Reborn in Tokyo: From Heiress to Global Tycoon

Chapter 115 The Only Exception

(Thanks to "Dr. Chang who loves eating Domi baby food" for the amazing certification! Thanks to "Gong Jing who likes night fire" for the amazing certification! Bonus chapter is here~)

September 30, 1988, 3:30 p.m.

Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo.

In a courtyard of the high school section of Sheng Hua Academy, the fragrance of osmanthus is in full bloom.

This is a secluded greenhouse, and the world outside, which is in uproar because of the Licourt scandal, seems to have no effect on the tranquility here.

But if you listen carefully, the frequency of the porcelain cups colliding with the tray is slightly more rapid than usual.

At the main round table by the window, Satsuki held a small silver spoon and gently stirred the amber liquid in her glass.

She didn't tie her hair up today; her long, black hair fell smoothly over her shoulders, with slightly curled ends, giving her an aura of reassuring, gentle tenderness.

"Today's black tea seems a bit too astringent."

She spoke softly, her voice not loud, but it instantly silenced the girls at the surrounding tables who had been whispering.

Mariko Ezaki, who used to always sit to Satsuki's left and loved to jingle her diamond-encrusted bracelet, hasn't shown up at school for a week now.

Her seat was empty, with only a velvet chair sitting there forlornly, like a silent warning.

In a corner of the lounge, several girls who had once surrounded Mariko, eagerly filling out purchase agreements, now sat with their heads down, mechanically popping expensive macarons into their mouths. Their eyes were dark-circled, and even thick foundation couldn't hide their exhaustion. Their fathers were being summoned by the Special Investigation Department, their home phone lines had been cut, and the promised "dozens of times the return" had now become a noose around their necks.

"Lord Saionji."

Ayako Yoshino picked up the teapot and poured hot tea for Satsuki. Her movements were more respectful than ever before, even carrying a hint of reverence.

"My father specifically instructed me last night to express my gratitude to you no matter what."

Ayako lowered her voice, her gaze sweeping over the few trembling "losers" in the corner, a hint of lingering fear flashing in her eyes.

"Thanks to your 'casual chat' on the phone that night, which hinted at the need to be aware of compliance risks, the branch bank stopped the bridge loan to Apes at the last minute and cleared up all related guarantee business. Now the head office is clearing up bad debts, and many branch managers have been held accountable, only my father..."

She took a deep breath, her hands trembling slightly.

"Only my father, because of his 'keen sense of risk,' not only escaped punishment but was also included in the candidate list for the next executive director."

Reiko Isokawa, sitting on the other side, also closed the book in her hand.

This usually carefree heiress from a political family now looked at Satsuki with a deep sense of awe.

"The same goes for Grandpa."

Reiko watched the osmanthus blossoms falling outside the window, her fingers unconsciously tracing the edges of the book pages.

"In this major upheaval within the Takeshita faction, many of my uncles and elders in the council were implicated. When that deputy mayor was arrested, he didn't even have time to put on his shoes. But because my grandfather listened to the advice to 'not be greedy for small gains,' he returned all his stocks in advance."

"Now, Grandpa has become one of the few 'veterans' in the faction with a clean record. The vacant positions are being reshuffled."

Reiko turned her head and looked at Satsuki with a complicated expression.

"They all say the Saionji family is a 'family with a third eye.' Satsuki, you saw it all along, didn't you?"

Satsuki did not answer.

She simply stretched out her slender fingers, picked up a freshly baked cookie, and took a small bite.

"Who knows about things like that?"

Satsuki swallowed the biscuit and gently dabbed the corner of her mouth with a napkin.

"I just feel that things that are too easily obtained are often not very clean. As you know, the Saionji family's family motto has always been to be timid."

She raised her eyelids, her clear black and white eyes gazing tenderly at the two people in front of her.

"You yourselves chose to trust me. In this greedy age, that trust is the most precious thing."

Ayako and Reiko exchanged a glance and then lowered their heads simultaneously.

They understood that this was Satsuki's way of showing them "decency," a silent acceptance. It meant that Satsuki had tacitly approved that their families could now align themselves more closely with the Saionji family.

The Saionji family's influence isn't something just any nobody can join. If you don't get the approval of the head of the family—but Ayako and Reiko both know it's actually Satsuki—you can't get in even if you offer money.

"alright."

Satsuki stood up and straightened her skirt, which was not wrinkled.

"That's all for today's book club. I still need to go to the old school building."

She picked up her schoolbag and walked towards the door.

Wherever she went, the girls who had been whispering fell silent, respectfully making way for her, their eyes following her slender figure until she disappeared at the end of the porch.

……

The old school building, third floor.

Social Observation Department Activity Room.

The last rays of the setting sun streamed through the dusty glass windows, bathing the classroom, filled with clutter and old books, in a warm orange hue. The air was thick with the smell of solder.

Emi Suzuki was sitting at a worktable in the corner.

She wasn't wearing her expensive S-Collection coat, but rather a slightly oversized blue workwear-style lab coat, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. In her hand, she held a soldering iron, intently soldering a green circuit board.

At her feet lay piles of various disassembled electronic waste: coils from old radios, casings for Nintendo Famicom controllers, and even motherboards from several Motorola pagers that she had somehow acquired.

"Sizzle—"

A wisp of smoke rose.

Amy pushed up her thick-rimmed glasses and looked at the newly soldered weld with satisfaction.

This wasn't some high-tech product; she was simply trying to modify a Famicom controller into a wireless transmitter. Although the technology was still very immature and the latency was alarmingly high, the process of "creating" gave her immense peace of mind.

Only here, amidst these cold, impersonal components, could she temporarily forget the suffocating atmosphere that had recently permeated the school.

"Click".

The door was gently pushed open.

Amy was startled, her hand trembled, and she almost burned her fingers with the soldering iron.

She looked up in a panic and saw Satsuki standing in the doorway.

Backlit, the setting sun gilded her silhouette, making her look like an angel who had strayed into the mortal world.

"Satsuki-chan?"

Amy quickly put down her tools and frantically tried to take off her dusty work coat.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know you'd come... It's such a mess here, all dusty..."

"It's okay."

Satsuki closed the door, shutting out the sound of the wind in the corridor.

She walked straight to the worktable, not bothering with the scratches and burn marks, but instead reaching out her fair hand to pick up the handle that Amy had dismantled into pieces.

"What are you doing?"

"Um, well..." Amy scratched her head a little sheepishly, "I wanted to try transmitting control signals using radio waves. Like a TV remote, but something a bit more complicated..."

As she spoke, her voice grew softer and softer.

Because she saw Satsuki's eyes.

Those eyes lacked their usual encouraging smile and appreciation for the technology.

It was a bottomless calm, a calm that made one's heart race.

Amy's heart skipped a beat.

The atmosphere at school has been so strange these days. Mariko has disappeared, and many people's gazes towards her have changed. Although no one dares to bully her—after all, she's someone close to Saionji Satsuki—that feeling of loneliness, of "only I am excluded," is like an invisible membrane, isolating her from the world.

She doesn't understand stocks, politics, or why Mariko, who was so arrogant yesterday, has become a taboo topic today.

"Satsuki-chan..."

Amy finally couldn't hold back any longer. She put down what she was holding and gripped the dirty hem of her work clothes tightly with both hands.

"Um... is Esaki-san not coming anymore?"

"And what exactly is this 'list' that everyone's been talking about? Why is everyone so scared?"

Satsuki put down the circuit board in her hand.

"clatter."

The plastic casing makes a very soft sound when it touches the table.

"That's an adult game; the loser has to leave the game."

Satsuki turned around, leaned against the workbench, and looked out the window at the setting sun that was about to sink below the horizon.

"Amy, are you scared?"

Satsuki's voice was very soft, as if she were asking about today's weather.

"Because you can't understand what Ayako and Reiko are talking about. Because you feel like a fool, just standing there smiling awkwardly while they're discussing those multi-million yen deals and the names of those big shots."

"Because you feel like an outsider."

Amy's body trembled violently.

You were right.

Satsuki unearthed and laid bare the deep-seated inferiority complex of a nouveau riche's daughter, which was buried in her heart.

It's true... nothing can be hidden from Satsuki-chan...

"I..." Amy lowered her head, tears welling up in her eyes, "I wanted to help... but my family just owns a factory. I don't understand complicated finance, and I don't know how to deal with those big shots. All I know is... all I know is how to handle this junk."

"Scrap metal?"

Satsuki chuckled softly.

She walked up to Amy, reached out, and gently lifted Amy's chin, forcing her to look directly at her.

Satsuki's fingers were slightly cool, but the touch was unusually gentle.

"Look at me, Amy."

"You don't need to understand those things. Ayako understands money because she's a banker's daughter; Reiko understands power because she's a politician's granddaughter. But they're both just 'maintainers'."

"Their world is old. It's built on human relationships, connections, and the unspoken rules of the Showa era. That world is rotting, just like the one in Mariko Esaki's house."

Satsuki's fingers brushed across Amy's cheek, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Her voice became incredibly seductive, as if she were chanting some ancient incantation.

"But you're different."

She grabbed Amy's hand and pressed it against the disassembled circuit board.

The rough solder joints stung Amy's palms.

What you hold in your hands is the 'future'.

"In this coming new era, what will determine the winner will no longer be land and stocks, but who can build faster machines and who can make information flow like water."

"The talent you possess is a treasure that Ayako and Reiko will never be able to comprehend in their entire lives."

Amy stared blankly at Satsuki, her eyes gleaming with a mixture of confusion and hope.

"But……"

"But you're not strong enough right now."

Satsuki loosened her grip, a hint of regret in her voice.

She picked up the magazine "Radio Technology" from the worktable and flipped through a few pages at random.

"What are you doing? Are you playing house here?"

"Using the same principle as a TV remote control in a game controller? That's certainly a clever trick, but..."

Satsuki shook her head, her eyes revealing an undisguised expectation that made Amy's heart flutter.

"Amy, haven't you noticed?"

Satsuki pointed to the circuit sketches that Amy had casually drawn on the table.

"Is the high school curriculum too easy for you?"

"Do you find the physics formulas your teachers write on the blackboard boring after just a glance? Are those math problems that your classmates consider incomprehensible as natural as breathing to you?"

Amy paused for a moment.

indeed.

She was always distracted in class, not because she didn't understand, but because the lessons were too easy.

"You're wasting your time, Amy."

Satsuki sighed, and that sigh landed on Amy's heart like a feather.

"Your hands, which should be creating miracles, are now only good for making toys that are only at the level of a junior high school student."

"You've wasted your talents on these trivial things."

"I...I don't want to waste it..." Amy stammered, "But I'm still in high school, I don't know what else I can do..."

No...no...I don't want to be abandoned by Satsuki-chan...

"Then let's leave here."

Satsuki's voice suddenly became firm.

She took a thick file folder out of her bag and gently placed it in front of Amy.

"Leave high school and go where you need to go."

Amy opened the file folder.

Inside was a detailed document, with the heading prominently displayed: "Application for Special Research Fellowship, Department of Information Science, Faculty of Science, University of Tokyo".

Attached below are several letters of recommendation, all signed by leading figures in academia.

"To the University of Tokyo?" Amy's voice trembled. "But... I'm only a first-year high school student... and the University of Tokyo doesn't have a grade-skipping system..."

"Those are rules made for ordinary people."

Satsuki leaned closer to Amy, their foreheads almost touching.

"But in my world, rules are meant to be broken."

"I've already made arrangements for you. Under the name of the Saionji family's donation, you can be admitted to the University of Tokyo's laboratory as a 'special case' and study under the top professors. Although you won't receive a degree certificate for now, you can use all the resources there and access the most cutting-edge technologies."

"As long as you pass their internal test."

Amy looked at the document, feeling like she was dreaming.

special case.

This door was opened just for her.

"Why..." Amy murmured to herself, "Why did you do so much for me?"

"Because I need you."

Satsuki reached out and gently stroked Amy's cheek, her eyes filled with tender possessiveness.

"I want to build an empire, an empire built on technology. But I only have ambition, I don't understand technology."

"I need a pair of eyes to help me see the direction of the future. I need a pair of hands to help me turn those crazy ideas into reality."

"Amy."

Satsuki's voice was deep and seductive, like a witch promising the whole world to a lost traveler.

"I don't want you to follow behind me, a mere tinkerer who only knows how to fix things."

I wish you could stand by my side.

"As an irreplaceable partner who can look down on the world with me."

"So? How about it? For my sake, and to live up to your own talent, why don't you go to that higher place?"

Amy looked at Satsuki.

In those deep black eyes, she saw her own reflection.

That was a version of myself that was no longer humble or confused.

That was a version of myself full of power and hope.

That was... how Satsuki saw herself.

Since Satsuki was so looking forward to it, and since she broke the rules for her own sake...

The feeling of being deeply needed and cherished made Amy's heart pound.

Yes… Satsuki-chan needs me… I’m special…

"I do!"

Amy suddenly raised her head, and for the first time, a flame called "belief" ignited in her eyes, which were always hiding behind her glasses.

"I'll go! No matter how difficult the test is... I'll definitely pass!"

She held Satsuki's hand tightly, and in doing so, she held onto her entire world.

"I will diligently study the technology... I will prove that I am worthy to stand beside Satsuki-chan!"

The air in the room seemed to freeze.

The last rays of the setting sun shone through the window, casting long, intertwined shadows on the two women.

Satsuki smiled.

It was a genuine, satisfied smile.

"very good."

She took a handkerchief out of her pocket and gently wiped away a bit of oil stains from Amy's face.

"Then let's run, Amy."

"Don't keep me waiting too long."

She patted Amy on the shoulder, then straightened up and adjusted her collar.

"I've already arranged the tutors for the cram school; classes start tomorrow. As for the recommendation letter, I'll have my father sign it after you pass the lab interview."

"As for this controller..."

Satsuki stopped and looked back at the disassembled NES controller on the worktable.

"Keep it. Maybe one day you'll create something even more amazing."

The door closed.

Amy was the only one left in the classroom.

She sat in the gradually darkening room, clutching the heavy file bag.

Outside the window, night fell in Tokyo, and countless neon lights lit up, turning the sky into a hazy purple.

In the distance, Ginza and Roppongi represent the last vestiges of the Showa era's madness.

But Amy was no longer afraid.

Ah... So what if I don't understand those complicated financial concepts? So what if I don't know how to deal with important people? As long as Satsuki-chan still needs me, that's enough.

She looked at the documents in her hand, at the lines of complex physical formulas and mathematical models.

Those are no longer boring symbols.

That's a ladder.

It was the ladder that led her to Satsuki's side.

She wiped away her tears, turned off the soldering iron, turned on the dim desk lamp next to her, and opened the first page of her review materials.

On this autumn night, in this small, old school building, a tiny seed was gently buried in the soil.

It was buried by a witch.

It will eventually sprout.

It will surely sprout.