webnovelvip Chapter 287 Blind Men and an Elephant
Chapter 287 Blind Men and an Elephant
The main residence of Saionji Temple. Side hall.
The early autumn breeze swept through the wooden corridor.
Saionji Yasuhide stood outside the door of a private Japanese-style room. He was thirty-four years old and the nephew of Saionji Shuichi, the head of the Saionji family.
After graduating from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, he gained experience in the family business. Currently, he serves as the Managing Executive Officer of S-Food, overseeing the pricing and logistics of fast-food chains such as Kitakuniya.
Just forty minutes earlier, he was at the central kitchen in Chiba Prefecture checking the fresh food delivery list for the next quarter. Then, Executive Director Endo called his office directly, conveying the young lady's order to see him immediately.
Kang Xiu's gaze fell on the tightly closed camphor wood door in front of her, her fingers unconsciously stroking the seam of her suit trousers.
On his way to his ancestral home, he repeatedly went over all the business he had recently handled in his mind.
The live cattle breeding data in Hokkaido fully met the standards, and the loss rate of cold chain transportation was also controlled within the prescribed threshold. The turnover of each store even increased in the context of inflation.
There were no flaws on the books.
The only action that could be considered "illegal" was raising prices across all Kitakuni-ya stores by 50 yen and transferring this profit margin to a third-party logistics company in Shinagawa Ward through a fictitious "emergency cold chain fuel surcharge." The legal representative of that logistics company was a distant relative of his wife.
This off-book fund amounts to several hundred million yen each month.
Kang Xiu's breathing remained steady. Within the Saionji family's operational system, it was an unspoken rule that family members, as core executives, would use their positions to siphon profits from outside the supply chain to create slush funds. As long as the profits from the main business were handed over on time, the higher-ups usually tacitly approved of these underhanded actions.
A few hundred million yen is nothing in the eyes of the Saionji Group, which can allocate hundreds of billions of yen at a time.
Given the young lady's stature, there's no way she would bother to summon him back from Chiba Prefecture to her family home just to punish him for such a minor act of corruption.
However, Endo's tone on the phone was very curt. This was definitely not an awards ceremony.
So, where does the problem lie?
He took a deep breath, raised his hand, and prepared to pull open the camphor wood door in front of him.
"Young Master Kangxiu."
A completely calm voice came from the shadows beside the door.
Kang Xiu turned her head and saw that the chief financial officer, Executive Director Endo, was standing quietly in the corner of the corridor with his hands folded.
The two often interacted at headquarters meetings and had a fairly good personal relationship. Kang Xiu lowered her voice and leaned forward, trying to find out some details before entering the room.
"Endo-senpai. What is the reason for this sudden summons from the young lady? I have already checked the accounts three times recently, and there should be no obvious oversights."
Endo stared straight ahead at the wooden wall panel, his face completely devoid of its usual gentle politeness.
"Go inside." Endo's voice was deep. "The young lady is very angry right now."
After saying that, Endo stepped half a step to the side, making way for the doorway, and said nothing more.
Kang-soo's heart skipped a beat in his chest. He tried his best to keep his facial muscles steady, placed his hands flat on his knees, and slowly pulled open the shoji door in front of him.
The main lights were off inside; only a table lamp on a rosewood desk emitted a faint, warm glow, making the air feel somewhat heavy.
Satsuki Saionji sat upright at a low rosewood table. Today she wore a light-colored kimono in a casual, home-style style, her long hair loosely tied back. Scattered on the table were several account statements and financial statements with binding holes.
Under the oppressive atmosphere, Kang Xiu dared not make a sound to disturb them. He walked to the guest seat opposite Gao Yue, put his knees together, and quietly knelt down.
Only the faint rustling sound of paper turning could be heard in the room.
Half an hour passed.
Satsuki slammed the file shut and threw it heavily onto the table. The dull thud of the paper hitting the sandalwood startled Kang-soo.
He slightly raised his head, glancing ahead out of the corner of his eye.
Satsuki picked up a closed folding fan from the corner of the table, used the fan ribs to press against the document, and roughly pushed it in front of Kang-soo.
"You do the math for me, do we really need to raise prices?"
Satsuki asked directly, her face cold.
Kang Xiu lowered her head and saw the cover of the document.
The document titled "S-Food Third Quarter Terminal Pricing Adjustment Approval Letter" bears his own signature.
His brain quickly got to work.
"Young Miss." Kang Xiu looked at the document, speaking quickly and clearly, "The scale of F1 crossbred cattle breeding at S-Farm in Hokkaido has reached the planned peak, the feed conversion rate per unit has remained within the established range, and the cost of raising live cattle has not increased."
"On the logistics side, we use private roll-on/roll-off shipping routes. Although international crude oil prices have risen, the scale effect of maritime transport is enough to offset those slight fuel fluctuations. Chiba Central Kitchen's automated production line operates 24 hours a day, and labor and processing losses have been kept to a minimum."
Kang Xiu raised her head and gave her conclusion.
"We are fully capable of mitigating the risk of not raising prices. There is no need to raise prices, Miss."
Satsuki looked at him.
"Then explain to me what this bill for the 'Shinagawa Ward Third-Party Logistics Company' is all about?"
Satsuki put the folding fan away and pushed over several remittance slips with bank watermarks.
Kang Xiu's gaze swept over the bottom sheets.
The document clearly records how the premium profits of Beiguowu were settled into the account of that shell logistics company on a monthly basis.
Kang Xiu did not hesitate at all. He pushed aside the distance in front of him and knelt heavily on the tatami, his hands flat on the ground, bowing his head with an extremely sincere posture.
"It was my negligence in supervision that allowed my personal desires to swell. I am willing to bear all the consequences."
He made no unnecessary excuses. As a business-trained elite, he knew that talking about "unspoken rules" or making excuses in the face of irrefutable evidence would only anger his superiors.
Satsuki looked at Kangshu kneeling on the ground and remained silent for a moment.
"What are you apologizing for?"
...
……
Is this...?
Kang-soo's brain started working at high speed in a fraction of a second.
The total amount on those receipts was at most a few hundred million yen. The young lady herself was sitting here to interrogate him. If he answered "because he embezzled company money," it would be tantamount to admitting that he was a fool who couldn't even distinguish between what was important and what wasn't, and that admitting his mistake was merely to try and get leniency.
The problem doesn't lie in the unspoken rules themselves.
Since there is no pressure on the cost side, since the amount of embezzlement is insufficient to constitute a crime, and since it was an error that I failed to discover... then there is only one possibility left.
This is likely due to information asymmetry, and this pricing move probably inadvertently violated the family's higher-level strategic goals.
Kang-soo raised her head and met Satsuki's gaze.
"The size of this sum of money is far from enough to warrant your personal attention. My pricing decision must have inadvertently disrupted the family's higher-level strategic plans."
He looked at Satsuki.
"I apologize for my shortsightedness and stupidity."
After he finished speaking, he lowered his head deeply again.
A deathly silence fell over the room for several seconds.
Satsuki did not respond immediately. She looked at Kangshu expressionlessly, picked up the closed folding fan, and held it in her hand.
The bottom of the fan ribs tapped intermittently on the rosewood table.
"clatter."
"clatter."
The dull thumping echoed in the quiet room. Each impact seemed to stretch on endlessly, slowly cutting into Kang Xiu's taut nerves.
Cold sweat trickled down Kang Xiu's forehead, down his cheeks, and finally splattered onto the tatami mat. He remained kneeling, not daring to move.
A full ten seconds passed.
The knocking stopped.
"Since you can still see this layer, it means you haven't completely forgotten what you learned in school."
Satsuki looked down at him from her high vantage point.
"Then use your clever brain to think about it again."
"The group has invested heavily in connecting Hokkaido's S-Farm with its privately owned integrated sea-land transportation network, reducing costs to an unparalleled low in the industry. Is it really just to profit from a mere fifty yen difference amidst the inflationary panic caused by the Middle East war?"
Kang Xiu stood frozen in place. His gaze was fixed on the texture of the tatami mat, and the recent news of soaring international crude oil prices suddenly flashed through his mind.
"Saionji family started relatively late in the retail industry."
"Our number of stores and channel accumulation are far less than those of Da Rong Group and Seibu Group. If we want to expand rapidly in a short period of time, we must seize market share from our competitors."
"The situation in the Middle East is currently volatile, and crude oil prices have skyrocketed. Traditional restaurant chains rely on imported beef and domestic agricultural cooperatives for vegetables. These vegetables go through multiple layers of wholesalers, with prices increasing, and are ultimately delivered to the stores by diesel-powered trucks."
"This bloated supply chain is experiencing additional cost accumulation at every stage due to the impact of rising oil prices. To survive, competitors have no choice but to modify their menus and raise prices across the board."
"The closed-loop supply chain cost advantage that the Saionji family has painstakingly built is the weapon they use to maintain the original price and create a price gap during this inflation."
Kang Xiu's eyes widened slightly upon hearing these words.
"When beef bowls outside cost 600 yen or even more, Kitakuniya still sells them for 450 yen."
Satsuki stared directly at Kang-soo.
"This huge price difference will become a black hole, uprooting price-sensitive consumers and absorbing them all into our stores. By not raising prices during inflation, we are using our cost advantage to attack our competitors."
"Moreover, the crackdown must be severe and ruthless, enough to starve them out in one fell swoop and establish an absolute market monopoly."
"And you."
Satsuki's tone turned cold.
"That 50 yen price increase directly erased this potentially fatal competitive gap. Every day, you are wasting this hard-won advantage in the supply chain, pushing the customers that should have been attracted back to your competitors, giving them a chance to breathe."
"For the sake of a few hundred million yen in your own pocket, you smashed the strategic weapon that the group used to conquer territory."
After listening to this macro-level analysis, Kang Xiu finally realized how serious the consequences of her mistake were.
Objectively speaking, his mistake was entirely unintentional and was caused by information asymmetry.
But a mistake is a mistake. The group's losses were all caused by his personal actions, and that is also a fact.
He lowered his head even further, filled with terror.
He no longer hopes for any pardon; he only asks not to be assigned to build the Saienji Pagoda—to build it by sacrificing his body.
Satsuki stood up.
Her fair feet touched the tatami mat as she slowly walked to Kang-soo, who was kneeling on the ground.
"To be honest, I'm very angry right now."
Satsuki looked down at him from her high vantage point.
"Because of your stupidity, the group missed the best strategic cut-off period and suffered incalculable long-term losses."
Satsuki slightly raised her right foot and gently placed it on the back of Kangshu's head.
As Satsuki shifted her weight slightly forward, the pressure from her feet gradually increased. She pressed Yasuhide's head down little by little, forcing his cheek to press firmly against the rough rush tatami mat.
"According to family rules, I can make you disappear from the Saionji family completely right now."
A cold voice rang out above Kang Xiu's head.
"However, killing you would only satisfy my personal emotional venting and would be meaningless in recovering the losses of the group."
Satsuki twisted her foot slightly.
The rough tatami fibers rubbed against Kang-soo's skin, causing a burning stinging sensation.
"What? A top student who graduated from an Ivy League school is being trampled underfoot by a junior more than ten years younger than you. Do you feel ashamed?"
Kang-soo's body trembled slightly uncontrollably.
His face was pressed firmly to the ground, and his breathing became rapid. A dry sound came from his throat, and he managed to squeeze out an answer with great difficulty but also with determination.
"...This is my own fault..."
"As long as I can make amends for my mistake, I will accept whatever punishment the young lady imposes without complaint."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Satsuki sneered and increased the pressure of her foot.
Kang Xiu felt like he was suffocating, but he still gritted his teeth and didn't make a sound of resistance.
A full half minute passed.
Satsuki slowly moved her foot away.
As the pressure on his head disappeared, Kang Xiu, whose face was flushed red, was finally able to catch his breath. But he dared not breathe loudly and remained kneeling.
This brief emotional outburst, paid for with dignity, has come to an end.
Satsuki turned around, her back to Kangshu.
"Remember this shame; it has already paid the price for you."
"Now, use your abilities to solve the problem."
"Get back to your post immediately. Withdraw all price increase orders from all stores within 24 hours. Plan a public relations campaign to package this price increase and subsequent reduction as a positive marketing effort by Saionji Corporation to show compassion for the people and proactively shoulder the burden of inflation. Use this method to forcibly recover the strategic advantage we've lost."
Satsuki's voice was completely flat.
"Prove that you still have value to remain in the Saionji family. Then, go and receive the punishment you deserve."
Kang Xiuru was granted a general amnesty.
He kowtowed deeply in gratitude, his forehead hitting the floor heavily.
"Yes! I'll take care of it right away!"
Under immense pressure and driven by a strong will to survive, Kang-soo maintained his kneeling position, using his knees to back away on the tatami mat. Once he reached the doorway, he bowed again and then left the Japanese-style room.
The camphor wood door rubbed against the sliding track and slowly closed.
Only Satsuki remained in the room.
Satsuki walked to the rosewood table and sat down again. She looked at the scattered documents on the table and fell into deep thought.
Although a solution has been found for Kang-soo's situation, the underlying problems it exposes are alarming.
Kang-soo is actually very smart and quick-witted. She can understand her intentions instantly and find out the real problem in a short time.
He is not stupid.
But he still made a big mistake at the beginning.
The Saionji Group has expanded too rapidly in the past few years. From shorting foreign exchange to commercial real estate, from large retail stores to the acquisition of semiconductor hardware, its size has swelled into a true behemoth.
The heads of the various subsidiaries, and even some family members, are in a state of "blind men touching an elephant."
They can only see the KPI data in their own department and are used to using conventional business rules in the workplace to seek personal gain. They simply cannot understand the grand strategic plans she designed at the top level that span the financial, geopolitical, and real economy cycles.
Today's loss is only fifty yen from Kitakuni-ya. The loss is still within a manageable range.
But what if next time, someone sells off strategic land intended to lock down competitors for the sake of short-term departmental financial data? Or what if, to appease external audits, they sabotage the acquisition strategy targeting the semiconductor industry's core?
When an individual's shortsightedness becomes misaligned with the core interests of the group, the consequences can be devastating.
Relying solely on her own will to forcibly drag this behemoth has resulted in a severe disruption in information transmission.
If even a smart person like Kang-soo is like this, then what about the truly foolish people? What would they do?
A decision must be made to thoroughly regulate family affairs.
We can no longer allow departments to operate independently. We must establish a new management and information transmission mechanism that ensures all key implementers clearly understand the boundaries of the top-level strategy and are absolutely subordinate to the macro-level objectives.
Her fingers tapped lightly on the table.
"clatter."
"clatter."
In the quiet Japanese-style room, Satsuki fell into deep thought about how to reconstruct the massive machine that was Saionji.
Establishing a "top strategic compliance committee" that transcends departmental interests may be the first step in shedding personal short-sightedness.