"I will build battery factories in agriculturally developed areas of Japan, and soap and condiment factories in fishing-developed areas, so that people there can buy cheap goods and earn wages working in the factories. I will also help them build schools and hospitals, making them very satisfied. Wouldn't that make Collaborator?"
"Of course it counts." Scribe Hui's face turned ugly.
Song Tianyao lit a cigarette and said to his Scribe Hui, "Smoking is harmful to your health. Will you die from smoking one?"
"No," said Scribe Hui, head bowed. "Secretary Song, if you really want to help Japan..."
"But if you keep smoking one cigarette after another, won't you definitely die?" Song Tianyao interrupted Scribe Hui, still holding the cigarette between his fingers, and asked Scribe Hui.
"Meeting."
"That's right. You really think I'm profiting off the Japan by opening a factory and paying their salaries? I'll open a battery factory and cause three to five mercury leaks every year, which will destroy dozens of hectares of their farmland. Then they'll eat food grown on that toxic land every day, like smoking. I'll dump tons of toxic chemicals into the seawater of fishing-prosperous areas. The fish will eat the poison, and the Japan will eat the fish. The poison will slowly sprout and grow in their bodies. Decades later, whether they become infertile or bleed from all seven orifices, what does it matter to me? Understand? Making money off the Japan while maintaining good relations with them, and helping them poison them so they can go their way happily—am I Collaborator?"
"But what if it's found out?" Scribe Hui broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this.
This is exactly the style of my boss—smiling on the face but stabbing in the back, poisoning the Japan making money off them.
"Of course, we'll run the department stores. As for the factories, we'll get the Japan to step in and cooperate with the local government. If problems arise, the government will take the lead. At worst, we can just shut them down. The department stores will sever all ties with the factories. Do you really think I'm just saying I'll run factories to supply my department stores? Do you think I'm that stupid? Of course, we'll keep the good reputation of the department stores for ourselves, and the bad things will be done by the Japan." Song Tianyao took a drag of his cigarette. "From now on, in Japan, don't hate the Japan, understand? Be extremely polite and courteous. Just think of yourself as Collaborator."
"Also, make sure your female secretary doesn't give anything away. Either she becomes Collaborator with me, or you get a different secretary. I've already said it: although the war is over, the damage to Japan will continue, and of course, I'll be the one to inflict that damage."
Chapters 435: The He Family and Pedro Lobo Hit the Pact Immediately
"Discount supermarkets are a new type of shopping mall I saw when I went to the United States to investigate the wig business. Unlike department stores in Japan Hong Kong, where ordinary people are afraid to enter except for the wealthy, most ordinary people in Japan and Hong Kong, even those with relatively low incomes, still choose small grocery stores when they need to buy what they need. Why? Because those small, poorly decorated grocery stores give them a sense of security. They don't have to worry about not having enough money to pay in such stores. Obviously, those magnificent department stores can't give them that sense of security." Song Tianyao said to his Scribe Hui and Wei Meixian, flipping through the Japan Yomiuri Shimbun.
It's unclear whether Scribe Hui had explained Song Tianyao's motives for acting like Collaborator to Wei Meixian, but at this moment, Wei Meixian's expression no longer showed the same disdain for Song Tianyao as before. After a moment's thought, she slowly said:
"Mr. Song, do you mean that these discount supermarkets are targeting ordinary people who are afraid to shop at department stores because they worry about the high prices? However, the investment required for these discount supermarkets is much larger than that of small grocery stores, and the costs for labor, warehousing, etc., are also much higher. Small grocery stores, on the other hand, are often just a small shop and can be managed by one or two people, so their operating costs are already much lower than those of your so-called supermarkets. If your 'discount' means that the prices are the same as those of ordinary grocery stores, then how will you maintain a profit?"
Song Tianyao, who had recently come to Japan, was quite relaxed. Unlike before in Hong Kong, he no longer frowned or fell silent when thinking about things. Now, talking about the supermarket business was as casual as children playing house. At this moment, he had his feet very impolitely propped up on the table, lazily holding the back of his head, and stretched out his body.
"Take a common example from Japan general stores: bento boxes. These are essential household items in Japan. A general store might order twenty or fifty from a factory. Currently, small and medium-sized stores in Japan still operate on a credit system, meaning they pay on delivery. The factory not only doesn't offer discounts to stores, but might even raise the price. Then, the general store sells them to customers at a higher price. In other words, customers are actually paying significantly more for the bento boxes than they would in a department store. If we order a thousand bento boxes with cash, how much of a discount would the factory have to offer our supermarket? But if we use those thousand bento boxes for discounts or even giveaways, letting customers know that by paying cash, they can buy what they need in a supermarket that looks much like a department store, at a much lower price than other general stores, our initial goal is to attract customers to the supermarket. Whatever they want, if the general store doesn't have it, we have it. They can buy anything they need in this one supermarket, and the price will always be lower than in general stores. If general stores try to engage in a price war, they'll only face closure."
Song Tianyao's idea of opening a discount supermarket in Japan wasn't exactly a spur-of-the-moment decision. Nowadays, apart from the people in Okinawa Japan are living a life of semi-human existence, most Japan, while not all of them extremely wealthy, are able to support their families as long as they are willing to work hard in factories. They already have savings in their pockets. At this time, by using the discount supermarket model to occupy small and medium-sized cities that large department stores don't care about, and to make a name for themselves, they can completely drive out the outdated Japanese general stores.
"Downplay our background, hire Japan workers whenever possible, and even give the shop a Japanese-sounding name. If managed properly, even if we don't make a fortune immediately, at least we won't go out of business so easily."