We Do Business In Full Auto [EN]: Chapter 87

087

Inauguration Ceremony (1)

After signing, I immediately made the payment.

The contract took effect the moment the payment was made.

I did wonder if I was paying too hastily, but I decided to trust Department Head Han.

A person who practically runs a major corporation wouldn’t double-cross someone over something like this. Besides, I wouldn’t have been able to acquire the company without Department Head Han in the first place.

“Thank you. I will run it well.”

“Keep the signboard as it is. Familiarity is important to people. Besides, changing the company name would mean changing all the signs, which would be a big burden for you.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“If your company grows into a major corporation in the future, it won’t be too late to change the signboard then.”

Being able to use CL’s company name as is was a huge advantage.

Most corporate sales in large companies are due to management failures. Of course, some healthy companies are sold to expand their business, but selling a company that could collapse often requires renaming the company as a condition of the M&A [Mergers and Acquisitions].

In this respect, Chairman Kang was doing me a great favor.

“I won’t let you down.”

“Hahaha. I’ll be expecting great things.”

“Then, from when should I start coming to work…”

“That’s up to you. Should I help you with that too?”

“I would appreciate it if you did.”

“Good. As a favor to you, I’ll support you with minor M&A tasks and tomorrow’s inauguration ceremony.”

“Thank you for your kindness.”

With the business concluded, I got up from my seat.

It seemed like things would get busy starting tomorrow.

President Lee Yoo-sung had left.

Today’s protagonist was gone, but Department Head Han Chul-soo remained seated.

Chairman Kang Bon-sung had brought two glasses.

“Drinking from the morning?”

“How long do we have to live anyway? Just have one drink.”

“Tsk.”

Even so, Han Chul-soo didn’t refuse the drink.

Chairman Kang Bon-sung was a heavy drinker, and the liquors he drank were fundamentally expensive.

After swallowing a mouthful of expensive whiskey, Han Chul-soo asked,

“What do you think now that you’ve seen him in person?”

“Chairman Lee Kang-no’s judgment was not wrong.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Yes. He feels very seasoned, yet he seems humble, so people will probably follow him quite a bit.”

“He has the same qualities that Chairman Lee Kang-no looked for in talent in the past.”

“If you’re too nice, you can’t survive in this industry. Yet, it’s not easy to be a good person.”

“Hahaha.”

This was high praise.

“You’ve started to take notice of that friend too.”

“The business world needs a breath of fresh air. Everyone is too old.”

They were large corporations that had only grown in size.

It was no exaggeration to say that the Korean economy was driven by large corporations, but they had grown so large that they didn’t know how big they were or how rotten they were becoming.

The two old men thought that President Lee Yoo-sung might bring innovation to the business world.

The next day, morning.

I woke up early to prepare for the inauguration ceremony.

The inauguration ceremony was at 9 a.m.

I woke up at 7 a.m., washed, ate, and got dressed. My family would be joining me at the inauguration ceremony today. It would be disappointing if my family missed such a big event.

Ding-dong!

I was tidying up my clothes when the bell rang.

I opened the door and saw a woman standing there.

She looked to be in her early 30s and had a very intellectual air about her. She looked like she had studied quite a bit.

She also had a slightly cold demeanor, similar to when I first met Lee Seo-kyung. But she was very polite.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Seul-gi. I’m the Chief of Staff at CL Retail.”

“Chief of Staff?”

Was the Chief of Staff this young?

No matter how I looked at her, she didn’t seem to be over her early 30s.

“I turned 36 this year. I’ve been with the company for 15 years.”

Don’t they usually hire college graduates?

If so, the woman in front of me was likely a prodigy.

My wife welcomed her.

“Come in.”

“Are you the Madam?”

“Yes, I’m this man’s wife.”

“Ah…”

Lee Seul-gi’s mouth opened slightly.

Most people give that kind of reaction. They often compare us to Beauty and the Beast, so she must have been quite surprised.

Soo-jung and Soo-ah, who were also dressed up, even tilted their heads.

At a glance, their looks were not my genes but my wife’s genes. They were practically carbon copies of my wife.

“As expected, the President’s abilities are amazing.”

“Ugh… I hear that often. Chief Lee, have you had coffee?”

“I would appreciate it if you offered.”

“Okay. Let’s talk for a while.”

Gathering information in advance is very important.

Lee Seul-gi had been working at CL Retail for 15 years, so I decided to hear the inside story from her before the inauguration ceremony.

Suddenly, the Chief of Staff appeared.

But meeting the Chief of Staff before the inauguration wasn’t a bad choice. That’s probably why Lee Seul-gi came to see me.

Lisa, of course, and even Soo-jung and Soo-ah were staring intently at Lee Seul-gi.

Soo-jung suddenly made a bombshell statement.

“Mom doesn’t need to worry.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hehe. There’s no way Dad would fall for an old lady like that.”

“…!”

Lee Seul-gi, who was drinking coffee, coughed as if she had choked.

“Soo-jung. What kind of language is that?”

“Just kidding, just kidding.”

“Apologize.”

“I’m sorry, old lady.”

“Old lady, huh…”

It was the moment when Lee Seul-gi’s iron wall cracked.

Lee Seul-gi, who had been in shock for a moment, barely regained her composure.

“Your daughter is very unique.”

“Soo-jung is a bit unique.”

“Then, shall we talk about the company?”

“Let’s do that.”

“The current atmosphere in the company is like a battlefield. It’s a completely defeated atmosphere. People are uncertain because the company was taken over, and the management rights were handed over to someone who has never run a large company before.”

“Hmm. I suppose you could think that way.”

“There’s a prevailing atmosphere that the company could close down within a year. This is true not only within the company but also among the store owners. There are even movements to switch to other convenience stores if things go wrong.”

I shrugged my shoulders once.

Given the poor economic situation, such movements might be natural. But I was confident that I could normalize the company within a year.

“Don’t worry about that. I have a trump card.”

“A trump card?”

“I’ll take responsibility for the company’s profits. More than that, I think we need to focus on repairing the internal atmosphere of the company.”

“The internal atmosphere of the company… The executives are divided into two factions. As you know, there are frequent personnel changes among executives within large corporations, but the company was sold, and a situation arose where they had to bury their bones at CL Retail.”

“Two factions, you say?”

“Those who are hoping for the President [referring to me] and those who are still connected to the CL Group.”

“Factional strife when the company is on the verge of collapse.”

Was I taking management too lightly?

Once I started digging into the problems, there was no end.

“Many see the sale of CL Retail as a management failure. The store owner-first policy, which differentiated it from other companies, is said to have led to the company’s failure.”

“That’s right. Isn’t that the cause of the failure?”

“That’s half right. It needs to be reorganized. But that’s not all.”

“Then…?”

“There’s also the investment failure and the decline in the quality of lunch boxes. Several misfortunes overlapped, and the company ended up in this state. Until now, we’ve been surviving on debt, but even that is teetering, and we’re on edge.”

“Investment failure, you say?”

“The large-scale private equity fund, do you know about the Allime incident?”

“Wasn’t that ruled as a fraud?”

“Yes. S Bank gathered investors and was found to be a fraud, resulting in huge losses. CL Retail invested a huge amount of money in Allime and lost it all. They didn’t receive proper compensation and it was a decisive blow.”

“A decisive blow, huh.”

“Many problems have occurred in the last five years. At the center of it was Department Head Lee Tae-gon.”

“Hmm.”

“He’s a typical CL Group figure who parachuted in as a department head five years ago. The executives’ forces were divided around him.”

“Oh, my.”

There seems to be a complicated political relationship.

Then should I purge them?

I had a weapon.

The reason I decided to run a convenience store was because of the unpaid workers and the personal touch, but I felt a bit complicated when political stories came into play.

I talked to her for about 20 minutes, but there wasn’t enough time.

I had to go to the inauguration ceremony now.

“Well, that’s the big picture. I’ll tell you the rest later.”

“In a nutshell, it sounds like you’re telling me not to be swayed by Department Head Lee Tae-gon.”

“Yes. If you dig, you’ll find a string of corruption. Until now, no one could touch him because he had the backing of the CL Group…”

“You’re saying that I, who have nothing to do with the CL Group, can touch him?”

“Yes.”

Lee Seul-gi was openly declaring that Lee Tae-gon was the enemy.

But I’m not a fool either.

Lee Seul-gi was someone I was meeting for the first time today, and it’s hard to accurately gauge who is slandering whom.

I have to see everything with my own eyes and make a judgment.

“Then let’s go. It feels like heading to a battlefield.”

“It won’t be easy.”

“I’m not that easy to deal with.”

“You’re someone who has the H Group as your backing, so of course.”

“Has that rumor spread too?”

“CL Retail wouldn’t have been sold to you if it wasn’t for Department Head Han.”

I nodded lightly.

She was right.

I was able to acquire CL Retail thanks to Department Head Han. It was fortunate that such a fact was spreading.

If people thought there was nothing behind me, there would be more defectors.

We got up from our seats.

My wife had a look of little interest from beginning to end. She knew that if my wife got involved in management, the situation would become even more complicated.

However, Soo-jung’s expression was a bit complicated.

I thought she might be thinking of alternatives by now.

CL Retail Auditorium.

Next to the 30-story headquarters building was a large auditorium.

This place was mainly used for events and felt like a large dome. It also had an exterior that resembled a scaled-down indoor soccer field.

It was a little after 9 a.m. now.

All the employees of the headquarters were said to be gathered.

Creak!

The door opened and people’s eyes focused.

“The President is entering.”

Clap clap clap clap!

Applause poured in from all directions.

Soulless applause.

Within it, I could hear voices of concern.