Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 155

155. 45th. New Year’s Day, Warm Yet Cold (2)

Lee Dae-soo sighed lightly, acknowledging that even his third grandson had found a partner.

“Sung-min, Sung-moon, and Sung-woo all have partners now, so as heirs to this family, they’ve got everything they need. Sung-ah can take her time. Don’t you think?”

Lee Myung-jin, who was drinking tea, set down his teacup and said,

“Yes, Father. I feel relieved now that I’ve cleanly paid the inheritance tax from the Hong Kong investment, haha.”

Even for the Hae-dong Group’s owner family, who had plenty of cash in South Korea, it was difficult for Lee Myung-jin to handle the inheritance tax for his three children alone. Wasn’t it a total of 600 billion won, with 200 billion won per person?

He had been dreading the inheritance tax, but Hae-dong Securities’ Hong Kong project investment turned out to be a huge success. Lee Sung-moon, Lee Sung-woo, and Lee Sung-ah, who had each invested ten million dollars in the project, were left with 200 billion won in cash after handling the inheritance tax and various loans, so Lee Myung-jin could laugh without a care in the world.

Lee Myung-jin, who had been laughing heartily, stopped and cautiously said to Lee Dae-soo,

“I’m not sure how to manage the rest of the children’s money, Father.”

“Hmm…”

[In the future, Standard Capital will be the company that manages our family’s and our group’s funds, Grandfather.]

Lee Dae-soo, humming and stroking his chin, recalled his eldest grandson’s words from last summer, when he had revealed his secret, and lightly tapped his long pipe.

“Leave it to Standard Capital.”

“Father?”

“Father?”

Lee Myung-jin and Jung Yoo-min were taken aback. Leave it to someone else’s company when they had Hae-dong Merchant Bank and Hae-dong Securities, the family’s and group’s banks?

“I heard that Sung-min played a big role when Triumph and Standard Capital cleaned up in Japan two years ago. Thanks to that, the distribution he received from there is substantial, and it seems to be growing even now.”

“Yes?”

Lee Myung-jin and Jung Yoo-min couldn’t believe it. Even if Lee Sung-min was skilled in business, he had been making a name for himself on Wall Street since two years ago?

Seeing the two people looking doubtful, Lee Dae-soo waved his hand.

“Don’t try to find out the details. Thanks to that rascal Sung-min, those Standard Capital guys are investing in us with generous terms.”

Seeing Lee Dae-soo’s stern expression, Lee Myung-jin and his wife composed themselves.

“Yes, Father. We will keep it to ourselves.”

“We will be careful, Father.”

Lee Dae-soo looked at his second son and his wife, who had bowed their heads. He believed that his eldest grandson would keep the promise he had made to him.

***

While Lee Dae-soo was ordering Lee Myung-jin and his wife to keep silent about the relationship between Standard and Lee Sung-min, Lee Sung-ah, the youngest of Lee Myung-jin’s children, was drinking green tea with Jang Ha-yeon.

“What did you like about Sung-min *oppa* [older brother/male friend], *unnie* [older sister/female friend]?”

“Hmm… I think it would be faster to list the things I didn’t like?”

After a moment of hesitation, Jang Ha-yeon smiled and answered, causing Lee Sung-ah to look flustered.

“Yes?”

“I like everything except for the car racing he used to do. He’s caring, warm, and dependable…”

Lee Sung-ah tilted her head, seeing Jang Ha-yeon’s face looking sweet as if she was thinking about something good.

“*Oppa* must have changed a lot?”

“He probably has. He’s been very different since he opened his eyes in the hospital.”

Lee Sung-ah nodded as Jang Ha-yeon told her about Lee Sung-min from their childhood friends to the present.

“What *unnie* said is right. Sung-min *oppa* used to sing about wanting to be a history professor all the time.”

“I don’t think so now, Miss. When I was consulting with him about Hae-dong Department Store…”

Lee Sung-ah’s mouth dropped open as she heard about the things Lee Sung-min had done so far, including the department store consulting.

“Really?”

“Of course, Miss. Sung-min is now a full-fledged manager.”

“Wow… amazing…”

Lee Sung-ah, unable to hide her admiration, quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

“I’m sorry, *unnie*. Am I the first cousin-in-law like this you’ve met?”

Jang Ha-yeon smiled gently at Lee Sung-ah, who was looking at her.

“Of course, you’re the first, Miss. Because my marriage with Sung-min will be the first and last.”

“I guess so, hehe.”

Jang Ha-yeon smiled as she watched Lee Sung-ah cutely stick out her tongue and laugh.

“By the way, Miss, where are you going to go to college? I heard you took the college entrance exam last year.”

“Seoul National University’s Architecture Department.”

“Architecture Department?”

Lee Sung-ah smiled brightly as she saw Jang Ha-yeon looking surprised.

“I’ve loved playing with dollhouses since I was little, and since I entered middle school, I wanted to make them with my own hands. So…”

She told Jang Ha-yeon that she started with a house that Lee Myung-jin designed and built with his family – Lee Sung-moon was in charge of metalwork under Lee Myung-jin’s guidance, Lee Sung-woo was in charge of wiring, and Lee Sung-ah was in charge of woodworking and glass processing with her mother, Jung Yoo-min – and then made miniature models of world landmarks, and that she wanted to make them in more depth, so she studied languages, mathematics, history, etc.

“So now I want to build the buildings we use with my own hands. What do you think, *unnie*?”

“Hahaha…”

Jang Ha-yeon smiled outwardly as she looked at Lee Sung-ah, whose eyes were sparkling, but inwardly she was appalled.

‘Is this… Sung-min’s family’s education method?’

From a young age, they taught their children to delve deeply into what they liked, and in the process, they taught them the languages, mathematics, history, etc. that they needed, so it was a method that satisfied both parents and children.

‘I’ll have to think about it when I teach my children later.’

Jang Ha-yeon, who didn’t even have children yet, was already burning with the will to educate her children.

***

After leaving Samcheong-dong, we went to our parents’ columbarium to pay our respects, and then we were on our way to Jang Ho-gun’s mansion in Hannam-dong. Jang Ha-yeon, who was in the passenger seat, called me.

“Honey.”

Just hearing it made my whole body tingle. With a smile on my face, I looked ahead and opened my mouth.

“Why?”

“Is it true that the youngest Miss is going to our school’s Architecture Department?”

“Yeah. I stopped by Dangjin briefly on the way to Seosan the day before yesterday, and my uncle said…”

Jang Ha-yeon was quite surprised when I told her that I had received confirmation from acquaintances at the university that Lee Sung-ah had topped the Architecture Department and even the Engineering Department.

“Was it real?”

“It’s real. When Sung-ah was in middle school, my uncle designed a dollhouse for her, and she built it with my aunt, Sung-moon, and Sung-woo. She’s probably made quite a few other model buildings too?”

In Lee Myung-jin’s mansion, there was a small workshop on the edge of the garden, away from the main building.

There, Lee Sung-moon would cut metal under Lee Myung-jin’s supervision, Lee Sung-ah would trim wood and glass with Jung Yoo-min, who graduated from Seoul National University’s Department of Applied Arts, and Lee Sung-woo would lay wires with Lee Myung-jin to create model buildings. That was their hobby.

‘A family where work and hobbies are one, haha.’

In my past life, their jobs came from their hobbies, so there was no better analogy. I smiled inwardly and turned the steering wheel. About ten minutes later, we arrived at Jang Ho-gun’s mansion.

“Happy New Year, Father-in-law.”

“Happy New Year, Father.”

We opened the front door, greeted Jang Ho-gun, who was standing in front of the door, and bowed our heads.

“Happy New Year to you too. But…”

Jang Ho-gun looked at my face and chuckled.

“Our son-in-law Lee’s face has become half its size. The honeymoon must be good? Haha.”

In an instant, not only my face but also Jang Ha-yeon’s face turned bright red.

“Father!”

“Didn’t you two register your marriage because you couldn’t live without each other? Since you’re here, let’s have a cup of tea, haha.”

Jang Ho-gun laughed heartily and gestured to the living room, and we sat on the living room sofa and talked.

“Is Mother-in-law not here?”

“My wife went to her parents’ house. The kids have all gone out to meet their partners.”

It seemed like they were all avoiding us because they didn’t want to see us, but I thought that was better. They weren’t the kind of people who would say nice things if we ran into them. Jang Ho-gun asked me as I smiled bitterly inwardly.

“Have you met your father and mother?”

“Yes, Father-in-law. I promised them that I would have a handsome son and a pretty daughter with Ha-yeon and come to see them.”

“Wow…”

Unlike me, who answered with a good-natured smile, Jang Ha-yeon only shook my sleeve and couldn’t raise her head.

“Good job. Now, neither I nor the two of you have to worry about my daughter or you living as lonely old people.”

Jang Ho-gun, who was laughing heartily as he looked at us, took a sip of tea and said,

“By the way, I heard that you’ve become a strategic consultant for Hae-dong Group. Is that true?”

“Yes, Father-in-law.”

Even at the short answer, Jang Ho-gun nodded with a natural expression.

“The Samcheong-dong in-law must have worked hard. He can’t make an exception for you alone from the family tradition, so it seems like he’s making you participate in the group’s management even in the form of an external recruitment.”

He hit the nail on the head.

Unlike the family tradition of having to go through the bottom to become a successor, I was too precious to go through the bottom. What else could he do but bring me into the center of management in that way?

I knew that fact too, but I was polite because he was my father’s friend and my father-in-law.

“Thank you, Father-in-law.”

“Thanks for what? I would have done the same if I were the Samcheong-dong in-law. Wasting a talented person like you is a sin as a manager, haha.”

Jang Ho-gun talked for a long time, emptied his teacup, and said to me,

“Son-in-law, would you like to go up to the study with me?”

“Yes, Father-in-law.”

What’s the matter that he wants to see me separately? It seems like he’s going to talk about something important.

***

As soon as he entered the study, Jang Ho-gun took out a bottle of whiskey and two on-the-rocks glasses from the display case.

“Take it, Son-in-law Lee.”

“Yes, Father-in-law.”

I received the whiskey that Jang Ho-gun poured into the glass I held with both hands. Jang Ho-gun, who filled my glass about halfway, held out the bottle.

“Give me a glass too.”

“Yes.”

I poured the whiskey I received from Jang Ho-gun into his glass as much as I had received. Jang Ho-gun looked at me with a satisfied expression and held out his glass.

With a clinking sound, I bumped my glass against Jang Ho-gun’s glass, turned my body to the side, and emptied the whiskey in one gulp. Jang Ho-gun, who was watching the scene, lightly wet his lips and laughed heartily.

“Are you showing off your drinking in front of me now?”

“No, Father-in-law. Even though it’s Western alcohol, I was just keeping our drinking etiquette in front of you, haha.”

Jang Ho-gun nodded as he looked at me, who was joking around.

“You’re good-natured like your father, haha.”

Jang Ho-gun, who had been laughing heartily, stopped laughing and asked me,

“What do you think about Shinseong Corporation’s automobile business division?”

“It will be a shackle that will hold Father-in-law back.”

It was a word that would dig into the heart of Jang Ho-gun, who was an automobile enthusiast, but I answered without changing my expression. Jang Ho-gun hummed as he looked at me.

“Hmm… I thought so too.”

‘I thought so too? Why is this man, who couldn’t live without cars, acting like this?’

Jang Ho-gun said as he looked at me, who was startled inwardly,

“I think Shinseong’s automobile business has failed. There was also the foreign exchange crisis, but the construction cost of the Busan plant was too high. When we only had the Changwon plant, we made a decent profit…”

Regret was evident in Jang Ho-gun’s voice as he trailed off. Wasn’t it a company that had steadily made profits even in the midst of the established players?

“Then… what are you going to do?”

Jang Ho-gun gave me a shocking answer as I cautiously asked, watching his expression.

“I want to sell it to Ado Motors, or rather, Hae-dong Motors. It’s already difficult enough to carry electronics and materials, but if I carry automobiles as well, my legs will be torn apart.”

It was as expected.

Jang Ho-gun was a man who thoroughly distinguished between public and private matters and was decisive in his choices and focus. I nodded and said to Jang Ho-gun,

“But in its current state, neither Hae-dong Group nor Standard Capital can acquire Shinseong Corporation’s automobile business division. Isn’t it a burden?”

“A burden… It feels strange to hear you say that.”

Even though Jang Ho-gun smiled bitterly, the truth was the truth. I said to Jang Ho-gun without hesitation,

“If I’m talking about family matters, I’m Lee Sung-min, Father-in-law’s son-in-law. But as long as I’m talking about business, I have no choice but to answer as Lee Sung-min, Hae-dong Group’s strategic consultant.”

I had no reason or will to show a soft side, so I was throwing out harsh words. Jang Ho-gun also nodded at my words.

“Then, what do you think I should do?”

“First, separate Shinseong Corporation’s automobile business division into Shinseong Motors. You can spin it off as a wholly owned subsidiary like you did with Korea Hotel.”

Jang Ho-gun looked at me with a lukewarm expression and said,

“That’s not all, is it?”

“Of course, Father-in-law. At the same time, exchange the bonds of Shinsegi Group and Shinseong Group’s heavy industry affiliates held by the electronics and materials divisions with Shinseong Life Insurance shares held by both sides. You can’t bring them all, but you have to reduce them to 30 percent.”

Jang Ho-gun’s eyes sparkled at the suggestion of bringing Jang Ho-kyung and Jang Ho-min’s Shinseong Life Insurance shares with the debt documents held by the electronics and materials divisions.

“And then?”

“After exchanging the bonds and shares, maximize the value of Shinseong Life Insurance’s shares and contribute 20 percent of Father-in-law’s 25 percent stake to Shinseong Motors’ creditors to pay off the debt. The sale of Shinseong Motors should be carried out after that.”

“Contribute 20 percent?”

The 50 percent stake in Shinseong Life Insurance held by Jang Ho-gun is half in real name shares and half in nominee shares. Jang Ho-gun would think that I wouldn’t know this fact, so I had to spread more bait.

“Yes. Even if you contribute 20 percent, if you combine the shares that the electronics and materials divisions will bring from your aunt and uncle’s side with the shares held by your executives, wouldn’t the control of the financial sector be solid? You can take care of both debt relief and Shinseong Life Insurance’s listing, so it will be a win-win situation. If you do that, I will persuade both Hae-dong Group and Standard Capital to acquire Shinseong Motors.”

In other words, the 20 percent of the shares to be used for debt relief for Shinseong Motors should be filled with the shares to be brought from Jang Ho-kyung and Jang Ho-min, and the listing of debt Shinseong Life Insurance should also be taken care of.

“Hmm…”

‘You’ll find out later whether the listing is possible, Father-in-law.’

I smiled sinisterly inwardly and hoped that Jang Ho-gun, who was deep in thought, would bite the bait I had thrown.