Substitute Toyokawa Shoko, you can become stronger by breathing

Hidehiko Toyokawa stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window in his top-floor office, overlooking the steel forest below.

The golden glow of the setting sun is slowly fading from the rows of skyscrapers, leaving behind a magnificent sunset glow across the sky, like an overturned palette, brilliant but short-lived.

He held a glass of amber single malt whiskey in his hand. The ice cubes hit the wall of the glass, making a crisp and pleasant sound, which echoed with the lights of thousands of houses gradually lighting up outside the window.

However, this prosperous scene, a symbol of power and wealth, did not bring him the slightest joy at the moment. His brows furrowed slightly, his thoughts moving as slowly and stagnantly as the traffic jam outside the window.

He took a sip of whiskey, and the spicy liquor slid down his throat, bringing a hint of burning warmth, but it couldn't dispel the irritability in his heart.

He made such a fuss, using some cheap tactics to smear a small internet celebrity or band member who had just gained some fame... Under normal circumstances, he would not even bother to take care of this kind of thing personally.

If he didn't have a deeper purpose, he wouldn't waste time and resources on such petty matters.

His real target has never been Toyokawa Shoko.

Xiangzi? He was just a chess piece on the board, a piece that had some temporary value and could be used to test the waters.

What he really cared about was the old fox who sat at the top of the power in the Toyokawa family, who seemed old and foolish but was actually very shrewd and calculating - his "uncle", Toyokawa Sadaharu.

Toyokawa Group, this huge and complex business empire, has never stopped the internal power struggle.

As a member of a side branch, Toyokawa Hidehiko has relied on his own skills and abilities to gradually climb to his current position, holding some of the family's real power in the entertainment, real estate and other fields. But this is not enough, far from enough.

His ambition is to replace the old man sitting in the main seat and take complete control of the entire Toyokawa family in his own hands.

To this end, he needed to constantly test, constantly look for breakthroughs, and constantly weaken Toyokawa Sadaharu's authority and control.

This action against "Meow Dream" was a carefully designed test.

First of all, it was naturally done for that crazy woman, Minami Mori.

Whenever he thought of that woman, Hidehiko Toyokawa felt a dull pain in his temples.

A woman who became hysterical and unreasonable because her daughter Mutsumu Wakaba "defected" to Toyokawa Shoko.

She stubbornly believed that Toyokawa Shoko was the culprit who "bewitched" her daughter, and kept putting pressure on him, asking him to use the power of the Toyokawa family to "get rid of" Shoko and bring Mu back.

Although he looked down on Mori Minami's shrew-like attitude from the bottom of his heart, she had a certain influence in the Toyokawa family, and Mori Minami's own reckless madness made him have to be wary of her.

At least for now, he can't completely break off relations.

Therefore, he needed to make some gesture of "dealing with Toyokawa Shoko" to give her an explanation and calm down this powder keg that could explode at any time.

The second and more important purpose was to test Toyokawa Sadaharu's reaction.

After all, Xiangzi is the only direct bloodline currently recognized by Toyokawa Sadaharu and is one of the nominal "heirs".

If I touch the people around Xiangzi, how will that old fox react?

Will he intervene to protect his family's reputation and blood ties, or will he continue to maintain his unfathomable silence and stand aside as before?

This is crucial for Hidehiko Toyokawa to judge Toyokawa Sadaharu's current bottom line and control.

However, the result disappointed him.

The turmoil on the Internet caused a lot of uproar, and even Star Entertainment was involved at one point, but there was no movement from Toyokawa Sadaharu's side.

It was as if he didn't care at all about what happened to his granddaughter, as if Xiangzi was really just an insignificant abandoned child.

Was it because his method this time was too "gentle"? Did it not directly affect Xiangzi himself, so the old fox felt it was indifferent?

Absolutely...can't find any flaws...

Hidehiko Toyokawa drank the remaining whiskey in the glass in a somewhat irritable manner.

The game with the old fox Toyokawa Sadaharu always made him feel deeply powerless.

The other party was like an ancient well with no bottom. No matter how many stones he threw in, there would be no echo.

What a pity... If only I could use this opportunity to force the old fox to reveal a little, even if it's just a little bit...

He shook his head, temporarily suppressing these thoughts.

The meal must be eaten one bite at a time, and the road must be walked step by step.

Toppling Toyokawa Sadaharu is not something that can be done overnight.

At this moment, the private phone rang suddenly, breaking the silence in the office.

Seeing the familiar name on the caller ID, Hidehiko Toyokawa frowned even more.

It's Mori Minami.

He took a deep breath, adjusted his expression, answered the phone, and kept his tone as calm as possible: "Mina..."

"Toyokawa Hidehiko!"

The voice on the other end of the phone was sharp and urgent, with undisguised questioning and impatience:

"What the hell are you doing?! It's been so long, and there's no progress at all! Mu still hasn't come back! That Toyokawa Shoko is still in Tokyo! What happened to the promise you made to me?!"

really....

Toyokawa Hidehiko rubbed his aching temple and patiently explained, "We need to take things one step at a time. I've already started putting pressure on Toyokawa Shoko. Haven't the members of her band recently run into some minor trouble? This is just the beginning."

"Little trouble?!"

Minami Mori's voice rose an octave:

"What's the big deal about a harmless cyberattack like that?! I want results! Results! I want Mu back immediately! I want that Toyokawa Shoko to pay!"

Toyokawa Hidehiko's voice still maintained a false patience, even though he was already extremely impatient inside:

"Don't worry, I've already made a thorough plan. But Toyokawa Sadaharu is keeping a close eye on me, so I need to be cautious and not act hastily, otherwise I'll only alert the enemy..."

He skillfully used various excuses and rhetoric to appease the woman on the other end of the phone who was almost out of control.

He painted unrealistic pie in the sky, made ambiguous promises, and cleverly shifted the blame to Toyokawa Sadaharu's "obstruction."

With great difficulty, I finally managed to calm Mori Minami down temporarily and made her hang up the phone reluctantly.

Hidehiko Toyokawa let out a long sigh, threw his phone on the table, and felt physically and mentally exhausted.

He walked back to the window, looked at the brilliant night view outside, and tried to calm himself down.

However, when he recalled the counter-public opinion attack on Star Entertainment on the Internet, a more subtle and extremely uncomfortable feeling quietly emerged in his heart.

Although the "black material" and negative public opinion against Star Entertainment are not enough to cause substantial damage to the company's foundation at present, at most it will cause the stock price to fluctuate slightly and the public relations department will be in a state of panic for a while.

But...the feeling of being outmaneuvered and even slapped in the face in public still made him feel very uncomfortable.

It was as if his carefully planned jab was not only dodged easily by the opponent, but the opponent seized the flaw and slapped him in the face with a neither light nor heavy slap.

Although the slap didn't hurt, it was extremely insulting.

Wait a moment....

An idea that even he himself found a little unbelievable suddenly popped into his mind.

In this battle...is he...considered a failure?

And...he was defeated by a girl who was not even an adult yet.

Toyokawa Hidehiko's intuition told him that this counterattack carried a certain ruthlessness and unscrupulousness that he was somewhat familiar with, yet couldn't immediately place. That precise, merciless attack on weak spots, even with a hint of gray area...

It is definitely not the old-fashioned, "rules-conscious" style of Toyokawa Sadaharu.

Who could that be?

He was lost in thought, trying to search for that vague shadow from the corner of his memory.

"Boom boom boom!"

A rapid, almost rude knock on the door abruptly interrupted his thoughts.

Toyokawa Hidehiko frowned, a hint of displeasure rising in his heart. His secretary was always calm and capable, and would never lose his composure like this. Unless...

"Come in!" he said in a deep voice.

The office door was flung open. His chief secretary, a woman who usually wore delicate makeup and behaved elegantly, was now pale, with beads of sweat on her forehead. Her voice was filled with undisguised panic:

"Mr. Toyokawa! No, something bad has happened!"

Toyokawa Hidehiko's heart sank. "What's the matter?! Speak slowly!"

"Xinghui Entertainment!" The secretary's voice was a little distorted due to the urgency. "Just in the past half hour, we...we received risk warning notices from several partner banks! Investors of several large-scale projects in progress suddenly announced that they were reassessing the risks and suspending capital injections! Furthermore, several long-term brand partners have unilaterally sent letters requesting the suspension or even termination of cooperation!"

Toyokawa Hidehiko frowned: "What's the reason?!"

"The reasons...the reasons all point to the series of negative information about Xinghui Entertainment that suddenly broke out online!"

The secretary's voice was filled with tears as she quickly scrolled through the tablet in her hand:

"There have been...anonymous reports alleging that we manipulated our artists into signing shady contracts and engaged in tax fraud. There have also been reports of evidence linking us to illegal fund transfers using offshore shell companies... Even...even the accidental death of an artist a few years ago has been resurfaced, with allegations implicating company executives..."

A series of bad news was like a bombshell, hitting Hidehiko Toyokawa one after another, making him unable to react for a while!

A shady contract? Tax fraud?

Illegal fund transfer? Accidental death?!

"Anything else?" He took a deep breath and asked.

"And... there's also a Mr. Kimura."

The secretary hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and finally said:

"He sent me an email, naming me and saying that if I could just record a video of myself kowtow, he would consider letting me go."

Kimura?

Damn, who is causing trouble for him again?

......

PS: This chapter has 10,000 words

The following plot is Mutou’s home court.

I don’t know if you have forgotten...Mutou still has a Lao Lian-type personality hidden in his mind.

Chapter 87: Lao Da, isn’t this the trick you used most often in the past?

The tax bureau's intervention, partners' divestment, and the revelations of "dirt" that hit the company's core weaknesses like precision-guided missiles...

All this shows that this is by no means an ordinary business competition or public relations crisis.

There must be a powerful and ruthless force at work behind this.

The ruthlessness of their methods, the accuracy of their information, and the tricky timing all far exceed the boundaries of normal business.

And that name—Kimura.

This surname, which is not uncommon in Japan, kept echoing in his mind at this moment and was quickly linked to a name that made him extremely wary.

Kimura...

Could it be...that Kimura from the Soryukai?

Toyokawa Hidehiko's pupils shrank imperceptibly.

Canglong Society.

This yakuza organization, which has been entrenched in the Kanto region for many years and has deep-rooted power, is by no means a strange term to Toyokawa Hidehiko, who is at the center of power.

It can even be said that he has a considerable understanding of them because... he has dealt with them before.

That was a few years ago, when Star Entertainment had just been established. With the huge capital injected by the Toyokawa family, it was ambitiously preparing to enter the Japanese entertainment industry, which had already been divided up by the major old forces.

The entertainment industry is much deeper than it appears on the surface.

The complex web of interests, unwritten "rules," and the gray areas hidden beneath the glamorous surface...

If you want to gain a foothold here, relying solely on capital is far from enough.

Especially in the early days, when Star Entertainment tried to break the old pattern, seize resources and discover new talents, it encountered huge resistance from all sides.

Some established brokerage and production companies jointly boycotted, media channels were blocked, and even some seemingly normal business activities were repeatedly frustrated. There were always various "accidents" happening behind the scenes.

Just when Hidehiko Toyokawa was in a state of panic, he came into contact with some members of the Soryukai through the help of an intermediary.

At first, he was quite resistant and wary of this.

Although the Toyokawa family is not a famous and upright family, and often uses some means that are on the edge of the law in business competition, it is deeply tied to a real yakuza organization, and the risks involved are self-evident.

However, the reality of the situation and the "energy" displayed by the other party eventually forced him to compromise.