Tokyo: The life of a literary giant begins with home self-defense!

Chapter 447 The Irresistible Beauty of Takeda Maki 2
Before Tatsukawa Toru went to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

A certain executive is already here.

As dawn broke, sunlight streamed through the glass, illuminating the woman's flawless profile.

"Manager Takeda."

Sitting in the reception area of ​​the textbook class, Ms. Shizune, dressed in a neat suit, poured a glass of water for the woman.

The white paper cup is simple and clean, and the transparent water exudes a warm aroma.

"What's wrong? Mute?"

Maki Takeda smiled at her hesitant assistant; the assistant clearly had something to say.

"Aren't we a little too early?"

Edogawa Shizune looked around; it was only a little past 8:30 in the morning.

Occasionally, the sound of people walking could be heard from the long corridor outside; those were the first batch of staff from the Ministry of Education who came to work.

However, the person that Edogawa Shizune and Takeda Maki arranged to meet would not appear so early.

"Arriving early is a matter of etiquette in business."

The woman spoke in a serious tone, while Edogawa Shizune, who had been following her for years, complained in a coquettish voice.

"Executive Director~"

Edogawa Shizune tugged at the other person's sleeve.

"You know that's not what I meant."

"Then what do you mean?"

The woman picked up the cup and carefully blew on it; the temperature was a bit hot, but it was warming to the stomach.

Seeing the other person pretending to be stupid, Edogawa Shizune sat down next to them in annoyance.

Why did you resign from your position as managing director of Kodansha?

Princess Takeda has resigned.

This is something that many people probably didn't expect.

The fact that the queen of Kodansha is personally visiting the Ministry of Education to discuss business is likely to shock everyone.

The woman came to Tokyo more than a decade ago.

He first worked in the financial field.

Later, he joined Kodansha, and rose through the ranks at that largest comprehensive publishing house in the country, eventually becoming a managing director.

"I thought you resigned because you had better career prospects, but it turns out you..."

The girl pointed in disbelief at the visitor sign in front of the woman.

It says "TRT Library" on it.

TRT, a literary publisher I'd never heard of before.

It has now become a synonym for Princess Takeda.

"Although it can't compare to Kodansha."

The woman smiled and pointed to the job title on her identification information.

"But he's still the president, isn't he?"

He went from being the managing director of Kodansha to the president of TRT.

Ryukawa Tetsu might excitedly say, "The Managing Director has been promoted!" But Edogawa Shizune looked utterly worried.

"TRT, what a lousy name."

The assistant pursed his lips, seemingly very dissatisfied.

"Okay, mute."

The woman rubbed the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on.

Although the assistant complained, he still followed him out immediately after learning that he had resigned.

Even someone as principled as Maki Takeda, who clearly distinguishes between public and private matters, allows her subordinates to utter a few more complaints now.

"Have you prepared the documents I asked you to?"

She was acting like she was there for a business negotiation, and Shizue Edogawa knew that she couldn't persuade a woman.

"Currently, Japanese high school textbooks are published by multiple publishers."

Edogawa Shizune carefully placed the documents one by one.

"Of these, Tokyo Shoseki Publishing House printed 730,000 copies."

"Sanshengtang printed 1.2 million copies."

"Z Publishing House printed 390,000 copies."

After placing the documents and materials neatly, Maki Takeda nodded in satisfaction.

The two have been partners for many years, and although this data is not publicly available, Maki Takeda believes that the other party cannot be wrong.

“Sanseido holds the largest share, which is related to the distribution of their printing plants.”

Japan has 47 prefectures. Although the textbooks are basically the same, some of the content may vary slightly depending on the region. "And this is just the data for Mathematics 1."

There are 8-9 subjects, and as many as 60 courses.

The information listed by Edogawa Shizune is only for one subject and one discipline; the actual printed content would be many times greater.

"The Ministry of Education is only preparing to type and print the Japanese Language 1 and Japanese Language 2."

Takeda Maki smiled at Edogawa Shizune. The Ministry of Education had a huge number of books to publish and print, which was a lucrative opportunity for their newly established company.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have made a special trip to the textbook class and waited here so early.

“The textbooks are printed every year. Multiply this coefficient by two, and then multiply it by the number of years of cooperation between the Ministry of Education and Culture each time.”

The girl typed a number on the computer, and Maki Takeda glanced at it, knowing what to expect before the negotiations.

Time passed as the two of them looked up information.

The staff responsible for reception didn't arrive until around 10 o'clock.

"Sorry, sorry."

A neatly dressed female official wore an apologetic smile, while Edogawa Shizune pouted.

Kodansha has collaborated with the Ministry of Education before, but their interactions with the Ministry were quite different back then.

Not only do they not keep them waiting, but sometimes they even go to Kodansha on their own.

"Everything is difficult at the beginning."

Shizune Edogawa sighed, stood up, and shook hands with the other party along with her boss.

Shion Minamino in the textbook lesson.

An internal staff member responsible for publishing coordination.

The other party sat down and got straight to the point.

"You are the third person here today regarding the new Mandarin edition being printed and published."

It wasn't just Takeda Maki and her family who knew that the new national language textbooks were going to be revised.

So the woman arrived here very early today, but unexpectedly, someone still got there before them.

"I have reviewed your printing capabilities and machine requirements."

The woman smiled, took the pen and paper, and wrote down a number.

"This is a quote we can accept, please take a look."

Women are very straightforward, or rather, the Ministry of Education, which has the largest demand for book printing, only needs to be straightforward.

Offering a price guarantee, the specific amount of cost reduction and profit gained depends on the other party.

With millions of copies printed each year, the quoted price is naturally very low.

"So low?"

Although it was expected, the price still left Edogawa Shizune speechless.

The cost of printing a single copy, after deducting operating costs, is almost enough to cover labor costs.

That means they won't make any money from now on.

"Since this is our first collaboration with your company, we also need to consider the potential losses."

Minamino Shion smiled.

Actually, she deliberately lowered the price for the other party.

Once upon a time, the woman opposite him was the executive director of a large company, but now she has to obediently come to him to discuss cooperation.

Humans are inherently flawed.

In particular, when they see someone who was once high and mighty now need their help, they will deliberately try to trip them up.

Seeing the hesitation and contemplation on the other person's face, one could sense their dissatisfaction and struggle within the constraints of their own rights.

When Minamino Shion, a woman who had dealt with Takeda Maki several times, wanted to see all of this.

The woman opposite him immediately produced a contract.

"Um, you accept."

Minamino Shion was taken aback.

The price she offered would not only not make the other party money, but might even result in a loss.

"Sign it."

The former managing director of Kodansha was decisive and efficient.

She knew what it would be like to start all over again.

However, she would not let anyone see weakness or resentment on her face, and the sheer size of the Ministry of Education was exactly what she needed.

As the woman sighed, preparing to sign the harsh contract...

"What are you doing?"

The boy who suddenly appeared smiled and grabbed her.

(End of this chapter)