Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 223

223. 63rd. Explosive Marketing (5)

A significant shift occurred over the next ten days.

Was it due to the super-powered ‘Moneyroid’ [a fictional term for a strategic investment] I injected in the form of contract fees? Despite the Italian team’s aggressive play and strong defense in the round of 16, the Korean team staged a 3-1 comeback victory with Cha Du-ri’s overhead kick, Seol Ki-hyeon’s left-footed shot, and Ahn Jung-hwan’s decisive goal, thoroughly defeating Italy.

Cha Bum-geun, who was commentating, erupted in cheers when Cha Du-ri’s overhead kick connected, and I did too. But the game against Spain was even more unbelievable.

“Mi, m-m-madness…”

Park Ji-sung scored after a relentless sprint in the final minute of extra time, seemingly already deserving the nickname ‘Three Lungs,’ which he would later earn in his career [referring to his incredible stamina].

Moreover, he not only disrupted Spain’s midfield and defense, which were guarded by Ruben Baraja and Carles Puyol, but also penetrated the goal defended by ‘The Guardian of Madrid,’ Iker Casillas. It was unbelievable.

‘This Moneyroid is truly amazing.’

The advertising model contract, which combined team and individual incentives, seemed to be working perfectly. Geum Seok-ho looked at me with a delighted expression as I shook my head in disbelief.

“Doesn’t our Chairman Lee have an eye for talent just like the Chairman? Park Ji-sung is absolutely flying, hahaha.”

Geum Seok-ho, who was sitting next to me in the main conference room where the Haedong Group’s World Cup marketing command center was set up, patted me on the shoulder and laughed heartily…

“With just one extra game, managing the players’ stamina won’t be difficult. We are supporting the necessary costs for the players’ condition recovery through the KFA [Korea Football Association], so we can expect a good result against Germany, haha.”

Unlike his cautious predictions during the preliminary matches, Park Tae-jin confidently stated that they could even beat Germany…

“If we win against Germany, taking down the Shinseong Group’s foundation is just a matter of time, right? Hehe. Isn’t that right, 형님 [hyung-nim, an honorific term for older brother or respected senior]?”

“No need to say it. I don’t even expect us to win the championship, haha.”

Seon Hae-cheol and Go Seung-ju couldn’t hide their smiles at the thought of seizing this opportunity to undermine the Shinseong Group.

‘If we win against Germany…’

The Korean football scene, which had been on the periphery of the world stage, would achieve the remarkable feat of being runner-up, not just a semi-finalist. As the third-generation leader of the Haedong Group, who had to bring down the Shinseong Group, and as a citizen of South Korea, I was eagerly anticipating the result against Germany.

***

However.

The South Korean national football team’s limit seemed to be the semi-finals.

All the players did their best to block Michael Ballack and Miroslav Klose’s attacks, keeping the score at 0-0. After two overtimes that also ended 0-0, they went to a penalty shootout, but all the goals were blocked by Oliver Kahn, who was considered the best goalkeeper in Europe at the time, ending the South Korean football team’s journey.

“They gave it everything they had.”

I couldn’t shake off my disappointment when I came to work the morning after the game.

It wasn’t about missing the opportunity to extract more from the Shinseong Group, but about the regret of hoping that the South Korean players’ efforts would lead them to the finals.

Seon Hae-cheol chuckled as he saw my gloomy face.

“Does our owner look purely innocent for once?”

“I’m also human, 삼촌 [samchon, meaning uncle, used as a familiar term for older men]. Victory is more important than money.”

Park Tae-jin smiled at me as I pouted.

“Still, they did really well, 의장님 [uijang-nim, meaning chairman].”

“That’s true. When else would we reach the semi-finals again?”

I lightly sighed, shook off the lingering feelings of the World Cup, and checked the marketing results.

“Haedong Motors ₩960 billion, Haedong Electronics ₩1.92 trillion, Haedong Department Store and Hi-Mart combined ₩1.92 trillion… That’s a total of ₩4.8 trillion, hehe.”

The ₩1.1 trillion in insurance premiums I threw to Shinseong Fire & Marine had returned as ₩4.8 trillion in insurance payouts. Seon Hae-cheol grinned as he saw me laughing quietly.

“Shinseong Group must be in mourning right now. They have to pay out ₩3.7 trillion more after receiving ₩1.1 trillion, right? Hehe.”

“We’ve secured information that Shinseong Fire & Marine has taken out reinsurance through overseas investment companies suspected of being overseas slush funds, so your in-laws must be very upset, 후후 [huhu, an onomatopoeic expression of amusement].”

I nodded as I watched the two men mocking the Shinseong Group, and then I raised the corners of my mouth.

“Our 처남 [cheonam, meaning brother-in-law] will probably come to see me soon, saying he’ll do anything to fix it, hehe.”

Since I told him that I would support him, he would come to me to negotiate. The thought of the negotiations that would take place then made it even more interesting.

###

As the Lee Seong-min trio predicted, Shinseong Group’s Seonguiwon [likely a meeting room or office] was in a funeral home atmosphere.

“Director Jang.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Tell me how much insurance money we have to pay out this time.”

Jang Min-jae barely opened his mouth with a pale face.

“₩960 billion for Haedong Motors, ₩1.92 trillion for Haedong Electronics, ₩1.92 trillion for Haedong Department Store and Hi-Mart… A total of ₩4.8 trillion.”

“You know it well. If we give all that money, we’ll have to return the insurance premiums that 서방 [seobang, a term for son-in-law] Lee gave us and lose all the money we’ve accumulated overseas so far. And even then, Shinseong Fire & Marine will have to bear ₩900 billion.”

Jang Min-jae and the other cousins couldn’t raise their heads at the answer that came from Jang Ho-geon’s stern face. Wouldn’t they be losing decades of overseas slush funds in one go because of them?

However, they couldn’t choose to distribute all the net profits of Securities, Life, and Card to Shinseong Financial Group and inject them into Shinseong Fire & Marine either. They couldn’t be seen as incompetent, like Jang Yong-jae.

After a moment of contemplation, Jang Min-jae raised his head.

“I’ll meet with him and resolve it, Chairman.”

“Who? How?”

“I’ll ask 매형 [maehyung, meaning older sister’s husband] to pay in installments. If that doesn’t work, I’ll at least try to reduce the payment amount.”

In any case, he would be pushed far behind in the succession race, but he couldn’t fall off a cliff altogether. Jang Min-jae desperately clung to his father because he had no intention of giving up.

“Hmm… I understand. Bring me the results by midnight tonight.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

As soon as Jang Ho-geon’s permission was granted, blood began to circulate in Jang Min-jae’s face. After finishing his answer, Jang Min-jae hurriedly left Seonguiwon’s office, and Jang Ho-geon looked at the door that Jang Min-jae had closed with a bitter expression.

***

I took Jang Min-jae, who came to the Standard Capital office, to the reception room and served him tea. Unlike me, who was drinking tea leisurely, Jang Min-jae didn’t seem to have the 余裕 [yoyuu, meaning余裕] to even put the tea to his lips.

“What’s wrong, 처남 [cheonam, meaning brother-in-law]?”

“I’m sorry, but… can’t we pay the insurance money in installments?”

It was a request within my expectations. I looked at Jang Min-jae, who was watching my reaction, with wide eyes.

“You’re going to pay the insurance money in installments?”

“I’m sorry, 매형 [maehyung, meaning older sister’s husband]. I never thought our national football team would perform this well this time.”

“Didn’t you take out reinsurance? I heard that Shinseong Fire & Marine took out reinsurance?”

I politely asked him if he was playing tricks when he had the money to pay, and Jang Min-jae said with a forced smile.

“Even if we receive that much reinsurance money at once and pay out the insurance money, it will be difficult to do other reinsurance transactions, and there will be problems with Shinseong Financial Group’s credit rating. You know that, right?”

He wasn’t wrong. No one would want to sign a contract with a place that had been ripped off for a lot of money. But…

‘What the hell. Why should I be considerate when it’s not even my company?’

Unless Shinseong Financial Group was in our family’s hands, I wouldn’t mind dropping the credit rating to junk status since it was in the hands of my in-laws. I cursed inwardly, but I opened my mouth calmly.

“I know that. But I barely got permission from the group’s elders to take out insurance. What will I become if I don’t receive the insurance money? You know how our group works, right?”

It is publicly known that all major decisions in our group are made according to the consensus of the group’s top management. When I revealed this fact, Jang Min-jae’s expression hardened.

“Still, both 매형 [maehyung, meaning older sister’s husband] and Haedong Group have a lot of liquid cash, right? Haedong Securities and Haedong Asset Management alone made a fortune by investing in the stock market during 9/11, right? Haedong Investment & Securities doesn’t even have a signboard, but it’s the same as a bank.”

He was trying to dig into the fact that I was the absolute majority shareholder of Haedong Securities and Haedong Investment & Securities, but it was impossible. I shrugged and opened my mouth.

“What’s the point of making a fortune? It’s in stocks and index funds. The contract period is still left, and Securities and Asset Management are all struggling to pay interest to Haedong Investment & Securities because they borrowed money from Haedong Investment & Securities and invested it. Haedong Investment & Securities will also issue corporate bonds soon because they lack liquid cash.”

Whether it’s stocks or funds, it doesn’t matter how much profit there is until the money comes into my hands in cash. Jang Min-jae continued to argue as he watched me make a fuss.

“Still, Haedong Corporation must have plenty of liquid cash, right?”

I wondered why he hadn’t asked. As soon as the question I had been waiting for came out, I poured out the answer.

“We started the Australian mine construction last year, and we’re going into the Myanmar gas field plant construction this fall. We’re also planning to develop copper, coal, and nickel mines in Mongolia and Madagascar in consultation with the local governments. You know that overseas resource development is our family’s long-cherished project, right?”

“I know, Resource Patriotism. Still, you’re not going to use all of Haedong Corporation’s funds for the development costs, right?”

Jang Min-jae’s tone was gradually becoming rough, and his face was starting to turn red. I nodded and answered Jang Min-jae.

“We’ll pay half of the development costs, and we’ll hold 70% of the shares of individual mines, oil fields, and gas fields. We’ll issue stocks or take out loans for the rest of the money.”

“So, do you have to take it all to feel better?”

I could feel murderous intent in Jang Min-jae’s eyes, but whether he did or not, I also raised my voice.

“Then what do you want me to do? What if our positions were reversed? Would 처남 [cheonam, meaning brother-in-law] have been considerate of me?”

After a long staring contest, Jang Min-jae, who was looking at me, got up from the sofa and knelt in front of me.

“Please save me, 매형 [maehyung, meaning older sister’s husband]. If I can’t stop that money, I’ll have to live like a living corpse in my family. You know what our family is like, right?”

I know it very well.

Isn’t that 장 [Jang] family, like a dog, a devil’s den where they are always trying to trip each other up under one roof? I almost started humming, but I made a troubled expression because he was in front of me.

“I’m in trouble right now too. Even if it’s anything else, I don’t have any shares in Haedong Motors, and Standard Capital has 40% of Haedong Electronics, and the remaining 20% is also external shares. You know that, right?”

“매형 [maehyung, meaning older sister’s husband]…”

I looked down at Jang Min-jae’s miserable face, who was almost crying, and sighed.

“Huu-, I can’t help it because our 처남 [cheonam, meaning brother-in-law] is asking. Pay all the insurance money for the two companies now, and give me ₩1 trillion now out of the ₩1.92 trillion that Haedong Corporation will receive. Give me ₩920 billion divided over 5 years starting next year.”

It will be easier to finish if this guy continues to be in charge of finance and grows Shinseong Card even bigger. So, I’ll have to give him about ₩920 billion in the back.

‘It’ll seem like I can’t refuse because the car isn’t my company and I only have 40% of the electronics, hehe.’

There is not a single person in this country who knows that Standard Capital is my company. No matter how shameless Jang Min-jae is, he won’t be able to ask me to cover the insurance money that has to be paid to Haedong Motors and Haedong Electronics, where Standard Capital is the major shareholder.

“매, 매형 [mae, maehyung, meaning older sister’s husband]?”

Unlike me, who was laughing inwardly, Jang Min-jae looked at me with a very embarrassed expression. What is it?

“Why, can’t you do that either?”

“…Ah, no. I’ll do that.”

Looking at his face, it seemed like he would lose all of Shinseong Group’s slush funds even if he received ₩920 billion later. I looked at Jang Min-jae and nodded calmly.

***

After finishing negotiations with Jang Min-jae, it became July.

As promoted through the media, Haedong Motors and Haedong Electronics delivered the Aqua Wave Smart and Soul to winners around the world.

In addition, Haedong Corporation’s Dongbaek Department Store and Hi-Mart, despite receiving only ₩1 trillion out of the ₩1.92 trillion in insurance money, emptied the company’s internal funds and held a half-price discount event for a month to match the prepared quantity.

To be exact, it would have been accurate to do it for 28 days since the Korean team recorded 4 wins, but it was decided through internal meetings that it would be better to fill a month if possible. As a result…

“Roel Distribution, Shinseong Retail, Taehyun Department Store, Walmart, and Carrefour are all crying out in pain, hehe.”

“I guess so. How could they not be upset when we took away their peak season business during the vacation season? Hehe.”

July is the hottest vacation season of the year, and sales of food and alcohol at discount stores peak. How absurd would it be to sell food at half price throughout July?

The headquarters of luxury goods companies that had stores in department stores also participated in the sale after receiving a promise that we would cover the losses caused by the half-price discount with the insurance money we received. Thanks to this, Haedong Department Store and Hi-Mart were able to finish all of their third-quarter business during that one month.

Tae Jae-ho, who was smiling and drinking tea with me in the chairman’s office, put down his glass.

“I heard that Walmart and Carrefour will withdraw as soon as possible because of our quantity offensive. What are you going to do?”

“Let’s bring in Taehyun Department Store and share it in half. We should also let Chairman Myung Seon-woo increase the size a bit this time, 후후 [huhu, an onomatopoeic expression of amusement].”

It is impossible for Hi-Mart to swallow all of Walmart and Carrefour stores due to monopoly issues. Besides…

‘Thanks to Myung Seon-woo’s request, the Yeonpyeong Naval Battle didn’t happen either. North Korea even congratulated us on reaching the semi-finals, so I have to repay him.’

When the World Cup was in full swing, Myung Seon-woo, at my request, received the President’s approval and quietly went to Pyongyang to ask Kim Jong-il to prevent provocations against South Korea.

In response, Kim Jong-il controlled the commanders of the front-line units like rats, and through the mouth of Korean Central News Agency announcer Ri Chun-hee, he issued a North Korean-style congratulatory commentary, saying, ‘We highly commend the efforts of the South Korean football players who have widely spread the spirit of the Korean people,’ even giving a North Korean-style congratulatory comment.

I was quite surprised to hear from Myung Seon-woo that not only did the North Korean nuclear issue not break out, but they were even considering expanding and opening Gaeseong [a special economic zone in North Korea] as a special economic zone on the condition of nuclear abandonment, and if the results were even better, they would sequentially open Najin, Chongjin, Wonsan, and Nampo [other cities in North Korea].

Anyway.

After the bustling World Cup marketing in July ended, Haedong Group announced that it had signed up for marketing insurance in August.

In response, domestic and foreign media outlets released articles with the tone of ‘Haedong Group, are they born businessmen? Or did they seize luck?’ to articles such as ‘Lucky Car, Soul!’, praising not only the design and performance of the Soul but also calling it a car born with luck.

While we were enjoying the joy of the World Cup, we entered the presidential election phase in the second half of the year and contacted the ruling party candidate’s camp, who was the vice president of the Saejeongchi Democratic Conference [likely a political organization] during the days when they were raising election funds with piggy banks.

As a result, while handing over about ₩10 billion in political funds in piggy banks, we bet against other groups by secretly delivering ₩50 billion in cash, which had been cleanly laundered in Myeongdong [a district in Seoul known for finance and commerce], as election funds.

While pushing ₩60 billion in election funds, we presented only two conditions to the ruling party camp.

‘One-time private meeting with the President’ and ‘Do not give preferential treatment to any company.’

Now that all preparations have been completed, all that remains is to wait for the election to end and next year to come.