Mining And Construction Tycoon [EN]: Chapter 28

28. Came from Cheongil Group (1)

These days, Tae-soo was incredibly busy.

Not only with the mine, but also taking care of the school project commissioned by Pohang Steel, and buying land in Gangnam.

Tae-soo had a hand in so many things.

“Cheongil Group should be making a move soon. It’s still quiet, though.”

He was deliberately excluding Cheongil Group from purchasing the valuable molybdenum.

There was no way Han Cheong-ho would sit idly by.

“I wonder who will come from Cheongil Group, and how they’ll approach this.”

It would be great if Han Cheong-ho and Han Il-kwon came themselves.

But would those heavyweights really come all the way to this remote Gangwon Province?

Just then,

Han-soo rushed in.

“Hyung [older brother or respected male figure].”

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“Someone from Cheongil Group is here.”

“Is that so.”

Tae-soo was nonchalant.

Han-soo said seriously.

“Hyung, let me ask you something first.”

“What is it?”

“Why are you deliberately antagonizing Cheongil Group?”

“You noticed?”

“Of course. You’re intentionally excluding them from the sales.”

As expected of the sharp knife of the NIS [National Intelligence Service, South Korea’s primary intelligence agency].

“Cheongil Group is a chaebol [large South Korean industrial conglomerate]. Their wealth, power, and influence are immense. Aren’t you afraid?”

“Afraid? Of what?”

Tae-soo grinned.

“It’s my molybdenum, and I’ll sell it as I please. What can they do about it?”

Tae-soo patted Han-soo on the shoulder.

“Han-soo, there’s no absolute ‘gap’ [superior] in this world. The relationship between ‘gap’ and ‘eul’ [inferior] is relative. It depends on the situation, the position, and the need.”

Tae-soo said.

“They? They have to stop their factory if they don’t get molybdenum right now. We? We have plenty of places to sell molybdenum, even if it’s not to Cheongil Group.”

“Hmm….”

“Who do you think is the ‘gap’ right now?”

Han-soo sighed softly.

“Let’s just sell them enough to not incur too much animosity. It’s better for your well-being. Why choose the hard path when there’s an easy one?”

He understood Han-soo’s concern.

He doesn’t know why Tae-soo is burning with revenge, so he’s like that.

He thinks there’s no need to deliberately antagonize Cheongil Group.

But Tae-soo was different.

“I have a debt to repay. A debt etched deep in my bones.”

Including you, my father, my mother, my wife, and my children, all of you.

You died at the hands of Han Il-kwon and Han Cheong-ho.

How can I avoid the difficult path when I have such enemies?

I only have to close my eyes to remember what happened at Cheongil Hospital, and Han Il-kwon’s sneering whispers are still vivid in my ears.

‘I won’t cowardly run away. I won’t hide until I have power. I’ll seize every opportunity to mess with them.’

That’s why he didn’t sell molybdenum to Cheongil Group on purpose.

It was a path he decided on from the moment he resolved to take revenge on Cheongil Group.

How easy would it be to stand against a chaebol?

Tae-soo knew that the road was treacherous.

“Han-soo, I have no intention of compromising with Cheongil Group. I will never work with Cheongil Group, even if I die.”

He vowed to shatter Cheongil Group into pieces.

He swore to take revenge even in death.

“Just because Cheongil Group is a chaebol doesn’t mean I have to yield, be mindful, or hide. I’ll break through in my own way, according to my own will.”

Until that family is utterly destroyed.

“Hyung.”

“Just trust me.”

Tae-soo looked at his brother with unwavering eyes.

Tae-soo’s determination was so great that Han-soo gave up trying to persuade him.

“The person who came is the vice president of Cheongil Chemical.”

“Vice president of Cheongil Chemical?”

Not a section chief or a department head, but a vice president?

They sent someone quite high up, more than I thought?

‘Who was the vice president of Cheongil Chemical right now? Kim Bong-nam? Hong Nam-pyo? Jung Woo-shik?’

It’s been so long that I don’t remember well.

Besides, if it’s someone who served as the president of Cheongil Chemical before Tae-soo started his activities in earnest, he might not know.

‘Well, I’ll find out when I meet him.’

Tae-soo stopped what he was doing and looked at Han-soo.

“Where is that guy?”

“Of course, he’s waiting in the president’s office.”

“President’s office? Han-soo, you let him in?”

“Of course not. You were the one who told me not to even open the door if they were from Cheongil Group, right? Those burly guys in black suits shoulder-charged the door open.”

“Oh? They brought shoulders and barged in?”

“What should we do?”

“What do you mean, what should we do with a guy who came to pick a fight openly? We just hit him back the same way.”

Tae-soo brushed the dust off his clothes and chuckled.

“Han-soo, go to the mine and call some miners. Bring pickaxes.”

They’re threatening with force, so we can’t just sit still.

This place is full of miners, and they’re tough guys who break through stone walls.

While they’re preparing clubs, we have pickaxes and sledgehammers as basic equipment.

Han-soo understood what he meant at once and grinned.

“Got it. Leave it to me.”

Tae-soo dusted off his hands and headed to the president’s office.

‘Let’s see what kind of guy he is, and check out his face first.’

Tae-soo headed to the president’s office.

* * *

In the president’s office, a female employee in charge of accounting was flustered.

It was because of the man right in front of her.

A middle-aged man in his 40s, surrounded by several menacing men in black suits like a screen behind him, acting like a mob boss.

“Miss, you can’t even make coffee properly. Are you telling me to drink this swill?”

“I’m sorry.”

She clearly made it according to the instructions, but she didn’t know what was wrong.

“You’ve completely ruined my appetite because of you. How are you going to take responsibility? Huh?”

The vice president of Cheongil Chemical scanned the accountant’s body with lecherous eyes.

Every time his sticky gaze touched her, she felt disgusted and trembled slightly.

“I, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t just say you’re sorry. You have to take responsibility with something other than words. Why make it difficult when you have a good face and a good body?”

The vice president’s thick hand slowly caressed the accountant’s buttocks.

The accountant was startled and stepped back.

But his palm still didn’t leave her buttocks.

“You certainly have a face that’s too good to rot in this Gangwon backwater. How about going to Hong Kong with me, oppa [term used by a female to address an older brother or male friend]? I’ll get you a plane ticket.”

Passing through her buttocks, down, circling forward step by step.

“P, please don’t do this.”

“You like it, but you’re just pretending.”

At that moment, Tae-soo kicked the already wide-open door on purpose, making a loud noise.

Tae-soo strode into the office.

“Don’t talk about pretending.”

“President!”

The accountant was overjoyed.

Tae-soo strode over and snatched away the hand clinging to the female employee’s buttocks.

The vice president of Cheongil Chemical smacked his lips as if he was disappointed.

“You have no sense of timing when things are just getting good.”

Tae-soo frowned.

Tae-soo looked at the accountant and asked.

“Did this bastard do this?”

Suddenly, Tae-soo grabbed the vice president’s buttocks roughly.

“W, what, what are you doing?”

Not only the vice president but also the men in black suits were dumbfounded.

The accountant was also horrified.

Tae-soo asked nonchalantly.

“I’m sure it went forward like this. Is that right?”

It was when Tae-soo’s hand was about to go up his thigh and reach the front of his pants.

“Y, you crazy pervert! Where are you touching, you disgusting bastard!”

The vice president was startled and pushed Tae-soo’s hand away.

Tae-soo looked at the vice president and said.

“You like it, but you’re just pretending.”

“W, what?”

“That’s what you said, isn’t it?”

“You crazy bastard! Do you know who I am? Are you trying to die, you bastard!”

“Even though I’m younger and better-looking than you, you’re still disgusted when I touch you roughly. How much more would our accountant be? Apologize to our accountant. Then I’ll apologize in the same way.”

People were speechless.

The accountant grabbed Tae-soo’s arm.

“President, stop it. I’m okay.”

Tae-soo turned to look at the accountant.

The accountant smiled brightly.

“An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. You’ve returned it coolly on my behalf, so I’m satisfied with that. I hate it much more if the president apologizes. I’d rather not receive an apology from that bastard.”

“Well, let’s do that. As you wish.”

Tae-soo nodded to the accountant.

“Go outside.”

The accountant couldn’t hide her grateful eyes and ran out quickly.

The president of Cheongil Chemical smiled lecherously and raised his little finger.

“Ah, that pretty girl from earlier, could she be your thing?”

Tae-soo grinned and raised his middle finger.

Kim Jung-nam shook his finger and laughed.

“What a temper. I’m Kim Jung-nam, the vice president of Cheongil Chemical. My brother is Kim Bong-nam, the president of Cheongil Chemical. Do you know what this means?”

Tae-soo laughed because it was so absurd.

Kim Jung-nam laughed loudly.

“It’s good that you understand. Don’t be so proud over a mere woman. Bring the contract. Be grateful that I’m making up my mind to sign it.”

Kim Jung-nam said arrogantly.

Tae-soo was very disappointed with Cheongil Group’s response.

“I’ve only wasted valuable time.”

“Guys.”

At Kim Jung-nam’s signal, the men in black suits frowned menacingly and strode towards Tae-soo.

“Hey, mister, where are you going? You have to write the contract.”

“Looking at you, you’re spitting out swear words to a precious person, you must have a lot of guts?”

“Sit down. The vice president hasn’t finished speaking yet.”

Crack, crack.

The men deliberately crack their knuckles, turn their necks left and right, and swing their shoulders around, threatening loudly.

Each of them is holding a club in their hand.

Kim Jung-nam smiled slyly.

“When I’m speaking nicely, sign the molybdenum supply contract. And send that girl back to me. Then I’ll turn a blind eye to this rudeness.”

At that moment,

Bang.

The president’s office door opened, and miners with pickaxes and sledgehammers rushed in.

They were tough men who had taken off their shirts even in the middle of winter, showing off their rock-solid muscles trained by pickaxing.

“What are you doing here? Who are you pointing clubs at?”

The miners approached the men in black suits, aiming their pickaxes at them.

The men in black suits had no choice but to step back and move away from Tae-soo.

The miners glared.

“Where do you think this is that you’re barking like a stray dog? I’ll rip that mutt’s mouth off!”

“Who’s the bastard who was fondling our cute accountant’s butt like clay? Let’s take a look at his face first.”

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If you fondled this butt like clay, then you should crush that bastard’s head like clay.”

“Why are there so many words? A man can’t use it if he has too many words. Let’s just beat him up first. It’s never too late to listen to the words later.”

The miners, who seemed to be worth a hundred men each, shook their pickaxes and sledgehammers.

The men in black suits lowered the clubs they were holding.

They looked at Kim Jung-nam with trembling eyes and only moved their lips.

“Vice President.”

Kim Jung-nam had a look of disgust on his face.

Among the miners who were glaring fiercely with pickaxes, a small face popped out.

It was the accountant.

“President, should I call more? There are a lot of them waiting outside!”

Next to her, another skinny face popped out.

It was Holjook.

“Tae-soo, everyone outside is complaining about why they can’t come in. They’re making a fuss saying that if we drag the guys in suits outside, they’ll take care of burying them themselves, what should we do?”

The faces of the men in black suits turned pale.

One of the miners smiled and pretended to dig the ground with a pickaxe, while another miner pretended to cover it with his palm and patted the grave, laughing.

The men in black suits turned their heads sharply and only looked at Kim Jung-nam’s lips.

“Vice President.”

Kim Jung-nam jumped up.

“Let’s solve this with a conversation. Just us, alone, quietly.”

Holjook snorted.

“You’re saying you’re going to solve it with a conversation, but you brought a bunch of suit hyungs [term for older brothers or respected male figures] all the way to Gangwon-do? And as soon as you came, you suddenly harassed our accountant?”

“······.”

Kim Jung-nam was speechless.

The miners shook their pickaxes fiercely.

“First, apologize to our accountant.”

“Apologize for threatening our president too.”

“That’s right.”

“That’s the natural order. Aahm.”

Kim Jung-nam closed his eyes tightly.

He was helpless.