After chatting with Lin Xueyi for quite a while, Chen Yang—who had originally wanted to rest—found his sleepiness completely gone.
Rolling up his sleeves, Chen Yang moved the documents he had brought from the Osaka Trading Company onto the table.
Brewing a cup of tea, Chen Yang opened the documents with his right hand and picked up a fountain pen and some scratch paper with his left, preparing to conduct a systematic analysis.
However, just as he flipped through two pages, a voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Ding. Large amounts of analyzable data detected. The system is currently inputting data for comprehensive analysis."
Chen Yang’s heart skipped a beat. How could he have forgotten he still had this thing?
This AI program was an existence comparable to a supercomputer. As long as it was fed and trained with sufficient data, its analytical capabilities and computing power were not something humans could match.
*Hua la la.* Chen Yang rapidly flipped through all the documents in his hands.
It took only ten minutes to input all the documents before him into the AI program. The next moment, a perfect data analysis report had already appeared in his mind.
This report covered the Osaka Trading Company’s sales performance, merchandise inventory, and sales profits over the past six months.
The most important point was that the data report clearly indicated that over the past six months, more than one hundred seventy tons of supplies had unknown whereabouts.
There were no sales records or transfer records whatsoever.
In other words, over one hundred seventy tons of goods had been embezzled. They had simply found a way to make the books look clean.
According to the analysis report provided by the AI program, Chen Yang pulled up the relevant documents and looked through them.
It was rather embarrassing to admit—if the AI hadn’t been powerful enough to reach conclusions through big data analysis, with his own capabilities, he wouldn’t have been able to see any problems here at all.
That was to say, whoever had done the books clearly knew about this matter. He had been under orders to make the accounts appear balanced and reasonable.
More than one hundred seventy tons of goods. Calculating by the current market price of five hundred silver dollars per ton for scarce supplies, this represented a deficit of nearly a hundred thousand silver dollars worth of goods.
It seemed there were parasites within the Osaka Trading Company as well.
Perhaps it wasn’t even as simple as just internal problems within the Osaka Trading Company. Chen Yang vaguely felt that he seemed to know some things he shouldn’t know.
*Dong dong dong.* A knock on the door rang out. Chen Yang quickly put away the Osaka Trading Company’s financial reports and sales documents, got up, and opened the door.
Standing outside the door was the eldest brother of the Lin family, Lin Xueli.
"Chen Yang, I’m not disturbing you, am I?" Lin Xueli adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and asked gently.
"Not at all, not at all. Big Brother, please come in." Chen Yang politely stepped aside half a body to invite Lin Xueli inside.
Lin Xueli entered the room and looked around. "In the years since you left, Big Sister would have someone come in to clean every few days."
"I don’t know why she lost her temper so badly today."
"Is Uncle doing alright?" Chen Yang casually asked, then said thoughtfully, "Big Brother, has something happened to the family these past few years? Why do I feel like there’s some conflict between Uncle and Big Sister?"
Lin Xueli didn’t intend to hide it. He sighed and said, "Isn’t it all because of the Japanese?"
"Last year, the Japanese invaded. Shanghai is now under Japanese control."
"Father is just a businessman; naturally, he must seek good fortune while avoiding disaster, going with the flow."
"Big Sister has quarreled with us many times over this matter."
"She doesn’t even think about how hard the Lin family worked to build up this family business. Are we supposed to just give it up for nothing?"
"The two of them now fight every time they meet. The second brother and I can’t stand it anymore; we’ve each bought houses outside."
"To be honest, if not for your return today, the second brother and I might not even have been willing to come back to the old residence."
"Look at Big Sister’s attitude—as if the whole family owes her something."
"I simply don’t want to come back and endure her displeasure."
Chen Yang furrowed his brows. "Big Brother, we’re all family. What can’t we discuss? Why must things become like this?"
Lin Xueli smiled upon hearing this, though it was a rather indescribable expression.
"Right, did the second brother come find you just now?" Lin Xueli changed the topic and asked.
"Big Brother, what are you trying to say?" Chen Yang clearly sensed that Lin Xueli’s words held hidden meaning.
Lin Xueli said indifferently, "I know about the second brother wanting to do black market business. I warned him—he’s simply not cut out for it."
"Black market business has no rules. What matters is credibility."
"When something goes wrong with their few shipments, they only know how to solve it with knives. How can such people do business?"
"Right, speaking of which, I have something I want to ask you."
After all the detours, they had finally arrived at the main topic. Chen Yang smiled. "Big Brother, go ahead."
Lin Xueli said, "I want to ask you for a batch of supplies."
"Supplies? You’re asking me for supplies?" Chen Yang laughed exaggeratedly. "I’m just a poor student who just returned to the country. How would I have the ability to get supplies for you, Big Brother?"
Lin Xueli suddenly stood up, walked to the door, pressed his ear against it and listened for a while, then suddenly opened the door and looked outside.
Chen Yang found the other’s actions somewhat inexplicable. Before he could ask, Lin Xueli quickly closed the door and signaled Chen Yang to walk over to the window.
Lin Xueli said in a low voice, "Chen Yang, there are some things that can’t even be spoken too clearly at home."
"There are some people in our family who are no simple characters."
"Do you know about the Tokko?"
Chen Yang nodded. This was Japan’s most famous spy organization.
The Tokko was established at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Its full name was the Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsuka—the Special Higher Police Department—and it was subordinate to Japan’s Ministry of Home Affairs. Initially, the Tokko was a security agency for handling domestic incidents. Its predecessor was the Aoki Agency founded by Aoki Nobuzuru. When the second-generation head, Banzai Rihachirō, took over the Aoki Agency, he reached an agreement with the Ministry of Home Affairs, integrating the spy training courses of the Aoki Agency into the police department’s operations and selecting suitable personnel for training. Thus was born the Special Higher Police Department, a level above ordinary police departments. Thereafter, as Japan invaded China and the nations of Southeast Asia, the Japanese government gradually shifted the Tokko’s functions. In addition to intelligence work, they also cooperated with other spy agencies in espionage activities. Its main duties, apart from routine spy operations, included law enforcement and supervisory authority above ordinary agencies. That is to say, this organization was not only external-facing, but also possessed internal supervisory powers. Once they discovered corruption within the military, they could arrest and interrogate directly without seeking approval. Most importantly, their spies were everywhere; some important figures in Shanghai were also within the scope of their monitoring.
Chen Yang asked suspiciously, "Big Brother, do you suspect there’s someone from the Tokko in our house?"
"Perhaps." Lin Xueli said, "I can’t guarantee it either. However, caution keeps the boat steady for ten thousand years."
"Actually, you don’t need to hide it from me. I’ve been doing business in Shanghai for over a dozen years. Although I can’t see and hear everything, I still have my ways of knowing certain news."
"Before you returned, the Osaka Trading Company in Shanghai received a telegram and suddenly began internal adjustments."
"Some said it was because their headquarters in Kyushu was sending some important figure over."
"The moment you disembarked from the ship, without even returning home, you went to the Osaka Trading Company, and then to the Japanese consulate."
"Looking at it this way, even if you aren’t the principal party in this matter, you’re at least an informed party."
"Actually, my request isn’t high. Right now, all the major and minor trading associations in Shanghai are boycotting Japanese firms."
"Based on our research into the Osaka Trading Company’s past sales, we can be certain they currently have at least five to six hundred tons of various supplies stockpiled in their warehouse. If you can help us negotiate from the middle..."
"My partner and I can take all of these supplies off their hands."