Chapter 708: Establis.h.i.+ng subsidiary companies in India and in China (2) – Part 1
Young-Eun brought some fruits to the living room where Gun-Ho was watching news on the TV.
“I just heard from the news that Minister Jin-Woo Lee is quitting his job.”
“Oh, really?”
“They said that he is possibly aiming at the upcoming by-election.”
“Well, people like him quit their job in order to do something else, right?”
“Since he was once a congressman before, I’m sure that he will get elected this time too.”
Gun-Ho continued to talk to Young-Eun as he lowered the volume of the TV, “Actually, his father-in-law’s company is our client company. My factory in Jiksan Town is supplying that company with our products.”
“You mean A Electronics?”
“Yeah. My factory is making the complete door for their home appliance product.”
“Is that right? Don’t you need to give him a call or meet with him or something?”
“For what?”
“I saw A Electronics’ chairman on the news the other day. He was meeting with the President, along with other business people.”
“He is one of the seniors who are representing our nation’s businessmen.”
“He didn’t look very old though.”
“He is more than 80 years old on record.”
“Really?”
Gun-Ho went to work in the GH Building in Sinsa Town.
He received a call from Jae-Sik Moon in China.
“We finally received two additional bus lines.”
“Oh, is that right? They kept saying that they might not give the additional lines, but they did, huh?”
“Vice President Chun Chang was here a few minutes ago. He said that the Chinese partner is trying hard to make the joint venture business work while the Korean partner doesn’t do their part.”
“You can ignore what he is saying. I guess you have to buy more buses, huh?”
“Yeah, I’ve already placed an order for two new buses. We now have nine buses in total.”
“How many bus drivers do we have now?”
“We have twelve. We have twelve a.s.sistants too.”
“a.s.sistants?”
“Yeah, in China, an a.s.sistant works with a bus driver as a team on each bus.”
“Is that so? We used to have an a.s.sistant on a bus too in Korea. That’s a long time ago though. The pa.s.sengers will enjoy better service by having an a.s.sistant here while we have to a.s.sume the cost.”
“We won’t be able to have an a.s.sistant in a bus service business in Korea because of the cost, but we can here.”
“We must have more than 100 workers by now then.”
“If I include the public security officers at the terminal, we have 120 workers.”
“Oh, that’s right. You told me that the terminal pays the public security officers’ wages too.”
“Zhanzhang (head officer) of the public security office gives me a military salute every time he sees me. I feel like I’m his boss, and it feels really good.”
“Haha. You are doing great there.”
“Haha.”
“How’s the KFC business doing?”
“It’s good so far. We are making more than 20,000 Yuan every day. We usually get a long waiting line in front of our restaurant.”
“Is that right?”
“In Korea, people often give up having food when a line is too long in front of the restaurant, right? But the people here are different. They patiently wait for their turn even when the line is long and eat the food that they came for.”
“Do you provide a delivery service too?”
“No, we don’t. We do take-out service though. I realized after I opened the KFC there that the name brand matters. If you want to open a business, you definitely consider the name brand of the business.”
“You are probably still busy getting the deep-fried chicken restaurant ready to open as well, huh?”
“The interior of the deep-fried chicken restaurant is done. And we set up the kitchen appliances and equipment as well. We already chose a raw-chicken provider, and we brought the essential spices from Korea too.”
“Hmm, really?”
“We hired a Chinese chef too. Soon-Young’s mom and the chef are experimenting with the deep-fried chicken that we are going to serve, these days. She brought home several deep-fried chicken the other day. They tasted just like the ones that I had in Korea. They are very crispy. I guess the spice power that we brought from Korea is the key for the crisp.”
“I see.”
“I don’t know where she got it, but she has the poster of the Korean TV drama—My Love from the Star. We haven’t hung it on the wall in the restaurant yet, but it will look great on the wall. The two lead actor and actress—Ji-Hyun Jun and Soo-Hyun Kim—are in the poster.”
“I heard the ‘My Love from the Star’ hit a jackpot in China too, huh?”
“I didn’t watch that drama, but the interpreter—Ms. Eun-Hwa Jo—loved it. According to her, that drama was sensational in China when it was aired.”
“Chinese people love the combination of deep-fried chicken and Zha Pijiu (draft beer). The restaurant will be filled with people once it’s open.”
“We covered our walls with bricks and placed wooden dividers to make each table more private. I think that young people will find the place agreeable to have a chat with their friends while enjoying deep-fried chicken with beer. We want to try to cook a few more deep-fried chickens before opening the restaurant.”
“I guess you will make at least 10,000 Yuan per day with that deep-fried chicken restaurant.”
“I’m going to try to make more than that.”
“Did you hire workers already?”
“When I registered with the job-seekers center and posted a job opening there, tons of people applied for the job. It’s not easy to get a nice job in China. The job market is very compet.i.tive here. There are a lot of competent candidates who are looking for a position.”
“I see.”
“In my job posting, I indicated that the employer is a foreign company—GH Food Co., Ltd.—and a lot of people applied for the positions.”
“Well, I really hope that our food business is successful.”
After getting off the phone with Jae-Sik Moon, Gun-Ho thought about the possible incomes from the KFC, the deep-fried chicken restaurant, and the pizza restaurant.
‘We will possibly make 400 or 500 Yuan on a daily basis. It’s not easy to make a successful restaurant business in Korea since the rent and the labor cost are expensive, not to mention that there are just too many restaurants here. However, China should be different.
In China, we have to pay the entire one-year rent upfront, but we don’t have to pay for the deposit and premium like we do here in Korea. Also, the labor cost is at least four times less expensive than Korea. Moreover, Jae-Sik’s wife is diligent and eager to make it work. I’m sure the business will be a success.’
Gun-Ho checked the balance of his bank account. He still had the dividends that Min-Hyeok Kim and GH Media sent to him. Each company sent 1.14 billion won, and he had 2.28 billion won in the account.
“I will buy a new car for Sang-Min’s mom right away. I can’t let her drive the old SM5!”
Gun-Ho wanted to buy a Genesis G80 for his wife. Young-Eun would object if Gun-Ho told her that he would buy her a car, so he called her and told her that he already bought a car for her.
“It’s me. Is Sang-Min sleeping now?”
“Why are you calling home at this hour? Is something going on?”
“I bought a car for you. It’s a Genesis G80. I just wanted to let you know that.”
“You already bought it?”
“Yeah. It’s black. Sc.r.a.p your SM5.”
“My SM5 is working fine. We don’t have to sc.r.a.p it. We can sell it on the used car market.”
“Okay. Sell it then.”
“How much did you pay for the Genesis?”
“It’s 60 million won.”
“Oh, my goodness!”
Since Young-Eun didn’t complain about the model and color that Gun-Ho chose for her, he bought the car as such. The car dealer would deliver a black Genesis G80 to the TowerPalace Condo Complex.