Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 161

161. 46th. Dojo Break Part 2 (5)

After leaving the office, Lee Myung-jin and I got into the car in the underground parking lot and headed down to Daejeon.

“I suffered a lot back then. If it weren’t for the tonic your aunt gave me, my liver would have rotted before I became drinking buddies with those Russian fellows, haha.”

“I’m sure you did. Russians are good drinkers, Uncle.”

I was worried about Lee Myung-jin, who was laughing in a carefree manner. To acquire the super heat-resistant alloy technology, he had to win over the researchers and engineers by drinking vodka with the heavy drinkers in Russia. It was a wonder his body held up.

Lee Myung-jin read the worry in my eyes and patted my shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Sung-min. This uncle of yours isn’t that weak. When I worked at the Haedong Construction site…”

He told me stories about carrying sacks of dirt with the day laborers, drinking *makgeolli* [Korean rice wine] until he was drunk, and grilling meat over a burning drum can with a grill on top after work.

“Aren’t you upset with Grandfather? The other group members didn’t have to go through that to get where they are.”

It was something I couldn’t even imagine. The fact that I wore a sash and handed out apartment sales flyers was nothing compared to Lee Myung-jin’s experience at the bottom.

Unlike me, who was staring with a dumbfounded expression, Lee Myung-jin had a warm expression on his face.

“Upset? Taehyun Motors’ Seon-gu *hyung* [older brother or close male friend] also poured concrete and carried bricks at the Taehyun Construction site. Rather, it helped a lot because I could understand the site and the workers, haha.”

I couldn’t find any falsehood in Lee Myung-jin’s face as he laughed heartily. Rather, he seemed proud that, unlike other *chaebol* [family-owned conglomerate] heirs, he had also rolled around on construction sites.

“What are you going to do with the kids?”

“The kids?”

“Sung-moon, Sung-woo, Sung-ah.”

Lee Myung-jin chuckled as he looked at me, carefully gauging his reaction.

“I have to make those guys experience the bottom too. All three of them want to get their master’s degrees, so I’ll support them with that…”

Lee Myung-jin trailed off, stroking his chin before grinning.

“Sung-moon and Sung-woo will get their master’s degrees, finish their specialized research service, and then I’ll have them work hard at our group’s comprehensive research center. Sung-ah is a daughter, so I’ll have to think about it a bit, hehe.”

‘Poor guys, they’re going to be worked hard under Uncle.’

It was the first time Lee Myung-jin’s expression, as he chuckled, looked so evil. He was going to mercilessly grind even his own children…

Lee Myung-jin said to me, who was feeling sorry for the two of them.

“There’s no need to feel sorry for them. If your *hyung* [older brother] was still alive, he would have worked you hard too, you know?”

“Pardon?”

Lee Myung-jin wore a mischievous smile as he saw me, startled for a moment, raise my voice.

“You only saw your *hyung* [older brother] at home, so you wouldn’t know, but when he was alive, he told me when we were having tea in the office. He said that after you came back from the military and graduated from college, he would have made you start as a worker at Haedong Trading’s Incheon warehouse, hehe.”

The thought alone was terrifying. My father was going to throw me into the largest Haedong Trading warehouse in Incheon Port from the start… Lee Myung-jin said to me as I shuddered.

“But now that he’s seen you grow up so well, I don’t think he would have changed his mind. You’ve grown up so well, haha.”

“Thank you, Uncle.”

What are Father and Mother thinking as they watch me from up there? I don’t know, but I felt like I had to try to be a son they wouldn’t be ashamed of.

***

After about two hours, we arrived in Daejeon and reached the Haedong Group Heavy Industries Division’s Comprehensive Research Institute in the Daedeok Research Complex. After a brief introduction with the researchers, we drank coffee in the office of Dr. Lim Do-hyun, the chief of gas turbine research and development.

“Senior Lim, take a look at this.”

Lim Do-hyun, a graduate of Seoul National University’s College of Engineering who was two years senior to Lee Myung-jin, blinked at the document Lee Myung-jin handed him.

“What is this, Vice Chairman?”

“Our Director Lee has drawn up a plan for gas turbine development. I thought it was something that Senior Lim would find appealing, so I came down here, haha.”

Unlike Lee Myung-jin, who was laughing heartily, Lim Do-hyun tilted his head. He seemed to be thinking about how much I, a liberal arts graduate, would know about technology, but I didn’t lose my smile.

“Please take a look at it, Doctor.”

“Hmm… I understand, Director Lee.”

Lim Do-hyun, who had been humming and hawing as he looked at me reaching out my hand, finished his reply and turned the cover of the document. As he examined the contents page by page, the cracks in Lim Do-hyun’s indifferent expression began to grow.

“How can this be…?”

Lim Do-hyun’s eyes turned as sharp as an eagle that had spotted its prey. How long had it been? Lim Do-hyun, who had taken his eyes off the document after seeing the last page, stared blankly at Lee Myung-jin and me.

“That’s a list made with a $100 million investment, Doctor.”

The gas turbine parts companies and research institutes listed in the document were all well-known in the industry. The money invested by Standard Capital, which had been laundered several times in preparation for partnerships with those companies, alone amounted to $100 million.

“D, Director Lee, $100 million is…”

Lim Do-hyun stuttered as he looked at me with a flushed face. I looked at Lim Do-hyun with a relaxed expression.

“At the current exchange rate, it’s about 160 billion won [Korean currency]. It’s a lot of money, but developing a gas turbine isn’t an easy task, is it?”

I replied nonchalantly, but it wasn’t for nothing that gas turbines were called the ‘flower of mechanical engineering.’ Isn’t it such a delicate object that it stops working even if the turbine blade causes vibrations as thin as two strands of hair?

‘It wasn’t for nothing that Tosung Group tried to acquire Ansaldo Energia because of gas turbines, but the Italian government opposed it, saying it was a national strategic project. $100 million is a cheap solution.’

Even recalling past memories, $100 million is by no means an expensive price. The value of the original technology is never light, and that original technology, the gas turbine, will be Haedong Heavy Industries’ livelihood for a hundred years.

Putting my thoughts aside, I said to Lim Do-hyun, who was still dazed.

“I ask Dr. Lim and the research team to succeed and definitely crush those Japanese bastards.”

Overcoming Japan is a matter of destiny for the people of this country, both in the past, present, and future. I looked at Lim Do-hyun with the hope that Haedong Group, where I am, would lead the way.

“D, Director Lee…”

“Honestly, I don’t know anything about technology. But I hope that Haedong Heavy Industries’ gas turbines will be running in all power plants in our country. It’s a childish wish from a young friend who isn’t from the owner’s family, but I’ll ask you again.”

After finishing my words, I bowed politely to Lim Do-hyun.

It doesn’t matter if people point fingers at the owner’s family for easily bowing to employees. If they’re Haedong Group people, they’re family, so what’s the big deal about bowing to family? When asking for a favor, asking boldly can resonate with that person’s heart, so there was no hesitation.

“Our Director Lee is like this, Senior. Seeing how he values people, he looks a lot like my late *hyung* [older brother], haha.”

Lee Myung-jin patted my shoulder while talking to Lim Do-hyun. Lim Do-hyun looked at me, who had raised my head, with a firm gaze and said.

“I understand, Director Lee. If I can’t do it even with this much help, I think I’ll have an indelible regret in my 20 years of research life. I will definitely do it.”

“Thank you, Dr. Lim.”

Lim Do-hyun and I firmly grasped each other’s outstretched hands.

***

After finishing the meeting with the gas turbine development research team, Lee Myung-jin and I moved to another research building.

“What kind of research is being done here, Vice Chairman?”

“You’ll know when you go inside, hehe.”

Lee Myung-jin just smiled at me, but recalling that he said ‘I have something to show you when you come to Daejeon’ in his office, it seemed like it was another ‘secret project’ of Haedong Heavy Industries that I knew about.

‘I shouldn’t spoil the fun, I should play along, hehe.’

I smiled inwardly and entered the research building hallway with Lee Myung-jin through the glass door.

[Self-Reliance! Industrial Independence is in Our Hands!]

I felt goosebumps all over my body when I saw the avant-garde phrase written in bright red on a white background. The word ‘industrial independence’ alone made me more and more certain that I was going to see the ‘secret project’ I knew about, and a thrill swept over me.

“Director Lee, have you already caught on?”

“What do you mean, Vice Chairman?”

Lee Myung-jin said as he looked at me, who was playing dumb with a straight face.

“I was wondering if you noticed what we’re making here by seeing you tremble at that phrase.”

“Ah… Seeing that placard reminded me of my activist seniors, haha.”

I tried to sell the activist card, but Lee Myung-jin tilted his head.

“I don’t think that’s it?”

“How well would I know about manufacturing, Vice Chairman? I still have a mountain to learn.”

Lee Myung-jin hummed as he looked at me, who was waving my hands and strongly denying it.

“Hmm… That’s true, but even with the gas turbine…”

“I want to see it quickly, Vice Chairman. Let’s go, haha.”

I glossed over it after having nothing more to say, and went with Lee Myung-jin to see the ‘secret project’ we had to see. Lee Myung-jin stopped walking only after arriving at the door at the end of the hallway that read ‘No Access.’

“Wait a moment, Director Lee.”

“Yes, Vice Chairman.”

I knew what was beyond this door, but I pretended not to know until the end.

Lee Myung-jin opened the card lock hidden in the wall and swiped the card key he took out of his pocket. The door opened with a ding, and I followed Lee Myung-jin inside.

“This is…?”

“It’s an elevator. Because we have to maintain security, we’re testing it in the underground test site.”

‘I see…’

According to my past life’s memories, this place only had destroyed machines, so it was eerie to the point of being creepy. So all of that was machines being tested…

The certainty that it was the ‘secret project’ I knew about grew stronger and stronger. I nodded and smiled, and Lee Myung-jin smiled contentedly at me before pressing the elevator button.

With a mechanical sound, the elevator went underground. The elevator stopped and the door opened, and my mouth dropped open at the sight that unfolded beyond the door.

“Wow…”

There, dozens of machine tools, robot arms, and factory lines were operating non-stop, making their unique mechanical sounds. Among the gaps in those machines, hundreds of men in jumpers were walking around with clipboards, pens, and stopwatches.

“How much CNC tolerance came out?”

“It’s being controlled within a tolerance range of 0.005, Senior! The ball screw, backlash removal device, and index unit are also normal!”

“How’s the PLC control?”

“It’s operating according to the sequence, Manager! If we get through today, it will be running without malfunction for 2,000 hours!”

Lee Myung-jin grinned as he looked at me, who couldn’t stop exclaiming at the wonderland unfolding before my eyes.

“What’s here is a mock factory. It’s a place to test the PLCs [Programmable Logic Controllers], CNCs [Computer Numerical Controls], and servomechanisms we’ve developed.”

If you compare a factory to a person, PLCs and CNCs are the cerebrum and nervous system, and servomechanisms are equipment and software that precisely control the force and technology that goes into the hands and feet.

‘They were researching all three of the major industrial automation equipment, which are amazing even if you only do one…’

The admiration that welled up inside me came out of my mouth without me even realizing it.

“That’s amazing. Really.”

“It’s a project that started quite a long time ago. When I was a college student, that is, a few years before the first chairman passed away. It’s only now seeing the light of day.”

Only after hearing Lee Myung-jin’s answer could I understand why Haedong Heavy Industries’ net profit was hitting rock bottom until now. It was a relief that they had avoided a deficit, considering they were doing all this research.

‘It must have been possible because we had a lot of shares.’

Currently, the shares of the four Haedong Group Heavy Industries affiliates held by our family, Haedong Trading, and group employees each exceed 60 percent. Adding Triumph’s average of over 16 percent of shares to this, the interference of the remaining shareholders could be easily ignored. But…

‘How much did Uncle worry? It wouldn’t have been easy…’

Investments that would determine the fate of the company are not something that even the owner can easily decide. I was even in awe of Lee Myung-jin’s firm belief and the effort he put in to make that belief a success, so I pulled myself together and asked him.

“Vice Chairman, did Haedong Heavy Industries make each piece of equipment, even the lower-level devices?”

“Of course. Haedong Heavy Industries made all the core parts, from software to end mills, servo motors, and controllers. They’re all being tested in that mock factory, and if the performance comes out as planned, we’ll be able to compete with Mitsubishi Electric and Fanuc, hehe.”

I kept saying ‘It can’t be, it can’t be,’ but Lee Myung-jin far exceeded my expectations. I was dumbfounded by Lee Myung-jin’s mischievous smile.

‘Are they torturing aliens in every research institute in our group?’

The shock I experienced at Haedong Trading’s Jeonju plant and textile materials research institute was as light as a feather compared to the shock I’m experiencing now. It’s not like the technology is completely inferior, and if we put in a little more effort, we’ll be on par with the leading companies in the industry…

‘Well… It’s not like there weren’t one or two companies that researched industrial automation equipment.’

Korea has been developing industrial automation equipment since the 1970s, which is quite late compared to other developed countries. Nevertheless, to be able to make equipment with performance comparable to Mitsubishi or Fanuc…

I asked Lee Myung-jin the most important thing while constantly admiring him.

“It seems like selecting a client will be a problem. It’s such a conservative market, isn’t it?”

Once industrial automation equipment is installed, maintenance must be done through that company unless the entire facility is replaced, so it is difficult to overcome the barriers of early movers. It was a question that broke the mood, but Lee Myung-jin nodded with a calm expression.

“That’s the problem. We’re confident in the quality and price, but the problem is breaking through to clients. If we can just break through the first deal and properly prove the performance, orders will pour in.”

It wasn’t easy to break through that client and deliver the equipment, so Lee Myung-jin’s expression wasn’t very bright. I looked at Lee Myung-jin and said.

“Let’s test it when Haedong Motors builds additional factories or does renovation work, Vice Chairman. I’ll talk to Chairman Geum, CEO Lawrence of the headquarters, and the Chairman.”

Lee Myung-jin’s eyes widened at my suggestion.

“D, Director Lee, it would cost hundreds of billions of won [Korean currency] to install those facilities in the automobile factory…”

Concern was already cast on Lee Myung-jin’s face. Is it a matter of passing the burden on to his nephew?

‘Don’t worry, Uncle. I’ll push you hard.’

I wanted to dispel that worry, so I interrupted Lee Myung-jin.

“If the performance is certain, there’s no reason not to use it, is there? If you succeed, please let me know, Vice Chairman. I’ll also talk to Vice Chairman Cho Young-chan and tell him to launch an installment financing product.”

Our family has been silently researching industrial automation equipment for decades, which almost all *chaebols* [family-owned conglomerates] have turned away from simply because it doesn’t make money right away. If it has the same performance as Japanese companies, there’s no reason not to use it, so it was natural for the group to push and pull.

Lee Myung-jin looked at me, who had finished answering, with a firm gaze and nodded.

“I understand, Director Lee. If we succeed, I’ll let you know first, after the Chairman.”

“I understand, Vice Chairman.”

Lee Myung-jin took my hand and looked at me with determined eyes.

‘I hope you succeed, Uncle. The first time is difficult, but the next time will be easier.’

The industrial automation equipment market is a market where it is difficult to break through once, but once you break through, the maintenance revenue is several times higher than the initial equipment sales revenue. It was a business that would be Haedong Heavy Industries’ livelihood for a hundred years, so I prayed that Lee Myung-jin would push forward steadfastly.