Chapter 526: A Pleasant Tour

That afternoon.

Gutfreund personally led Satsuki into Salomon’s fixed-income trading area.

His mood today seemed exceptionally good. After stepping out of the elevator, he took the initiative to introduce Satsuki to the changes on this floor, not even missing the few trading desks that had been rearranged in recent months.

"I originally wanted them to clear their schedules for the afternoon, but as you know, with traders, the more you tell them there’s an important guest today, the easier it is for them to find something to do at the last minute."

Gutfreund jerked his chin toward the still-busy trading area not far away.

"So I might have to wrong you today, Miss Saionji. If anyone leaves us hanging on the side, please don’t think Salomon is giving you poor hospitality."

Satsuki looked in the direction of his gaze.

The trading floor still held that familiar scene.

The sounds of telephones, shouting quotes, and overlapping conversations blended together. Men in shirts gathered around their respective trading desks, some holding a telephone in one hand while the other hand already reached for the terminal beside them.

"When you put it that way, I’m even more eager to see them."

"That couldn’t be better."

Gutfreund reached his hand forward, motioning for her to follow him.

Frank walked beside Satsuki, finding it somewhat amusing as he looked at the Salomon CEO ahead, who was much more enthusiastic than when they last met.

Was this Wall Street king planning to personally introduce the entire building today?

As they passed a row of trading desks, Gutfreund suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure and immediately raised his hand to greet him.

"Hey! You fellow, I heard you got a nice piece of business from our regular client again this morning, why didn’t you come and report it to me?"

The man on the phone raised his head, and upon seeing him, first pointed to the earpiece in his hand, then gestured to the person next to him.

Gutfreund didn’t mind at all; instead, taking advantage of the time waiting for him, he began introducing him to Satsuki first.

"He’s been working here for almost twenty years, and I’ve known him since I was young."

"Don’t look at him sitting here so seriously now; back then, this guy almost kicked my office door in just to fight me for the ownership of a deal."

Satsuki was somewhat surprised.

"You actually dared to keep him around?"

"Of course! Didn’t he earn back even more for the company later on?"

Gutfreund answered as a matter of course.

"As long as they can make money, I’ve always been quite lenient with these guys’ tempers."

The man nearby finally finished his call, and upon hearing the last half-sentence, immediately stood up from his chair.

"John, before you said that, did you forget who called me up last month and chewed me out for half an hour over some minor budget issue?"

"That’s because your budget was simply outrageous!"

"I knew you’d say that."

Adjusting his shirt cuffs, the man walked forward and extended his hand toward Satsuki.

"Miss Saionji, welcome to Salomon. John told me a couple of days ago that I had to meet you today."

"Hello."

Satsuki shook his hand and responded politely.

Standing nearby, Gutfreund took the initiative to introduce them to each other.

"He’s worked in the fixed-income department for almost twenty years, and quite a few of Saionji’s trades over the past few years have gone through his department. Your side in Tokyo should be very familiar with his name, only you never had the chance to meet before."

"Your group has always been a very important client of ours."

The man took over the conversation with a rather enthusiastic tone.

"I’ve cooperated with the Tokyo trading team many times; they are very professional and have their own judgment of the market. To finally have the opportunity to meet Miss Saionji in person today is truly my honor."

"You are too polite. We owe much thanks to Salomon’s support over the past few years, and we will continue to trouble you and your team in the future."

"Of course, we very much look forward to future cooperation."

Gutfreund listened from the side for a moment before suddenly cutting in.

"Alright, if you two keep being this polite, I’m going to start wondering if I’m in the wrong place."

The man turned his head.

"John, it’s not like I can treat Miss Saionji on our first meeting the same way I usually treat you, right?"

"So you don’t need to be polite when you usually see me?"

"If you really want me to be a bit more polite to you, it’s not entirely out of the question."

The man thought for a moment, then suddenly put on a very serious expression.

"Mr. Gutfreund, since you’re in such a good mood today, I wonder if there is any new progress on the bonus application I handed to you last time?"

The smile on Gutfreund’s face instantly faded a bit.

"I knew you wouldn’t let this opportunity go."

"This is something you asked me to say yourself."

"Did I ask you to say it?"

"Didn’t you just say you hoped I would be a bit more polite to you?"

The man spread his hands.

"I’ve been as polite as possible, sir."

Gutfreund looked at him, feeling both exasperated and amused, then turned to Satsuki.

"You see, this is what I have to deal with here every day. This guy did a good job with the Asia business last year and ran into my office to ask for a bonus. He came again this year, and every time he has a new reason."

"That just shows our department has indeed been making money for the company, John."

"Of course I know, otherwise who do you think approved that bonus last year?"

"But the figure you finally approved was a huge chunk less than what I applied for."

"That’s why I’m the CEO."

Gutfreund answered righteously.

"If I gave whatever everyone applied for, do you think this company would still have money to pay next year’s bonuses?"

For a moment, the man couldn’t find any good reason to refute this, and in the end, he could only shake his head somewhat helplessly.

"Alright, looks like I’ll have to keep working hard this year."

Satsuki listened from the side, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly.

It was the first time she had ever seen someone dare to bargain with the CEO of a large investment bank like this in front of outsiders.

If it were the Saionji Group...

Hmm.

It probably wasn’t completely out of the question that someone would dare do this... right?

But even if there really were, it would probably only be those old fellows like Endo.

At this moment, someone from the trading desk called out to the man.

He turned back to acknowledge them, then said to Satsuki with a slight apology:

"Sorry, Miss Saionji, I have to go back and handle a trade. I’m very glad to have met you today, and I hope your group will continue to give us opportunities for cooperation in the future."

"Of course, please go ahead with your work."

But Gutfreund chimed in from the side: "I’ve only brought her over for a few minutes, and you’re already planning to chase people away?"

"John, I have no intention of chasing Miss Saionji away."

The man glanced at him.

"On the contrary, you were the one who told me last time not to keep clients waiting for my phone call. You surely can’t change the rules just because you’re here today, can you?"

"Fine, you win."

Gutfreund waved his hand and patted his shoulder.

"Go get to work. If this trade is done nicely today, I’ll remember it the next time we talk about bonuses."

"Then I’ll hold you to those words!"

The man bid farewell to Satsuki and turned back to his trading desk.

Only then did Gutfreund lead Satsuki to continue moving forward.

In the subsequent itinerary, Gutfreund took Satsuki to meet several more department heads.

Some people had obviously been notified in advance and were already prepared to introduce their business to her; others had just pulled themselves away from the trading desks with their shirt sleeves still rolled up, shaking hands and immediately talking about recent market conditions.

Gutfreund was quite familiar with the situations of these departments. When introducing the heads, he would occasionally mention a brilliant trade or a tricky piece of business they had handled in the past.

The person called upon would usually add a few words and then steer the topic back to their own work.

Satsuki could sense that these people respected Gutfreund.

Among them, some were very familiar with him, while others were noticeably more restrained, but he seemed able to find the right topic to get them into gear quickly.

It was just that today’s Gutfreund was truly more talkative than Satsuki had seen before.

Several times, after a department head finished their introduction, he would actively add to it, as if fearing that Satsuki would miss any commendable aspect of Salomon.

Satsuki found that today’s Gutfreund clearly enjoyed this atmosphere.

He was even more talkative than the people being introduced, actively bringing up past events from time to time, as if he couldn’t wait to introduce everyone he had met at Salomon over the past few decades to her this very afternoon.

Satsuki was quite happy to go along with it.

She could probably guess what was on Gutfreund’s mind.

However, compared to sitting in a conference room listening to someone explain page after page, this walking-and-looking approach was obviously much more interesting.

Seeing that she was in good spirits, Gutfreund talked even more.

Several times when someone reminded him of the time for the next arrangement, he waved his hand, indicating there was no rush, and even took the initiative to have his secretary push back a scheduled internal meeting by half an hour.

"It’s rare to have such a great opportunity today, we certainly can’t let Miss Saionji go back after just looking at a few offices, right?"

He turned his head to look at Satsuki, his tone very hearty.

"Anyway, I’ve carved out this afternoon for you. Whoever you want to see, wherever you want to look, just tell me directly."

"I guarantee you, as long as it’s in this building, at least today no one will tell you they don’t have time."

Hearing this, Satsuki raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Mr. Gutfreund, if you put it that way, I won’t stand on ceremony."

"More than happy to, Miss Saionji. That’s the sentence I most wanted to hear today."

Gutfreund made a gesture inviting her forward and led the group toward the next office area.

He had already asked his secretary to prepare the joint statement.

As soon as the tour ended and Satsuki returned upstairs, both sides could sit down and, taking advantage of today’s atmosphere, negotiate the subsequent matters all at once.

At least, he hoped so.

...

After another introduction concluded, Gutfreund glanced at his wristwatch.

The time was a bit later than he had anticipated.

He had originally arranged two more departments, but now he felt there was no need to drag the itinerary out any further.

He secretly glanced at Satsuki; her mood seemed good,

and he had already taken Satsuki to see enough places today, while upstairs there was still a press release waiting to be shown to her.

"It looks like we can only stop here for today."

Walking near the elevators, Gutfreund turned around and spread his hands toward Satsuki.

"I originally wanted to let you meet a few more people, but if we keep walking like this, I’m afraid I’ll have to arrange an office for you."

"You’ve already introduced me to quite a few people today."

Satsuki glanced at him.

"If it continues any further, I’m going to start suspecting you’re planning to make me work at Salomon."

"If you’re willing, of course I’d welcome it!"

Gutfreund picked up quickly.

"However, the salary will probably disappoint you. Given our current financial situation, if an application to hire Miss Saionji were sent to the finance department, it would probably be rejected the same day."

"Then I’d better remain an investor for now."

"That idea is much better."

Gutfreund reached out to press the elevator button and smoothly picked up the conversation.

"Speaking of which, Williams has already had someone revise the joint statement discussed this morning."

"I originally wanted to find some time to talk with you today, and since the tour is over, why don’t we go back to my office and sit for a while?"

Satsuki looked at him.

"Talk right now?"

"If it’s convenient for you, I hope we can finalize the draft today. As you can see, there are still so many people at Salomon waiting to know which direction things are heading. The market is probably even more anxious than they are."

As he spoke, he added:

"Of course, the specific wording still depends on your opinion. I had them prepare a few versions; if you find anything inappropriate, we can modify it face-to-face."

The elevator door happened to open right then.

Satsuki nodded gently.

"Let’s go take a look then."

"Wonderful."

Gutfreund sidestepped, waiting for her to step into the elevator before following her in.