r18novel Chapter 14 The Manager's Obsession
Chapter 14 The Manager's Obsession
April 19th, Higashi-Osaka.
The car traveled eastward from Midosuji.
The view outside the window resembled a fading old Showa-era photograph.
The roadside signs were faded, and behind the metal fence were piles of waste bins half a person high. Occasionally, a truck would rumble over the narrow road, and the dust it kicked up would linger in the sunlight for a long time.
In Osaka in 1991, the chill of the bursting bubble had already seeped from the electronic screens of the stock exchange into these most humble town workshops.
Just one glance at the half-open roller shutters on the street, and at the windows with "Closed" signs, is enough to understand what the "end of the Heisei boom" means.
The gates of Fuji Metal Industries soon came into view.
Kenichiro Nomura stood at the door, his hair neatly combed, but the collar of his shirt was a little wrinkled, and his suit looked less presentable and more strained than yesterday.
As soon as he saw the two get out of the car, he quickly walked up to them and said repeatedly:
"Chihaya-kun, Kiryu-kun, welcome, welcome."
Without exchanging pleasantries, Chihaya Yuri's high heels tapped crisply on the factory's concrete floor.
"Let's look at the production line first, then the warehouse. Is that alright?"
Nomura's smile froze for half a second before quickly returning to normal.
"Of course, of course."
The factory was filled with the roar of machines, the smell of cutting oil mixed with metal dust, and an indescribable burnt smell, as if some equipment had overheated but had not been stopped for maintenance.
CNC lathes, grinding machines, and stamping machines are lined up in rows. Workers wearing blue overalls are staring down at gauges and drawings. Their movements are skilled, but they can't hide their fatigue.
A young worker was loading material onto the stamping machine, but his wrist was clearly not strong enough, and he almost let the steel plate slip. An older worker saw this, reached out to help him, and didn't say anything.
Kiryu Yaya glanced at it and already knew what was going on.
It's not that the factory is completely without work, but there's a lot of work and very little pay, which is why the workers look exhausted.
The factory still has orders, but profits are being squeezed little by little.
If production was expanded blindly in the previous two years, and then the bubble burst, a cash flow crisis would be almost inevitable.
Chihaya Yuri stopped in front of a CNC lathe, her gaze sweeping from the control panel to the pile of chips on the floor, and asked casually:
What is the monthly output?
"If things go smoothly, we can make 2,500 pieces a month."
What about inventory turnover?
"This... will take about forty days."
Forty days isn't a good time in the precision machining industry, but it's not too bad either.
Chihaya Yuri didn't reply, but simply nodded, then suddenly turned around.
"Go check the warehouse."
Kenichiro Nomura paused noticeably.
"Warehouse? Of course, no problem."
But that moment of hesitation was noticed by Chihaya Yuri and Kiryu Yaya.
As soon as the warehouse door opened, a damp, rusty smell wafted out.
Bundles of steel were piled on the shelves, with labels neatly affixed, and at first glance, there seemed to be no problem.
Kiryu Yaya only glanced at it twice before his brows furrowed slightly.
wrong.
The books list "special steel bars," "high-tensile steel plates," and "raw materials that can be put into production immediately," but what I see in front of me...
Some of the steel was of significantly lower quality, while others had damp and soft outer packaging, and some bundles of steel even had red rust on their edges.
In the steel market of 1991, the "present value" of raw materials was not calculated based on the purchase price on the invoice, but rather on their actual disposable value.
Ordinary carbon steel is already discounted by 70%, and if special-specification alloy steel is not sold, the price reduction is even more severe; once it rusts, deforms, or is mixed with other batches, the liquidation price is almost only the value of scrap.
more critical.
He saw several places with labels that read "materials supplied by customer".
Customer-supplied materials: materials provided by the customer.
This material is not a factory asset, cannot be included in inventory, and cannot be used as valid collateral in loan reviews.
Kiryu Yaya's eyes turned cold.
"President Nomura."
He picked up a label next to a bundle of materials, frowned, and asked:
"These materials are slightly different from the list of materials you provided in your application, aren't they?"
Kenichiro Nomura's face turned pale instantly.
Chihaya Yuri walked over, glanced at the labels, then looked deeper into the shelf, her voice icy:
"The books show 70 million yen worth of raw materials, but in this warehouse, the actual value is less than half of that."
She paused.
"Furthermore, there are customer-supplied materials. These cannot be considered your company's assets."
Nomura's Adam's apple bobbed violently, his lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a single word.
His fingers curled up at the seam of his trousers, clenching, loosening, and clenching again, as if searching for something to grasp, but he grasped nothing.
He finally understood.
These two people aren't here to go through the motions.
The air was eerily quiet.
Deep inside the warehouse, the fans hummed, making the labels rustle slightly.
The next second, Kenichiro Nomura's knees buckled, and he collapsed to his knees. His knees hit the concrete floor with a dull thud.
"I'm sorry... Section Chief Chihaya, I'm so sorry!"
His voice suddenly went hoarse, as if it had been ripped off by something.
"Business collapsed after last year. Two years ago, I was thinking of expanding another production line and taking on more orders from Nissan. I gritted my teeth and borrowed money from consumer finance companies. But when the bubble burst, I bought equipment, expanded the warehouse, and hired more workers. In the end, everything was stuck on the cash flow problem..."
He kept his head down, his forehead almost touching the ground, his voice trembling, and his shoulders shaking.
"I'm not trying to cheat the bank, I just... I really can't let the company go under. There are dozens of employees left, their families depend on this for a living. If I tell the truth, Fuji Metals would have to close down today."
Chihaya Yuri looked down at him, her expression unwavering.
In her six years teaching the financing review course, she had seen far too many people kneel before her. But when faced with the review's conclusions, sympathy could not replace judgment.
"President Nomura."
She spoke slowly and deliberately:
"You're concealing your liabilities, overstating your inventory, using customer-supplied materials that don't belong to the company as assets, and hiding your debts. You're pushing the risk onto the banks; that's incredibly irresponsible!"
"Our loan from Mitsubishi Bank is hereby terminated!"
After Chihaya Yuri's voice fell in the warehouse, the air seemed to freeze.
Kenichiro Nomura knelt on the ground, his shoulders trembling slightly, his forehead almost touching the rust on the cement floor.
He offered no defense, nor could he utter any words of defense.
He probably mentally revisited and re-examined every single "if" scenario.
If the bubble had lasted another year, if the banks hadn't discovered his hidden debts, if that batch of special steel hadn't rusted in the warehouse...
Will the ending be different?
However, success in business cannot be achieved solely through luck.
Kiryu Yaya shook his head, preparing to leave, when suddenly an option popped up in front of him:
[New life options have been triggered]
Kenichiro Nomura knelt before you and Section Chief Chihaya, his forehead pressed against the cold concrete floor.
He was once a respected company president in the industrial district of Higashi-Osaka, but now he's a disgraced individual who failed in his attempt to defraud a bank of a loan.
His deception is a fact, and so is his despair. At this moment, looking at the back of this fifty-two-year-old man kneeling on the ground, you have three choices.
The options are as follows:
[Fork in the road: Silently turn and leave. The investigation is over, the conclusion has been reached. You have no obligation to say another word.]
(Reward: Bank deposit increases by 1 million yen, nothing happens.)
[Fork in the road 2: She stopped and said coldly, "President Nomura, you have betrayed the bank's trust, and you have betrayed the trust of your employees. A president who ties the fate of his employees to lies has no right to say he is acting for their sake."]
(Reward: Bank reputation +10, Chihaya Yuri's favorability increased)
[Branch 3: Kneel down in front of him and tell him the principle that "trying to fill the hole with lies will only make the fall harder," encouraging him to regain his courage and make a comeback.]
(Reward: Skill "The Manager's Obsession", which allows you to perceive the true thoughts in the manager's mind; Kenichiro Nomura's loyalty and gratitude.)