Chapter 513: Dinner

Late September 1991.

New York, Kennedy International Airport.

The sound of the engines had dropped from a high pitch to a dull, low roar. The subtle vibration of the fuselage passed into the seat back, and then from the seat back to Satsuki’s head.

The plane was decelerating and taxiing on the runway, the runway markings outside the porthole sweeping past her vision one by one, the intervals becoming slower and slower.

Emi was sitting in the window seat opposite, unfolding a copy of the Wall Street Journal that had been brought aboard during the stopover and refueling in Honolulu.

The newspaper had obviously been flipped through several times, and one corner had been creased by her pinching it.

"Satsuki-chan, this phrasing is so exaggerated."

Emi did not look up, her eyes still fixed on the content above.

"Which one?"

"This paragraph."

Emi pushed the newspaper forward slightly, pointing her thumb at a column report with a bold title in the middle of the page.

Satsuki took it and glanced at it.

The title read, "Saionji Satsuki Accepts Gutfreund’s Invitation, Personally Travels to New York—Salomon Crisis Ushering in a Turning Point?"

The first paragraph of the main text described her as "Salomon Brothers’ most important external ally," followed by nearly half a column reviewing the history of cooperation between Saionji and Salomon over the past three years, including the transaction scale of S.A. Investment, the operating mechanism of the Nikkei hedging positions, and the linkage between the two sides in the Asia-Pacific market.

The wording was very deliberate. Although it didn’t directly say "Saionji is preparing to put up money to save Salomon," every sentence kept implying it.

Satsuki turned the page again.

There were two more related reports behind it.

One article quoted news from "sources familiar with the negotiation process," stating that Saionji had confirmed to Salomon that the three-year cooperation agreement would not be adjusted for the time being.

The tone of the other article was even bolder, supposedly coming from an unnamed investment banking analyst who directly speculated that Satsuki might provide "billions of dollars in capital support or backup credit arrangements" to Salomon.

"Look at what this analyst says."

Emi leaned over, her finger sliding to that paragraph.

"’Billions of dollars’—how does he know? Is this word leaked by Salomon?"

"It’s not necessarily Salomon."

Satsuki folded the newspaper back.

"Numbers like this are estimated in the first place."

"How many investments Saionji has made in the United States over the years and how many acquisitions it has been negotiating in Japan recently—many things can be found out."

"Coupled with the fact that we have never reduced our business on Wall Street, anyone who knows a little bit about the situation can see that we still have plenty of liquidity in our hands."

She put the newspaper on the armrest.

"As for exactly how much there is, of course they don’t know."

"But to say whether Saionji can come up with billions of dollars in a short time—that’s not hard to guess."

After hearing this, Emi frowned and thought for a long while.

If she were asked to find the problem with the decoding model from dozens of channels of neural discharge data, or to take apart a program that could no longer run and readjust it, she would probably quickly figure out where to start.

But these things in the capital market were different.

Clearly no one knew how much money Saionji actually had left in its hands, yet based on a few investments, a few acquisitions, and a bunch of news from unknown sources, they could finally estimate a number that everyone felt was "about right."

Then as long as enough people believed this number, it would actually start to affect the market.

Emi thought for a while and still felt it was a bit convoluted.

"So they don’t actually know, they’re just guessing?"

"Right."

"And then everyone makes decisions based on what others guessed?"

Satsuki smiled slightly.

"Pretty much."

Emi’s brows furrowed even deeper.

"This isn’t rigorous at all. Can billions of funds be directed based purely on guessed data... You finance people are really so troublesome."

"Forget it, forget it. Then are these news good or bad for us?"

"It depends on who you ask."

Satsuki leaned back against the seat back, her gaze shifting from the newspaper to outside the porthole.

The lawns on both sides of the runway had already been tinged with the colors of early autumn, and the silhouette of the distant control tower emerged from beneath the thin clouds.

"For Gutfreund, these reports are naturally a good thing. He is dying for the whole world to know that Saionji is coming."

"Salomon doesn’t lack money on its books at all right now."

Emi raised her head.

"Market trust, that’s what they need."

"But now clients are running away, counterparties are tightening margins, the renewal ratio of commercial paper is lower week by week, and the credit limits given by banks are also being slashed."

"Everyone knows Salomon still has money in its hands, but no one is willing to continue believing in it anymore."

"So Gutfreund needs someone to stand up and say a word for him with practical actions—’This company is still worth dealing with.’"

Emi thought about it.

"He chose you."

"There aren’t actually many people he can choose."

The corners of Satsuki’s mouth twitched slightly.

"Those peers on Wall Street are actually quite happy to seize clients, poach traders, and ideally take away some market share right now. But if Salomon were to suddenly collapse tomorrow, they wouldn’t necessarily be happy either."

"Such a large trading book, so many repo and treasury operations—once they stop in a disorderly manner, the ones who have to clean up the mess in the end won’t just be Salomon itself."

"Banks are the same. They hope Salomon will stay alive and pay back the money it owes, but it’s unrealistic to ask them to publicly guarantee Gutfreund at a time like this."

"As for Washington—"

Satsuki paused slightly.

"What they most want to see right now is probably a Salomon that can still operate normally, is willing to cooperate with investigations, and won’t suddenly blow a hole in the treasury market."

"But this doesn’t mean they are willing to speak up for the current management."

Emi slowly nodded.

"So no one wants it to really collapse, but no one is willing to step forward first?"

"Pretty much."

Satsuki smiled slightly.

"To be able to sit opposite Gutfreund at this time, have enough weight, and not get dragged down by domestic American politics—"

She paused.

"There really aren’t many."

Emi flipped the newspaper to the back.

Below the financial section, there was also a short news item of less than half a column, with a tone completely different from the previous articles.

The title used was: "Japanese Capital Knocks Again—Will Saionji Become the Next Mitsubishi Estate?"

The content was not long, but it quoted the public statements of two members of the House of Representatives, the gist of which was "When the U.S. financial system encounters difficulties, it should prioritize relying on America’s own strength to rebuild trust rather than opening the door to foreign capital."

One representative’s words were even more blunt—he stated that he was not opposed to international cooperation, but could not accept a Japanese enterprise "taking the opportunity to buy U.S. assets" when Wall Street was most vulnerable.

After reading it, Emi’s expression turned somewhat ugly.

Now you guys don’t want to solve the problem yourselves, begging Satsuki-chan to come over and help, and you’re still making such snide remarks?

The Gulf of Mexico is also quite big, right? I just don’t know if America has that kind of "fine tradition" of Japan...

Satsuki didn’t have any special expression.

"Voices like this have always existed."

"It has been less than two years since Mitsubishi bought Rockefeller Center, and Sony’s acquisition of Columbia Pictures was even earlier. U.S. public opinion is naturally highly sensitive to the entry of Japanese capital."

Emi still felt somewhat displeased.

"But you’re not going to buy anything, making Satsuki-chan sound like she’s coming to loot a burning house..."

"They don’t care whether you actually bought anything or not."

Satsuki turned past the layout of the short news.

"Over the past few years, Japan has flaunted its wealth all over the world relying on having money, especially buying a bunch of things in the United States. Ordinary American people already had sentiments about the matter of ’Japanese people bringing money to buy America.’"

"Now Wall Street has problems of its own, and at this time a Japanese person flies over to say they want to talk about cooperation—how do you think they will feel?"

Emi did not answer, only pressing her lips into a line.

Satsuki glanced at her.

"However, this is also one of the reasons why our itinerary this time was arranged as a ’comprehensive inspection.’"

Satsuki picked up another document from the side, which was the public description summary of this trip to the United States.

"In the publicly announced schedule, besides Salomon which is the highest priority, Saionji’s energy assets in Texas need on-site confirmation of progress, and there are also several fund projects on Carlyle’s side to follow up on."

She turned to the next page.

"Then there is the research team you lead. Scientific research cooperation with American universities and research institutions regarding neural interfaces—these are all real projects, and public reports will also be arranged in the itinerary."

Emi nodded.

"Putting these activities together, the public image of the entire trip won’t just be ’a Japanese chaebol running over to talk about acquisitions while Wall Street is in trouble.’"

Satsuki put the material back on the table.

"Of course, what everyone cares about most in their hearts is definitely still Salomon."

"It’s just that if someone wants to package my coming to New York this time as ’a Japanese chaebol rushing in to bottom-fish while Wall Street is in trouble,’ he at least has to explain—why there are energy project inspections and university research cooperation in the same itinerary."

"These things can at least distract a portion of the attention."

The plane made a turn.

The runway markings outside the porthole disappeared, replaced by a narrower taxiway, and across the lawns on both sides, various passenger planes parked in the distance could still be seen.

Emi was silent for a moment, resting her hands on her knees.

"Then will Satsuki-chan save Salomon or not?"

Satsuki glanced at her.

"Yes."

The answer was very crisp and direct.

"Salomon still has a massive amount of valuable things right now."

"Traders, client networks, fixed-income businesses, clearing systems, institutional sales channels... things accumulated over decades."

"If it is allowed to suddenly collapse, overnight Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan will cart away all the valuable parts, leaving behind only a pile of unaccepted bad positions and legal disputes."

"We ourselves also have a fairly large portion of our positions still managed through Salomon. Changing counterparties in the short term would incur very high friction costs."

After hearing this, Emi turned the previous question over in her mind again.

She knew that when Satsuki answered "Yes," she never did so for just one reason.

Helping Salomon, preserving Saionji’s trading channels—all of these held true.

But based on her understanding of Satsuki, there must be something else.

It was just that Satsuki didn’t continue down that path, so she didn’t pursue it further.

Since Satsuki-chan didn’t tell her, there must be her reasons!

"Satsuki-chan, what you mentioned earlier... what was it called."

Emi changed directions.

"The capital circle?"

"Hmm?"

"What you told me in Tokyo before. You said that if this is handled well, Saionji’s future position in the United States will be different."

Satsuki thought about it.

Two days before departure, she had indeed briefly explained it to Emi once.

"The term capital circle is actually not very accurate."

She thought about how best to put it.

"You can understand it like this—"

"A large number of large-scale transactions happen in the U.S. every year, commonly including mergers and acquisitions, financing, restructuring, crisis management, and joint investments."

"And the amounts involved in these matters easily reach billions or even tens of billions of dollars. Therefore, the institutions and individuals capable of participating in such transactions over the long term are actually just this group."

"Investment banks, large funds, insurance companies, pensions, family capital. Through repeated cooperation and repeated games among them, a very stable relationship network has formed over time."

This time Emi understood some of it; it was probably similar to Japan’s domestic chaebols and academic cliques.

"Hmm... so Satsuki-chan wants to get in?"

"I want to transform Saionji from a ’client’ into a ’participant.’"

Emi tilted her head.

"Over the past few years, the things Saionji has done in the United States ultimately boil down to just one thing—bring money, invest it, and leave once profits are made."

Looking at the thirst-for-knowledge Emi, Satsuki didn’t mind popularizing some little knowledge for her.

"Whether it’s Salomon, Carlyle, or other partners, in their eyes, Saionji is a very large buyer from Japan."

"Rich, fast acting, and with less-than-harsh conditions."

"But a ’buyer’ is ultimately just sitting on one side of the table. When the cake is truly being cut, the people sitting on the other side are the ones qualified to hold the knife first."

Emi digested this for a few seconds.

"So this Salomon matter—"

"If Saionji can stand up when a top U.S. investment bank is at its most dangerous, help it tide over the difficulty, and do so in a way that is sufficiently decent and controllable—"

Satsuki didn’t continue.

But Emi already understood.

Next time any company in the United States needs billions of dollars and requires a partner who is reliable enough and wealthy enough, some people will naturally think of Saionji.

After all, the people who can truly sit at that table have never gotten in by waiting for others to invite them.

Sometimes, you just need to pull out the chair yourself when everyone else is unwilling to reach out.