Chapter 595: Certificate of Inno-Biz (1) – Part 2
Gun-Ho made a call to Director Woon-Hak Sim.
“This is Gun-Ho Goo from GH Mobile.”
“Oh, hi, sir!”
“Will you be available this Wednesday? I’m thinking of visiting Shanghai then.”
“Wednesday works perfectly for me. All I have these days is time. I will definitely accompany you to Shanghai, sir.”
Gun-Ho didn’t feel very comfortable when Director Woon-Hak Sim talked to him in a way showing excessive respect, but he also understood how Director Sim would feel given his current desperate situation.
“I can travel abroad without any problem. I haven’t been sued by creditors or anything like that, which could result in a departure prohibition.”
“Of course, since your case is not a criminal case. We won’t stay long in Shanghai City. We will probably stay for 2 nights and 3 days.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Once our flight tickets are reserved, you will receive a text message.”
“Yes, sir!”
Director Woon-Hak Sim was feeling hopeful. He gave a call to his friend— BM Entertainment’s manager right away.
“Hey, you know what? I’m going to China next Wednesday. I’m going with GH Mobile’s President Goo to Shanghai City.”
“Really? That’s really nice. You should hold on to him tightly. I’m pretty sure that he is an awfully rich man. You shouldn’t let go of his hand.”
“I’ve heard wealthy people are usually cheap.”
“Even if that’s true, you should take a rest under a big tree since it will provide wider shade, so you would feel cooler. Good luck.”
BM Entertainment’s manager made a call to his boss— President Hyeon-Man Yee— to give him a report on how things were going with Gun-Ho and Director Sim since he was the one who connected those two people.
“President Goo is taking Director Sim to Shanghai City.”
“Really? That’s good.”
“I once visited President Goo’s factory in Jiksan Town with Director Sim. It was impressive.”
“What was impressive?”
“The factory was enormous, and they probably have 400 workers working there. When we saw the machines placed in a row, Director Sim and I both were astonished. Director Sim even tried to take a photo of the factory, and the plant manager there stopped him.”
“Of course, you can’t just take photos inside of someone’s factory without their permission.”
“I just don’t understand how this man could get a factory that big. He is a young man after all. His building in Sinsa Town must be worth more than 200 billion won.”
“Hmm, I don’t think he is an ordinary man. Keep an eye on him.”
“Yes, sir.”
Gun-Ho received a call from Jae-Sik Moon.
“We signed the purchase contract for the buses.”
“Really? They are expensive, aren’t they?”
“Daba (express bus) costs around 250 million Korean won. While I was at Guilin Daewoo Bus earlier, I wondered how the founder of Daewoo Group— Chairman Woo-Choong Kim— established the auto manufacturing factory in Guilin a long time ago.”
“He was the one who said, ‘the world is still wide and there are so many things to do,’ right?”
“We will have to pay 30% of the price of the busses in order to take them with us. Antang City’s transportation company already selected 5 experienced bus drivers and sent them to the joint venture. Today is Friday… so, probably on Monday or Tuesday, we will take those bus drivers to Guilin to pick up the buses.”
“It’s very far, isn’t it? China has a huge continent.”
“If you look at the map, it doesn’t look that far. But, there are so many mountains and rivers, so we will have to go through Liuzhou s.h.i.+ and Hechi s.h.i.+ from Guilin. It must be several thousand kilometers.”
“Several thousand kilometers? I guess you will have to spend the night inside the buses, huh?”
“It shouldn’t be that bad. The scenery was amazing. I’m sure we will enjoy driving with all those stunning views. The mountains in China look so bizarre. The scenery in Guilin is so special.”
“I guess you enjoyed the trip there. I’m glad to know that.”
“Driving in a big city like Liuzhou s.h.i.+ is fine, but the problem is the areas after Liuzhou s.h.i.+. The condition of the roads there is not so good. I’m worried that it could damage our buses.”
“You should take enough time in bringing the buses. Drive during the day, and spend the night at a motel. You and the drivers should take enough rest. We don’t want anyone to get injured.”
“When we go to pick up the buses, the vice president and the manager of the pa.s.senger transportation department will come with me.”
“What about Ms. Eun-Hwa Jo? Isn’t she going with you?”
“She won’t come with us. It will be hard to provide a comfortable place to sleep for her. It’s easier to go with all gentlemen since it will be a long trip. I can still communicate with them in writing. I have a level-2 certificate of Chinese characters. I have no problem with reading and writing Chinese.”
“Level-2 certificate of Chinese characters? Wow. I think you can try the Chinese Proficiency Test— HSK— after studying the Chinese language just a little bit more.”
“Nah, I’m not that good. Listening is really hard for me.”
“Really?”
“Guess what? I bought a car. The Chinese partner recommended me an Audi— the same model that the transportation company’s president is driving, and I said okay.”
“Audi is a nice car. You are the president of the joint venture; you should drive a luxurious car like an Audi. It’s a good choice.”
“Actually, it’s more than enough for me. I had never imagined that I would have a life like this. I enjoyed the famous scenery of Guilin, and I’m driving an Audi. Who would have known that my life would have turned out this fancy? I thank you, President Goo for it. You changed my life completely.”
“Don’t be silly! What about your housing? Didn’t they buy the condo that you selected yet?”
“They will after we pick up the buses from Guilin. I still like the one in Huaxi Huayuan. I’m not sure if I can live in a luxurious condo like that.”
“Stop being silly. It’s a less than 36 pyung large condo. It’s not that luxurious. Moreover, the company will own the condo, not you, and you will just live there.”
“You know what? The Chinese people here seemed to change their att.i.tude toward me after they received the 3 million dollars investment funds. They are friendlier with me.”
“Did they confirm that they received the money?”
“It looks like they received it yesterday. They brought me the automobile catalog for Audi yesterday and asked me to pick one. So, I guess they must have gotten the money yesterday.”
“Haha, I see.”
“What about the complaints that they received from the residents in the area. Did they resolve them?”
“I saw the construction manager distributing a bottle of cooking oil to each resident who filed the complaints. I guess he was trying to comfort them and seeking their understanding.”
“How many are they?”
“I was told that there were twenty people, but it looked like there were 13 or 14 residents.”
“Didn’t they give compensation to them?”
“They did. They gave the residents proper compensation when they expanded and paved the road. The thing is that in trying to flatten the access road, they ended up raising the level of the road as well.”
“Hmm.”
“They can build a waterproof wall for them, can’t they?”
“Those residents want a higher wall than they built. That’s where the dispute began. They don’t want to build a higher wall because it costs more money. I think the residents are being unreasonable as well. I guess they did that in order to raise the amount of the compensation that they would receive.”
“It seems that the problems with the residents when trying to build something in the area occur all the time whether in China or Korea.”
“That’s true. If you get into the residential area, you will have to expect to face that sort of problem. When we purchased the farmland in Seonghwan Town and changed its land use, we didn’t have any problem because it was not in the residential area.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Well, I hope things turned out well with those complaints.”
“I will give you a call once I pick up the buses.”