Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Chapter 605: Drama Production Company— Huanle Shiji (3) - Part 2

Min-Hyeok said, "President Goo, Dingding will join us for dinner. When I told her that you would be here, she wanted to be here too. She will arrive soon."

"Haha, that's nice."

After a moment, a tall and slender woman in qipao walked into the restaurant. It was Dingding.

"Mr. President Goo! It's really good to see you!"

Dingding extended her hand to Gun-Ho for a handshake. China had a different culture from Korea, and it was common practice for a woman to ask a man for a handshake to greet.

"You seem to become more and more sophisticated."

"Haha, thank you, I guess. Why don't you come with your wife on your next visit to China? She will like it here. Suzhou is a popular tourist destination, offering a lot of tourist attractions."

"Maybe I should when I have a chance to do so."

Gun-Ho then introduced Dingding to Director Sim.

"This lady is President Kim's wife. She used to teach English at Shanghai International School before she married President Kim. She is Han Chinese. She is running a business right now."

"Oh, really?"

When Dingding started talking to Director Sim in her fluent English to make a conversation with him, Director Sim waved his hand, saying he couldn't understand a thing.

Min-Hyeok Kim explained further to Director Sim about his wife's job, "My wife is running a sales company here, of Dyeon Korea. The company is selling raw materials of synthetic rubbers called elastomers and also plastics. Dyeon Korea is a joint venture company with the global enterprise—Lymondell Dyeon—in the U.S. President Goo owns half of the joint venture, and Lymondell Dyeon owns the other half."

"Is that right?"

Director Sim learned again how rich and able Gun-Ho was.

The food came out. Most of the dishes that were coming out one by one were new to Director Sim. Director Sim didn't like the food on the street that they had earlier, but the dishes in this restaurant were very tasty. He liked every single one of them. The expensive Chinese liquor—Baiju—was served as well. They had a long day as they traveled a good distance from Shanghai to Wuxi and to Suzhou City, not to mention that they had to walk a lot. For some reason, they were all able to drink several glasses of strong liquor.

"I don't know why, but I think I can drink more and more today."

"Well, it's your drinking day then. Have as much as you want."

"Bottoms up!"

"Sure!"

They clinked their glasses of Baiju to each other's. While drinking, Gun-Ho and Min-Hyeok Kim maintained good posture. Min-Hyeok said to Gun-Ho, "Since you are here, I should give you a work report."

"You don't have to. We can do it later."

"Well, I will make it brief then. Our current monthly sales revenue is about 850 million won. We will reach 10 billion won by the end of this year."

"Hmm, really? You did excellent work."

Dingding had her own report as well. She said with a smile while clinking her glass to Gun-Ho's, "Let me make my report. We are selling 90 tons right now, and we are working hard to achieve 100 tons."

"You are getting the materials for 4.6 million won per ton, right? The yearly sales must be about 5 billion won then. This is the first year of the sales company, and you are doing great. Thank you for your hard work."

Gun-Ho and Dingding clinked their glasses of liquor again to each other's. Director Sim, who didn't understand Chinese, couldn't understand the conversation between Gun-Ho and Dingding, and he was just sitting there focusing on having the food.

Director Sim liked it when Min-Hyeok was talking since he always spoke in Korean. Min-Hyeok said to Gun-Ho, "So you had a meeting with the people from the drama production company, huh?"

"Yeah. The company's name is Huanle Shiji. I've met its president and director."

"How was it? Did you decide whether you would make your investment in them?"

"Well, if I invest in them right now, there is a good chance that they would use my investment funds to pay their creditors since they are being harassed by them for their debts. I want the funds that I would invest in their production company to be used in producing a drama."

"Hmm, that sounds like a problem."

"If the amount of their debts is small enough for me to ignore, I can just let it go. However, if they have a substantial amount of debts, I will have to think again considering other factors, or decide to skip this investment opportunity."

"Hmm, I see."

While having a conversation with Gun-Ho in Korean, Min-Hyeok didn't forget to interpret the conversation for his wife—Dingding. He didn't want his wife to feel bored or excluded. Gun-Ho was surprised by Min-Hyeok's fluent Chinese.

'I'm sure he wasn't that good until last year. His Chinese improved so significantly that he sounds more fluent than me now. Is that because he is living with a Chinese woman?'

Min-Hyeok said as he filled up Gun-Ho's empty glass with liquor, "So, you want to invest in their new drama production that they will shoot soon, huh?"

"That's my plan. That's why Director Sim here requested them to send the synopsis of their next drama to us. Usually, Chinese dramas are not very fun to watch, so it will need some touch-ups from our side."

"Hmm, you have the expert in the field. I'm sure he will give you valuable professional opinions about it."

Min-Hyeok continued, "The terminal project that Jae-Sik is participating in requires a significant amount of investment funds, doesn't it? Since it's involved in a building construction."

"It's a 50 million dollar project. I need to send them 25 million dollars on my part."

"25 million dollars? It's more than 25 billion Korean won. I suppose that it will take a long time to recover your original investment. Since it's a Cash Cow business, you won't lose your investment funds, but your funds will be tied up for quite a while."

"I believe so, but I have a plan."

"Jae-Sik seems to be expecting his wife to join him in China soon."

"I think so. His wife is now seven months pregnant, and they are preparing to give birth in China."

"Haha. If he was in the U.S. and his wife gave birth there, their child would become a U.S. citizen automatically according to their birthright citizenship. But since China doesn't follow that, having a baby here won't give them anything."

"Well, it still could give a lot of benefits to the baby. The baby will know and understand China better by being born on Chinese soil and growing up here."

"You are right. That's not bad at all."

"Jae-Sik's couple had an ultrasound, and they will have a daughter. It was confirmed by the hospital that we will have a son."

At that moment, Min-Hyeok interpreted the conversation to his wife— Dingding—and he added at the end, "Dingding, let's have a baby. We want to grow our family too, don't we?"

Dingding smiled without giving him any word on it, but instead, she lightly hit Min-Hyeok's shoulder with her small wrist.

Dingding seemed to know more about Gun-Ho's family, and she asked, "You said your wife is a medical doctor, isn't she?"

"That's correct."

"It is a nice occupation. In China, a medical doctor is well respected too. I hope I could meet her in person someday."

"We will have our chance to get together. The thing is that my wife doesn't like to travel. That's one obstacle that I need to overcome or she has to. Well, she still did her medical volunteer work in Africa for two years though."

"Oh, she stayed in Africa for her volunteer work? She should be well respected for her commitment."

Min-Hyeok noticed Director Sim feeling excluded while Gun-Ho, Min-Hyeok, and Dinding were having a conversation in Chinese. Min-Hyeok interpreted their conversation in Korean for Director Sim.

"President Goo's wife is a medical doctor, and she spent two years in Africa doing her medical volunteer work."

"Oh, really? President Goo's wife is a doctor?"

"You didn't know? Yes, she is a medical doctor, and she is currently working at the Seoul National University Hospital."

"Oh, I see. It seems that both of you—Mr. President Min-Hyeok Kim and Mr. President Goo—are married to great ladies."

Director Sim thought this time that Gun-Ho was not just a man with a lot of money, but he was a gentleman with high social status.