomorrow.
(Note: Not all families are unafraid of yakuza. The Saionji family, who were able to wipe out an entire yakuza organization, are extremely rare examples. The Japanese yakuza in 1990 could be described as "crazy.")
Satsuki listened quietly to Ayako's description.
The words "bankruptcy liquidation" on the macro report were, in these whispered tales, embodied in families fleeing overnight and doors splashed with red paint.
The brutal social reshuffling brought about by the Great Depression is truly stripping these hothouse flowers of their living space.