Reborn in Tokyo: From Heiress to Global Tycoon

Chapter 400 Public Research Association

Naoki Kojima has been standing by the roadside for almost two hours.

He is a second-year student in the Department of Economics and one of the heads of this year's new student recruitment for the Department of Economics Research.

From the end of the admission ceremony, he and several other members stayed near the booth, handing out flyers to every new student who might be interested in economics.

The result was not ideal.

The name "Economics Research Department" is really unappealing.

When freshmen passing by hear the word "research," they often hesitate before the instructor can even explain the specific activities. Moreover, today there are skiing, tennis, music, travel, and various other clubs lining both sides of the road that sound very relaxed.

The light music club across the street even sent out a whole band to liven things up, and now there are so many people there that it's impossible to squeeze in.

In contrast, the densely packed economic diagrams behind their booths hardly evoke the image of a vibrant and colorful university life.

Naoki had just seen off a freshman who left with the excuse that "I need to discuss this with my friend first" when he turned around and noticed three girls walking from the other side of the road.

What attracted him most was, of course, his appearance.

The three girls wore clothes without any particularly extravagant brand logos, but the cut and quality were noticeably superior to most of the freshmen around them. Their appearances were also outstanding; simply walking together in a crowd, they constantly drew glances from passersby.

However, what really bothered Naoki was their behavior.

Most freshmen appear somewhat reserved when walking here. Even if they try to appear relaxed, their eyes will constantly scan their surroundings, afraid of doing something inappropriate in this unfamiliar campus.

The three people in front of them, however, did not feel this way at all.

They chatted and laughed as they slowly looked at the club booths on both sides, showing no reaction to the obvious stares around them, as if they were already used to being the center of attention.

A somewhat clichéd description suddenly popped into Naoki's mind.

Missy.

She's the kind of rich young lady who looks like she stepped out of a comic book.

His gaze swept over the three men, and he quickly made a decision.

We must find a way to recruit them.

Ideally, all three would join, but if that's not possible, having even one of them stay would be a very successful outcome.

Putting aside whether the club will attract more attention when it holds events in the future, just having them stand near the booth for a while is enough to draw in freshmen who were not originally interested.

Naoki had even noticed that several boys had slowed down.

More importantly, the opportunity seems to have been delivered to us on its own initiative.

Of the three girls, the one standing in the middle was clearly the most important.

Her clothes were the most simple and elegant of the three, and her long hair was simply draped naturally over her shoulders. However, when the other two spoke, they would always subconsciously observe her reaction.

She had looked at the economics research department's booth more than once.

In particular, her gaze lingered on the themed sign for quite some time, clearly showing interest in their recent research topic.

If you're interested in economic research, many things will be much easier.

Their economics research department may not be good at attracting new students with skiing and surfing, but Takahashi-senpai, who is in charge of the open research meeting this time, is indeed a very outstanding person among the third-year students of the economics department.

Naoki himself was kept behind by Takahashi-senpai.

When he first enrolled last year, his understanding of economics was limited to exams and job hunting. It wasn't until he attended his first research conference and heard Takahashi break down a real estate company's land, loans, and actual cash flow that he realized those seemingly complex corporate events in the news could actually be analyzed bit by bit.

Takahashi spent more than two months preparing for his research on Seibu and Saionji.

He had already been collecting information even before the two parties officially announced their cooperation.

He meticulously organized and analyzed the passenger flow at key stations on Seibu Railway's Ikebukuro and Shinjuku lines, the Prince Hotel's layout in Tokyo and Hokkaido, the commercial areas around the stadium, and the previously slowed-down projects in Odaiba.

The newspaper only mentioned the operating rights and procurement cooperation in a few lines, but Senior Takahashi even found out the respective time limits.

He also personally visited several stations to confirm whether Saionji's goods and logistics had truly entered Seibu's operating system.

Several of the photos on the display board today were taken by him.

The professors in the Department of Economics have also read the articles he compiled.

The teacher said at the time that "the data is very complete and the conclusions can be further discussed." But in Naoki's opinion, the fact that the professor wrote annotations on the student club's article was enough to prove Takahashi's ability.

If these three female students are willing to listen for a while, they are very likely to become interested in the Department of Economics Research.

Naoki was ready to step forward.

However, after looking at the display board, the three girls did not approach the booth, but instead continued walking along the road.

Naoki paused for a moment.

Seeing that the boys who had been attracted by them were about to leave, he could no longer stay by the stall, grabbed a few brochures and chased after them.

The most important thing now is to get them to stop.

"Hello there."

Naoki circled around to the front of the three, keeping a distance that wouldn't block their way, and quickly flashed the enthusiastic smile he had practiced all morning.

"You must be first-year students? I'm Kojima, a second-year student in the Economics Research Department."

Instead of speaking directly to the girl in the middle who was the most difficult to judge, he chose the one who seemed the easiest to talk to.

Ayako already had several flyers from other clubs in her hand, and her reaction when looking at the display boards was the most obvious. Based on Naoki's experience over the past half day, these freshmen usually wouldn't immediately refuse to interact with a strange upperclassman just because he suddenly approached them.

"Hey junior, I just saw you looking at our club's sign."

Naoki held up the thin booklet in his hand.

"Are you interested in the recent research topics of the Economics Research Department? Here is an introductory brochure that we have prepared for the public research meeting. You can take a look first."

As he spoke, he stepped aside half a step and made an inviting gesture.

"As for economics, it's not that I'm not interested."

Ayako tilted her head and looked at him for a while, then raised her hand and pointed to Satsuki beside her.

"But mainly, this person is curious about your research topic."

Naoki was secretly delighted.

As expected, my judgment was correct.

If they are willing to stop and listen to him, this recruitment has already taken a big step towards success.

"Is that so? That's wonderful."

Naoki immediately picked out a crease-free handbook from his hand and presented it to Satsuki with both hands.

"These are the materials from our public research meeting."

Satsuki took the manual and turned to the first page.

While she was reading, Naoki continued, "Are all three of you from the Economics Department?"

"She is me."

Ayako pointed to herself, then to Satsuki, before looking at Reiko on the other side.

She's in the law school.

"The Faculty of Law is also perfectly fine."

Naoki answered quickly.

"When we discuss business collaborations, we often come up with contracts, policies, and banking regulations. There are law students in the department, and sometimes their perspectives are even more accurate than ours."

Reiko nodded slightly, without immediately expressing her opinion.

Naoki looked at Satsuki again.

She had already flipped to the middle of the manual, her gaze fixed on the diagram showing the business relationship between Seibu and Saionji.

"If anyone is interested in the collaboration between Seibu and Saionji, feel free to attend a lecture in the small lecture hall."

"Our association is holding a public research meeting there today. It has just started, and there is no need to register in advance to attend."

Satsuki raised her head.

Naoki noticed that when the topic turned to whether or not to go on the visit, the other two girls did not rush to make a decision, but instead looked at her at the same time.

This further confirmed his judgment.

Of the three, she was indeed the leader.

Satsuki closed the brochure in her hand and gave Naoki a gentle smile.

"OK."

"Then let's go take a look."

She nodded slightly.

"Please lead the way, senior."

"Of course it's not troublesome."

Naoki's smile immediately became even brighter.

"Please come with me, I believe you will be interested."

He turned around and led the three of them away from the recruitment road, heading towards the small lecture hall where the research conference was being held.

Many club members still came up to him to hand out flyers along the way, but when they saw the Economics Research Club badge hanging on Naoki's chest and realized that the three of them were already following behind him, they retreated with some regret.

Naoki walked ahead, feeling that this was the perfect time to continue introducing the clubs.

"Today's lecture is given by Takahashi, a third-year student in the Faculty of Economics. He compiled most of the materials for this topic."

"He has been studying external economies and spatial economies extensively, and in recent months he has been focusing on the development of Odaiba."

Naoki glanced back.

All three of them were listening.

So he spoke even more enthusiastically.

"The government, Seibu, and Saionji are all investing a lot of resources in Odaiba now. The usual news will only say that the two sides have reached a cooperation agreement, or that Seibu bowed down to Saionji, but Senior Takahashi has broken down and investigated the railway, hotel, stadium and Odaiba projects one by one."

He had a very clear understanding of which Seibu stations were included in the cooperation, how many years the operating rights were, which areas the Prince Hotel's procurement agreement covered, and when Saionji's logistics would actually enter these areas.

"The relationship diagram on the display board outside was drawn by Takahashi-senpai. He also went to several train stations himself, and he visited Odaiba more than once."

As Ayako walked beside Satsuki, she heard this and her lips twitched slightly.

Naoki didn't notice.

He was still engrossed in introducing his senior.

"At first, we also thought this was a simple matter: Seibu lost, and Saionji won."

"However, after his research, Takahashi-senpai believes that the actual situation is not as obvious as the news reports."

"Seibu relinquished a significant amount of management rights, but Saionji also took on substantial financial and operational risks in order to complete the Odaiba development. The more Saionji invested in Odaiba, the more easily Seibu's remaining hotel, land, and transportation assets would benefit from it."

Naoki slowed his pace slightly as he finished speaking.

"I can't explain the specifics in just a few words. You'll find out when Takahashi-senpai tells you."

"His explanations of business cases are very easy to understand. When I first joined the department last year, I wasn't even familiar with financial statements, but I was able to understand them in the end."

Naoki firmly believed this.

Once these three junior students have heard Takahashi's complete analysis, they will more or less become interested in the Economics Research Club. After the public research meeting, he can then take them on a tour of the activity room, introduce them to the club journal and weekly meetings, which will greatly increase their chances of joining the club.

Senior, I'm leaving the rest to you!

Naoki thought to himself silently.

Ayako, who was walking behind, pursed her lips and her shoulders trembled slightly, as if she had been holding back something.

Naoki looked back in confusion.

Ayako immediately raised her hand, pretending to tidy her sideburns, and her expression returned to normal.

strangeness.

Why does she always look like she wants to laugh?

Naoki thought for a while, but still couldn't find the answer.

He was probably really looking forward to today's speech.

Forget it.

Anyway, as long as I get them in, my mission will be complete.