Spy game? Stop guessing, I really am an undercover agent!

Chapter 30 The Secret
Hearing Matsuda Kazuo's undisguised evaluation, Chen Yang almost spat out his tea.

Indeed, the Osaka Division was truly capable in battle, but it was also incredibly greedy.

As one of the elite divisions of the Japanese army, their military prowess is beyond question, but what makes this unit so memorable to later generations is that almost all of its members were businessmen.

When other troops see things going badly during battle, they say, "See you at Kudanzaka."

The only thing they said when they parted ways was "Misshin Daikichi," which in Japanese means that one's health is very important and one should take care of oneself.

Simply put, it means "Take good care of your health".

A hierarchy of contempt also exists in the Osaka area.

It's because Osaka soldiers look down on Osaka businessmen.

They always believed that only those who were useless in the empire's wars would go into business.

So, just like Tanaka, even though he is now a director of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce, he still cannot be considered an equal by Lieutenant Matsuda Kazuo.

As they were talking, the door to the private room opened again, and Yusuke Ino and Shinichi Ando returned.

They tacitly refrained from asking what Chen Yang had discussed with Yamada and the others, which further confirmed Chen Yang's suspicions.

This group of people is not as united as one might imagine.

Ultimately, it all comes down to the unequal distribution of profits. Department Head Suzuhara takes half of the profits and then distributes the rest among the others.

Moreover, the distribution wasn't even equal; Yusuke Ino and Shinichi Ando each received a larger share than Yamada and the others.

This led to the imbalance in the hearts of Yamada and his group.

There's a Chinese saying that goes, "It's not scarcity that we worry about, but inequality."

The team that Minister Suzuhara painstakingly built will eventually fall apart due to conflicts of interest.

However, Chen Yang still didn't quite understand. Given Minister Suzuhara's style of handling things, it seemed unlikely that he would make such a basic mistake on the issue of profit distribution.

As Chen Yang watched the group of people drinking together, a strange thought suddenly popped into his head.

Could it be that Yasuji Yamada and Kazuo Matsuda are not the best options for Director Suzuhara?

They are a group of people who can be laid off at any time, which is the only way to explain why Minister Suzuhara treats them differently.

That means Suzuhara Shingo must have known that Yamada Yasuji would bypass Ino Yusuke and approach him to do arms deals.

Given his cautious nature, why didn't he stop him?

Chen Yang sipped his sake, increasingly unable to understand what Suzuhara Shingo was up to.

"Knock knock knock," a knock sounded on the door, and the proprietress, who looked just like a magpie, came up with a plate of dishes.

"Ino-kun, this is a new dish that you specifically requested."

As she spoke, the proprietress knelt down beside Chen Yang and placed the dish in front of him, saying with a charming smile, "Mr. Chen, this was specially prepared for you by Mr. Ino. This dish is called 'Inner Universe'."

Chen Yang looked at the unidentified sea fish, which weighed about two pounds, on the plate with some curiosity.

Yusuke Ino clapped his hands with a smile, and the proprietress nodded slightly, picked up the chopsticks on the table, gently cut open the fish's belly, and then lifted it up.

Inside were three golden fish maws, a hidden treasure within. So that's what they mean by "a hidden treasure within."

"This is a special fish maw. It is made by steaming this kind of sea fish for three hours. All the essence is attached to the fish maw, and the taste will become incredibly delicious."

"Mr. Chen, men will become very strong after eating this!"

Become very strong, become very strong.
Chen Yang's eyes lit up instantly, and he looked at Ino Yusuke and said, "Ino-kun, thank you for your hospitality."

Yusuke Ino quickly waved his hand and said, "Mr. Chen, you're too kind. This is what I should do. Eat it while it's hot. I've tried this stuff, and it's really effective."

A burst of laughter rang out, the landlady blushing deeply, while Ino Yusuke gave her a knowing look. At 11 PM, in the Shanghai Military Police Headquarters dormitory building, Suzuhara Shingo's room light remained on, as if he were waiting for someone.
A soft knocking sounded, and then the door was pushed open.

Yusuke Ino walked in, his face flushed.

"Uncle, the matter has been taken care of."

Shingo Suzuhara nodded: "That's good. It's getting late, Yusuke, you should go back and get some rest."

Yusuke Ino stood there for a long time, unwilling to leave. Seeing this, Shingo Suzuhara sighed and said, "Yusuke, is there something you want to say to your uncle?"

After hesitating for a moment, Yusuke Ino asked, "Uncle, I don't understand. What did Yamada and the others do wrong? Why are you giving up on them?"

Shingo Suzuhara glanced at Yusuke Ino and raised his hand, saying, "Have a seat."

Yusuke Ino quickly sat down opposite Shingo Suzuhara.

Suzuhara Shingo picked up the slightly cooled tea on the table, took a sip, and said, "Yamada-kun and the others have never been our best option."

“You and Ando are the foundation. Their addition is just me testing whether our chain will work properly.”

"I can tell you very clearly that even without Chen Yang's appearance, they would have been eliminated one by one sooner or later."

"Chen Yang's appearance showed me the optimal option, so I'm just bringing forward the optimization plan a little bit."

Yusuke Ino murmured, "But that doesn't mean Yamada and the others have a problem."

Shingo Suzuhara said slowly, "Because they are greedy."

Yusuke Ino asked, puzzled, "Uncle, didn't you say that only greedy people are easy to control?"

Shingo Suzuhara said, "Yes, greed can make people improve, but they are petty greedy, and it is these kinds of people who are prone to causing trouble."

“Uncle, I don’t think so,” Yusuke Ino argued. “In the past six months, although they were somewhat dissatisfied with your way of splitting the profits, they didn’t do anything out of line.”

Suzuhara Shingo chuckled and said, "That's the main reason."

"If they are willing to express their grievances, I still think they can cooperate."

"But they have been suppressing this discontent, which makes things much worse."

"Emotions accumulate, and when this dissatisfaction accumulates to a certain level, it will erupt, and we can easily be affected."

"Moreover, I agree with Chen Yang's point that we don't actually need that many procedures."

"The more processes there are, the higher the chance of errors. I've been thinking about how to optimize the intermediate steps."

“Until he came along, he made me feel that we didn’t have to go through so much trouble.”

"As long as he has a strong enough sales network, our supplies can be moved in and out quickly without any trickery."

"Abandon them and do it ourselves; this will ensure both safety and profit."

"Besides, Yusuke, you don't also think that I really swallowed all the profits I took over the past six months, do you?"

Yusuke Ino paused for a moment, his drunkenness instantly turning into sweat.

"Uncle, you mean your accounts?"

Shingo Suzuhara waved his hand: "There are some things you should keep to yourself. Don't say them out loud, or you'll cause big problems."

"By the way, did Chen Yang understand the dish you arranged for him?"

Yusuke Ino paused for a moment and said, "I'm not entirely sure either, but I believe that if he's really as capable as you say, Uncle, he should be able to understand."

(End of this chapter)