Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Min-Ho Kang asked, "As to the place for the gathering, many people prefer to meet at the area around the Gwanghwa Gate or Jongno District, not Gangnam Station which is the place where we met last time. So, I picked a Chinese restaurant at the entrance to Myeongdong Town."

"I see. That's good. I don't mind."

"There is a Chinese restaurant called Haenghwa Village. It's located next to the central post office. It's easy to find and convenient to access. The ones, who are living outside Seoul like Bucheon City or other areas, just need to get off at the City Hall Station and follow the underground shopping alley in Sogong Town to get there."

"Hmm, really? Sounds good."

"Won-Chul Jo is living in Mok Town, and I live in Seodaemun District. Many of us live in Gangbuk District. You are the only one who lives in Gangnam District, President Goo. Byeong-Chul Hwang is living in Suji, Yongin City, and he will take the subway to get there."

"Okay. Did you pick the date when we are going to meet?"

"Yes, we will meet this Friday."

"Friday sounds good."

After getting off the phone with Min-Ho Kang, Gun-Ho searched the bottom area of his bookshelf looking for Chinese liquor that he previously placed there. He found two bottles of Chinese liquor— Maotai and Wuliangye. Those were the gifts that he received from President Shin and Director Sim; they had brought those liquor to Gun-Ho when they came back from their trip to China last time. When he received them, Gun-Ho felt too lazy to take them home, so he just left the liquor in his office. Thankfully, they were still all there.

"I guess I can bring these two bottles of Chinese liquor to the gathering."

When Gun-Ho went to the bathroom, he received a call from Jae-Sik Moon in China.

"Are you in the office right now?"

"Nah, I'm in the bathroom. What's up?"

"I will give you a call again later then, maybe 10 minutes later."

"It's okay. I can talk now."

"I insist, man. I will talk to you in 10 minutes."

After he finished his business in the bathroom, Gun-Ho came back to his office and sat on the sofa. At the moment, his smartphone started ringing again, and it was Jae-Sik Moon.

"Are you back to your office now?"

"Yeah, I'm in the office."

"Since I've been sending you the work report about the joint venture's business on a regular basis, I won't talk about it again on the phone. But, I want to update you with the business of GH Food. Co., Ltd."

"Sounds good."

"We leased the office space on the fourth floor in the same building where our KFC is located. It's 20 pyung large as I mentioned last time we talked."

"That's good. By the way, does the building have an elevator?"

"It's an old building, and it has no elevator. We have to walk all the way up to the fourth floor."

"Is it okay with you?"

"Yeah, it's fine. It's not hard to walk up to the fourth floor. It's a good exercise."

"The sales revenue is stable, right?"

"Yeah. We make more on Saturdays and Sundays while we get less customers on a weekday. We are making in the range between 30,000 and 35,000 Yuan on a daily basis combined in all of the three restaurants."

"I see."

"Since we have our office and the restaurant in the same building, we feel like this entire building is GH Food Co., Ltd."

"Haha. Is that so?"

"I hung our business sign on the door of the office with the GH logo on it."

"Oh, you did?"

"20 pyung is not that small size at all. We placed several desks there with a conference table and chairs too."

"Did your wife's brother join you there already?"

"Yeah, he came. He is staying with us right now, and we will find a studio apartment for him close to the restaurants."

"How old is he?"

"He is 29 years old."

"Did he go to college?"

"As a matter of fact, he did go to college, but it seems that he didn't graduate though."

"Why don't you let him go to college in Antang City then? He will learn Chinese quickly if he studies there. He can have friends too."

"I'm not sure if he has the will to do so. I will ask him."

"And, buy your wife a car. She has her driver's license there, right?"

"That's too early, I think."

"Buy a car for her. You can buy it in installments. Min-Hyeok's wife is driving a K3 that is manufactured in Kia Motors' factory in China."

"Hmm, really?"

"Buy a car with the company's name, so it can be handled as part of business expenses."

"Okay then, I will ask her what she thinks. And, as for the e-commerce business where she is planning to sell Korean products in the Guizhou Province area, we are building the website right now."

"Really?"

"My brother-in-law will handle the work uploading the pictures and information of the goods that we will sell on the website. He took some computer classes related to e-commerce in a private institution before, and he even has a certificate about it."

"Don't you need someone in Korea who will ship the products from Korea to China for the business?"

"We have someone in Korea who is handling the work."

"Hmm, I see."

"And the condos that you purchased here… Their prices are steadily increasing right now. Once the moving season comes which will be around the fall, people say that the price will go up even higher and rapidly because we will have high demand."

"Hmm, really?"

"You know what? I received a call from Min-Ho Kang yesterday about the high school reunion. I told him that I wouldn't be able to make it since I'm too busy with my work here. If you attend the gathering, please say hi to our friends for me. I hope that they understand that I can't join them this time since I'm away from Korea."

"Okay, don't worry about it. I have two bottles of Chinese liquor with me, and I'm planning to bring them to the gathering. I'm going to tell them that one bottle is from you and the other one is from Min-Hyeok Kim."

"Haha. Are you sure you would do that for us? Thank you."

"Don't mention it! When I visit China next time, just buy me a bottle of Chinese liquor."

"No problem. Haha. Thank you."

In the afternoon, Gun-Ho received a call from Director Woon-Hak Sim in Shanghai.

"This is Director Woon-Hak Sim, sir."

"Yes. How are you?"

"I've talked with the staff here about working with a real Japanese geisha for the leading female role in our movie— Menghuan Yinghua. I even showed them the picture of her, which you had sent to me earlier, sir."

"What were their reactions?"

"Director Yan Wu looked excited, and he said that he loved the idea. He said we could even use it in marketing. If people know that an actual geisha plays the role of a geisha in the movie, it will definitely intrigue many moviegoers and the media. One thing that he was concerned about is whether she would successfully play the role since she is not an actress who has received a professional training in acting."

"I can take her to Huanle Shiji Production Company myself if you want."

"That would be great, sir."

"I will go to Tokyo to meet with her then, and I will ask her if she is willing to take the role."

"That's one good way to handle it, but I have another idea. What if we let Director Yan Wu go to Japan and interview her himself?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea."

"We can make a story like this. We tell the media that the dancing geisha turned down the offer of taking the geisha role in the movie at first, but she finally accepted it when Director Yan Wu persistently convinced her by paying a visit to Japan and meeting with her in person. It would make a dramatic story behind casting. The journalists would love the story too. In addition, she is gorgeous, and people would want to hear more stories about her."

"Hmm."

"Once she passes the audition for the role, and her photos are placed in a newspaper with the casting behind the story, the news would definitely be sensational. I'm certain about it."

"Director Yan Wu is visiting Tokyo to cast a geisha for the role in his movie… Well, okay. I will talk to her about it."

"Thank you, sir."