The Conglomerate Family Became A Villain [EN]: Chapter 123

123. The End of 1984 (4)

Jeong Hyun-woo shrugged as he looked at Sarah, who was sitting on the sofa.

“Were you waiting long?”

Sarah closed her book and replied, “It wasn’t that long.”

The suite had two bedrooms, a living room, and a small kitchen.

“So, did you have a good talk with your uncle?”

“So-so.”

“So-so?”

“There wasn’t anything special to talk about.”

Sarah raised her eyebrows. “You seem to be hiding something.”

Jeong Hyun-woo took off his coat. “I think my uncle is half-doubting.”

“Doesn’t he believe in Charlie’s success?”

“Korea is more conservative about money than America.”

“You mean there aren’t any businessmen under twenty?”

Jeong Hyun-woo nodded. “That’s right.”

He took out a cola and placed it on the table.

“Are you sure you’re okay with that? It’s three dollars.”

The drinks from the minibar cost several times the normal retail price.

“I don’t think there are any open markets at this hour.”

“Wouldn’t there be vending machines?”

“I’ll splurge a little today.”

For a billionaire with billions of dollars, a hotel minibar was nothing.

Nevertheless, the two joked around as they used to.

“Did Charlie’s family also get in line with President Reagan?”

“Every government in the world is probably lining up with President Reagan and the Republican Party.”

“Not the Soviet Union.”

As of 1984, the Soviet Union was still going strong.

‘Come to think of it, the Chernobyl nuclear accident will happen soon.’

The Chernobyl nuclear accident, the worst nuclear power plant accident, led to the collapse of the Soviet Union due to its enormous scale.

“We should have made a donation in our company’s name, too.”

Sarah responded briefly. “I did.”

Jeong Hyun-woo’s eyes widened. “You made a donation in the company’s name, too?”

“Because there are many people who don’t know Charlie’s name.”

“Isn’t that a duplicate investment?”

“It’s okay. The Republican Party will win the next election anyway.”

As of 1984, the Democratic Party was cornered.

In fact, the Democratic Party failed to win the next presidential election as well.

‘Was the next US president President Bush?’

Jeong Hyun-woo wriggled his fingers, trying to recall the president after President Reagan.

“But won’t the Democratic Party win the House election?”

“They’ll barely hold onto the House.”

According to opinion polls, the only election where the Democratic Party had an advantage was the House election.

“The Senate is also a close race.”

“I think the Republican Party will take the Senate.”

The most intense battle in this election was the Senate election, not the presidential or House election.

“If they lose the Senate too, the Democratic Party will have a hard time.”

“They’ll have a hard time. But it’s their own fault.”

The Democratic Party was failing to present a new vision to the American people.

‘President Carter was a good person, but he didn’t receive good reviews during his term.’

Jimmy Carter was generally regarded as a good man, but he was not well-regarded as president.

Some things were later re-evaluated, but he was still lacking compared to his successors.

“Sarah was a Republican, right?”

“No.”

“Wasn’t she?”

“I don’t support any party.”

She was a pragmatist.

“If it weren’t for me, Sarah wouldn’t have set foot in politics.”

“Probably.”

If it weren’t for Jeong Hyun-woo, Sarah would not have appeared in American high society.

But as Andrew Hilton’s daughter and the CFO of Victoria Corporation, she made her debut in American high society.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Because of me…….”

Sarah grabbed Jeong Hyun-woo’s right hand. “Thanks to Charlie, I can be here.”

“You can be here because of me?”

Sarah nodded. “What could a stubborn and selfish girl do after leaving home? College? Barely fill her credits and graduate, then struggle to find a job.”

Boston University was a top-tier university in the United States, but it wasn’t a school like MIT or Harvard where success was guaranteed.

If one lacked personal ability or background, they might have to lead a difficult working life as she said.

“Thanks to Charlie, I can live with my head held high. So, the person who received help isn’t Charlie, but me.”

Jeong Hyun-woo smiled brightly. “Thank you.”

“Sorry, then thank you next?”

“What else can I do but be thankful?”

Sarah sighed briefly.

“Haa…….”

Jeong Hyun-woo stroked the back of her hand with his left hand, which was holding her right hand.

“I’m so glad.”

“Glad?”

“That I have Sarah.”

Jeong Hyun-woo had said the same thing last time.

“I’ll repay you for the rest of my life.”

Sarah flinched and raised her voice at the end of her sentence. “What?”

“For life.”

Jeong Hyun-woo let go of her hand, took the cola, and disappeared inside.

Sarah, left alone, let out a long sigh.

“Hoo……. What am I doing.”

She was dissatisfied with herself for being so swayed by Jeong Hyun-woo, who was younger than her.

* * *

The 1984 US presidential election ended with a landslide victory for incumbent President Reagan.

Some called it a boring match, while others criticized it as a waste of budget.

The defeated Democratic presidential candidate, Walter Mondale, suffered a complete defeat, losing in every state except his home state of Minnesota, and immediately announced his retirement from politics.

Robert waved his right hand like someone who had watched a movie with an obvious plot. “Well, it’s as expected.”

Jeong Hyun-woo was sitting across from him.

“It must have been too easy a match for President Reagan.”

“He’s been overwhelmingly re-elected, so he’s going to start a war now.”

Robert didn’t seem to like Reagan very much.

“The Republican Party is just itching to wield power, aren’t they?”

Robert seemed to support the Democratic Party.

“I don’t know.”

Squeak.

The door opened, and Sarah appeared with coffee.

“Good morning.”

Robert looked at the tray in her hand. “Did you come to work separately from Charlie?”

“I had some business at school.”

Robert knew that she, like Jeong Hyun-woo, was on leave from school.

“It would be difficult if the leave is too long.”

Sarah placed the coffee in front of the two. “There’s one year left. I want to graduate somehow.”

“You’ve been going for three years, so it’s good to see it through.”

Robert turned his gaze to Jeong Hyun-woo. “Charlie will probably have a hard time, right?”

Jeong Hyun-woo couldn’t even attend MIT for a year.

“I’ll graduate too.”

Robert thought it was unexpected.

“There are seven semesters left?”

“If I don’t graduate, I have to go to the army.”

“Ah, the army…….”

Sarah cut off Robert’s words. “Charlie’s hometown is still at war [referring to the ongoing tensions between North and South Korea].”

The ceasefire in the Cold War was as good as war.

“So, if you graduate from university, you don’t have to go to the army?”

“That’s not it.”

“If you have to go to the army even after graduating from university, wouldn’t it be better to go quickly?”

Jeong Hyun-woo answered his question. “I have to serve as a soldier for three years.”

“That would be a bit difficult.”

“If you graduate from university and get a master’s degree, you can serve in the military as a researcher instead.”

Robert realized what kind of plan Jeong Hyun-woo had.

“So, you’re saying you have to graduate from university no matter what to get a master’s degree.”

“To put it simply, yes.”

Sarah sat down. “You two, stop talking about school and the army and let’s talk about the company.”

The place where they were sitting was the president’s office of Victoria Corporation.

Robert coughed lightly. “Ahem, ahem. We completed the acquisition of the game shops in the third quarter. Now, Victoria Corporation has become a company with a truly nationwide after-sales service network.”

Sarah asked, “How are you planning to manage the game shops?”

“We’re going to create a new business division.”

“You’re thinking of making it independent from the game business division?”

“That’s right.”

Robert handed out a two-page document. “It’s currently only labeled as Project G. But we’ll confirm the name soon.”

He was thinking of creating a brand that specializes in game distribution, rather than a simple game business division or game distribution headquarters.

Jeong Hyun-woo looked through his documents. “That sounds like a good idea.”

He thought Robert’s plan was similar to GameStop.

‘GameStop was also a very successful company until the 21st century. This side will be fine too.’

Sarah’s reaction was less enthusiastic than Jeong Hyun-woo’s, but she didn’t point out any flaws.

“This side doesn’t require a lot of budget, does it?”

As CFO, she focused on cash flow.

“The game shops have been picking up little by little in the third quarter.”

“It will be even better in November, right?”

“Of course.”

November had Black Friday [the day after Thanksgiving, known for major shopping discounts].

Jeong Hyun-woo and Sarah had sat in front of the game shops during Black Friday and directly observed people’s shopping.

“We don’t have to worry about Project G.”

Robert shrugged. “If things go well with Nintendo, there won’t be any problems in 1985 either.”

The fate of Victoria Corporation’s game business division depended on Nintendo’s success.

Of course, Jeong Hyun-woo knew that Nintendo would succeed.

‘It’s not just succeeding, it’s going to swallow up the American game market.’

Nintendo went beyond replacing Atari and created a new game world.

“I’ll ask Charlie this time.”

Jeong Hyun-woo blinked as Sarah lowered her voice. “It seems like you’re going to ask a difficult question.”

Sarah tapped the desk with a pen. “About the research with MIT. The budget is exceeding the plan.”

Jeong Hyun-woo pursed his lips. “That’s…….”

“Are you plotting something behind our backs?”

Jeong Hyun-woo sighed. “Haa……. It’s not so much plotting as there’s something going on.”

“I’m asking about that something right now.”

Sarah knew that Jeong Hyun-woo was hiding something.

“I wasn’t particularly trying to hide it.”

“Then you hid it in a way that wasn’t special but ordinary?”

“…….”

Robert intervened. “Sarah, let’s not push Charlie too hard.”

Sarah narrowed her brows slightly. “You spent 1.2 million dollars without saying a word.”

It was fortunate that Victoria Corporation had grown in size, but 1.2 million dollars was by no means a small amount.

Jeong Hyun-woo scratched his head. “You’ll both regret it if you hear my story.”

Sarah said firmly, “I don’t regret it.”

Jeong Hyun-woo sighed deeply once again.

“Hoo…….”

It seemed like Sarah was trying to transform from an affectionate older sister into a sharp-eyed accountant.

“Hurry up.”

As Sarah raised her voice, Jeong Hyun-woo began to speak. “Both of you, after listening to my story, you must not tell it to anyone else.”

Robert turned his head from side to side and narrowed his brows. “It sounds like a scary story is about to come out.”

Sarah still had a stiff face. “I don’t have anyone to tell it to anyway.”

Jeong Hyun-woo told the story of the CIA’s request with a helpless expression.

Sarah narrowed her brows throughout his story. When Jeong Hyun-woo’s story ended, she clicked her tongue.

“So, you’re saying the government put a spoon in it [interfered]?”

“I couldn’t help it.”

Robert supported his head with both hands. “Sarah, don’t blame Charlie. If the CIA asked, I wouldn’t have been able to help it either.”

Cold War era.

Rejecting the CIA’s request was tantamount to becoming a communist.

“So what are you going to do?”

“I have no choice but to listen to their request.”

“If they keep asking?”

Sarah predicted that the CIA’s request would not end once.

“I have to hope the Cold War ends.”

It was a saying that there was no way out.

“Haa……. Annoying leeches have stuck to us.”

Robert said, supporting his head with both hands.

“Sarah, the CIA might be eavesdropping on our conversation.”

“If they’re listening, shouldn’t we be able to talk about our complaints? Without paying a penny.”

Robert turned his gaze to Jeong Hyun-woo. “Charlie, weren’t they giving you a commission?”

During the Cold War, the CIA and the Department of Defense poured capital into their research without hesitation.

But not this time.

“No.”

A disappointing answer.

Robert straightened his posture. “So you’re saying we’re conducting this research purely with our own money?”

“I’ve talked to MIT, but they said there’s nothing we can do.”

“If even MIT says that…….”

“They told me to think of it as taxes.”

Sarah was still narrowing her brows.

“I already paid taxes.”

Jeong Hyun-woo and she had paid a large amount of capital gains tax when they transferred their shares to JP Morgan.

“Come to think of it, what happened with Bank of America?”

Jeong Hyun-woo was subtly changing the subject.

Sarah unfolded her narrowed brows. “Miss Marine said she wanted to talk more in New York. Would that be okay?”

“In New York?”

“She said she’s reviewed all the data here.”

Jeong Hyun-woo crossed his arms. “Are we officially writing the contract now?”

“Probably.”

A 1 billion dollar contract.

Jeong Hyun-woo turned his gaze to Robert. “Robert, do you want to sell your shares this time?”

Robert had received 1% of the shares from Jeong Hyun-woo and Sarah, respectively.

Since 10% was 1 billion dollars, he could earn 100 million dollars by selling just half of his owned shares, 1%.

“I don’t have enough shares to sell to another company.”

A roundabout refusal.

‘2% of the shares. It would be better to take it to the IPO [Initial Public Offering].’

He was planning to wait for Victoria Corporation’s IPO.

“Sarah, let’s go as last time.”

“I’ll take 3, Charlie takes 7?”

“That’s right.”

Robert put his hands together. “Since both companies have 10% of the shares, they’ll be sending inside directors soon.”

Sarah didn’t deny his words.

“They probably will in 1985.”

It meant that two inside directors would be added to this position next year.

“And we’ll have to add outside directors too.”

A company that goes public had to appoint outside directors in addition to inside directors.

Jeong Hyun-woo turned his gaze to Sarah. “I’ll leave that to Sarah.”

Robert agreed. “Sarah, I trust you.”

Sarah raised her eyebrows. “You two……. You’re passing all the annoying work to me.”

“Isn’t it because Sarah is better at it than us?”

“I refuse.”

Sarah’s refusal was unexpected.

“Miss Hilton?”

“Sarah?”

As the two raised their voices at the same time, she said, “Charlie, Robert, recommend one candidate each by next week. We have to set up outside directors before the IPO.”

Jeong Hyun-woo couldn’t help but make a troubled expression. “Sarah, I don’t know anyone.”

Sarah twirled her pen. “If you can’t find anyone, go to school.”

She concluded this meeting by giving Jeong Hyun-woo a tip.