Chapter 107: The Nohara Family’s Future! Panasonic Mobile Phone? Buy!
Hiroshi Nohara at the television station, with the impact of a three million yen bonus, was like a thunderbolt piercing heaven and earth, instantly shattering the Nohara family’s inherent cognitive barrier.
That light piece of paper, at this moment, was as heavy as Mount Tai, pressing down on Ginnosuke Nohara and Hiroshi Nohara until they could hardly breathe.
The way they looked at Hiroshi Nohara had already changed.
“I never expected you, kid… to be so rich! That’s amazing!” Ginnosuke Nohara exclaimed.
“Yeah, I never expected Hiroshi to be so amazing.” Hiroshi Nohara himself pinched his fingers to calculate how many years it would take him to save that much money, but ultimately gave up.
The gaze he directed at his own younger brother Hiroshi Nohara also held some complexity, but pride surfaced: “As expected from my little brother!”
“And Hiroshi-kun can even get even higher bonuses! After all, Hiroshi-kun is now a famous director at Tokyo Television Station!” At this time, Misae also puffed out her small chest, looking at Hiroshi Nohara with very proud, adoring eyes.
She said with a tone of emotion: “It’s just that Hiroshi-kun is too young now and needs to build up seniority step by step. Otherwise, with just Hiroshi-kun’s ability, he could absolutely become a big leader!”
“As expected from my son!” Ginnosuke Nohara looked at Hiroshi Nohara with a hehehe laugh, extremely satisfied.
Tsuru Nohara also covered her mouth, looking incredulous.
She now knew that Hiroshi Nohara was doing well.
But she never expected.
That he was doing this well!
“Let’s go, let’s eat first.”
Hiroshi Nohara calmly put away that pay slip capable of stirring up a financial storm in Akita Prefecture, as if it were just a trivial little thing.
He held Misae’s hand, leading his family who were still in a petrified state, into an elegant landscape restaurant on the top floor of the mall.
Inside the restaurant, melodious jazz music flowed like water, and outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows was Tokyo’s prosperity, a cityscape so dazzling it was suffocating.
Hiroshi Nohara casually chatted with Ginnosuke Nohara and Hiroshi Nohara about the grand vision for the “Nohara Family Stock Company.”
“Hiroshi… you… are you serious?”
It wasn’t until the steaming steak was served that Hiroshi Nohara finally found his voice, his dark face filled with struggle and unease: “Forming a stock company… that’s no joke. We… we’re just ordinary farmers.”
“What’s wrong with farmers?” Hiroshi Nohara cut off a tender, juicy piece of steak, put it in his mouth, and chewed slowly, his posture as composed as if appraising his own domain: “Farmers are the foundation of this country.”
“But… the agricultural cooperative side…” Hiroshi Nohara still hesitated: “Most of what we grow has to be sold through the agricultural cooperative, with prices set by them. We can’t sell much on our own. And there are so many rules; if you’re even slightly out of line, the subsidies are gone.”
“Outrageous!” At the mention of the agricultural cooperative, Ginnosuke Nohara’s restless heart stirred again. He chugged a big gulp of ice-cold beer and slammed the table in indignation: “Exactly! Those guys sitting in offices know nothing about farming! They just boss people around! Last year, our family’s rice was downgraded just because a few grains weren’t plump enough, losing us a whole grade! For one hectare, that’s tens of thousands of yen less!”
Though he complained, his tone carried a hint of helpless resignation.
“Though there are many rules, there are good and bad sides.” Tsuru Nohara on the side saw it clearly. She gently refilled her husband’s beer glass: “With the agricultural cooperative, at least we don’t worry about not selling our produce, and prices are stable. There’s insurance if crops get sick, and big subsidies for buying farm machinery. It’s much better than before, when we relied on the weather and often went hungry.”
Listening to his family’s back-and-forth discussion, Hiroshi Nohara just listened quietly, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.
Of course he knew that the Neon agricultural cooperatives of this era were enormous and complex interest groups.
To outsiders, it was an organization serving farmers, but in the eyes of him, a transmigrator with future vision, it was fundamentally a feudal landlord association disguised as a cooperative!
It used an invisible great net to firmly control millions of farmers nationwide, monopolizing every link from production, processing, to sales.
It enjoyed massive national fiscal subsidies and enacted impregnable trade protection policies, keeping cheap foreign agricultural products from entering this land.
And it was under this extreme protection that a batch of monstrously rich “monsters” were bred—those large agricultural corporations owning hundreds of hectares, integrating production, tourism, and brand operations.
In the future, their annual income would reach at least tens of billions of yen!
They were no longer farmers; they were true, modern, hereditary agricultural nobles!
“But that’s good too.” Hiroshi Nohara muttered softly.
His gaze pierced through the prosperous city before him, as if seeing those lush green rice fields in the future, surging with waves of wealth under the golden sunlight.
What he had to do was not drift with the flood of the era, but to become the chess player who built the dam and guided the flood’s path.
“That’s why we must join them, then become them.” Hiroshi Nohara set down his knife and fork, his clear eyes gleaming with insight that saw through everything: “Dad, Elder Brother, remember this: from today on, there’s only one thing for you to do.”
He looked around at his family, speaking word by word:
“Buy land! Acquire all the farmland available around Omagari City, no matter the cost! Especially those abandoned due to young people moving to the city—buy as much as there is!”
“Huh?!” Hiroshi Nohara’s mouth gaped wide enough to fit an egg, somewhat unable to comprehend: “Buy… buy land? Hiroshi, land isn’t valuable now! Everyone… everyone’s buying houses in the city; who buys countryside land?”
“Exactly!” Ginnosuke Nohara also furrowed his thick eyebrows: “Tokyo housing prices change daily! Everyone says the economy will keep booming! Newspapers say our Neon Country is about to buy up all of America! At a time like this, not investing in real estate but buying unwanted wasteland— isn’t that foolish?”
“It’s not like that…” Hiroshi Nohara smiled, his smile carrying a trace of pity.
Buy up America?
He knew better than anyone that this nationwide frenzy was just the last feast before the bubble burst.
It wouldn’t be long before that unprecedented economic storm descended.
Then, stocks would turn to waste paper, skyscrapers to ghost towns, and countless elites who were riding high today would be homeless tomorrow.
The prosperity under the bubble was but a mirage.
When the tide recedes, only the land beneath one’s feet is eternal truth.
But he knew these truths couldn’t get through to his family, whose heads were clouded by fanaticism.
He didn’t need them to understand.
“You don’t need to understand why.” Hiroshi Nohara’s voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable authority: “You just need to trust me. I’ll provide the money. You just need to do it. Follow my lead, that’s all.”
Ginnosuke Nohara and Hiroshi Nohara exchanged a glance, seeing deep shock and bewilderment in each other’s eyes.
They couldn’t grasp the logic behind their youngest son’s words, but they could feel that confidence capable of shaking mountains.
In the end, the two nodded wearily, as if drained of all strength: “Alright… alright. We… we’ll listen to you.”
After all, who could argue when the youngest son Hiroshi Nohara was so successful now?
One hammer sealed it.
The Nohara family’s destiny, in this restaurant overlooking all of Tokyo, was gently nudged by a hand from the future onto a brand new, magnificent course.
……
The afternoon was spent in a typical tourist-style frenzy.
From the incense-filled Senso-ji Temple, to the leisurely Ueno Park, to the solemn Imperial Palace Outer Garden.
Hiroshi Nohara skillfully played the tour guide role, having just recently taken the Oyama family on the same route.
Ginnosuke Nohara and Tsuru Nohara were like two kids stepping out of the mountains for the first time, finding everything novel, grinning ear to ear in every photo. Their heartfelt joy infected everyone around.
Only Hiroshi Nohara, though dressed in new clothes with a smile on his face, had a trace of solemnity deep in his eyes.
Watching his younger brother’s composed figure, recalling the earth-shattering doomsday prophecy from lunch, the string called frugality in his heart was stretched tighter than ever.
Economic crisis…
The word weighed on him like a heavy mountain, this simple farmer.
He resolved that upon returning, he would work even harder and save even more desperately.
Not for himself, but so that when the great storm his brother spoke of came, he could leave one more brick to shelter the family.
Just as the family excitedly discussed where to try the legendary okonomiyaki for dinner, Hiroshi Nohara’s pager in his pocket buzzed “beep beep” again.
He took it out and looked, a smile tugging at his lips.
【Section Chief, actors all in position, 《Super Change Change Change》 first episode recording officially begins! The studio is on fire! —Kei Tanaka】
Good.
Three lines advancing, everything under control.
He pocketed the pager, about to call his family to the car, when his gaze was drawn to a commotion at the mall entrance nearby.
It was surrounded inside and out by crowds, with some new product launch event in the center.
“Wow! Hiroshi, look, it’s so lively over there!” Misae curiously stood on tiptoe, pointing that way: “Seems like they’re selling some… really small mobile phone?”
Mobile phone?
Hiroshi Nohara’s heart stirred, and he pulled Misae into the crowd.
On the stage, a female host in a professional suit held up a silver block half the size of a palm, introducing it loudly in a highly provocative tone.
“Everyone! Look! This is the revolutionary product brought to us by Panasonic—the portable mobile phone! With it, you’re no longer bound by phone lines! Whether in the car, on the road, or anywhere, you can stay in closest contact with your family, friends, clients anytime, anywhere!”
Hiroshi Nohara’s pupils suddenly contracted.
It’s here!
He knew the era of mobile communications, that sealed gate, was officially pushed open at this moment!
With almost no hesitation, he pushed through the crowd to the stage.
“How much for this phone?”
Seeing this extraordinary young person in designer clothes, the female host’s eyes lit up and she quoted a sky-high price that would deter 99% of the crowd.
“Four hundred thousand yen each.” The female host said.
“Four hundred thousand yen? So expensive?”
“Oh my god! That’s way too expensive! What costs four hundred thousand yen?!”
“That’s terrifying!”
The surrounding crowd immediately erupted in gasps.
Keep in mind, Tokyo people’s annual income was only around six million yen now, but most were actually around four million or even less.
And this one mobile phone was four hundred thousand yen.
One month’s salary.
Way too expensive!
However, Hiroshi Nohara just nodded calmly.
“Good.”
He turned to his family behind him, now pale from the price, and flashed a brilliant smile.
“I’ll take five.”
“…”
The whole world seemed to hit mute.
If the three million yen bonus was a thunderbolt, then this casual “I’ll take five” was an explosion that destroyed their minds!
Ginnosuke Nohara felt his heart condition acting up.
Hiroshi Nohara’s vision went black, nearly fainting on the spot.
He watched his younger brother buy five like they were green onions, swiping a sum that could build a small house back home without batting an eye, then distribute the five silver blocks representing future and technology, one to each person.
“Dad, Mom, Elder Brother, Misae, one each. This way, staying in touch will be convenient. Our agricultural stock company will also need constant communication.”
He paused, then carefully put the last mobile phone back in its box.
“One more is for Father-in-law.”
The Nohara family blankly held the cool, heavy “future” in their hands, minds completely blank.
They felt as if they weren’t touring Tokyo, but riding a spaceship to the future steered by Hiroshi Nohara, jumping through time and space at a speed they couldn’t comprehend.
Hiroshi Nohara looked at his family’s utterly broken expressions and just smiled.
What’s all that money earned for?
Isn’t it to spend on family?!
