noveltune Chapter 25 Tyrannosaurus Rex
Chapter 25 Tyrannosaurus Rex
Spring came a little late in 1986.
In the middle of March, late at night in Tokyo, a cold drizzle still fell outside the window. The rain, carried by the wind, pattered against the glass windows of the "Saionji Industrial" office, making a soft, dense sound.
The office was filled with the strong aroma of coffee and the faint scent of Cuban cigars.
This is a habit that Shuichi Saionji has recently developed. Whenever he deals with real estate documents that often involve hundreds of millions of yen late at night, he always needs a little nicotine to calm his nerves.
He sat behind a large mahogany desk, gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, his pen hovering for a long time over the interior design budget for the "Akasaka Pink Building".
"A genuine leather sofa imported from Italy costs 800,000 yen..."
Xiu Yi muttered to himself, his brows furrowed.
Although the Saionji family is not short of money now, this offer, which he considers almost robbery, still made the traditionally educated head of the family feel the pinch.
"Father, those seats are for noble ladies waiting for their beauty treatments."
Satsuki's voice came from the sofa at the other end of the room.
"If they're not comfortable sitting in the same position, why would they be willing to spend 10,000 yen on a manicure?"
Satsuki sat cross-legged on the sofa, a copy of the Wall Street Journal, written entirely in English, open on her lap. Today, she wore a loose gray sweatshirt, her long hair casually tied back with a pencil, looking like a college student burning the midnight oil to finish a paper, completely lacking her usual refined air as a wealthy heiress.
In front of her was a black landline telephone, the receiver of which had been removed and placed on the coffee table, emitting a faint static sound.
That's a transoceanic route that connects Zurich and New York.
Shuichi shook his head helplessly and signed the budget sheet.
"Alright. Since you set the rules, then we'll do as you say."
He put down his pen and glanced at the clock on the wall.
Tokyo time, 23:25 PM.
That is, 9:25 a.m. New York time.
There are five minutes left before the Nasdaq Stock Exchange opens.
"Is it Frank again tonight?" Shuichi stood up, stretched his stiff neck, and sat down on the sofa opposite Satsuki.
"Hmm." Satsuki stared at the watch on her wrist, the second hand ticking away. "Besides him, I don't trust anyone else to handle such a large sum of money."
"Twenty million US dollars."
When Xiu Yi read out the number, his tone was somewhat complicated.
At the current exchange rate, this is equivalent to nearly four billion yen. If that money were in Tokyo, it would be enough to buy two decent small office buildings, or open ten top-notch restaurants in Ginza.
Now, his daughter wants to exchange all of this huge sum of money for stock in an American company he's never even heard of.
A company with no factory, no land, no machinery, just a group of young people in jeans and glasses tinkering in a garage.
"Microsoft..."
Shuichi picked up the prospectus, which was entirely in English, from the coffee table. The cover featured the company's logo and a photo of the founder, who had a baby face and wore large-framed glasses.
Bill Gates.
He looked just like those bookworms that Shuichi had seen at the University of Tokyo who were obsessed with reading.
"Satsuki," Shuichi pointed at the person in the photo, "are you sure you want to bet four billion yen on this child?"
"He's not a child, Father."
Satsuki didn't look up; her gaze remained fixed on the telephone.
"He is a Tyrannosaurus Rex in sheep's clothing."
"As for what we're going to buy..." A playful smile played on her lips, "it will become our ticket to a new world."
Just then, a cacophony of voices and ringing came from the telephone receiver.
That was the background noise unique to the New York trading floor.
"Miss Saionji? Are you there?"
Frank's voice came through the receiver, sounding somewhat anxious and excited.
Satsuki picked up the receiver and pressed the speakerphone button.
"I'm here, Frank."
Her English was fluent, without a single accent, and she was as calm as a seasoned trader sitting in a Wall Street office.
"Listen, Ms. Saionji," Frank seemed to be making a final attempt at persuasion, "the atmosphere in the room is very strange right now. Although this stock was priced at $21 in its IPO, many institutions are waiting and seeing. After all, it's just a software company, and their balance sheet is too 'light,' with almost no fixed assets to back it up. If you change your mind now, we can buy IBM or General Electric, which are much more prudent choices..."
In this day and age, traditional bankers still have a strong belief in tangible assets. As for the value of intangible things like "software," even the old guard on Wall Street has no idea.
Satsuki interrupted him.
"Frank, I'm not here to listen to your investment analysis."
Her voice wasn't loud, but the chill in her tone made the noise on the other end of the phone seem weaker.
"Is the account I asked you to prepare ready?"
"All set... ten separate offshore accounts, to avoid attracting regulatory attention."
"very good."
Satsuki glanced at her watch.
9 points.
"The market has opened."
She took a deep breath and gave the instructions into the microphone.
"Buy. All in."
"No matter the opening price, as long as someone is selling, you have to buy it. I want to convert all twenty million dollars into Microsoft stock before the market closes today."
"But... what if the price skyrockets at the opening?"
"Then let's chase the rise."
Satsuki answered decisively.
"Frank, remember what I said. Even if you spend $25 or $30 to buy it today, ten years from now you'll find that it's practically free."
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone, followed by Frank yelling at the trader to place an order.
"Buy Microsoft! Market order! Go! Go! Go!"
Shuichi sat beside him, listening to the frantic shouts coming from that foreign land, and felt somewhat dazed.
He looked at the cup of steaming black tea on the coffee table.
As this cup of tea slowly cools, four billion yen in wealth is turning into a pile of data floating on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.
There was no land deed. No key. There was no substantial, weighty feeling of it all.
Is this how things are done in the new era?
"Does Father feel uneasy?"
Satsuki hung up the phone, picked up her black tea again, and seemed to have seen through her father's thoughts.
"A bit, actually." Shuichi gave a wry smile, picked up a cigar, and sniffed it. "When I bought land before, at least I could step on the soil and smell the earth. Buying this... feels like buying air."
"Air is also very precious; if you would die without it."
Satsuki stood up and walked to the French windows.
The rain was still falling outside the window, and the lights in Marunouchi appeared somewhat hazy in the rain and mist.
"Father, do you know what an 'operating system' is?"
Shuichi shook his head: "I don't quite understand. Is it some kind of... machine part?"
"That's one way to understand it."
Satsuki stretched out her finger and drew a long horizontal line on the condensed glass window.
"Imagine if all the computers in the world in the future were like trains."
She drew several squares on the horizontal line.
"So, Microsoft isn't building a train, nor is it building the cargo on it."
"They built 'railways'."
Satsuki turned around, leaning against the cold glass, and looked at her father.
"From now on, whether you're IBM making computers, a writer using computers to write articles, or an accountant using computers to do the math, if you want this train to run, you have to run on the tracks laid by Microsoft."
"For every computer sold, we have to pay them a toll."
"Moreover, this is a railway track used worldwide. There are no borders, no tariffs, and with just a floppy disk, this hegemony can be replicated to every corner of the earth."
Shuichi's fingers, which were holding the cigar, trembled slightly.
rail.
Toll fees.
He understood those two words.
In the old-fashioned business logic, this was the most profitable and stable business. For example, controlling the Suez Canal or owning the only main railway line.
But he never expected that this logic could be applied to that new thing called "computer".
"Monopoly?" Shuichi asked tentatively.
"Yes, a monopoly."
Satsuki nodded.
"And it's a legal, technical, and irresistible monopoly."
"What we're buying now isn't the stock of a small company. We're buying the 'taxation power' of the future digital world."
Shuichi took a deep breath.
He finally understood why his daughter was so certain.
If that young man named Bill Gates can really do this, then those twenty million dollars are indeed a bargain.
"Looks like I should learn how to use a computer."
Shuichi chuckled self-deprecatingly, struck a match, and lit his cigar.
Blue smoke rose into the office, mingling with the rain and mist outside the window.
……
Half an hour later.
The phone rang again.
"Miss Saionji!"
Frank's voice sounded like he had just finished a marathon, panting but with an undisguised excitement.
"This is insane! Absolutely insane!"
"The opening price jumped straight to $21! And then it skyrocketed! The buying pressure was incredible! We had a really tough time getting our hands on some shares!"
"What's the price now?" Satsuki asked calmly.
"$26! And it's still going up!" Frank yelled. "My God, in just half an hour, we've made a 20% profit! That's faster than robbing a bank!"
Shuichi's hand trembled, and a long wisp of cigarette ash fell onto his pants.
Half an hour. 20%.
That is... 800 million yen?
He bought that building in Ginza, drank and smiled with those bureaucrats, and went to great lengths to renovate it, but the expected profit was only this much.
And now, all he did was sit on the sofa, make a phone call, and drink a cup of tea...
A strong sense of unreality overwhelmed his mind.
Is this the power of finance?
Is this the "new world" my daughter was talking about?
"Continue to hold."
Satsuki's voice remained calm and composed, as if the eight hundred million yen were nothing more than dust on the ground.
"Don't sell. Don't sell a single share."
"But..." Frank seemed to suggest that it's best to secure the money.
"Frank".
Satsuki interrupted him, her tone softening but still carrying an undeniable air of authority.
"Listen, Frank. I want you to lock all these stocks in a safe. They're the Saionji family's 'family heirloom,' you understand?"
"Even if it drops to zero tomorrow, you must not sell. Unless I'm dead."
"...Understood." Although Frank didn't understand, the customer is God, especially a God like this who could earn him huge commissions.
hang up the phone.
The office fell silent again.
Only the sound of rain outside the window continued its monotonous murmur.
Shuichi looked at his daughter.
At this moment, Satsuki was lying on the sofa, picking up the Wall Street Journal again, seemingly unconcerned about the wealth myth that had just occurred.
She looked so small and so fragile.
But in Xiu Yi's eyes, her back view became incredibly tall, even somewhat... unfamiliar.
"Satsuki".
Shuichi stubbed out his cigar, his voice a little hoarse.
"What's wrong, Father?" Satsuki looked up, her eyes clear.
"It's nothing."
Xiu Yi shook his head, stood up, walked to his daughter's side, and gently patted her head.
"I just feel... Dad seems to have really gotten old."
He always thought he was fighting for the revival of his family business, buying buildings in Ginza, laying off employees in Nagoya, and maneuvering in the House of Nobles. He believed these were the real foundations of his family's wealth.
But tonight, he realized that the bricks and tiles he had painstakingly built were perhaps just the tip of the iceberg in the grand blueprint his daughter had constructed.
She is building a ship.
A ship named "Noah's Ark".
When the bubble bursts and the floodwaters rise, those lands and factories may sink, but these unseen data and shares will carry the Saionji family into the next century.
"Father is not old at all."
Satsuki put down her newspaper, reached out, hugged Shuichi's waist, and buried her face in her father's warm cashmere sweater.
"You're the captain."
She spoke softly, her voice gentle and sweet.
"I am the navigator in charge of reading the nautical charts. But the one who steers the ship is always my father."
Xiu was stunned for a moment, then felt his eyes getting hot.
He hugged his daughter tightly.
Yes.
Whether she is a genius or a prodigy, she is still my daughter.
This is enough.
"Okay, it's late."
Shuichi patted his daughter on the back.
"Let's go home. Fujita has probably reheated the midnight snack for the third time already."
"Um."
Satsuki nodded obediently, jumped off the sofa, and put on her shoes.
The father and daughter walked out of the office.
The lights in the corridor turned on automatically, casting long shadows of the two people.
Xiu closed the heavy mahogany office door.
Behind the door, the black telephone lay quietly on the coffee table.
It has just connected two worlds.
The old world sleeps in the rainy night, the new world awakens on the radio waves.
Meanwhile, the Saionji family had already obtained the most expensive ticket.
A slight feeling of weightlessness came from the elevator descending.
Shuichi looked at his reflection and that of his daughter on the elevator wall.
He suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right, Satsuki."
"Um?"
"You just said Bill Gates is... a Tyrannosaurus Rex?"
"Yes." Satsuki smiled, revealing two sharp little fangs. "And it was a very, very hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex."
"Then what are we?" Shuichi asked curiously.
Satsuki thought for a moment.
"We were riding on the back of a Tyrannosaurus Rex..."
She tilted her head.
"Dragon Tamer"