Chapter 2: I Don’t Want To Hear Excuses
Osaka Chamber of Commerce third floor meeting room.
The decoration style in the meeting room is relatively simple, with the only notable feature being the large round conference table in the center that can seat ten to twenty people.
The round table is deep red in color, clearly carved from expensive rosewood, but this is the Osaka Chamber of Commerce’s meeting room, so mere rosewood seems like nothing to them.
Approaching the Chinese New Year, this is the peak season for sales of all kinds of materials, but this year is different from previous years, as the Osaka Chamber of Commerce’s sales performance in China has plummeted.
The entire market seems to be intentionally or unintentionally boycotting Japanese goods, with even fast-moving products like matches, canned goods, and cotton cloth experiencing severe sales declines.
At the head of the round conference table, Director Tanaka Ichiro of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce’s Dragon Country division looks at the latest submitted transaction report, his face so gloomy it seems about to drip water.
The ten or so chamber elites below see Director Tanaka’s expression as if he is about to devour someone, and they are so frightened they don’t even dare to breathe.
“Inoue-kun, I want to know what explanation your sales department has for the performance decline.” Director Tanaka’s voice slowly rises, his tone still as calm as ever, but anyone can hear the anger in it.
“Director Tanaka, I can explain this.” Inoue Ryoichi quickly stands up and says: “Director Tanaka, this isn’t our fault. The Empire has launched military action against China, and now all Chinese people are extremely hostile toward us.”
“The Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, led by Yu Jiaqing, has publicly stated they will not sell any materials we supply.”
“Does he say no and that’s it?” Tanaka Ichiro angrily says: “Shanghai is such a huge market; even without these business firms, you can still cooperate with department stores.”
Inoue Ryoichi says with a bitter face: “Director Tanaka, we have already tried methods.”
“We have tried Shanghai department stores, including Longhua Department Store, Matsuyama Department Store, and even Hezi Department Store under Watanabe-kun.”
“Currently, only Watanabe-kun can help sell some; we can’t get into the others at all.”
“Director Tanaka, I think we should adjust the price. Compared to business firms from other countries, our supply price has no advantage whatsoever.”
“Chinese people often say that businessmen have always pursued profit; these business firms won’t budge without tasting the benefits.”
“Nonsense. War is raging now, and all places need materials. The white sugar, grains and oil, canned goods, and cotton yarn in our hands are all hot-selling items.”
“Even if I agree to lower the price, headquarters won’t agree.”
“If they really hold us accountable, will you take the blame or will I?”
“No problem, I agree to reduce the price by twelve percent for sales.” As soon as Tanaka Ichiro finishes speaking, a hearty voice sounds from the doorway.
Chen Yang pushes open the meeting room door and walks straight in.
Tanaka Ichiro’s face changes, and he angrily says: “Who are you? How dare you casually barge into the Osaka Chamber of Commerce’s territory.”
“Someone, come! Someone!”
“Stop calling.” Chen Yang scratches his ear and walks directly in front of Tanaka Ichiro, saying: “Director Tanaka, if I remember correctly, you should have received a telegram from the homeland three days ago.”
“A telegram from the homeland.” Tanaka Ichiro slightly furrows his brows, seemingly thinking about something, and suspiciously sizes up Chen Yang: “Who are you?”
Chen Yang reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper to hand to him.
Tanaka Ichiro respectfully takes the paper from Chen Yang’s hand, opens it, and glances over it. Suddenly, his face changes, and in front of everyone in the meeting room, he bows forty-five degrees to Chen Yang.
“Assistant Chen, sorry, I didn’t know it was you. I thought you wouldn’t arrive in Shanghai for at least two days, but unexpectedly, you had already set off as soon as the telegram was sent.”
Assistant Chen? Everyone in the meeting room looks at each other in bewilderment, not knowing when the Osaka Chamber of Commerce got an Assistant Chen.
“Director Tanaka, I’m not here to disrupt your meeting, but if you really had the ability, the board of directors wouldn’t have sent me rushing day and night to China to clean up your mess.”
Chen Yang’s words give Tanaka Ichiro no face at all, yet Tanaka Ichiro doesn’t dare to retort even half a sentence.
“Everyone, starting today, the materials in the Osaka Chamber of Commerce’s hands will be sold at a certain proportional discount. We must recover most of the funds before the Chinese New Year ends.”
“Who here is the head of the sales department and the head of the finance department?”
“I’ll give you ten minutes to hand over the sales data and financial data for the past six months.”
“I’ll wait for you in Director Tanaka’s office.”
“Director Tanaka, please.” Without waiting for Tanaka Ichiro to speak, Chen Yang has already stood up and made an inviting gesture.
“Everyone do as Assistant Chen says.”
“Assistant Chen, this way please.” Tanaka Ichiro smiles like a fawning dog and hurriedly leads the way ahead.
The people attending the meeting are baffled. This Assistant Chen is clearly Chinese, so why does Director Tanaka seem so afraid of him?
What is this person’s background?
Third floor, office.
Chen Yang stands by the window gazing into the distance and suddenly asks: “Tanaka-kun, do you know what the homeland’s evaluation of you is?”
“This…” Director Tanaka stammers and can’t answer. From his dejected appearance, it’s clear he knows the homeland’s evaluation of him isn’t good.
“My teacher says you are adequate at maintaining the status quo but lack initiative. In a relatively stable environment, you might be an excellent manager.”
“But once a change occurs, like in China with the sudden outbreak of war, your performance is just as he predicted.”
Chen Yang turns around and says word by word: “Utterly useless.”
“Sorry, Assistant Chen, I have disappointed Fujiwara-sensei.” Tanaka Ichiro bows in fear and trepidation.
Chen Yang walks behind the desk and sits down, saying: “Teacher wants you to quickly clear out the inventory in the material warehouse and recover funds, because there is a massive plan behind it that requires a lot of funding support.”
“Director Tanaka, there are six days until the New Year. I hope you can handle half of the material inventory within six days; I’ll take care of the remaining half.”
“Do you have any issues?”
Handling half of the materials in the Osaka Chamber of Commerce’s warehouse in six days—you know how much money that is?
After thinking for a moment, Tanaka Ichiro steels himself and says: “Assistant Chen, I don’t know if you’re aware of the current inventory numbers in the Osaka Chamber of Commerce’s material warehouse.”
“However, I think your proposal is really difficult to implement.”
“Now all major chambers of commerce and folk organizations in Shanghai are boycotting goods produced by the Empire.”
“Even with discounted sales, clearing half the inventory in just six days feels extremely difficult.”
“Difficulty is no excuse.” Chen Yang walks to Tanaka Ichiro’s side and very considerately brushes the dust off Tanaka Ichiro’s shoulder, slowly saying: “Six days—you only have six days.”
“The next time I come, I hope to see a sales record that satisfies me. If not, Director Tanaka, write your resignation letter yourself and put it on the desk.”
