Seventy-six: The Fourth Marriage

On August 8, 1979, Wei Hua and Sakura Kinoshita registered their marriage in Tokyo, Japan. For the sake of Seline and the other two women’s feelings, Wei Hua chose not to hold any ceremony for his wedding with Sakura Kinoshita, just as he had done before. The Kinoshita family did not make any grand announcements either. However, such a significant event as marrying off a daughter could not be handled in complete secrecy. Thus, Kinoshita Heiji held a family banquet, introducing Wei Hua, the new son-in-law, to the rest of the family.

Considering Sakura Kinoshita had only recently recovered her health, Wei Hua and she spent their honeymoon in Tokyo. For that entire month, neither paid any attention to business matters, entrusting everything to Seline and her two companions.

At the end of September, Wei Hua said farewell to Sakura Kinoshita, Seline, Jessie, and Mary, and returned to New York. He still had many tasks ahead of him. With VHS-format video recorders now on the market, a new entertainment phenomenon that would sweep Japan in the eighties was on the verge of emerging. This was Karaoke, which would later spread to China and Southeast Asia in the late eighties and nineties, creating a market worth tens of billions of dollars. Wei Hua decided that his primary means of controlling and suppressing Japan would be economic. The best strategy was to squeeze Japanese companies’ room for expansion, so Wei Hua resolved to take control of Karaoke.

In October, Changbai Technology Laboratory, under Wei Hua’s direction, applied for the technical patent for Karaoke. Then, his electronics manufacturing company began producing Karaoke machines, essentially VHS video recorders with some added simple components. Wei Hua returned to Japan for in-depth discussions with Kinoshita Heiji. Soon afterward, a new kind of venue—the Karaoke Hall—began appearing in major Japanese cities, rapidly becoming the main entertainment spot for Japanese men. Its popularity was almost beyond comprehension.

Supported by massive investment from Wei Hua, the Kinoshita family’s Karaoke Halls sprang up throughout Japan. By the latter half of 1980, there was not a single city without a Kinoshita Karaoke Hall, and the family’s influence expanded explosively.

The Kinoshita family’s Karaoke business was a joint venture with Wei Hua. He provided funding and technology for a 49% stake, while the Kinoshita family contributed venues and manpower for 51%. Since Wei Hua had substantial funds in Japan and Karaoke was a lucrative, cash-cow business, he had every reason to participate. Moreover, if he wanted to support the Kinoshita family, they needed sufficient strength, and expanding through Karaoke Halls was the best way, both financially and in terms of manpower. Relying solely on the convenience food business that Wei Hua had guided them into would be too slow for the family to meet his expectations.

Wei Hua’s biocomputer had told him why Karaoke Halls would become so wildly popular in Japan. Japanese men, after work, did not head straight home, but instead went out in groups to relax and entertain themselves, returning home drunk late at night. Wives would wait for their husbands, help them to bed, and care for them. A man who came home directly after work would be thrown out by his wife, for in the eyes of the neighbors, a man without evening social obligations was a failure—looked down on in the company as well. Thus, Japan’s entertainment industry was highly profitable, and Karaoke, as a new entertainment activity, naturally flourished.

Through Karaoke technology, the Kinoshita family extended their influence into Japan’s film and television industry as well as the world of organized crime. In Japan, such organizations are legal, and most major corporations and financial groups have their own—this is common knowledge. The Kinoshita family’s own group was small, but with the rapid growth fueled by the profits of their Karaoke Halls, their power expanded quickly. Karaoke machines also required backing tracks, so the Kinoshita family acquired a record company, beginning to extend their reach into the film and television industry. After discussions with Kinoshita Heiji, Wei Hua made it clear that if the family wished to gain a foothold in Japanese politics, they would have to get involved in media. They needed their own voice, and entering the entertainment industry was their first step into the media world.

Once the Karaoke negotiations concluded, Wei Hua returned to New York. The year 1979 was drawing to a close. The rise in oil prices he had been anticipating was now clearly underway. By January 1980, the price was expected to reach $32 per barrel, just as the biocomputer had predicted. Wei Hua’s oil futures holdings would then yield between twenty and thirty billion dollars.

As 1979 ended, Wei Hua spent Christmas in Tokyo with his four wives. After the holiday, he returned once more to New York. By mid-January 1980, the price of oil futures in New York reached $32. Wei Hua hurried to sell his holdings, and by early February, the funds of the U.S. branch of Excellence Private Investment Company totaled more than $29 billion. The ten million dollars entrusted to Wei Hua the previous year by Liutianhua’s representative had also grown to $146 million.

At the end of February 1980, Wei Hua visited Japan again. After spending several days overseeing the investment plans there, he took Seline and the other two women back with him to New York, leaving Sakura Kinoshita in charge of their Japanese affairs. The reason he had the three women stay in Tokyo was to foster communication between them and Sakura Kinoshita. Previously, they had been rivals, but now, as his wives, their relationships needed to change. The four women understood this, and Wei Hua’s absence gave them time to adjust. After a period of adaptation, the four women became as close as sisters, which delighted Wei Hua.

Dear readers, whether you have flowers or bricks, throw them my way!