Tokyo: Love Begins with Controlling the Rich Girl

[Connection Cooldown: 11 hours 59 minutes 03 seconds (Reset)]

Shimada Sho's consciousness returned to his body, and a series of light screen prompts popped up in front of him.

He lay on his desk, staring at the last newly added label, his feelings a mix of emotions.

"Transfer students," this system really does update in real time.

But the thought of possibly running into him at school gave Shimada Sho a real headache.

Online, because of anonymity, he can do whatever he wants without restraint.

But how can we play this offline?

At that time, they would be spending time on the same campus. Even though she didn't know him, that feeling…

Even if Yukine Kamishiro's transfer to another school was just a coincidence, it might be exposed if she's not careful in the future, right?

"Sho Shimada".

A cool female voice came from outside the classroom, interrupting his thoughts.

Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw Natsumi Yonekura standing at the door, holding a stack of test papers in her hand, her gaze fixed on him from behind her glasses.

"Come out for a bit, I need to catch up on my lessons."

"……Yes."

He resignedly stood up and walked out of the classroom amidst the sympathetic gazes of his classmates.

The make-up class during lunch break lasted forty minutes.

As expected of the homeroom teacher, Natsumi Yonekura was even more meticulous in explaining honorifics in Chinese than Yukine Kamishiro. She could break down a single question into five knowledge points, and each knowledge point could be used to derive a series of example sentences.

Shimada Sho was dizzy from listening, but he had to admit that it was much more effective than figuring it out on his own.

After his afternoon classes ended, he didn't go to the convenience store as usual.

Takikawa Rena had given him advance notice today, saying she had something to do that evening and asked him to come an hour later.

Perfect timing, he can go and take care of something.

Shimada Sho packed his schoolbag and left the classroom. As he went downstairs, he passed by the door of Class A and glanced inside.

Hoshino Yuuki was not there; her seat was empty.

He looked away and walked straight out of the school gate.

Today is Friday, tomorrow is the weekend, and there are still two days until next week's quiz.

Before that, he had to do something else he had been thinking about for a long time.

Across from the convenience store is a department store; the first floor is a fresh food supermarket, and the second floor sells daily necessities and clothing.

Shimada Sho went inside and went straight to the second floor with a clear goal in mind.

He first bought himself a few clothes for the changing season.

T-shirt, shirt, two pairs of trousers, and a light jacket.

The old clothes he had worn before were almost transparent from washing, and his sister had to wear his pajamas when she came to stay, which was really unreasonable.

Then he went to the food section, picked out a nice-looking gift box of pastries, and bought two bottles of plum wine and a basket of fruit.

When it came time to pay, the cashier quoted him a number that made his mouth water.

Shimada Sho paid by card without changing his expression.

After paying off his debts, he still had more than two million yuan in savings.

This amount of money isn't much for a family, but it's enough to buy some things for Aunt Island Flower.

Carrying large and small bags out of the mall, Shimada Sho glanced at his phone; it was 5:40, still early.

He walked to the bus stop, took the bus back to drop off his things, and then rushed to work at the convenience store.

Tomorrow is the weekend, and he's going to visit Aunt Island Flower.

By the way, give her some more money.

This can be considered a reward for the care I've given her over this period of time.

After finishing his work at the convenience store, Shimada Sho ran home.

The lights in the apartment were off; Yuzuki didn't come today.

Taking advantage of a rare opportunity, Shimada Sho lay back on the bed, opened the system, and connected to Tenkai Chizuru.

[Do you want to connect to the character "Tenkai Chizuru"?]

"Yes."

[Should we enable "Smart Managed" mode?]

"Yes."

After confirming the two options in a row, Shimada Sho's vision went black.

When I opened my eyes again, I was already in a familiar hotel suite.

Warm yellow wall lamps, off-white carpet, and the bustling night view of Tokyo outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Tenkai Chizuru sat cross-legged on the sofa, holding a cushion in her arms, with several documents spread out on the coffee table in front of her.

She was wearing a loose nightgown, her hair casually tied into a bun, revealing her fair neck.

"System!" Her joyful voice rang in my mind, "You've finally arrived! I've been waiting for you for so long!"

Shimada Sho took over the body, leaned back on the sofa, and glanced at the documents on the coffee table.

There were several contracts and a handwritten list, the handwriting messy, as if it had been jotted down in a hurry.

"What are you looking at?" he asked casually.

"It's what the system asked me to find out!" Tenkai Chizuru's voice was filled with the excitement of taking credit. "I asked around and found out that there are several loan sharking organizations in Shinjuku Ward. The biggest one is called 'Owada Financial,' which specializes in small loans and has shockingly high interest rates."

Shimada Sho raised an eyebrow.

He was familiar with the name Owada Financial.

When the original owner signed the guarantee contract, the IOU was stamped with the seal of this organization.

"Anything else?" he pressed.

“And…” Tenkai Chizuru picked up the handwritten list on the coffee table and read it aloud, “There is also one called ‘Dongxing Credit’, which specializes in real estate mortgage loans. I heard that it is backed by the Sumiyoshi-kai. There is also one called ‘Hyakunincho Shoji’, which ostensibly deals in used cars, but actually lends money. The interest rate is even higher than that of Owada.”

As Shimada Sho listened to her read out the details one by one, he gradually sketched out the map of Shinjuku Ward's underground financial network in his mind.

Owada, Tosei, and Hyakunincho are the three largest, and there are seven or eight smaller ones below them, each with its own territory and customer base.

"How much do you know about that Owada Financial?" he interrupted Tenkai Chizuru's report.

“Owada?” Tenkai Chizuru flipped through the documents in her hand. “This company seems to be the oldest. It has been operating in Shinjuku Ward for almost 20 years. I heard that the owner is called Owada Heavy Industries. He used to be an executive of the Sumiyoshi-kai. Later, he spun off and went into finance, specializing in small businesses and ordinary families that were rejected by banks for loans.”

What about their business model?

"It's... loan sharking." A hint of confusion lingered in Tianhai Chizuru's voice. "System, why are you asking this?"

"Answer the system's questions." Shimada Sho was too lazy to answer.

"Oh, oh!" Tenkai Chizuru quickly responded and continued to look through the documents. "The private investigator I hired said that Owada Financial's operating model is very mature. They don't directly rob people, but instead use legal contract traps to saddle people with huge debts, and then use negotiation to force debtors to use real estate to offset the debts."

On the surface, these appear to be legitimate debt restructurings, but in reality, they are disguised forms of plunder.

Shimada Sho's gaze sharpened.

Contractual traps, legitimate debt restructuring, are disguised forms of real estate plunder.

Isn't this exactly the situation that Sasaki Nozomi's family encountered?

The principal of two million yuan ballooned to over six million yuan after the loan was overdue, and then they forced her to use her shop to pay off the debt.

"What else did the private investigator say?" he continued.

“He also said…” Tenkai Chizuru turned to the last page, “Owada Financial has acquired a lot of shops and residences in recent years, mainly concentrated in the Hyakunincho and Okubo areas. Urban redevelopment is underway there, and land prices have been rising, so they are specifically targeting small businesses in that area.”

“Hyakunincho and Okubo…” Shimada Sho murmured the two place names.

Nozomi Sasaki's family lives in Higashi-Nakano 3-cho, right next to Okubo.

Although her shop is not in the core area, if the scale of urban redevelopment expands, it will inevitably affect that area sooner or later.

“Oh, right, the detective also mentioned something.” Tenkai Chizuru suddenly remembered something. “He said that Owada Financial was recently investigating a debtor, and they spent a lot of manpower on it, but for some reason, they suddenly stopped last week.”

Shimada Sho's heart skipped a beat. "What's the name of the person who owes the debt?"

"It seems his surname is Shimada, but I couldn't find his full name." A hint of confusion lingered in Tenkai Chizuru's voice. "System, do you know this person?"

Shimada Sho's mood was strange.

His surname is Shimada, ruling out the possibility of sharing the same surname, so isn't this him?

When he went to Owada Financial to repay the money last week, the middle-aged man from Owada Heavy Industries was unusually polite.

Not only did they not mention interest, they also returned the IOU and guarantee contract to him intact.

He felt something was wrong at the time, but he was still immersed in the relief of paying off his debts and didn't think about it too much.

Now it seems that this matter is far more complicated than he thought.

"What have you found out about Owada Heavy Industries?" Shimada Sho suppressed the questions surging in his heart and continued to ask.

“Owada Heavy Industries…” Tenkai Chizuru flipped through the files. “The detective said that this person is very low-key and rarely shows his face. He delegates all his business to his subordinates.”

He has a son named Takashi Owada, who was given a suspended sentence last year for assault and is now helping his father manage part of the business.

I heard this person has a very violent temper and often punches and kicks his subordinates.

"anything else?"

"And another thing is... Takashi Owada has recently set his sights on a confectionery shop and has sent his men to collect the money several times. The shop's owner seems to be sick and can't pay, so he has his men block the door every day and even threaten to take the shop away."

Shimada Sho clenched his fists involuntarily.

A pastry shop, owned by a sick woman.

Nozomi Sasaki once said that her mother had a heart condition and that her family's shop sold handmade confectionery.

"What's the name of that shop?" He lowered his voice unconsciously.

"It seems to be called... Nozomi Handmade Pastries, in Higashi-Nakano." Amami Chizuru read the words from the detective report. "It's a nice name."

Shimada Sho leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes, and pondered.

Owada Finance, Owada Takashi, Nozomi Handmade Confectionery.

All the clues match up.

The money that Nozomi Sasaki borrowed was from the same family he had owed.

The difference is that when he went to return the money, the other party was as polite as if he were seeing his own father, while Sasaki Nozomi's family was forced to their death.

why?

He had no connection whatsoever with Owada Financial.

The original owner was just an unlucky high school student who was tricked by a distant relative. He had no background and no value to the family.

Logically speaking, Ōwada Financial should have treated him the same way they treated Sasaki Nozomi, pushing him to the brink of death.

But the other party didn't, and not only did they not, they were also unusually polite.

Who did what behind the scenes?

"System?" Tenkai Chizuru's voice interrupted his thoughts, "Are you alright?"

"It's alright." Shimada Sho opened his eyes, his tone returning to the system's usual indifference. "This investigation was well done, and this system will keep its promise."

"Really!?" Chizuru Amami's voice instantly lit up with excitement. "That hypnosis phone..."

"Wait a minute." Shimada Sho opened the system panel, took out the [Hypnosis Phone (Fake)] from the inventory, and selected to extract it.

A soft light flashed, and a plain-looking smartphone appeared in his hand.

With its black casing and lit screen, it looks no different from any other mobile phone on the market.

"This...this is a hypnosis phone?" Tenkai Chizuru's voice trembled with excitement.

“Hmm.” Shimada Sho placed his phone on the coffee table. “It’s very simple to use. Show the screen to the target and say ‘Look at me,’ and the other person will fall into a brief daze.”