On the Huangpu River, the diesel engines let out a dull roar.
The ferry deck vibrated slightly beneath their feet. Through the car window, the murky waters of the Huangpu River slowly receded into the morning mist.
Satsuki sat in the back seat of the black reception car, her gaze passing over the front seat's headrest toward the opposite shore, which drew closer through the windshield.
Behind them lay Puxi, where the century-old European-style buildings of the Bund still maintained their dignity under the grayish-white sky.
Ahead of the ferry, the soon-to-be-reached Pudong presented a completely different appearance.
Thump.
The wheels rolled over the seam between the ferry's ramp and the concrete pier, causing the heavy chassis to jolt violently.
The motorcade drove away from the ferry terminal, and the smooth pavement came to an abrupt end a few hundred meters later.
Unlike the high-profile trip from the airport to the city center yesterday afternoon, the scale of today's inspection motorcade crossing the river had expanded significantly.
In the meeting room, when Endo had slammed the proof of one hundred million dollars in cash and the list of one hundred and twenty pieces of heavy equipment onto the table, and stated the bottom line of a wholly foreign-owned enterprise, the nature of this investment promotion changed completely.
This volume of foreign investment was massive enough to influence the national industrial layout, far exceeding the reception and approval authority of a single municipal investment promotion bureau.
During a ten-minute break in the meeting, Chen Zhiyuan urgently reported to the city.
Consequently, for today's field inspection, three black Santana sedans with government permits urgently joined the motorcade.
The Vice Director of the Municipal Foreign Investment Commission, the Planning Chief of the Pudong Development Office, and a special commissioner from Shenhai Customs were all urgently dispatched to join this joint inspection team heading to the east bank of the river.
Satsuki rolled the window down completely.
A muddy dirt road began at the end of the asphalt highway, its surface covered in deep ruts carved by heavy agricultural vehicles.
Low farmhouses were scattered on both sides of the road, their gray cement walls painted with faded red slogans.
A few speckled chickens pecked for food in the puddles by the roadside, ignoring the passing motorcade.
Further away was an endless expanse of reed marshes. The withered yellow reed plumes leaned uniformly in one direction in the autumn wind, as if pressed down by an invisible giant hand.
Satsuki took a Polaroid camera out of her handbag.
Click.
The lens was aimed at an abandoned brick kiln by the road. Half of the kiln's vaulted roof had collapsed, and the exposed red bricks took on a dark, rusty color under the overcast sky.
Click.
The second photo was of a concrete irrigation canal about three meters wide on the right side of the road.
There were clear water level marks on the canal walls—the highest mark was less than forty centimeters below the rim.
Click.
The third photo captured the height difference between the road and the farmland.
The soil cross-section was clearly visible—the top layer was about twenty centimeters of black humus, followed by grayish-blue silty clay with extremely high water content, with fine droplets of water seeping out at the cut.
Fujita Tsuyoshi turned his head from the passenger seat and glanced at Satsuki in the rearview mirror as she shook the photo paper.
"Young Miss, the road conditions are not very good. Should I have the driver slow down?"
"No need." Satsuki stacked the three pieces of photo paper together and tucked them into a hidden compartment inside her handbag.
"Fujita, this kind of scenery is hard to see in Tokyo."
"...Young Miss, if I may be so bold, the environment here is worse than even the Japanese countryside."
"Is that so..." Satsuki put away her Polaroid and looked at the desolate east bank of the river with great interest.
"In my eyes, this place is covered in gold..."
...
Inside the first lead vehicle.
Chen Zhiyuan sat in the passenger seat, turning around to unfold a preliminary draft map of the Pudong New Area, handing it to Vice Director Liu of the Municipal Foreign Investment Commission and Chief Wang of the Pudong Development Office Planning Division in the back seat.
"Director Liu, Chief Wang. The motorcade is currently traveling north along the planned line of Pudong Avenue."
Chen Zhiyuan's finger slid across the map, avoiding the small area near the riverside ferry terminal that was relatively flat and close to the city.
"According to the city's macro planning, these plots near the city center will serve as financial and commercial supporting service areas in the future."
His finger pointed straight toward a large blank area at the northernmost tip of the map, right next to the Yangtze River estuary.
"Considering the massive scale of the Saionji Group's one hundred and twenty pieces of heavy equipment, and the Japanese side's requirement for 'independent contiguous development and large areas of open land' mentioned in the meeting room, I told the driver to take them directly to the Waigaoqiao area."
Vice Director Liu of the Municipal Foreign Investment Commission looked at the circled location on the map, his brow furrowing deeply.
"Old Chen, there isn't even a decent paved road over in Waigaoqiao yet. Isn't it too risky to take them there?"
Vice Director Liu lowered his voice.
"A deep-water port and a bonded logistics center are indeed planned there, but that's all still on paper.
The city's startup foreign exchange is so tight that we have to budget carefully even for building main roads.
If you take the foreign investors directly to that most desolate mudflat, and the Japanese see it and think we're fooling them and just leave, who are we going to ask for that one hundred million dollars in cash?"
More importantly, such a large deal was now in their hands. If it went well, it would naturally be a massive political achievement; but if it fell through in their hands, the consequences would be...
Chief Wang also nodded, pulling a pack of Hongtashan from his jacket pocket and taking out a cigarette to hold in his mouth without lighting it.
"Aren't there still two vacant plots in Minhang? Although the area is a bit smaller, at least the 'seven connections and one leveling' are in place. Let's stabilize them first and get a letter of intent signed."
Chen Zhiyuan didn't answer immediately. He pulled a folded piece of paper from the sun visor above the dashboard—it was the data for the Waigaoqiao plot he had marked with a red pencil in his office last night.
"Director Liu, Chief Wang." Chen Zhiyuan unfolded the paper and pointed his finger at several numbers on it.
"Let me ask you both a question. In the Pudong Development Office's startup budget for this year, how much is the infrastructure appropriation for the Waigaoqiao Deep-Water Port?"
Chief Wang, with the unlit cigarette in his mouth, vaguely muttered a number.
"38 million RMB." Chen Zhiyuan said it for him.
"That's less than eight million US dollars. What is that money enough for? Building two kilometers of port road, pulling a ten-kilovolt temporary power line, and laying a section of water pipes. You wouldn't even finish the foundation for the pier."
Vice Director Liu fell silent.
"You all saw the equipment list the Japanese laid on the table yesterday." Chen Zhiyuan put the paper away.
"One hundred and twenty heavy industrial mother machines, plus an injection of one hundred million dollars in cash.
A wholly foreign-owned project of this magnitude is the first of its kind in all of China."
He turned around and looked at the gray river surface outside the windshield.
"What do they want? Open land, large areas, independence, not being squeezed in with others.
Those few scraps in Minhang would be full after putting in three stamping machines. Only that mudflat in Waigaoqiao can handle this deal."
"But—"
"I know what you're worried about." Chen Zhiyuan interrupted Vice Director Liu.
"Afraid the wasteland will scare off foreign investment. But think about it, what did the young miss of this Japanese zaibatsu say in the meeting room yesterday?"
He mimicked Satsuki's tone, pinching his throat to say,
"I want endless empty land, clean and clear.'"
The cigarette in Chief Wang's mouth almost fell out.
"She wants desolate." Chen Zhiyuan dropped the joking tone.
"Then we'll give her the most desolate. That plot in Waigaoqiao is 380 mu (25.33 hectares around 35–36 soccer fields) , surrounded by water on three sides, and backed by the planned deep-water port shoreline.
Right now it's reed marshes and fish ponds, but in five years, it will be the freight gateway for all of Pudong."
Chen Zhiyuan held up one finger.
"The key is—the city can't afford the foreign exchange to start the deep-water port infrastructure.
But what if this Japanese zaibatsu, for the sake of their own factory, pays out of their own pocket to build the roads, pull the power, and construct the pier?"
The cabin went quiet for two seconds.
Vice Director Liu slowly leaned back against his seat, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the edge of the map on his lap.
"You mean... let them be the pioneer oxen."
"Not let them," Chen Zhiyuan corrected.
"They want to be. We just need to present the land and settle the terms.
The remaining infrastructure investment will be entirely borne by foreign capital. Once they've built the roads and the pier, the surrounding land prices will naturally rise.
Then the city can approve the adjacent plots, one after another, and the framework for the entire Waigaoqiao port area will be established."
"Without spending a cent of foreign exchange?" Chief Wang took the unlit cigarette out of his mouth and held it between his fingers.
"Not a cent."
Vice Director Liu and Chief Wang looked at each other.
"Fine." Vice Director Liu folded the map on his lap and stuffed it into his briefcase.
"Let's go take a look first. But Old Chen, let me be clear—if the Japanese aren't satisfied when they get there, you must have a backup plan ready. Don't burn your bridges."
"Don't worry." Chen Zhiyuan turned back to face forward.
"I've prepared three sets of backup plans. But I bet they won't need the second set today."
The Santana drove onto the ferry pier leading to Pudong.
...
The motorcade stopped in front of an open space enclosed by wooden stakes.
The door of the lead vehicle opened first. Chen Zhiyuan jumped out, his leather shoes stepping onto the soft mud, the soles immediately sinking in half an inch.
He glanced down, his expression unchanged, and strode around the front of the car to open the rear door.
Vice Director Liu and Chief Wang got out one after another. After Chief Wang got out, he habitually pulled out his lighter, his thumb just touching the flint wheel—when Chen Zhiyuan shot him a look from the front.
Chief Wang's movement froze. He followed Chen Zhiyuan's gaze to the Toyota Crown that was parking behind them, remembered something, and sheepishly stuffed the lighter and the Hongtashan he'd been carrying all the way back into his pocket.
The sliding door of the Coaster minibus opened, and several officials in dark jackets filed out.
The white Customs van also came to a stop, and two uniformed officers stood by the vehicle, holding folders and looking at the surrounding wasteland.
Endo got out of the car first and held the door open for Satsuki.
Satsuki stepped onto the ground in her small black leather shoes. As her heels sank into the soft topsoil, her body leaned forward slightly, but Fujita Tsuyoshi's hand was already steadily supporting her elbow.
"Thank you." Satsuki stood firm, released Fujita's arm, and looked around.
This was an open space surrounded by low bushes and withered yellow reeds.
The terrain was flat and the view was excellent—looking north, one could see a gray concrete dam, with even larger expanses of reed marshes behind it.
To the east, the outlines of several high-voltage transmission towers were faintly visible, but they were very far away, at least three kilometers.
Waigaoqiao, China's first and largest bonded zone...
Satsuki walked a few steps outward.
It won't be long before this place is enclosed by barbed wire, will it? This plot won't do...
She turned to look at the front of the motorcade.
Chen Zhiyuan approached with Vice Director Liu and Chief Wang.
His pace was half a beat faster than when they were in the city, and his tone carried the warmth of a host introducing his own yard.
"Mr. Endo, Young Miss." Chen Zhiyuan pointed toward the dam to the north.
"This plot is numbered 'Pudong Waigaoqiao A-03,' with a total area of 380 mu (25.33 hectares around 35–36 soccer fields) .
The north side is adjacent to the planned deep-water shoreline on the south bank of the Yangtze River estuary, and the east side is the reserved corridor for the port road."
He waved his arm toward the southwest.
"This is only three kilometers in a straight line from the landing point of the planned cross-river bridge.
After the bridge is completed, it will take no more than twenty minutes to drive from here to the center of Puxi."
The translator converted this into Japanese. Endo took a notebook out of his briefcase, flipped to a new page, and began to record.
"380 mu." Endo looked up. "A total of approximately 250,000 square meters. The length of the northern shoreline?"
Chen Zhiyuan looked at Chief Wang beside him. Chief Wang subconsciously touched his jacket pocket—that pack of Hongtashan he'd been holding back all morning was still lying there quietly.
He withdrew his hand and pulled a crumpled little notebook from his inner jacket pocket, flipping through it.
"The shoreline length is 1,100 meters. Among that, the section of hard riverbed suitable for constructing berths is about 400 meters."
Endo recorded the numbers, drawing a line under "400 meters" with the tip of his pen.
Satsuki stood where she was, not participating in the conversation. She raised her Polaroid, pressed the shutter toward the dam to the north, and then turned to take a photo of those distant high-voltage towers to the east.
After taking the photos, she put the camera down and began to walk north along the boundary line marked by the wooden stakes. Fujita Tsuyoshi followed silently two steps behind her.
After walking about fifty meters, Satsuki stopped.
Her nostrils flared slightly. Then, a hand wearing a beige silk glove rose to cover her nose and mouth.
"What is that smell?"
Satsuki's brow furrowed, her voice coming out muffled from behind her glove. She turned her head, her gaze locking onto a ditch about thirty meters to her left front.
That ditch was much wider than the agricultural irrigation canals seen on the road; the water surface was dark green, almost black.
The soil on both banks of the ditch was eroded into jagged cross-sections, with rotting plant roots and grayish-white sediment of unknown origin mixed into the exposed soil layers.
A stench, a mix of humus and industrial wastewater, was carried over from the direction of the ditch by the autumn wind.
Chen Zhiyuan hurried to catch up. He also smelled the odor as he approached, and the smile on his face stiffened for a moment before quickly recovering.
"Young Miss, this is a temporary agricultural drainage ditch." Chen Zhiyuan pointed upstream.
"There are a few duck-farming families upstream, and their wastewater goes directly into the ditch without treatment.
Once development officially starts, these ditches will all be filled in, and a new underground drainage system will be laid—"
"No."
Satsuki lowered her hand from her face and turned to face Chen Zhiyuan.
Her expression showed clear displeasure, her lips slightly pursed.
"There's a smelly ditch here. I don't want this plot of land."
Her tone was crisp and decisive, leaving no room for negotiation.
Having said that, she turned straight around and walked back toward the cars across the muddy ground.
Fujita Tsuyoshi immediately followed, taking a folded handkerchief from his pocket and handing it to Satsuki.
Satsuki took the handkerchief, held it to her nose, and quickened her pace.
Chen Zhiyuan stood in place, watching the young girl's back, his mouth twitching.
Vice Director Liu approached from behind and lowered his voice: "Old Chen, what did I tell you? This kind of young miss—"
"It's fine." Chen Zhiyuan thrust his hands into his pockets and turned to look at the foul-smelling ditch.
"There are still two sets of backup plans. Let's go to the second one."
He walked quickly back to the motorcade and said something to Chief Wang before opening the door of the Santana.
"Notify the lead vehicle to change the route. Go to Plot B-07."
Chief Wang was stunned. "B-07? Isn't that the mudflat closest to the river? There isn't even a dirt road—"
"Just go there." Chen Zhiyuan bent down to get into the car.
"The most desolate one."