The next morning. Shenhai Municipal Foreign Investment Promotion Bureau, third-floor conference room.
A 1:5000 scale industrial land planning map of Shenhai City was spread across the long conference table.
The left half of the drawing—the area west of the Huangpu River—was densely marked with red, blue, and green blocks.
Beside each block was a small handwritten note indicating the name of the development zone, the companies already operating there, and the remaining available area.
The right half of the drawing—east of the Huangpu River—was almost entirely blank.
Only a few planned roads were marked with dashed lines, and a small circle drawn in pencil labeled "Lujiazui" sat in the middle.
Chen Zhiyuan sat at the head of the table, with two staff members holding folders standing behind him. His finger pressed down on a blue block in the Minhang District of Puxi.
"Mr. Endo, this is the Minhang Economic and Technological Development Zone. Established in 1986 with State Council approval, it currently hosts twelve Japanese-funded enterprises, including Hitachi and Fujitsu.
The infrastructure is complete, and the 'Seven Connections and One Leveling'—water, drainage, electricity, telecommunications, roads, gas, and heating connections, plus land leveling—are all in place."
Chen Zhiyuan's finger moved to another block. "If you prefer a joint-venture model, we can recommend Shenhai Electric Group as the Chinese partner—"
"Director Chen." Endo interrupted him.
Endo pulled two documents from his briefcase and laid them flat on top of the map.
The first was an A3 sheet folded into thirds. Once unfolded, it revealed a dense list of equipment: three Komatsu H2F-400 presses, six Sumitomo SE-280 all-electric injection molding machines, two Hitachi Seiko five-axis machining centers…
The list continued onto the back of the page, totaling more than one hundred twenty items.
The second was a proof of funds printed on Citibank letterhead. The amount was spelled out in capital English letters: 100,000,000 USD.
One hundred million US dollars in cash.
Chen Zhiyuan's finger moved away from the map.
He stared at the Citibank proof of funds for a full three seconds. His Adam's apple bobbed.
In 1990, the state still weighed requests for a few million dollars in import quotas at the ministry level.
This sum of liquid cash—large enough to affect a region's foreign exchange reserve indicators—had been placed before him as casually as a business card.
"Mr. Endo," Chen Zhiyuan's speech slowed. "At this scale…"
"The Saionji Group's board of directors has a globally uniform compliance red line," Endo said, his voice flat.
"Any overseas manufacturing base must be established as a Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise. We do not accept joint ventures, we do not accept Chinese shareholding, and we do not accept joint management committees."
After the interpreter finished, the conference room fell silent for several seconds.
The staff members behind Chen Zhiyuan exchanged a glance.
"Mr. Endo," Chen Zhiyuan leaned back in his chair, folding his hands over his stomach.
"To be frank, under the current policy framework, the approval process for a wholly foreign-owned enterprise is far more complicated than for a joint venture.
Especially in the heavy industry sector, it involves changes in land use classification, environmental impact assessments, the establishment of customs supervision warehouses…" He spread his hands in a gesture of difficulty.
"It's not that we don't want to help, but in the existing Puxi development zone plans, there simply isn't a reserved plot of this size for a sole proprietorship."
Endo did not back down. He placed his finger on the first line of the equipment list.
"Director Chen. Every piece of equipment on this list is an active, mainstay model in Japanese manufacturing. They are not second-hand scrap. They are precision instruments still operating within tolerance ranges." Endo's finger slid slowly downward.
"Stamping, injection molding, precision casting, motor winding, electroplating — five complete production lines, connected end to end. From steel plate input to finished product output, no intervention from any external supplier is required."
Endo looked up and met Chen Zhiyuan's gaze directly.
"This is not a factory. This is an entire industrial chain."
The air in the conference room grew heavy. Under the table, Chen Zhiyuan's fingers unconsciously rubbed the seam of his trousers.
One hundred million dollars in cash, plus the physical investment of one hundred twenty sets of equipment — the total volume exceeded the sum of all Japanese investment brought into the Minhang Development Zone over the past three years.
Most crucial was that batch of heavy industrial equipment. At this point in time, these industrial mother machines, representing top-tier manufacturing capability, were worth far more than gold.
But Puxi truly had no space left. The land in Minhang had long been subdivided into small plots of fifty or eighty mu and allocated to the dozen or so foreign companies already there.
To carve out a contiguous piece of land large enough to accommodate five production lines within the existing plan would mean overturning and restarting every plot that had already been approved.
As Chen Zhiyuan rapidly calculated a compromise in his head, a voice that did not belong at this negotiation table suddenly cut in.
"Endo."
Every eye turned to the end of the conference table.
Satsuki set down the Puxi planning map she had been flipping through. Her fingertips pinched the corner of the map as if she were holding a used napkin.
"These places," Satsuki pushed the map toward the center of the table, her tone carrying undisguised disdain.
"They're all squeezed together. When I look out the window, all I see are chimneys and gray, dusty factory buildings."
Endo turned slightly. "Young Miss, this is a formal business meeting—"
"I don't care." Satsuki crossed her arms over her chest, her chin tilted slightly, her small face displeased.
"You promised me last time that we could build a beautiful park when we came out. I want the kind of open space that stretches as far as the eye can see, with nothing around it, clean and tidy. Like those manors on the outskirts of London, with large lawns and trees."
She looked at Endo, her brow furrowed.
"I don't want to be crammed in with those dirty factories."
Endo's expression didn't change, but his left hand tightened slightly under the table, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
He seemed to have a headache over how to deal with the Young Miss's sudden whim.
"Young Miss, investment site selection requires comprehensive consideration of infrastructure, logistics accessibility, and policy support—"
"That's your job," Satsuki interrupted him, her tone certain.
"I'm only responsible for telling you what I want. I want open space, big and quiet. You figure out how."
The Chinese personnel in the conference room looked at one another.
The interpreter lowered his voice and relayed the exchange to Chen Zhiyuan, using the most diplomatic phrasing possible.
After listening, Chen Zhiyuan looked down at the planning map before him.
His gaze slowly moved toward the nearly blank area on the right half of the drawing.
East of the Huangpu River. Pudong.
The development of this land had only been announced in April of this year. At present, it was still a stretch of farmland, fish ponds, and mudflats.
The roads hadn't been built, the power grid hadn't been installed, and the planning lines for water pipes were still just drawings on paper.
The startup funds allocated by the city were a drop in the bucket. What was needed most was foreign exchange — hard US dollars to import bulldozers, buy asphalt, and lay substations.
No ordinary foreign enterprise was willing to be a pioneer in that wasteland that didn't even have streetlights.
But if…
Chen Zhiyuan looked up and glanced at the wealthy young lady who was arguing with Endo.
Open space. Large stretches. Quiet. Stretching as far as the eye can see.
What Pudong lacked least right now was exactly that.
"Mr. Endo," Chen Zhiyuan stood, the look of difficulty on his face replaced by perfectly measured enthusiasm.
"I completely understand the Young Miss's concerns. To be honest, the old urban area of Puxi is indeed a bit crowded and doesn't match the scale of the Saionji Group."
He walked around the conference table to the planning map and pressed his finger on the blank space on the east bank of the Huangpu River.
"I wonder if you've heard that in April this year, the state just approved the development plan for the Pudong New Area." Chen Zhiyuan drew a large circle on that blank space.
"Here, it is currently an entire stretch of undeveloped virgin land. The area can be as large as you want, and it's so quiet you can even hear the birds chirping."
He turned and looked at Endo and Satsuki.
"If the Young Miss wants a private industrial park with a 'large garden' — I can say responsibly that in all of Shenhai, only Pudong can satisfy this requirement."
Chen Zhiyuan clapped his hands.
"How about this. I will adjust the originally scheduled afternoon itinerary. I will personally take you across the river to Pudong to see the land for yourselves. Seeing is believing."
He looked at Satsuki with a gentle smile, like an elder coaxing a junior.
"Don't worry, Young Miss, the air over there is definitely better than in the city. Once the river breeze blows, you won't smell a single chimney."
Satsuki's eyelashes fluttered.
Her lips pursed slightly, as if she were seriously considering the proposal — or perhaps hesitating over whether to continue making things difficult for this overly enthusiastic Chinese official.
"Really?"
Satsuki tilted her head, a hint of skepticism in her voice. She raised her hand and gently rubbed the tip of her nose with the knuckle of her index finger, as if the industrial smoke drifting from the direction of the Puxi development zone still lingered in her memory.
"But… if there's nothing there, you wouldn't even be able to find a place to eat, right?"
Chen Zhiyuan was amused by this concern that lacked any business logic. He quickly waved his hand.
"The Young Miss doesn't need to worry about food at all. I've already arranged for local specialty dishes over in Pudong.
They're definitely ten times better than the food at the guest house. You must try Shenhai's braised pork and sweet and sour spare ribs."
Satsuki blinked, a flash of obvious interest crossing her face. But she quickly pouted again and turned to look at Endo.
The meaning of that look was clear — I want to go, but you have to decide for me.
Endo was silent for two seconds.
His gaze met Satsuki's briefly, and then he nodded slightly.
"Since Director Chen is so hospitable, then we'll trouble you to make the arrangements."
After hearing the interpreter's rendition, Satsuki's brow smoothed out slightly.
She didn't speak again, only lowering her head to adjust the strap on her Polaroid camera so it hung at a convenient height across her chest.
Watching that motion, Chen Zhiyuan let out a long breath of relief.
The fish had taken the bait.
He turned and whispered a few instructions to the staff member behind him.
The staff member walked quickly out of the conference room to contact the reception vehicles from the Pudong Development Command.
Chen Zhiyuan sat back in his chair and took a sip from his teacup.
The tea was Longjing, freshly brewed that morning, tasting clear and sweet.
Through the steam rising from the teacup, he looked at the Japanese girl across from him who was fiddling with her camera.
In his mind, he was already calculating which piece of land in Pudong to offer — it had to be large enough and desolate enough to make this wealthy young miss feel it "stretched as far as the eye could see,"
Yet positioned within the future footprint of the Lujiazui financial district, ensuring that the Japanese infrastructure investment would maximize the surrounding land values.
Let the vanity of a zaibatsu heiress pay the bill for Pudong's century-long master plan.
No matter how he calculated it, this deal was a win.
#Note, Idk man, I think you've been played by Satsuki lol.