Chapter 794: Win the By-Election (3) – Part 1
It was the by-election day.
Gun-Ho stayed in his office in the GH Building in Sinsa Town watching TV. According to the exit polls, the candidate— Jin-Woo Lee— was still leading the election comfortably. Gun-Ho was sure that Jin-Woo Lee would win the election, and he was wondering how big he would win.
When Gun-Ho went home after work, he sat in the living room in front of the TV for the entire evening that day. He patiently waited for the election result while having fruits and watching TV. Once the 9 o’clock nightly news ended, finally there was a subt.i.tle that appeared giving the latest news on the by-election. It said,
[Candidate Jin-Woo Lee’s victory is confirmed!!!]
At the moment, Young-Eun joined Gun-Ho in the living room after placing their sleeping son in the crib.
“Do we have the election result?”
“His win is just confirmed.”
“That’s very good. Now, he needs to win the position of leader in his political party, huh?”
“I didn’t know that you are interested in politics. You know about the compet.i.tion to get the leader’s position in a political party, huh?”
“Nah, I’m not interested in politics at all. I just know those things just because you talked about it a lot.”
“Oh, I did?”
“You should send him a congratulatory message.”
“Maybe I should.”
Gun-Ho quickly texted Mr. Jin-Woo Lee congratulating him on his victory in the election.
[I just saw the confirmation of your win on the election. I truly congratulate you on your win.]
Once the text was sent, Gun-Ho’s phone started ringing right away.
“President Goo?” It was the former Minister Jin-Woo Lee.
“Yes, sir. Congratulations.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to make it without your help. Once things are settled here, I will invite you over for dinner or something.”
“I haven’t done much. The const.i.tuents in your election district recognized your devotion to the community, and they have confidence in you, sir. That’s how you won this election.”
“Thank you. I truly mean it. Are you at home right now?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, I hope you have a great evening then, with your family. I don’t want to take any of your family time. We can talk later. Have a good evening.”
“Thank you.”
Once he got off the phone with the former Minister Jin-Woo Lee, Young-Eun asked with a curious look on her face, “Who was it? Was it Minister Lee?”
“Yeah. As soon as I sent him the congratulatory text, he called me right away.”
“Did you help his campaign or something?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Then what did you mean when you told him that you hadn’t done much?”
“I was just saying it.”
“Having him in Congress would help your business? Like he would make a favorable environment for business owners to run a business more efficiently or something?”
“I doubt that we would see any huge difference that benefits me or other business people just because Minister Lee is now in Congress, but it’s nice to know someone who is an inc.u.mbent member of Congress, isn’t it?”
“Have you met his spouse before?”
“Yes, I have seen her once. We played golf together.”
“With you, oppa?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow. I guess you are an important figure. You had played golf with the daughter of a conglomerate, huh?”
“It’s no fun playing golf with people like them. I will have way more fun if I play golf with you. Why don’t you learn how to play golf?”
“I don’t have time for it. Not now. I have to work in the hospital in the morning, and I have to take care of our baby in the afternoon.”
It was Monday, but Gun-Ho didn’t go to work in GH Mobile in Jiksan Town or Dyeon Korea in Asan City that day, but he stayed in Seoul.
“GH Mobile and Dyeon Korea are doing well without me. I don’t need to be there as often as I used to be. GH Machines also should be well handled by Jong-Suk Park. As he said he would, if he hires experienced production workers who had worked with machines, and get the necessary a.s.sistance that he needs from them in running that new company, it will be just fine. He just needs to build and sell several machines to maintain the company.”
Gun-Ho was enjoying his morning coffee in his office on the 18th floor in GH Building, Sinsa Town when Secretary Yeon-Soo Oh brought him an economic newspaper.
Gun-Ho crossed his legs sitting on the sofa and started reading the newspaper. There was a news coverage about Dyeon Korea.
[Dyeon Korea’s stock price has been dropping ever since it became a public company. Its downtrend is explained by the recent supply surplus occurring in the global chemical industry intertwined with the slowdown of growth in both the auto industry and home appliance industry. Dyeon Korea’s public offering price was set to 26,200 won per share, but its share is currently being traded at 16,000 won which was the closing price as of yesterday, due to investors’ disregard of the stock.]
“Ha! Those s.h.i.+*ty journalists wrote fiction about Dyeon Korea’s stock movement. I’m sure that public investors will gradually start buying the stock thinking that the price is low enough to purchase, so they could make money. Once enough little people buy the stock, those stock manipulators will shake off again, and those public investors will get startled.”
Gun-Ho deposited 100 million won in the stock account that he borrowed from Seung-Hee sister, for now.
Someone knocked on Gun-Ho’s office door, and Director Kang entered the office.
“Sir, President Jae-Sik Moon from Antang City in China sent us 100 pieces of training outfits to us.”
“Mr. Director, please distribute the training outfits to GH Development’s employees and GH Media’s employees.”
“There are only 30 workers even if we combine all of the workers in GH Development and GH Media. What should I do with the rest of the training outfits?”
“Please send the remaining outfits to GH Logistics. GH Logistics has a lot of truck drivers. They will need at least 40 of them. And also, please send 10 of them to GH Machines.”
“Understood, sir.”
“Oh, please have Chan-Ho Eom take 15 training outfits and put them in my car trunk.”
“Yes, sir. As to the payment for these training outfits, I haven’t heard anything about the price of them from President Jae-Sik Moon. When I asked GH Mobile and Dyeon Korea about it, they said that they received 700 pieces and 200 pieces respectively, and they both paid 20,000 won per piece. Should we pay the same price?”
“Well… I will let you know later. Don’t make the payment just yet.”
“Yes, sir.”
After lunch, Gun-Ho called for Secretary Yeon-Soo Oh.
“Please ask Chan-Ho Eom to get ready to leave.”
“Yes, sir.”
When Gun-Ho went down to GH Building’s lobby, his Bentley was already parked at the building entrance. As a matter of fact, no one was supposed to park at the entrance of the building, but Gun-Ho was an exception. When the security guard saw Gun-Ho coming down to the lobby, he opened the door for him.
Chan-Ho turned around to see Gun-Ho and asked, “Where are we heading, sir?”
“Let’s go to s.h.i.+nsegae Department Store near Seoul Express Bus Terminal. I need to buy several things, and I need your help to carry them. Those are heavy.”
“Of course, sir. I will park the car in the paid-parking lot there then.”
“Okay.”
“Oh, the training outfits are in the trunk. There are 15 of them.”
“Hmm, I see. Take 10 of them with you.”
“Me, sir?”
“Give them to Tae-Young Im. Tell him that those are Thanksgiving gifts from me.”
“These are for Tae-Young bro, sir? Thank you, sir.”
When Gun-Ho arrived at the s.h.i.+nsegae Department Store, he picked 4 boxes of the most expensive semi-dried persimmon in the department store and 2 boxes of short ribs.
“Chan-Ho, I want you to do something for me. After dropping me off at GH Building, move 2 boxes of semi-dried persimmon to my office.
“Yes, sir.”
“And, take the remaining 2 boxes of semi-dried persimmon and 2 boxes of short ribs to my home, and give them to Sang-Min’s mom.”
“To your wife, sir? Okay, I will do that.”
“Also, give her 5 training outfits too.”
“Yes, sir.”
A while later, Gun-Ho’s Bentley stopped at GH Building’s front entrance. Gun-Ho got out of the car and went up to the 18th floor. After a moment, Chan-Ho Eom followed him to the president’s office on the 18th floor carrying 2 boxes of semi-dried persimmon.
“Please put them here, and you can leave now.”
“Yes, sir. I will be heading to TowerPalace.”
“Hmm, okay.”