Conan: Rice Flower Spring

Chapter 408, Question 402: How much kickback did he take?

"Then I'll leave it to you, Uncle Lin. Since Xiaolan wants to become famous in the detective industry quickly, I'll give her a hand!"

What Sonoko Suzuki didn't say was that if Ran could really solve the request that Ryoma Hayashi had brought her, she would naturally wish her friend well.

But if Xiaolan doesn't have the ability to solve the request, then she'll have to have a good talk with Xiaolan.

No matter the reason, forcing yourself to do something you're not good at will not yield good results.

Especially given this "urgent" situation, the already pessimistic outlook might become even worse.

If it were anything else, Sonoko Suzuki might not have been in such a hurry to persuade Ran Mouri, but Ran Mouri was eager to become a detective.

How long has it been since the last mystery fanatic went to school?

Everyone else at school assumed that Shinichi Kudo had asked the teacher for leave to handle some difficult request.

But as Ran Mouri's best friend, how could she not know what was going on?

Even Ran hasn't seen Shinichi Kudo in so long? What kind of troublesome request is so complicated that he doesn't even have time to meet his girlfriend?
Her sudden disappearance and constant hiding mean that something must have happened. Sonoko Suzuki has no right to speak.

There's already a bad example around her, so Sonoko Suzuki can't just stand by and watch her best friend jump into a fire pit, can she?
Honestly, having Shinichi Kudo as a living hell is already tough enough; adding another one like Sono would be too much for Ran to handle.

"Okay, I'll help Ran find a suitable commission. Sonoko, you should also advise Ran that commissions aren't something you can rush."

"There aren't as many detectives as there are in a rush, and being in such a hurry doesn't seem to help, does it?"

Ryoma's words reassured Sonoko Suzuki; it was better for Ryoma to find the job than for Ran Mouri to take on those "unknown" jobs.

After Suzuki Sonoko left the base, Hayashi Ryoma instructed his men to keep an eye out for any suitable requests.

It's the kind of commission that has a huge impact—either the client has a high level of influence or the target of the investigation has a high level of influence.

In short, there must be a major client and a major target of investigation; otherwise, how can the detective's influence spread?
However, this commission was obviously not something that could be completed in a short time, and before they knew it, New Year's Day was fast approaching.

As the year draws to a close, it's time to go door-to-door to collect the debts accumulated throughout the year.

Of course, Lin Longma did not need to personally handle such work, and Yixinhui did not involve lending business.

These kinds of businesses that skirt the edge of legality and operate in a gray area are usually handled by the execution department.

It was obvious that this was a "request for help" from the executive department, since they hadn't received enough manpower since that incident.

There was no other way; Gin was afraid that if he expanded as before, his men would be filled with Rum's people again.

Even the executive department now has some requirements for recruiting people.

But it doesn't matter. Tokyo has a lot of people, though. There are plenty of people who can't find jobs, and plenty of people who are unhappy with their lives.

There will always be some people who are exceptionally talented in the field of crime.

As a newbie, he's passable as a thug or a security guard. But he's not suited for debt collection.
With such a large sum of money in front of this group of "scoundrels," even Gin couldn't guarantee that they wouldn't take the risk.

Therefore, some relatively large debt collection tasks were transferred to Lin Longma's Yixin Society.

Even Gin had to admit that, in terms of the reliability of his subordinates, Ryoma Hayashi's subordinates were much more reliable than those of the Executive Department.

This "accident" happened to Lin Longma's reliable subordinate. No, to be precise, it was the target of Lin Longma's debt collection efforts.
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"How much money does that bastard surnamed Hiruta owe the Enforcement Department?" Lin Longma, who had just gotten out of the car, gave his subordinate a look of utter confusion.

"Chairman, that person owes the Executive Department 8 million yen," the subordinate responded immediately. Lin Longma paused, repeating the figure his subordinate had just stated: "8 million yen?"

"Yes, President."

What does 800 million yen mean? At the end of the 20th century, the exchange rate between the yen and the dollar was 113.91:1.

That is, 1 US dollar is equivalent to approximately 114 Japanese yen.

8 million yen is equivalent to 702 million US dollars. That's 702 million US dollars in 1999.

"What does this person do for a living that would allow the executive department to lend him so much money?"

Even loan sharks wouldn't lend you money just because you ask. It's only 99; it's not time for big spending yet.

Moreover, even if you use your body parts as collateral, dismantle and calculate the costs, a person wouldn't be worth $702 million.

The only thing Lin Longma could imagine was that this person might have a special profession and a high repayment ability.

For example, a cashier who manages the company's accounts, a security guard on a bank's armored truck, or a vault guard.
Yes, these are all jobs where it's relatively easy for someone to steal from another job.

It's not that Lin Longma looks down on the executive department; it's just that those are legitimate, high-paying jobs with their own channels.

Even if short-term cash flow is needed, it won't be the turn of this makeshift team in the execution department.

Although this world is a huge makeshift operation, there are still makeshift operations that are better than the executive department.

People judge others by their appearance. Even in a makeshift team, who wouldn't want to pick someone good-looking?

“This borrower is a cameraman at Nichiuri TV,” the subordinate replied to Ryoma after glancing at the file.

This sentence made Lin Longma stop in his tracks, and then he looked at his subordinates in confusion: "Photographer, are you serious?"

"It's true, President."

"How much kickback did Gin's men take on this deal? They approved a $702 million loan for a photographer?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Longma realized that the $702 million loan was not just the principal, but also included the interest.

Even considering the principal of this one deal, $180 million, that amount is staggering enough for a photographer.

Even if he were a cameraman for a Japanese TV sports channel, it wouldn't make a difference.

It's uncertain how the photographer was able to repay the principal, let alone how the money was lent out.

"Where is the person who issued the loan? That bastard must have taken a kickback. Get a few people from the operations department to get that kickback back for me."

"Chairman, the lender died in the recent purge of the executive department." The subordinate was also helpless; there had been far too many unsolved cases like this lately.

There's nothing we can do about it. After all, everyone in the department has ulterior motives, so all that's left is to make money.

Everything else is fake; only the money in your hand is real.

With this kind of atmosphere, these "undercover" agents from the intelligence department naturally worked themselves to the bone to make money, and without any scruples.

(End of this chapter)