Chapter 1288: Who exactly is the mysterious person who reported the bribery case?!

During this period, the Japanese political scene was actually very quiet.

The sudden stock market crash had attracted everyone's attention, not even leaving people time to pay attention to Prime Minister Nakasone's resignation and the re-election of the Diet.

Even the news that Noboru Takeshita had left the Liberal Democratic Party and then announced that he would take the Takeshita faction to join the Socialist Party, and the Socialist Party would be renamed the Social Democratic Party, was covered up~

The Recruit bribery case, which had been raging in the media and newspapers for several months before the stock market crash, also became seemingly insignificant because of this global sudden situation... After all, the public had really been hurt in their own interests this time.

However, the protagonist of the event, Hiromasa Ezoe of the Recruit company, did not feel happy... because his company's stock, Recruit Cosmos stock, had also been hit hard in the stock market crash!

On one hand, the previous public opinion had already caused the stock price to fall quite a bit; on the other hand, this stock market plummet had caused Recruit Cosmos stock to fall below its issue price!

And what Hiromasa Ezoe knew even more clearly was that even if the stock market crash passed, the stock price of Recruit Cosmos stock would not return!

He was also on the verge of bankruptcy~

In less than half a year, Hiromasa Ezoe had gone from being a high-spirited president of a hundred-billion group to a gray-haired, heart-dead old man...

"Who exactly is it!"

After offering incense at the Buddhist altar at home, Hiromasa Ezoe tapped the Buddhist bowl lightly again, and only then did he feel his mood calm down a bit...

He really felt that he had encountered a broom star this year, which was why his career had suddenly become unlucky, so he had invited a Buddhist altar at home.

"Who exactly is it? Disclosing our internal transaction records to the media and the Socialist Party..."

This point had always troubled him, causing him not to even trust his own confidants. Now that his career was almost ruined, his only obsession was to find this person!

"Noboru Takeshita has already joined the Socialist Party, ah... now it should be called the Social Democratic Party. I can find him to inquire about the source..."

He believed that the high-level officials of the Social Democratic Party must know, and maybe it was even launched from their side.

After all, from the perspective of the beneficiary, the Social Democratic Party was clearly the one that made a huge profit, almost directly overturning the long-term rule of the Liberal Democratic Party, and then expanding the influence of its own party; the next ruling party had almost been decided!

So Hiromasa Ezoe took out his notebook from the safe, found the phone number of Noboru Takeshita's secretary, Ihei Aoki, and dialed it...

"Du~~~ du~~~ du~~~"

"Moshi moshi, this is the Aoki house..."

"Moshi moshi, this is Hiromasa Ezoe, I'm looking for Ihei Aoki..."

"Hai... Please wait a moment~"

The call came with the shout of "Dad, phone," and then after a while, he heard the voice of the person himself:

"Moshi moshi, I am Ihei Aoki... May I ask who you are?"

"Secretary Aoki, I am Hiromasa Ezoe!" Hiromasa Ezoe's tone was calm, "Long time no see, is everything well recently?"

"..."

Ihei Aoki on the other side was quiet for a few breaths, then spoke directly,

"President Ezoe... May I ask what I can help you with?"

"Ah... It's not a big deal~" Hiromasa Ezoe still said steadily, "I want to ask Takeshita-san to help inquire about who exactly passed the internal transaction news to the Social Democratic Party..."

Ihei Aoki was quiet for a few seconds:

"... President Ezoe, you know, I have already been dismissed by Takeshita-san, and I have been charged with bribery..."

"Hahaha, Secretary Aoki, don't use this set of rhetoric; don't I know the ways of you politicians..."

Hiromasa Ezoe laughed,

"This is just a temporary cut, wait until the event calms down, Takeshita-san will still recruit you back!"

A politician's personal secretary, who knows how much dark information of the politician they have mastered, how could they be directly dismissed... This kind of secretary is either a secretary for life, or will turn into a confidant within the party, or be released to become a white glove mastering wealth...

"..."

Ihei Aoki was silent, which was considered a default.

Hiromasa Ezoe knew that if there was no further pressure, he wouldn't contact Noboru Takeshita for help.

"Aoki-san... That person made my company go bankrupt; it can be said to be the great hatred of my life... I will use any means to find him!"

Hiromasa Ezoe's tone carried hatred and threatened,

"Don't force me to say words that destroy our past friendship!"

"Oh?"

Ihei Aoki was a bit surprised. You, Hiromasa Ezoe, are about to go bankrupt, how can you threaten Noboru Takeshita?

"Aoki-san... Those political donations need to be returned! 200 million yen... Can you take it out now?!"

Who knew Hiromasa Ezoe didn't target Noboru Takeshita, but directly targeted him,

"If you can't pay it back, you're going to jail!"

200 million is such a large amount, how could an ordinary person afford it!

"You!" Ihei Aoki's face changed, "It wasn't given to me!"

"Hahaha, didn't Noboru Takeshita throw the responsibility on you?" Hiromasa Ezoe laughed, "And it was you who connected with me!"

"If I don't find you, who do I find?!"

"President Ezoe, you dare to do this, I will let you..."

"Oh? What do you want? I'm already going to go bankrupt!"

Now it had really become Hiromasa Ezoe threatening Ihei Aoki,

"Go find Noboru Takeshita, find the person who leaked the information, the high-level officials of the Social Democratic Party must know!"

"Otherwise, before I go bankrupt, I will drag you down too! Don't let me take you with me before I die!"

People who have nothing are the most terrifying, but in fact, Hiromasa Ezoe still had a lot of money; even if the company went bankrupt, he could still be a billionaire~

Now he was just scaring Ihei Aoki.

"..."

After a long time, Ihei Aoki finally spoke,

"Okay, I will help you ask... But then we'll be even!"

"Haha, okay~"

Actually, Hiromasa Ezoe didn't intend to get back the 200 million political donation, because he had many other bribes from government officials. If he wanted them all back, it would be equivalent to offending everyone~

Those people almost all had isolation measures; as long as they returned it, those people were still high-ranking and powerful guys, at most they would just hibernate for a few years.

After Hiromasa Ezoe hung up the phone, Ihei Aoki called Noboru Takeshita...

"Takeshita-san, Hiromasa Ezoe came to ask who the mysterious person is!"

Noboru Takeshita listened to his secretary's words, and a burst of anger rose in his heart:

"Raising a ghost at home, and Hiromasa Ezoe actually has the face to come and ask me?!!

If it weren't for this guy who leaked the secret, would I be in this situation today?!"

This guy who leaked the secret, Noboru Takeshita had also been looking for him all along. After all, he was about to be Prime Minister, but because of this, he became a member of a new party... and had to start from scratch!

Maybe he would never be Prime Minister again!

"... Takeshita-san."

Ihei Aoki appeased Noboru Takeshita,

"Hiromasa Ezoe might really not know... The previous public opinion, plus this stock market crash, he has been harmed to the point of almost going bankrupt... He must hate that person very much... and must have used all means..."

"..."

Hearing this, Noboru Takeshita also controlled his temper.

Politicians need evidence to do things, and then investigate through the police. Hiromasa Ezoe, this real estate tycoon who eats both black and white, must have used means directly!

Once truth serum is used, even professional spies can't hide!

Since he couldn't find it, it meant it might really not be on his side!

"That guy, no one knows who he is!!!"

Noboru Takeshita said viciously,

"I have been inquiring in the Social Democratic Party for a long time, only knowing that the mysterious person sent the letter directly. I have seen the letter; the letter paper is universal, and the handwriting is all printed font... I can't find the source!"

"If it's a printer, shouldn't it be traceable?"

Ihei Aoki asked,

"I heard that the print of every printer is different, just like a person's fingerprint..."

"Experts have appraised it, saying it used an old-fashioned typewriter... something from decades ago, completely without records, circulated for so many years, it's everywhere in the world, and the second-hand market has passed through I don't know how many hands; I can't find the source at all."

This era didn't have networking, and Naoki Nagayama directly bought it in a second-hand market, destroyed it directly after using it, and cut off the clues from the source~

"This is difficult to handle; it looks like the mysterious person has a very strong anti-reconnaissance awareness!"

Actually, before the popularization of surveillance networks and the Internet of Things, the case clearance rate was actually very low. Except for those with obvious clue associations, others had to rely on luck.

Motive, information source, business dealings... all none. Naoki Nagayama could be said to have no connection with this whole thing at all, even harder to crack than a random murder case on a rainy night!

Even the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Takako Doi, didn't know the specific personnel... After receiving the report letter, even if she used criminal investigation means, she couldn't find the source. The person who sent the letter was very cautious and wiped away all traces.

And Yanosuke Narazaki, who had received the report information before, also didn't know who this mysterious person was... Now, targeting this mysterious person, the Social Democratic Party had already organized a special case team to conduct an investigation~

Now that the Diet election was about to be held, the Social Democratic Party had won many seats, and the call for them to be elected as the ruling party was getting higher and higher. These big shots who were originally in the opposition party were facing more and more temptations, and the high-level officials of the Social Democratic Party also had private transactions!

No matter which party is in power, they need to find this mysterious person; he is too dangerous!

And at such a moment, a young man came to Tokyo from Chiba Prefecture by subway!

"Tokyo... I'm back again!"

Yoshihiko Noda sighed looking at the high-rise buildings one after another. Since graduating from university, he had returned to Chiba Prefecture, experienced many jobs, but had never returned to Tokyo again...

And now, having resigned from the Chiba Prefecture assemblyman position he had just been elected to, Yoshihiko Noda had come to the center of Japan again, starting to march towards the throne of Diet member!

"Assemblyman Noda?!"

Outside the station, a person holding his name attracted his attention. He saw that person run to him quickly,

"Is it Assemblyman Yoshihiko Noda? I am Takeharu Kawahara from Tree Friend, here to pick you up!"

"Ah... Kawahara-san..."

Yoshihiko Noda saw Takeharu Kawahara diligently carrying his luggage and walking outside, and couldn't help but stop him,

"Did Yoshimura-san ask you to pick me up? Are we going to see him?"

"Yes, President Yoshimura asked me to come and pick up Assemblyman Noda."

Takeharu Kawahara led him to the car in the parking lot and explained with a smile,

"The president said that Assemblyman Noda returned to Tokyo in a hurry and definitely hadn't arranged accommodation, so he asked me to take you to settle down... and then hold a welcome party for you..."

"Oh? Then thank you very much!"

Yoshihiko Noda smiled,

"Which hotel are we going to?"

"No, no!" Takeharu Kawahara started the car, "It's a house in Bunkyo Ward, that's a property under our Tree Friend name... Yoshimura-san instructed that this house will belong to Assemblyman Noda from now on..."

"It will also be convenient to bring your family over in the future!"

"This..." Yoshihiko Noda was a bit flattered, "Then thank you very much!"

"It's nothing, this is President Yoshimura's instruction."

Bunkyo Ward was originally in the city center. The car got on the highway. This time period wasn't too crowded, and they arrived soon.

And when the car drove directly into the courtyard, Yoshihiko Noda discovered that the so-called house was actually a three-story Western-style villa... The appearance was elegant and beautiful, the environment was quiet, and it was close to the transportation hub...

This location, this quality of residence, could not be summarized by a mere ordinary residence.

"It's actually this villa?"

Yoshihiko Noda looked around after getting off the car. This villa was much more high-end than his old home in Chiba Prefecture!

"The rent for this villa must be very expensive!"

"Please rest assured about this."

Takeharu Kawahara moved the luggage down, took out the key, and opened the door directly,

"This villa is Tree Friend's investment property, originally it was just idle... so no rent is needed!"

"And in order to prevent the villa from being vacant and damaged, Tree Friend needs to hire people to manage the house!"

Takeharu Kawahara picked up a contract from the coffee table,

"Assemblyman Noda, let your family sign this custody contract, and you can live in the villa on the grounds of looking after the house!"

Taking the contract and seeing that there was even remuneration inside, Yoshihiko Noda was even more surprised:

"That is to say, I live in this villa for free, and Tree Friend also gives a nursing fee every month?!"

"Yes, although it's not much... but this is to avoid gossip, because Assemblyman Noda is a politician and needs to pay attention to his reputation..."

"..."

This was too thoughtful!

"By the way!"

Takeharu Kawahara also took out car keys from his pocket,

"Because Assemblyman Noda just arrived in Tokyo, he definitely doesn't have a means of transport, so the car just now is temporarily lent to Assemblyman Noda for use..."

"That car is a business vehicle for Tree Friend agents. There was no place to park it for the time being, so it's parked in the villa garage... Tree Friend will send someone to check the car condition, add gasoline, and so on every month..."

Ignorantly taking the car keys, Yoshihiko Noda felt that he had been completely kept by Tree Friend!

He also knew that Tree Friend supported him because he had potential, but with so many things, how would he repay them in the future... Could it be with his own flesh?!

"Cough cough... Where is Otomo-san now?"

"Otomo-san is still working at Tree Friend..." Takeharu Kawahara looked at the time, "There is still some time, Assemblyman Noda can take a rest..."

"I'll come over in the evening to pick you up for the welcome party!"

"This..."

Having only taken the subway for more than half an hour, Yoshihiko Noda wasn't tired at all... But he did need to digest the experience just now, so he could only smile and be grateful,

"Then thank you very much, Kawahara-san!"

"You're welcome... Then I'll take my leave first!"

After Takeharu Kawahara left, Yoshihiko Noda walked around the villa at will.

Walking to the kitchen and opening the refrigerator, he found it was full, all daily fruits and ingredients...

Coming to the bedroom, the room had already been cleaned up, the bedding was also newly washed and sun-dried, and there was a smell of sunshine...

Cleaning up in the bathroom, toiletries were also fully equipped, all to the standard of a five-star hotel...

Coming to the bedroom again and lying on the soft bed, feeling the softness and comfort of his body, Yoshihiko Noda sighed:

"I haven't even taken power yet, and I already have such good conditions... If I become a big shot in the political scene, wouldn't I be going to heaven?"

In Japan, financial groups supporting politicians is an unspoken rule. Yoshihiko Noda now has the label of Tree Friend, and also the label of Panasonic.

However, Panasonic is a circle of connections, while Tree Friend is real resource assistance.

After feeling the charm of power, Yoshihiko Noda was full of motivation:

"Power is indeed a good thing... So for this Diet member election, I must go all out!" ===== CHAPTER 1289 =====