Chapter 600: Drama Production Company— Huanle s.h.i.+ji (1) – Part 1
Gun-Ho was sitting in his car heading to his home after work at Dyeon Korea. His Bentley departed Yeongin Town, Asan City, and it was entering the expressway at West Pyeongtaek IC after pa.s.sing Sihwa Seawall. He would need to continue to drive in Seohaean Expressway until reaching another expressway connecting between Pyeongtaek and Anseong, and then he would take Gyeongbu Expressway. The traffic was usually light in these areas, and a lot of people enjoyed the speed while driving there. Chan-Ho was driving fast that day as well.
“Hey, Chan-Ho, why don’t you speed down a little bit? We could get caught by a speed camera.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did you take a nap today?”
“No, sir, not today. I didn’t have a chance to do so. I had to take a call.”
“Really? You got a call from your girlfriend or someone?”
“No, sir. Tae-Young bro called me earlier.”
“Tae-Young Im?”
“It seemed that he received a call from Dyeon Korea’s general affairs manager.”
“Our general affairs manager?”
“He asked Tae-Young bro to stop by his office with my work contract.”
“Hmm, really?”
“Tae-Young bro thought that I was in some trouble at work, so that they wanted to talk to him about it.”
“Really?”
“And then he figured that my pay had increased by 7%.”
“I see.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“You don’t have to thank me for it. Everyone in the management received their pay raise.”
“Well, still, thank you, sir. Once I receive my first increased pay next month, I’m going to buy dinner for Tae-Young bro in Sindang Town.”
While still heading home, Gun-Ho received a call from his sister.
“I just received a call from Dyeon Korea’s general affairs manager. He said that they would raise the pay for our truck drivers by 7%.”
“Oh, really? That’s nice.”
“My husband will visit Dyeon Korea tomorrow to meet with the general affairs manager to update some paperwork for it.”
“How many trucks are working for Dyeon Korean now?”
“We started with two trucks, but now, with the recently increased work, we sent four trucks there.”
“Hmm, I see.”
“My husband is contacting a milk-producing company these days to take over some of their transportation work.”
“Oh, really?”
“They use refrigerated trucks to deliver their milk, and they need ten more trucks like that.”
“So, they want to outsource the transportation work for ten trucks, huh?”
“It looks like it. My husband knows someone there. He is a director, and he is in charge of transportation, and they are from the same hometown. He said that he has known him for years.”
“Hmm, if you could get work from that company, you will need more trucks, and GH Logistics will grow accordingly.”
It was Wednesday.
Gun-Ho headed to Incheon International Airport accompanied by Chan-Ho Eum who was carrying Gun-Ho’s suitcase. He was supposed to meet Director Woon-Hak Sim there to fly to Shanghai City.
Director Woon-Hak Sim was wearing a riding jacket with jeans. Gun-Ho was wearing a business suit as usual. He had a bright-colored s.h.i.+rt inside his jacket that day.
“Chan-Ho, you can go now.”
Chan-Ho handed the suitcase to Gun-Ho and left after giving him a bow. Gun-Ho had cash in his bank account in China with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, but he decided to exchange 100 million won with Yuan. He then gave 2,000 Yuan to Director Woon-Hak Sim.
“Keep this in case you need it. You might need them to get a beverage when you feel thirsty.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“And this is your business card. You will be meeting new people in China, and you will need it. This is not your actual business card, but it roughly describes what you do.”
Director Woon-Hak Sim closely looked at the business card that Gun-Ho handed to him.
Gun-Ho added, “I put you in the position of the head of operations of the soap opera production department and its director in GH Media. GH Media is a small publis.h.i.+ng company.”
“Oh, it’s an existing company. That’s good.”
Looking satisfied with his new but fake business card, Director Woon-Hak Sim put it in his wallet.
When they arrived in Shanghai, Gun-Ho made a call to Seukang Li.
“I just arrived at Pudong Airport. I will leave for the city hall now.”
“Sounds good. I will be here waiting for you.”
Gun-Ho and Director Sim took a taxi and headed to the city hall. Seukang Li was waiting for Gun-Ho there. He looked so happy to see his friend— Gun-Ho.
“Hey, President Goo!”
“Seukang Li! It’s really good to see you.”
The two men hugged each other.
Gun-Ho then introduced Director Sim to Seukang Li.
“This gentleman here is a famous soap opera production director in Korea.”
“Oh, really?”
Seukang Li extended his hand to Director Sim to have a handshake as he introduced himself to him.
“I’m the director of Shanghai City’s bureau of cultural affairs, radio broadcasting, film, television, media, and arts.”
Gun-Ho and Director Woon-Hak Sim sat on the sofa that Seukang Li showed them. The city hall’s female staff brought Longjing tea for them.
“You probably will like this tea. I will get you a box of this tea when you go back to Korea. You know what? I will just ask Jien w.a.n.g to send you this tea to you instead. It’s a famous regional product of the area where he is staying anyway.”
Director Sim was just sitting there while Gun-Ho and Seukang Li were conversing. He had no idea what they were talking about since they were speaking in Chinese.
‘President Goo speaks Chinese fluently. When did he learn the Chinese language?’
Director Sim felt pathetic about himself while sitting there without being able to say a word. He couldn’t stop comparing himself to Gun-Ho who seemed to be extremely wealthy and speak Chinese fluently like a native Chinese speaking man. He was envious of Gun-Ho.
Seukang Li said while checking the time by looking at his watch, “There is a nice restaurant called Huadao Canting in Yanan Zhonglu Street. It’s popular among Korean and j.a.panese people for their seafood dishes. Let’s eat over there. Well, we still have some time left.”
“Are you expecting someone?”
“Yeah. The president of a drama production company called Huanle s.h.i.+ji will join us for lunch.”
“Huanle s.h.i.+ji? I like the name.”
“They produced two dramas so far, and they are about to go broke, so they are not really feeling Huanle (happy and joyful) right now.”
“Haha, really?”
Seukang Li asked, “So, you got the bus line permit in Antang City, huh? I heard they went to Guilin to buy buses from Guilin Daewoo.”
“Yeah, they did. The last time I checked, the joint venture’s president was heading to Guilin to pick up the buses with the vice president and bus drivers. I believe they are already there by now.”
“I guess it will take several days before they can actually start providing bus services to the public. They will need to give the bus drivers an education and all that.”
“An education?”
“Haha. I’m not talking about getting them communist ideology education, but they will at least need to conduct some testing drive on the bus route, right?”
“Hmm, I guess so.”
“They need to advertise the opening of new bus service as well, like on its local newspaper in Antang City, and also place huge banners in busy streets, so, many people can learn about the new bus service.”
“Well, they will take care of whatever is necessary.”
“It’s almost time. Let’s head out to the restaurant. It’s within walking distance.”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
Gun-Ho, Seukang Li, and Director Sim walked out of the city hall and headed to the restaurant— Huadao Canting— on Yanan Zhonglu Street. There was a large fish tank in front of the restaurant, just like many restaurants in Korea, which specialized in raw fish dishes. Various types of fishes were playing inside the fish tank. Several restaurant staff was scooping up fish from the fish tank with a net. It seemed that they were actually using those fishes in the fish tank, to cook.
When they entered the restaurant, Seukang Li said to the receptionist, “There must be a reservation made for Huanle s.h.i.+ji.” The restaurant was huge. The receptionist lady said, “Please come with me. Someone is waiting for you.”
The three men followed the receptionist lady to a private room. A round table was placed in the middle of the room with chairs, and two gentlemen were sitting at the table.