What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 488 Suicide
A flurry of falsifications by Japanese raw material suppliers within a week has finally roused the local media.

The situation has already collapsed, and if it collapses again, that's all it will be like. Now is the best time to make a statement.

On Saturday afternoon, Yurina Iguchi, a star anchor for Nikkei CNBC, angrily denounced three companies for fraud on her program.

Known as the "scalpel of Japanese financial news," she has always specialized in corporate strategy and economic analysis and has interviewed many business leaders, making her particularly indignant this time.

"The foundation of Japanese manufacturing is rotting!"

"Three scams in a week! Kobe Steel, Toray Industries, Mitsubishi Materials—this is hardly an accidental quality oversight! It's a complete collapse of our proud manufacturing industry!"

“Those easily altered test reports are not mistakes, but illegal acts tacitly approved by management. In order to cut costs and secure orders, they trampled on craftsmanship and turned JIS certification into a piece of worthless paper that only deceived themselves!”

"This behavior, which tarnishes the reputation of 'Made in Japan,' damages the foundation of the industry more than any trade deficit."

"Global media attention has been focused on European automakers for some time now, with many local media outlets even cheering for their competitors' troubles. But hasn't Mitsubishi Motors encountered any problems? And what about Nissan Motors?"

"Now, even these fundamental upstream companies are starting to cut corners. The so-called industrial glory will only become a bubble destined to burst!"

Yuri Iguchi's outburst represents the attitude and stance of a considerable number of Japanese media outlets.

Seeing one scam after another is a perfectly normal reaction.

However, some media outlets have advocated for a different interpretation. Nobuhiro Murao, the chief anchor of NHK's flagship late-night news program, called on the public to be more tolerant of businesses, believing that Toray Industries and Mitsubishi Materials had extraordinary courage to confess at this time.

Nobuhiro Murao himself has a professional background as an economist and has served in the Japanese Ministry of Finance. He is also known for his calm and sharp hosting style, but his stance this time is quite contradictory.

"The actions of Toray Industries and Mitsubishi Materials have successfully thwarted the ambitions of the mountain peak to shake up Japan's financial markets!"

"The actions of the 'Giant Crash' in Europe have already demonstrated its destructive power! The entire European automotive industry is now in chaos, the financial markets remain sluggish, and public trust continues to decline. This chain reaction is extremely frightening!"

"Toray and Mitsubishi are indeed at fault, but if they wait until Guo Shanfeng has gathered more evidence and suddenly launches an attack, it will not only devastate the stock prices of the two companies, but also erode the foundation of trust in the entire Japanese manufacturing industry, and consequently, the orders of thousands of upstream and downstream supporting companies."

"Compared to the greedy attacks of short sellers, this controlled disclosure is a smart way to stop losses, and it takes fearlessness to stand up!"

"It is not easy for companies to exchange short-term reputational pain for relative stability of the industrial chain, and it requires everyone's tolerance."

Nobuhiro Murao's remarks are similar to some previous statements in Europe, and immediately drew fierce debate and criticism. However, he himself has repeatedly spoken out on social media, firmly explaining his thoughts.

As a media professional, Nobuhiro Murao was certainly aware of the interaction between the mountain peak and Europe's exonerating rhetoric, but he further refined this logical chain.

"You can't trust what the short sellers say. If Guoshanfeng says he doesn't have more evidence, does that mean he doesn't have any? What if he's waiting for a better opportunity for his own profit?"

You can trust the words of the "King of Short Sellers," but you shouldn't trust them too much.

Yu Xingren, who lives in Lingang, witnessed the state of public opinion in Japan and found such remarks quite surreal.

In many cases, it seems that those who pass through mountains are able to take more responsibility than those who commit fraud.

As for the transformation from a master short-selling expert to a notorious short-selling demon, that's not surprising. When you're truly in that situation, you naturally can't remain calm.

Nobuhisa Murao's remarks did not receive a response from Yamamine.

Yu Xing even asked Xiao Ying about it, and received a three-word evaluation from her.

Neuropathy.

Liu Wanying was too lazy to pay attention to such excuses this time, and only planned to return to Red Falcon Capital after finishing her work and continue to act as a low-profile investor.

However, the storm stirred up by the trespassing in Japan has attracted the attention of a joint investigation team previously formed in Europe. They arrived in Tokyo on Sunday and are willing to share their information on the suspected trespassing offshore funding chain with the Japanese Financial Services Agency.

Yu Xing was surprised that this group of people were so serious, and then he became a little worried about the situation.

“There’s no major problem. It’s inherently difficult to short sell on a large scale in the Japanese market. This time, it’s just to help you raise funds for the domestic project of Silicon Carbon Data.” Liu Wanying has become somewhat accustomed to regulatory tracking. “The information is just sitting there anyway. If we don’t use it now, it might be wasted someday. Those media outlets that try to excuse us have imagined the king of short selling to be too powerful. They talk about impact, disruption, and chain reactions. I now think that electric vehicles will have a more profound impact on the industry in the next ten years.”

The king of short sellers may be very powerful, but it's also somewhat impossible for him to be so powerful.

"It's profound, but I don't know if the Silicon Carbon Group can live up to that profundity." Yu Xing was somewhat surprised by Xiao Ying's views on industrial development. "Let's take a break over Guoshanfeng, and you can come and see the booming development of Lingang together." Guoshanfeng has already used all its ammunition and is now facing investigations from the US, Japan, and Europe at varying levels.

Liu Wanying did not deny it. After the storm, it was indeed necessary to remain silent, both to avoid the limelight and to study changes in regulatory policies, while also gathering more clues about corporate fraud.

Yu Xing sat in his office, silently browsing public opinion about Guo Shanfeng. Bai Xiaosheng was naturally pleased to see the appearance of the "Demon King" from Japan, but was also surprised by the systemic fraud that was beginning to emerge in the industry.

Some people have also compiled a list of issues that have been brewing in Japan for years, the most typical being the Takata airbags, which have been the subject of reports questioning for several years and have also been the subject of lawsuits.

Yu Xing browsed through the relevant domestic analyses and casual conversations with great interest, when he suddenly noticed a comment tagging him.

"Doctor, Doctor, this 'Over-the-Mountain Peak' really has a strong presence in the automotive industry. From engines to diesel emissions to upstream material performance, I think the members of Over-the-Mountain Peak must be senior professionals related to the automotive industry. Doctor, what do you think?"

Yu Xingneng thinks this analysis is quite accurate.

He didn't pretend not to see it; instead, he happily joined in the discussion about the king of short sellers, reminding them, "Before reaching the peak, he also shorted internet companies and timber companies."

Yu Xing's point is simple: one cannot assume the industry's current position simply because of the recent short-selling targets of the mountain peak.

The post quickly became lively because of Yu Xing's appearance, and then someone joked: "Guoshanfeng is not just a couple of people. This group is from car companies, that group is from the Internet, and then there are forestry companies, or there are people who cross industries. For example, Doctor is also good at both cars and the Internet, which can also fit some of the characteristics of Guoshanfeng's past short selling."

When Yu Xing saw this, his heart still couldn't help but beat faster.

He was silent for a while, then chuckled and changed the subject to his hopes for career success: "I hope I can make the car repair business a success, otherwise the previous company will have been sold for nothing."

The topic shifted, and a casual chat about cars ensued.

Yu Xing left the forum, stared at the screen for a while, and then thought about the current situation of the mountain peak. He felt that it was probably possible to maintain this state for the rest of his life.

Perhaps, when I'm about to die, I can secretly write it into my autobiography.

Yu Xing had this thought in his mind, but immediately decided not to write an autobiography.

During my free time over the weekend, I only glanced at the public opinion surrounding the short-selling of Guoshanfeng.

By Monday, Liu Wanying had already boarded her return flight. The chain reaction in Japan's automotive supply chain had once again affected major players.

Perhaps due to public pressure, perhaps because they believe that such an opportunity makes it easier to avoid punishment for the masses, or perhaps because they truly possess the fearless spirit touted by the media, Takata Corporation of Japan, which even Chinese netizens felt had already shown signs of trouble, announced the completion of its internal independent investigation into its products, revealing that some products that violated the company's engineering standards had entered the market for car manufacturers.

According to President Shigehisa Takada at the afternoon press conference, the company had provided test reports to automakers that contained incomplete and inaccurate data.

He also bowed in apology and expressed deep regret for the consequences of the accident caused by the Takata airbags, promising to compensate the families and implement strict internal reforms.

The industrial environment was like this: Mitsubishi did it, Renault did it, Volkswagen did it, Daimler did it, Fiat did it, Kobe Steel, Toray Industries, Mitsubishi Materials all did it, and there were even claims that it thwarted Yamazaki's ambitions.

So why can't Takada do it?
But Takada really shouldn't do it.

To President Shigehisa Takada's surprise, just as he surrendered himself in the afternoon, he received statements from key customers such as Honda and Toyota terminating their cooperation by evening, followed by a series of similar reactions from other automakers.

The visual impact of airbags on consumers is far greater than the performance of steel or the strength of polyester filaments!

The hidden dangers caused by cost control in the production of these components are far more serious!

Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Justice is already adept at launching investigations, and there are even reports that it has demanded that Takata recall all its products.

On Tuesday, Takata's stock price experienced a 50% plunge, effectively halving its value, and was further impacted by a criminal investigation launched by Japan, as well as overwhelming criticism from the public.

Yu Xing and Liu Wanying watched the Takata Corporation's stock price plummet together in front of the computer.

Although I didn't make any profit from this shock, the chain reaction of not killing Bo Ren still gave me a sense of satisfaction.

"Takata seems to be on the verge of bankruptcy..." Yu Xing was unaware of Takata's financial situation, but based on his industry intuition, he felt that Takata's brand had plummeted from a symbol of safety to a source of death with its airbags.

Liu Wanying sighed, "This is really like a simple A in our industry. Takada committed suicide by his own hand. Your industry is really too interesting."

(End of this chapter)