Reborn in Tokyo: From Heiress to Global Tycoon

Chapter 53 Ye's Secret Warehouse

By the end of September 1987, the sea breeze in Tokyo Bay had already taken on a noticeable chill.

This is Chiba Port.

Unlike the brightly lit, sleepless Tokyo across the bay, this is a silent world of steel and concrete. Huge gantry cranes stand imposingly on the coastline. The air is filled with the smell of heavy oil, rust, and salty seawater—the rough, distinctive odor of the industrial age.

It's 11 p.m.

A black Toyota Crown with local Chiba license plates sped along the empty port road. On both sides of the road were endless warehouses, their corrugated iron walls gleaming with a cold, metallic sheen under the streetlights.

The wheels rolled over the expansion joints in the road, making a rhythmic "clunk, clunk" sound.

"It's the one in front."

Fujita, sitting in the passenger seat, pointed to a huge dark shadow ahead.

It was a massive warehouse covering over two thousand square meters. On the wire mesh fence at the entrance hung an inconspicuous white sign with black lettering:

SA Logistics

The car stopped at the entrance.

Fujita rolled down the car window and spoke a few coded words into the intercom.

A few seconds later, the heavy electric iron gate slid slowly to both sides, accompanied by the rustling sound of the chain.

Shuichi sat in the back seat, rubbing his slightly throbbing temples. He had just finished drinking with several bank directors in Tokyo, and still carried a faint smell of cigars. The insincere social interactions of clinking glasses had left him exhausted, but the cold wind blowing in through the car window made him a little more awake.

"This is our...granary?"

Shuichi looked out the window at the building that lay dormant in the night like a giant beast.

"This is just one of them."

Satsuki, who was next to her, wasn't looking out the window; she was engrossed in playing with the Rubik's Cube in her hands.

"There are two more in Yokohama, and one in Saitama. But the one in Chiba is the largest and also the most classified."

"If it's just for warehousing, it's indeed a bit extravagant."

"But I didn't just buy the warehouse, I bought the entire port area."

She didn't look up, her fingers continuing to move.

"SA Logistics needs more than just storage space. The future of logistics is a vast network, and before that network takes shape, we need to control these crucial 'blood vessel' nodes. Although land prices are rising now, compared to the core areas of the Tokyo metropolitan area, Chiba Port is like unwanted cabbage. In five years, every inch of land here will be worth its weight in gold."

The car drove deep into the storage area and came to a stop in front of the huge roller shutter door of Warehouse No. 1.

No security guards came to greet them. This was the private property of the Saionji family, and only a few long-time employees with lifelong contracts were responsible for guarding it.

"Bang—"

The massive roller shutter door was raised more than a meter high, emitting a sickening metallic clang.

Xiu bent down and crawled inside.

Satsuki followed behind, holding a high-powered flashlight.

"Smack."

The switch on the wall was pushed up.

Above, under the steel dome that is more than ten meters high, rows of high-pressure mercury lamps began to flicker, emitting a "buzzing" sound of electricity, and then slowly lit up with a pale light.

Even though he was mentally prepared, when Xiu looked up and saw the scene before him, his breath still caught in his throat.

Big.

too big.

In the empty warehouse, countless yellowish-brown corrugated cardboard boxes were neatly stacked. They were piled on wooden pallets, each stack reaching five or six meters high, like thick walls that divided the warehouse into numerous narrow alleyways.

It stretches as far as the eye can see.

There are no windows, no superfluous decorations, only those silent boxes of goods, exuding the smell of dry pulp and cotton.

"here……"

Shuichi's voice echoed in the empty space.

How many are there here?

"List of items received up to yesterday."

Satsuki walked up to a stack of cardboard boxes and patted the rough cardboard.

"300,000 T-shirts, 150,000 pairs of jeans, and 50,000 hoodies."

"A total of 500,000 items."

Xiu walked over and ran his finger along the labels on the cardboard boxes.

Product: T-Shirt (Grade A)

Origin: Shanghai, China

Destination: Chiba, Japan

He pulled a utility knife out of his pocket.

"Sizzle."

The tape was cut.

Xiu opened the box.

Inside, a hundred white T-shirts were neatly folded. They were individually wrapped in transparent plastic bags, reflecting a soft sheen under the light.

Xiu took out one item and tore open the packaging bag.

That feel.

Thick, smooth, with the unique warmth of Xinjiang long-staple cotton.

However... it's different.

Xiu looked at the plain white T-shirt in his hand. There were no markings on it, just like a blank canvas.

Moreover, he could tell at a glance that the quality of this piece was inferior to those sold in the store.

He turned up his collar.

Instead of the expensive "S-Collection" label from the Shibuya store, there was only a simple white label with the size printed on it.

He rubbed his face with his clothes.

"It seems we had a preconceived notion about Chinese workers. It turns out they can do a great job too. The quality is even better than the underwear I bought at Mitsukoshi Department Store."

Xiu turned around and looked at the cardboard boxes that covered the entire mountainside.

A businessman's instinct made him feel a pang of heartache, even anxiety.

"Satsuki, do you know what the situation is like outside right now?"

Xiu held up the T-shirt, his voice a little hurried.

"There are lines at the Shibuya store every day. It costs 30,000 yen apiece, and there's a purchase limit! Those university students are willing to eat instant noodles for a month just to buy one of these shirts!"

"And here we are..."

He pointed to the "mountain of cardboard boxes" that stretched as far as the eye could see.

"There are 300,000 items here! If we ship them out now, even if we don't sell them for 30,000, but only for 5,000! No, even if we sell them for 3,000!"

Shuichi quickly calculated in his mind.

"Three hundred thousand pieces multiplied by three thousand equals nine hundred million yen! If it's jeans, the profit margin is even higher!"

"This is all cash! Are we just going to leave it here to gather dust? We still have to pay for electricity, labor, and worry about it getting damp and moldy?"

Shuichi couldn't understand.

This is like a starving person guarding a mountain of gold, only to watch it gather dust.

In an era where the whole of Japan is frantically making money, this kind of "idleness" is practically a sin.

Satsuki did not speak.

She walked deeper into the warehouse.

"Father, what do you think Tokyo is like right now?"

Satsuki's voice came from the depths of the canyon made of cardboard boxes.

"What does it look like? It looks like a big casino, like a carnival." Shuichi followed.

"No."

Satsuki stopped and turned around. The flashlight beam shone on her chin, making her expression look somewhat sinister.

"Like a balloon being inflated."

"The balloon grew bigger and bigger, its surface thinner and thinner, and its colors more and more vibrant. Everyone stared at the balloon, thinking it would fly all the way to the moon."

She casually patted the cardboard box next to her.

"The 30,000 yen price tag at the Shibuya store is like the air we're blowing into that balloon."

"Through exquisite packaging, expensive decorations, and the location of Seibu Department Store, we created an illusion for the public: this garment is worth 30,000 yen."

"Once this price anchor is established, it is etched into the consumer's mind."

Satsuki looked at the T-shirt in her father's hand.

"If we were to be greedy for that small profit now and release these unpackaged goods for 3,000 yen."

"Then, the balloon popped with a 'pop'."

"Those who spent 30,000 yuan on clothes will feel like fools, and the brand image will collapse instantly. S-Collection will immediately become a cheap, low-quality item, and will never recover."

Xiu was taken aback for a moment.

He understands the logic. But...

"But when will we have to wait?" Shuichi looked at the silent cardboard boxes, which stood like tombs. "A year? Two years? How much capital will be tied up?"

"Wait until winter."

Satsuki turned off the flashlight.

The surroundings were plunged into darkness, with only a mercury lamp in the distance casting a pale light.

"Father, have you heard the story of 'Tulip Mania'?"

"In the past, the Dutch would sell their carriages and houses for a single tulip bulb. Everyone thought tulip prices would always go up."

"But one day, the bubble burst."

"Back then, there were tulip bulbs everywhere that nobody wanted, and everyone was so hungry that they had no choice but to boil and eat them."

Satsuki's voice was soft, yet carried a hint of coldness.

"In Tokyo today, land is like tulips, stocks are like tulips, and even clothes costing tens of thousands of dollars are like tulips."

"Everyone is planting flowers, but nobody is planting crops."

She pointed to the cardboard boxes.

"This is food."

"It's rice. It's a cotton-padded coat. It's charcoal."

"Wait until the bubble bursts. Wait until everyone's stocks become worthless, their houses are foreclosed by the banks, and they're left with only a few coins in their pockets."

"They still need to wear clothes. And they need to wear 'decent' clothes to cover up their poverty."

"At that time, we opened this warehouse."

"Only a few hundred yen."

"They can buy a piece of clothing that looks like it used to cost 30,000 yen and represented high society."

"That huge contrast, that feeling of being redeemed, would make them rush over like madmen."

Satsuki turned the flashlight back on, the beam shining directly onto the warehouse dome.

"Back then, these cardboard boxes weren't filled with clothes."

"It's a money printing machine."

Shuichi stood there, feeling his blood run cold.

He looked at the cardboard boxes.

He had just thought they were slow-moving inventory and a waste of resources.

But now, illuminated by Satsuki's words, these ordinary corrugated cardboard boxes suddenly seemed somewhat menacing. They were like silent soldiers, sharpening their bayonets in the darkness, awaiting the bugle call of "Depression."

"A few hundred yen..."

Xiu Yi swallowed hard.

At that price, this inventory of 500,000 pieces probably wouldn't last even a day before it's all snapped up.

"but......"

Shuichi noticed that his usually shrewd and resourceful daughter was now slightly frowning.

"Plans may not keep up with changes. I now find that the factories in China are too efficient, Takahashi's management seems very effective, production capacity is increasing too fast, and warehousing space is already stretched thin."

Satsuki shone her flashlight into one of the few empty spaces in the warehouse.

"At the current production capacity, our warehouses will be overflowing by mid-1988. And this is just an estimate based on existing data; in reality, the production capacity of our Shanghai factories is still increasing."

"this......"

Xiu Yi was surprised that Chinese workers were so efficient. He heard that Guangdong was also recruiting foreign investors with very good benefits, so setting up a factory in Guangdong seemed like a good option.

"Let's take it one step at a time. If things really don't work out, I'll go to Hiroshima to find that small business owner."

Satsuki turned around and walked towards the exit.

"Let's go, Father. There's nothing to see here."

Xiuichi looked down at the T-shirt in his hand.

He carefully folded it, put it back in the plastic bag along the original creases, and then put it back in the box.

"Sizzle."

He picked up the sealing tape and resealed the box.

He patted the box again.

"Go to sleep."

Xiu said softly.

The two walked out of the warehouse.

"Boom!"

The huge roller shutter slowly closed, locking the sea of ​​cardboard boxes back into darkness.

The sea breeze outside still carried a fishy smell.

Across Tokyo Bay in the distance, a red glow belonging to Tokyo painted half the sky crimson.

Shuichi looked in that direction.

There you'll find the revelry of Kabukicho, the decadent lifestyle of Roppongi, and the extravagant spending of Ginza.

Everyone felt like they were the balloon that would never fall.

The black sedan started up, its engine sound breaking the silence of the port area.

The car headlights pierced the night as it drove toward the city that was still in the midst of revelry.