Chapter 84: Saori’s Computer Class

Seiko did not linger at the crime scene.
The thick, putrid stench of blood, combined with the half-flayed corpse, was too overwhelming, both visually and mentally.
Only Ishiwata Takashi stayed behind to act as the first discoverer of the case for the police.

Afterwards, Ishiwata Takashi relayed the subsequent situation to Seiko.

After Eguchi Koichi killed his wife, Eguchi Fumiko, he fled overnight.
However, seemingly to hide his tracks, he didn’t take a taxi or a bus, so he didn’t get far; the police quickly caught him within Urawa.

Asano Kumiko had a big argument with her superior, seemingly believing that Eguchi Fumiko’s death was entirely due to the negligence of her colleagues in the Community Safety Division.
But the Community Safety Division didn’t seem to think so; they insisted there were no violations in their procedures…

For Seiko, the cooperation with Asano Kumiko was just a small interlude.
Cultivating a trustworthy collaborator within the police force was a gradual process that couldn’t be rushed.
Moreover, for Seiko, completing the tasks at hand step-by-step to welcome the “Plaza Accord” was the most important thing.

“Wrong, this should be this, not that.”

Saori was clumsily typing on the keyboard using the “hunt-and-peck” method.
Seiko was half-lying on the bed, peeling a tangerine while casually pointing out a mistake for Saori.

Because Seiko had mentioned that future office work would definitely require computers, Saori had started learning how to use one.
For the past two days, Saori had been busy coming back to the Yamagami house after school to practice typing, which was why she hadn’t been hanging around Seiko.

Saori wasn’t grateful; instead, she turned her head, smiled, and pushed Seiko away.

“Sit further away. Don’t keep staring at me. I’m clearly very skilled when I practice alone, but with you staring, I keep making mistakes.”

“No way.”

Seiko decisively refused with a smile; watching the academic genius Saori occasionally show a clumsy side was also a kind of amusement.

However, Saori was actually learning to type very quickly.

The computer was equipped with a kana-kanji input method chip developed by NEC itself.
This input method established the basic logic for almost all future Japanese input methods: “Kana input → Kanji candidate selection.”

But discussing this input method itself, one had to admit… it was quite difficult to use, even harder than early Chinese input methods.

But even using such a rudimentary input method, Saori had learned for less than a week and could already help Seiko create spreadsheets.

In early September, or precisely the day before yesterday, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun had reported a short piece of news about the Bank of Japan Governor, Sumita Satoshi, visiting the United States.

Ordinary people might not notice this news, but Seiko knew clearly that this was to secretly discuss the details of the “Plaza Accord.”

At most by late September, the news of the official signing of the “Plaza Accord” would be reported.

To maintain secrecy so the market couldn’t react in advance, Japanese Minister of Finance Takeshita Noboru, who was responsible for officially signing the “Plaza Accord,” had been pretending to play golf in the Tokyo suburbs.

It wasn’t until the day before the signing that he suddenly traveled to the United States and completed the formal signing in just 20 minutes.

One had to say, Takeshita Noboru played this move of “Crossing the Sea Under Camouflage” very beautifully.

Before the signing, the domestic public in Japan heard almost no rumors.
But the ultimate consequence was that ten or twenty years later, Takeshita Noboru and Sumita Satoshi were cursed by the Japanese public as figures akin to the “Li Hongzhang of Japan”…

Muddy Waters Company currently had 300 million yen in cash on its books.

As one of the very few private individuals who knew about the existence of the “Plaza Accord,” Seiko naturally wanted to use this 300 million yen to ride the wind again.

However, the “Plaza Accord” was essentially a joint agreement by the central banks of multiple countries…

So, utilizing this opportunity to the fullest was not a simple matter.

After carefully studying the data on Japanese listed companies provided by Chubu Securities, Seiko finally decided on her target—the textile industry.

Before 1985, the center of Asia’s textile industry was actually in Japan.
However, after 1986, Japan’s textile industry shrank at an astonishing speed.

A large number of textile factories fled Japan to the neighboring continent and Southeast Asia.
Small and medium-sized enterprises without the strength to flee abroad went bankrupt like a tidal wave.

Initially, the Ministry of Finance tried to use subsidy policies to save these textile SMEs, but these subsidies were canceled not long after implementation.

Why?

Because the SMEs that didn’t meet the subsidy conditions had already all died out.

What happened between ’85 and ’86?
Naturally, the “Plaza Accord.”

The Japanese textile industry relied heavily on imports and exports; their profit margins were thin, and they lacked the technical barriers of the automotive and electronics industries.

Thus, a small appreciation of the yen exchange rate could cause a structural shock to the entire industry.

“The last one is Kanebo.”

Seiko named another large textile factory.

“Kanebo’s chemical fibers are mainly exported to the United States. Their net profit on chemical fibers is less than ten percent. With the yen appreciating and the dollar depreciating, their stock price will definitely plummet. We can allocate about 30 million yen…”

Saori didn’t ask at all how Seiko knew the yen would appreciate and the dollar would depreciate.
She stiffly recorded the content Seiko dictated into the spreadsheet.

“Phew…”

After typing the last line, Saori let out a soft breath.
She never looked this tired even after finishing a whole exam paper.

“Is there more?”

“No more.”

“What do we do next?”

Seiko took out a Sony 3.5-inch floppy disk.

“This thing is called a floppy disk. It’s like a videotape for computers. You can save the spreadsheet you made onto it, and then have someone deliver the disk to Sachi Ken’ichi.”

While taking the floppy disk, Saori complained:

“Computers really aren’t as convenient as fax machines. If we used a fax machine, we would have finished sending it by now.”

Indeed, computers weren’t as easy to use as faxes at this stage.

“Didn’t you say Son had every kind of software there? Is there no better spreadsheet software?”

Saori asked while copying the spreadsheet.

Seiko shrugged.

“This is already the best one available on the market.”

Hearing this, Saori’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“Then can we make office software ourselves?”

Seiko thought for a moment but had to regretfully tell Saori:

“It’s probably too late. A very strong company is already doing it.”

The system was released this year, and Microsoft’s most habitual marketing tactic was bundling sales; their office software suite would soon begin to sweep the world.

“Oh,” Saori didn’t doubt Seiko’s words, only saying regretfully, “You said personal computers will only sell more and more in the future. I thought I had come up with a good idea…”

Seiko fed the last two segments of the tangerine into Saori’s mouth.

After thinking briefly, she said:

“We can’t do office software, but perhaps we can make computer games.”

Saori pouted towards the Xanadu box nearby and said:

“Like this? Aren’t there companies doing that too?”

“It’s different,” Seiko shook her head. “Among the companies making games, none are as strong as that company making office software. Moreover, we can start with simple games, so the investment can be smaller.”