Tokyo, 1991: Starting as a bank clerk

Chapter 131 Unspoken Gratitude [Second Update, Requesting Monthly Tickets]

7:30, Yodo-ya Bridge.

The noren curtain at the entrance of Takenoya swayed gently in the breeze.

Through the half-open wooden door, one could hear hushed laughter inside.

When Kiryu Yaya pushed open the door, he was greeted by a cheerful "Irakkai" from the shop assistant.

Takenoya was practically booked out by the Financing Review Division today.

Several tables on the inner part of the first floor were pushed together, covered with dark tablecloths, and arranged into a long table that could seat more than twenty people on both sides.

A few folding chairs were added against the wall, barely enough to squeeze everyone in.

Masakazu Yamada was already seated in the innermost seat of honor.

He took off his suit jacket, wearing only a white shirt with the cuffs rolled up to his forearms and his tie loosened. He looked much more relaxed than he had in the office during the day.

Seeing Kiryu Yaya enter, he raised his hand and waved, "Kiryu-kun, over here!"

Chihaya Yuri sat in the middle of the long table against the wall, with a cup of oolong tea in front of her as usual.

Section Chief Wakako Kishigami sat next to her, looking down at the menu and muttering, "What's today's special sashimi?"

They would say things like, "Order two servings of fried chicken."

Her husband was taking care of the children tonight, so she could enjoy the last round of drinks, which was a rare treat.

Yusuke Hashimoto sat to the right of Masakazu Yamada, with an empty beer bottle in front of him.

With less than two months left until his retirement, he had a look of relief on his face, as if he was finally about to be free.

Yuka Nakamura was sitting near the door, chatting quietly with a female colleague, occasionally letting out a soft laugh.

When she saw Kiryu Yaya enter, her gaze paused for a moment, then she slightly curved the corners of her mouth in a very restrained greeting.

Arima Kishou and Sasaki Kenta have only been temporarily seconded to the Financing Review Division and will not be officially transferred until next week.

However, since the two of them had contributed a lot to the East Osaka case, Yamada Masakazu called them over to celebrate, treating it as an early welcome party for the two newcomers.

Kiryu Yaya nodded to Arima Kishou, then naturally walked to the end of the long table near the door and sat down with the two of them.

This is the reserved seat for the newlyweds.

However, although he, Arima, and Sasaki were in the same cohort, they entered the Financing Review Division in a different order, so he is not considered one of the newest members of the division.

The staff began serving the dishes one after another.

Salt-grilled mackerel, fried chicken nuggets, dashi-maki tamagoyaki, beef tendon stew, octopus vinegar, sashimi platter, chawanmushi (steamed egg custard), and other dishes filled the long table.

Beer and oolong tea were served one by one, with a fine layer of water droplets condensing on the cool bottles.

Masakazu Yamada picked up his wine glass and stood up.

The conversation in the private room suddenly fell silent.

"that"

Masakazu Yamada cleared his throat and glanced at the people on both sides of the long table: "Today's meal is officially the wrap-up meeting for the Higashi-Osaka Seiko case."

Someone chuckled.

"In fact—"

'

He paused for a moment, then softened his tone: "I'm just happy."

"In the case in Higashi-Osaka, we managed to recover more than 600 million yen from an 800 million yen bad debt that was about to go down the drain. We even managed to change the nature of the case from a failed review to a case of malicious false declaration by the borrower. To be honest, in all my years as a section chief, this kind of reversal is the first time I've ever seen one."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the table before finally settling on Kiryu Yaya.

"Kiryu-kun."

Kiryu Yaya put down his beer glass and stood up.

"Thank you for your hard work during this time."

Yamada Masakazu looked at him, without saying much sentimental, and simply raised his glass.

But the phrase "Thank you for your hard work" placed at the beginning of an introduction carries immense weight.

Kiryu Yaya bowed slightly, picked up the beer in front of him with both hands, and said modestly, "Section Chief, you flatter me. It's all thanks to the hard work of everyone in the department."

Masakazu Yamada chuckled, not exposing his modesty, and raised his glass, saying, "Then—cheers!"

"Cheers!"

The clinking of the wine glasses was crisp and rhythmic.

The beer foam swayed at the rim of the glass, the oolong tea rippled slightly, and then settled.

The atmosphere immediately relaxed.

Dishes were served one after another, and bottles of wine were opened one after another.

The voices on both sides of the long table gradually grew louder, turning from hushed conversations into bursts of laughter and commotion.

After a few drinks, Hashimoto Yusuke became noticeably more talkative.

He began recounting his experiences training at the Tokyo headquarters when he was young, saying that banks back then placed more emphasis on background and faction than they do now.

For a newcomer to gain a foothold in headquarters, they must first learn to pour drinks for their seniors, run errands for them, and take the blame for them.

"Back then, our section chief had a temper ten times worse than Section Chief Yamada's."

Yusuke Hashimoto held his wine glass, his eyes slightly unfocused: "Once, I wrote the wrong number on a summons, and he slammed it on my desk in front of the whole class, saying that someone of your caliber wouldn't even be accepted by a third-rate bank."

Yuka Nakamura's eyes widened as she asked, "And then?"

"Then?"

Yusuke Hashimoto chuckled. "Then I picked up the summons, rewrote it, and put it on his desk the next morning. He glanced at it and didn't say anything. He never scolded me again after that."

Holding her sake glass, Wakako Kishigami smiled and said, "Senior Hashimoto is teaching the young people that making mistakes is not a problem, but rather how to make amends."

"That's roughly the idea."

Yusuke Hashimoto nodded and took another sip of his drink.

The conversation naturally turned to the Higashi-Osaka Seiko case.

Yuka Nakamura was the first to mention the nighttime operation: "I was waiting for news in the office, and it was almost 10 o'clock when nothing happened. I thought something had gone wrong. Then the section chief called back and said, 'We got the stuff.' I was so excited I almost shouted it out in the office."

"Me too."

Another female employee chimed in: "I was copying documents at the time. When I heard Section Chief Chihaya say that the person had been caught, the copier jammed, but I didn't even care."

Upon hearing this, Kenta Sasaki immediately perked up and puffed out his chest: "You have no idea how dangerous that night was. When Masashi Kajiwara drew his sword, I was the first to rush in."

"Then I got slashed."

Arima Kishou replied expressionlessly.

The table erupted in laughter.

"Arima, can you please stop exposing my weaknesses in front of everyone!"

Kenta Sasaki slammed his fist on the table in indignation: "I called that bravery! Bravery! Do you understand?"

"He bravely took the knife."

Arima Kishou repeated it.

Wakako Kishi was laughing so hard she couldn't stand up straight, and even Yuri Chihaya couldn't help but smile.

After the laughter subsided, the conversation returned to its core.

"to be honest."

Yusuke Hashimoto put down his glass, his tone becoming more serious than before: "The most crucial step in recovering so many assets in the Higashi-Osaka case was that Kiryu-kun obtained Abeno's address from President Nomura."

The people at the table all nodded.

"Without that address, we wouldn't be able to find Kajiwara Shozo's mistress at all, and therefore wouldn't be able to get any further clues."

Yusuke Hashimoto looked at Yaya Kiryu: "Kiryu-kun, how did you come up with the idea of ​​starting with Nomura?"

Kiryu Yaya put down his chopsticks and said calmly, "President Nomura and President Kajiwara both work in metal processing in Higashi-Osaka, and the two companies have had a long-standing relationship."

"At the time, I felt that if President Kajiwara really had hidden his assets, President Nomura, as his colleague, would know something about it."

So I tried making a phone call.

He spoke very casually, as if it were no big deal.

Everyone present knew that the value of that phone call went far beyond that.

Masakazu Yamada picked up his wine glass, raised it towards Yaya Kiryu, said nothing, and took a sip.

Kiryu Yaya also raised his wine glass and bowed slightly in return.

Watching this scene, Wakako Kishigami smiled and turned to Yuri Chihaya, saying, "Your newcomer really knows how to handle people."

Chihaya Yuri picked up her oolong tea, took a sip, and didn't say anything, but her lips twitched slightly.

After a few rounds of drinks, the atmosphere became even more relaxed.

Yuka Nakamura stood up with her wine glass in hand and said she wanted to toast Kiryu.

She had drunk quite a bit tonight; her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were bolder than usual.

"Kiryu-kun!"

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