I Teach Kendo in Tokyo - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Don’t Miss the Opportunity. You Won’t Get a Second Chance

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The day passed just like that.

The next morning, the Kiryuu siblings woke up early as usual.

Kazuma was used to getting up early.

After all, before he transmigrated, he could only sleep until he woke up naturally during his four years in university. Then, he found out that the professors for all three of his morning classes took attendance.

Chiyoko woke up even earlier than Kazuma. When Kazuma went into the bathroom yawning, Chiyoko was already in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

Kazuma went to the kitchen after washing up and asked with concern, “How’s your hand?”

“It’s completely fine. It just looks a bit red.”

“You should have worn your protective gear last night.” Kazuma looked at Chiyoko’s hand and found that it was not just a bit red but actually had a big bruise. His heart ached.

Chiyoko said, “Brother, aren’t there a few bruises on your body too?”

“I’m different. I’m a man. Men wear scars like medals.”

Chiyoko was killing fish skillfully. Upon hearing Kazuma’s words, she picked up the bloody kitchen knife and asked, “Would you like more medals?”

Kazuma stepped back at once and said in a dramatic tone, “That’s fine. No need to trouble you. I appreciate your kindness.”

Chiyoko giggled and continued to remove the fish scale.

Kazuma looked at the fish. “You don’t have to fry fish every morning, do you?”

As a native of Guangdong, Kazuma was no stranger to seafood. Apart from chicken and the flesh of their enemies, seafood was Guangdong people’s favorite ingredient.

However, having fish for breakfast every day reminded Kazuma of his childhood before he transmigrated.

That was before the Shopping Basket Program1. There was a shortage of meat and vegetable supplies, so they’d had to eat salted fish, porridge, and steamed buns for breakfast every day.

This was not a good memory.

Chiyoko glanced at Kazuma. “What do you want to eat if not fish? How about bread, ham, and sausages? Or maybe some Matsusaka beef, if you’d like?”

Kazuma was speechless.

‘Is that why we eat fish every day? Because it’s cheap?’

As expected of the Japanese!

Chiyoko continued, “Previously, I was reluctant to admit it. After you knocked the reality into me yesterday, I realized that I can’t deny the fact that we are living a miserable life. Fortunately, the grannies and grandpas along the shopping street empathize with me. They would give me more food for free when I go shopping. Brother, you should go to the shopping street more too! I can’t be the only one begging for food.”

“We aren’t really beggars…” Kazuma felt that if they continued with this conversation, he might have to go shopping with Chiyoko every day. He quickly changed the topic. “Speaking of which, isn’t the shopping street within the redevelopment area?”

“I don’t know. I don’t like to read newspapers.” After Chiyoko was done processing the fish, she skillfully washed the knife and inserted it back into the rack. Then, she lit the stove and started to heat the pot, preparing to fry the fish.

In this era, the Internet was reserved solely for the military, and only the American soldiers were using it.

Ordinary people had to rely on newspapers for information.

The redevelopment projects in the Katsushika District were all posted in the newspapers.

However, that was before Kazuma transmigrated. Kazuma saw the articles for the first time when Ogasawara from Sumitomo Construction came to persuade him to sell the dojo and showed him the newspaper.

He did not know what other places were involved in this large-scale redevelopment project.

“Let me check the old newspapers…” When Kazuma was about to turn around, he heard a knock on the door.

He frowned and looked at the clock on the wall. It was not even seven o’clock yet.

Who would come to visit so early?

He glanced at Chiyoko and met her gaze.

Chiyoko asked, “Could it be the yakuza again?”

“No idea. By the way, where’s the chicken they sent yesterday? Didn’t you say that you wanted to roast it with teriyaki sauce?”

“Oops, it’s still in the fridge. I forgot about it after leaving it in there.” Chiyoko clicked her tongue. “Will they give us another chicken today?”

Kazuma shrugged. “I’ll open the door. Don’t come out.”

Then, he walked toward the entryway.

The person outside the door had his manners. He had been ringing the doorbell at just the right frequency for the homeowner to open the door without making people feel annoyed.

Kazuma opened the door. “Who is it?”

He looked suspiciously at the two suited office workers standing at the door.

Yakuza members would not dress up like this. Flamboyance and boldness were what they aimed for.

Besides, the two of them did not wear any emblems.

The leader had a long face like that of a donkey.

Once Kazuma came out, he immediately bowed and handed over his name card.

“Young Master Kiryuu, it’s an honor to meet you.”

Kazuma took the business card and took a glance.

Ito Yuusaku, Head of Relocation Department, Sumitomo Construction

Wasn’t this the new department that Ogasawara had mentioned yesterday that would take over the negotiations with the Kiryuu family?

It’s a surprise that they had come so early.

Kazuma replied, “Nice to meet you, Ito-san. Sorry that I didn’t prepare a name card to return to you. Please forgive me.”

“No problem. We know very well who you are, sir.” Ito smiled at Kazuma. His smile was sincere, closing the distance between them at once.

Kazuma even felt that Ito’s smile was much more amiable than Ogasawara’s.

“I didn’t know you have to start work so early?” Kazuma asked the question that he was most interested in.

“Of course not. We decided to work overtime so as to meet you before you go to school.” Ito was still all-smiles. “May I ask about the progress of persuading your sister?”

Kazuma nodded. “It’s done. We agree to sell the dojo.”

“That’s awesome. I have already prepared the contract. All you need to do is sign it. Credibility is the key in our company, and we will never do anything that violates the contract.”

As he spoke, Ito Yuusaku opened his briefcase and handed the contract to Kazuma. He must have done that many times to be able to do it this smoothly.

Kazuma received the contract. He was a commercial representative in his past life, after all, so he would not make the mistake of signing a contract without looking at it carefully. “I would like to read it carefully. Please come in and have a seat. Chiyoko, prepare tea.”

“Oh, who’s here?” Chiyoko stuck her head out from the kitchen and looked at the entryway. She immediately understood.

It seemed like even though she had agreed to sell the dojo, she still held grudges for the staff of Sumitomo Construction.

“Please forgive my sister’s rude manners. She’s still unhappy about your company,” Kazuma explained.

Ito smiled and said, “That’s fine. We are used to it.”

Kazuma led Ito and his subordinate into the living room. It was only then that Kazuma realized that the man beside Ito had the strength of Karate 4.

He could not help but feel puzzled. Why did he bring a fighter here?

However, since he was about to sell the dojo, Kazuma decided not to bother about these details.

After they were seated, Kazuma flipped open the contract and started to read it carefully.

It was a normal land acquisition contract. In order to avoid being cheated by the capitalists when selling the dojo, Kazuma had studied the relevant Japanese laws after coming here. Although he was not an expert, he should be able to tell whether there were any obvious traps in the agreement.

They didn’t seem to be playing any tricks. Kazuma heaved a sigh of relief and was about to sign. Suddenly, he noticed that there was something wrong with the purchase price, which he hadn’t been paying much attention to.

He didn’t look at it carefully because he thought that they had already agreed on the price. Seventy million yen. Although Ogasawara had warned him yesterday that Sumitomo Construction might not be offering him the same price in the future, Kazuma thought that it wouldn’t be too low either.

However, he was in disbelief when he saw the price. It was actually five million yen.

In fact, the Kiryuu family’s dojo was rather spacious. It was obvious that the Kiryuu family had been rich before.

That was why Ogasawara had agreed to raise the price to 70 million yen.

Even if Sumitomo Construction bought the house at 70 million yen, they would still make a profit in the future in the 1980s’ Tokyo. Soon, the price of land in the city would skyrocket—it had actually already started to rise.

But five million yen was far less than the average price that any landowner was willing to list on the market. It was basically daylight robbery.

At this moment, Chiyoko came in with tea. “The tea is here… Brother, what’s wrong?”

Kazuma raised his hand to stop Chiyoko, who was about to serve tea. “Hold on.”

Chiyoko stood at the door with the tray of tea set and teapot, looking at Kazuma in confusion.

Kazuma questioned Ito directly. “Ito-san, what’s with the price?”

“Is there a problem with the price?” Ito was shocked. He quickly took the contract and looked at it carefully. Then, he apologized immediately. “I’m sorry. I’m very sorry. The clerk who typed this document probably made a mistake. Your house is definitely worth more than five million yen.”

Kazuma stared at him. He had a bad feeling.

Ito Yuusaku smiled again and said, “It should be seven million yen. We will change it back immediately.”