Tokyo: Starting with taking on his wife's debts

Since they were in a warehouse and the door could be opened at any time, the two did not do anything inappropriate. Xiuming covered her face with her coat and then massaged her shoulders, arms and legs.

“I’ll go straight to the Sugita family’s doll factory after daybreak. You should be able to handle the things you’ve organized yourself, right? I don’t want to have anything to do with the yakuza who have criminal activities.”

"Now that we're entangled, and you've taken advantage of me so much, I can't let you get away with this."

Jiang Qi almost blurted out that he should propose, but then she thought that the time was not right and the progress was not yet sufficient, so she immediately held back.

"At least your heart is pure. As long as you don't bully Riko, you can do whatever you want with her."

"Hehehe..." Jiang Qi chuckled a few times and stopped talking. He had to keep his true purpose hidden and could not be as brainless as Ayako and rush in recklessly.

"Take a nap! So you won't be tired tomorrow..."

As he spoke, Xiuming pulled Ezaki into the small house, spread his coat on the floor, sat down, and then held Ezaki on his lap, sitting quietly facing each other.

Soon they all drifted into a light sleep.

Chapter 100: Obtained a Plot of Land

The warehouse was dark and quiet, with only the soft breathing of the two people amidst the strong smell of durian.

Xiuming leaned against the box, sitting cross-legged on the ground, his arms under Ezaki's armpits, his forehead resting on Ezaki's shoulder and neck. Whether it was because she was marinated well or because of her own body fragrance, the warm, sweet scent suppressed the durian smell.

Ezaki then straddled Hideaki's lap, hugged his head, lifted the Ultraman mask onto his head, and fell asleep with his left cheek pressed against the top of Hideaki's head.

When she first started in this position, her heart was pounding and she felt awkward all over. She wanted to keep biting down on Xiuming's head.

However, Xiuming didn't do anything as she expected, which surprised her. If she bit him again, she would seem petty.

Xiuming nestled intimately against her collarbone, and the way he slept peacefully reminded her of a baby.

The shame that welled up inside her instantly transformed into an instinctive maternal instinct. "I really can't stand this childish guy," Ezaki muttered, giving Hideaki's head a tighter squeeze. Soon after, she was immersed in the smell of her favorite durian and fell asleep.

The warehouse door clicked softly.

Xiuming's ears twitched, and he suddenly opened his eyes.

The wristwatch hands, adorned with pale green luminous dots, indicated 5 a.m. Outside the high skylight on the back wall of the warehouse, the sky was a dimly lit, dark gray.

I slept for less than two hours, but I rested well and felt no fatigue at all, except that my legs were a little numb.

A middle-aged man wearing white knitted gloves and a dark blue worker's uniform yawned as he climbed into a forklift used for loading and unloading goods.

They were just ordinary stevedores employed by the port, and had nothing to do with Shanhe Foreign Trade.

Hideaki didn't hide; he grabbed Ezaki and ran out before the stevedores could react.

After returning to the car, Xiuming drove directly to the nearest subway station.

Ezaki sat in the passenger seat, looking down as he checked the video recording.

"Can one person handle this?" Xiuming drove the car onto the main road, glanced at Ezaki with his head tilted, and said, "To be honest, don't be reckless. I have an intelligence system that can help you."

If it's a bit difficult, then we'll have to wait until noon to find Fukai Ichiro and then pinpoint his location.

In that case, we'll have to be conservative with our stock investment plans today.

"Hmph..." Jiang Qi tilted his head with a mocking tone, "You think you're so great? You're like a baby who hasn't been weaned, you can't sleep without something in your mouth, right?"

Although it's a bit embarrassing to talk about, it's a great opportunity to put him down and mock him.

Even if you're trying to show your concern, you should at least be kind and tactful, even if you can't use polite language!

But they look down on people like that, it's really annoying.

"All right!"

Since she's so confident, let's not focus on Fukai Ichiro; let's just agree to meet at Matsuba Bank in front of Ayako's house at noon.

Xiuming parked the car on the side of the road, opened the driver's side door, and got out.

At five in the morning, there weren't many cars or pedestrians on the streets. After all, this wasn't a bustling downtown area, but a port city, where most vehicles were transporting box trucks.

I'd like to casually put down Ezaki, for example: "You're nowhere near as good as Ayako. I didn't have a single pleasurable experience last night."

However, with so many large trucks on the road, it's still somewhat dangerous for a woman in the throes of new love to travel with such emotions.

"Hey, if you admit you're an unweaned baby, I'll give you a good review."

Ezaki put away his camera, climbed from the passenger seat to the driver's seat, and smugly thought that it must have been his words that made Hideaki feel ashamed, which was why he deliberately avoided talking about it.

"Hurry up and go! Drive carefully on the road and give way to big trucks," Xiuming said, closing the driver's side door and saying disdainfully, "Don't act like a young girl who's just fallen in love."

"Hmph... We're gone!"

Ezaki chuckled twice and waved casually.

As the black luxury car drove away, the tram carrying Xiuming and the others to Daejeon Ward, known as the "workshop town," also arrived at the station.

The sky was overcast from five o'clock, and the air was damp; it was estimated that it would rain before noon.

Xiuming changed buses twice according to the address on the contract.

At 7:00 AM, in Ota Ward, Tokyo, along the Tokaido, I got off at a station on a north-south street called Tokai Shopping Street.

Walking along the entire shopping street, I noticed that the izakayas, cigarette shops, soba noodle shops, video rental stores, and pachinko parlors seemed to be doing fairly well. Other shops, especially clothing stores, had banners reading "Closed" and "Clearance Sale."

On the east side of the shopping street is the Sugita family's doll factory. The park is filled with rows of white and yellowish warehouses and factories, stretching as far as the eye can see.

To the west of the shopping street is a residential area, with fewer than a thousand households but more than two thousand people.

The area mainly consists of apartment buildings and old wooden longhouses, and there are also sounds of dogs barking and children crying.

The shopping street leads north to a huge abandoned construction site. It's fenced off with simple, dilapidated metal sheets, which are covered with graffiti that reads "Work overtime to death," "Oppose pay cuts and layoffs," "Go Dream Wings," and "Victory is certain." Several faded plush toy molds are also lying on the ground.

Through the broken cracks, there was a huge puddle inside, where children were playing in the water. The puddle was surrounded by weeds taller than a person, and the swaying weeds made a rustling sound when the wind blew.

This is also the land used for the Sugita family's doll factory.

Hideaki has basically confirmed that the entire shopping street, including the surrounding infrastructure, was specially built because the Sugita family's industrial park is located here.

The residents of the western residential area almost entirely depended on the puppet factory for their livelihood; more than half of the residents used to be employees.

A few years ago, the Sugita family was absolutely glorious, with at least hundreds, or even thousands, of employees, and the boss was ambitious and arrogant.

In Daejeon District, where land is extremely valuable, there is a "huge" industrial park covering an area of ​​20000 square meters. This is probably due to excessive land hoarding, inability to repay bank loans, and being dragged down to its death.

A tremendous treasure!

It's rush hour now, and more than half the people have entered the puppet factory's grounds.

There were no young people, only men and women in their forties and fifties.

The main building of the park is a high-rise building with more than 30 floors.

The building's design style clearly reflects a clash between "Showa ambition" and "Heisei reality," creating a sense of decay.

The building, which originally featured bright white ceramic tiles and blue glass curtain walls, is now covered in dust and looks like it hasn't been cleaned for years.

A huge neon sign for "Dream Wings Workshop" with an outdated font stands on the rooftop. It is not lit during the day, but it looks faded and mottled.

Given Sugita Naoto's personality, he probably won't turn on the lights at night to save electricity!

When Hideaki saw the security guard staring at him at the gate, he decided to make an appointment by calling Sugita's office from a public phone booth, considering the matter of etiquette.

Yuto answered the phone, sounding quite surprised.

Xiuming told him directly why he had called, and he simply said "wait a moment" before hanging up.

Less than a minute later, Yuto, dressed in a suit, came running out.

After a polite handshake, we entered the park.

The sky was overcast, the concrete ground in the park was covered with cracks, and the surrounding small gardens seemed to have been neglected for a long time, with many dead flowers and overgrown weeds.

The employees at work were all secretly glancing at Xiuming.

After all, Hayato was quite close to Sugita at the factory, so he was considered a high-ranking member.

"Could you show me around first?" Hideaki looked around. "This park has a lot of potential. Tell Sugita that I want to come here and ask him to give me a discount."

It's easy to imagine that once the park is developed into a magnificent place, no one will dare to provoke it.

On the west side of the street, there are more than two thousand residents. There is no need to hire them to work in factories. They are given welfare benefits occasionally during holidays, and community facilities are added as a small favor.

After a long silence, Yongren said, "You should talk to him! I don't interfere with company decisions. But I can show you around."

Throughout the entire industrial park, only Factory No. 1 was still in operation, with the monotonous hum of sewing machines. The only sign of activity was the occasional delivery truck that drove by, creating a deathly still atmosphere.

Factory No. 2 became a ghost workshop, and Factory No. 3 was that undeveloped wasteland.

That was the largest area: 12000 square meters, 1.5 times the size of the developed industrial park. It was extremely luxurious, extremely extravagant, with an abandoned area larger than the currently used factory buildings. Sugita Naoo is a true man!

Xiu Ming almost laughed.

Just as Xiuming guessed, the factory at its peak had more than 900 employees, all of whom were residents from across the street. Now, there are only about 30 employees left, all of whom are middle-aged or older local female workers and experienced craftsmen.

Panic gripped the factory, with rumors circulating that the bank was about to take over and sell the land to pay off debts.

After wandering around for about half an hour, I followed Yuto into the main building.

The first-floor exhibition hall houses the administrative offices and the president's room. The exhibition hall also displays best-selling plush toys from the golden age, now covered in dust.

Naoto Sugita, wearing glasses, sat in the center of the office, behind a luxurious mahogany desk.

On the desk, the most eye-catching item is a gold trophy that reads "Outstanding Private Enterprise".

Next to the trophy were stacks of bank demand letters and financial statements.

On the wall behind them hung a framed photo of the celebration when the land was purchased: Ayako Miyamoto, expressionless, stood like a wooden figure in a gorgeous floral kimono, to the right of the spirited Naoto Sugita. To Naoto Sugita's left was Hayato, who looked slightly nervous. Naoto Sugita's left hand was on Hayato's shoulder, and his right hand was in his pocket.

“If you’re not even going to put on an act, what’s the point of hiding the divorce?” Hideaki pointed to the photo on the wall behind Sugita, sat down at the coffee table opposite the desk, and changed the subject, saying, “I just finished negotiating a new cooperation project with a foreign trade freight company. Give me the port contract rights as soon as possible, I’m in a tight spot.”

Yongren froze, lowered his head, and left the office, gently closing the office door behind him.

Naoto Sugita remained calm and unhurriedly took off his glasses. "What are your terms for me?"

“I’m taking over that piece of abandoned land of yours,” Xiuming poured himself a cup of tea. “You’re the most ambitious man I’ve ever met, especially since you’re completely uninterested in women… Pfft! What lousy tea leaves?”

Naoto Sugita was completely unaffected by Hideaki's deliberate psychological teasing, because every time he sat in his office, he felt like he was carrying a mountain on his back. If it weren't for Hayato's encouragement, he probably would have jumped off the building long ago.

“The total land purchase price is 144 billion yen,” Sugita threw the land purchase contract onto the desk, only to have it grabbed by Hideaki. “The down payment is 21.6 billion yen, and the loan is 122.4 billion yen, with an interest rate of 6.5%, meaning you’ll pay nearly 8 million yen in interest every year. Can you afford that?”

"This land is now valued at 122.4 billion yuan. Your down payment has been completely wiped out. It's terrible. The company's entire monthly revenue probably can't even cover half of the loan interest on that barren land, right?"

After all, it was Matsuba Bank, where Esaki worked, that handled the application, and Esaki had explained everything to him in detail. A major bank, comparable to Long-Term Credit Bank, certainly had the guts.