Reborn in Tokyo: From Heiress to Global Tycoon

Chapter 19 The Plumber's Gratitude

In mid-October, Tokyo was already feeling the effects of autumn.

The ginkgo leaves are beginning to turn yellow, drifting down onto the streets of Chiyoda Ward with the gentle breeze. But amidst this bleak autumn atmosphere, Akihabara is as hot as a boiling pot of oil.

The back alley where the Itakura Chamber of Commerce is located is usually frequented only by stray cats, but today a long line had formed.

The line included not only elementary school students carrying their backpacks after school, but also office workers in suits looking anxious, and even a few housewives holding onto their savings.

Their only goal was that legendary red cartridge that was said to be addictive after just one use and was now sold out all over Japan.

Super Mario Bros.

"Is that all? Really, that's all? My child only wants this as a birthday present!"

"I've been waiting in line for three hours! I'd pay extra!"

"Boss! I heard you have some goods here, don't hide them!"

The noisy shouts filled the narrow alley, almost knocking over the rickety "Itakura Trading Company" sign.

A black luxury sedan silently stopped in the shadows at the other end of the alley.

Satsuki opened the car door and got out. She was dressed casually today, wearing a dark beret, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.

Amy Suzuki, following behind her, was much more nervous. She was carrying her signature large backpack, gripping the straps tightly with both hands, and shrank back in fear as she looked at the frenzied crowd ahead.

"Wow...so many people..." Amy stammered. "Saionji-kun, is that game...really that amazing?"

"While that game is indeed very impressive, the truly impressive thing isn't the game itself."

Satsuki lowered the brim of her hat, a meaningful smile playing on her lips.

"What's impressive is its 'scarcity'."

Instead of heading towards the main entrance, she skillfully made her way to the back door of the shop.

There was a rusty iron gate, half-closed.

Satsuki gently pushed open the door, and a whiff of air mixed with the smell of old cardboard boxes and sweat rushed out.

In the dimly lit warehouse, the shop owner, Itakura, sat atop a pile of boxes, a calculator in hand, his forehead dripping with sweat as he frantically pressed the keys. His eyes were feverish and glazed, as if he had just taken some kind of hallucinogen.

"Fifty thousand...one hundred thousand...one million..."

He was muttering to himself, completely unaware that someone had come in.

"Mr. Itakura".

Satsuki's clear voice rang out in the warehouse.

Itakura was startled, nearly dropping the calculator in his hand. He looked up abruptly and saw Satsuki; a smile instantly bloomed on his stubble-covered face, as if he had seen his own mother.

"Young...Young Miss! You've arrived!"

Itakura scrambled down from the box, ignoring the dust on the ground, and knelt down directly in front of Satsuki, his posture as devout as if he were worshipping a god.

"Incredible! Absolutely incredible! How did you know this thing would become so popular? It's practically a money-printing machine!"

He pointed to the pile of boxes behind him, so excited that he became incoherent.

"Before, some of my peers laughed at me for stockpiling a thousand rolls of goods, thinking it was suicidal. Now they're begging me to give them two rolls! The black market price has already soared to 20,000 yen per roll! And there's no market for it!"

20,000 yen.

This is more than three times the original price.

Amy's eyes widened in disbelief. She recalled the five million yen that Satsuki had given her two months ago. If calculated at current prices... wouldn't that be fifteen million yen?

My goodness! This makes even more money than Dad's factory!

Satsuki didn't show much surprise. She walked to the pile of boxes, reached out, and gently stroked the packaging box with the Mario jumping pattern printed on it.

"Are all the people queuing up outside looking to buy individual cassette tapes?" she asked.

"Yeah!" Itakura wiped the sweat from his brow. "I was just about to put some up for sale at 20,000 yen to make a quick buck..."

"No."

Satsuki interrupted him.

She turned around, looked at Itakura, and her signature smile reappeared on her face.

"Mr. Itakura, you are still too kind."

"Since they want it so badly, why not make them pay a higher price?"

Itakura was stunned: "The price? Twenty thousand is already an astronomical sum..."

"How many of those old Famicom consoles that have been sitting in your warehouse for two years, and those junk game cartridges that you can't sell at all, like Donkey Kong Math, are left?"

Itakura said with a bitter face, "There are a lot. At least two hundred consoles and more than five hundred junk games. Those are all dead stock after Atari's collapse; nobody would even want them as scrap plastic."

Satsuki smiled.

That smile was both sweet and cruel.

"Then let's help them clear out their inventory."

She held up one finger.

"From now on, Itakura Trading Company will no longer sell individual Mario items."

"Want to buy? Sure. But you have to bring an older console or three of the specified 'classic games' (junk inventory)."

"We call this package... the 'Mario Value Pack'."

Itakura's mouth dropped open, his jaw almost falling to the ground.

This kind of bundled sales...isn't that robbery?

"Will this... will this work?" Itakura swallowed hard. "Those parents will be furious."

"They'll criticize it, but they'll still buy it."

Satsuki said firmly.

"Because you can't find it anywhere else in Akihabara except here. And a child's crying is the most unbearable sound for parents in the world."

She patted Itakura on the shoulder.

"Remember, we're not selling games. We're selling 'quiet,' 'face,' and the image of a 'heroic father' in a child's eyes."

"They can afford this premium."

Looking at the 12-year-old girl before him, Itakura suddenly felt a deep sense of awe. It was clear that this creature, seemingly human, was a demon in human skin.

But he liked this devil.

Because the devil can make him rich.

"Understood!" Itakura nodded firmly, a ruthless glint in his eyes. "I'll go rewrite the price tags right now! I'll dig out all that junk we've been keeping hidden away!"

Seeing Itakura rush out to work like he was on steroids, Satsuki turned to look at Amy, who was standing in the corner, too afraid to speak.

"How's it going, Amy?"

Satsuki walked over to Amy and handed her a bottle of chilled Ramune soda.

"Do you think I'm a bad person?"

Amy took the soda and shook her head.

"No... I think Saionji-kun is amazing," Amy said honestly. "If we don't do this, Uncle Itakura's old inventory will really rot in his hands. Dad said that inventory is the cancer of a factory. You're helping him cure it."

Satsuki looked at the girl with glasses with some surprise.

It seems that, as the factory owner's daughter, Amy, though introverted, has an instinctive sensitivity to business.

Yes, it has potential.

"By the way, you mentioned your dad's factory last time..." Satsuki lowered her voice.

Amy immediately looked around warily, then leaned close to Satsuki's ear.

"Dad hasn't been home lately," Amy whispered. "He set up a cot at the factory. He said Nintendo has gone crazy; the order that was supposed to be 500,000 suddenly increased to 2 million yesterday."

"And..." Amy swallowed hard, "I overheard Dad on the phone saying that because there weren't enough chips, Nintendo even chartered a plane to airlift chips directly from the United States. The cost of that... is unimaginable."

Satsuki's heart stirred.

Chartering planes to transport chips.

This means that Nintendo has extremely high expectations for the Christmas sales battle, and is even willing to go to any lengths to seize market share.

This wasn't just a victory for Mario; it marked the beginning of the Famicom's complete dominance of Japanese home entertainment.

This information is invaluable.

"Thank you, Amy."

Satsuki took out a beautifully packaged gift box from her bag.

"This is a thank-you gift for you. The latest Swiss chocolate, and... a lifetime VIP card for the Itakura Trading Company."

Amy accepted the gift with delight: "Thank you, Saionji-kun!"

With this card, she won't have to queue anymore when buying parts or watching new games. For a geeky girl, this is more precious than any designer handbag.

"Go ahead, go see how Uncle Itakura sells the 'gift packs'," Satsuki said with a smile, nudging her. "Learn from him, your family's factory will need his help in the future."

Amy nodded vigorously, grabbed her schoolbag, and ran towards the front hall.

Satsuki was left alone in the dimly lit warehouse.

She listened to the noise coming from outside.

"What? Three garbage games? That's outrageous!"

"Stop talking nonsense! There are other people queuing up behind you if you don't buy!"

"Buy! I'll buy it! Give me one!"

That was the sound of gold coins falling into a bag.

Satsuki leaned against the cold wall, closed her eyes, and savored the pleasure of the moment.

With this initial investment of five million yen, plus the huge profits from this "inventory clearance," a rough estimate suggests that over twenty million yen in cash can be recovered.

Satsuki leaned against the cold wall, closed her eyes, and lightly made a mark on the balance sheet in her mind.

For the Saionji family, which now has tens of billions of yen in cash flow, 20 million yen is a negligible amount, not even enough to cover a day's renovation cost for the Akasaka building.

But this money has special significance.

Although the family's main funds are enormous, every penny has been firmly tied to the main battlegrounds of real estate, finance, and textile transformation, according to the "Double-Sided Janus" plan. These are cumbersome main forces, and mobilizing them requires cumbersome procedures while also taking into account the dignity of the members of the House of Nobles.

These 20 million are "wandering ghosts" outside the system.

"Idle chess".

Satsuki silently repeated the word in her heart.

This is a risky move that requires no explanation to anyone and no financial audit. It doesn't have to shoulder the heavy responsibility of family revival, so it can take risks, scheme, and wallow in the quagmire that big capital doesn't want.

For example, the current gaming industry, and the future of animation.

Moreover, in the event of an unforeseen black swan event on the main battlefield in the future, this completely invisible funding may become the last lifeline.

"Mr. Itakura".

Satsuki called out to Itakura, whose face was flushed, who had just run back to get the goods.

"Young lady! What are your orders?" Itakura, who now practically worshipped Satsuki, immediately ran over as soon as he heard the summons.

"Do not transfer this money to any of the Saionji family's accounts, and do not give me cash."

Satsuki took a pre-prepared document out of her bag and threw it on the dusty cargo box.

It was a registration document for an offshore company. The place of registration was in the Cayman Islands, and the legal representative was listed as Itakura, but it was accompanied by an extremely stringent agreement for the transfer of actual control.

Company Name: SA Investment.

"Deposit all the profits from this transaction, including principal and interest, into this company's account."

Satsuki pointed to the document, her tone calm yet exuding an undeniable air of authority.

"From today onwards, you are the company's official representative. You have only one task—"

She glanced around the dimly lit warehouse, which was filled with electronic components and game cartridges.

"In this Akihabara, in this booming entertainment industry, find me those 'crazy' people who are short of money."

"Whether you're making games, drawing comics, or working on circuit boards."

"We nurture any seed with potential. Whether they need 100,000 or 5 million, if I've set my sights on them, I'll give them the money."

Itakura was stunned. He stared at the document, which was entirely in English, his hands trembling slightly.

Although he was an electronics store owner with only a high school education, he vaguely sensed that this document was heavier than those thousand cassette tapes.

This is to make him the young lady's "shadow".

"M-Miss, I'm just a cassette tape seller..." Itakura stammered, "This kind of big business..."

"It's precisely because you sell cassette tapes that you can smell the money."

Satsuki interrupted him, her gaze as sharp as a knife.

"The Saionji family's reputation is too prestigious; it's inconvenient for them to handle some of the dirty and tiring work personally. Besides..."

She paused, a playful smile playing on her lips.

"If my father knew I was involved in these 'children's toys,' he would listen to me, but he would still think I was neglecting my duties. To avoid distracting him, it's better to keep this side project hidden."

"What, you don't want to?"

"Yes! Of course I'm willing!"

Itakura straightened his back abruptly, like a soldier being inspected. He wasn't stupid; following this alchemist heiress, even as a shadow, was a million times better than guarding a pile of rotten inventory in this shabby alley.

"I'll sign! I'll sign right now!"

He pulled out his seal and stamped it heavily on the agreement that was enough to sell his soul.

"very good."

Satsuki put away the document and nodded in satisfaction.

"Remember, no one except you and me is allowed to know about SA Investment. Not even your wife and children."

"Understood!" Itakura nodded vigorously, his eyes burning with fervor. "The Itakura Trading Company will be your outpost from now on! I'll report to you every time a fly flies by in Akihabara!"

Satsuki straightened her beret and pushed open the iron gate to the back door.

The wind in the alley was a bit chilly, carrying the desolation unique to late autumn, but it made one feel exceptionally refreshed when it blew on their face.

In the distance, a little boy who had just bought a "gift package" was running excitedly down the street, clutching the red box. His face was beaming with pure joy, as if he owned the whole world.

Behind him, countless greedy hands are reaching out to this bubble era known as "Heisei".

"Have fun!"

She whispered in her heart.

He then turned around and walked towards the black sedan parked in the shadows.

The car door closed.

The noise and frenzy are completely shut out from outside the window.