We Do Business In Full Auto [EN]: Chapter 65

065

The Start of Auto (1)

I head to the parking lot for work and start my van.

My car is still the van I leased long-term. Now that I have to rent a large bus every time I move with the Undead, the van is no longer as useful, but old habits die hard, and I can’t easily change vehicles.

Soo-jung’s kindergarten graduation is coming up soon.

She only has about a week left before finally entering elementary school.

“Dad, why don’t you change your car if you can?”

“Change the car? The lease isn’t even over yet. It’s a waste.”

“You have billions of won [Korean currency, roughly equivalent to millions of USD] piled up in your account, yet you’re driving around in this old thing… Isn’t it important to use money wisely?”

“Uh…”

“It seems like Mom, Soo-jung, and Soo-ah could move around more comfortably. It would be nice if Mom had one too. Then Dad wouldn’t have to take her everywhere, right?”

I couldn’t argue with my daughter’s logic.

Soo-jung is right.

It makes me think about the purpose of earning money.

The purpose of me earning money was to make my family live comfortably. Using money to make money was important, but I shouldn’t forget the core reason.

Everyone earns money to achieve a goal. Some will earn money to buy a house, and others will earn money to travel luxuriously.

I earn for my family.

In other words, my current actions are using money for the sake of money, not using money for the sake of my family.

It’s not like I’m going to take the money with me when I die, so why am I doing this?

“You’re right. I need to get a car right away today.”

“Hehe.”

I stroked Soo-jung’s head.

There was definitely something to learn from my daughter. Like now.

It takes quite a while to get from Incheon to Seoul.

With Soo-jung’s graduation coming up so soon, it felt a bit strange to move kindergartens now.

I stop in front of Kitty Kindergarten.

“When Dad comes to pick you up this afternoon, I’ll come in a nice car.”

“Really?”

“Of course. There are even guys who sell brand new cars as used. I’ll buy one of those cars.”

“Wow!”

Soo-jung gives me a thumbs up. Then she says proudly.

“I like that my dad isn’t like other dads.”

“Other dads?”

“Other dads just ignore their children’s opinions. I see that the kids are smart, but they just lack expression.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“But Dad listens to Soo-jung’s words well.”

Soo-jung jumps up, kisses me on the forehead, and disappears with a skip in her step.

A small realization was dawning.

“I should continue to listen to Soo-jung’s words. And my wife’s too.”

I get in the car and turn the steering wheel towards Shinyongsan District.

Shinyongsan District, the site for a new commercial building.

What I received in return for resolving this matter was not only 3 billion won. I also secured the prime piece of real estate to build a building here.

The floor area was a whopping 200 pyeong [approximately 7,200 square feet], and it was possible to build up to 15 floors.

Today, I need to sign a contract with H Construction and start some land clearing work.

It’s definitely prime real estate, but it hasn’t been completely demolished yet. Old houses must be scattered haphazardly, so I need to clear them all away first.

The site where the apartment will be built and the rest will be cleared by H Construction and S Construction in a joint venture, but I have to clear the land where my commercial building will be built.

In front of the site, there was a sleek sports car.

Could it be the car that Director Han Cheol-soo drives?

I shook my head.

Director Han Cheol-soo doesn’t prefer those kinds of vehicles. He always drives a large sedan with a chauffeur.

In front of it stood a career woman in her early 30s.

Hair tied back tightly, black horn-rimmed glasses, and a very businesslike face. It reminded me of when I first met Lee Seo-kyung.

The woman walks towards me with a straight posture.

“Hello, CEO Lee Yoo-sung. I’m Lee Ha-na, Director Han Cheol-soo’s secretary.”

“Ah, nice to meet you.”

Her expression had completely changed.

Is she the same type as Director Han Cheol-soo?

Usually very sharp and expressionless, but endlessly kind to those she needs. This woman seemed to fit that mold.

“I heard that we need to sign the contract today.”

“Yes, that’s right. We need to sign the contract and start construction right away.”

“Can we talk over coffee nearby for a moment?”

“Yes, of course.”

We decided to leave Shinyongsan District and head to a coffee shop near the station.

Vroom!

We moved in Lee Ha-na’s car instead of mine, and I was unknowingly holding onto the safety bar tightly. That’s how aggressively she was driving.

I wondered if it was okay to drive like this in the traffic-filled streets of Seoul.

“Oh, I’m sorry. This is just my usual habit.”

“Haha… It’s okay.”

What is this? A show of power?

I was a little intimidated.

“What would you like for coffee?”

“I’ll have an Americano.”

She brings two cold Americanos.

She spreads out the contract on the table.

“This time, the H Group wanted to do the construction directly, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Even if it’s direct construction, we subcontract to subcontractors, and we dispatch supervisors and foremen to provide technical support. Did you know that?”

“So it’s not completely direct construction?”

“We are the prime contractor. It’s quite rare for the prime contractor to do the construction directly. But if you want, we can do the construction directly.”

“Hmm. Which subcontractor is it?”

“It’s NK Construction.”

“Didn’t you cut ties with NK?”

“It’s a bit complicated. The S Group is involved, so we had no choice but to work with NK Construction.”

“I see.”

“That’s just how it is in this industry.”

I nodded without realizing it.

The business world was similar to the political world in some ways.

Even if you cut ties yesterday, you can reunite today if it’s profitable. So it wasn’t strange that NK Construction came in as a subcontractor.

NK Construction would naturally bring in general contractors, and that’s how the construction would proceed.

Even if H Construction did the construction directly, they would still need a lot of individual contractors. That’s how the construction industry was.

“It’s quite rare for the prime contractor to send out foremen, supervisors, and technicians directly. It seems that Director Han put a lot of thought into this.”

“Well, I guess so. As long as you supervise properly. I don’t really care about the foreman. The technical expertise will be provided anyway.”

“Then can we just do the supervision?”

“Then let’s have NK Construction dispatch the foreman.”

“Okay.”

I thought it would be better to have NK send the foreman in this situation.

Because I’m going to put in all the general laborers.

Lee Ha-na said.

“Usually, when going from the prime contractor to the intermediate subcontractor, 20% is deducted. 10% is our margin, and 10% is taxes. And when you go to the intermediate subcontractor, they make a profit of about 10% to 20%. We’ve decided to change this profit structure a bit.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Our group is doing the construction at no margin, and NK is only taking a 5% profit.”

“That’s very appreciated.”

“That’s because CEO Lee Yoo-sung’s future is solid. Our chairman is also paying a lot of attention to you. But it was a bit unexpected that NK came out and said they would cut their profits.”

“I guess they like me.”

“It seems to be because of your technical skills. Or maybe it’s a gift because you completely crushed their rival organization.”

She knew everything.

Well, she was the secretary of Director Han Cheol-soo, who controlled the H Group, so she would have access to that much information.

While reading the contract, I decided to add one clause.

“Ah, and about the procurement of people who are not skilled workers.”

“You mean general labor?”

“Yes. I want to bring in all those people myself.”

“That’s fine.”

The floor area is 200 pyeong, and we’re building it up to 15 floors.

The price per pyeong is about 3 million won, so it will cost about 9 billion won to finish. Of course, the cost could be further reduced depending on how I manage the workers.

In this day and age, the construction cost per pyeong is 3 million won. In fact, this would be impossible without the support of the H Group and NK Group.

“The contract fee is 10%, and you can deposit it today.”

“Okay.”

“Then build a good building.”

“When will the design come out?”

“We already have a standard design for a 15-story building. It depends on the specifications, though.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

She dropped me off in Shinyongsan District.

Then I need to give instructions for today’s work. That way, the building can go up quickly.

I immediately brought the Undead.

While I’m clearing the site here, I thought people from NK Construction might send someone.

The one added today is the Mage.

He could use magic and was smart enough to make his own judgments.

He wasn’t yet at the point of speaking, but being able to communicate to some extent was a great advantage.

I deployed five Mages and committed a total of 50 Undead.

Koo-ahng!

When the Mage blew up the building with magic, the general Undead quickly moved in and cleaned up.

“Fast.”

The demolition was proceeding at an incredible speed.

They were demolishing the whole thing and sorting it at the same time.

Because the iron and non-ferrous metals coming out of the buildings were all money.

Whoo-oong!

While the demolition was proceeding like that, a luxury sedan approached.

Only those involved could enter Shinyongsan District, so I could easily guess that they were people from the NK Group.

A familiar person gets out of the car.

“CEO Lee Yoo-sung!”

“Manager Ahn, isn’t it?”

“I’ve been put in charge of overall construction.”

“Manager Ahn personally?”

“It’s such a large project. So, the chairman decided to send someone he could trust.”

“Are you coming as the foreman?”

“Not that, I’m in management. I’ve been in the construction industry for a long time, but I’m not at the foreman level.”

“I see.”

“Ah, don’t worry. The foundation of our NK Construction is N Construction. It was famous for its excellent technology in this industry. Our NK acquired that company and became what it is today.”

“Then I’ll trust you and proceed with the work.”

“Wow, it’s been cleared away in an instant? How did you do it? To have demolished it like this in just one day… Can I take that to mean that you can also do demolition work?”