Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 475

477

“That’s your building, sir.”

“My building?”

“Yes, the one you bought eight years ago. The one right next to the terminal…”

Eight years ago, when he received 1 billion won from Chairman Shin Chun-oh, he used 500 million won to buy land in Ilsan and the remaining 500 million won to buy a plot of 250,000 square feet near the restaurant, as well as a building next to the terminal.

It was the very building that Oh Sang-cheol had owned.

Yu Min-cheol was referring to that building he bought back then.

At that time, the building was worth 500 million won.

Hyeon-seong asked immediately.

“So, you’re saying that the building is now worth 1 billion won?”

“Yes, that’s right. That’s the price I confirmed at the real estate agency yesterday.”

“It’s gone up a lot, hasn’t it?”

Exactly 20 times.

It was an amount that couldn’t be compared to his previous life.

In his previous life, the building price only started to rise from 2000 onwards. This was because the road expansion construction from Hoengseong to Seomyeong was completed at that time.

However, in his previous life, it only rose by two or three times, not 20 times like now. That’s how much the current price differed from his previous life.

Yu Min-cheol continued.

“But if you really think about it, it’s not the building price that has gone up, but the land price. Moreover, it seems to be more so because it’s right next to the terminal.”

“You mean it’s not the building price, but the land price?”

“Yes, as you know, sir, that building isn’t new, is it? So, the land price has risen because of its geographical location rather than the building itself. You bought that building in the first place because of its location rather than the building, didn’t you?”

Of course, that was true. In fact, there were two reasons why he bought the building back then.

The first reason was because of Oh Sang-cheol. He bought the building as a kind of revenge because he hated that man who had been tormenting him.

And the other reason was because of its geographical location. In a way, it was the prime location in the terminal area.

“Yes, that’s right. After all, the location next to the terminal was more important than the building itself.”

“So, I think it’s time to make a decision about that place.”

“A decision?”

“Yes, you should either sell the building or build a new one. It’s too good of a location to just leave it as it is.”

Hyeon-seong nodded.

He had been thinking about it to some extent. But he wouldn’t sell the building, and if he made a decision, he would build a new one.

But the problem was that the site was too small to build a building. In the end, in order to build a building there, he would have to buy the building next door.

Hyeon-seong asked immediately.

“Is there any talk of selling the billiard hall building next to my building?”

“Who do you think I am?”

“Yes? Does that mean…?”

“Yes, you’re not going to sell the building anyway, so I’ve already looked into it.”

“You’re the best, Manager Yu. So, how did it go?”

Hyeon-seong looked straight at Yu Min-cheol, curious about what he was going to say.

Yu Min-cheol’s answer followed immediately.

“It’s too expensive.”

“You mean they’re willing to sell it? So, how much are they asking for?”

“They’re asking for 1.5 billion won.”

“1.5 billion won?”

“Yes, that old man is a thief. He must have smelled something, because he’s asking for 500 million won more than the current market price.”

“500 million…”

After thinking for a moment, Hyeon-seong continued.

“Make the deal right away. No, I’ll just call them myself.”

With that, Hyeon-seong immediately made a phone call. He called the real estate agency.

– Hello.

“This is President Kim.”

– Oh? Who is this? What brings President Kim here at this hour?

“It’s not about anything else, but the building next to my building…”

The deal was done quickly. After all, time is money right now.

Of course, 500 million won is by no means a small amount. But Hyeon-seong judged that the location was worth it.

As soon as Hyeon-seong hung up the phone, Yu Min-cheol asked.

“Is that place really worth that much?”

“We have to make it worth it.”

“Yes? What do you mean…?”

“We may be overpaying by 500 million won now, but we can create a value of over 50 billion won in the future.”

“Oh, 50 billion won?”

“Yes, I’ll tell you how later, so buy that building first.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Yu Min-cheol nodded without complaint.

Other people might think that 500 million won is a lot of money, but that’s not the case for Hyeon-seong.

He’s making at least 100 billion won in net profit a year.

Then Hyeon-seong asked again.

“By the way, how much has the economic value of the village increased in the last two years?”

“It wasn’t easy to convert it into money, but I found out one important fact.”

“Something important? What is it?”

“It’s the change in the population.”

“The change in the population?”

“Yes, more precisely, the influx of population. The population has decreased in other areas of Hongcheon-gun [a county in Gangwon Province, South Korea], but our village is the only one that has increased.”

Hyeon-seong nodded again.

He had expected it to some extent.

The restaurant, farm, and wild vegetable factory alone employ 2,300 people.

Of course, more than half of them are from Seomyeong-myeon [a township in Hongcheon County], but the rest are from outside, so the population must have increased by that number.

The question is how many people have increased.

“How many people have increased?”

“2,500 people.”
“What? That doesn’t make sense. I expected up to 1,000 people, but how did that many people increase?”

Hyeon-seong couldn’t understand. He had expected at least 1,000 people, but he hadn’t expected the other 1,500 people.

Yu Min-cheol replied.

“Families.”

“Families?”

“Yes, as you know, sir, most of the farm employees we hired in the second round were in their 30s and 40s, right?”

“That’s right. Ah, so you’re saying that their families moved here?”

“Yes, that’s right. And what proves that is that the number of students in elementary and middle schools has definitely increased.”

Hyeon-seong nodded.

Now he knew why 2,500 people had increased.

It was a completely different change compared to his previous life.

At this time, there was talk of merging half of the schools because the number of students was decreasing. But now, on the contrary, the number of students is increasing.

It was a moment that proved that the problem in rural areas was ultimately jobs.

Hyeon-seong asked again.

“Let’s settle the population issue like that, so what does the village need most now?”

“If it’s you, sir, I don’t think I need to tell you.”

“Really? Hmm…”

Hyeon-seong seemed to think for a moment, then continued.

“I think it’s a hospital… am I right?”

“Yes, that’s right. What this village needs most now is a hospital. But the problem is that hospitals don’t want to come to this rural area.”

“Isn’t that what Manager Yu and I have to solve?”

“Yes? We do?”

Yu Min-cheol stared at Hyeon-seong as if he didn’t know what he was talking about.

Then Hyeon-seong continued.

“Let me ask you one thing first.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Why do you think doctors don’t come to this rural area?”

“Isn’t it because it’s not profitable?”

That’s right. If it were profitable, they would come even if you told them not to.

Hyeon-seong asked again.

“Why isn’t it profitable?”

“Because there aren’t enough people.”

“What about now?”

“Yes? What do you mean…?”

“Wouldn’t it be different now? Of course, there weren’t enough people before, so it wouldn’t have worked out. But isn’t it different now? I don’t know about other areas, but at least our village seems to be free from that population problem. What do you think?”

Yu Min-cheol nodded.

That’s right. Before, there weren’t enough people, so hospitals couldn’t come even if they wanted to.

But it’s different now. The population is decreasing everywhere else, but it’s the opposite here.

“You’re saying the situation has changed?”

“Yes, that’s right. Now, the basic population will be satisfied. But there’s still something missing. That’s the conditions, the environment.”

“The environment?”

“Yes, first of all, there’s no basic building. As you know, Manager Yu, the buildings near the terminal are all old. Even if a hospital wants to come, there’s no building for them to come to.”

Yu Min-cheol had no choice but to nod. Hyeon-seong was right.

Then Hyeon-seong continued.

“Do you know what we need to do first?”

“Are you talking about the building?”

“Yes, that’s right. From now on, Manager Yu and I are going to create an environment where hospitals can come. The first thing is the building.”

“The building…?”

“Yes, that’s the building I was talking about on the phone earlier. If you combine it with the building next door, the site will be more than 150 *pyeong* [approximately 500 square meters]. And we’re going to build five stories.”

“Is that what you meant when you said you were going to create a value of 50 billion won earlier?”

Hyeon-seong smiled instead of answering. Then he continued.

“Hospitals will be moving into that building.”

“Yes? Hospitals…?”

Yu Min-cheol couldn’t understand the situation, so he couldn’t help but tilt his head.

That’s because Hyeon-seong clearly said hospitals, not a hospital. That means there will be several hospitals, not just one.

Yu Min-cheol asked out of curiosity.

“Did you just say hospitals?”

“Yes, after all, a general hospital won’t come to this rural area, will it?”

“Of course not…”

“So, I’m going to attract several hospitals instead. Starting with internal medicine, orthopedics, otolaryngology [ear, nose, and throat], ophthalmology [eye care], and dermatology [skin care]; if possible, all departments.”

“…”

Yu Min-cheol just quietly looked at Hyeon-seong.

It wasn’t because he wanted to be quiet, but because he had nothing to say. If he had to say why, it was because he thought what Hyeon-seong had just said was ridiculous.

To be honest, he thought it would be difficult to attract even one hospital, but he was saying that he would attract eight hospitals.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Yes? That’s…”

“Do you think I’m lying?”

“It’s not that, but honestly…”

“You don’t believe me?”

“…”

Yu Min-cheol had no choice but to shut his mouth again. He couldn’t bring himself to say that he couldn’t believe it.

But what was the point? He had conveyed the meaning well enough, even if he didn’t say it.

Hyeon-seong continued.

“There will be two hospitals on each floor, for a total of eight hospitals. Of course, the hospitals will be moving in from the second floor. There will be a pharmacy on the first floor.”

“Eight hospitals?”

“Yes, including a traditional Korean medicine clinic. After all, the elderly need acupuncture and moxibustion [a traditional Chinese medicine therapy involving burning dried mugwort on particular parts of the body] more. And…”

“Sir!”

Yu Min-cheol called out to Hyeon-seong, interrupting him. Then he continued.

“Honestly, I can’t understand. I didn’t want to say this until the end, but I can’t stand it anymore. What are you basing this on…?”

Yu Min-cheol’s words were longer than expected. It seemed like he was going to say everything he had been holding back.

He had a lot to say, but he only had one thing to say. He couldn’t believe that Hyeon-seong was going to attract eight hospitals, even though the population had increased.

As soon as Yu Min-cheol finished speaking, Hyeon-seong immediately took his words.

“Is that what you were curious about?”

“Yes, that’s right. Honestly, I was going to hold back until the end…”

“No, you did well. If you’re curious and keep it to yourself, you’ll only get sick.”

“I understand. Then please explain. What method are you going to use to attract that many hospitals?”

“Yes, I understand. Then I’ll tell you.”

Gulp.

Perhaps because he was nervous, Yu Min-cheol swallowed dryly without realizing it.

Then Hyeon-seong continued.

“I’m not going to charge rent.”

“Yes? What did you just say?”

Yu Min-cheol couldn’t believe his ears.

Was this even possible? A landlord not charging rent…

“I’m going to let them use the building for free. If that happens, I’m sure people will be lining up to open a hospital here.”

“Does that make sense?”

“Why not? I’m going to do it. Of course, there are conditions.”

“Conditions?”

“Yes, five years. I’m only going to let them use it for free for five years. They’re all rich anyway, so I don’t want to let them use it for free indefinitely. I don’t think any of the hospitals will want to leave here after five years. I’m sure it will be overflowing with customers.”

That wouldn’t be wrong. After all, the population will be much larger than it is now. Not only that, but more than 50,000 tourists come here every day. Those people will also be able to use the hospital.

All that’s needed now is an incentive, and Hyeon-seong is willing to provide it for the future of the village.

“…”

After a moment of silence, Yu Min-cheol bowed to Hyeon-seong.