"After we left the antique store, Fan Meng mentioned, 'I think you spent more money than the actual value of this item, and I don't think it's a particularly rare piece,'" he said.
"Don't tell me you found a clue to a treasure inside. At least, I don't think this simple painting indicates the existence of any treasure, although that might just be due to my lack of expertise."
"In fact, this shell pair is really not typical," Liang En explained as he took the shells out of the box and opened them to show the images inside.
"The traditional content depicted within these types of shells usually follows a set theme, mostly scenes from the 'Tale of Genji' scrolls, such as the characters Ukifune, Kagero, and Kashiwagi, which are iconic."
"But look at this," Liang En said as he turned the shell over to the side with the design, "This clearly depicts a scene of the tea ceremony, which isn't part of the 'Tale of Genji' scrolls."
"Indeed, this is a tea ceremony scene." Even though Fan Meng was not very knowledgeable about these things, he easily recognized the tea ceremony depicted on the shell.
Japanese tea ceremony is quite distinctive, so even a layperson with some knowledge of Japan could tell what was depicted.
When the old shopkeeper sold this item, he had asked for a high price, considering its authenticity as a real antique with several hundred years of history, which justified its higher price as a unique piece.
Liang En decided to buy this item partly because it was a unique piece with enough value to be collectible, and partly because such distinctive items often contain special messages.
Of course, Liang En didn't use any cards to verify this; his conclusion was purely based on his long experience searching for various treasures.
Particularly given the reserved nature of the Japanese, suggesting something through such small items isn't unlikely.
However, Liang En didn't directly search with cards, as he had already arranged a meeting at TYPE-MOON company in the afternoon, so they headed to a top-tier chicken broth ramen restaurant called Kagari in Ginza 6-chome.
Ramen is a quick food to prepare in many countries, so their ramen was ready in no time. The chicken broth was simmered slowly on low heat, making it extremely rich and slightly thick.
This aromatic broth, paired with seasonal vegetables and chicken chashu cooked at a low temperature, elevated the whole bowl's flavor to a new level, although the noodles, being store-bought, were slightly lacking compared to the soup and toppings.
After finishing the noodles, Liang En and the others, who had larger appetites, still felt unsatisfied, so they each added a dish of chicken butter rice, mixing chunks of chicken and butter into the hot steaming rice with the shop's special black truffle soy sauce, which turned out to be surprisingly delicious.
Of course, the bill was a bit of a shock when it came, as the meal for three amounted to 30 euros, which isn't cheap, but is reasonable for Ginza.
Most importantly, compared to most other meals, ramen is particularly fast to eat, which was ideal for them as they had things to do in the afternoon and needed to fill up quickly.
After a quick lunch, they swiftly headed to the TYPE-MOON office. The proximity meant that Liang En and his companions could get there in less than half an hour by subway and walking.
TYPE-MOON company is located on one floor of a twenty-plus story office building. Given Tokyo's land prices, this interest-group-turned-company, despite its successful products, clearly could not afford its own real estate.
So, they simply rented a floor in a commercial building to serve as their office, which was more appropriate than the casual locations of the past now that they were officially operating a business.
When Liang En and his colleagues arrived, they looked slightly disheveled, as they also brought gifts with them, this time four painted glass artworks, which were not light.
"Thank you very much for your gift." Like Europeans, Japanese nowadays tend to open gifts on the spot, a custom introduced after the Meiji Restoration.
Upon unwrapping the package, the two key members of TYPE-MOON who came to greet them were delighted with the four painted glass artworks Liang En had brought.
For them, these pieces, personally designed and supervised by Liang En, starring Artoria Pendragon, were more valuable than other more expensive gifts because they reflected Liang En's thoughtfulness.
This is very important in Japanese culture, where a gift that clearly shows the giver's effort is valued more by the recipient than a mere expensive gift.
After exchanging pleasantries, the group moved from the company entrance to the conference room. Liang En could tell that the staff were of good quality; at least, the atmosphere was more positive than in traditional Japanese companies,
which tend to be more subdued.
Once inside the conference room, they quickly started discussing the recent developments of the company. Just like the reports they had seen, the company's recent growth had been excellent.
Riding on the success of their first game, the company had started further developing the Fate IP, such as designing merchandise and continuing to write novels set in this universe.
"Actually, we have a big plan," Takashi Takeuchi said after discussing the company's development for a while, then he turned on the projector on the wall to start showing the company's next project.
"Our next task is to produce an anime called Fate/stay night, planned for 24 episodes, with each episode costing about 30 million yen—"
"That means money is tight right now," Liang En realized what the other party was implying as soon as he heard this.
Like Huaxia people, Japanese tend to express their thoughts in a roundabout way when discussing further investments, rather than asking directly for money.
The reason for the current financial tightness is simple, although the last game sold extremely well, even becoming last year's top-selling galgame and outselling many big companies' games that had been years in preparation.
But the issue is that the company is still too small, and funds are limited, so it naturally feels overstretched during this rapid expansion.
Compared to another world, the funds Liang En injected into the company certainly accelerated its growth, but also made the company spread itself thinner, hence they now found it challenging to gather enough funds for animation production in a short time.
Fortunately, this problem isn't too severe; the lack of funds will only affect the speed of development but won't compromise the overall safety of the company. At least according to the company's estimates, if funds aren't immediately available, the plans will only be delayed.
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