September 1987, Shanghai.
The "Autumn Tiger" still blazed with fierce intensity. Along the Huangpu River, the scorching sun evaporated every trace of moisture, turning the entire Putuo Industrial Zone into one vast sauna.
"Da-da-da-da-da—"
Inside Workshop No. 1 of Takahashi Textiles, three hundred old "Flying Man Brand" sewing machines clattered at full throttle. The dense mechanical roar merged into a thundering wave that shook fine dust from the ceiling in a steady drizzle.
The air hung heavy with the mingled odors of machine oil, cotton lint, and human sweat. Large industrial exhaust fans spun feebly on the walls, merely stirring the thick waves of heat.
The female workers wore white caps and kept their heads lowered, feet pumping the pedals with relentless speed. Sweat rolled down their cheeks and onto the worktables, only to be instantly absorbed by the dry fabric.
In this era, time was money. Piece-rate wages turned every second into a race against the clock.
Yet at the far end of the workshop, in the finished-product inspection area, the atmosphere had grown cold enough to frost the air.
Master Matsumoto, an old craftsman from Kyoto, wore a dark Japanese samue. Reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, and a piece of red chalk rested in his hand. Before him lay a fresh pile of five hundred T-shirts straight off the line—the result of the workers pulling three consecutive all-nighters.
He picked up the first shirt, unfolded it, and squinted at the neckline.
"Tsk."
With a frown, he drew a large red "X" across the chest and tossed the garment casually into a bamboo basket labeled "Grade B."
The second shirt: the cuff stitching was uneven.
"X." Into the basket.
The third: a tiny loose thread at the hem.
"X." Into the basket.
In just ten minutes the "defective" basket had nearly overflowed, while the table for qualified pieces held only a lonely handful of shirts.
"Mr. Matsumoto! What are you doing!"
Workshop Director Li Guoqiang could bear it no longer. He stamped his foot in distress, the flesh on his face quivering. "What's wrong with these clothes? Look at the fabric—Xinjiang extra-grade cotton! The workmanship is a hundred times better than the 'Dacron' sold in department stores!"
He snatched a crossed shirt from the basket and jabbed at the flaw: a thread merely two millimeters too long. "Just because of this? You call it defective? You're nitpicking!"
Director Li's voice rose with anxiety, sweat pouring down his face. "This batch has a shipping deadline! If you keep rejecting them, we won't even have fifty qualified pieces out of five hundred. When we miss the delivery, who will take responsibility?"
Matsumoto paused, lifted his gaze, and regarded Director Li with steady eyes.
"Li-san."
The old man's Chinese was stiff, each word measured. "In Japan, this shirt will sell for thirty thousand yen. That equals two years' salary for a worker here."
He pointed at the red cross. "If you spent two years' salary on a piece of clothing and then found a loose thread, what would you think?"
"I would think I had been cheated."
Matsumoto picked up another shirt, his expression unchanging. "The Saionji family crest cannot be sewn onto trash. Even if it is slightly better trash, it remains trash."
Director Li's face flushed the color of pig liver. He opened his mouth but found no reply. "You… you have a capitalist obsession with perfection! Our exports have never been inspected this strictly before…"
The surrounding female workers had stopped their machines. They whispered among themselves, eyes filled with unease and quiet resentment. In the past they would have walked out long ago; no one wanted their hard labor dismissed as waste.
"Everyone, quiet down."
A calm voice cut through the tension from the stairs.
Takahashi Hiroshi descended, his white shirt soaked with sweat, a document folder in his hand. After six months in Shanghai he had shed the scholarly air he once carried; his brow now bore the decisive stamp of a manager.
"Mr. Takahashi! Please, you decide!" Director Li pleaded as though sighting a savior. "Master Matsumoto is being far too harsh. At this rate the factory will have to shut down!"
Takahashi approached the inspection table. He picked up a rejected shirt and examined the flaw closely. It was indeed minute; without a magnifying glass, an ordinary eye would never notice it.
"This shirt cannot be sold for thirty thousand yen," he said evenly.
Director Li's heart sank.
"However," Takahashi continued, "it is not trash either."
He folded the garment and set it aside. "All Grade B items will be sealed and stored. In future they will serve as redemption prizes for S.A. Karaoke Boxes or be sold at low prices as ordinary stock. Workers will receive their basic labor fees as usual, but there will be no bonuses for this batch."
At the mention of "no bonuses," a murmur of discontent rippled through the workshop.
"Don't worry," Takahashi raised a hand to quiet them. He walked to the center of the floor and pointed toward a newly renovated glass-partitioned room that had originally been intended as a warehouse. Inside stood two brand-new Mitsubishi air conditioners shipped from Japan.
"I know Mr. Matsumoto's standards are demanding. On the current assembly line it is unrealistic to demand both speed and perfection. I understand the difficulties you face, but those difficulties are no excuse to compromise quality."
He looked across the sea of tired faces.
"Therefore, starting today, we are dividing the workforce. That glass room will become the S-Grade Special Workshop. It will be kept at a constant twenty-four degrees. You will not have to sweat. Lunch there will include an extra serving of braised pork every day, with all the rice you can eat."
"Most importantly," Takahashi held up two fingers, "the piece-rate wage inside will be double that of the main line."
A collective gasp swept the workshop.
Double wages? Air conditioning? Braised pork?
In an era when meat still required ration coupons, this sounded like life in paradise.
The female workers' eyes lit up like hungry wolves catching sight of fresh meat.
"But," Takahashi's voice sharpened like a cracking whip, "entry is not automatic. First, you must pass Mr. Matsumoto's assessment. Only the most skilled and detail-oriented will be admitted. Second, once inside, speed is irrelevant—only consistency matters. Ten perfect pieces a day will earn more than a hundred defective ones. Third, and most crucial: if a shirt receives a red cross in the special workshop due to carelessness…"
"First offense: a warning.
Second offense: all bonuses for that day forfeited.
Third offense: immediate expulsion back to the main line, with no possibility of return."
A brief, heavy silence fell.
"We understand!"
Hundreds of voices answered in unison, making the glass windows tremble. Dissatisfaction and complaint had transformed, in the face of such powerful incentives, into burning ambition.
The following hour became a ruthless selection process. Matsumoto sat at the door of the glass room like the King of Hell guarding the gates. One by one, the women who believed themselves skilled stepped forward. Some were rejected for trembling hands, others for habitually rushing and neglecting details. In the end, only thirty workers earned entry into that cool "heaven."
The remaining two hundred could only watch enviously through the glass wall before gritting their teeth and returning to the sweltering main line, silently vowing to sharpen their skills and fight their way in next month.
Inside the glass room the air conditioning hummed softly. Thirty women sat at brand-new workstations. The rhythm here had changed entirely. No longer the frantic "da-da-da" of survival, but a measured, almost soothing cadence—"S.A.—S.A.—."
Each woman held her breath, treating the cotton like precious embroidery. Before every stitch they double-checked alignment; every loose thread was trimmed away with small scissors. They understood that what they held was not merely fabric. It was double wages, a better life for their families, and a "golden rice bowl" they could not afford to lose.
In this era, aside from the state-owned "iron rice bowl," no position offered better benefits than those at foreign enterprises—and Takahashi Textiles ranked among the most generous even by those standards.
Matsumoto walked the aisles with hands clasped behind his back, inspecting each station. For a long while the red chalk in his hand remained idle. Watching those focused eyes and stitches as precise as machine work, the old craftsman's tightly drawn face finally showed a faint, almost imperceptible softening.
Late that night, at eleven o'clock, the glass room still glowed like a luminous island.
Takahashi Hiroshi stood before the inspection table. One hundred freshly completed T-shirts lay neatly stacked before him. Not a single red cross marked any of them.
He lifted the top shirt. His fingertips glided over the fabric; the touch was so smooth it stirred the heart. The neckline curved perfectly, the cuff stitching was flawless, and the tiny "S" embroidered on the chest gleamed like a quiet badge of honor.
This was industrial art—white gold forged from China's finest cotton and elevated by the ultimate craftsmanship that high wages could command.
"Mr. Matsumoto, thank you for your hard work."
Takahashi placed the shirt reverently into a special black presentation box.
"Mhm."
Matsumoto removed his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes. "This batch is fit to face the world. It would not embarrass us even on the shelves of Wako Department Store in Ginza."
Receiving approval from this veteran tailor of Kyoto, the weight finally lifted from Takahashi's chest.
He returned to his office and dialed Tokyo.
"Beep… beep…"
"This is Saionji."
The girl's cool voice answered, accompanied by the faint strains of jazz in the background—she seemed to be at The Club.
"Milady, this is Takahashi."
He gazed out at the sleeping city of Shanghai. "The Special Workshop is now operational. The first batch of one hundred S-Grade pieces has passed inspection without exception. The remaining four hundred Grade B items have been arranged with Mr. Itakura for shipment back as karaoke redemption prizes."
"Very good."
A trace of satisfaction colored Satsuki's tone. "Takahashi, remember this principle: divide people into classes, give the finest rewards to those at the top, and offer even the slightest hope to those at the bottom. This is the most efficient form of quality control."
"Is the shipping date confirmed?"
"Yes. Departure is the day after tomorrow."
"Excellent." Satsuki paused briefly. "Tell the female workers this is only the beginning. As long as their hands remain steady, the Saionji family will grant them rewards beyond their imagination. As for Mr. Matsumoto… convey my deepest bow. He is the soul of S-Collection."
"Yes!"
The call ended.
Takahashi set down the receiver and looked once more at the figures still working diligently inside the glass room. On this sweltering night beside the Huangpu River, something called "standards" was being sewn, stitch by meticulous stitch, into the expanding fabric of the Saionji family empire.
These T-shirts would soon cross the ocean. They would be worn by the proud young people on the streets of Shibuya, becoming currency for their displays of taste. Meanwhile, every Grade B piece produced here would flow into ordinary karaoke rooms, offering small moments of happiness to everyday folk.
From high-end to low-end, from elite to mass market—the Saionji family's net was tightening silently around both.