WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Second Life of the Trade King ◈
Chapter 27: Underdog (2)
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“Please, sit.”
I brought the somewhat embarrassed, nervous Lee Dae-jun upstairs and seated him on the reception sofa. Then I brought over a bottle of Bacchus and set it in front of him.
“Did something bad happen at Daeseong Fisheries & Produce?”
It was a rather direct question. Was he applying here because he had been fired? He gave a small laugh as he opened the Bacchus.
“No. Maybe I got a strange urge at this age, but I wanted to try taking on a challenge. I want to experience things I haven’t experienced before.”
He had spoken informally at first, but now he was using polite speech. Considering how things had changed, though, it was not strange.
“Oh, really? Then you made a good choice. If you join us, you’ll have experiences you’ve never had before.”
His eyes widened slightly.
“I was very curious, to be honest. I didn’t think you meant this company would be much better than Daeseong Fisheries & Produce just because the salary was higher.”
I turned my head and met Seo-young’s eyes. Seo-young had been listening closely to our conversation. When she quickly lowered her head, I smiled and spoke slowly.
“Our company dreams of doing business globally.”
“Global business? Ha ha. That’s quite a big dream.”
“That’s right. Which is why I wanted someone with extensive experience in Korea, like Director Lee, to manage the company’s middle management. I’ll probably spend most of my time overseas the year after next, or the year after that.”
Lee Dae-jun’s eyebrow twitched.
“You mean you’ll mainly be overseas? Could you tell me what future you’re planning?”
“Hmm... I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that. You haven’t joined us yet, and even if you had, you’d probably think my ideas were absurd.”
“I see...”
“Of course, you may think you need to know that before joining us, but regardless, our company will be very attractive. You know it’s more fun to build a company up from scratch, right? And it’s not as if the salary will be low.”
“Two million won is certainly a lot, but it’s not an enormous increase, either.”
Since he had been an executive, it would not have been strange for him to earn more than two million won. Judging by the way he spoke, though, he seemed to have been making slightly less than that.
“Regardless of how things proceed with the Canadian Wheat Board, we would always welcome someone with Director Lee’s experience at Yeongdo Trading. Honestly, one accountant is far from enough. But we can’t simply hire anyone.”
Before my regression, changing jobs had not been particularly difficult. Checking career histories was easy, and job postings were fairly transparent.
But this was a time when companies strongly preferred open recruitment over experienced hires. Even middle-aged people who wanted to change jobs had difficulty finding suitable positions. Naturally, even companies that wanted capable middle managers with decent experience had trouble finding them without personal connections.
So there was no reason to turn down someone who had come to us on his own.
“I’m glad to hear Yeongdo Trading welcomes me. May I ask just one thing?”
“What is it?”
“You said you would be traveling overseas the year after next, or the year after that. Could you at least tell me which country?”
I considered whether to tell him, but the curiosity in his eyes made me decide to answer.
“The Soviet Union.”
His eyes went wide with shock.
“The Soviet Union?”
“Yes.”
To people of this era, the Soviet Union was a Communist country opposed to their ally, the United States. It was a country to shun, with no reason to get close to it. It was only natural that he would be surprised to hear I intended to go there.
“Why the Soviet Union all of a sudden? It’s an extremely dangerous place.”
Did he think I didn’t know that?
“I know. I also know that if you want to do business there, you need connections with the Soviet mafia.”
“Do you think it has enough appeal to be worth going somewhere so dangerous?”
“Everyone dismisses the Soviet Union because it’s Communist and struggling now, but it has enormous potential. Especially when you consider its natural resources and grain production.”
“That may be true, but...”
“Well, I’m not going there immediately, so think it over slowly. By the way, what will you do about your home? Daeseong’s headquarters is in Seoul, isn’t it?”
He hesitated for a moment, then spoke as though nothing had happened.
“I’ll find a separate home in Busan. The children are at an important age, and even if they weren’t, they’re grown and don’t look for their father anymore. I think it would be better to focus on the work I want to do here.”
“If that’s the case... I’m happy with it. We’ll give you a department-head position in the company. Is that acceptable?”
“Sounds good. I’ll tell the company I’m leaving by next month, so I can begin work the month after next.”
“Good.”
After wrapping things up, I took Lee Dae-jun out for a meal. Over meat and drinks at a famous Korean beef restaurant, we discussed what lay ahead.
I told him what I could tell him and kept quiet about what I couldn’t.
If the Canadian deal went well, he would certainly be a great help.
* * *
Twenty-third floor of Il-sung Corporation’s headquarters on Taepyeong-ro, Seoul.
Cho Seong-hun arrived at the secretarial office outside the vice president of the Trading Division’s office and quietly exhaled.
“Manager Cho, the vice president says you may come in.”
Cho Seong-hun gave a small nod and opened the door.
Vice President Kang Seok-yoon was seated at the conference table in front of the desk. At fifty-six, with streaks of white in neatly groomed hair and wearing a clean suit, Kang already had a copy of Cho Seong-hun’s results report in hand. It was material Kang had received the previous evening.
Without looking up, Kang pointed to the seat across the table with one hand.
“Sit.”
Cho Seong-hun gave a respectful bow, sat across from Kang, and placed both hands neatly on his knees.
For a long while, Kang merely turned the report’s pages slowly. The only sound in the office was paper rustling. Under that heavy atmosphere, Manager Cho silently endured the slow passage of time, swallowing hard.
At last, Kang set the report down on the table, slowly raised their head, and looked at Cho Seong-hun.
“Manager Cho.”
“Yes, Vice President.”
“So, we lost this one, didn’t we?”
Cho Seong-hun felt cold sweat forming, but answered as calmly as possible.
“The result has not been announced yet. However, judging from the atmosphere of the meeting, there is a very high possibility that Yeongdo Trading will be selected as the priority cooperation partner.”
“Don’t give me nonsense. We lost, didn’t we? If we win, it’ll only be because of the company’s size. In terms of the presentation, we were completely crushed.”
“...Yes.”
Kang gave a faint snort and tapped one section of the report with a finger.
“Yeongdo Trading. A new trading company that began in Yeongdo, Busan. President Kim Hyun-woo, twenty-seven years old. Graduated from Pusan National University’s Department of Trade last year. Annual sales of around one billion won... You’re saying Il-sung Corporation’s Food Ingredients Division lost to this company?”
“...”
“Hey, Seong-hun.”
“Yes, Vice President.”
“How much is your annual salary?”
Manager Cho felt himself shrinking.
“...Forty-two million won.”
“Forty-two million. Above the average for our department heads. How many people are in your Food Ingredients Division?”
“Twenty-three.”
“Twenty-three. How much business did your division bring to headquarters last year?”
“That... three hundred fifty billion won.”
“Three hundred fifty billion... So you, the department head of that division, with those twenty-three employees, lost to a company in Busan with annual sales of one billion won? Even after taking along all the expertise and global network accumulated by a general trading company’s grain division over decades?”
He could not think of an excuse because it sounded absurd even to himself.
“You’re right, Vice President. I have no excuse.”
“...”
Yet no harsher rebuke came from Vice President Kang Seok-yoon. Kang merely stared silently at the report on the table.
Manager Cho knew why.
The vice president must have recognized that the other side had brought out such an extraordinary move that there was little point in continuing to reprimand him.
There were two ways to refute Yeongdo Trading’s argument.
The first was to argue that separately managing Canadian wheat would not make much difference in brand value or recognition. But CWB would not listen to that at all.
The second was to argue that Il-sung could separately manage Canadian wheat as well. But that did not make sense, either. For a general trading company to manage Canadian wheat separately, it would need to split off a dedicated bid line, secure exclusive warehouses and silos, operate dedicated transport vehicles, assign a dedicated sales team, and separately manage quality data for each lot. That ran directly against the strengths of a general trading company.
From the moment Yeongdo Trading had presented that logic at the meeting, Il-sung Corporation had been left unable to defend itself. Vice President Kang knew that, which was why Kang could not rebuke him further.
“What are you going to do?”
“There is a very high possibility that Yeongdo Trading will be selected as the priority cooperation partner. However, that does not mean Yeongdo Trading will be the only one. A company of its size cannot handle all Canadian wheat imports into Korea. CWB knows that, too. The most reasonable plan CWB could choose would be volume allocation. They would give priority to Yeongdo Trading while dividing some volume into specialist direct-sales channels like Yeongdo Trading and some through general trading company channels. For stable, large-scale supply, they would keep a large general trading company like us as a secondary partner.”
Kang nodded lightly.
“So I have an idea.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“I want to contact Yeongdo Trading before CWB announces its decision. Whatever the result, it is a foregone conclusion that Yeongdo Trading will rise as a new power in the Korean grain market. In that case, I believe it would be far more advantageous to establish a framework for cooperation with Yeongdo Trading before the announcement than to move afterward.”
“Establish it beforehand... Before the result even comes out?”
“Yes. Once the result comes out, Yeongdo Trading will gain more confidence and hold a stronger position in negotiations with us. This is the last time we can meet them as equals.”
For Il-sung Corporation, this was humiliating enough to be difficult to accept. That was why Vice President Kang’s expression darkened.
But Kang did not reject the idea outright. Kang must have judged that, since nothing had been decided yet, there was still much they could do.
“What will you say when you go there?”
“I’ll try to create the feeling of a partnership and praise them carefully.”
“And? You’re not going just to inflate their ego.”
“Of course not. While treating them like princes, I’ll steer them toward listening to our side in certain external matters.”
“For example?”
“Making sure that Il-sung Corporation’s name does not officially appear behind Yeongdo Trading...”
Vice President Kang nodded faintly. It meant the idea pleased Kang.
“And asking that we always be included in dealings with CWB.”
“So we’re preparing for the worst-case scenario?”
“That’s correct.”
Kang nodded and gestured toward the report with a tilt of the chin.
“But judging by what this guy has done, he doesn’t seem like he’ll be easy to win over. He seems unbelievably aloof.”
“Surely anyone would fall for Kim Jung-bae’s diamond ring.”
At those words, suggesting he would offer the proper bait, Kang smiled with satisfaction.
“Try to charm him well. If you can’t, neither you nor I may be with this company much longer. You can guess how the chairman will feel if Yeongdo Trading appears ahead of Il-sung Corporation in the newspapers.”
“Yes. I understand clearly.”
“Good. Go.”
Thinking he had finally caught a break, Manager Cho bowed and quietly left the vice president’s office.
As he pressed the elevator button, he thought to himself.
He would book a train to Busan for that weekend.
He intended to charm that young president just as Kim Jung-bae had captured Shim Sun-ae’s heart.
Footnotes:
Kim Jung-bae and Shim Sun-ae are figures from the Korean melodrama Janghanmong. Kim Jung-bae’s diamond ring symbolizes using wealth to tempt or win someone over.
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