Reborn in Tokyo: From Heiress to Global Tycoon

Chapter 335: Saionji Commercial Affairs

3:40 PM. Third floor of SA Group headquarters.

Endo's office door was ajar.

When Satsuki walked in, Endo was on the phone.

Upon seeing her, he immediately said "I'll get back to you later" into the microphone and hung up.

"Young Miss".

"Speak while seated."

Satsuki sat down in the chair opposite the desk, and Fujita had already placed a cup of black tea in front of her.

Endo opened the three reports that were neatly arranged on the table and pushed them in front of Satsuki one by one.

"Okay, I'll begin."

"Let's start with Jena."

"Mr. Gruber's contract has been signed. His monthly salary is 1.2 times that of his West German counterparts, including housing allowance and spousal job placement. He will start work on the 15th of next month."

Satsuki nodded.

"Mr. Lange is still hesitant. His concern is that his elderly mother lives in Jena and is unwilling to move. We are exploring the possibility of signing a short-term consulting contract, with him remaining in Germany and flying to Japan regularly."

"Sure. Be flexible; as long as you get the knowledge, that's fine."

"What about Hoffman?"

"The visa application is still stuck with the Federal Department of the Interior. Cleanroom management experience involves a security review, which is an extra step compared to regular technicians. It's expected to be processed within two weeks."

Satsuki nodded.

Pudong.

"The geological exploration was completed on October 12th and has been confirmed by Party A to be without any abnormalities."

"The pile foundation construction plan has been submitted to the Waigaoqiao Management Committee for approval, and approval is expected within ten days."

"The advance team engineers reported a delay in the connection of water supply for construction. I have asked the Shanghai side to coordinate – this is not a big problem and can be resolved within a week."

"Is the registration of the Hong Kong shell company in Itakura complete?"

"We received our business registration certificate three days ago. SA Industrial (Shanghai) Limited, registered in Hong Kong, legal representative Liang Zhicheng. We can start signing contracts now."

Satsuki tapped her finger on the rim of the teacup.

"Okay, the third one."

Endo pushed the third report over, but didn't open it. His hand rested on the cover, pausing for half a second.

"Domestic harvesting line—" He paused slightly. "This week's situation is a bit unusual."

Satsuki looked at him.

"Seven new companies were added to the evaluation list this week. After the initial screening, I retained two."

"One is a precision bearing factory in Saitama, and the other is an electronic component assembler in Chiba. Both have available technology or personnel, making them worthy of due diligence."

"What about the other five?"

"They're all shell companies now. Three of them have even had their factories seized by the banks. The remaining two are involved in civil litigation, with more than twenty creditors. They're not worth getting involved with."

He paused for a moment.

"To be honest, we have less and less meat left to eat. The bones that are left are covered in lawsuits and messy accounts."

"Going forward, unless Mieno tightens its grip again at the end of the year, pushing even larger companies off the cliff, the number of worthwhile targets in the Kanto region is basically exhausted."

Satsuki's expression remained unchanged. She picked up her teacup, took a sip, and put it down.

Endo was silent for two seconds, then he pulled out an internal circulation document from the bottom of the table.

"Young Miss, there's one more thing."

"I would like to speak with you in person."

He spread the receipt out on the table; there were four sheets of paper in total.

Satsuki glanced down at it.

That was a summary table of logistics routes. It listed all cross-border material flows handled by the group's subsidiaries over the past three months.

The arrows intersect and there are many nodes, like a spider web marked with red, blue and black colors.

Four sheets of paper were laid out side by side.

"These four documents came from four different subsidiaries, went through four different approval processes, and followed four completely different trade channels."

Endo pointed at each of them with his index finger.

"The equipment in Pudong was transported by Yokohama-Shanghai bulk carriers, operating under the name of SA Industrial Hong Kong."

"The import of precision instruments into Jena is done through Mitsui & Co.'s agency channel, and we paid a commission of 3.5 percent."

"The procurement of chemical products in Southeast Asia is currently under the name of S-Food—but S-Food's business scope is listed as 'food processing and wholesale,' so strictly speaking, this transaction crosses the line in terms of qualifications."

"Two newly acquired precision manufacturing plants in the country will export their products in the future, but the customs declaration entity has not yet been determined."

He removed his hand from the document and placed it on the table.

"The group's footprint has expanded too rapidly in the past two years."

"Pudong needs to transport equipment, Europe needs to transport people and instruments, Southeast Asia needs to ship chemical products, and the new factories in China need to export precision parts."

"These things are scattered across different channels—some use shell companies, some use people, and some use other people's qualifications. It's inefficient, risky, and when problems arise, it's impossible to trace the responsible party to a single point of contact."

Endo looked steadily at Satsuki.

"Young Miss, to be frank—Saionji Trading Co., Ltd.'s current size and manpower are completely inadequate."

……

Saionji Shoji.

Satsuki's mind conjured up the image of that old building crammed into a narrow alley in Nihonbashi.

The company is much older than her.

It's already a legacy from my grandfather's generation.

Originally used for overseas trade in silk and Shizuoka tea, it had offices in London and San Francisco at its peak.

Later, the family fortunes declined, the firm closed down, and the staff dispersed. By the time her father took over, it had shrunk to a small department of thirteen people—only three full-time employees and ten part-time clerks—mainly handling some scattered import and export miscellaneous matters under the family name.

The annual trade volume is less than one billion yen.

After Satsuki took power, he devoted all his energy to finance, retail, real estate, and technology.

She hasn't touched the business side yet.

It's not that I forgot.

It wasn't necessary before.

...Okay, Satsuki admits it. She had previously looked down on the bloated traditional Japanese "general trading companies".

However, if the Saionji family wants to become a zaibatsu that can control all of Japan, it must make up for this shortcoming.

The core of the Saionji family's expansion over the past two years has been "acquisitions within Japan".

Buy land, buy companies, buy people.

All transactions take place on this island, with settlements made in Japanese yen; customs clearance and shipping are hardly involved.

But now.

Satsuki picked up the A3 form and looked at it for a few seconds in the dimming light outside the window.

Pudong needs to transport 120 industrial machine tools from Japan to its 520 acres of land; Jena needs to transport ultra-precision magnetron sputtering equipment from Germany back to its laboratory in Chiba; Southeast Asia's high-purity reagent channel needs its own trade qualifications; and Yodoba Precision and Midai Seiko need export letters of credit and customs clearance capabilities to sell their products overseas.

The empire's roots have spread beyond national borders.

And those roots—some registered under Hong Kong shell companies, some operating through other trading companies, and some supported by Endo's personal connections—are scattered and independent, like the roots of a tree being dug up from the soil and exposed to the sun.

Inefficient. High risk.

Satsuki put the receipt back on the desktop.

Endo.

"exist."

"Saionji Trading Company - Upgraded from today."

Endo's hand had already reached for the pen. He opened his notebook and turned to a new page.

Satsuki spoke slowly, line by line.

"Personnel: Transfer key personnel with overseas trade or logistics experience from within the group."

"SA Logistics should have a few people who have experience in foreign trade; you can screen them. You can also look in the group's purchasing department; they should have experience handling cross-border equipment imports. Let's get the basic framework in place first."

"At the same time—" she paused for a moment. "Among the recently bankrupt small and medium-sized trading companies, are there any usable middle managers?"

Endo thought for two seconds.

"Quite a few. The 'Rixing Trading' company that went bankrupt last month specialized in acting as an agent for chemical products in Southeast Asia. Their customs clearance department and shipping department together had more than 20 people, and they should still be on the job market now."

"Another trading company in Chiyoda Ward, which has been handling letters of credit and foreign exchange settlements for fifteen years, just applied for civil rehabilitation last week."

"Choose people."

"Those with practical experience in LC (letter of credit) operations, who have gone through the entire LC process, and who are familiar with shipping scheduling."

Satsuki tapped her fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair.

"The initial staff will be fifty people. We don't need many, but each one must be able to get started immediately."

Endo noted it down.

"The second thing. Categorization of responsibilities."

Satsuki continued speaking.

"Starting today, all cross-border logistics and trade settlements of the group will be uniformly handled by Saionji Corporation."

"Equipment transportation in Pudong, instrument imports in Jena, and export channels for domestic precision-manufactured products—all are brought together into one channel. Subsidiaries no longer need to find their own channels."

"The most urgent task is the batch of equipment that will be shipped from Yokohama Port at the end of November."

"One hundred and twenty machine tools and supporting parts – this is the first order since the company was upgraded."

"From customs declaration to loading to insurance to customs clearance at the port of destination, the entire process must be completed smoothly. Use this shipment as a practical exercise."

Endo turned the page and continued writing.

"Regarding qualifications," Satsuki picked up her teacup, only to find it had gone cold, and put it down again. "Establish independent letter of credit issuance capabilities as soon as possible, and stop relying on Mitsui or Marubeni."

She paused here for a moment.

Endo's pen also stopped.

He looked up at Satsuki's profile.

Her gaze fell on a spot outside the window—the sky was already mostly dark, and the outlines of several office buildings in the distance were gradually blurring in the twilight—as if she were pondering something even further away.

But she didn't say it.

"Let's get this done first." Satsuki withdrew her gaze. "Give me an execution plan and a list of candidates within a week."

"Understood." Endo closed the notebook.

"Send me the packing list and HS code for that batch of mother machines by tomorrow afternoon."

"Yes."

……

The office was silent for a few seconds.

Endo tidied up the documents and reached for the mineral water bottle on the corner of the table—this was probably his fourth bottle today, the plastic bottle bearing several dents from being squeezed so much.

Satsuki stood up from the chair.

She walked to the window.

It was an October evening in Tokyo. Just after four o'clock, the sky began to darken into a gray-blue hue.

Outside the window, you can see a section of the elevated section of the Capital Expressway, with car lights forming a slowly flowing red ribbon.

Further away, the skyline in the direction of Shinjuku is visible, with red traffic lights flashing on the tops of several high-rise buildings.

Endo.

"exist."

She did not turn around.

"Any new developments from Sumitomo?"

Endo paused for a moment as he collected the mineral water bottle. A slight squeaking sound came from the bottle.

There was a silence of about two seconds.

"...There are some rumors." His voice was a half-tone lower than before. "The head of the Sumitomo family met with a director of the Hakusui-kai last week. We haven't confirmed what they discussed yet, but the timing is a bit suspicious."

Satsuki's silhouette was reflected on the glass window, overlapping with the twilight outside.

Her shoulders were flat and she remained motionless.

"Keep an eye on it."

"Yes."

Satsuki turned around and walked towards the door.

She paused for a moment as she passed Endo's table.

"By the way—do you have any connections to get your hands on that MIPS instruction set manual, the original English version? It's out of print."

Endo was taken aback. The leap in the topic had clearly exceeded his expectations.

"...I'll go ask a used bookseller."

"Yes, as soon as possible."

……

7 PM. The main residence of Saionji Temple.

When Satsuki returned to the restaurant, Shuichi was already there.

On the table were three dishes and a soup—yellowtail teriyaki, spinach with sesame, pickles, and tofu miso soup. The steam from the white rice rose gently under the lamplight.

"I'm back." Shuichi put down his teacup.

"Um."

Satsuki sat down in her seat and picked up her chopsticks.

The yellowtail was cooked to perfection, with the sauce on the surface slightly bubbling, and the fish meat immediately split cleanly in the middle when poked with chopsticks.

The two ate quietly for a while.

"Did you go to headquarters today?"

"I went. I met up with Endo."

"What's the big deal?"

Satsuki put a piece of fish in her mouth, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it.

"The business is going to be upgraded."

Shuichi's chopsticks paused in mid-air for a moment. He looked at Satsuki, seemingly digesting the weight of those words.

"Saionji Trading Company...that was all in your grandfather's time."

"right."

"How many people do you need?"

"Initially fifty."

Xiu nodded slightly and didn't ask for any more details.

He knew what Satsuki meant by "initial stage"—the final scale would definitely be more than that.

He picked up a piece of pickled food with his chopsticks and chewed it twice.

"Your grandfather would probably be very happy if he knew."

Satsuki didn't reply. She lowered her head and drank a mouthful of miso soup.

The rain outside the window stopped, and the chirping of insects in the courtyard returned.

By mid-October, the chirping of crickets was much sparser than in summer, intermittent, like a music box that was about to run out of wind.

"Go to bed early tonight." Shuichi stood up.

"Um."

Xiu took two steps, then turned back.

"The study light tonight—"

"Okay, turn it off before midnight." Satsuki tapped her chopsticks lightly on the rim of the bowl. "Is that alright?"

Xiu smiled.

"Alright."