Chapter 2 1. The tenant of Room 13

In Y-cho (in Tokyo, of course) there is a building called Kanto Building. It doesn’t look too big. The building has been listed for lease recently.One morning, a respectable gentleman walked into the office of this building, and the receptionist took a business card that said "Fine Dealer Inagaki Heizo" on it. Leaning on a thick rattan cane, Inagaki played with the silver chain hanging on the chest of his white vest, and said arrogantly: "If there is a room available, I will rent one." The Kanto Building has a good location and low rent. Due to the above characteristics, it is very popular.But for some unknown reason, one office couldn't be rented out.The owner was superstitious, thinking that maybe the number thirteen was too unlucky, and even wanted to skip this number and re-adjust all the next room numbers.When the haughty gentleman arrived, only room thirteen was vacant.

"The thirteenth," Inagaki muttered, with a weird smile, "The thirteenth is fine. Then, I'll have someone bring the luggage in today." He opened his bulging wallet and paid the deposit and one month's rent on the spot. The building is not a government agency, neither investigates the identity of the lessee, nor requires the other party to provide a transcript of household registration, and does not even require a guarantor.As long as they look decent and can afford the rent, no matter if it is Zhang San Li Si, they can rent a house at any time.Of course, Zhang San and Li Si did not refer to Inagaki, but even if the business card of "Art Dealer Inagaki Heizo" was fake, as long as no one doubted it, no one would question or check it.

After receiving the rent and deposit receipts, Inagaki left the office. Are you planning to move back?No, he walked into an automated phone booth on the corner. "Hello, K furniture store? I'm Inagaki from Room 13 of the Kanto Building. I want to buy a batch of things. I'm in a hurry. I hope I can see the ordered items immediately. You can help me choose and deliver them. I need a desk , a swivel chair, three ordinary chairs, in addition, I need a large display rack, and I'm asking you for the price, please hurry up and send it to me. Of course, I don't mind the display samples in the store, as soon as the goods arrive I'll pay right away."

After calling K furniture store, he called G art art store, S framing store, etc. one after another, ordering all the decorative items needed for the office he just rented without landing.It appears that Inagaki is an eccentric art dealer who uses a robotic phone to order from art and frame shops that have never done business.How much profit can you make by doing this business?There are still such incredible businessmen in the world. At around two o'clock in the afternoon that day, Room 13 of the Guandong Building had already been decorated in a decent way. At first glance, it could be regarded as a decent and stylish art office.In the room of about ten square meters, the walls are covered with large and small oil paintings and prints. In the corners, there are glass display cabinets, plaster busts, body parts sculptures of hands or feet, and various kinds of sculptures. The same earthenware pots are bustling, and the other corner is full of white canvases and picture frames.

There is a large desk in the center of the room, with several chairs scattered around it.The new owner of room No. 13, Heizo Inagaki, sat down heavily on the swivel chair behind the desk, and began to write quickly on the letterhead on the desk.Looking at his appearance, it seems that he worked here a year ago. Having said that, in order to give readers an emotional impression, I would like to briefly introduce Inagaki's demeanor, but then again, he does not have any special demeanor at all.At best, the Inagaki man has a big mustache that doesn't look like a businessman, and a triangular goatee on his chin, which looks very artificial.However, this way of growing a beard was rare at the time, and it made Inagaki, a tall and thin forty-year-old man, look like a British gentleman, with a bit of gentlemanly majesty.His face was long and thin, so thin that the bones could be seen, his complexion was pale, and his hair was very thick and neatly combed.In contrast, such a face with those large tortoiseshell glasses seems to be out of tune.

As for clothes, he wore a light black serge coat, a white linen vest, and serge pinstripe trousers, which were modest in taste but well suited to him. When the handsome Inagaki was writing at his desk, there was a knock on the door, and someone came to visit. "Please come in." Inagaki responded with a clear and deep voice, and the visitor timidly pushed the door open.Through the crack of the door came an unexpected face of a young girl of seventeen or eighteen years old. "Please come in." He said it again, and then the girl came in. She came to the position between the door and the table, and stopped shyly.She was wearing a light-colored serge kimono with a red patterned silk sash around her waist. She was far from beautiful, and her personality seemed introverted.

Immediately, Inagaki showed an impatient look, and beckoned her to approach the desk, so the girl took two or three steps forward, twitched for a while, and then took out a small note from her belt. "Well, I didn't come here because I saw this morning's paper." As she spoke, she gently placed the note on the corner of the table. It was said to be a note, but it was actually cut out from a three-line advertising column in a newspaper, and it printed the following content: It seems that Inagaki had published this newspaper advertisement before renting the house.Did he know in advance that Room 13 of the Guandong Building was vacant?What this person did was very strange.Whether the goods are purchased from the same retailer, or the automatic telephone order is placed, and the advertisement for recruiting clerks is published in the newspaper before the office is rented. Everything is not according to the rules, but this may be the so-called way of doing business.

Leaving this matter aside for now, Inagaki sized up the girl who came to apply for the job, and finally said unceremoniously: "I'm sorry, the person we were looking for in the newspaper has been found." As readers know, after Inagaki moved here, this girl was the first visitor. As a result, he actually said that he had found an employee. Isn't this a strange answer?How weird is this person's way of doing things?