WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Second Life of the Trade King ◈
Chapter 26: Underdog (1)
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On the train to Seoul, Manager Cho Seong-hun sat with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, silently keeping to himself.
The two junior employees accompanying him could not so much as open their mouths. They merely watched the passing snack cart with mournful eyes.
Then,
“Get yourselves some soda.”
Startled, Assistant Manager Im Seong-gyun hurriedly called over the snack cart.
“Two sodas... no, three, and three rolls of kimbap and one squid, please.”
It was not as though they had eaten nothing all day, but they certainly had not eaten properly. Before the presentation, all their attention had been focused on it, so they had made do with kimbap. Afterwards, they had to board the train immediately, leaving no time to eat.
“Please have some.”
Despite Assistant Manager Im’s offer, Manager Cho waved a hand.
“You two eat plenty. I have no appetite.”
“...”
The two employees knew exactly why their boss had no appetite, so they hurriedly stuffed kimbap into their mouths. Before long, they might not even be able to eat that properly.
Sure enough, after holding back for a while, Manager Cho spoke as if he could no longer stand it.
“Didn’t you feel anything while watching Yeongdo Trading earlier?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Assistant Manager Im washed down the kimbap in their mouth with sweet soda before continuing.
“I felt that even a small company can compete with a large one if it has a clear position, a clear goal, and the right connections.”
“That’s right. And there’s one thing we didn’t mention.”
“What is it?”
“Information other people don’t know.”
“Ah...!”
“How did they know the Canadian Wheat Board was troubled because its quality premium wasn’t being properly recognized?”
Because Yeongdo Trading knew that, it had not been pushed aside by the power of the major general trading companies. Instead, it had found and attacked their weakness.
“Couldn’t they have heard it from Australia?”
Before boarding the train, Manager Cho had briefly told the employees how Yeongdo Trading had come to participate in the meeting. Since they also knew that Yeongdo Trading had a firm hold on the Australian line, it was natural for them to assume that was where the information had come from.
“I doubt the Australian Trade Commissioner would have thought that far ahead. They’re busy handling their own affairs. Wouldn’t it be strange for them to know the Canadian Wheat Board’s strategy and concerns about entering Korea as well?”
The two junior employees had nothing to say.
“I think so too.”
Manager Lee Yong-ju, who had sat quietly until then, agreed. Manager Cho continued.
“Then they obtained the information through another route...”
As he pondered, Manager Lee spoke.
“Still, considering Yeongdo Trading’s capacity, they won’t be able to handle such an enormous volume on their own. I believe the Canadian Wheat Board will choose us as its partner.”
But Manager Cho immediately shook his head.
“No. Yeongdo Trading will definitely be included. The question is which company will support Yeongdo Trading’s insufficient capacity. I think it’ll be us, but... if that happens, Yeongdo Trading could become the lead while we become the supporting party.”
“Then we’ll be in serious trouble.”
As Manager Lee said, they would be in very serious trouble.
Regardless of the size of the sales, if Yeongdo Trading took the initiative in the business, Il-sung Corporation would look ridiculous. Worse, if Yeongdo Trading grew, Il-sung’s allotted volume could gradually shrink.
How could they possibly stand for that?
If newspapers even put Yeongdo Trading ahead of Il-sung Corporation, their president might be summoned before the chairman immediately.
The chairman would first ask what kind of company Yeongdo Trading was.
And what would the chairman’s face look like when he heard that its representative was a twenty-seven-year-old who had only graduated last year?
It was truly the worst-case scenario, but it was not impossible.
“Find a way somehow. Make a plan on the assumption that we’ll be working with Yeongdo Trading.”
“Understood.”
Manager Cho crossed his arms again and tried to suppress his troubled feelings.
He could only hope the Canadian Wheat Board would make a wise decision.
But he knew that hope was only a thin thread.
* * *
Meanwhile, in Yeongdo.
“How did it go?”
When I arrived at the office, Seo-young clasped her hands together and looked at me with shining eyes.
“I worked hard, but we won’t know until the results come out.”
“Ah! I hope it went well. Which companies were competing with us?”
“Il-sung Corporation was there, too...”
“What?”
Seo-young blinked in surprise.
“Why? It’s only natural for companies that big to show up.”
“I... I thought there would be somewhat smaller companies.”
Thinking about it, that was understandable. Since Yeongdo Trading was attending the meeting, anyone would assume the competitors would be influential local trading companies.
“We’re the strange ones for getting mixed in. Hanseong Flour Mills was there, and so was Daeseong Fisheries & Produce.”
“At least Daeseong Fisheries & Produce is a little better. I hope we beat them.”
“Hmm. I do think we have a better chance against them. Oh, and one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“You need to study English a lot. We’ll be getting many calls in English from now on.”
Seo-young’s face froze slightly.
“Ah... Yes!”
“Are you attending an English academy?”
“I’m studying on my own.”
“Really? Self-study is good, but you should try attending an academy if you can. One focused on conversation. There probably aren’t many places teaching conversation-centered English these days, but if you look carefully, they should exist.”
Seo-young tilted her head slightly at my words, “these days,” but soon looked troubled.
“Academies are a little expensive... I’ll do my best to study on my own.”
For a moment, I almost asked whether things were difficult at home. But I stopped myself.
We weren’t close enough for me to ask about personal matters. Even if we were, I didn’t particularly want to know. Experience had taught me that knowing too much about others only gave me more things to worry about.
“The company will cover the academy fees.”
“What? Really?”
“Yes. Find an academy, enroll, and bring me proof of enrollment. I’ll transfer the money.”
“Thank you!”
“If you’re grateful, study hard.”
“But I’m an accountant. Is it really all right for you to support me this much?”
“You can limit yourself to accounting work, but the more you know, the more useful you’ll be. That benefits me.”
I would have to keep hiring employees, and those employees needed to be capable.
That was the only way the company could run smoothly while I was outside Korea.
Compared to that, paying academy fees from now on was nothing.
* * *
Around eight that evening, at a pork belly restaurant in Euljiro, three middle-aged office workers sat around a table, watching the meat cook.
There was not much left in the already-opened green bottle of liquor.
“To think Yeongdo Trading would be there...”
The person muttering heavily was Sales Director Lee Dae-jun of Daeseong Fisheries & Produce. Across from him sat Manager Jeong Tae-seok, newly appointed head of the International Grain Division, along with the employee who had helped with the presentation.
“I’d heard a lot about them, but after facing them myself, I understand why you paid them so much attention, Director.”
“...”
“They even appealed to the Canadian Wheat Board by taking shots at Il-sung Corporation and Hanseong Flour Mills instead of us. Ha... It was honestly absurd.”
“They took shots at Il-sung Corporation?”
“Yes. I only learned it then, but apparently the Canadian Wheat Board wants its premium wheat to be properly valued. The general trading companies put Canadian wheat up for bid mixed with American and Australian wheat, and Yeongdo Trading struck at that weakness. That was the decisive blow. From then on, the Canadian Wheat Board representative listened closely to President Kim’s explanation... It seemed they had already been won over.”
“Then Yeongdo Trading is bringing in Canadian wheat this time?”
“They may not be the main client, but I think the Canadian Wheat Board will give them some volume.”
Director Lee could not spare even a glance for the sizzling meat.
‘They’re this capable?’
If Yeongdo Trading had been bold enough to take shots at Il-sung Corporation and Hanseong Flour Mills in the presentation hall, there was a good chance it had not even considered Daeseong Fisheries & Produce worth worrying about.
That showed just how much nerve its young president had.
Lee Dae-jun looked back on his life.
He had entered the company at twenty-seven and worked hard ever since. Yet when he looked back now, he was still only an executive far below Korea’s seven major general trading companies.
Even now, when he met employees of those companies at outside meetings, he was always the first to bow.
Yet someone else was trying to stand shoulder to shoulder with them.
It was bitter, absurd, and unbelievable.
‘Come work under me. I can take better care of you than you’re being treated now. Interested? It would probably be much better than being at Daeseong.’
Those words from back then still occasionally drifted through his mind.
More than the promise of better treatment, the claim that it would be much better than being at Daeseong shook his heart.
‘How? In what way?’
At first, he had thought it was ridiculous. But when he recalled that atmosphere and expression, he could no longer be certain it had been nothing but a provocation.
“Director?”
“Ah? Ah...”
“Please eat some meat.”
“Right. You all worked hard, so eat plenty.”
“Yes.”
With his mind elsewhere, so distracted that he could not tell whether the meat was going into his mouth or nose, he finished the small company dinner.
When he got home, he held Ttoli, his pet dog who greeted him with a wagging tail, and asked his wife,
“Where are the kids?”
“They haven’t come back from the academy yet.”
“Right... But listen.”
“Hm? Why?”
He hesitated before asking,
“What would you think about living in Busan?”
“What? Busan? No. The kids are here.”
“That’s true, right?”
“Of course!”
“But we need to think about it. There aren’t many places left for me to climb in this company. I’m almost fifty now.”
His wife looked at him strangely.
“Why are you suddenly saying this? Did the company say they wouldn’t extend your contract? Did they tell you to leave?”
“It’s not that...”
“Do we need to cancel the kids’ academy classes?”
“It’s not that either.”
“Then what is it!?”
As his wife raised her voice, he put Ttoli down.
“Ah, no. I’m going to shower.”
He tossed and turned all night.
‘Could it really have been a recruitment offer? And they may have changed their mind by now.’
He tried to think that way, but in the end, he could not sleep at all.
He took sick leave from work and boarded a train for Busan.
He wondered whether it was all right to go without even calling ahead. He did not understand what he himself was thinking.
His head was simply full of something, and aside from going to Busan, he could see no other way.
He arrived at Yeongdo Trading without a plan, only to hear,
“Yeongdo Trading? That guy opened an office way over at Busan Port. Try Jungang-dong.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
Hearing that it had already secured an office, he quickened his steps toward Busan Port.
[Yeongdo Trading]
He found the sign hanging on the third floor of an old building. As he hurried upstairs, he collided with a man coming down.
“Oh!”
“Are you all right?”
When he looked up in surprise, the person he had collided with was none other than Yeongdo Trading’s young president.
“Uh?”
“Director, what brings you here? Did you come looking for me?”
Now that he was face-to-face with him, the words would not come out.
It was not as if he were confessing to a woman. What was he doing, acting like this before a president young enough to be his son?
And now that he was here, the old building stood in stark contrast to his company’s twenty-story headquarters.
‘Idiot...’
This was truly insane.
He even regretted coming all this way.
“Director?”
“Uh...”
“Didn’t you come looking for us?”
He had to quickly think of an excuse, but his mind would not work.
Then,
“I heard. That you took part in the Canadian Wheat Board’s meeting at Busan Chosun Beach Hotel.”
“Ah, so that’s why you came. But this time, I didn’t say a single bad thing about Daeseong Fisheries & Produce.”
“I know. I heard that.”
“Then why...?”
He thought of an excuse. He could say he had business nearby and stopped in.
There could not be a worse excuse than that.
But what came out of his mouth was a little... no, very different.
“Did you mean what you said back then?”
The instant he said it, he regretted it.
‘What am I even saying...?’
Inside, he called himself an idiot more than a dozen times.
“What did I say?”
He wanted to make an excuse even now, but then he said it anyway.
“The recruitment offer.”
His face burned so badly that he wanted to crawl into a hole, but he could not take his eyes off the young president’s face.
More precisely, his lips.
“Ah, that?”
At that moment, when he felt as if even his heart had stopped, a faint smile appeared on the young president’s lips.
“Of course.”
In that instant, all of his anxiety disappeared at once, and the thoughts that had filled his head emptied completely.
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