We Do Business In Full Auto [EN]: Chapter 102

102

New Talent (2)

Around lunchtime.

I spent the entire morning processing several documents.

Mixed in were company documents, M&A-related papers, the expansion construction plans for the lunchbox factory, and documents for the trading company.

As expected, Lee Seulgi was incredibly efficient with her work.

Dealing with numerous tasks beyond company matters was overwhelming, even with two of her working bodies. This eventually led to recommending a new talent to assist.

Lee Seulgi came in as lunchtime approached.

“Boss!”

“What is it this time?”

“Ambassadors from various countries have arrived.”

“Various countries, you say…?”

“They’re from the UK, France, China, Germany, and Japan. What should we do?”

“Oho.”

I had refused to meet them yesterday.

Because I had ongoing negotiations with the Korean and US governments.

The news that the negotiations went through and we received the Androids must have reached various countries as well.

Every country has an intelligence agency, and if they couldn’t find out about this level of contract, they wouldn’t qualify as an intelligence agency.

As expected, they came.

I had no intention of refusing them anyway.

“Let’s meet with the British Ambassador first.”

“What about the other ambassadors?”

“I’ll meet them in order after lunch.”

“Yes. Then I’ll schedule the lunch appointments.”

The reason I was meeting the British Ambassador first was because of my wife.

Even though our relationship was strained, my wife’s home country was the UK, and as long as I didn’t harbor negative feelings towards the UK, it was right to give them preferential treatment.

It would also appear ideal externally.

I head to the appointment location with Lee Seulgi.

A secluded restaurant.

I’ve been eating Western food so much lately that I missed Korean food, but that wasn’t easy to maintain while working.

Still, it was a fusion restaurant, so I could get a similar feeling to Korean food.

The British Ambassador was already waiting, having taken his seat in advance. He was incredibly prompt.

“Oh, nice to meet you. I’m Richard Han, the British Ambassador to Korea.”

“Nice to meet you.”

We sat down.

First, we ordered food.

“I’ll have the kimchi pasta.”

“I’ll have the kimchi pasta as well.”

“What about you, Secretary Lee?”

“Me too.”

“Three of the same, please.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Before the food came out, we exchanged light conversation.

Richard complimented my English skills.

“Your English is fluent. You could pass for a Brit.”

“It’s natural since my wife is British.”

“Are you referring to Mrs. Lisa, the heir to the Cotton family?”

“She’s probably been pushed out of the heir position.”

“Surely not? She was second in line until a few days ago, there’s no way she’s been pushed out already.”

“Since there’s a current head of the family, my wife probably won’t get her turn.”

“Even so, we have a deep connection.”

He was trying to tie me to the UK somehow.

I shrugged.

“It’s true that I have a good impression of the UK because my wife is British. But that’s about it. I don’t have any special interest beyond that.”

“We’re grateful just for your favorable impression.”

Who would say he wasn’t a diplomat? His words flowed smoothly.

The food started to come out.

It was fusion kimchi pasta, and the aroma was quite nice.

Still, having kimchi in Western food made me feel a bit more settled. Eating Western food every day can get tiring.

After finishing the meal, we drank coffee.

The real conversation starts now.

“President, our government is also very interested in Androids.”

“Everyone is.”

“Is it possible to purchase them?”

“There’s no reason why not. Here’s the contract I signed with the Korean and US governments.”

I handed him a copy.

I drove the point home.

“The conditions are the same.”

“200 million dollars…”

“That’s the condition for giving you three units for research.”

“That means we can openly research them?”

“If you can.”

I smiled slyly.

Unless the government has a black magician [someone skilled in esoteric arts or forbidden knowledge], they will never be able to analyze it.

Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, and all other countries were rushing to secure the technology, but they were bound to fail.

“We will also contract under the same conditions.”

“Good.”

At my gesture, Lee Seulgi handed over the contract.

We exchanged contracts and immediately got up from our seats.

The plan was to go to the company and hand over the dummies right away. Knowing this would happen, I had made dozens of dummies, so it didn’t matter how many countries came.

After lunch, I signed contracts with four governments over several hours.

At first, we signed the contract and handed them over, but from the middle, I just brought the dummies and had them run errands while signing the contract.

We sold three units to each country.

Of course, I didn’t think each country would only buy three dummies.

If they disassemble them and can’t find anything, they would obviously order more.

And then, settlement time.

“So far, we’ve signed contracts with six countries and have a total of 1.1 billion dollars in hand.”

“The taxes are quite high.”

“We can’t help the VAT [Value Added Tax].”

“So, we’ve got over 1 trillion won [approximately $750 million USD] in hand with this?”

“Yes!”

She still had an expression of disbelief.

1 trillion won is truly an astronomical amount. I was also dumbfounded, so it would seem like a miracle to a third party.

Lee Seulgi clicked her tongue.

“It would be difficult for any business to generate this much profit in such a short period.”

“They have the goal of accumulating technology, though. I think it will take several years until the release. What if we preempt the technology and mass-produce it before then?”

“Really, can’t anyone imitate this technology?”

“You saw it yesterday.”

“Ah.”

Lee Seulgi shook her head.

The sight of a person crawling out from the floor must have been shocking. It’s fortunate that ordinary people who aren’t black magicians don’t faint.

“We can push forward with the business as much as we want.”

“How is the trading company doing?”

“I’m looking into it. With this much capital, shouldn’t we just acquire a large company?”

“You mean a KOSPI-listed company [a company listed on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index]?”

“Yes. If you’re going to expand the business anyway, a trading company will be helpful no matter what you do. There would be considerable synergy.”

“Good. Have Secretary Lee handle this matter.”

“Eung.”

“What’s wrong? Han Yuram is a candidate, so bear with it a little longer.”

“I’m worried she needs to do well.”

“Let’s see. What will happen.”

At that moment.

Han Yuram took a deep breath in front of the Haejin Lunchbox headquarters.

She spent the entire morning analyzing Haejin Lunchbox.

Haejin Lunchbox is a fairly solid company. If Haejin Group hadn’t increased its investment in the semiconductor business, rumors of a sale wouldn’t have circulated.

She thought it would be better to meet the owner here than to meet the chairman directly.

Haejin Lunchbox was run by the third son of Haejin Group, and he was in the process of reorganizing the company.

“Good. The goal is 150 billion.”

It’s more than the acquisition cost of CL Retail.

It had stores nationwide, and above all, the factory produced an enormous amount of lunchboxes every day.

It also supplied lunchboxes to large construction companies and had some connections with the government.

But after all, a lunchbox is just a lunchbox.

The profit margin wasn’t as high as she thought, and it was just a hassle to manage. It seems they decided it would be better to reduce the business rather than have a lunchbox company with no connection to Haejin Group.

Han Yuram was led to the president’s office by the secretary.

A middle-aged man was working.

“What is it?”

“I’m from CL Retail.”

“From CL Retail? Why did they send a woman?”

“I’ve been given full authority.”

“Haha! Sending a woman when the president himself should be coming.”

Moo Geuk-sang got up and sat roughly on the edge of the sofa.

“Have some coffee and go. Should I listen to your story?”

Male chauvinism in this day and age.

Han Yuram engraved patience in her mind.

She didn’t know about middle management, but there weren’t many women in high-ranking positions. Most of them couldn’t rise because their careers were interrupted after childbirth or childcare.

There were women who worked with a determined mind like Lee Seulgi or Han Yuram, but Korean society was still cold to women.

But such social climates are meant to be broken.

“I heard that Haejin Group is trying to sell the lunchbox business.”

“Your information is fast.”

“It’s information from H Group.”

“Hmm. H Group.”

Of course, it’s a lie.

Of course, H Group also knew about it, but she brought it up to show off that she was friendly with them.

Only now did Moo Geuk-sang sit on the sofa.

For Haejin Group, which was trying to invest in the semiconductor business, the power of H Group was absolutely necessary.

“Our president is trying to start an Android business, and the parts inside will be supplied by a specialized company.”

Moo Geuk-sang’s eyes lit up.

Han Yuram hadn’t made any promises, but she was raising Moo Geuk-sang’s expectations to the fullest. And to some extent, the effect was showing.

‘If the reaction is this good, it’s not bad.’

It’s better than expected.

As expected, there were many rumors about the succession of management rights in Haejin Group. Everyone was on edge about who would inherit the management rights.

“If you sell the company this time, we may be able to express our intentions to H Group through us.”

“Did your president say that?”

His tone had changed.

As expected, people need backing.

Behind her was Lee Yoosung, the genius scientist and businessman, and behind Lee Yoosung was H Group.

She adds a little more.

“Yes. And our president has connections with the US, Korean, and British governments. You know that his wife is the heir to the Cotton family, right?”

Moo Geuk-sang nodded as if possessed.

If he does well with this deal, he can connect with the Korean, British, and American governments. These kinds of connections can’t be bought with money.

“How much can you sell it for?”

“Even if you transfer the shares at face value, it will be about 200 billion. Because there are many businesses under it. But a perfectly fine company can’t be transferred for 200 billion.”

“I was thinking about 150 billion.”

“Haha! That’s impossible. The headquarters won’t approve anything below 250 billion.”

It was a more enormous amount of money than she thought.

As expected, Haejin Lunchbox had chains nationwide and quite a few directly managed stores.

It wasn’t heavily in debt, and it couldn’t be compared to when CL Retail was put up for sale. CL Group sold Retail due to management failure, but Haejin Group wasn’t selling the lunchbox company due to management failure, but because the profits weren’t high and there were no related businesses. They were just trying to cut off the business and invest that money in semiconductors.

“The president won’t approve anything over 200 billion.”

A tug-of-war.

Moo Geuk-sang made a final offer.