Chapter 80: Spending Others’ Money To Do Your Own Thing
“Ino-kun, Minister Suzuhara, please enjoy slowly. There are still guests downstairs, so I’ll go and get busy first.” The Boss Lady was far more perceptive than imagined. Hearing that rotten vase was actually worth fifty thousand Silver Dollars, she instantly reacted. Some things were not for her to hear.
“Mrs. Kawamura, thank you for your hard work.” Suzuhara Shingo nodded slightly toward the Boss Lady.
The Boss Lady put away the tray, bowed slightly to the two, and quickly left the Private Room.
Ino Yusuke tactfully poured a cup of sake for Suzuhara Shingo and another for himself.
Then he clinked glasses with Suzuhara Shingo, and the two drank it all down.
“Sigh,” Suzuhara Shingo took a breath and suddenly said, “Yusuke, you should cut ties with Mrs. Kawamura if you can in the future.”
“This woman is much smarter than you imagine.”
Ino Yusuke’s face reddened, and he hurriedly explained, “Uncle, there’s nothing between Mrs. Kawamura and me.”
Suzuhara Shingo gave Ino Yusuke a meaningful look: “Yusuke, we’re all men.”
“Uncle went through your age too, and I know exactly what you’re thinking.”
“You can have an obedient woman, but you can’t have a woman you can’t control.”
“Otherwise, she could become your weakness at any time.”
Ino Yusuke frowned, quickly changing the topic: “Uncle, let’s not talk about that. Mr. Chen makes a move with eighty thousand Silver Dollars.”
“For safety’s sake, you’d better reject him.”
“If he’s willing to spend such a large amount, the matter definitely isn’t small.”
Minister Suzuhara picked up a piece of sea bream sashimi, dipped it in some wasabi and soy sauce, and put it in his mouth.
The iced sea bream meat mixed with the flavors of the seasonings, creating an indescribable sensation exploding on the taste buds—both fresh, tender, and exceptionally refreshing.
“Yusuke, your ability not to be dazzled by money is very good. At least it proves you won’t make big mistakes in the future.”
Suzuhara Shingo took a sip of sake: “However, we seem unable to refuse Mr. Chen’s kindness now.”
“Because he has already discovered our shortcoming.”
Ino Yusuke hesitated: “Shortcoming?”
Suzuhara Shingo sighed: “Didn’t you ask me before why we couldn’t import and export materials on a large scale?”
“I also told you, the timing hasn’t come yet.”
“Now I’ll tell you the real reason: we don’t have professional financial personnel to handle the aftermath.”
“Even if we could sell one million in materials, handling that one million in hand is far trickier than pulling in one million in materials to sell.”
“Want to hide the money? If the Inspection Department gets a report, they can catch you red-handed with almost no effort.”
“If you go through underground money lenders, those people make their living from this. We can’t control when they’re human and when they’re ghosts.”
“If you deposit the money in a bank, heh.”
“Shanghai is already under the Empire’s control. Whether it’s American banks or French banks, there might be Special Higher Police Affairs shadows among them.”
“Only small deposits won’t arouse the other’s alertness.”
“But if you deposit one million in funds, it will immediately be discovered that large amounts of funds have been deposited into certain accounts.”
“If they investigate, we’ll be easily exposed. That’s why I’ve always had you sell materials using the ant-moving-house method.”
“Sometimes having too much money isn’t a good thing.”
Ino Yusuke nodded but asked puzzledly: “Uncle, if that’s the case, why do you say we can’t refuse?”
Suzuhara Shingo said flatly: “Because Mr. Chen himself is a professional financial personnel.”
“He is an honorary graduate of Kyushu University in economics and pharmacology, and he understands manipulating funds better than we do.”
“By taking out these eighty thousand Silver Dollars, he’s saying he has a method to launder this money, or even more than this.”
“This leaves us with only two paths: either abandon him and continue gathering wealth using the ant-moving-house method.”
“Or trust him, bind deeply with him—one prospers together, one loses together.”
Ino Yusuke realized: “So, Uncle, you’re considering whether to continue cooperating with him?”
Suzuhara Shingo picked up the wine cup from the table, took a sip, and smiled bitterly: “Actually, I already have no choice.”
“Chinese people often say, it’s easy to go from simple to extravagant, but hard to go from extravagant to simple.”
“The materials business isn’t up to me alone. Those people have seen a deal earn two hundred thousand US Dollars—how could they give up such a good opportunity and go back to the dumbest, slowest way to make money.”
Ino Yusuke said puzzledly: “Uncle, since you’ve seen it clearly, why act like you’re keeping people at a distance?”
Suzuhara Shingo sighed: “This is also a helpless method. Mr. Chen’s personality and means mean he’s not someone content to be subordinate.”
“I just want him to know he can take charge, but he can’t cross the line.”
“Shanghai’s stage can be his, let him play to his strengths and perform freely, but when this play starts and ends is not up to him.”
Shanghai, Director of the Economic Department’s Office at City Hall.
“Okay, okay, I understand, Ino-kun. I know what to do. Let’s make an appointment next time.”
After hanging up the telephone, Chen Yang swung his hand fiercely. Things had finally reached a happy ending for everyone.
Chongqing got over three hundred kilograms of gold and incidentally eliminated twenty or thirty Japanese devils. Yu Zuobai, as the person in charge of the Action Department, naturally received great commendation.
The Nanjing side used this to report losses of over two thousand tons of materials, filling the gap from the previous failed pacification campaign.
Chen Yang got five hundred kilograms of gold from it. Now no one is investigating, and with this five hundred kilograms of gold as capital, he can smoothly carry out the next plan.
Colonel Suzuhara of the Gendarmerie Headquarters and Commander Otani were even happier—sitting at home, money fell from the sky for no reason.
This time everyone gained the interests they deserved. The only unhappy ones are probably the Joint Special Higher Police Affairs in Shanghai.
After all, such a big black pot needs someone substantial to carry it.
“Secretary Li, notify Director Qin of the First Section and Director Tang of the Second Section to come in.” Chen Yang picked up the telephone, dialed the internal line, and commanded Li Ningyu.
Li Ningyu acknowledged, hung up the telephone, and soon Qin Gang and Tang Yuelin had knocked on the door of Chen Yang’s office.
“Director Qin, Director Tang, I’ve arranged the matter properly for you.”
Chen Yang said without reservation: “This afternoon, logistics from the Gendarmerie Headquarters will send over some stamped slips.”
“After verifying the reported loss materials, fill in the slips.”
“Remember, the things are all prepared for you. Don’t make any more mistakes.”
Stamped blank slips? Qin Gang and Tang Yuelin were instantly stunned. This operation seemed so familiar.
It seemed like a few hundred years ago, an emperor surnamed Zhu beheaded tens of thousands of people over this.
