Chapter 138: Meeting the Housewives (4/4)

The phone remained silent for a long time, and Tao Zhiming did not speak either.

"What on earth do you know about their methods? Please, tell me..." Takeda Takanao's tone softened, sounding thoroughly exhausted.

"I only know that for stakes this large, they have no bottom line." Tao Zhiming felt a twinge of sympathy for him. "What have they done this time?"

Takeda Takanao let out a long sigh. "My wife..."

Tao Zhiming was startled. "You don't say? Those bastards..."

"No, not like that." Takeda Takanao knew his mind was wandering. Why did this guy suddenly interrupt him? Did he have some strange reaction to the word "wife"?

"My mother-in-law borrowed five million yen from someone to trade foreign exchange and buy stocks. She lost it all, and the creditor came after me..."

"Well, that might not actually be their doing." Tao Zhiming was defeated. "Isn't everyone doing that sort of thing lately? Come to think of it, your mother-in-law has quite modern ideas. An elderly lady who knows how to trade forex and stocks..."

"Stop joking." Takeda Takanao sounded utterly drained. "The problem is, the creditor wants to acquire our company."

"Stop joking." Tao Zhiming returned the phrase verbatim. A company that manufactured cassette tapes had lent money to his mother-in-law for stock trading? What kind of brain-dead operation was that? The motive was far too obvious.

"I am not joking." Takeda Takanao raised his voice slightly. "They said they bought the debt from the original creditor! As long as I am willing to join the Mitsui Group, I won't have to repay this debt!"

"As expected, absolutely no bottom line." Tao Zhiming sighed with emotion. Though it took a roundabout way, it was truly brutal.

It seemed his own intervention had made many people nervous, prompting them to lay their cards on the table.

"So, you really don't know what other plans they have against me?"

Tao Zhiming sighed. "I told you, I am not one of them. How could I possibly know their plans to deal with you? At this point, it only proves that my judgment was correct. Don't you still have some money left from what I gave you before? Just pay them off cleanly. Smashing them with cash feels wonderful."

"Your mindset is completely broken!" Takeda Takanao's voice rose by several decibels. "Are you kidding me? That is money from the sale of the company's equipment, it doesn't belong purely to me! In our current state of loss, how could I possibly use it to pay off debts?"

"Don't the shares of Takeda Manufacturing all belong to you?" Tao Zhiming asked casually. "Then what do you mean by calling me?"

Takeda Takanao fell silent for a moment before saying, "You said yesterday that you could buy my house too, right?"

Tao Zhiming immediately replied, "Unless it's sold together with the land at your factory. Otherwise, once the paperwork goes through, wouldn't I expose myself prematurely? Think about it carefully. Sell that land to me, and you still have two months to fulfill the Hang He order and properly transfer the rest of your equipment and assets."

"I see..." Takeda Takanao clearly still wanted to struggle. After exchanging a couple of polite pleasantries, he hung up first.

Tao Zhiming put away his phone and fell into deep thought.

The dirty tricks of these people had arrived right on cue.

In that case, the second strategy in his proposal to Takeda Takanao had indeed proven effective.

Compared to the other factions, Tao Zhiming was genuinely considering things from Takeda Takanao's perspective. Although the price he offered fell short of Takeda's ideal of "fairness," it at least offered a glimmer of hope.

While supporting the continued development of his factory, Tao Zhiming had also promised that Takeda could redeem it after four years. He had even brought up Yamamoto Akihito, allowing Takeda—an ardent fan—to meet his revered idol and scholar to seek advice and learn from him.

Among all the factions eager to acquire that piece of land at the minimal possible cost, Tao Zhiming was the weakest, forcing him to adopt a relatively fair strategy. This was an open conspiracy.

Tao Zhiming sympathized with his plight, and now he felt a surge of anticipation.

With this group playing one trick after another, what would their next move be?

Regardless of how much Takeda Takanao was suffering on his end, Tao Zhiming only needed to wait until Takeda had no choice but to make a decision, and then throw on a little more fuel.

After all, the other factions were unlikely to offer better terms than his own.

During this period, Tao Zhiming had simply made one suggestion: have Takeda publicize the pricing terms proposed by Ishibashi Reiko's faction during the negotiations. By playing the victim, it would become apparent that those people merely looked favorably upon the planning of Minami Gokurakucho and were demanding absurd compensation.

That way, no matter how the matter was ultimately resolved, the value of his land would still be recognized, which perfectly aligned with his core objective.

While waiting for the situation to ferment, Tao Zhiming had another important matter to attend to: meeting the housewives invited by Onodera Runa!

The meeting was held at a Western restaurant that Onodera Runa had reserved entirely for themselves.

There were thirteen housewives in total who had been invited.

The protagonists always made their grand entrances last. At that moment, the housewives were chattering away animatedly inside the restaurant.

"My remaining margin can only hold out until the exchange rate depreciates to 173. What should I do?" Kitagawa Kanae asked another woman with a worried frown. "How is your situation?"

In her eyes, she secretly hoped the other woman was in just as miserable a state as she was.

"Me too! My leverage is even higher than yours; I can only hold out until 171!" Living up to expectations, the other woman looked even more distressed than her. "At this rate, buying NTT stock is going to be difficult."

"Lady Runa is truly formidable, though. I hear she's going to bring our previous dividends today," Kitagawa Kanae said, a look of yearning dawning on her face.

The other housewives, who had been chatting idly, immediately swarmed over. "How much will there be?"

"I don't know!" Kitagawa Kanae said with a trace of regret. "Back then, Lady Runa hadn't obtained that gentleman's permission, so she only took one million yen from each of us at the very start, saying she would hand it over to that gentleman to manage as her private fund. She promised us that whatever profit that gentleman made for her, she would distribute to us proportionally. If I had known he could keep making profits, I wouldn't have taken my other money to try things out on my own."

"Indeed..." Those who had also suffered losses wore pained expressions. "The stock market is a bit better, but foreign exchange... it truly requires so much knowledge and skill."

"But why did Lady Runa refuse us when we tried to chip in more money later?" a newcomer to the circle asked, still confused about the situation.

Kitagawa Kanae solemnly explained, "Because of that, Lady Runa was scolded by that gentleman several times! She said that her money made huge profits because that gentleman used other funds to cover the margin for her! Lady Runa only had to enjoy the returns on leverage without bearing the risk of losses. That gentleman was willing to do such a thing for her, but why on earth should he do it for us? Previously, it was under the guise of Lady Runa's private savings, which was practically deceiving that gentleman!"

"I see..."

"So this time, Lady Runa spent more than a month ensuring that gentleman enjoyed complete bliss before he finally agreed, out of consideration for her face, to specially assemble a top-tier team for us. The returns certainly won't be as high as our original one-million-yen principal, but they will be higher than outside institutions, and much safer. I heard it will all be handled in a very formal manner..."

"Lady Runa seems to have arrived!" one of the housewives shouted, and the others hurried together toward the window.

Downstairs, a stylish Mercedes-Benz had pulled up. Shortly after, a tall young man stepped out and opened the rear door, bowing slightly.

A leg was first revealed. Looking from top to bottom, Onodera Runa stepped out of the car with natural grace.

She nodded to the young man first, and after he bowed in return, he went off to park the car. Onodera Runa walked calmly into the Western restaurant without waiting for him.

"It's that man!" exclaimed the housewife Onodera Runa had previously met in the park. "That very handsome young man! When I ran into Lady Runa in the park before, he was the one protecting her safety."

"Eh? Is he very handsome? That gentleman is certainly trusting of Lady Runa..." Someone giggled softly.

"Stop joking, how can you say such reckless things!" Kitagawa Kanae glared at her. "Lady Runa is coming up."

The housewives all stood up with poised and elegant postures. A moment later, Onodera Runa appeared at the doorway, greeted by a flurry of cheerful and lively pleasantries.

"Lady Runa, didn't you say that today, that gentleman would arrange for his subordinates to come and explain the subsequent financial planning to us?" Once the greetings concluded, Kitagawa Kanae took the initiative to ask.

Onodera Runa smiled and nodded. "Yes! Please wait a moment, Tao-kun has gone to park the car."

"Eh? Is he the one who opened the car door for you just now?"

"You all saw him? It's just him." Onodera Runa wore an indifferent smile on her face, though in her heart she thought: *As expected, Taoro was right when he said the acting had to start the moment we got out of the car.*

This guy really understands women... From the outside in...

Kitagawa Kanae and the others felt a bit embarrassed. Kawabata Yuriko, who had met Onodera Runa in the park, felt a sense of disbelief. "Pardon my rudeness, but I thought he... was just responsible for your security."

"How could that be? Tao-kun is an extraordinary talent..." Onodera Runa's beautiful eyes shimmered. "In fact, my previous financial management was entirely handled by him."

"Really?" Kitagawa Kanae couldn't help blurting out in surprise.

"Absolutely true!" Onodera Runa nodded with certainty. "As a fourth-year student at the University of Tokyo, since he still has a year before officially starting work, he has more time. Aside from entrusting my funds to him, Tao-kun even tutors Miyo with her studies!"

"The University of Tokyo?" A look of awe crept into the eyes of the housewives. To allow a Tokyo University genius to handle such private matters before even starting work—to what extent must that gentleman dote on Onodera Runa? And how highly must he value this Tao-kun?

Onodera Runa dropped yet another bombshell. "That's right. I hope you won't look down on Tao-kun later. After all, he is a genius who has already been promised a minimum base salary of fifty-two million yen a year!"

"Hiss—" The housewives all drew in a sharp breath simultaneously; Tokyo suddenly didn't feel quite so warm.

Then, the atmosphere surged with blistering heat.

"Fifty-two million yen a year? One million a week? Terrifying..."

"To reach that level right upon graduation?"

"What kind of position commands a salary that high? Isn't that at the level of a major company president?"

Onodera Runa smiled without answering. *Go ahead and guess wildly, the more absurd your guesses, the better.*

In any case, fifty-two million yen a year was real, and Taoro's capability was real.

As expected, the housewives began letting their imaginations run wild.

To reach such a height, there was only one possibility: Onodera Runa's man was a major figure in a top-tier financial conglomerate!

Never in their wildest dreams had they expected to accidentally befriend a woman of such staggering status.

At that thought, the way they looked at Onodera Runa completely changed.

Even if she wasn't an official wife, she... was still light-years beyond what they could ever compare to! And they had managed to befriend her precisely when she was newly climbing to high places.

No wonder she had worked so hard to learn how to become a lady of high society.

It turned out she wasn't striving for mere status. Rather, every single occasion she attended by that gentleman's side demanded that exact demeanor and grace!

As the housewives let their imaginations wander, a voice came from outside the door. "Pardon the intrusion!"

Onodera Runa quickly spoke up. "Please come in, Tao-kun!"

The door was pushed open, and Tao-kun walked in with a steady, composed stride.

A Tokyo University genius, a fifty-two-million-yen base salary, tall, young, and handsome...

Watching Tao Zhiming approach step by step, the housewives found their breathing growing slightly constricted.

He was just a young man who hadn't even graduated yet; why did he possess an aura even more formidable than their own husbands?