Mining And Construction Tycoon [EN]: Chapter 94

94. Breaking into Park Jeong-hwan’s Secret Vault (1)

Jang Mal-dong’s lips twitched.

“I know at least one of the three reasons you came. Am I right?”

Jang Mal-dong pointed to the pile of documents he was sorting through with his fan.

“You are correct.”

Tae-soo grinned.

Jang Mal-dong smiled triumphantly.

“I’ve sorted out the valuable companies properly.”

Jang Mal-dong pointed to each stack with his fan, saying,

“This side is finance and insurance, this side is construction, this side is parts factories, this side is toys, this side is… Ah, it’s confusing, so check it yourself. Do I have to do everything? Geez!”

Tae-soo looked at the pile of documents stacked haphazardly in the opposite corner and asked,

“Then what are those documents piled up over there?”

“That’s the dross. I’ve already spent a lot of effort picking out the bad ones, so don’t even bother looking at that side.”

Han-soo also nodded.

“The Elder and a few others helped me, and we’ve been working on this for hours. I’m exhausted.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

Tae-soo smiled and handed over what he had brought.

“You must be low on sugar from working so hard, so have this to refresh yourself.”

Jang Mal-dong fanned himself gently and glanced sideways.

“What is that?”

“There was a shop selling Western-style sweets, so I bought some as a snack for the Elder.”

“If it’s something like that, you should have brought it out sooner. Let’s see.”

The cookies were beautifully packaged.

Jang Mal-dong smiled, his eyes gleaming.

“A pretty one does pretty things. That’s why I like our Miss…”

“Enough. If you keep saying things like that, I’ll stop coming here.”

“Geez, a man should play hard to get moderately, but you’re too firm!”

No matter how much you poke him, he doesn’t budge.

Jang Mal-dong smacked his lips, feeling disappointed.

“As I said before, I have three reasons for coming here,” Tae-soo said.

“First, I came to get information about the valuable companies that Taeyang will acquire this time.”

Jang Mal-dong had already guessed that.

Jang Mal-dong shrugged and smiled.

“Second, I’d like you to properly organize the documents confiscated from the Cheongil Heavy Industries and Cheongil Oil offices.”

“Why are you passing that annoying task to me? I don’t want to!”

He says that, but I’ve already seen him groaning and sorting documents.

“It’s Han Cheong-ho’s weakness. Han Cheong-ho is looking for it with bloodshot eyes. You know how important those documents are.”

Tae-soo smiled gently.

“I wouldn’t even bring this up to someone I couldn’t trust. I’d rather spend several nights searching for it myself.”

That means he trusts Jang Mal-dong that much.

The corners of Jang Mal-dong’s mouth kept twitching upwards.

He even secretly pinched his thigh to suppress his smile.

“Besides, you’re an information merchant. If you use that, a flood of information that can earn you a lot of money will pour out.”

Digging through and organizing this will reveal clues about Cheongil Group’s finances and slush funds [secret funds used for illicit purposes].

If you gather the intertwined information in the meantime, you can draw a pretty plausible picture.

“This is a treasure trove of information that you can’t buy with money. Isn’t that right?”

That’s right.

That’s why Jang Mal-dong was the first to jump at it.

“What do you want in return?”

“Aren’t we allies? Let’s not be so stingy with each other.”

“You’re just giving this to me for free?”

“If you feel too burdened, you can take care of it on your own.”

“Ahem!”

Jang Mal-dong is speechless.

So he cautiously brings up the topic.

“Then, as a reward with plenty of gratitude, our Miss…”

Tae-soo always cuts him off firmly whenever he mentions ‘Miss’.

“My last request. I want to know about Han Cheong-ho’s movements. I heard he met with bank presidents.”

“He did.”

Jang Mal-dong is the president of Jangsu Bank.

Han Cheong-ho said to Tae-soo earlier.

-Why do you think I was late? I was coming from meeting with bank presidents.

-No bank will lend you even a dime. How are you going to get through blocking loans with no time limit?

Jang Mal-dong said.

“He gathered the bank presidents and demanded loans. In addition, he demanded an extension of the loan period and a reduction in interest rates.”

“How did it go?”

“Most of it went according to Han Cheong-ho’s wishes.”

“Is it true that they are blocking bank loans to Taeyang?”

“Yes, pressure came from above.”

Jang Mal-dong raised his finger and pointed upwards.

“Park Jeong-hwan pulled strings. So the bank presidents had no choice but to nod. That damn bastard, he controls the banks and shakes them at will. He’s so arbitrary. Geez!”

Tae-soo frowned.

“How much of what Han Cheong-ho requested was accepted?”

“An additional 35 billion won in loans and an additional 3% interest rate reduction. Extension of the existing loan grace period by 5 years.”

These are ridiculous conditions.

“What about collateral?”

“The Euljiro Hotel blueprint.”

Tae-soo felt like he had been hit in the back of the head with a hammer.

“Euljiro Hotel?”

In his past life, Cheongil didn’t have an Euljiro Hotel.

Jang Mal-dong said.

“It’s a hotel that will be built on the site of the government-owned Bando Hotel and the National Central Library. While you were in Saudi Arabia, the Bando Hotel was preparing for demolition, and the National Central Library was moved to Namsan.”

He knew which hotel it was.

In his past life, that hotel was the Charlotte Hotel Seoul.

‘Acquiring the Charlotte Hotel Seoul was the reason Charlotte turned to hotels, duty-free shops, and shopping. It’s the top-class hotel that established Charlotte’s brand image.’

It is a 5-star hotel located in the center of Seoul.

It is where the headquarters of the Korean Charlotte Group will be located, and where the main branch of the Charlotte Shopping Center, later called Charlotte Department Store, will be located.

Also, isn’t it the place that will later form Charlotte Town, connected to buildings such as the luxury goods store Avenue and the shopping mall Young Plaza?

“What is the scale?”

“The scale is enormous. I saw the blueprint, and it’s from 3 basement floors to 34 or 38 floors above ground. It has over 1,000 rooms.”

That’s for sure.

That’s the place.

Tae-soo closed his eyes.

“I remember that wasn’t originally a hotel that Cheongil was going to build.”

“That’s right. Charlotte, a company that used to sell gum, candy, and snacks in Japan, was going to build it. The blueprints were all out. But Park Jeong-hwan suddenly changed his mind, geez!”

Why did Park Jeong-hwan suddenly change his mind?

What trick did Han Cheong-ho play?

This isn’t something that can be changed with just a bribe.

‘Three years ago, metal powder came out of Charlotte products, and they were suspended from manufacturing confectionery for three months. As a condition for lifting this, Park Jeong-hwan first suggested building a top-class hotel.’

Park Jeong-hwan is not a person who easily changes his words.

He hates changing his words, saying that the words of the head of state must have weight.

But Han Cheong-ho did that difficult thing.

“I heard that Park Jeong-hwan sent a telegram to Charlotte this time. It must have been a notice to withdraw from the hotel construction.”

That’s probably right.

Han Cheong-ho got his hands on the Charlotte Hotel blueprint.

Charlotte wouldn’t have given it up willingly, so Park Jeong-hwan must have taken it away and given it to Han Cheong-ho.

“That’s because Charlotte’s Shin Gun-ho has been holed up in Japan for three years, dragging his feet.”

In his past life, he didn’t just drag his feet for three years.

The manufacturing suspension order for Charlotte Confectionery was issued on November 13, 1970.

On the same day, Park Jeong-hwan personally summoned Chairman Shin Gun-ho, who was staying in Japan, to the Blue House [the presidential residence in South Korea] for a private meeting.

What was decided at that time was the construction of this Charlotte Hotel Seoul.

“He dragged his feet day after day, spending ages acquiring the National Central Library, and being blinded by the operation of the Bando Hotel, and the demolition was also sluggish…”

Jang Mal-dong clicked his tongue.

“Anyone can see that Shin Gun-ho was only focusing on his Japanese business and ignoring Park Jeong-hwan. Han Cheong-ho said that Park Jeong-hwan said he couldn’t stand it anymore.”

Han Cheong-ho coaxed Park Jeong-hwan to steal the Charlotte Hotel Seoul.

‘Han Cheong-ho gave up Cheongil Oil in exchange for the hotel from Park Jeong-hwan.’

No wonder he was so proud and full of venom when he left the Geumseong Hotel room.

He must have obtained this at that time.

“Not only that, but Han Cheong-ho is also taking out loans to build a soccer field these days.”

“A soccer field?”

Soccer for Cheongil Group?

Cheongil had a baseball team.

This is also different from his past life.

“Park Jeong-hwan readily agreed. I understand, since we haven’t even won a single game in international soccer tournaments, which is embarrassing.”

Han Cheong-ho stirred up Park Jeong-hwan with soccer.

‘I roughly understand how things are going.’

Tae-soo was silent for a moment, lost in thought.

Tock tock tock.

Only the sound of the clock is heard in the room.

Jang Mal-dong, who had been silent for a long time, opened his mouth.

“Han Cheong-ho won’t just sit still and be defeated. Aren’t you afraid of future troubles?”

“Han Cheong-ho cannot threaten the safety of me and my family.”

“Why?”

“I threatened him. I told him I had a nuclear bomb that would destroy Cheongil entirely if he touched me.”

Jang Mal-dong couldn’t help but fidget.

“What is it? Let me know too.”

“If you find those documents, you might get an idea. He must have hidden it very well, but there will still be clues.”

If not, Han Cheong-ho wouldn’t have rushed over in a panic.

That means there is a very important secret hidden among the documents.

“What are you talking about? You already threatened Han Cheong-ho? What did you threaten him with?”

“You’ll get hurt if you know. I’ll tell you later.”

“Geez! You’re acting expensive!”

Jang Mal-dong tapped the coffee table with the fan he was holding.

“Just blow it up. If you save it, it becomes poop! How scary is that guy, do you think he’ll just let his weakness be?”

“I know.”

“You know that and you’re so carefree? Han Cheong-ho will already be erasing traces and preparing to get out.”

Anyone who knows that their weakness has been caught wants to make it useless.

They will erase traces, create alibis, destroy evidence, and bribe people.

But Tae-soo shakes his head.

“He won’t be able to. The matter is too big for him to do that even if he wants to.”

“So what is it!”

“Aren’t you an information merchant? Shouldn’t you tell me before asking me?”

“Geez! Just say you’re teasing me to death with curiosity!”

Jang Mal-dong turned his head away in a huff.

Thanks to that, he didn’t see Tae-soo’s bitter smile.

‘I want to do that too. But what can I do if I can’t even if I want to?’

Tae-soo swallowed a sigh without anyone knowing.

Tae-soo is the one who wants to destroy Cheongil more than anyone else.

‘The data that Secretary Song brought sparsely is not enough to be decisive evidence. He can get out as much as he wants to.’

That was the problem.

The data that Secretary Song worked hard to collect was an empty shell with holes.

He tried his best to prepare while avoiding Han Cheong-ho’s eyes, but it couldn’t have been easy to obtain evidence of such top-secret matters.

‘If it was solid evidence, Secretary Song would have blown it up first. I would have been prepared and blown it up too.’

Tae-soo swallowed his disappointment.

‘But I could vaguely grasp the outline. Han Cheong-ho is doing something dangerous enough to provoke Park Jeong-hwan’s anger.’

Tae-soo was the head of the Cheongil Group’s general secretary office and was in charge of the chairman’s affairs in his past life.

But he didn’t know about this matter at all.

‘This is something that couldn’t be found even in the Cheongil Group’s information room. That means it was handled so thoroughly in secret.’

How much attention would Han Cheong-ho have paid to his personality?

‘Maybe Han Cheong-ho left that secret in the ledger. But Han Il-kwon had that ledger, and I’ve never seen it.’

That’s why Tae-soo was so surprised when Secretary Song first brought that notebook.

Because it contained secret information that he had never seen before.

‘For now, I can only threaten Han Cheong-ho and scare him. It’s like a poker game where you’re bluffing with a bad hand.’

Even that will be in vain if Han Cheong-ho notices.

That’s why Tae-soo is searching through the documents with his eyes wide open.

A clue.

If I can get just one right, it feels like I can climb up it.

“I’ll tell you again when the Elder finds a clue in these documents.”

“Good! Even if I’m curious, I’ll definitely find that damn clue!”

Jang Mal-dong burned with enthusiasm.

* * *

Daewungak, a high-end Japanese restaurant in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul.

It is a representative Japanese restaurant of the 70s where Park Jeong-hwan, Cha Gi-beom, and Tae-soo secretly met.

Han Cheong-ho, who visited this place as soon as the merger was completed, was here again in the evening.

“Your Excellency. Please accept a drink.”

Han Cheong-ho knelt down and held the celadon-colored liquor pot respectfully.

Park Jeong-hwan held out his glass.

“I received the contract from Chairman Jang of Geumsan.”

Park Jeong-hwan doubted his eyes when he saw the contract.

He had only agreed to hand over Cheongil Oil, but he had been deprived of Cheongil Heavy Industries as well.

“Handing it over for 10 won [virtually worthless]? And you’re taking on all the debt?”

Park Jeong-hwan’s eyes darkened.

“Tell me. What weakness did that bastard catch you with?”

Otherwise, this could not have happened.

Park Jeong-hwan knows the ways of this world better than anyone else.

Moreover, the person in front of him is Han Cheong-ho.

‘Here it comes.’

He can’t honestly answer Park Jeong-hwan.

So Han Cheong-ho quickly racked his brains.

“It’s not my weakness. It’s Your Excellency’s weakness. So what else could I do?”

Park Jeong-hwan’s eyebrows twitched.

“What weakness?”