Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Chapter 158: Business Expansion (1) – PART 1

Gun-Ho invested an additional amount of 3 billion won to Mulpasaneop after acquiring the company. It was not for increasing capital stock, but it was more like the company borrowed money from its president for a short period of time. Once the company got back on track, Gun-Ho would be able to get his money back easily.

‘I gave 2 billion won to the president when I acquired this company, and I put an additional 3 billion won as I lent it to the company. So I used a total of 5 billion won to Mulpasaneop so far, and I won’t spend any more money even a penny to this company. I will pay the existing debt with the company’s revenue as I run the company.’

Gun-Ho called for the auditor.

“Let’s pay off the overdue wages first, and use the remaining funds to pay the raw material suppliers.”

“Yes, sir.”

“As to the raw materials, don’t pay for the outstanding balance to the suppliers just yet, but pay for the new materials we are getting from them now. And pay them on time.”

“Yes, sir. As long as they receive the payments for the materials they currently supply, they won’t ask to be paid for the overdue payments right away.”

“Mulpasaneop pays on time to suppliers ever since its new president joined the company.”

The rumors started spreading in the field.

Jong-Suk Park came to Asan City from Yangju City, Gyeonggi Province to visit Gun-Ho’s factory. When he looked at the factory, he was astonished.

“Wow, it is a big factory.”

Jong-Suk had to sign on the visitor book at the main gate and receive a visitor’s pass in order to enter the factory.

“I can’t believe this is Gun-Ho bro’s. This is huge.”

Once Jong-Suk arrived at the management department, he could see a lot of office workers in uniform.

“Hi, I came here to see the president.”

“May I tell who’s here?”

“I am his close friend.”

“Did you make an appointment with him?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Okay, please give me one moment.”

After quite a while, the staff came back and took Jong-Suk to the president’s office. Gun-Ho was reading a newspaper at the conference table that was situated in the middle of the large president’s office.

“Hey, Jong-Suk. Come and have a seat here with me.”

“Bro, congratulations. It feels kind of difficult to even call you bro.”

“What? I have to be your brother because I can’t be your sister, man.”

“No, I mean... We seem to have a big gap in our social positions now.”

“Don’t be silly. Do you want coffee? Or green tea?”

Gun-Ho picked up the interphone and asked for tea.

“Please bring us two cups of green tea.”

“Okay, sir.”

Jong-Suk could hear a friendly voice of a woman over the phone.

Jong-Suk was thinking what to say, and then he just drank his green tea.

“Did you bring your luggage?”

“My luggage? Oh, no bro. I just came here today to see the factory.”

“What do you think?”

“It’s way more awesome than I expected. You are a mysterious man, bro.”

“You kept silly talking today. What’s the matter with you?”

Gun-Ho picked up the interphone again.

“Please let the general affairs manager in.”

After a moment, a middle-aged man entered the room. He looked like he was in his mid-40s and he was wearing a tie.

“Why don’t you show this man here around the factory and introduce him to the factory manager. He will be working with us starting tomorrow as a production manager.”

“Yes, sir.”

The general affairs manager gave a 90-degree bow to Gun-Ho who was a lot younger than him.

“Umm...”

When Jong-Suk hesitated, Gun-Ho frowned.

“Just go see the factory!”

When Jong-Suk went to the factory, he could see injection molding machines and extruder machines that were running vigorously while making loud noises.

Jong-Suk’s eyes widened as he saw the production field.

“Wow. This is amazing. There were lots of machines I’ve never handled before. Are they all hydraulic press machines?”

Jong-Suk was intrigued by the machines and the production field. He checked the machines and observed the workers closely in the field.

The factory manager was outside the factory talking with an electrical inspector. The general affairs manager approached the factory manager and bowed to him. The factory manager was at the managing director level, and he was in his late 50s.

“Sir, this is Mr. Jong-Suk Park. He will join us as a production manager.”

Jong-Suk bowed to the factory manager.

“Production manager? Did you bring your resume?”

“I didn’t bring it today, sir, but I will bring it tomorrow.”

“Where did you work before coming to our company?”

Jong-Suk hesitated for a moment. The factory he was working for was a small factory; he was just a team leader there. However, he would now be taking a production manager position in Mulpasaneop.

“I am in Yangju City right now. I have been working with a repair and maintenance team rather than in a production team.”

“You will be good at fixing the machines then. Do you know how to read drawings? What about calculating production cost?”

Jong-Suk was hesitant. As the factory manager mentioned about some kind of production cost thing, Jong-Suk thought this wouldn’t be an easy job for him.

“I will learn.”

“You also need to know how to read a recipe and a simple chemical equation. By the way, you look very young. How old are you?”

“I am 33.”

“Can you handle the work as a production manager? Well, you should be capable since the president recommended you. I look forward to working with you.”

The factory manager extended his hand for a handshake.

After the factory tour, Jong-Suk came back to Gun-Ho’s office.

“Did you see the factory? Did you talk to the factory manager?”

“I did. Whew. I am worried. I’m not sure if I can handle this job. All those production assistant managers and team leaders look a lot older than me.”

“Don’t worry! It’s okay. Do you think I am the president because I am older than all of them?”

“They know you recommended me to this position. If I screw up, they will blame you. I don’t want to cause you any trouble.”

“Believe in yourself, bro. You are the MacGyver Park. I know you will do great. That factory manager will have to retire soon. While he is here, learn from him as much as you can.”

“I can’t call you brother here, right?”

“Huh? You can still call me brother when we are alone, and you can address me as President when we go outside this office. If you didn’t bring your luggage today, pack your stuff and move here tomorrow. Get a OneRoomTel in the Asan City area. For the employment papers, ask the general affairs manager on your way out.”

Gun-Ho received a call from Min-Hyeok in China.

“I heard Jong-Suk just joined Mulpasaneop.”

“Yeah. He is having a hard time now while learning new things in the production field.”

“I’m sure he will do just fine. He was not good at studying, but he is very observant and a really smart guy.”

“I know he will do well. He doesn’t have much experience in the production field, but I know he is very good at maintaining and fixing stuff.”

“Jong-Suk... oh, maybe I should address him as Manager Park from now. Once Manager Park gets familiar with his work there, I will ask him to look at the machines at our factory in China. I see some problems with some machines here since they were sitting here for too long.”

“Okay. I will send him there soon.”

“Oh, and I was told by the Jinxi Construction Company that they are done with the paperwork to end the joint venture, and they will send our fund tomorrow. So, please check your bank account after 3 pm tomorrow.”

“Okay. I won’t touch that fund though. Min-Hyeok, see how much you would need to operate Mulpa Automotive. I need to know the number so I could prepare the money.”

“Okay, I will. Once the fund for the joint venture is verified, I will move to Ohyeon where our Mulpa Automotive factory is at right away. I already found a condo there; it’s 17 pyung large and big enough for myself.”

“17 pyung? Why didn’t you get one with 25 pyung? You are the president of that company, remember?”

“Nah. It’s not necessary. It would be a waste. That condo is a luxurious one, so its monthly rent is 3,500 Yuan.”

“You will have to return your Audi to the joint venture, right? Once you get to Ohyeon, get a long-term rental car—Audi, okay?”

“Thank you.”

“And don’t forget to hire a chauffeur. Don’t drive on your own. If you as a foreigner get involved in a car accident in China, they will rip you off.”

“Got it. Thank you.”