National Tide 1980.

However, Mrs. Taniguchi's expression of delight quickly turned to furrowing again, still not entirely at ease.

"Honey, but I remember the company's executive director is Sekiguchi Osamu. President Ning promoted you to this position, what about that other guy? Won't he hold a grudge and make things difficult for you in the future?"

It must be said that Mrs. Taniguchi is truly a loving and caring wife.

At this moment, she was not overwhelmed by the joy of her husband's promotion to executive director. Instead, she worried about his interpersonal relationships at the company, fearing that he would offend people and that he would not be able to handle them.

However, she was overthinking it, because Director Taniguchi... no, Managing Director Taniguchi, immediately waved his hand with a smile and reassured her with a reassuring tone.

"No, no. President Ning handled this matter very well. He didn't just promote me; all the existing senior executives also benefited and were promoted in order of seniority. Vice President Takada went to jail, right? So former Managing Director Fukuda Sakae is now Vice President, Sekiguchi Osamu took Fukuda Sakae's former Managing Director position, and I took over Sekiguchi Osamu's Managing Director position. So, do you think they would have any objections?"

"Huh? Even the other senior executives have been promoted? President Ning did all this just to get you promoted?"

Mrs. Taniguchi, who was already grinning from ear to ear, finally revealed the most simple and genuine nature of a housewife.

She spoke nonsense almost without thinking.

This made Mr. Taniguchi feel embarrassed, and he quickly corrected him.

"Oh dear, you can't say that. The company mainly needs to be managed by others. Fukuda Sakae and Sekiguchi Osamu are both capable of managing the company. I'm the one who's benefiting from their success, okay? To be honest, it's all thanks to President Ning. Otherwise, someone as useless as me would never have been able to earn you such face and have the opportunity to become the company's managing director."

That's just how genuine he is; that's the kind of person Director Taniguchi is.

He knows his own limitations, never boasts, and never hides his shortcomings.

However, a side effect of this is that he finds it difficult to maintain the dignity of a husband in front of his wife, and often ends up being scolded instead.

However, today is a little different from usual.

Perhaps because Mrs. Taniguchi is usually very assertive at home, her verbal slips were all due to surprise.

Perhaps it was because Mr. Taniguchi's status had changed, and he had become the company's managing director, which made Mrs. Taniguchi, as his wife, feel proud as well.

In short, although Mrs. Taniguchi was still arguing her point, she had changed her past habit of not giving her husband face, and her motive was to encourage him.

"What's wrong with you? Don't underestimate yourself like that. Honey, your job wasn't easy either. You had to handle so many messy things every day. You couldn't make mistakes; you had to be organized and efficient. What makes other people better than you? They've just been in management positions for a few more years by luck. If you were to switch places with them, they probably wouldn't be able to handle your job."

"That...that makes sense." Mr. Taniguchi felt immensely gratified to hear such agreement from his wife.

"Of course, since President Ning trusts you, you should also believe in yourself. Executive director is fine, others can do it, and so can you. Especially since your company has laid off so many people and shrunk by half, almost turning from a medium-sized company into a small one. How difficult is it for you to learn management? With your abilities, I believe you will adapt quickly."

Mr. Taniguchi was extremely pleased with Mrs. Taniguchi's words. He had never experienced such care before, and his wife seemed gentler in his eyes.

However, upon hearing that his wife seemed to look down on his company and even blame Ning Weimin, he couldn't help but offer some explanation to correct her "long hair, short wit" thinking.

"Honey, you don't think our company is going to decline in the future, do you? You're wrong."

"Hey, did I say something wrong? President Ning sold the factory and laid off so many people to pay off his debts..."

"These are certainly facts. But what you don't know is that President Ning's business planning is extraordinary. He has never thought of shrinking the business; on the contrary, he wants to re-plan the route and accelerate expansion. His plan is for us to first merge with Huaxia Company, and then increase the cost-effectiveness of our products through the cost advantages of Huaxia's factories. In Japan, we will gradually change the original model of relying on department store sales to brand-exclusive stores under our own control. His specific goal is that by next year, our company's number of employees, asset size, and profits should at least double. Only then will we look like an international company."

Mr. Taniguchi's description was full of longing and admiration, but Mrs. Taniguchi was not as captivated as he was.

"That's true. I also hope that President Ning can run the company well. But the real difficulties are obvious. What are we going to do about those debts? To be honest, if the immediate problems aren't solved, I'm worried that your company will go bankrupt."

This time, Mr. Taniguchi was so angry with his wife that he actually laughed.

"Bankruptcy? Impossible. I forgot to tell you, the company's financial hole no longer exists. President Ning has perfectly resolved the problem."

"What? It's gone? You mean it's all been made up for? How is that possible?"

Mrs. Taniguchi was indeed so surprised and incredulous.

As far as she knew, the former president, Hasegawa, had caused a deficit of nearly 10 billion yen.

Under such circumstances, it's already quite an achievement for Ning Weimin to take over this mess, maintain the situation, and gradually resolve the problems.

Suddenly, he says he has actually earned enough money to pay off his debts. Who would believe that?
He doesn't own a bank; he can't print money himself.

However, she did not expect that Mr. Taniguchi would give her such an answer.

"Others might not be able to, but who is President Ning? His stock trading skills are incredible. To tell you the truth, after President Ning sold the factory, he didn't immediately repay the bank; instead, he speculated in the stock market. Don't be fooled by the fact that the former president lost a fortune; he's already earned enough to pay off his debts. Think about it carefully—aren't we all making profits in the stock market thanks to him? And think again—when has he ever been wrong about the stocks he recommended or the timing of our sell orders?"

"No matter what, this is too fast. President Ning has only been in charge of the company for a short time. And he's too aggressive and too risky!"

Even if it were true, Mrs. Taniguchi still found it too surreal.

In response, Mr. Taniguchi could only vouch for this with his personal faith in Ning Weimin.

"That's probably the difference between people. What others can't do is a piece of cake for President Ning. In short, President Ning has extraordinary investment capabilities, that's absolutely true. You have to believe me."

Mr. Taniguchi's face showed an unprecedented piety, which was enough to infect Mrs. Taniguchi, who then fell silent and stopped questioning. Mr. Taniguchi, however, then remembered something else.

"Oh, right, there's something else I need to tell you. Actually, President Ning's reason for selling the factory wasn't just to raise funds to fill the financial hole. More importantly, he believes that Japanese real estate prices have reached their ceiling and will start to decline."

Before she could fully process the information she had just received, her husband gave her an even more unexpected message.

Mrs. Taniguchi was thus plunged back into confusion.

"Going down? That's nonsense! Everyone around me is marveling at the strength and resilience of the real estate market. Haven't you seen it on TV? Even financial experts are proclaiming that Japanese real estate will keep rising forever. Some even say that even if the Japanese stock market confirms a downward trend, real estate will absolutely not be affected by Newton's laws."

"Have you considered how many people can actually afford such soaring housing prices? What is the actual transaction volume? Haven't you noticed how outrageous the prices of houses and land in Tokyo's 23 wards have become? Take our family, for example. This 70-square-meter apartment was bought for 8 million yen back then, and now it's worth 2.88 million yen per square meter. The total price of this apartment is now about 200 million yen. Converted to US dollars, that's at least 1.6 to 1.7 million. For a young person, even if their annual salary is 6 million yen, they would have to work for 30 years without spending a penny to afford it."

That's right, nothing can withstand the power of facts. The astonishing price is right in front of her, leaving Mrs. Taniguchi no choice but to believe it.

She paused for a moment, then her tone naturally changed.

"Now that you mention it, it does seem true. This price is indeed unaffordable for many. No wonder the TV reports that many Japanese people believe Tokyoites are living off the wealth of their communities. Oh, right, now that you mention it, I remembered something. Last month, my neighbor, Mrs. Kameda, complained to me that her second son wanted to buy a house, but when he went to Adachi Ward, he found that even a 60-square-meter apartment cost over 50 million yen. You know, such a bad location, completely inconvenient for commuting to the city center, and yet the price is so high. Thinking about it now, this market situation is truly outrageous."

Mrs. Taniguchi sighed, feeling genuine sympathy for her neighbor.

At the same time, they couldn't help but think about themselves and secretly worry about their own children.

It seems that none of Japan's next generation of young people can escape this problem. What should we do?

But what she heard from Mr. Taniguchi next was far more exaggerated than she had imagined.

"That's nothing. What President Ning told me today was truly astonishing. He said there's a house on Aoyama Minami Antique Street in Minato Ward, Tokyo, owned by an elderly, lonely man who works as a gatekeeper at a school. He originally had a sign in front of his ancestral home that said, 'This land and house are absolutely not for sale,' but the price skyrocketed year after year. At the beginning of this year, someone offered an irresistible price, and the owner finally sold the old house for 1.1 billion yen. After taxes, he should have received 1 billion yen, and the interest alone would be over 40 million yen a year. Can you believe it? So, since selling the house, this old man quit his job and stopped buying houses. Instead, he moved into a luxury hotel in Shinjuku the very next day and has made the hotel his home ever since. His daily expenses, including food, lodging, and nights spent at bars and snooker, are only 100,000 yen. 3 million yen a month is enough for him, and a little over 30 million yen a year. The interest from the bank alone is enough to cover all his living expenses. Isn't that outrageous?"

Mrs. Taniguchi gasped in shock, finally realizing an unbelievable truth.

"My God, if that's really the case, doesn't that mean this person will never have to worry about money for the rest of his life? This old man will never have to work again and can live this luxurious life forever. Just because he sold a house?"

"That's right. Now you finally realize how terrifyingly high Tokyo housing prices have become, right? That's why President Ning decided to hurry up and sell off the company's factory and all the real estate under the company's name to avoid a real estate market crash like the stock market crash, causing huge losses. He even publicly advised all the company's senior executives today to sell all their stocks and real estate as soon as possible, otherwise, the prices might not be as good as they are now in a while. You know his character; since he said that, the possibility of this happening is very high. Anyway, whether others believe it or not, I believe President Ning. So I think we should also sell this house as soon as possible."

When it came to the final decision, Mr. Taniguchi's expression became serious.

However, for Mrs. Taniguchi, this shift in thinking was undoubtedly too rapid.

Unlike Mr. Taniguchi, who spent most of the day pondering this matter and couldn't quite grasp the concept, she was different.

Especially because she was reluctant to part with the old house and longed for a stable life, she instinctively refused, thinking it was a bad idea.

"Are you crazy? You want to sell the house! If you sell the house, where are we going to live? We can't stay in hotels, can we? Our house isn't even worth a billion yen; we'd be lucky to get two hundred million yen. And we're a family of four! Have you even considered us?"

Faced with accusations of disregarding his family, Mr. Taniguchi remained calm and patiently explained the situation.

“Hey, we can’t afford a hotel, but we can stay in an apartment. You’re envious of those people who live in luxury apartments in good locations, right? We couldn’t afford that in the past, but things are different now. Think about it, if our house really sells for 200 million yen, even if we have to pay 500,000 or 600,000 yen in rent every month, it’s not a big deal. We’ll even have extra interest savings. Isn’t that a good deal? Why do we have to live here?”

To be honest, after Mr. Taniguchi's guidance, Mrs. Taniguchi couldn't help but start thinking about it too.

The interest from 200 million yen would amount to 10 million yen. If we use 6 million yen to rent a house, we would have 4 million yen left, which is at least equivalent to our son's basic salary for a year.

From this perspective, selling your house and renting instead seems like a pretty good thing.

The only problem right now is—what if the house price continues to rise after we sell it?
“I told his dad, selling a house is no small matter. Once it’s sold, it won’t be so easy to buy it back. Are you really sure? Aren’t you afraid of making a mistake, or something going wrong…”

Unexpectedly, Mr. Taniguchi, who has always been mild-mannered and lacks a strong sense of self, showed a rare determination to never regret his decision, and his thinking was exceptionally clear.

"You really think housing prices can skyrocket? Let me tell you, any commodity's price is meaningless if it deviates from the actual level of social consumption. There will always be a limit. It's about that now. Besides, President Ning said that selling the house now might be the best option. Wouldn't it be better to buy it back when prices drop? President Ning is planning to buy at a low price to build a more advanced modern factory. If he's so confident, what are we afraid of? Moreover, I'm now a managing director. From now on, not only will I have a company-appointed driver and car to pick me up, but my base salary will also be 14 million yen a year. What else do you have to worry about?"

what?
Fourteen million yen!
Mrs. Taniguchi never dreamed that the executive director's salary would be more than twice that of the original director Taniguchi's salary.

And that doesn't even include the half-year bonus and reimbursement fees.

If you include everything, it would amount to at least 18 to 19 million a year!

That's great.

At that moment, overjoyed, she no longer cared about Mr. Taniguchi's smell of alcohol. She even took the initiative to hug and kiss her husband.

And so all concerns disappeared.

That's right, with such a generous salary as a safety net, what else does she have to worry about?
Moreover, looking at it this way, it seems rather beneath the dignity of a family member of an executive to live in such a house.

The drivers who pick them up every day probably laugh at them.

Yes, sell the house, you have to sell the house, there's no need to hesitate.

The Taniguchi family was no longer an ordinary family; they deserved to move into a better house. (End of Chapter)