Chapter 479: The Onoue Witch
Actually, Ota came to Osaka just for business this time. After several years of development, the current Mud Stick Co., Ltd. is no longer what it used to be.
Apart from various small department stores and second-hand stores, the company also owns the Clay Cat, which focuses on pink movies and is quite famous in the film industry at this time.
With the launch of various strange series one after another, Clay Cat has become a big company in the AV world.
There are countless female actors of all kinds of looks in the company. Don’t you see that Ota is getting thinner and thinner because of her busy work?
However, the most profitable business of Nibang Co., Ltd. is not the second-hand store or Nibang cats.
The one that really brought huge wealth to Ota and others was Fuji Credit. Don't get me wrong, it has nothing to do with the Fuji Group.
Japanese people have a special affection for the word "Fuji". When it is mentioned, the first thing that comes to people's mind is Mount Fuji.
The latter is almost like a belief in the hearts of Japanese people. It has too many meanings, such as hometown, holy mountain, auspiciousness, etc.
Therefore, in order to make the name of their company widely known, many companies will add the word "Fuji" in front of their names.
For example, Fuji Film, Fuji Glass, Fuji TV, Fujitsu and Fuji Group.
Although the names sound similar, there is actually no necessary connection between them.
The same principle applies to Fuji Credit, which is under Nibon Co., Ltd. It is purely for the sake of good luck.
Just from the name you can tell what Fuji Credit does, that’s right, it provides loans to the public.
With the prevalence of the bubble economy, people's desire to consume has become stronger.
In addition to major banks and financial institutions lending, private capital companies are also doing the same work.
However, unlike large loans from banks, private finance mostly provides small consumer loans.
After all, if you don’t have trillions of yen in capital to afford real estate, you simply can’t make ends meet.
Although real estate is very attractive, microcredit also has its own place to survive.
According to the latest statistics, about 40% of Neon’s GDP is supported by national consumption.
Strong consumer desire has also led to a prosperous credit market.
As a result, various credit companies took advantage of the prosperity of the bubble and sprang up in every corner of Neon like mushrooms after rain.
Among these are many small companies, which were originally various loan sharking organizations run secretly by the Yakuza.
The Fuji Credit of Ota and his colleagues also has this meaning.
Of course, because of its strong background, at least Fuji Credit now looks like the real deal.
With abundant funds and fast loan approval, Fuji Credit has basically established a foothold in the Kanto region after two years of development.
As for why Fuji Credit has extremely rich reserves, a certain Kitatoshi Bank just smiled and said nothing.
Since the consumer loan business is so profitable, why doesn’t Beidu Bank do it itself?
Because Beidu Bank only plays with big ones, not small ones.
Moreover, since the promulgation of Neon's "Capital Contribution Law" in 1984, the law has imposed strict restrictions on loan interest rates, and the maximum annual interest rate shall not exceed 73%.
However, Fuji Credit is a private institution with weak supervision, coupled with the advancement of financial liberalization.
The annual interest rate of the usury lent by Ota and his gang starts at 365% and can be as high as 1825%.
Neon’s “dark gold” interest rates are generally divided into three levels.
10% interest for 10 days, the annualized interest rate is 365%; 30% interest for 10 days, the annualized interest rate is 1095%; 50% interest for 10 days, the annualized interest rate is 1825%.
"Dark gold" actually means usury, and most of the loan periods are 10 days.
The amount that Ota and his colleagues loaned was generally not large, mostly 10,000 to 50,000 yen.
Fuji Credit offers different interest rates depending on the customer's loan amount and urgency. This type of business offers small loan amounts, quick repayments and high interest rates.
So in just a few years it has amassed nearly 20 billion yen for Fuji Credit, and of course Kitato Bank will eventually get some of these profits.
So is such a highly profitable loan sharking business illegal?
It is not illegal, but loan sharking is a gray industry in Neon.
The government's attitude towards it is neither to protect it nor to explicitly prohibit it.
This ambiguous approach is most likely to give rise to gray and profiteering industries.
So, under the trend of the times, Fuji Credit came into being.
Now Kanto can no longer meet the pace of Fuji Credit's expansion. As the birthplace of the rise of non-bank consumer credit business, Osaka has become the next target of Ota's expansion.
Recently, Ohta has been inspecting here. He has already designated three or four areas as locations for Fuji Credit's branches in Kansai.
However, today, one of his subordinates strongly recommended him to go to the "Huichuang" izakaya to pay homage to the so-called Onoue witch.
After so many years of struggling in Tokyo, Ota no longer believes in the so-called gods, ghosts, demons, and Buddhas.
Instead of kneeling in the shrine and praying weakly, it is better to pick up sticks and swords to fight for a future.
But everyone under his command praised this witch Onoue as being so magical that Ota couldn't help but feel curious.
So without much thought, he took a group of people and went straight to the izakaya.
Whether it's true or not, it's okay to have a drink and have some fun.
However, before they could enter the store, two security guards stood in front of them.
"Hey, you guy, why are you blocking the way?" One of Ota's subordinates immediately jumped out when he saw this.
The two security guards replied ruthlessly, "We don't accept Yakuza. Please find another place."
"Asshole, who are you saying is the Yakuza?!" The minions hate it most when others call them the Yakuza. I am an official employee of an official company, do you know that?
However, before his men could get angry, Ota stopped them with a wave of his hand.
"I'm sorry, it was an employee of our company who was rude just now. I'm Kazuyoshi Ota, the president of Fuji Credit.
I have heard that Onoue-san can communicate with the gods, so I came to visit him today to ask for answers. I hope you will forgive me."
Ota politely handed over his business card, along with two rather thick envelopes.
The two security guards were a little hesitant when they saw Ota's extraordinary demeanor. But after they touched the envelope, their faces seemed to be brushed by a spring breeze and their faces gradually softened.
“It’s President Ohta. Onoue-san’s ceremony has not started yet. A waiter will take you there later.
However, the space in the store is limited, so you can only bring two assistants in."
As soon as the security guard finished speaking, the younger brothers couldn't help but want to lose their temper again, but Ota shut them up with just a look.
Accompanying his trusted aides, Ota followed the waiter and slowly walked into the famous "Huichuang" izakaya.
Entering the pub, the atmosphere suddenly became much quieter. Led by the waiter, Ota and his party soon arrived at a spacious hall.
There were guests kneeling densely in a circle below, and at the top was an old lady over fifty years old, wearing a kimono and with her hair tied in a bun, meditating quietly.
There was nothing around her except a colorful three-legged golden toad statue.
Although the atmosphere in the hall was quiet , everyone present, without exception, looked at the mother-in-law sitting at the top with burning eyes.
She should be the witch Onoue. In order not to stand out from the crowd, Ota and his two assistants found a place to sit down.
After waiting for another two minutes, the witch Onoue suddenly touched the golden toad and began to chant something.
Because the sound was not loud, Ota tried hard to distinguish it for a while but couldn't make out what it was, but it should be someone reciting scriptures.
However, unlike Ota's curiosity, the other people kneeling here, when they heard the witch Onoue start chanting, the fanaticism in their eyes even gave Ota beside them a chill.
Is this really a good place to ask about the secrets of getting rich? Are you sure it's not some religious ritual?
"Boss..." The two assistants beside Oota also felt something was wrong. They couldn't help but look at Oota with some guilt.
However, before their boss could respond, the other customers kneeling in the circle had already glared at the three of them.
The ferocious look seemed as if they were ready to take revenge on them because they had disturbed the gods.
The two assistants were so frightened that they kept silent, and forced themselves to keep their unfinished words to themselves.
Ota shook his head at them, signaling them not to say anything more.
Just like that, the sound of the witch's chanting at the end once again echoed faintly in my ears.
After a while, the witch Onoue stopped chanting and opened her eyes.
Following her movements, everyone sat up straight and looked at her, or rather, at the golden toad, with great desire.
"Nomura Securities~"
Amidst many fanatical gazes, the witch Onoue slowly uttered the name of a company.
"Nomura Securities! It's Nomura Securities~!"
"Quick! Quick! Write this down and go buy Nomura securities tomorrow!"
The originally quiet hall suddenly became like a drop of water falling into a boiling oil pan.
With a "pop" sound, a boiling explosion broke out.
…
Kitagawa Hiro, who was waiting for Sumitomo Wu's reply in the box, frowned instantly when he heard the noise outside.
As the noise grew louder, Beichuan Yang stood up and lifted the curtain at the door.
"Hey, could you guys just be quiet!"
The lively atmosphere in the hall suddenly became quiet with this rebuke.
After a second, everyone reacted and stood up to curse back.
However, at this time, Sumitomo Mu, who was originally sitting inside, also came to the door of the box.
"I'm sorry, this is my friend's first time in Osaka. Please forgive me if I've been negligent."
As he spoke, Sumitomo Mu bowed to everyone, and he also nodded to the witch Onoue.
Seeing that it was Sumitomo Wu, everyone in the hall unconsciously suppressed the anger in their hearts, and at the end the witch also nodded politely in return.
Since it was just a misunderstanding, no one cared about it anymore, and the lively atmosphere in the hall returned to normal.
"Boss, what was that just now...?"
"Shut up!" Before his assistant could finish his words, Ota signaled to him to shut up.
Of course he knew who that person was. How did Beichuan Yang from Industrial Bank get involved with someone from the Sumitomo family?
Recently, in order to investigate the controlling shareholders behind Fuji Heavy Industries and Nissan Group, Shirakawa Kaede not only used his overt power, but also secret agents like Ota were digging up all kinds of gossip.
As the representative of Industrial Bank attending the Fuji Heavy Industries shareholders meeting, Kitagawa Hiroshi was also within the scope of Ota's investigation.
He saw the person in the secret file in his desk drawer suddenly appear in Osaka and have a secret conversation with the Sumitomo family in a private room.
Ota instinctively felt that things were not that simple. He had been in this business for too long and his sense of smell was much more sensitive than that of ordinary people.
Seeing the two people in the box retreat again and close the door curtain, Ota also stood up.
"Okay, let's go out." He didn't even want to see the witch Onoue anymore. The most urgent thing now was to go out and immediately make a phone call to inform Tokyo.
…
"Mr. Sumitomo, what is going on outside?" Until now, Kitagawa Hiroshi still looked incredulous.
Among those people outside just now, there were a few familiar faces.
But if he remembered correctly, those people were either the head of Toyo Bank or the managing directors of Beidao Securities.
These people are all well-known figures in the financial circle, but now they are surrounding an old woman like a group of believers.
It has to be said that this really exceeded Beichuan Yang's imagination and was particularly puzzling to him.
Seeing Kitagawa Hiroshi's worldview refreshed, Sumitomo Mu couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Kitagawa-san, do you believe that Nomura Securities' stock will rise tomorrow?"
"Huh?"
