Just as Ayako finished speaking.
"Bang."
The carved wooden door of the salon was pushed open somewhat roughly from the outside.
A girl stumbled in.
Yuki Yamanouchi.
Her father was the president of Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical.
For the past decade, this company had focused on the research and development of cardiovascular and urinary system drugs.
It held several significant foundational patents in the industry.
It was a solid, industrial medical company.
But at this moment, Yuki had completely lost the dignity of a wealthy heiress.
The hem of her uniform skirt was noticeably wrinkled.
Her hair was somewhat disheveled.
Her eyes were severely swollen and red.
Tear stains still remained on her face.
The students in the salon turned their heads one after another.
They looked at her disheveled state.
Yet no one spoke up to ask what was wrong.
"Saionji-san... Saionji-san..."
Yuki murmured Satsuki's name repeatedly.
She had obviously heard the news that Satsuki had come to school.
She looked around the room.
When her gaze fell upon Satsuki, who was sitting on the main sofa, her eyes, originally filled with despair and emptiness, suddenly lit up with a faint glimmer.
It was like someone clutching at a straw.
She rushed quickly to Satsuki's front.
Her knees buckled.
Yuki knelt directly beside the coffee table in front of Satsuki.
She lowered her head deeply.
Her forehead almost touched the edge of the marble coffee table.
"Saionji-san... please help me."
Yuki's voice trembled violently.
Tears streamed down her cheeks and hit the carpet.
"After the Ministry of Finance's total volume regulation order came down, the main banks froze all of Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical's accounts."
"To expand our new factory area, my father previously invested in a land reclamation project in Chiba Prefecture."
"Now that project has completely imploded."
"We can't withdraw the capital."
She gripped her skirt hem tightly.
"To prevent the loss of research staff and to pay the laboratory workers, my father went behind the board's back to borrow high-interest loans from the Kanto Yakuza."
"Now, with interest compounding, that amount has become an astronomical figure!"
"This morning, the Yakuza brought out a legally binding mortgage contract."
"They threatened to bring people to seal off the Musashino core laboratory tomorrow."
"They plan to take away all the incubators and centrifuges to pay off the debt!"
Yuki raised her tear-stained face.
She looked up at Satsuki.
She knew that in this school, and even in all of Tokyo, the only one who still held massive cash flow was the Saionji Family.
"Saionji-san..."
Yuki's voice was broken and shattered.
"I know this request is very unreasonable... but right now, in all of Tokyo, only the Saionji Family can still come up with this cash..."
She buried her head lower.
Her forehead pressed hard against the edge of the coffee table.
"Please... can you lend Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical a bridge loan?"
"We can accept any interest rate..."
"As long as we can save the equipment in the laboratory and the life's work my grandfather left behind... once the real estate project is freed up, we will definitely pay you back with interest!"
The air in the salon became still. The other students looked over. Their eyes were filled with shock and sympathy.
But still no one spoke.
Everyone held their breath.
They watched the young lady sitting in the main seat.
Satsuki picked up the black tea cup in front of her. She did not immediately respond to Yuki's plea.
Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical.
Cardiovascular drug patents.
These two terms were quickly matched against the CTRPS Acquisition Model she had set for herself in her mind.
Possessing core pharmaceutical patents fit T, for Tech barrier.
Being on the verge of bankruptcy due to high-interest debt, and even facing the threat of the Yakuza physically emptying the lab, fit P, for Price threshold is extremely low.
And the opponent's current desperation meant there was plenty of room for R, for Restructuring possible.
It perfectly met the criteria for harvesting.
Moreover, this was the prey delivering itself to her door.
Satsuki placed the tea cup steadily back onto the saucer. She looked at the trembling girl before her with a smile.
"Yamanouchi-san."
She looked into Yuki's eyes.
"The reason Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical has fallen to this point today lies in your father's greed."
Yuki froze in place.
Tears hung on her eyelashes.
"As the president of a pharmaceutical company, he coveted the enormous profits of real estate."
"He invested the core funds that maintained the company's lifeline into a bottomless pit of land reclamation."
"After the capital chain broke, instead of cutting losses in time, he went to touch the Yakuza's high-interest loans."
"That was like drinking poison to quench his thirst."
Satsuki leaned forward slightly. She gently wiped away Yuki's tears with a handkerchief.
"He used the researchers' salaries and the company's future as chips on the gambling table."
"This is shortsightedness and dereliction of duty that violates the most basic business common sense."
"Such a fatal mistake must be paid for by the person involved."
She sat up straight.
"The Saionji Family will not pay for such foolish business decisions."
"We do not provide any form of charitable loans."
Yuki's body swayed violently.
The glimmer of hope that had just ignited in her eyes slowly dimmed. Her whole body seemed to have been drained of strength.
She collapsed on the carpet. She couldn't stop shivering.
What should she do now?
Who else could lend money to the family?
Without money, the laboratory would be emptied by the Yakuza tomorrow. Those debt-collecting thugs would move into her house.
She would lose everything.
The image of gangsters kicking open the door with baseball bats played over and over in her mind uncontrollably.
Yuki gripped the fabric of her uniform over her chest tightly. She opened her mouth to beg the other party again, even if it was just to say one more word.
But the air in her lungs seemed to have been sucked out in an instant.
Her vocal cords were too stiff to make a sound. Tears fell in strings onto the carpet. But she couldn't even muster the strength to let out a whimper.
Only one thought remained in her mind: It's all over.
At this moment, Satsuki spoke again.
"However."
Satsuki leaned back into the leather chair.
"An offshore medical fund registered in the Cayman Islands has some long-term interest in the underlying cardiovascular patents of Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical."
Yuki raised her head abruptly.
"This fund can step in."
"Using full US dollar cash, before sunrise tomorrow, they can buy out the bad debts at the bank for Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical."
"They can also buy out the high-interest mortgage contract in the hands of the Yakuza."
"They will preserve all the equipment in the laboratory."
"They will also preserve all the core technical personnel."
Yuki's breathing became rapid.
She crawled on her hands and knees to Satsuki's feet.
"Really? You... they are willing..."
"But the conditions for the merger are harsh."
Satsuki looked at Yuki.
"All debts bought by the fund will be converted entirely into equity in Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical."
"Your father must hand over 100% of the control."
"He must sign an agreement to relinquish all management decisions of the company."
"Furthermore, he must resign from the board of directors permanently."
The salon remained dead silent.
Yuki froze.
Although she was a naive student, she understood the weight behind these words.
Handing over control meant that Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical, a family business passed down for three generations, would completely change hands.
Her father's life's work, the brand that the family was proud of, would become someone else's trophy the second the signature was signed.
Yuki looked up at Satsuki sitting opposite her.
That familiar school uniform offered no room for friendship in this merger deal.
But.
Images of Yakuza thugs smashing things in her home with baseball bats flashed through Yuki's mind.
Her father's desperate face flashed by.
Compared to preserving so-called family control, the lives and personal safety of her family were the most real and urgent needs at the moment.
If they lost their lives, what was the point of guarding those empty laboratories?
Those stubborn old presidents would rather commit seppuku than give up equity.
But she didn't want that.
Losing wealth was painful.
But what she wanted more was for her family to be healthy.
Yuki bit her lower lip. She bit with enough force that a trace of blood almost seeped out.
"I... I understand."
Yuki's voice trembled.
She lowered her head deeply.
"I will go back... and convince my father to sign the debt-for-equity swap agreement."
Satsuki nodded slightly.
She opened her black handbag and pulled out a pure white business card. The card had no extra titles or company logos.
Only a contact number for an overseas legal representative was printed on it.
She placed the card on the edge of the coffee table.
"Before nine o'clock tonight, have your father call this number."
"A professional legal team will verify the debt details with him."
Yuki reached out with trembling hands and picked up the light, white business card. She clutched the card tightly in her palm.
Then she brought her knees together and performed a dogeza, a formal prostration.
She pressed her forehead deeply against the wool carpet beside the marble coffee table.
"Thank you... Saionji-san."
Yuki's voice was tearful, yet filled with heartfelt gratitude.
"Thank you for being willing to step in and buy those debts... leaving a way out for our family."
She wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand.
She bowed deeply to Satsuki once more.
Then she stumbled out of the salon.
The carved wooden door closed slowly behind her.
Satsuki picked up her tea cup. This campaign to harvest domestic non-performing assets had begun.
In the greenhouse of this campus, in a whim-driven manner, she naturally took the first victory.
Note: The Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical appearing in this chapter was one of Japan's top R&D-based pharmaceutical companies in the 1990s. It later merged with Fujisawa Pharmaceutical in 2005 to become the current global pharmaceutical giant Astellas Pharma. The company held foundational patents for urinary and cardiovascular drugs with high commercial value.
During the frenzy of Japan's bubble economy, there was a very common real social phenomenon. A large number of entities like Yamanouchi, which possessed top-tier technology, pursued short-term enormous profits by establishing financial subsidiaries and participating in zai-tech, financial engineering, and real estate speculation. When the Ministry of Finance issued the total volume regulation to cut off credit, these companies saw their capital chains break instantly due to land speculation. The massive debts directly backfired and endangered the survival of their main business.
This was the root cause of the large number of high-quality non-performing assets at that time. The companies' main businesses were clearly still profitable. But they were forced to face bankruptcy liquidation due to blind leverage in real estate speculation. This was also the best way for the Saionji Family, given by the era, to seize opportunities and acquire core technological barriers at an extremely low cost.