Chapter 30: Inner Universe
Hearing Matsuda Kazuo’s undisguised evaluation, Chen Yang almost spat out a mouthful of tea.
Indeed, the Osaka Division is truly capable in combat, but they are also truly greedy.
As one of the elite divisions of the Japanese Army, their military quality goes without saying, but what later generations talk about is that almost the entire unit consists of businessmen.
Other troops, when the situation turns unfavorable in battle, say “Kudan-zaka.”
Only they, when bidding farewell to each other, say “Onmi daijōbu,” which in Japanese means the body is important and to take care of rest.
Simply put, it means take care of your precious body.
And the Osaka area also has a chain of contempt.
That is, Osaka soldiers look down on Osaka merchants.
They have always believed that only those useless for imperial warfare would go into business.
So, just like Tanaka, even though he is now a director of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce, in the eyes of this lieutenant Matsuda Kazuo, he still cannot stand on equal footing with them.
While speaking, the private room door was opened again, and Ino Yusuke and Ando Shinichi returned.
They very tacitly did not ask what Chen Yang and Yamada and the others had discussed before, which further confirmed Chen Yang’s guess.
This group of people is actually not as united as imagined.
After all, it is because of uneven profit distribution. Minister Suzuhara takes half of the profit, then divides the rest among the others.
Moreover, it is not evenly distributed. Ino Yusuke and Ando Shinichi’s shares are a bit more than Yamada and the others.
This has led to imbalance in Yamada and their hearts.
There is a saying in China: not resentful of scarcity but of unevenness.
The team painstakingly built by Minister Suzuhara will eventually fall apart due to profit issues.
However, Chen Yang still could not quite understand. With Minister Suzuhara’s style of handling things, he should not make this kind of low-level mistake on profit distribution issues.
Chen Yang looked at everyone at the table drinking freely, and a strange thought suddenly arose in his heart.
Could it be that Yamada Yasushi, Matsuda Kazuo, and these few are not Minister Suzuhara’s best choices.
They are a group that can be optimized out at any time. Only this can explain why Minister Suzuhara treats them differently.
That means Suzuhara Shingo should know that Yamada Yasushi would bypass Ino Yusuke to do weapons business with him.
But with his cautious personality, why not stop it?
Chen Yang sipped sake one mouthful at a time, increasingly unable to figure out what Suzuhara Shingo was planning.
“Knock knock knock,” a knock sounded, and the boss lady who resembled Mino Suzume came up with a plate of dish.
“Ino-kun, this is the new dish you specifically explained.”
Saying that, the boss lady knelt beside Chen Yang, placed the dish plate in front of him, and smiled coquettishly: “Mr. Chen, this is specially prepared for you by Ino-kun. This dish is called Inner Universe.”
Chen Yang looked at the unidentified sea fish weighing about two jin on the dish plate, feeling a bit strange.
Ino Yusuke smiled and clapped his hands. The boss lady nodded slightly, picked up the chopsticks on the table, gently cut open the fish belly, then lifted it.
Inside were actually three golden fish maws. Inner Universe, so that’s what it’s called Inner Universe.
“This is specially made fish maw. Steamed in this sea fish for three hours, all the essence is attached to the fish maw, making the taste extremely fresh and delicious.”
“Mr. Chen, men who eat it will become very strong.”
Become very strong, become very strong.
Chen Yang’s eyes lit up instantly. He looked at Ino Yusuke and said: “Ino-kun, thank you for the hospitality.”
Ino Yusuke quickly waved his hand: “Mr. Chen is too polite. This is what I should do. Eat it while hot. I’ve tried this thing; it really is very strong.”
Hahaha, laughter rang out. The boss lady’s face was full of shy red, while Ino Yusuke showed an expression that all men understand.
Night, eleven o’clock, Shanghai Gendarmerie Headquarters dormitory building, the light in Suzuhara Shingo’s room stayed on, as if waiting for someone.
Knock knock knock, a light knock sounded, followed by the door being pushed open.
Ino Yusuke walked in with a flushed face.
“Uncle, the matter is settled.”
Suzuhara Shingo nodded: “That’s good. It’s late, Yusuke. Go back and rest early.”
Ino Yusuke stood in place, reluctant to leave. Seeing this, Suzuhara Shingo sighed: “Yusuke, do you have something you want to say to uncle?”
Ino Yusuke hesitated for a moment, then still asked: “Uncle, I don’t understand. What did Yamada-kun and they do wrong that you want to abandon them?”
Suzuhara Shingo glanced at Ino Yusuke and raised his hand: “Sit.”
Ino Yusuke quickly sat opposite Suzuhara Shingo.
Suzuhara Shingo picked up the slightly cool tea on the table, took a sip, and said: “Yamada-kun and they were never our best option.”
“You and Ando-kun are the foundation. Their joining was just me testing if our chain would have problems in operation.”
“I can clearly tell you that even without Chen Yang’s appearance, they would eventually be eliminated one by one.”
“Chen Yang’s appearance let me see the best option, so I’m just advancing the optimization plan a little bit.”
Ino Yusuke murmured: “But that doesn’t mean Yamada and they have problems.”
Suzuhara Shingo slowly said: “Because they are greedy.”
Ino Yusuke puzzled: “Uncle, didn’t you say that only greedy people are easy to control?”
Suzuhara Shingo said: “Yes, greed can make people progress, but they are petty greedy. This kind of people easily cause trouble.”
“Uncle, I don’t think it’s like that,” Ino Yusuke argued: “In this half year plus, although they were somewhat dissatisfied with your way of dividing the accounts, they didn’t do anything out of line.”
Suzuhara Shingo smiled lightly: “This is the main reason.”
“If they voiced their inner dissatisfaction, I would still think they could cooperate.”
“But they have been suppressing this dissatisfaction, which makes the problem big.”
“Emotions accumulate. When this dissatisfaction accumulates to a certain extent and erupts, we can easily be affected.”
“Moreover, I very much agree with Chen Yang’s words. We actually don’t need that many procedures.”
“The more procedures, the higher the chance of errors. I’ve been considering how to optimize the intermediate links.”
“Until his appearance. He made me feel we don’t need to be so troublesome.”
“As long as he has a sufficiently powerful sales network, our materials can be fast in and fast out, without leaving any traces.”
“Abandoning them and doing it ourselves can guarantee both safety and profit.”
“Besides, Yusuke, you don’t think that the half profit I took this half year was all swallowed by me, do you?”
Ino Yusuke was stunned, his drunkenness instantly turning into sweat.
“Uncle, you mean your those accounts.”
Suzuhara Shingo waved his hand: “Some things, you just know them. Never say them out, or the problem will be big.”
“By the way, that dish you arranged for Chen Yang, did he understand?”
Ino Yusuke was silent for a moment: “I’m not entirely sure, but I believe if he is really as capable as you say, uncle, he should understand.”
