WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
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◈ Second Life of the Trade King ◈
Chapter 32: Eccentric or Pervert (2)
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Yoon Seo-young came over as I watched the black sedan drive away.
“I thought my heart was going to burst earlier.”
“Why was your heart pounding?”
“Why do you think? You were practically teasing the executive from Geumhwa International. I kept worrying he’d lose his temper and storm out.”
“Oh, that? It’s fine. They can’t do that. They know Yeongdo Trading put them in this position. How could they leave?”
“But isn’t Geumhwa International big enough to ignore one business partner?”
“That’s not entirely wrong, but the Canadian Wheat Board is different. Geumhwa International will want to expand into grain too. And even if they had stormed out, it wouldn’t have mattered.”
“Why?”
“It was a test. Wanting to be the protagonist was part of the same thing. I was letting them know that I’m the protagonist on this stage, and they should be satisfied being supporting characters. That executive accepted his role.”
Seo-young blinked and tilted her head.
“Did that executive say something like that earlier?”
“Yeah. Remember? That executive said those people didn’t know.”
“Oh, right. Those people were Il-sung Corporation?”
“Right.”
“Wow, that’s how you understood it. But there’s something I’m curious about.”
It was good that someone who wasn’t foolish had plenty of questions, so I was willing to answer as many as she wanted.
“What is it?”
“Couldn’t everyone just talk things over nicely? You said you growled at Il-sung Corporation because they tried to eat us first. Like this.”
She curled both hands into claws and went, “Rawr!” before continuing.
“But Geumhwa didn’t feel like that at all. I was worried it might have looked too confrontational from their side.”
“That was the same thing. I did it on purpose.”
“That too? To make them settle for being supporting characters?”
“Exactly. Trading is a business of scale. The bigger you are, the more profit you make and the more power you have. Think about it. You can lift a hundred kilos with one hand, but you have to move cargo with some little kid who looks weak. You wouldn’t feel too good about that, would you?”
Seo-young, her eyes wide, nodded.
“Yes!”
“Then you naturally try to steer things in your favor. It’s understandable to say, ‘I can carry more, so I should get a little more.’ But there are plenty of cases where they tell the smaller guy who landed the job, ‘From now on, I’ll talk directly to the person who gave me this work, so stay out of it.’”
“Ah...”
“When that happens, you need to make it clear who has control of the work. If you try to talk your way through it every time, resentment builds over time, and things become uncomfortable. Because from the start, the bigger guy is looking down on the smaller one.”
“Ah, so that’s why? You came on strong from the beginning on purpose?”
“Right. The best thing is to make it absolutely clear from the start who leads this work. That makes them less likely to try something later to take a little more for themselves.”
Even then, this industry was full of people who would exploit any lapse or problem to swallow up the middleman.
“That’s really scary.”
“Exactly. That’s why I came on strong. I showed them not to think of us as friends just because we chose them. The executive from Geumhwa International understood that. He doesn’t seem stupid, so he’ll put together a good working team and handle it properly.”
By the age I had reached before returning, I had lived and died at about the same age as that person.
In fact, the experience and knowledge I had built up probably exceeded what Managing Director Park had accumulated even if he had lived through it twelve times over.
That was why I could describe him that way, but Seo-young looked at me as though I were strange.
“He looked smart, though.”
After I corrected myself, Seo-young finally looked convinced.
“Seoul men really do seem different somehow.”
“Huh? Don’t I seem like a Seoul man too? You can’t hear any Busan dialect in the way I talk.”
“I sometimes think you seem like a Seoul man too, President, but your overall vibe feels like a Busan man.”
“That’s prejudice.”
After chatting with Seo-young for a while, I began drafting the formal memorandum of understanding document for Geumhwa International.
---
The following Wednesday, in the office of the Head of Commodities Headquarters.
“Tell Manager Song to come in.”
Park Young-seok had reported the strange events of that Busan business trip to Kim Jae-seok, but like Managing Director Park, Executive Director Kim had not become particularly excited or angry.
“If someone puts food on my table, that person is Buddha and God. Still, they won’t be easy to control.”
“I’ve already given up on trying to control them.”
“Good. When you play along and let people like that control you, there comes a time when they slip up.”
The results were good, so there was no need to make trouble.
While they waited, news came that the materials Yeongdo Trading had sent had arrived at the Food Business Division fax yesterday afternoon.
Manager Song Jae-jun had organized the materials and reviewed them until the previous evening, so they needed to see them this morning.
The door opened after a knock, and Song Jae-jun entered carrying two envelopes and a thick compiled report.
“You called for me?”
“Yes. Did you bring the materials?”
“Yes. The original fax from Yeongdo Trading and the summary I prepared.”
Song spread the documents over Park Young-seok’s desk. There was one stack of original fax pages and another stack of summaries marked with Manager Song’s highlighter.
Park Young-seok began turning over the fax pages one by one.
As he did, an incredulous smile gradually spread over his face. Then he stopped and looked up.
“See? Didn’t I say perverts like this don’t drop the ball?”
Manager Song gave a bitter smile.
“You did. I couldn’t believe it as I read through it all day yesterday. What kind of person is this? Honestly, if he were an employee instead of a president, I would have tried any way I could to bring him into our company.”
“If we could just get him here, we’d raise him like gold and jade.”
The reason the two were so surprised was that the business documents Yeongdo Trading had sent were immaculate and flawless beyond reproach.
The standard of perfection was so high that even Managing Director Park saw them in a new light.
“Are we sure this kid really graduated last year?”
“That’s what I found out. I even confirmed his military enlistment and discharge dates.”
“Wow. What the... This bastard really must be a pervert. Remember that strange look in his eyes?”
“Very clearly. The ones who look perfectly normal are the ones who cause trouble. Still, it really is incredible. He divided the volume allocation by stage, from the pilot delivery through the stabilization phase and into full-scale transactions, and the logic is beyond criticism.”
“Is that all? Look at the direct-sales channel mapping. And what’s with this marketing plan? Is Yeongdo Trading going to market the Canadian Wheat Board’s wheat too?”
The report clearly separated Yeongdo Trading’s business partners from Geumhwa International’s so that neither side would encroach on the other’s territory.
What was astonishing came next. Yeongdo Trading had created a marketing plan to turn Canadian Wheat Board wheat into a branded product.
“It seems that way.”
“What the... Is that why Yeongdo Trading became the primary trading partner?”
Managing Director Park immediately grasped the point.
This was the core of it.
“That seems likely. It comes last, but if we consider it the main point, it organically connects to the earlier staged volume allocation and channel mapping.”
“He planned this by himself? Look at this. Regularly providing Korean flour mills with quality indicators, such as the protein content, ash content, and gluten strength of Canadian hard wheat, then marketing it to Korean bread and confectionery manufacturers? And later introducing a Made with Canadian Wheat certification mark? Can something like this come out of a twenty-seven-year-old’s head?”
“At least we can be sure he’s a pervert.”
“Yeah, I agree a hundred times. He’s such a pervert that he cut Il-sung Corporation out, won the primary trading partnership, and then put us forward. We’re just the right size and looked like we’d listen well. Fuck, the more I think about it, the crazier he seems.”
The two alternated between admiration and suspicion toward someone who was not there as they familiarized themselves with the work.
This would become the flagship business of Geumhwa International’s grain division, so they could not afford to neglect it.
* * *
Saturday, April 1, 1989, nine in the morning.
The door to Yeongdo Trading’s office opened after a knock.
“Come in.”
The person who entered was Lee Dae-jun, carrying an armful of boxes.
“Hello!”
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
He greeted me in a bold voice, set down the boxes, and shook my hand.
“President, I look forward to working with you from today onward.”
Manager Lee was nearing fifty, but he did not care that I was young and bowed very respectfully.
“You worked hard wrapping things up at your previous company. How did it go?”
“I cleaned everything up neatly.”
“They must have tried very hard to stop you from leaving.”
“Haha! They did. They kept saying they wouldn’t process my resignation letter right up to the end, but in the end, the president bought me a drink. They told me to do well at Yeongdo Trading too.”
It was something I would learn eventually, so there was no reason for him to lie.
I could picture how dumbfounded the president of Daeseong Fisheries & Produce must have been.
They had surely tried to stop him, not just by asking him to stay, but by asking why he was doing something so foolish. Yet he had come without wavering. That was impressive.
‘Ah! Now that I think about it, Daeseong Fisheries & Produce must have received the Canadian Wheat Board’s results too.’
Perhaps his job change might instead have looked like an unexpected strategic move.
“Here...”
Seo-young approached neatly from the side.
“Manager Lee, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Yoon Seo-young. I handle accounting work and have been learning a lot from the president.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Dae-jun.”
“Your desk is over here, Manager.”
Seo-young led him to a desk on one side of the office.
Manager Lee looked around his new place with an odd expression.
What did it feel like?
To give up the life of a high-ranking executive at a fairly successful mid-sized company, with a personal driver and a company car, and instead come under a twenty-seven-year-old president to receive a small desk in a small office.
I thought I could vaguely understand it, but not completely.
“It’s nice.”
Then he picked up a rag from the office, went to the restroom, and began diligently wiping down his desk and the surrounding area.
He cleaned so thoroughly that I wondered if he was performing a memorial rite, but I quietly helped move his belongings without saying anything.
“This is a gift to celebrate your joining us.”
I held out a fountain pen I had bought from the best pen shop in Busan.
“Haha, thank you. I’ll use it well and win us plenty of contracts.”
“That would be great for me.”
Once he had organized his things, I spoke to him.
“You should get started on work now...”
“I heard the news. The Canadian Wheat Board selected you as its primary trading partner. Congratulations.”
“I suppose you heard Daeseong Fisheries & Produce received the notice?”
“Yes. The company was in an uproar because of it. Il-sung Corporation losing out was one thing, but Yeongdo Trading being selected as the primary trading partner was another. I later heard from Manager Jeong Tae-seok about what happened at the presentation... You were quite extraordinary. I was surprised, but I was happy too. It made me feel that I had judged a person very well.”
“I won’t deny that. You were right about me.”
I grinned and handed him the work files I had prepared beforehand.
“There’s nothing especially difficult. The existing foreign-vessel provisioning work, feed imports, and the customs clearance and logistics work for Canadian wheat imports that will begin now. You did a lot of this at Daeseong Fisheries & Produce already, so...”
“Yes. I’m confident. But when do you think the pilot delivery from Canada will take place?”
“The contract is complete, but opening the letter of credit, L/C, and finalizing the payment terms will take around two to three weeks. Setting the shipping schedule will take another two to four weeks. Then it takes three to four weeks from Vancouver to Busan, so we should expect roughly two to three months from now.”
He wore an odd smile.
“The more I see, the more remarkable it is. How do you know even the practical details so well...?”
“I just study all sorts of things diligently.”
Manager Lee gave a small smile, returned to his desk, and began organizing the materials remaining in the boxes.
As he moved bundles of files into the cabinet, two or three documents were neatly placed on one side of his desk.
I quietly approached and looked over them. The titles on their covers caught my eye one after another.
Analysis of Asian Grain Trade Partners, 1988
Comparison of American and Australian Feed Import Prices
Current State of Korean Flour Milling Companies
⁝
Then I noticed a document buried beneath them.
The Impact of Establishing Diplomatic Relations with Hungary on Korean Trade
My gaze lingered briefly on its cover.
“Manager Lee.”
“Yes, President?”
“Is this material for reviewing expansion into Hungary?”
Manager Lee stopped reaching into the cabinet and turned around.
He looked at the document cover, then let out a small laugh.
“Oh, that. It’s not quite a formal review. I was interested after seeing the news, so I had a professor I know put it together.”
“Oh, really?”
“Are you interested?”
“Of course I am.”
He tilted his head.
“Really? Most people aren’t interested in that area.”
“That makes sense, for now...”
As he tilted his head at the words “for now,” I continued.
“I’m actually going to Seoul next week. I’m planning to visit the Hungarian embassy. Anyway, we have someone new here, so let’s have a company dinner tonight!”
At the words company dinner, Seo-young cheered.
“Pork belly! Pork belly!”
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