Chapter 860: Antang Transportation Company’s Board Meeting (2) – Part 1
Gun-Ho visited GH Food Co., Ltd. The office was located on the 4th floor in the same building where the KFC was situated. The office was about 20 pyung large. There was no separate president’s office, but its desk was separated from the rest of the office s.p.a.ce by part.i.tions. They had a few workers in the office. And, there was a round table and chairs placed for visitors as well.
“Hi. How have you been?”
Jae-Sik Moon’s wife greeted Gun-Ho with a smiley face. She quickly dragged one of the chairs at the round table and recommended Gun-Ho a chair to sit.
“The office is not very large. I hope you don’t feel uncomfortable sitting here.”
“Not at all. I’m good. Thank you.”
As soon as Gun-Ho sat at the round table, a lady worker brought a tea which he had never had before.
“This tea is popular among one of China’s ethnic minorities. It doesn’t taste bad at all. Please try it.”
Gun-Ho took a sip of the tea. It tasted like an arrowroot in Korea.
Jae-Sik Moon’s wife then introduced a man to Gun-Ho, who looked like he was in his late 20s.
“This is my little brother. He is handling trading work in the office.”
Gun-Ho stood up from his seat and extended his hand to him for a handshake. The young man showed Gun-Ho great respect as he held Gun-Ho’s hand for a handshake.
“How is the trading work here?”
“We import products from Korea and sell them here locally. That business is generating about 100 million won per month, sir.”
“How much profit does the business make then?”
“We make about 10 million won on a daily basis.”
“Do you s.h.i.+p Chinese products to Korea to sell them in the Korean market as well?”
“We sell some agricultural products to Korea, but they are marginal.”
There were a lot of empty boxes in various sizes, piled up in the office. They were probably used to s.h.i.+p products that they were selling online. Gun-Ho looked around the office and felt a bit suffocated because of its small size.
“Can I take a look at the restaurants?”
“I will show you around,” Jae-Sik Moon’s wife said as she stood up from her seat. She was in good shape. She was agile and quick. She seemed to be a diligent businesswoman who moved around busily all the time. She also looked sophisticated with high-end designer clothes and all.
Gun-Ho stopped by the KFC first. It was s.p.a.cious, and the restaurant was packed with a lot of customers. Jae-Sik Moon’s wife explained about the status of the business.
“This KFC restaurant generates approximately 20,000 Yuan on a daily basis. When we opened the restaurant, we received tons of customers for a while, and then we lost some of them as time went by as well. After a high-rise residential building was constructed across the street, and a lot of people moved in there, we recovered our sales about the same as the beginning of our business. We are leasing a s.p.a.ce of 200 pyung from Antang Engineering College for this KFC restaurant, but we are sharing the s.p.a.ce with the café next door.”
“Since GH Food’s office is located in the same building, it’s convenient to manage the restaurant, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. I travel back and forth between the office and the restaurant several times in a day.”
“That must be a good exercise for you too since you have to use the stairs. There is no elevator in the building, isn’t there?”
“Haha, right. There is no elevator. I keep asking Soon-Young’s dad to do some exercise too, but he never does. He gained a lot of weight recently.”
“Haha, really?”
Jae-Sik Moon’s wife showed Gun-Ho the deep-fried chicken restaurant next door. Gun-Ho was expecting to see a typical deep-fried chicken restaurant that served beer as well, which could be often found in Korea, but it looked more like a café. The interior was decorated with vibrant colors, and it reminded him of a bar. They also served simple snacks such as fruits and beef jerky along with the main dish—deep-fried chicken. They offered dried duck meat as well, which was a very Chinese dish, Gun-Ho thought. Several customers were scattered in the restaurant. Most of them were young people.
“This is a popular café among young and sophisticated people in Antang City. But, it’s only generating around 7,000 Yuan per day. Unlike the KFC, we don’t provide a to-go service, and many customers tend to spend a long time sitting at a table. That is probably the reason why it doesn’t make as much money as the KFC.”
“Draft beer here must be very popular, isn’t it?”
“As a matter of fact, draft beer is the most popular menu here. Haha.”
Jae-Sik Moon’s wife always covered her mouth with her hand whenever she laughed. She didn’t look depressed at all as she used to look when she had worked in the book café on the rooftop in GH Building, Sinsa Town, Korea. She looked vibrant now.
“Thank you for showing me around.”
“You should see the pizza restaurant too.”
“Sure. Shall we?”
The pizza restaurant was also very roomy as well. A pizza restaurant in Korea cannot be compared to this one. It was huge. The restaurant even had a small playground for children as well in the back of the restaurant. Maybe that was why Gun-Ho could see a lot of young mothers with kids.
“Hmm, I see a lot of children too.”
“Just like kids in Korea, children here love deep-fried chicken and pizza. The sales of this pizza restaurant is on the rise. Its monthly sales increased about 7,000 Yuan recently. Its daily sales are exceeding 2.5 million Korean won per day.”
“I see you have a salad bar where customers freely serve themselves.”
“Right. Ever since we started offering the salad bar, we always have had customers in the restaurant.”
“I think you are an incredible businesswoman. You are managing three restaurants by yourself. You also run a trading business as well.”
“I have you watching my back, Mr. President Goo. I can’t do all these by myself. Hahaha.”
Jae-Sik Moon’s wife laughed a lot, Gun-Ho thought. She wasn’t like that when she was in Korea.
Jae-Sik Moon seemed to be proud of his wife. He said, “My wife is doing better than me in China. She is now considered a public figure in this area, as the president of GH Food Company.”
“Is that right?”
“When there was a flood in the area, she helped local people who were in need of help by distributing relief goods and supplies with her employees. She was on TV and newspapers at that time.”
“Really?”
“They said that a Korean business owner lady who is running a KFC and a pizza restaurant in Huaxi Road helped the local people who are desperately in need of help by distributing relief goods and supplies, with her workers. They also stated that she was praised by the local community for her efforts, support, and contribution in this difficult time, in recovering from the disaster. I sent the relevant newspaper clipping to my friends in Korea at that time.”
“Oh, you did?”
“The company was, at that time, selected as one of the excellent firms in the area, by the munic.i.p.al government.”
“Haha, really? Maintaining good relations.h.i.+ps with the local community is very important for the business so is their good evaluation of the business. Very well done. In that regard, I think your wife is way better than you, President Moon.”
Jae-Sik Moon smiled as Gun-Ho highly spoke of his wife.
Jae-Sik Moon said, “Let’s go out and have dinner. There is a new Korean restaurant around here.”
“A Korea restaurant? A Korean person moved in the area and opened a restaurant around here?”
“He is not Korean, but he is actually Korean Chinese. He saved a lot of money working in Korea as a labor worker and opened a restaurant here. Their food is not bad at all. He is running the restaurant with his wife, they hired a few workers. The restaurant is gaining popularity right now.”
“I see. Well, let’s go there then. We want to ask your wife to join us for dinner too.”
“I’m good, but thank you,” Jae-Sik Moon’s wife said.
“You should join us. I insist.”