Chapter 10 Chapter 8 Olibe Club
Nabeya Kenzo got off the taxi in the back street of Ginza.On both sides of this street are buildings lined with thin strip bar signs, and Nabe House walks into the basement of a building.At the street-facing entrance there is a sign for "Club Ol! vet" and below it in small letters: "Club Ol! vet".This name is taken from a place name in France. Anyone who has been to France knows that Olibe is in the south of Orleans, about 100 kilometers away from Paris.
The club was just round the corner from the crimson-carpeted stairs.A "Membership Only" sign hangs on the heavy wooden door.A man in a bow tie and a young woman in a white blouse and a long black skirt stood at the cloakroom.When the two saw Nabeya, they immediately smiled and bowed deeply.
"Where's the president?"
He meant the proprietress.Nabeya put the bag on the counter.
"She's at."
"When did you come?"
"An hour ago." The bow-tie replied respectfully.
Nabeya looked at his watch, it was forty-two.If she had arrived at the club at 7:40, it would have been 7:30 when she left the support meeting for Masaaki Kawamura, probably right after Kawamura's speech.
Nabeya walked into the hall.Here and there guests sat in groups under the dim light.Because it was still early, it seemed that there were more waitresses than guests.There are thirty people in this hall.From nowhere came the sound of a piano.
"welcome!"
Two waitresses led Nabeya to the table.When he was about to sit down, an administrator-looking man with a bow tie hurried up to the waitress and said something beside her.
"Oh! Sorry! Your seat is below."
There is a golden railing next to the hall, and the stairs lead to the second floor underground.Nabeya walked up the crimson-carpeted stairs and asked the waitress leading the way:
"Is there a big man here?"
"No, no one came." The waitress replied with a smile.
The hall on the second basement floor is only one third of the size above.On the front is a beautiful fireplace, and there are large ornate wall cabinets along the walls on both sides, which display ancient Western artworks and modern European pottery.Gold frames of oil paintings on the walls glisten in the light of the crown chandelier.This is the "conversation room". The tables and chairs are very elegant, and the closets are also lined with modern pottery.
The waitress who led the way told the waiter what Nabeya had ordered.
"Mom will be here soon."
"What is she doing now?"
"Up there with the other waitresses. Didn't you see it when you came here?"
"I didn't pay attention, I don't want to watch other people's banquets." He thought of a group of people. "Which company is the guest from?"
The waitress just smiled and didn't answer Nabeya's questions.She put the brandy that the waiter had brought on the table, said, "I'll get mother," and went away.
This place is a salon-style dues-paying membership club with sound regulations.The upstairs lobby is the same as a normal club, and the guests are mostly business people.Those who can go to the "conversation room" are at least the leading cadres of the company, and sometimes famous politicians.
Nabeya got up from his chair and went to the closet.Here are old clay jugs and dishes.Nabeya is completely an outsider to these things. If an expert explains these various gorgeous handicrafts to Nabeya, Nabeya may still not understand.For Nabeya, a native of Kyushu, he may be a little interested in the word "".
These works of art are in the collection of Oribe Satoko, the manager of the "Olibe Club".The pronunciation of the word and the French place name Ollibe Ol! Vet is similar, so it is cleverly combined, from which we can see the wit and ingenuity of the man who named the club.But it is not Oribe Satoko who really collects these modern European antiques.Members of the club knew the collector by name.
"I kept you waiting!" Oribe Satoko came in.
"Is it a marvelous grand gathering!"
Satoko Oribe sat across from Nabeya and said with a smile.
"thanks to you!"
Nabeya nodded, and continued:
"President Meng is very happy to visit Kawamura, thank you very much! But he is very sorry that you came back too early!"
"Please don't call me the president, I don't like calling me that." The operator of "Olibe Club" said with a smile.
When she participated in the Kawamura Support Meeting, she wore a set of unobtrusive black and gray suits. When she came back here, she immediately changed into a kimono, and the light makeup at the rally became heavy.
"Mom!" Nabeya greeted again in an embarrassing tone.
"As soon as Kawamura's speech was over, I went to look for you, but you had disappeared. Not only Kawamura, but I was also very disappointed. However, we know that you have no time to go to work."
"Actually, it doesn't matter if I don't care about this shop. Because everyone has done a good job."
Nabeya has heard that there are six managers, deputy managers and directors in the "Olibe Club", and more than 60 waitresses.
"At the venue, I saw my mother sitting alone in the corner. You don't want others to talk to you, do you?"
"I don't want to talk too much with others on that occasion."
"People from the financial world have also gone, have you seen your acquaintance?"
"Yes, there are people I know."
"politician?"
"I'm not familiar with Itakura-san and Ueyama-san. This is the first time we've met each other. Except for Kawamura-san, the others are not very..."
"Oh, it's because the factions are different."
The so-called mainstream parliamentarians who support the current prime minister are the hosts and guests of this club, and none of them participated in the support meeting for Kawamura.
"There are a lot of big names in the financial world who know my mother. When I was walking around the venue, I met President Yamashita of Shinto Fisheries, President Hamamura of Hamamura Chemical Industry, President Shimizu of Nishi Nippon Denki, and Watanabe of East Asia Industries. The vice president, Kyushu Iron and Steel's gold executives, etc. all asked me: Is the mother of the Oribe Club here, and asked me what is the relationship between Mr. Kawamura and Olibe's mother, etc. "
The Nabeya secretary laughed as he raised his brandy glass with both hands.
"How did you answer?" A smile appeared on Oribe Satoko's face.
"Kawamura sometimes goes to Oribe to drink, so my mother bought a ticket for the rally. This is entirely to take care of Oribe's customers. This is my answer."
"Those are people who often come to the club."
"That's right. They asked me to tell my mother, please come and chat with them after the lecture."
"So, after Mr. Kawamura's speech, I left immediately. Unlike here, I'm not used to that kind of occasion."
"I think so."
The tall deputy manager put a light drink in front of Satoko and backed out gently.
"Mom, what do you think of Kawamura's speech? I want to hear your thoughts." Nabeya took a sip of brandy.
"I think it's brilliant."
"real?"
"Never lie, I was moved by his speech." Zuo Dengzi's expression was serious.
"Oh!"
"There are a few politicians who come here quite often. They come as guests. They don't talk about politics at all. They just drink happily, make some funny remarks, and make jokes. So I don't understand politics at all. Mr. Itakura and Mr. Ueyama-san also met for the first time at the rally just now... But listening to Kawamura-san's speech was very beneficial to me, who doesn't understand politics."
"Which point?" Nabeya asked.
"It's about the future of Japan. I think young and promising politicians must be employed now. There are also older gentlemen among my guests. I feel a little sorry for these guests..."
"Is it because the MPs are tired?"
"That's not true." Oribe Satoko answered Nabeya's question.
"In a place like the club, the guests come here for relaxation. How can they be the same as the faces of the day? But the gentlemen of the 'Renovation Club' seen at the rally today are completely different from them. For example, Mr. Shangshan, not only His facial expression is resolute and moving, and it seems that his whole body is full of fighting spirit."
"Mr. Shangshan is indeed a great person." Nabeya echoed.
"It is said that Mr. Ueyama's 'Innovation Club' is planning to separate from Mr. Itakura's faction. Is this true? There are such discussions in the newspapers!"
"Not for the time being! If you organize a new faction independently, not only will there be fewer people, but there will be a lot of difficulties in funding. However, such rumors also show that they have a strong sense of enterprise."
"Even people like me who don't understand politics have the same feeling. In his speech, Mr. Kawamura called for the reform of traditional politics, the reuse of new forces, and the replacement of old and new. This is really what Japanese politics needs. I don't understand theory, but from Judging from the political situation reported in the newspapers, I sometimes worry about whether Japan can continue like this, and where will the political leaders take Japan?"
"Personal experience is much more important than talking about theory, and it can grasp the essence of the problem. Kawamura's speech touched on these problems, and I have already explained some of them to my mother during the speech."
"Thank you. Mr. Kawamura said Marx, revolution, etc. I am worried that he will have red thoughts."
"In order to attract the audience, you have to say something sensational, otherwise the impact will not be deep."
"Is it very effective? There was an uproar in the venue."
"It seems that the effect is not bad."
"I admire Mr. Kawamura's statement that 'revolution is romanticism'. This sentence is absolutely correct! Today's politicians are mostly older people, and they lack romanticism!" Oribe Satoko raised his glass after expressing his thoughts And do.
It was Nobuyuki Doi who wrote "Revolution is Romanticism" in Kawamura's speech. This tone is really written by a man who has experienced "all-communist struggle".He even mentioned the names of Chinese revolutionary leaders in the original manuscript.Kawamura felt a little scared when he read the manuscript, and said:
"If you put it this way, I'm going to become a Redist. People will call me a running dog of the Communist Party!"
"Don't worry, it won't have a strong effect if you don't use drastic revolutionary words. Revolutions are not necessarily communism! Is it clearly written here as the Meiji Restoration Revolution? No one would think that the Meiji Restoration of Qin Wang Zhishi is It's red."
"That's right, then use it."
"'Revolution is Romanticism' is a very good formulation. That is to say, political innovation is Romanticism, and it will certainly be welcomed. I would like you to persuade Mr. Shangshan to use this formulation as the 'Renovation Club'. slogan!"
Masaaki Kawamura, who inherited his late father's legacy, wanted to get rid of his father's influence and establish his own image.The late Xiaoping was an extremely stubborn and conservative figure.The secretary of Guo Xiaoping's hometown and the elders of his faction opposed these practices of Guo Zhengming.But the young Kawamura ignored it, and was not only unexpectedly elected, but also successfully elected in the second and third elections.What is the secret of Masaaki Kawamura's consecutive elections?His opponents analyzed it carefully and came to a strange conclusion: he used his handsome image to win the majority of women's votes, which was an important reason for his victory.He can be said to be a son-in-law.The title of son-in-law has the meaning of delicate features since ancient times.In the history of singing and dancing, the noble sons and young masters of big companies are all as beautiful as women, so actresses often play such roles.
Masaaki Kawamura is gifted with beauty.His father was famously ugly, but somehow his son was nothing like him. "My fate is ill-fated because I was born a handsome man." It is reasonable for him to appreciate himself in this way.At the campaign speech, Kawamura sent a lot of glances to the many women present, like a niche in a drama.They applauded enthusiastically in support of him.He campaigned in a truck. During the event, many women reached out to him for a handshake, and he squeezed their hands intentionally from time to time.He can get more women's votes than others, and that's all for these reasons.But it also brought troubles, such as his repeated romances with women who helped campaign.Secretaries have worked hard to cover up such scandals, but they still cannot be avoided until the next election.Once, there was a woman who chased after the election to Tokyo and begged to see Masaaki Kawamura endlessly. It took a lot of effort for Nabeya to calm this half-crazy woman.Of course, in front of Oribe Satoko, Nabeya would not tell Kawamura's scandal.
Nabeya is now planning to lobby the female president of the "Olibe Club".This is because he noticed that she was infatuated with Kawamura.
The long-faced deputy manager lifted his feet and walked gently to Oribe Sato's chair, leaned down and said something in a low voice.
"Ask him to wait a moment."
After Zuo Dengzi replied in a low voice unhappy, he ordered him to bring another glass of brandy to Guoya.It's time for the house to be full, maybe a regular customer asked my mother to say hello.
This "conversation room" decorated with Western antiques is different from the main hall and only accepts specific guests.Most of the visitors are businessmen, so here you can drink and negotiate, and you can also chat with your confidantes. Therefore, if a guest sits here, he will not let other guests in.Now; Nabeya receives this special courtesy.The waiter brought the brandy and withdrew immediately.
"As you heard at the rally just now, Kawamura is a person who is sincerely worried about the future of Japan. In order to realize his ideals, he resolutely joined the action group organized by Mr. Kamiyama Shohei regardless of personal losses." Nabeya said The cup was placed on the coffee table next to him and said to Oribe Satoko.
"What do you mean by loss?" Zuo Dengzi also put down his drink.
"First of all, the 'Renovation Club' has been misunderstood by people. People think that a group of people have ambitions to organize a new team. This misunderstanding comes from the superficial impression of Mr. Ueyama, the person in charge of the 'Renovation Club', that person Has the face of a careerist."
After drinking the second cup of brandy, Nabeya may be a little drunk, and his voice has a strong Kyushu accent.
"There is also a faction that claims that a certain party cadre is manipulating the group of 'reform clubs' behind the scenes, and the newspapers have also published this story. This is pure mythology."
His Kyushu accent sounds simple and friendly.
"Starting a new business will definitely lead to misunderstanding." Zuo Dengzi thought for a moment, then added a sentence like a monologue:
"I have experience with that too."
"Does mom have it too?" Nabeya asked curiously.
"My business is nothing..." Zuo Dengzi looked down and smiled.
"But my mother must have suffered all kinds of criticisms for running a business of this scale by herself?"
"Have you heard those discussions?"
"Yes, unintentionally, occasionally..." Nabeya looked away.
"Mr. Nabeya, let's talk about these things slowly later. Now I'm asking about Mr. Kawamura, about Mr. Kawamura's loss."
"That's right." Nabeya changed the subject after hearing Satoko's words.
"The second loss for Kawamura is to continue to participate in the 'Reform Club'. Such radical gang activities are in danger of losing the election in the next election."
"Ouch! Really?"
"It seems a bit ridiculous to say such a thing from the secretary's mouth. Kawamura is admirable because he is different from ordinary members of the second generation."
"How is it different?"
"Second generation councilors are all elected by relying on the shadow of their predecessors, so they are careful to maintain the image of their ancestors and keep their business in accordance with a fixed pattern, so they will inevitably degenerate. Even if the second generation councilors themselves want to take active actions Innovate, but those "veteran ministers" and folks who have served the ancestors will object, saying that this is something that the ancestors did not do, and it does not conform to the rules of the ancestors, etc. They stick to the old rules and resist innovation. The people around were bound hands and feet, so they had to stay calm. It's usually like this."
"I can understand."
"Kawamura has always been an honest and obedient member of parliament until his second election, but since the third election, he has broken the old model and put forward his own ideas. The old secretaries headed by the 'retainer head' all I firmly opposed him doing this, but Kawamura was successfully elected!"
"It's amazing!"
"Kawamura was in good spirits and spirits, and his passionate words resonated with the voters. However, the votes controlled by various organizations lost a lot, and we thought he might lose the election. However, because of the many women's votes, fortunately, he was elected as the second place Yes. The fourth election the year before last was a real hard fight. Other candidates in the party broke into the election territory of several generations of the Kohei family. The methods adopted by these people in the party were actually dirtier than the candidates of the opposition party Dirty and meaner."
"..."
"To be honest, Kawamura actually suffered even more when he joined the 'Renovation Club'."
"How did you lose money?"
"At least for a certain period of time, there is no hope of becoming the permanent chairman. After Kawamura was elected twice, he served as a foreign affairs minister. This time, he joined the 'Renovation Club', and the chance of becoming a permanent chairman is even further away. 'Renovation Club' The Itakura faction, which belongs to the anti-mainstream faction, everyone thinks that they will split from the Itakura faction and set up a new mountain concept, just as my mother said just now."
"My smattering knowledge is only obtained from the weekly magazines, and it is not accurate."
"This rumor is very strong. The 'Reform Club' is regarded as a dissident group within the party. It seems that Kawamura's wish to become the permanent chairman is difficult to realize in a short time."
Secretary Nabeya picked up the brandy glass and continued.
"The permanent chairman is a shortcut to promotion to the minister. If Kawamura cannot become the permanent chairman, it will be difficult to say these things."
"However, the guests at the meeting, such as Mr. Itakura and other gentlemen, all praised Mr. Kawamura as the future Prime Minister!"
Nabeya laughed out loud after hearing this.
"That's a polite remark on that occasion. It's for the host. It's a common occurrence. If someone takes it seriously, they should apologize to these people."
"Ouch!"
The deputy manager came in.He squatted next to Zuo Dengzi again, whispering a few whispers.Satoko looked at his watch and answered softly.Bow tie nodded and went out.
"I'm sorry, please continue."
"Looks like mom is busy, but take up some more of your time?"
"Okay, please tell me."
"The fourth loss of Kawamura's participation in the 'Renovation Club,'" continued Nabeya, "is that fewer people donate political funds. At first, the number of people who continued to give money to Kawamura from previous generations of patrons was very large, and now it is greatly reduced. Enterprise Well, if there are no benefits, you won’t pay. There are too few benefits that you can get back from dealing with Chuan. In addition, Kawamura cares about face and doesn’t know how to flatter companies, so how can he get money.”
"But haven't the bigwigs in the financial world been invited to a rally in support of Kawamura?"
"Is that to give Mr. Itakura a little face? There are also a small number of people who are on the line of Mr. Itakura. The top financial figures did not come. Those companies such as Nishi Nippon Electric, Kyushu Steel and Shinto Suisan who attended the rally were A second-rate company with headquarters in Kyushu. Since Kyushu is Kawamura’s territory, it hinders the relationship with fellow villagers, so I bought a meeting ticket.”
"..."
"Kawamura is a noble person. As a secretary, I have to run around to get money. Kawamura's first secretary and second secretary are useless. I mainly rely on me to get the money. I often go around bowing my head. In the eyes of others I might look like a beggar. It's not a good role to play without sacrificing myself!"
Satoko looked at him with sympathy.
"That is to say," Nabeya continued, "there are two types of parliamentarians' secretaries. One is to follow the instructions of the husband to collect money and only get dead money, and the other is to actively develop sources of funds. If you are not polite , that is, the secretary supports the MP.”
Zuo Dengzi stared at him blankly and said nothing.
"However, I don't say such disrespectful words. I did my best to get money for Mr. Kawamura, and I planned tonight's rally."
"I thought about it too, it would be like this."
"In order to sell rally tickets to them, I asked them to buy 20 or 30 tickets. I don't know how many times I bowed to the general affairs directors and general affairs section chiefs of various companies. They often said coldly, 'Come back tomorrow', 'The day after tomorrow. Come again’, but if I don’t go, I’m afraid I won’t be paid, so I can only go again on time. Like a salesman of an insurance company, he runs around every day and wears out the heels of his shoes.”
"Isn't Mr. Shangshan willing to say a few words to the company?"
"No matter what, Mr. Sakakura is good enough to say consolation or write an introduction on his business card, but Mr. Ueyama is just pretending to be deaf and dumb. Although he is gay, he is strict enough when it comes to money. Because it is related to his own source of funds .These are the pitiful things of the small faction. But thanks to you, this rally actually earned 40 million yuan."
"I can understand Mr. Nabeya's hard work"
"I did my best for Kawamura because I like him. He is a very simple person and a good person. Because he is the second generation, or a spoiled young master, he is pure. Mom has seen him, isn't that so?"
"I just treated him as a guest. His character is pure, exactly as Nabeya-san said."
"Kawamura's mind is good. He can be said to be one of the best among young congressmen in terms of clarity of mind!"
Nabeya boasted indiscriminately.But telling Doi Nobuyuki that Kawamura is a mindless person is simply portraying him as an idiot.Nabeya is used to double-faced and three-faced, and it depends on what people say.
"My mother! I don't want to bury Kawamura's talent. Kawamura is a naive person. If I don't take care of him, he will be deceived and kicked out. The political world is a place where people who engage in political tricks gather. So don't be careless at all. I don't want those evil spirits to bully Kawamura, a good man."
"You can rest assured that Mr. Nabeya is with Mr. Kawamura." Satoko admired him.
"But Mom, there's a limit to how I can protect Kawamura alone. I'm exhausted."
Nabeya raised the brandy glass to his lips and watched Oribe Satoko's expression. The mother of "Olibe Club" stared at the floor, as if thinking about something.
"Kawamura has no money. This is his biggest weakness. He used to find ways to survive the crisis, but the next election is really dangerous." Nabeya said in a calm tone.
"Is Mr. Kawamura a little anxious too?" Satoko said like a monologue.
"Yes, he himself is also very anxious. Not long ago, Kawamura told me that he often did not sleep well at night. Although he is a young man who is not familiar with the world, he still feels worried when he thinks of the danger of losing the election!"
"A few days ago, it was reported on the TV news that Mr. Kawamura's taxi hit an old lady on some road in Shinjuku."
"Oh! That's the thing!" Nabeya seemed a little surprised, but calmly changed the cup to the other hand.
"That happened on the way back after Kawamura went to a certain company to discuss political funds. The company is in Shinjuku, but it's hard to tell its company name. Because Kawamura went there for secret talks, and he didn't want to be identified. See. For this matter, he took off the badge of the congressman, and instead of taking the car driven by the second secretary, he took a taxi. Unfortunately, the taxi hit the old lady on the road. It was said at the time that Kawamura wanted to escape from the scene , In fact, he called an ambulance to find a public phone in order to save people quickly. This matter was misunderstood instead."
"Mr. Kawamura said the same thing."
"After knowing the truth, these misunderstandings have disappeared." Nabeya smiled cheerfully.
"That's good!"
"Kawamura is also running around to make money in this way."
"Did you get the money from that company?"
Nabeya frowned and shook his head and said, "It didn't work. Kawamura has been there several times, but asking for money from this company is like penetrating through a thick wall. It's hard to work!"
"Didn't Mr. Nabeya go to help?"
"No. This is Kawamura's special channel, and I can't help. Members usually have sources of donations that the secretary doesn't know about. And I think Kawamura's own running for money is good for him, a young man, so I didn't Go take care of it."
At this moment, a waitress walked in.
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