Still, I Will Live As The Son-In-Law Of A Conglomerate [EN]: Chapter 29

29. 9th. We Must Break Through (2)

“Are you serious, Sister?”

[I told him today because he came back yesterday and needed to rest from his journey, but he told me to come right away.]

“Yes!”

“I understand, Sister. I’ll leave right now.”

I jumped up from the sofa after hanging up the phone.

“Hyung! Let’s go to that church right now.”

“Father Lim, have you arrived?”

Park Tae-jin seemed to have looked into Father Lim Su-woong in the meantime, so he seemed to be expecting something.

“Yes. Quickly!”

“Understood.”

Without either of us saying anything, we hurried down to the underground garage, got in the car, and arrived at the church.

“Are you John?”

Because he was a precious person who would help our family, I quickly greeted Father Lim Su-woong, who had white hair reaching his eyebrows.

“Yes, Father. I am Lee Sung-min, John.”

Lim Su-woong stared at me intently and then took my hand.

“If I had known that Marco’s children had asked, I would have finished quickly and come. Lead the way quickly.”

I couldn’t understand. How much influence did my grandfather have within the Catholic community that even this person would mention his name and readily step forward?

“Yes, Father. Hyung, let’s go to the construction site right now.”

The questions could be answered later. Going to the construction site was the priority now.

***

We took Father Lim Su-woong in the back seat and arrived at the Gangnam Terminal construction site.

“Uncle!”

As soon as I got out of the car, I went into the office to find Lee Myung-jin, but I was greeted by the executive in charge of the site.

“What’s going on, Young Master?”

“Where is my uncle?”

“He’s at the site because of the Sampoong Department Store demolition…”

Having too much work was also a problem. Especially at this crucial moment!

“I’ve brought someone to find the water veins, so please contact him quickly. Hurry.”

“Someone to find water veins?”

While the site executive was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression, Park Tae-jin entered the office with Father Lim Su-woong.

“How do you do? I am Lim Su-woong, John the Apostle.”

“Lim Su-woong, Apostle…”

The executive’s eyes widened as he repeated the name, and he put his hand to my ear and asked quietly.

‘Is he the Water Vein Father?’

Water Vein Father.

As Lim Su-woong, John the Apostle’s nickname, he had discovered over 20 water veins on Sorokdo Island, creating a foundation for the lives of leprosy patients. He was an authority in this field, having published books on water veins and feng shui [the Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing humans with the surrounding environment].

Until his death, he would discover countless water veins and hot springs, and because one of them was this Gangnam Terminal, which would be called Central Square, I brought him here faster than in the original history.

When I nodded vigorously, the executive quickly took his hand off my ear and bowed deeply to Lim Su-woong.

“I didn’t recognize you, Father! I’ll contact the president [CEO or chairman]!”

The executive, who was as excited as if he had seen a savior, hurriedly took out his phone and informed Lee Myung-jin of this fact, and Lee Myung-jin’s car arrived in about 10 minutes.

“Father!”

Lee Myung-jin came up the stairs, panting as if he had run as soon as he got out of the car, and greeted Lim Su-woong first.

“Nice to meet you. I am Lee Myung-jin, Andrea.”

“You are Marco’s second son. I heard you’re having trouble with water veins.”

Lim Su-woong greeted him happily, and Lee Myung-jin’s eyes widened.

“How do you know my father?”

“John came to me saying it was your request. I was out finding water veins elsewhere at the time…”

At Father Lim Su-woong’s story, Lee Myung-jin looked at me with a puzzled expression, but I winked at him. Only then did Lee Myung-jin realize that it was a surprise gift I had prepared and changed his expression.

“We’ve drilled several times already, but we couldn’t find any water veins, so we couldn’t start the next construction phase. Please forgive me for asking my nephew because I’ve been so busy lately, Father.”

The main character of this Gangnam Terminal project should be Lee Myung-jin from beginning to end. Wouldn’t that make Lee Myung-jin trust and support me more?

Lim Su-woong patted Lee Myung-jin’s shoulder, who was bowing his head, and laughed heartily.

“Haha, if you had told this old man, I would have come sooner. Let’s go out. John also made a special donation to the diocesan office, so I’ll keep looking until I find it.”

“Yes? …Yes! Everyone stop, because the Father needs to concentrate. Hurry!”

Lee Myung-jin, who had answered absentmindedly, shouted loudly, and the executive who had greeted me quickly turned on the microphone.

[Construction suspended! All workers stop construction!]

We came outside and heard the broadcast announcing the suspension of construction several times. The noisy machine sounds stopped, and when the construction site became quiet, Lim Su-woong dangled a coin attached to a string.

“Let’s find out where the water flows.”

“Yes, Father.”

Lim Su-woong began to walk around the construction site, and I, Lee Myung-jin, and several construction site workers followed him like lambs.

How long had we been walking around when Lim Su-woong stopped in one place.

“It seems like a stream flows here.”

When Lee Myung-jin nodded, one of the employees quickly planted a flag.

After continuing to walk around, Lim Su-woong stopped again.

“It seems to flow here too. I think I’ve found everything that can be found here.”

“Thank you, Father. I’ll take you to a good place.”

“Yes, President. Father, this way…”

Lim Su-woong headed out of the construction site with the guidance of the people in charge, and Lee Myung-jin, who was watching the scene, let out a sigh of relief.

“I keep owing my nephew favors?”

“I was worried, so I came to see you, but I’m glad it worked out. Uncle, all we have to do is excavate, right?”

When I rubbed under my nose and smiled, Lee Myung-jin also smiled and raised his thumb.

“It’ll be fine since the Water Vein Father pointed it out, even if it were someone else. Start!”

As Lee Myung-jin’s instructions were given, the person in charge next to him gave instructions over the radio, and the excavator with the drilling machine attached made a rumbling sound and moved towards the nearest flag.

When the excavator arrived at the point, it set up the drilling machine attached to the front vertically instead of the shovel, and the workers installed supports at the bottom of the drilling machine.

“Starting now!”

With a whirring sound, the drilling machine was activated, and a long pipe went endlessly into the ground. Before long, people who had installed various equipment nearby were staring intently at the monitor.

After the long pipe had gone in countless times.

“It’s done! We found it!”

A shout erupted from the mouth of the person in charge who was watching the monitor.

“Wow!”

The shout spread to the surroundings, and other people also shouted or raised their fists.

People who had withdrawn all the equipment went to the next point and started the same work, and the same wave of shouts spread there as well.

“Everyone worked hard! We need to analyze the water quality, so take samples and proceed with the next construction.”

“Yes, President.”

After seeing the success of the second drilling, Lee Myung-jin gave instructions and went into the office.

“Hoo-, water veins really burst out.”

Lee Myung-jin returned to the office and sat on the sofa in the most comfortable position only after confirming that water veins had burst out in both places pointed out by Father Lim Su-woong.

“Thank you for your hard work in bringing him here. What would you like to drink?”

“I’ll take whatever you give me.”

“I’ll take whatever you give me too, President.”

Lee Myung-jin took out Cokes from the refrigerator and handed them out to us one by one.

Chik-!

Lee Myung-jin drank the Coke that he had opened with a cheerful sound.

“Keuh-! When I think about the time and money I wasted looking for water, I feel so relieved. Now I can work on the construction with peace of mind, haha!”

“I’m glad. If the construction was delayed, we would have lost a lot of money.”

“I was worried because it was the first turnkey construction [a project where one company handles everything from design to completion] I was in charge of, but I survived thanks to my nephew. Thank you.”

The burden must have been great. Wasn’t the Gangnam Terminal construction a much larger project than the market capitalization of Haedong Construction before it destroyed the Seongsu Bridge?

“How much did you donate, Sung-min?”

“I donated 500 million won, Uncle.”

“I’ll have to donate 1 billion won. Then my father will donate 2 billion won, haha.”

Perhaps because his worries had disappeared, Lee Myung-jin emptied the remaining Coke coolly.

“Taehyun is helping with the demolition of Sampoong Department Store, so we can just focus on this. We just need to get the Korea Hotel in… It’ll be fine, right?”

“Don’t worry, Uncle. Chairman Shin also has his own thoughts, so he’ll make a wise decision.”

Just wait a little longer, Uncle. Look forward to it.

###

A while later.

“Hot spring?”

Lee Myung-jin, who was working in the construction site office building, couldn’t believe the documents he was looking at. The water veins that burst out in this golden land were hot spring water?

Lee Myung-jin rubbed his eyes again and looked at the component analysis report sent by the Seoul Metropolitan Government Research Institute of Public Health and Environment, and the employee who brought the document informed him of the key contents he had heard from the research institute.

“The mineral content is three times that of the Dogo Hot Spring! Congratulations, President!”

Lee Myung-jin listened to the employee’s words, looked at the documents again, and raised both fists high.

“Wow!”

A shout echoed through the office.

Thump!

Lee Myung-jin slammed the desk and shouted.

“Tell them to finish only what they were doing today and take a good rest! Give all the workers a bonus and grill beef!”

Because he couldn’t just pass by such a happy occasion, Lee Myung-jin gave instructions and picked up the phone.

“This is Myung-jin, Father. A hot spring came out of our construction site, haha!”

Lee Dae-soo, who received the call in Samcheong-dong, couldn’t believe it. A hot spring in the middle of Gangnam?

“Is that true? You’re not joking with your father, are you?”

[You know I’m not the type to joke about work, Father? I just received the component analysis report, and the mineral content is three times that of the Dogo Hot Spring, haha!]

He knew very well that his son was not the type to joke about work, so Lee Dae-soo laughed heartily.

“Ehehehe! I understand. Today is a day for everyone to celebrate, so give them all bonuses and feed them plenty of beef. Stop the construction too.”

[Understood, Father!]

Whether it was telepathy or like father, like son, Lee Dae-soo and Lee Myung-jin both valued people.

“Euhahahaha! This is great luck!”

Lee Dae-soo, who had hung up the phone, laughed heartily while tapping the desk and made a new call. There was someone he wanted to tell first, wasn’t there?

“Chairman Shin, a hot spring has burst out at Gangnam Terminal! Euhahahaha!”

[Yes? A hot spring?]

“Myung-jin told me that the mineral content is three times that of the Dogo Hot Spring! Congratulations, euhehehe!”

Others might say that he was a *chaebol* [a large South Korean business conglomerate] making a fuss over a hot spring. However, Lee Dae-soo couldn’t help but be happy because good news had piled up on the first business he had started after getting up from his bedridden state in 10 years.

[I bet with Sung-min and lost nicely, haha!]

Lee Dae-soo, who had told Shin Ho-jin the news and was laughing heartily, stopped laughing at the words he heard.

“A bet? What kind of bet did you make with my grandson?”

[It’s nothing, Chairman. About the consignment management of the Korea Hotel…]

Lee Dae-soo, who had heard the story from Shin Ho-jin, burst out laughing again.

“Euhahahaha! I don’t know what kind of luck that guy has. Thank you for looking after our eldest grandson, Chairman Shin.”

[It’s nothing, Chairman. I was narrow-minded when I received the favor in Samcheong-dong.]

Lee Dae-soo shook his head as if he could see Shin Ho-jin’s expression even though he wasn’t in front of him.

“No. If it were me, I would have chased those guys and slapped them in the face. You held back your anger, so God must have blessed you, euhehe.”

Lee Dae-soo, who was laughing heartily, was looking at the ebony Pieta placed in the display case with a soft gaze.

He had been believing in it with a repentant heart since his father’s time, but Lim Su-woong finding the water veins and one of those water veins being a hot spring was only possible thanks to their protection.

[I will meet with Chief Ko to handle the department store and hotel lease agreements. Have a good day.]

“Have a pleasant day today too.”

Lee Dae-soo finished his call with Shin Ho-jin and pressed a new number. The special donation to the diocesan office could be made on Sunday, but there was something he needed to handle quickly.

“This is Grandpa. I’ll give you 300 million dollars coolly, euhehe.”

***

“Hot spring?”

“Yes, Chairman. We decided to exclusively supply the hot spring water to the hotel, and Chairman Shin Ho-jin has agreed to the consignment management of the Korea Hotel.”

Jang Ho-gun and Lee Soo-han couldn’t laugh or cry at the fact that a hot spring had burst out at Gangnam Terminal. They were happy that the Korea Hotel was entering the prime land, but the regret that it would have been so much better if they had taken the land created a zero-sum game.

“We’re the only ones who have become fools. The construction is ruined, and the hotel is not a lease but a consignment management.”

“It’s all my fault, Chairman. I’m sorry.”

When Lee Soo-han bowed his head, Jang Ho-gun waved his hand.

“Why is it your fault? It’s because of my stupid sister and brother.”

Jang Ho-gun gritted his teeth. If the blood relatives hadn’t been so greedy, wouldn’t the Shinseong Group flag have been flying at Gangnam Terminal?

“How is my sister?”

“She received a notice of termination of the lease agreement from Chairman Shin Ho-jin. She was going to file a lawsuit, but there was talk in Myeong-dong that the Shinsegi Group was overdoing it, so she received the penalty and gave up…”

Jang Ho-gun knew why Lee Soo-han was hesitating.

“Did Haedong move?”

“Yes. All the financiers who were under Chairman Lee pressured Chairman Jang Ho-kyung in exchange for covering up the work during the real-name financial transaction system [a financial reform in South Korea in the early 1990s]. Chairman Shin also bore the penalty that Chairman Shin had to pay for the department store lease agreement.”

“I don’t know how much money that old man has. He didn’t give 300 billion won to Shinseong Electronics even though the private loan funds were destroyed, he took the Guri mine, and even Gangnam Terminal…”

Even after hearing the inside story from Lee Soo-han, Jang Ho-gun bit his lip. He thought the old man, who only cared about money, would lose that money and cower, but he was spending the money lavishly, so he couldn’t figure it out.

Jang Ho-gun was muttering quietly and looked at Lee Soo-han, who was looking at him.

“Is there anything else to say?”

“Yes. Department Head Jang is buying shares of Daehan Mobile Telecom. It seems he has secured information that the government will sell all the remaining shares of Daehan Mobile Telecom soon.”

“Hmm…”

Even while making a groaning sound, Jang Ho-gun’s expression was gradually loosening. Was it because his eldest daughter was the only one in the family who was finding opportunities to make money on her own?