manynovel Chapter 86 The Belated JK and the Snow of the North
Chapter 86 The Belated JK and the Snow of the North
Los Angeles, mid-April 1988.
The California sun, like molten gold, generously spills onto Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The palm leaves here are glossy, and the air is filled with the aroma of expensive leather, the bitter scent of freshly ground coffee, and the faint smell of gasoline left by a large convertible sports car passing by.
This is not just a shopping street; it's the runway for Vanity Fair.
Today, this runway welcomed an extremely bizarre combination.
Leading the way were two young women from the East. One wore a wide-brimmed straw hat, dark sunglasses that covered most of her face, and her beige trench coat swayed gently with her steps. Her fingertips casually traced patterns in the air, as if she were surveying the world. The other wore glasses and, although dressed in an expensive Chanel suit, carried an incongruous canvas bag and held a list full of product models in her hand. She was darting back and forth between the stores like a rabbit.
But that's not the most eye-catching thing.
What truly caught the attention of the passing American socialites and Hollywood stars were the four men following behind them.
They were four burly men dressed in dark, custom-made suits, wearing sunglasses and wireless headsets, exuding an aura of "keep away." They looked like professional assassins who had just stepped out of a gangster movie set, or Secret Service agents responsible for protecting the president.
However, at this moment, the image of these four tough guys is suffering a devastating blow.
"Fujita, make sure you hold onto that carefully; it's for Father."
Satsuki stopped in front of an antique shop called "The Velvet Rope" and gave the order without turning her head.
"Yes, Miss."
Fujita's expression remained as cold and steely as ever, as if he were on some kind of bomb disposal mission. But instead of a gun, he was incongruously holding a huge, almost waist-high, pink flamingo specimen—the one Satsuki had casually bought at a curio shop because she thought its "eyes were wise." The flamingo's slender neck draped softly over Fujita's broad shoulders, swaying with his movements.
To his left, another guard was struggling to maintain his balance. He was carrying a tall stack of shoeboxes, topped with a seemingly fragile, nineteenth-century-style stained glass lamp. He had to be careful with every step, as if afraid the three-thousand-dollar lamp would fall and shatter.
"Hey! Watch out for that box over there!"
Amy burst out of a high-end electronics store, waving a receipt in her hand, panting.
"The oscilloscopes in there are very sophisticated! They're HP's latest model!"
The third guard carried two huge cardboard boxes, marked with the fragile symbol of precision instruments. The heavy professional equipment made the muscles in his arms taut, but he still managed to free up a finger to hook several plastic bags filled with the latest US version of Nintendo game cartridges.
As for the last guard, his design is the most exaggerated.
On his back was a longboard with hand-painted graffiti he had just bought from a surf shop, in his left hand he carried two cases of Napa Valley wine from California, and in his right hand he carried a green parrot in a cage that was squawking loudly—which Amy bought because she thought it was amazing that it could say "Hello World".
Four elite bodyguards, enough to make the yakuza steer clear of the streets of Tokyo, had now become mobile shelves for these two girls.
"Saionji-kun, did we... buy a little too much?" Amy asked cautiously. "That specimen looks really strange, and it's so heavy. The shipping must have cost a lot, right?"
Looking at the four men behind her, almost buried under the goods, Amy finally felt a pang of conscience. She glanced down at the long bill in her hand; the numbers on it made her wince.
"Is it a lot?"
Satsuki took off her sunglasses and glanced at the reflection in the shop window.
"This is just the beginning, Amy."
"As for shipping costs? We have our own planes, so shipping costs are zero."
She turned and walked into a collectible store that sells Hollywood movie props.
"Since we're here, we should bring back some local specialties and souvenirs. Isn't that a Japanese tradition? Besides..."
Satsuki pointed to the original Darth Vader helmet from the Star Wars movie, priced at $50,000, which was in the store.
"That thing, placed in the rest area of the Akasaka Pink Building, should be quite intimidating."
"Buy it. Fujita, you still have one hand free, right?"
Fujita glanced at his left hand, which was covered with shopping bags, and then at the dark helmet. His lips twitched slightly.
"...Yes, Miss."
He extended his left pinky finger expressionlessly and hooked it onto the beautifully packaged bag handed to him by the shop assistant.
Satsuki has only one criterion for buying souvenirs—they have to look pleasing to the eye. She doesn't care if she's been ripped off; as long as she's happy, that's all that matters.
Of course, such behavior also greatly exacerbated Americans' stereotypes of the Japanese during the bubble economy period, and elevated them to a whole new level.
……
4 PM. Santa Monica Airport.
The brand-new Gulfstream G4 "Midnight Ghost" sat quietly on the runway, its deep blue fuselage gleaming coldly in the California sunset.
Inside the cabin.
The originally minimalist, high-end business interior has now been completely ruined by the mountain of spoils.
Darth Vader's helmet sat on the expensive walnut conference table, next to Amy's oscilloscope and the still-squeaking parrot. The flamingo specimen had taken up its own spot, and Amy had even strapped it in. The carpet was covered with Chanel, Hermès, and various electronic product packaging boxes, making it impossible to find a place to step.
With a sudden surge of acceleration, the plane soared into the sky and flew level over the Pacific Ocean.
Amy kicked off the high heels that were making her feet hurt, and sprawled unceremoniously in the large leather airline chair, holding an iced can of cola in one hand and fiddling with the Game Boy prototype she had just bought in the other.
"Ah... I'm alive again."
Amy sighed and pressed the cold Coke can against her burning cheeks.
"Although shopping is tiring, that feeling of 'this is mine' is so great."
She turned her head and looked at Satsuki, who was sitting opposite her, flipping through a fashion magazine.
"Satsuki-chan, um..."
Amy hesitated for a moment, but then spoke.
"We've been away for so long this time, is everything at school... really okay?"
"Hmm?" Satsuki turned a page of the magazine and answered casually, "What did you say?"
"It's... the opening ceremony."
Amy counted the days on her fingers, a look of relief at the "fait accompli" on her face, but also a hint of worry about the future.
"Today is the 15th. Sheng Hua's opening ceremony was on the 8th. We've missed it for a whole week."
"That day I called my mom, and she said the school had sent a notice to our home asking why we were absent without reason. Although my family helped to deflect the issue, saying it was an 'important family overseas study program,' but..."
Amy sighed, her eyes somewhat unfocused.
"A freshman who skipped the entrance ceremony is probably a first in the history of St. Hua University, right? I think when we get back, we'll definitely become the talk of the school. 'Those two arrogant freshmen who don't even give face to the chairman of the board'... Just thinking about it makes my stomach hurt."
Although she said her stomach hurt, her body betrayed her by shifting her weight in the seat to find a more comfortable position.
"But then again, since we've already missed our chance, there's nothing we can do about it."
Amy took a big gulp of Coke and burped.
"Anyway, I don't think about those worries when I'm traveling. Now that I'm finally going back, that feeling of 'getting back on track' is quite reassuring. Even though the teachers will nag me, at least I can sleep on my own tatami mats and eat taiyaki near the school..."
After spending half a month in this unfamiliar country, experiencing the brainstorming of Silicon Valley and the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, Amy's tech-geek heart had already begun to miss the orderly, even somewhat rigid, pace of life in Tokyo.
"Safe?"
Satsuki put down the magazine in her hand.
She picked up the cup of black tea in front of her, blew on it gently, and looked at Amy with a half-smile over the rim of the cup.
"Amy, are you misunderstanding something?"
"Huh?" Amy paused, stopping her game console in her hand. "What's the misunderstanding?"
"Who said we were going back to Tokyo?"
Satsuki's voice was soft, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet cabin.
Amy froze.
She blinked, thinking she had misheard, or that the noise from the airplane engine was interfering with her hearing.
"No...not going back to Tokyo? But...isn't the plane flying west? Once we cross the Pacific, it's Japan, isn't it?"
"We're flying to Japan."
Satsuki pressed the call button on the armrest.
"Captain, could you please confirm our current course and destination?"
The captain's steady American English came through the loudspeaker, tinged with a slight static:
"Current heading: Northwest. Destination: New Chitose Airport. Estimated arrival time: 3 hours."
"New Chitose...New Chitose?!"
Amy sprang up from her chair, nearly hitting her head on the overhead luggage rack. Forgetting to rub her head, she stared at Satsuki in horror.
"Hokkaido?! Why Hokkaido?!"
She pointed to the pile of shopping bags, then to her thin spring clothes.
"We bought so much stuff, shouldn't we go home and put it away first? And... and even though we've taken leave from school, we can't stay away forever! I haven't done my math homework! And I have a physics test next week!"
"I thought we were going back to 'turn ourselves in' and get extra lessons, but it turns out you're going to take me... to skip school?"
Amy felt her worldview was collapsing.
This is not "getting back on track" at all; it's clearly flooring the gas pedal on the road of going against the grain!
"Operation?"
Satsuki raised an eyebrow, as if she had heard some alien term.
"You can have Fujita find a few people to write that for you. As for the physics test... do you need to review?"
"This isn't about studying! It's about attitude!" Amy clutched her head. "Saionji-kun, have you forgotten we're still students?"
"I haven't forgotten."
Satsuki stood up, walked to the pile of messy goods, and pulled out a rolled-up map.
"However, the air in Tokyo is too polluted right now."
She pushed the helmet aside and spread the map out on the table.
"In Tokyo in April, the cherry blossoms have long since faded, and the streets are covered with mud from the crushed petals that are almost rotting. Moreover, with the start of the new semester, those so-called ladies from prestigious families will surely be holding some pointless tea parties, comparing whose vacation was more luxurious and whose dress was custom-made in Paris."
Satsuki's fingers slid across the map, a look of weariness in her eyes.
"I don't want to hear that nonsense, and I don't want to smell that fake perfume."
"I want to see snow."
Her finger was pressed on the northernmost point of the map.
"Hokkaido. Niseko and Furano."
Amy leaned closer and looked at the dense contour lines on the map, a sense of foreboding rising in her heart.
"Shall we go skiing? But it's already mid-April... the snow should have melted by now, right?"
"The snow in Hokkaido doesn't melt easily."
Satsuki picked up a red pen and heavily circled the two place names.
"Moreover, we're not going there for fun. We're going there to 'claim land'."
"Land grabbing?" Amy's voice was a little unsteady.
"Amy, what do you think is the most expensive thing in Tokyo right now?"
Land? Stocks?
"Yes. But the land in Tokyo has already been divided up almost completely. Yoshiaki Tsutsumi bought it, Mitsui bought it, and I bought it too."
Satsuki's fingers tapped lightly on the map.
"But what will people in the city want to do when they have money?"
"Buy more stuff?"
"No. They'll want to 'escape'."
Satsuki looked at Amy.
"After a person buys designer brands in Ginza, drinks foreign liquor in Roppongi, and gets a beauty treatment in Akasaka, he will find that there is nothing in the city that can excite him anymore."
"They crave nature. They crave that extreme, pure, and money-money-sold 'wildness'."
"The best powder snow, the best hot springs, the freshest milk and sea urchins."
"This is the last luxury of the bubble era—'experience'."
Satsuki pointed her finger at Niseko's location.
"That place is still a wasteland that only Australian backpackers know about."
"But I want to build a kingdom there."
"The best ski resort in all of Asia, a secluded hot spring accessible only to members, and more..."
She paused, a glint of shrewdness flashing in her eyes.
"There are also integrated farms and ranches that can produce the highest quality domestic ingredients."
"And organic farms that supply The Club and all our upscale restaurants."
"We need to control the source."
"In SA Group's portfolio, 'clothing' includes Uniqlo and S-Collection, 'transportation' includes this aircraft and logistics company, and 'entertainment' includes karaoke and entertainment companies."
"Now, we need to make up for 'food' and 'sleep'."
Amy was stunned.
She looked at the girl in front of her, who was even younger than herself.
One second they were discussing trivial matters at school, and the next second the topic turned to how to build an agricultural and tourism empire in Hokkaido.
Moreover, judging from Satsuki's tone, this was not a spur-of-the-moment decision at all.
"Saionji-kun..." Amy asked timidly, "You didn't... plan this all along, did you?"
"certainly."
Satsuki took a document out of her briefcase.
"Three months ago, a special team from Saionji Real Estate Department was already stationed in Hokkaido."
"They don't buy buildings, nor do they buy existing resorts. They only buy one thing—wasteland."
"Those abandoned farms due to poor transportation, those forests with only trees."
"We have already bought nearly 500 hectares."
Five hundred hectares.
Amy gasped.
In other words, while she was at school worrying about not finishing her homework, Satsuki had already claimed a small country in the northern lands.
"So... what are we going to do?"
"Go and inspect."
Satsuki closed the file.
"Go check out my territory. And while you're at it..."
She pointed to several unopened boxes in the corner.
"Try on the new clothes."
"That box contains S-Collection's new winter products, which use the latest high-tech insulating fibers. It's perfect for us to be among the first testers."
"..."
Amy was completely convinced.
They even prepared the clothes. This was clearly a premeditated kidnapping.
"Attention passengers, the aircraft is about to begin its descent."
The captain's voice rang out again.
"Destination: New Chitose Airport. Ground temperature: -3 degrees Celsius. Moderate snowfall. Please fasten your seatbelts."
Satsuki turned her head and looked out the window.
The plane passed through the thick clouds.
The view below has changed.
It's no longer the vibrant gold and blue of California, nor the gray concrete jungle of Tokyo.
Instead, there was a vast, boundless, silvery-white world.
Heavy snow blanketed the undulating mountains, and the coniferous forests stood like rows of black soldiers guarding the snowfield. The last rays of the setting sun shone on the frozen surface of the Chitose River, reflecting a cold and sacred purple light.
"arrive."
Satsuki said softly.
With a dull thud as the landing gear lowered, the fuselage vibrated slightly.
The massive tires touched the ground, stirring up the snow powder that had accumulated on the runway, forming puffs of white mist behind the wings.
The plane glided along the snow track and eventually came to a slow stop on the empty tarmac.
The hatch opened.
A brisk, refreshing wind, carrying the scent of pine and the smell of snow, swept in.
That's the taste of the North.
Satsuki stood up and tightened her trench coat.
She walked to the cabin door and looked down at the land covered in white snow.
Before the heatwave from Tokyo reached this place.
Beneath this silent snowfield.
Another enormous seed is about to be buried in the soil.
"Let's go, Amy."
Satsuki turned around and smiled at Amy, who was still frantically putting on her down jacket.
"Welcome to my kingdom."
Snowflakes landed on her hair and melted instantly.
In the distance, the mountains of Hokkaido stood silently in the twilight, awaiting the conquest of this young queen.