Chapter 13: Background Check Information
“Mr. Chen, you will surely be interested.” Ino Yusuke said softly: “No one in this world is not interested in money.”
“If there is, it’s just that the money is not enough.”
“Mr. Chen, since we selected you, you have no choice.”
“It’s like you want to get on a car, but if you’re unwilling, the people below will force you up with guns.”
“Are you threatening me?” Chen Yang’s face instantly darkened.
Ino Yusuke smiled and said: “Mr. Chen, no need to be nervous, this is not a threat, just a kind invitation.”
“Frankly speaking, not everyone is qualified to become our partner.”
“You should feel honored.”
Chen Yang frowned and said: “What if I reject Ino-kun’s kindness?”
Ino Yusuke spread his hands and said: “Then you can leave now, but I cannot guarantee what will happen next.”
“Because if you’re unwilling, we don’t know what we will do next either.”
Chen Yang suddenly laughed: “Maybe I’ll soon end up like Arimura Seijiro, turning into a corpse without knowing when.”
“Ino-kun, I’m really curious, aren’t you afraid of things going wrong by doing this?”
A faint smile appeared on Ino Yusuke’s face: “Mr. Chen, you don’t need to know so much right now.”
“As long as you’re willing to join, you will naturally understand in the future.”
Chen Yang pondered for a moment and slowly said: “Give me some time to consider.”
Ino Yusuke stood up and said: “Mr. Chen, you’re very cautious, indeed, this kind of matter needs careful consideration, but you don’t have much time.”
“Tomorrow evening at the Wafuu Restaurant on Chuanbei Road, I hope you can come then and give me a satisfactory answer.”
“As for now, you can go home.”
Chen Yang was stunned for a moment and said in a deep voice: “Ino-kun, you’re letting me leave so easily, aren’t you afraid I’ll leak your matters?”
“Maybe, but I believe Mr. Chen is not the kind of person who can’t read the situation.” Ino Yusuke grinned, revealing a mouth of white teeth, and laughed: “We Japanese like to gamble the most.”
“Now I also want to gamble with you, Mr. Chen, to see if you’ll really make another choice.”
“If I lose this bet, I’ll naturally explain to others, but I can also guarantee that if something happens to me, Mr. Chen, you won’t have a good end either.”
“Alright, that’s all, Ando, see Mr. Chen off.”
Ando Shinichi nodded, slightly bowed to Chen Yang and said: “Mr. Chen, let’s go.”
*******
Shanghai, Consulate.
“Report.” A loud voice rang out. Iwai Koichi, who was reviewing documents in the office, looked up, put down the steel pen in his hand and said: “Come in.”
A man about 1.6 meters tall, holding a sealed document bag, pushed open the office door and walked in.
The man bowed to Iwai Koichi and said: “Consul Iwai, the background check information on Chen Yang is complete.”
“Read.” Iwai Koichi simply said one word.
“Yes.” The man quickly untied the thin rope on the document bag, took out a file and read: “Chen Yang, male, Han ethnicity, born in the fourth year of the Republic of China, currently 23 years old.”
“Native place, Wuzhou in Zhejiang Province, ancestral home, Taoyuan Village, Taoyuan Town, Xuanping County, Lishi City, Zhejiang Province, current residence, Lin Mansion on Fukaisen Road in Shanghai.”
“Family background, father Chen Qinian, mother Lin Meilan. According to the information, Chen Yang’s parents passed away successively in the seventh year of the Republic of China due to contracting an epidemic disease.”
“Afterward, Chen Yang was adopted by his uncle Lin Zonghan, who was far away in Shanghai.”
“In the twenty-second year of the Republic of China, Chen Yang passed the admission assessment of the East Asia Common Literature Academy, obtained a recommendation from the head office with excellent performance, and entered Kyushu University to study.”
“During four years at Kyushu University, he successively obtained a bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutics from the Medical Department and a bachelor’s degree in economics.”
“On January 19th this year at Kyushu University’s school celebration, he received a silver eagle medal as an honorary graduate.”
“Consul Iwai, here is all the detailed information on Chen Yang, please review it.”
Iwai Koichi took the file, looked at it while asking: “Inukai, what do you think of this Chen Yang?”
Inukai Ken pondered for a moment and said: “Clean resume, extremely intelligent, a rare talent, but his means are still somewhat immature.”
“I heard he was taken away by the Joint Special Higher Police Affairs people this morning.”
“Probably still because of handling the Osaka Chamber of Commerce materials matter.”
“Young people, thinking they have some talent, naturally act sharply and recklessly.” Iwai Koichi flipped through the file while saying: “The Osaka Chamber of Commerce has a big problem.”
“According to internal investigation, from September last year to now, over six months, at least over 100 tons of materials have gone missing.”
“Chen Yang came in and aggressively inventoried materials and checked accounts, which is bound to alert the culprits.”
“You’re right.” Inukai Ken replied: “This morning, the International Settlement police department already discovered Arimura Seijiro’s body.”
“Probably someone couldn’t sit still and wanted to silence him.”
“Consul Iwai, should we intervene in this matter?”
“Intervene, on what grounds?” Iwai Koichi put the file in the drawer and said: “The Osaka Chamber of Commerce is backed by the Military Department.”
“Our Iwai Agency is under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to extend its hand into the Military Department’s territory, aren’t you afraid those people will rebel?”
“If we could intervene, my teacher wouldn’t have let Chen Yang take over the Osaka Chamber of Commerce materials matter.”
“Inukai, don’t you understand yet? There are no secrets in this world, only considerations of various interests.”
“If the Osaka Chamber of Commerce has a problem, military expenses will have a problem.”
“Sometimes for the overall situation, we can only pretend to know nothing.”
Inukai Ken frowned and said: “But I’m worried that Chen Yang is young and doesn’t know the gravity of things, what if he breaks this window paper.”
Iwai Koichi smiled and said: “If he can break this window paper, that would be easy to handle, at most sacrificing him, but we can solve many things at once.”
“I’m just afraid he won’t dare to act after weighing the pros and cons.”
“Inukai, do you think the position of Director of the Economic Department in the Ministry of Finance of the Nanjing Restoration Government is so easy to sit in? If he has no ability, no capability to control the overall situation, how could he pass my teacher’s assessment.”
“The Osaka Chamber of Commerce is just a small dish compared to the future New Government.”
“If Chen Yang can’t handle even this small matter properly, even if we prop him up, he won’t last long.”
“Nanjing Restoration Government, heh, that’s a big dye vat, millions of times more complex than the Osaka Chamber of Commerce.”
Inukai Ken nodded as if he understood, “Consul Iwai, what should we do next?”
Iwai Koichi slowly said: “Do nothing, one word, wait…”
