Traveling Through the Tokyo Bubble Era

Chapter 1048 Changing Strategies
In the Minato Ward, Hideki Hanyu settles into the upscale apartment where Tiana Kolopova and her sister live.

Hideki Hanyu lay back on the sofa, silently gazing out the window. The sky was already pitch black, with only starlight and neon lights illuminating the entire city of Tokyo.

While engrossed in her work, Ziana Kolopova suddenly looked up at Hideki Hanyu and asked, "Is something troubling you, sir?"

Hideki Hanyu asked, "Is it that obvious?"

"Just now in the car, sir..."

Ziana Kolopova stopped abruptly, somewhat embarrassed, halfway through her sentence.

After all, recalling the scene in the car just now, she had made Hideki Yuzuru happy in front of her sister.

So much so that after returning home, my younger sister hid in her room and hasn't come out yet.

Because she has been staying with Hideki Hanyu all this time, she hasn't had time to persuade her sister.

Hideki Hanyu spoke slowly, "I'm feeling a bit troubled today."

"I will make you happy, sir."

After saying this, Ziana Kolopova sat up immediately, demonstrating her determination to make Hideki Hanyu happy through her actions.

Whether Hideki Yuzuru was happy or not was still unclear, but after his recent reflection, he had already made up his mind about one thing.

That is, as his strength grows, his position in Japanese politics may also change along with his power.

It is necessary to appropriately support, invest in, win over, and even infiltrate certain factions, rather than always maintaining a so-called neutral position.

Because when you are weak, you can only think of yourself.

However, as their strength gradually grows, not only will their opponents not allow them to remain "neutral," but even their own people will be unwilling to accept it.

One should have a certain status and pursue certain benefits based on their strength.

This is one of the reasons why the forces he supports were so proactive after his affair with Aso came to light.

These people may not really want to help him; their real intention is to use this incident to advance their own careers.

Therefore, when Hideki Hanyu negotiated with the two gentlemen, he deliberately ignored his own compensation and only asked for an apology, but he was trying to gain benefits for his own side.

After some deliberation, Hideki Yuzuru suddenly felt that perhaps he didn't need to be as cautious as before regarding Mr. Hatoyama's independent development, and could provide him with some strong support.

Of course, even though the Liberal Democratic Party has suffered several bribery scandals and its strength has been severely damaged, the political landscape in Japan is unlikely to change in the short term.

Therefore, he must be careful to strike a balance when offering his help.

For the time being, he still needs to feign compliance with the Ziming Party.

Thinking of this, he was overjoyed by Tiana Kolopova's fawning and ingratiating manner.

"I'm very satisfied," Hideki Hanyu said to Gianna Kolopova.

"Alright, go and talk to your sister. Tell her that she'll have to adapt to everything sooner or later. After all, I'm not some pushover who only wants to give without expecting anything in return."

Hideki Hanyu's words were very straightforward: he helped the Kolopova sisters because of their beauty, and he would eventually take them both.

Don't want to? Then go back to Eastern Europe.

However, after hearing Hideki Hanyu's words, Ziana Kolopova quickly offered an explanation.

“Dalia is not what you think, sir.”

Hideki Yuzuru didn't quite understand what he meant. "What do you mean by 'not what I think'?"

However, after saying this, Ziana Kolopova left and went to her sister's bedroom, so Hideki Hanyu did not receive an explanation.

But soon, Hideki Hanyu understood what Ziana Kolopova meant.

After taking a shower, Hideki Hanyu found that Gianna Kolopova had returned and then pulled him toward her sister Daria Kolopova's room.

He explained as he walked.

"When Dalia saw that the gentleman was only with me, she thought that he only liked me and not her, so she felt a little disappointed and sad."

In fact, ever since the man rescued her, she has been very grateful to him, admired him, and liked him.

I hope you can help me explain this to her, tell her that you don't dislike her, and if possible, share some of your affection with her.

As Ziana Kolopova spoke, she had already led Hideki Hanyu to the door of her sister Dalia's room.

The door was not closed, so Hideki Hanyu could see directly that Daria was lying on the bed in the bedroom.

Upon noticing his presence, the girl looked up at him, her eyes slightly red, clearly having just been secretly heartbroken.

But upon seeing Hideki Hanyu, a hint of happiness immediately appeared in the girl's eyes.

At this moment, how could Hideki Yuzuru not understand that this beautiful Eastern European girl was completely different from what he had imagined?

It's not that I don't like it, it's that I like it too much.

She might even feel sad because he only touches his older sister and not her.

With such a beautiful woman practically handed to him, how could a playboy-like scumbag let her go?

Although her age is a bit "criminal," she is from Eastern Europe after all, and even though she was born in 1975, she looks mature beyond her years.

A strange thrill surged through him, prompting Hideki Hanyu to pull Gianna Kolopova into the room.

With a bang, the door slammed shut, and what happened next was beyond words.

In short, it was a happy time for scumbags.

……

The next day.

The last day of November.

With the conflict with Aso temporarily over, Hideki Hanyu was able to focus all his attention on the affairs of the Naito family.

After leaving the Kolopova sisters' house in the morning, Marco reported to him on the latest developments of the Naito family.

Currently, there are three heirs openly vying for power within the Naito family and seeking support from the family foundation, but only two seem to be the most likely candidates.

They are Naito Haruko's father, Naito Ryoichi, and Naito Ryoichi's older brother, Naito Kiyomi, who is also the second son of the late Director Naito.

As for the two's eldest sister, Naito Mako, because she is a daughter, she didn't have much of a chance of winning.

Now, he has inadvertently revealed that he has agreed to join forces with one of his brothers to help his younger brother seize control of the family.

As for which younger brother it was, the eldest sister never revealed it.

However, Hideki Hanyu speculated that this younger brother might not be his biological brother, but rather his cousin.

After all, according to intelligence, Naito Kensaku has never been idle.

Not only did he meet privately with several elders of the Naito family, but he also met with Naito Mako six times in a short period of time.

Clearly, without anyone knowing, this member of a collateral branch of the Naito family had already begun to exert his influence quietly.

Next Tuesday will be the day when the power struggle within the Naito family comes to a close. This close, however, has nothing to do with the succession of the family line.

Because the Naito family's assets have long since moved beyond simple inheritance and now exist as a family company.

The next step for the Naito family is simply for the family elders and the management of the family foundation to appoint someone to represent the Naito family in the fight for the most important rights in Itochu Corporation.

Marco suddenly asked, "Is the boss going to attend?"

"Attend what? A family meeting of the Naito family?"

Hideki Hanyu didn't wait for Marco to confirm before answering.

"It's not impossible. I can go with Haruko to see what's going on."

Nowadays, besides one beautiful new woman after another, there are not many other things that can arouse Hideki Hanyu's interest in his boring life.

Seeing that he had a chance to watch the excitement, which was orchestrated by him in secret, he naturally didn't want to miss it.

Marco said, "I understand."

Marco asked this question in order to help Hideki Hanyu prepare security arrangements in advance.

After all, when gamblers lose and become desperate, they're capable of anything.

However, Hideki Hanyu seemed to have guessed Marco's thoughts and chuckled lightly, seemingly unconcerned.

"Heh, if they had the courage to hurt me, they wouldn't have ended up like this, and they wouldn't have given Naito Ken any chance."

However, after showing his contempt for the Naito family heir, Hideki Hanyu did not become so arrogant as to betray Marco's caution.

He then emphasized, "Just do what you're supposed to do, and don't change your work schedule because of what I say."

“Yes,” Marco replied.

And so, after saying goodbye to the Ziana Klopova sisters, Hideki Hanyu returned to the Yorozuya.

Then, I learned from Asako that Izumi Sakai and Yasuko Sawaguchi had both left after having dinner at Yorozuya yesterday due to work reasons.

Hideki Hanyu didn't care about this. After all, the novelty that had been building up for so long had worn off, and a short separation would only increase the enthusiasm for the next meeting.

As for his return today, it wasn't for rest, but to use the Yorozuya's dedicated satellite phone line to contact some of America's friends.

The elder brother in the East is terminally ill, while the tense situation in the distant Middle East is like a powder keg with its fuse already lit, just waiting for the final explosion.

The international situation is turbulent and unpredictable, and a storm is brewing. Naturally, big capitalists like Hideki Hanyu are like sharks that have smelled blood.

His capital has unknowingly colluded with multiple American capital entities, uncontrollably participating in various matters.

He is not short of money now, but he is very interested in things other than making money.

For example, making money can be used to make friends, build influence, form interest groups, or make strategic investments in certain industries in advance.

The last time I sent Marco to Eastern Europe, it was to make some arrangements there in advance.

After all, even the most far-sighted person would never have such a clear understanding of future trends as he does.

After a few phone calls, it was lunchtime.

Just as Asako was reminding Hideki Yuzuru to go eat, he unexpectedly received a call from Mr. Hatoyama.

“If you want to say it in person, that’s fine. I’ll wait for you at the Yorozuya.”

If you haven't had lunch yet, sir, we can have lunch together. My chef prepares Chinese cuisine; I'm sure you'll enjoy it."

After hanging up the phone, Hideki Hanyu didn't have to wait long before Mr. Hatoyama arrived.

After walking out of the underground parking garage, Mr. Hatoyama, who was visiting Yorozuya for the first time, praised the store's enormous front garden.

"It's really impressive that President Yuzuru has such a big house in Bunkyo Ward."

Hideki Hanyu humbly replied, "It just so happened that when I was renovating the house, the land next door was for sale. I like a quiet life and don't like to be disturbed, so I bought it."

Yorozuya, Hideki Hanyu's home in Tokyo, has expanded its total area several times since its initial construction.

Today, the area occupied within the walls alone is almost the size of a football field.

To ensure privacy, the wall is surrounded by a ring of private land, enclosed by tall trees, greenery, and roads, making it a small park around the house, enough for Hideki Hanyu to use for morning runs.

If you include these lands, then the Yorozuya's territory can only be described as spanning multiple stations.

It's fair to say that without permission, ordinary people can't even get close to the Yorozuya's outer wall.

However, Mr. Hatoyama did not come here today to visit the Yorozuya.

So after a few polite exchanges, Hideki Hanyu led him directly into the house and sat him down at a table laden with delicious food.

The two began to enjoy their lunch, served by the maid.

While Hideki Hanyu was introducing Mr. Hatoyama to his private chef's signature dishes, Mr. Hatoyama said to Hideki Hanyu...

"Chairman Yuzuru, I have good news for you. The Aso family has agreed to all the conditions you proposed yesterday and has promised to personally express their apologies to you at the Mitsui & Co. year-end reception the day after tomorrow."

After hearing this, Hideki Hanyu did not show any smug expression of victory.

Instead, he casually remarked, "He made a wise choice."

Mr. Hatoyama was somewhat surprised by Hideki Hanyu's attitude.

After all, judging from Hideki Hanyu's fierce rebuttal, he thought Hideki Hanyu was eager to win and would be very excited to hear his news.

As it turned out, Hideki Hanyu didn't seem to care much about it.

However, Hideki Hanyu's next sentence made Mr. Hatoyama immediately give up thinking about the matter.

"Sir, Aso is a thing of the past. Instead of talking about him, I think we should talk about something else."

For example, how can we cooperate within Itochu Corporation, or how can we help each other in the future?

Would you be interested, sir?

“I am very interested,” Mr. Hatoyama replied without hesitation.

At the same time, he was very curious as to why Hideki Hanyu, who originally did not want to help him directly, would suddenly change his mind.
It's because he helped with Aso's case.

Or is it because Hideki Hanyu really intends to change his development strategy?
Thinking of the skill that Hideki Yuzuru had displayed at the teahouse yesterday, Mr. Hatoyama felt a surge of excitement.

Even if he doesn't get Hideki Hanyu's full support for what he's about to do, just a small part of it would still be a huge gain for him.

With this expectation in mind, Mr. Hatoyama began to have detailed discussions with Hideki Hanyu.

The two chatted from the dining table to the fireplace in the backyard, and it wasn't until the afternoon that Mr. Hatoyama finally took his leave.

Judging from the undisguised joy on Mr. Hatoyama's face as he left the Yorozuya, it was clear that his trip to see Hideki Hanyu at the Yorozuya was definitely a very fruitful one.

As for Hideki Hanyu, he was equally satisfied, because he also received many unspeakable promises.

(End of this chapter)