"Miss Saionji!"
Tsuchiya raised his voice slightly.
Satsuki heard someone calling her, and her steps slowed down slightly.
She turned her head.
First she saw Tsuchiya.
Then she saw the line of middle-aged men behind him who were obviously struggling to keep up.
Satsuki's eyebrows lifted gently.
As soon as she got out of the car, she noticed a group of sweaty men in suits standing beside the school gate.
Just moments ago, she had been wondering which company had run over to Gakushuin on business.
Now it seemed they had come for her.
Chizuru had already recognized Tsuchiya.
She took half a step forward, keeping her voice very low.
"President Tsuchiya of Sanyo Securities."
"Oh?"
Satsuki gave him another glance.
That was all.
She quickly turned back and continued walking toward the school gate.
Seeing that she did not stop, Tsuchiya actually calmed down instantly inside.
At least she had heard.
"Miss Saionji, I am Yoichi Tsuchiya of Sanyo Securities."
He had already walked close to Satsuki, but maintained a distance that allowed her to hear clearly, speaking as he followed Satsuki toward the main gate.
"This morning, I applied for several meetings with the Saionji side, but did not get a time slot, so I presumptuously came to the school."
Satsuki still did not turn her head.
"Since we did not make an appointment, that means I have not scheduled any time to meet with Mr. Tsuchiya today."
She continued walking forward, not even giving Tsuchiya a side-glance.
Tsuchiya had long expected to get such a reply.
He followed beside her, actively maintaining a distance of half a step away from Satsuki, his tone still polite.
"Yes, I understand. Coming to the school without an appointment today was indeed my discourtesy."
"However, I still want to ask Miss Saionji to allow me to occupy this tiny bit of time walking from here to the school gate."
"I will only speak of the most important matters, and will not delay you for too long."
Satsuki neither agreed nor made him leave, simply continuing to walk forward.
This instead made Tsuchiya secretly delighted; not driving him away on the spot was the best possible outcome.
He quickly organized his words, his tone hurried but his articulation extremely clear.
"A few months ago, your people had contacted Sanyo. At that time, they detailedly inquired about our securities business license, exchange qualifications, corporate business, clearing and settlement, and trading systems, but did not spend too much time on branch networks and retail clients."
"It was only yesterday that I figured out what Saionji was truly looking for back then was probably never an investment-worthy securities company."
Hearing this, Satsuki still did not speak, only continuing to walk toward the school gate.
Tsuchiya did not wait for her response either.
The school gate ahead was getting closer and closer, and the time left for him was not much; following his previous judgment, he continued to speak:
"I believe what you truly need is an immediately usable securities gateway."
"After the incidents at Nomura and Nikko, corporate clients will definitely re-examine their existing securities relationships, and sales personnel and other professionals will also start considering their own destinations."
"If your side was originally prepared to enter the securities industry, now is precisely the most suitable time to take action."
"Capital, corporate relationships, and overseas investment capabilities are not lacking for Saionji; what truly needs time to build instead are the securities business license, exchange qualifications, and a complete set of trading and settlement systems that can operate immediately."
Hearing this, Satsuki finally gave Tsuchiya a response:
"There should be quite a few people who can think of this."
"Yes, that is why I had to come see you in person today."
Tsuchiya admitted this very naturally.
"What truly makes me anxious is not whether Saionji will enter the securities industry."
"Given your current conditions, even without Sanyo, you would certainly find another suitable securities company."
"But once Saionji buys someone else first, the things Sanyo can provide right now will not be that valuable to you anymore."
Satsuki's steps slowed down a fraction.
Tsuchiya keenly perceived this change and knew he had finally touched upon something truly worth her listening to.
"Therefore, I am not here today to request Saionji to provide financing to Sanyo, nor do I hope that you will help us tide over this current period as a minority shareholder."
He paused here, and after waiting for Satsuki to look over toward him, he directly laid out the conditions he had prepared all day.
"If Miss Saionji is willing to talk, Sanyo can hand over all operational control to your side."
"The existing securities business license, Tokyo Stock Exchange qualifications, trading and settlement systems can all be completely preserved, and the management layer also accepts rearrangement by Saionji."
Meeting Satsuki's gaze, Tsuchiya finally added:
"Including myself. If your side thinks I am still useful, I am also willing to stay."
Satsuki finally stopped her steps.
Tsuchiya immediately stopped in front of her, and the executive director, financial head, and lawyer who had been following behind carrying documents all hurriedly reined in their steps.
Satsuki turned around.
This time, Satsuki finally stopped and turned around to truly look at Tsuchiya.
"Even operational control is willing to be handed over?"
"Yes."
Tsuchiya stood before her, sweat already slowly sliding down his temples, but he did not raise his hand to wipe it.
"If Saionji is willing to take over Sanyo, I can accept your side acquiring absolute control."
"The company's securities business license, TSE qualifications, trading and settlement systems, including the existing corporate business departments, can all be completely preserved."
"As for the current management layer, whoever Saionji thinks should stay or be replaced can be discussed."
He paused slightly here and added:
"The same goes for me."
Satsuki did not reply immediately.
Tsuchiya knew that since she had already stopped, he had at least finally won the opportunity to finish saying these last words.
"I worked at Nomura for over a decade before returning to Sanyo later."
"Over the past few years, Sanyo has spent a lot of money on trading systems and securities informationization. Even now, I do not think this direction was wrong, it is just becoming increasingly clear that moving forward with Sanyo's own capital scale, in the end we would probably only be able to cut costs on one side and figure out ways to maintain our current position on the other."
Looking at Satsuki, his tone was not deliberately accelerated, but it was noticeably more direct than before.
"But if it were changed to Saionji, the situation would be different."
"Sanyo already has ready-made licenses, personnel, and trading systems, and your side already has capital, corporate relationships, and overseas investment capabilities; what each side lacks can precisely make up for the other."
Tsuchiya did not seize the opportunity to cover up anything for his company.
"It is not that there are no problems inside Sanyo that need handling."
"Affiliated companies, proprietary positions, and those special clients from the past—Saionji can send people to investigate all of them."
"If there is any problem with the accounts, flip the books open; if there is a problem with the people, replace them."
"Since I am here today to talk about control, I will not ask Saionji to fork out money on one hand while also demanding that your side operate Sanyo in the original way."
Satsuki listened all along without interrupting.
At this time, the two of them were only a dozen meters away from the school gate, and the passing students around them gradually began to slow their steps.
Several securities company executives in suits stood to the side, watching their own president discuss the control of an entire company with an eighteen-year-old female university student at the school gate; no matter how one looked at it, this scene appeared somewhat strange.
Tsuchiya, however, could no longer care about these.
"I only hope that before Saionji determines other acquisition targets, she gives Sanyo a chance to sit at the negotiating table first."
Satsuki looked at him for a few seconds and suddenly asked.
"Mr. Tsuchiya, right?"
Tsuchiya was slightly startled.
When chasing all the way over just now, he had already stated his name once, but he still immediately answered again:
"Yes. Sanyo Securities, Yoichi Tsuchiya."
"Yoichi Tsuchiya..."
Satsuki gently murmured this name.
Sanyo Securities, she remembered this company.
In the original history, this company later suffered consecutive years of losses, and the bad debts of its affiliated non-bank financial companies also became increasingly serious, eventually heading toward bankruptcy in the latter half of the nineties and becoming a quite representative company in that round of Japanese financial turmoil.
As for the Yoichi Tsuchiya before her, she likewise still had some impressions of him.
Hailing from Nomura Securities, he started attaching importance to securities companies' computerization and trading systems very early on, and once invested a sum of money that seemed quite radical at the time to build new trading facilities.
At least from this point of view, this person was not a securities company president who only knew how to guard old business networks and live off past accomplishments.
If one only looked at Sanyo's later ending, it was very easy to lump the entire management layer into losers.
But directional judgment and whether one successfully operated the company in the end were two different matters altogether.
A large part of Sanyo's true problems later came precisely from carrying too heavy a burden during the bubble period and the deterioration of affiliated financial assets.
If the person before her could voluntarily admit in June 1991 that the independent route would not go far, and was even willing to hand over control when Sanyo was most valuable...
He was much more interesting than the Tsuchiya in her memory.
Or rather.
Because of her own intervention, he saw some things earlier than in the original history.
Once again, it was her own perturbation on history.
Satsuki re-examined Tsuchiya.
The suit on his body had been steamed somewhat wrinkled by the summer heat, and a thin layer of sweat had accumulated on his temples, making him look quite disheveled.
The few people following behind him were no better off either.
Especially the lawyer holding the document bag; his collar had long been wet in a ring, yet until now he had not taken off his coat.
"How long has Mr. Tsuchiya been waiting here?"
"About an hour."
"What about the car?"
"It is parked nearby," Tsuchiya replied. "It is inconvenient to stay long at the school gate, and moreover, we have already looked for you in several places today, and it was with great difficulty that we confirmed you were at Gakushuin."
"I was worried that after returning to the car I would happen to miss you, so I stayed behind."
Satsuki could not help smiling slightly.
This reason fit quite well with the personality displayed by the person before her today.
"Mr. Tsuchiya."
"Yes."
"I have understood what you said, but I have other arrangements right now."
The expression on Tsuchiya's face paused slightly, but he did not rush to fight for himself any further, simply waiting for her to continue speaking.
Satsuki raised her hand to glance at the time.
"I have an appointment with a professor from the Faculty of Economics to go over and talk about something this afternoon. The time has already been set, and we certainly cannot let the professor wait there just because Mr. Tsuchiya temporarily found the school."
Tsuchiya nodded.
This was completely within his expectations.
Satsuki Saionji had her own arrangements today to begin with; being willing to stop outside the school gate and listen to him talk up to this point was already equivalent to giving him a chance far exceeding expectations.
As for Sanyo Securities' operational control and the subsequent acquisition conditions, they were not matters that could truly be finished discussing in just a few minutes standing at the school gate anyway.
"Of course, it is because we came too suddenly today."
Tsuchiya bowed slightly.
"To be able to have you listen through all this, I am already extremely grateful."
Satsuki glanced at him, seemingly quite satisfied with this reply.
She turned around and walked toward the school gate again, and Tsuchiya also thought today's meeting could only stop here for the time being, and was just about to ask through where they should submit materials afterwards, but Satsuki ahead stopped again after walking a few steps.
"However, since everyone has waited for so long..."
She turned her head and glanced at the few people still standing in place.
"I also hold a nominal position in a club; the club room of the Economics Research Department should still be able to seat everyone."
Tsuchiya instantly understood her meaning.
Satsuki continued:
"If Mr. Tsuchiya does not mind the university club's place being too small, go in and wait for me with the others first. After I finish handling matters over there, we will talk about Sanyo again."
"Of course not."
Tsuchiya agreed without much consideration, and only then realized his reply seemed somewhat hurried, so he added with a smile:
"As long as you are willing to give us a chance to talk, anywhere is the same."
A bit more smile also appeared at the corners of Satsuki's lips, and without saying anything more, she turned and walked toward the school gate.
Tsuchiya immediately signaled the people behind him to follow.
The executive director and the financial head looked at each other, and the lawyer who had been running around to several places holding materials all morning finally breathed a sigh of relief, securely holding the document bag again as the group followed Satsuki inside the school.
Arriving at the gate, the gatekeeper who had stopped them earlier immediately recognized this group of people.
He was originally prepared to explain the rules again according to earlier, but quickly noticed Satsuki walking at the very front, and his expression changed accordingly.
"Saionji-san."
Satsuki paused for a moment and signaled toward Tsuchiya and the others behind her.
"These gentlemen are here to see me, let them in."
The gatekeeper looked over following her line of sight.
Although he was somewhat curious about what identities these people truly had, he did not continue asking, only nodding and stepping aside.
"Alright, please come in."
Tsuchiya bowed slightly to the gatekeeper once more before leading the people across the school gate.
Until truly stepping inside Gakushuin did the breath he had been holding taut slowly relax.
Whether Saionji would ultimately buy Sanyo, and what the true conditions would be, still had no answers.
But at least, he had made Satsuki willing to sit down and talk.
From the moment last night when he decided to hand over Sanyo until this moment, Tsuchiya finally took the true first step in the matter of "selling his own company."