The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 201

201. Tokyo Agreement (5)

Kajima Construction’s President Mori frowned as soon as Managing Director Kawabe from Kajima Bank answered the phone.

“Why are you answering the phone?”

“The bank president has already left for the day.”

President Mori wanted to speak with President Morishita of Kajima Bank, not Managing Director Kawabe. He couldn’t hide his displeasure.

“What?”

“President, isn’t it December 31st? The president went home early to spend time with his family.”

“How carefree!”

Managing Director Kawabe smoothly brushed off President Mori’s sharp words.

“Our performance this year has been good, and the outlook for next year is bright, isn’t it? Please, calm down.”

“Are you saying money is just rolling in even if we do nothing?”

“President Mori, how could you say such a thing…”

President Mori raised his voice.

“Listen, Kawabe! Thanks to you guys, Kajima Construction has been thoroughly screwed over!”

Managing Director Kawabe gave an awkward laugh.

“Hahaha… President Mori, how could we possibly harm Kajima Construction?”

President Mori said with a stern face.

“Kawabe, a $15 billion project is about to be canceled, and you’re laughing?”

Managing Director Kawabe quickly stopped laughing.

“A $15 billion project, you say?”

“Didn’t you talk to Managing Director Kato?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I didn’t speak with him.”

“Then who screwed over Kajima Construction!”

Managing Director Kawabe realized that President Mori’s anger was genuine.

‘This is a big problem.’

He knew that President Mori had a hot-tempered personality.

“I’ll look into it.”

“Forget it!”

Bang!

The call ended with a loud thud.

Managing Director Kawabe of Kajima Bank had no choice but to swallow hard.

‘Ha… I should have left work early too.’

If he was guilty of anything, it was only of guarding the main branch in place of President Morishita.

‘Anyway, President Mori won’t just let this go.’

As he expected, President Mori didn’t stop at a protest call.

President Mori immediately dialed another number.

Ring. Ring.

After the ringing stopped, a clear voice was heard on the other end.

“Hello, this is the Kajima Group Secretary’s Office.”

President Mori didn’t soften his frown even after hearing the secretary’s pure voice.

“This is Mori. Connect me to the chairman.”

“Understood. Please wait a moment.”

A moment later.

A cracking voice was heard from the receiver.

“Is that Mori?”

President Mori bowed his head and answered.

“Chairman, this is Mori.”

“Yes, what is it today?”

“I have something urgent to report to the chairman, so I called you.”

The chairman of the Kajima Group was Kajima Jiro. Jiro meant ‘second son,’ and he was the second son of the previous chairman.

“An urgent matter at the end of the year?”

“It’s about the $15 billion project.”

A $15 billion project.

Kajima Jiro tilted his head as if he had never heard of it.

“Were we pursuing such a large project?”

“It’s a project that was requested from the United States last week.”

“From the United States?”

“A friend named Yu Tanaka, who used to work at JP Morgan’s Japanese branch, connected us.”

Kajima Jiro frowned.

“Yu Tanaka, you say? Why is his name in the opposite order?”

“Chairman, it’s because he’s a Japanese-American.”

Kajima Jiro unfolded his brow.

“Hmm, so that’s how we were able to get work from America.”

Since the opening of the country, many Japanese people had immigrated to the United States and settled there. And there, they lived as Japanese but also as Americans.

President Mori said with a bow.

“Chairman, it seems that we need the cooperation of Kajima Bank for this project.”

Kajima Jiro narrowed his eyes and asked.

“What are you talking about? Is the bank opposing the construction project?”

“Five construction companies bid on this project. However, Kajima Construction’s financial conditions were the worst among the five companies.”

Instantly, Kajima Jiro’s voice cracked.

“W-What are you saying! Kajima Construction’s financial conditions were the worst! What have you been doing!”

President Mori had been prepared for harsh words since he made the call.

“I apologize. I didn’t expect the bank to be so uncooperative.”

Kajima Jiro asked, trying to suppress his anger.

“So, are you saying that Morishita is hindering Kajima Construction from winning the project?”

“Morishita had already left work, so I couldn’t hear the detailed reasons for the financial conditions.”

Kajima Jiro, upon hearing that President Morishita had left work, once again burst into anger.

“I haven’t left work! Who said he could leave!”

“C-Chairman.”

Thump!

Kajima Jiro hung up the phone immediately. Then, he raised his voice towards the outside.

“Secretary, come in here!”

Hearing his shout, the secretary immediately headed to the chairman’s office.

“Chairman, did you call?”

“Go and get Morishita!”

The secretary swallowed hard and thought.

‘Things have gone wrong.’

He thought it would be difficult to leave work early today.

* * *

While the conflict among the Kajima Group’s leadership was boiling over.

Jung Hyun-woo arrived at the Kajima Construction headquarters with the Victoria Fund executives.

“It’s very square.”

The Kajima Construction headquarters pursued a modern design that wasn’t overly decorated.

“It’s a company with solid substance.”

“I know. I heard it was founded in 1840.”

Kajima Construction could be said to be a leader in skyscrapers in Japan.

They began to make a name for themselves in the field by completing the Kasumigaseki Building, Japan’s first skyscraper, in 1968.

As of December 31, 1985, Kajima Construction was actively involved in overseas construction projects, generating 20% of its total sales from abroad.

“Let’s go inside.”

Jung Hyun-woo was guided inside by Yu Tanaka. As they entered, the employees at the front desk came out and asked why.

“How did you find us?”

Yu Kajima stepped forward and answered.

“I’m Yu Tanaka from Victoria Fund. I’m here to see Managing Director Kato.”

“Managing Director Kato…”

“I’ll call him directly.”

Yu Kajima approached the front desk, picked up the receiver.

And two minutes later…

Managing Director Kato of Kajima Construction hurriedly ran out.

“Hello? This is Kato.”

He bowed deeply upon seeing Jung Hyun-woo.

‘Charlie Jung and Ms. Hilton visited our company? What’s going on?’

Managing Director Kato hadn’t heard anything yet.

“Managing Director Kato, how do you do?”

Managing Director Kato slightly raised his body at Jung Hyun-woo’s greeting.

“What brings you to our company, Representative?”

Jung Hyun-woo replied in a bright voice.

“I came to talk with Kajima Construction.”

Wanting to talk with Kajima Construction.

‘Could it be that they’re saying they want to do a project with our Kajima Construction?’

Managing Director Kato received his words with an unbelievable expression.

“Any conversation with the representative is welcome. Please, come upstairs.”

Managing Director Kato guided the Victoria Fund people to the conference room on the 12th floor.

Ding.

As soon as the elevator arrived on the 12th floor, Managing Director Kato raised his voice.

“Is anyone there!”

At his shout, several employees approached at a quick pace.

“Managing Director Kato, did you call?”

Managing Director Kato looked at them and said.

“Go ahead and clean up the main conference room.”

“Understood.”

Managing Director Kato sent the employees ahead first, then put on a business smile.

“Please, go to the main conference room.”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded slightly.

“Lead the way.”

The Victoria Fund people moved at a slow pace so that the employees could clean up the main conference room.

“I never thought that the representative would visit our Kajima Construction.”

Jung Hyun-woo smiled and said to him.

“There were attractive aspects in Kajima Construction’s proposal, so I came like this.”

There is an attractive proposal.

Managing Director Kato thought that it might be good to have some expectations.

“There were parts of our business plan that you liked.”

“That’s right.”

The two had already arrived at the main conference room.

Managing Director Kato opened the door to the main conference room wide.

“This is the main conference room.”

The main conference room of Kajima Construction was as large as a small school auditorium.

‘The height is also considerable, so it seems they are using the upper floor as well.’

The main conference room had an entrance on the 12th floor, but since it spanned two floors, it could also be accessed from the 13th floor.

“Isn’t it too big for us to have a meeting?”

Managing Director Kato bowed his head slightly and answered.

“No, the representative has come, so it has to be the main conference room, right?”

He guided the Victoria Fund people to the inside of the main conference room.

* * *

“So, are you saying that you will choose our Kajima Construction?”

Jung Hyun-woo raised his right hand at Managing Director Kato’s question.

“If a few agreements go well, that’s what we plan to do.”

Managing Director Kato thought that the few agreements Jung Hyun-woo mentioned might be a bigger mountain than expected.

‘But I can’t miss this opportunity.’

He said with a business smile.

“Representative. It may not be something I can decide on my own, so I will bring in the president.”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded and accepted his request.

“Understood. I’ll wait here.”

“Thank you for allowing me.”

Managing Director Kato left the conference room after Jung Hyun-woo’s permission and headed to the president’s office.

His walk was like a race walker.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Is the president in?”

The secretary answered Kato’s question.

“Yes, he is inside.”

Knock. Knock.

As he knocked on the door, a deep tone was heard from inside.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Kato.”

President Mori raised his voice instead of telling him to come inside.

“What is it again?”

“Charlie Jung of Victoria Fund and the executives have come to our company.”

President Mori stood up from his seat as soon as he heard Managing Director Kato’s answer.

“What? What are you talking about? Who came to our company?”

“The owner of Victoria Fund, Charlie Jung, CEO John Peer, and COO of Victoria Corporation, Sarah Hilton, have come.”

President Mori pressed down on the desk with both hands and raised his voice.

“Why are you telling me this now?”

Managing Director Kato bowed his head and answered.

“I guided Charlie Jung and the executives to the main conference room and came straight here.”

He still couldn’t open the door to the president’s office.

“Kato, come in.”

Only then was Managing Director Kato able to enter the president’s office.

“Charlie Jung and the Victoria Fund executives are waiting for the president now.”

“For me?”

“Charlie Jung has expressed his intention to work with our company on this project.”

It was the story that they were chosen by Victoria Fund even though they presented the worst financial conditions.

‘Could it be that the financial conditions weren’t important?’

President Mori narrowed his brow and asked.

“Is that all?”

“That’s… They seem to want to negotiate the detailed conditions.”

President Mori nodded.

“It seems they didn’t like the financial conditions.”

He said as he got up from his seat.

“Tell all the employees involved in the project to wait outside the main conference room.”

“Understood.”

President Mori thought as he headed to the main conference room.

‘I’m glad I called the chairman.’

If he won the $15 billion project, the Kajima chairman would unconditionally be on his side.

‘The group’s succession structure could be decided by this project.’

He thought that President Morishita of the opposing faction had made a big mistake.

‘That guy, he was too excited because it’s the end of the year.’

President Morishita’s early departure made it impossible to even make excuses.

Three minutes later.

President Mori entered the main conference room with Managing Director Kato and the working-level staff who were deeply involved in the preparation of this business plan.

Jung Hyun-woo saw him entering with several employees and said to Sarah in a small voice.

“It seems like they’re going to negotiate properly.”

“Managing Director Kato must have told them the purpose of our visit.”

“Shall we push a little harder?”

Sarah shook her head slightly at Jung Hyun-woo’s question.

“Let’s not take risks.”

She didn’t think it was necessary to raise the conditions any further.

‘Even if the conditions change, the overall rate of return won’t change much.’

As Jung Hyun-woo expected, if the Japanese economy only grew, they could make huge profits here.

“Hello? My name is Mori Kenta.”

“My name is Charlie Jung.”

Jung Hyun-woo and President Mori shook hands with greetings.

“If you had called, I would have gone out to the first floor to greet you…”

“I wanted to tell you the reason for today’s visit in person.”

“I see.”

The Victoria Fund and Kajima Construction sat on the left and right.

John Peer watched Jung Hyun-woo lead the conversation and sighed briefly inside.

‘Hoo… I’m the fund CEO, though.’

However, he did not put a stop to Jung Hyun-woo’s actions. He already knew that Jung Hyun-woo was an excellent investor and negotiator.

‘Charlie’s performance is outstanding.’

He thought that even if Jung Hyun-woo had worked on Wall Street instead of in the IT field, he would have achieved the same success as he does now.

“I heard it’s a $15 billion project.”

Jung Hyun-woo nodded and received President Mori’s words.

“That’s the total amount. However, we can’t call the project by that name.”

“Of course. I hope you give it a good name for success.”

Jung Hyun-woo turned his head to John Peer.

“John, tell them the name of the project.”

John Peer leaned forward slightly at his call.

“This project will be City Revival.”

It could be translated as urban recovery or urban regeneration.

President Mori was as fluent in English as Managing Director Kato, thanks to his experience working in overseas sectors such as the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia. He was able to converse with Jung Hyun-woo’s group without interpretation.

“City regeneration, huh. It seems you are interested in urban development.”

Jung Hyun-woo put his hands together and said.

“That’s right. I want to breathe new life into streets that are losing their light.”

President Mori could see what Jung Hyun-woo wanted.

‘New vitality is a nicely packaged word, and the real intention is redevelopment or remodeling projects. Well, it’s not a bad story for us.’

Redevelopment or remodeling projects had a higher rate of return than simply taking transaction fees.

“But I heard there was something you wanted to discuss separately.”

From here on out, it was the main point.

“I want to know how much capability Kajima Construction can demonstrate in this project.”

Want to know the capabilities of Kajima Construction.

President Mori thought.

‘If you want to make the project completely ours, it seems like you’re telling me to call out the maximum conditions.’

He said in a dry voice.

“Our Kajima Construction has built some of the most prominent high-rise buildings in Japan. The technical capabilities will be demonstrated by those buildings instead. And in other areas…”

President Mori paused for a moment and then continued.

“There seems to have been a mistake by the employee in charge of the financial sector. Managing Director Kato, isn’t that right?”

Managing Director Kato immediately bowed his head at his question.

“That’s right. There seems to have been a mistake.”

He thought as he answered.

‘Is he trying to put the blame on me?’

But even if he put the blame on him, the financial conditions would not improve.

It was Kajima Bank, not Kajima Construction, that could change the financial conditions.

“There was a small mistake.”

Jung Hyun-woo’s voice was still cold.

‘If the worst condition was a mistake, then you have to present the right conditions this time.’

It was when he slightly raised the corners of his lips.

President Mori put strength into his voice.

“We will give you an annual interest rate of up to 3.8%.”

An interest rate of 3.8% was the lowest interest rate among the five construction companies.