Chapter 16: What Exactly Is He Up To
“Mr. Chen, since we dare to target materials, that means we’re putting our heads on the line.”
Ino Yusuke took a sip of sake and said slowly: “However, we don’t want to have the life to make money but not the life to spend it.”
“You should know that the Empire’s Inspection Department never goes easy when investigating troops’ corruption.”
“We’re just like a flock of crows mixed in with pigeons. If we don’t act low-key, it’s easy to be screened out from the inside.”
Chen Yang said mildly: “Ino-kun, I understand your concerns.”
“However, I feel like your thinking has become rigid.”
“You’re thinking of hiding yourself well so no one notices the problem, but from my perspective, this method isn’t absolutely safe.”
“A crow landing in a pile of pigeons— no matter how much you hide, your color has already decided your fate.”
“So, I think the best method is to turn all the pigeons into crows.”
“That way, no one can tell which are pigeons and which are crows.”
“Don’t you understand the principle that all crows under heaven are the same black?”
Ino Yusuke was startled and waved his hands repeatedly: “That’s impossible, absolutely impossible.”
Chen Yang shook his head: “Nothing is impossible. Everyone has a price, and as long as there’s a price, we can talk.”
Ino Yusuke gulped down a large mouthful of sake and looked at Chen Yang: “Even if what you say makes sense, the Osaka Chamber of Commerce’s material warehouse is already empty now.”
“Without materials, how do you carry out the plan?”
“I don’t understand how you can make materials appear from an empty warehouse.”
Chen Yang smiled: “The Osaka Chamber of Commerce doesn’t have any, but you do.”
“What do you mean?” The words had just left Ino Yusuke’s mouth when he instantly reacted, saying in surprise: “You mean the materials confiscated by the Gendarmerie Headquarters Logistics from those French people?”
“What do you mean ‘hit on an idea’? Ino-kun, I want to maintain the Osaka Chamber of Commerce’s daily sales and borrow some materials from the Gendarmerie Headquarters in advance.”
“We’ll pay them back in the future.”
“We’re borrowing materials and paying back materials.”
Chen Yang changed the subject and said calmly: “Moving a piece of fat meat from the left hand to the right hand—the meat is still the same meat, but what do you think you’ll have more of in your hand?”
Ino Yusuke was momentarily unsure of what Chen Yang really meant and stared blankly at him.
Chen Yang took a sip of wine, set down his cup, and said word by word: “Oil and water.”
“As long as it passes through our hands once, we can skim off some oil and water. That’s our revenue.”
“Now the Osaka Chamber of Commerce is under my control and Tanaka Taro’s. If I’m not mistaken, Tanaka-kun is one of yours too.”
“That makes things very convenient for us. Tanaka-kun submits the application, I sign it, and you handle the approval.”
“Once the materials enter the warehouse, we issue invoices in US dollars, and later settle in Japanese yen.”
“If done well, one turnover means triple profit.”
Ino Yusuke’s mind heated up, and he exclaimed: “Mr. Chen, you mean exchanging one million US dollars worth of materials for one million Japanese yen.”
“This, can this work?”
Chen Yang said indifferently: “Whether it works or not, just ask Minister Suzuhara and you’ll know.”
A hint of vigilance instantly flashed in Ino Yusuke’s eyes.
Chen Yang raised his wine cup: “Ino-kun doesn’t think I just took a nap at home after leaving the Joint Special Higher Police Affairs, does he?”
“I’ve gone through all the sales invoices and account details from the past six months.”
“The Osaka Chamber of Commerce’s sales lists over the past six months, and the invoices related to those one hundred seventy-odd tons of materials, are mostly stamped by Gendarmerie Headquarters Logistics. Without Minister Suzuhara’s instructions, would you dare to be so bold?”
“There are no secrets in this world. No matter how hidden your actions are, it doesn’t mean others can’t see through them.”
Ino Yusuke sighed: “Mr. Chen, you’re indeed very clever. I’m growing more interested in you.”
“However, I can’t give you an answer to your proposal right now. Give me some time.”
Amazing, the tables have turned.
Before, Ino Yusuke had been acting all high and mighty, trying to manipulate Chen Yang, but the situation had reversed unnoticed.
Ino Yusuke had been following the other’s rhythm the whole time and unknowingly handed over home-field advantage to Chen Yang.
“I hope you can make a decision soon.” Chen Yang brought his cup close to Ino Yusuke: “Not everyone gets this opportunity, and not everyone is qualified to make me wait.”
“Ino-kun, your time is running out.”
Hmm, this sentence feels familiar. Ino Yusuke didn’t speak; he just picked up the wine cup from the table, clinked it with Chen Yang’s, and drank it all down.
Shanghai, Gendarmerie Headquarters dormitory building.
“Uncle, what do you think he really wants?” After returning to the Gendarmerie Headquarters, Ino Yusuke rushed into Suzuhara Shingo’s room in a hurry and recounted every detail of his conversation with Chen Yang to Suzuhara Shingo word for word.
“This guy is formidable.” After hearing Ino Yusuke’s words, Suzuhara Shingo quickly reached a conclusion: “He wants to weave a net to trap everyone in it.”
“The ancients said a hero comes from the young. I thought the young were inexperienced and prone to wild ideas, but unexpectedly, there really is such a brilliant genius.”
“I only thought of designing a perfect chain to ensure no issues at any node.”
“But he thought of combining countless interest chains into one big net.”
“Impressive, impressive.”
“By the way, have you checked his information? Did you find any problems?”
Ino Yusuke said: “Nothing stands out. His uncle is a traitor, his elder brother is a running dog for the French people, and his second brother is a hooligan.”
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans for the consulate’s Iwai Agency to cooperate with the Nanjing Special Services Section to establish the Nanjing Restoration Government.”
“This Chen Yang has already been internally designated as the Director of the Economic Department of the Restoration Government’s Ministry of Finance. Once the appointment letter arrives, he’ll be a traitor in the eyes of the Chinese people.”
“Traitor, running dog, sellout, plus a lowlife hooligan—from the Chinese people’s perspective, it’s hard to find a good person in that family.”
Suzuhara Shingo lightly tapped the desktop with his fingers, as if pondering something.
After a while, he seemed to have made a decision.
“Yusuke, we can try his method, but we can’t bet everything all at once.”
“We’ve operated this long without issues, which proves our network works too.”
“So, this proposal from Chen Yang is currently a backup option for us, not a must. If something goes wrong during cooperation, we can withdraw quickly.”
“Here’s what we’ll do: we’ll move a batch of goods first to test the waters and see what he’s really capable of.”
“Tell him the Gendarmerie just seized a batch of materials, including twenty cases of medicine.”
“If he really has the ability, this batch is worth two hundred thousand US dollars. Give him three days to handle it for me.”
