Chapter 506

The two of them continued walking forward.

The next piece of work occupied a large area against the wall of the exhibition hall.

A block of almost unpolished stone was placed on the floor, maintaining a moderate distance from the glass standing beside it.

Spotlights fell from diagonally above, casting a very thin bright line along the edge of the glass, while the shadow of the stone passed through the transparent surface and slightly shifted on the other side.

After Satsuki approached, she first stood in front of it for a moment, and then slowly changed her angle along the periphery of the work.

Looking across the glass again, the originally rough and heavy stone was cut by a layer of transparent material, and its outline changed slightly due to refraction.

"I like this piece a bit more than the previous one."

Tsutsumi Seiji had originally been standing by her side, and hearing this, he also looked over again along her line of sight.

"Is that so?"

There was a hint of interest in his tone.

"I thought you would like Fontana more."

"Fontana is very interesting."

Satsuki smiled.

"However, when looking at his work, I can’t help but wonder what the artist is actually trying to say. With this one, I don’t have to think that much."

She took two steps slightly toward the other side of the glass.

"The stone is still stone, and the glass is still glass. Viewed separately, neither is particularly special."

"But once they are placed so close together, it makes people start to care about many things they wouldn’t have noticed otherwise."

Tsutsumi Seiji looked at her.

Satsuki raised her hand to gesture at the distance left between the two.

"For example, this stone is so heavy, yet the glass is so thin. After looking at it for a long time, one can’t help wondering if they are too close to each other."

"Change to another position and look through the glass, and the shape of the stone will change a bit again."

As she spoke, she took another small step to the side.

"The most interesting thing is that, clearly nothing has happened, but when I stand here, I still can’t help wondering—what would happen if they got a little closer, would the glass fall, and would the stone smash it."

"In other words—"

Satsuki stopped and looked at the work again.

"It seems that what is truly put into the exhibition is not just stone and glass."

"There is also that tiny distance between them."

Tsutsumi Seiji listened quietly, a hint of a smile gradually appearing on his face.

"You really know how to appreciate this kind of thing."

"Since Mr. Tsutsumi says so, I will take it as a compliment."

Satsuki nodded slightly.

"After all, I am here today thanks to your invitation. If I couldn’t see anything in your exhibition, it would be too discourteous."

"If you truly couldn’t see anything, you wouldn’t be saying these things instead."

Tsutsumi Seiji smiled and shook his head.

"Before coming to the art museum, many people first remember the author, the era, and the price. After standing in front of the work, what they see are still those things."

"At least you are looking at the work itself."

After hearing this, Satsuki thought for a moment and looked back at the stone.

"Actually, I might not have been able to understand it in the past."

"When I first went to the Seibu Art Museum to see Mr. Tsutsumi, I wasn’t nearly this polite to Duchamp."

Tsutsumi Seiji evidently remembered that matter as well.

"You mean Fountain?"

"Mm."

The corners of Satsuki’s mouth couldn’t help curving up slightly.

"Mr. Tsutsumi’s complexion that day was much worse than it is today."

Tsutsumi Seiji sighed softly.

"Back then, you had just come over from Yoshiaki."

"And you brought along a business deal that couldn’t make me happy at all."

His tone was not heavy.

After all, three years had passed, and the results brought by that almost coercive FamilyMart supply chain reform back then had long proved that Saionji did not only focus on taking things from him.

On the contrary, S-Food truly turned FamilyMart’s constantly leaking costs into profits, and also provided renewed support for the cash flow that had been dragged down extremely poorly by the InterContinental Hotels acquisition case at the time.

Later, when Tsutsumi Seiji made a special trip to Ginza to thank Saionji, he even bought that Renoir from their hands.

Thinking of this, he suddenly chuckled.

"Speaking of which, that painting Girl Reading is still with me."

Satsuki immediately turned her head.

"Is it being well cared for?"

"Your words make it sound as if you didn’t sell it to me back then, but rather stored it at my place."

"After all, it was an old collection that my grandfather brought back from Europe in the past."

Satsuki also smiled.

"I’ll still care about it to some extent."

"Rest assured."

Tsutsumi Seiji looked back at her.

"To this day, I still don’t think those three billion were spent unworthily."

After finishing, he added as if remembering something:

"Although the quote from your Saionji Family at that time was indeed not polite at all."

The amusement in Satsuki’s eyes became a bit more obvious.

"Thank you for your patronage."

She bowed her head slightly in a very formal manner.

"..."

Tsutsumi Seiji looked at her serious expression, and after two seconds, he couldn’t help laughing out loud.

"You really don’t feel embarrassed at all."

"Since Mr. Tsutsumi likes that painting, and Saionji also got a satisfactory price, isn’t that wonderful?"

"That is true."

Tsutsumi Seiji did not deny it.

Those three billion were never just for buying a piece of canvas.

At his position, collecting itself was also a form of expression.

The Seibu Museum of Art, PARCO, those theaters and advertisements, and even the cultural colors he had desperately tried to cram into the distribution business over the years, were already telling the outside world one thing—

What Tsutsumi Seiji managed was not just department stores.

At least he himself had always believed so.

And Satsuki had understood this long ago.

Even in that unpleasant negotiation at the Seibu Museum of Art back then, what she used to persuade him was not the profit margin itself.

But rather telling him that a poet should continue doing a poet’s work.

At that time, Tsutsumi Seiji also knew that those words had a fairly clear negotiating purpose.

But to this day, he still remembered them.

Because what truly makes one feel comfortable is never others flattering oneself as a poet.

What is truly rare is that Satsuki knew why he cared about this title.

Tsutsumi Seiji looked back at Satsuki, who was standing on the other side of the work.

Years had passed, and she had transformed from the young girl who walked into the closed exhibition hall carrying the FamilyMart proposal into someone the entire Japanese financial world could no longer look down upon.

But at least one thing had not changed.

She truly understood these things.

"Let’s go."

Tsutsumi Seiji withdrew his gaze, the smile still on his face.

"There are a few more pieces ahead that I think you will like."

"Then I must trouble Mr. Tsutsumi to lead the way."

Satsuki walked around from the other side of the glass and came to his side.

For the next period of time, the two of them really just looked at the exhibition.

Tsutsumi Seiji would occasionally stop to introduce the origins of some works, and when Satsuki was interested, she would look a bit longer and share a few words based on her own understanding.

When they encountered places where their opinions differed slightly, the two would even stand in front of the work and argue for a moment.

More and more guests arrived successively afterward.

Quite a few of them knew Tsutsumi Seiji, and some recognized Satsuki accompanying him.

After a few rounds of pleasantries, the originally quiet exhibition-viewing rhythm was gradually interrupted.

After sending off another guest who came to greet him, Tsutsumi Seiji glanced around.

"If this continues, it will probably be hard to finish viewing quietly tonight."

Satsuki also looked to the side.

Several people were already standing in front of a section of the exhibition wall that had been empty just moments ago.

"It seems Mr. Tsutsumi simply has too many guests."

"However, at least half of them are here for each other; I’ve merely provided a convenient and decent social venue."

Tsutsumi Seiji smiled.

As he spoke, he turned his body slightly.

"There is a lounge in the back. Would you like to go over and sit for a while?"

"Pardon the intrusion."

Satsuki bowed slightly.

Tsutsumi Seiji accompanied her to leave the exhibition hall through a side door.

The lounge was not large, and the furnishings were very simple. The staff quickly brought tea and a few pastries, then quietly retreated.

After the door closed, the conversations outside suddenly became much quieter.

Satsuki sat down on the sofa, picked up the teacup, and took a sniff.

"Is this Gyokuro?"

Tsutsumi Seiji sat down opposite her.

"I heard you prefer this."

Satsuki raised her eyes, looking clearly somewhat surprised.

"Mr. Tsutsumi even knows this?"

"Since I invited you over, I couldn’t possibly fail to ask what my guest likes to drink."

Tsutsumi Seiji smiled.

"I had someone ask around in advance; it seems the information was accurate enough?"

Satsuki lowered her head to sniff the tea fragrance again, the corners of her mouth slowly curving up.

"Very accurate."

"I do indeed like Gyokuro very much."

She picked up the cup and took a gentle sip before looking back at Tsutsumi Seiji.

"Thank you for the trouble."

"I’m glad you like it."

Tsutsumi Seiji also picked up his own teacup.

"When it comes to hospitality, it only has meaning if you prepare the right things."

The two chatted for a while longer about the works they had seen earlier.

Satsuki was still talking about the composition of one of the advertising designs, and Tsutsumi Seiji listened, occasionally inserting a view of his own.

When discussing some promotional campaigns PARCO had done in the past, he even casually pulled an old booklet from the information rack beside them and flipped it open for Satsuki to see.

The atmosphere was so relaxed that tonight felt truly like an ordinary private exhibition viewing.

Until Satsuki finished flipping through those pages of materials and put the booklet back on the table.

Tsutsumi Seiji lowered his head and took a sip of tea.

"So—"

He gently placed the cup back on the saucer.

"What is it that Satsuki specifically came over to discuss with me today?"