21st Century Necromancer

Ginza, one of the three major attractions symbolizing Japan’s nature, history, and modernity (Mount Fuji, Kyoto, Ginza), ranks alongside Paris’s Champs-Élysées and New York’s Fifth Avenue as one of the world’s three major bustling centers.

Here, skyscrapers rise high, and a multitude of shopping malls and luxury stores abound, along with a gathering of fine foods from around the world. It can truly be said to be a symbol of Japan’s prosperity.

However, behind Ginza’s prosperity lies extremely fierce competition.

Take the clubs in Ginza, for example: at its peak, Ginza had more than three thousand clubs, but now it has gradually declined to less than three hundred.

In Ginza, the average life span of a club is only five months, and to survive here, one must face extremely fierce competition. Those who do survive must have something exceptional to offer.

The same is true for the various restaurants in Ginza.

To open a restaurant in Ginza, one naturally needs sufficient standards and strength, because even an unassuming small shop by the roadside could possibly belong to a famous chef, or display a Michelin star by the door.

While sushi restaurants in Ginza enjoy the advantage of being local, coupled with the fact that high-end sushi establishments themselves symbolize luxury, they still benefit from a variety of advantages. However, sushi restaurants also face intense competition amongst one another, and without distinctive features to attract diners, such a restaurant might not survive even five months in Ginza.

Of course, this had nothing to do with Chen Yu. He had no intention of abandoning his career as a doctor to open a restaurant in a place like Ginza.

It was just that, as this was his second visit to this restaurant, Chen Yu couldn’t help but want to appraise the standards of this establishment.

As a sushi restaurant often frequented by members of the National Diet, this place had been in Ginza for quite some time. The head chef was a serious middle-aged man in his forties with exquisite culinary skills. The last time Chen Yu visited, he tasted the chef’s creations. The rice of the sushi was perfectly firm yet tender, just right.

Moreover, the ingredients used were the freshest and of the highest quality, combined with the chef’s masterful culinary skills, making the food extremely delicious. Even Chen Yu, not particularly fond of raw food, found his appetite greatly stimulated.

Because of this, after accepting the invitation from Kosuke Kanai, Chen Yu harbored quite some anticipation for the dinner the head chef would present tonight.

Although it was Kosuke Kanai who invited Chen Yu, Chen arrived a bit earlier than him.

It’s quite impolite for the host to arrive later than the guest. Faced with this situation, Chen Yu didn’t mind, and after confirming with the chef that Kosuke Kanai had indeed reserved a place for the evening, he sat down at the sushi bar and gestured for the chef to start serving the dishes.

Although such sushi restaurants do have menus for guests to order from, customers typically let the chef make the arrangements. They only tell the chef their dietary restrictions or preferences. In fact, some restaurants don’t have menus at all, or the menu simply informs guests of the available items, leaving everything else to the chef’s discretion.

This places very high demands on the chef’s culinary skills and control. Without sufficient control, it’s quite possible for the picky diner to find fault.

Luckily, Chen Yu didn’t care too much about the so-called high-end sushi etiquette and had no such tedious peculiarities when it came to eating. Whatever the chef served, he ate, fully enjoying the chef’s skills and the pleasure of the food.

As Chen Yu was enjoying the chef’s culinary art alone, the belated Kosuke Kanai finally arrived, guided by a staff member, and with an apologetic face, he apologized to Chen Yu before sitting down beside him.

"I’m sorry, Professor Chen Yu. I was delayed by a meeting and am terribly sorry for being late," Kanai explained to Chen Yu, while also signaling the chef to serve the dishes prepared earlier, "Tokyo’s traffic is getting more congested. It seems I need to propose improvements to Tokyo’s transport situation in the National Diet."

"For a large city like Tokyo, the best way to ease traffic congestion is to develop public transport extensively and encourage people to travel by public means as much as possible. However, if such measures were to be implemented, the burden on the Tokyo metro would indeed be overwhelming," Chen Yu said offhandedly in response to Kanai’s sigh, a problem faced by almost all major cities in the world.

Hearing Chen Yu’s opinion, Kanai couldn’t help but nod in agreement, "That’s so true. Both the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the National Diet have been wanting to make some efforts and changes, but in such a large city, any change affects many people, making any change extremely difficult."

"So, that’s where people like you, Member of Parliament Kanai, are needed to make more contributions to the whole society!" Chen Yu picked up the wine glass that the waiter had just brought, and offered a slight compliment to Kanai as they toasted.

As the two exchanged toasts and the meal progressed, Kanai suddenly put down his chopsticks, beckoned to his secretary beside him, took an envelope from him, and pushed it across the table to Chen Yu.

Chen Yu didn’t look at the envelope immediately, just glanced at it briefly and asked, "What does this mean, Member of Parliament Kanai?"

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"It’s just a small token." Seeing that Chen Yu hadn’t touched the envelope, Kanai wasn’t surprised, but explained with a smile, "I know Professor Chen Yu isn’t a greedy doctor. Mundane gifts wouldn’t befit your status, so I prepared these two small tokens as a gesture, and also to thank you, Professor Chen Yu, for healing Nanami."

"Oh? I wonder what these two ’small tokens’ are?" Chen Yu still had not touched the envelope, but looked at Kanai with profound interest.

"I know that Professor Chen Yu is collaborating with Kyuuzai Pharmaceuticals. In addition to the research on the broad-spectrum anti-cancer drug, you also have a healing potion being produced by them, which the state holds in high regard, with relevant departments even making bulk purchases. However, Kyuuzai Pharmaceuticals has also produced a version for civilian use, which has not yet passed the market approval process. So, one of these two gifts is the market license for Kyuuzai Pharmaceuticals’ civilian version of the healing potion," Kanai explained, tapping lightly on the envelope with his finger but not opening it.

Hearing Kanai’s explanation, Chen Yu was somewhat surprised; he had not expected Kanai to offer such a "gift."

"That really is quite a ’small token’!" Chen Yu exclaimed, finally looking seriously at the envelope Kanai had slid over and asked, "Then what is the other ’token,’ if I may inquire?"