Tokyo Barrister: Start the law firm bankruptcy

Chapter 929 Unimaginable: Ants and Finance (Part Two)

What could be the relationship between Ant Group and finance?
From a scientific perspective, ants are a type of insect belonging to the family Formicidae in the order Hymenoptera.

But what is finance?
That's the kind of image you'd expect from investment banking elites in high-end CBDs, dressed in suits, discussing stocks, futures, bonds, and all sorts of derivatives.

Why is Ant Group associated with finance?

Kitahara and Terada's conversation lasted for another hour.

Then it ended.

The situation surrounding Aso's case is far more complex than Kitahara had imagined.

By the time we got back to the apartment complex, it was almost 11 p.m.

It was late at night, but light shone through the crack in the door.

Laughter from women could be heard from inside from time to time.

Kitahara took out his key and opened the door.

Inside were Miyagawa, Misumi, Niwa, and Sakagami.

The four women were huddled around the kotatsu in the room, seemingly intently staring at something.

"You're back!" Miyagawa glanced at Kitahara, then turned back to stare at the kotatsu countertop.

"What are you doing?" Kitahara asked curiously as he took off his leather shoes at the entrance.

“You don’t know. Misumi brought back something really amazing,” Miyagawa said.

Then, Misumi's voice rang out:

"Kitahara, look at us working people. We work ourselves to the bone every day, but in the end, all we get is a salary to make ends meet. Sigh, if we really want to never have to worry about money again, we have to be like the rich and make our money work for us!"

"What exactly are you researching?" Kitahara strode into the center of the room.

The next second—

He saw a small glass box on the countertop of the kotatsu.

It was filled with mud.

Some small black dots are crawling inside.

They are—

Ant!

"This thing that Misumi brought back is pretty amazing, isn't it!" Miyagawa couldn't help but exclaim.

The beautiful forensic pathologist stared intently at the glass box and said, "Kitahara, you probably never would have guessed that this little box in front of you could become a source of wealth."

"I advise you to stop daydreaming about getting rich."

"What the hell!" Misumi curled her lips in dissatisfaction.

“I have to explain this to you properly,” Misumi said. “Recently, there’s been a lot of interest in traditional Chinese medicine. Many people are making medicinal wine. Right now, one very popular type is medicinal wine made with ants. Because the market demand is huge, there aren’t enough ants left.”

Misumi began, in a serious tone like a teacher, to say:

"Therefore, there are companies that breed ants and are promoting ant farming projects."

"What I mean is that we first pay a sum of money to buy a batch of ants from this company. Then, these ants will reproduce, right? After the ants have reproduced, this company will buy back the batch of fertilized ants from us at a higher price."

"This creates a win-win situation. We get the money, and the breeding company gets more ants."

“This is a sure-fire way to make money!” Misumi continued, “The buyback price offered by the ant-raising company can be 25% to 50% higher! Just imagine, if we raise ants like this year after year, wouldn’t the money be like an endless river? We’ll never be short of money!”

As Misumi spoke, he became quite excited, gesturing wildly.

They seemed to be immersed in a beautiful dream of getting rich in the future.

Through Misumi's narration, a myth about getting rich by investing in ants emerged.

You work for an ant breeding company, raising ants.

The company will repurchase your Ant Group.

No matter how you look at it, it seems to be a closed loop and a viable investment transaction.

Ants aren't particularly precious creatures. There's little risk of failure.

This is practically a guaranteed money-making project.

Kitahara listened to Sakagami's words, a complex expression appearing on his face. Because, in his ears, his conversation with Terada from a few hours earlier echoed in his ears. The conversation was about finance and ants.

The young male lawyer's words interrupted Misumi's reverie.

"What makes you so sure that the breeding company will have enough money to buy back your ants in the future?"

It's a very short sentence.

But it hits the nail on the head.

Misumi was also stunned.

However, his competitive nature led Misumi to continue speaking:

"But the number of ants has increased. The breeding company can always make money by buying them back."

"What if traditional Chinese medicine becomes less popular in the future, and nobody drinks medicinal wine made from ants? Or, to put it more bluntly, what if the ant-breeding company takes the money you initially paid for the ants and then runs away?"

In an instant, the room fell silent.

Like a phantom balloon, it was punctured by Kitahara's words.

Then, Niyu said:

"However, this ant farming company is quite legitimate. I heard that it's run by a man named Aso. He's a former official of the Toyo Bank. With someone like that backing them up, what's there to be afraid of? Besides, the ants are real, tangible things. The ant farming company's buyback is also written in black and white in the ant purchase contract. Isn't that much more reliable than investing in stocks or bonds?!"

Aso's name echoed in the room.

Kitahara never expected that the regional financial crisis orchestrated by Aso would also engulf his small apartment.

That's right—

Terada talking to Kitahara about ants.

Just as Misumi had said.

This is Aso's method of raising funds.

Using ants to raise funds.

They used the promise of buying back ants that had been bred as bait to encourage people to contribute money to purchase them.

This trend has actually been quietly emerging in Tokyo for some time.

Many middle-aged and elderly people have spent a lot of money to buy ants.

Even young people are no exception.

Young people are also showing off the ants they keep on social media.

After leaving his job, Aso founded a financial company. No one could have imagined that a financial genius would be able to make a fortune from ants. These once insignificant creatures, under the financial genius's manipulation, became a money-making machine. Countless people flocked to buy ants.

The desires of these citizens were amplified tens of thousands of times by Aso's financial operations.

think about it.

Ants have a reproductive cycle of about three months.

This means that within a three-month period, the breeding company can repurchase the ants at a premium of 25% to 50%.

Over the course of a year, your principal could potentially double.

What an astonishing profit margin!
Even without considering compound interest, there's a 200% profit!

Crazy!

Anyone would go crazy for it!
This is the work of that financial genius, Aso.

A genius who awakens the greed in people's hearts!

Aso! !
Kitahara stared at the glass case in the apartment, his expression more solemn than ever before.

Ant!!
Ant!!!

(End of this chapter)