Chapter 130: The Waters Begin to Muddy

Takashi Takeda finally let out a long breath and stamped the agreement with both his own seal and the Takeda Manufacturing company seal.

Zhao Yuanxi checked the documents, found everything in order, and signed the contract with a smile.

"What about the money? How will you pay me?" Takeda Takashi stared at him intently; this was the moment he felt most uncertain. If no one had intervened earlier, would he be showing his true colors now? Yet, he could find no fault in this contract. After all, if he didn't receive the money, he wouldn't need to fulfill his obligations, and the situation couldn't get any worse.

Zhao Yuanxi smiled and said, "President Takeda, could you please ask them to step out for a moment?"

Takeda Takashi looked at him suspiciously but still said, "You all go out first." After all, this was Takeda Manufacturing territory, and Takeda Takashi wasn't afraid of him pulling any stunts.

Once they were alone in the room, Zhao Yuanxi lifted the suitcase onto the table, laid it flat, opened it, and moved aside the clothes covering the contents.

Takeda Takashi's eyes widened. Neat stacks of ten-thousand-yen bills filled more than half of the suitcase. These couldn't be counterfeit; such a massive amount of fake currency would be terrifying. Besides, Takeda Takashi had a sharp eye.

"You can count it," Zhao Yuanxi said with a smile. "Please also provide me with a receipt for the payment. Having reached this deal with you, I need to return to Hong Kong tonight to make preparations."

It wasn't that Japan lacked counterfeit money, but it was rare, and large-denomination counterfeits were even rarer. Still, counting the amount was necessary.

Takeda Takashi looked at him strangely. "Are you really... intending to do business with me?"

Zhao Yuanxi pointed at the suitcase. "Isn't the cash right here? What more do you doubt?"

"That is true..." Takeda Takashi took a deep breath. "If you were giving me the money, why have them leave? They are needed to help count the cash."

"Because there is one more thing I need to tell you," Zhao Yuanxi said, looking at him earnestly. "After I return to Hong Kong, apart from keeping in touch with you by phone, I have left a contact person here. I don't know how things surrounding Takeda Manufacturing will develop now that we have reached this cooperation. From tomorrow on, please pay close attention to any letters sent to you."

"Why be so mysterious?" Takeda Takashi stared at him. "Can't you just give me the name and contact information of this person?"

Zhao Yuanxi shook his head with a smile. "As I said, matters surrounding Takeda Manufacturing are complex. You probably aren't even clear on the true situation yet; it was this contact person who told me about your predicament. Therefore, it must be up to him to decide when and how to meet you."

While Takeda Takashi was still pondering this, Zhao Yuanxi put away the contract and said, "Now, please have your financial staff come in to count the cash and issue me a receipt."

Hearing this, Takeda Takashi had to put his suspicions aside for the moment. He went to the door and called Goro Takeda back.

"Go get the currency counter?" Goro Takeda was pleasantly surprised. "Are we paying a deposit?"

"Just go get it," Takeda Takashi said softly.

Goro Takeda hurried toward the finance office, excited. He was in charge of the money, and as long as there was cash, it was fine. He had been exhausted by the financial worries over the past few days. Seeing him rush off, Hideita Kimura and Kazuo Tanimura, who were not far away, exchanged glances.

After a while, seeing him return with the banknote counter, Kazuo Tanimura said, "He brought part of the deposit? Do they need a currency counter for that?"

"If they need a counter, it must be a significant amount," Hideita Kimura sighed. "I’m going to the factory floor; soon, those machines won't be there anymore."

Kazuo Tanimura shook his head as he watched him walk toward the factory. After a moment of thought, he headed toward the president's office. "President, may I come in?" he asked at the door.

"Come in."

As Kazuo Tanimura pushed the door open, the words he was about to say died in his throat, and his mouth hung wide open. Goro Takeda was excitedly counting money, the machine whirring noisily. The suitcase on the desk was filled with ten-thousand-yen bills.

"President... this... this is..."

Takeda Takashi felt a temporary sense of relief and said with a smile, "Full payment, in cash. I was shocked too."

Kazuo Tanimura looked at the calmly smiling Zhao Yuanxi in disbelief. To think someone would carry so much money around and pay immediately upon signing the contract. Zhao Yuanxi nodded kindly when he saw his expression.

When he had gone to the bank to withdraw the money earlier, seeing Tao Zhiming walk in and out with a suitcase, and observing his nonchalant attitude, Zhao Yuanxi had already been stunned. Indeed, the impact of seeing so much cash in person was quite different. However, he suspected that Boss Tao had another consideration: he didn't want the people at Takeda Manufacturing to see the information on a check and have others track him down too quickly.

The 150 million yen in cash kept the currency counter, which Takeda Manufacturing usually only used for smaller sums, working hard. After watching for a while, Kazuo Tanimura said, "President, now that the funds are in place, should I go to Henghe and the magnetic powder suppliers to confirm some agreements?"

"Go!" Takeda Takashi, feeling quite spirited now, nodded.

Watching Kazuo Tanimura leave, Zhao Yuanxi’s eyes were thoughtful. Takeda Takashi looked at the remaining stacks of cash, felt reassured, and said, "Mr. Zhao, you have left a deep impression on me. I didn't expect us to finalize our cooperation after only meeting twice. I will write out the receipt for you now."

Zhao Yuanxi nodded. It was certainly an impressive feat. Moreover, at this critical juncture, amidst Takeda Takashi’s deep skepticism, Boss Tao had presented a plan that had the lowest cost and no restrictive strings for him, and even offered full payment upfront. Everyone else trying to leverage Takeda Manufacturing had offered highly restrictive terms, hadn't they? Only Boss Tao asked them to ship the equipment by September and provide someone to guide the process afterward.

As Takeda Takashi was writing the receipt, his phone rang. After answering, he said, "Thank you for your concern. But isn't tomorrow the final deadline for payment?"

A much calmer Takeda Takashi heard the other party say, "Considering the significant room for increased procurement after your new factory goes into operation, I explained the situation to the President. If you are truly short on funds now, we can ship a batch of goods first. The President has agreed to this in principle, but hopes Takeda Manufacturing can use a small amount of equity as collateral..."

Takeda Takashi’s face darkened, but he replied, "I am still looking for a solution. Let's wait until tomorrow."

He hung up the phone, suddenly eager for tomorrow to come so he could walk up to that guy with this cash and see his reaction! *Didn't expect this, did you, you bastards!*

...

"150 million yen in cash, all taken there?" Hiroshi Omiya clicked his tongue. "Do the others know yet?"

"...I'm not sure," the person on the phone said, with the faint sound of traffic in the background, likely from a public phone booth. "After all, I don't know if there is anyone else like me who has reached an agreement with the other side."

"Don't worry, whether you succeed or not, I will honor my promise to you," Hiroshi Omiya said leisurely. "As for what you should do next, let's wait and see what happens tonight."

He hung up, put that phone down, and picked up another. "You heard it all, right? Given the approach I’m taking, what to do next depends on whether he is a Mitsubishi man!"

The person on the other end was Seiji Handa: "He is certainly not a Mitsubishi man. Someone has already traced the background of this Hong Konger. He previously worked for Toyota under Mitsui and has no connections to Mitsubishi. I heard he was disrespectful to his superiors at the time and was expelled from Toyota. I also asked friends in Hong Kong; he worked for a family business there before and resigned recently."

He paused and continued, "He’s an restless man. Finding capital and using the money to open a factory in the mainland makes sense given his identity as a Hong Konger. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence. I heard what was on your call; 150 million yen to acquire a complete production line from Takeda Manufacturing, with them also responsible for shipping and technical guidance—where else would someone agree to such terms besides the current Takeda Manufacturing?"

Hiroshi Omiya shook his head shrewdly. "No. If it were a coincidence, why is the proposal he made to Takeda Manufacturing different from the ones he made to TDK and Sony?"

"Indeed, I forgot about that for a moment..."

"In any case, whether he is a Mitsubishi man or not, the situation has become more subtle. Mitsubishi has the motivation to use an outsider to break the current grip of Sumitomo. As long as Sumitomo cannot force the current Takeda Manufacturing to collapse through their constraints on Henghe and the magnetic powder suppliers, Mitsubishi can focus on the overall acquisition plan of Mitsui. If he isn't a Mitsubishi man, then Mitsubishi's next reaction will be worth watching."

"There should be movement soon. At the earliest, tonight!" Seiji Handa said decisively, then added, "Do you have other preparations? You don't seem very worried that he might be a Mitsubishi man."

"There's nothing to worry about," Hiroshi Omiya smiled as if he held the winning hand. "If he is a Mitsubishi man, then Sumitomo, the first to be sidelined, will have fewer bargaining chips in the upcoming planning for the Oji-Koji-cho area, which is to our advantage. Besides, it's not like we can't cooperate with Sumitomo to secretly intervene when Takeda Manufacturing needs to repay that Mitsubishi loan. After all, Sumitomo doesn't know about our cooperation with Mitsubishi. We are in an advantageous position!"

Hiroshi Omiya did not mention the arrangements he had secretly made through Ichiro Heitaiji. Backed by Mitsubishi, there were advantages, but also constraints. Hiroshi Omiya also needed the waters at Takeda Manufacturing to be muddier.

At this moment, Zhao Yuanxi was already at the airport. He was on the phone, speaking in Chinese: "When will I be back? I'll wait for your notification. I will call you at least once a day."

"That's fine. As I said, keep an eye on the company procedures to ensure they are fully completed, and take a trip to Nanyue to see where it would be suitable to set up the factory."

"I... don't know much about the mainland right now."

Tao Zhiming laughed. "It's fine. You're going back to invest, so you'll be a welcome guest. You have part of the budget, so just show your strength appropriately while you're there, and don't rush into any decisions. Tell me what you hear and see next time we meet, and I'll tell you what to do."

"Alright, I understand." Zhao Yuanxi thought to himself, *How can you know what to do? You've been staying in Japan the whole time and have never been there.* But if the boss said so, he would just do it. Moreover, this boss was truly decent; even though he was leaving Japan, he still gave him the early-stage... as he put it... "showing off" expenses for the new factory.

Tao Zhiming put down the phone and smiled at Lin Qiyu, who was beside him. "See, didn't you suggest I invest in building a factory in the mainland? I've arranged for someone to go."

Lin Qiyu's eyes lit up. "You... you've changed your mind?"

"I haven't changed my mind about anything!"

"...Didn't you say finance makes money faster?"

Tao Zhiming leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head, rocking slightly. "It's precisely because it's earned so quickly that I’m troubled by how to spend it. I thought about it, and your suggestion wasn't wrong."

He looked up at the ceiling, his eyes flickering. "Setting an idle piece on the board is not a bad idea!"