The lawyer handed a bundle of documents to a clerk and told him to total them. The clerk added swiftly on abacus, wrote the aim on a separate slip of paper and placed it on the lawyer's desk. The lawyer stared at it for a while in silence, then he passed it to Toda. Toda removed his glasses and brought the paper close to his face.
Scowling at the figures, Toda asked, 'is this in the black or red?'
'Red,' the lawyer answered simply.
Toda answered as though to himself,'A deficit of more than 2.5 million yen?'
At his side, Ukue (wife) shivered.
This was the result of two years, unjust imprisonment-not one of his seventeen companies was worth salvaging.
He trudged home under the blazing sun, burning with anger. To rebuild, he had no choice but to undertake a completely new venture. He had no money, however, no connections. Nor did he gave anyone to work with him. He could not even imagine what sort of business he should start. With a debt of 2.5 million yen, he had been dealt a mortal blow as a businessman. Taking into consideration the difference between economic circumstances then and now, the debt today (1965) would equal the staggering aim of nearly three hundred million yen.
'Don't worry,' Toda spoke gently to his wife, who walked beside him with her head bowed. 'As long as I'm here, you do not ever have to worry.' The situation was hopeless. As yet, he has no concrete plans. But in his heart, he felt a confidence that no one would have understand.
- Human Revolution, Reconstruction, page 27
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