Second Life of the Trade King - Chapter 5

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise

◈ Second Life of the Trade King ◈

Chapter 5: Grain Ship Supply Bidding (3)

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The next morning, I opened the door to Dong-yang Shipping Agency’s office in Yeongju-dong. Mr. Park spotted me from the desk near the entrance and immediately stood.

When I handed him the envelope containing the quote, he took it and slowly looked it over.

His expression hardened as he read it.

“Hyun-woo, is this for real?”

“Yes.”

“...It’s 25% lower. Did you leave yourself any margin?”

“I’m looking at 12%.”

“Whew...”

Mr. Park slowly leaned back in his chair.

After staring at the ceiling for a long while, he put the quote into his desk drawer.

“It’ll be formally submitted to headquarters this afternoon. The result should come out sometime the afternoon after tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

As I got up, Mr. Park spoke.

“You’d better do this properly.”

It carried a different meaning from all the times he had told me to do things properly before.

He was saying it because he expected me to pass.

“Of course.”

As I crossed Yeongdo Bridge on my way back to the shop, my thoughts settled into order.

The quote had been submitted, and the result would come out the day after tomorrow. Until then, I needed to organize a simulation for carrying out the first deal.

In my head, I ran through the entire route: the Australian grain ship’s arrival, supply transport, loading aboard the vessel, and coordinating the schedules of Young-tae Shipping, Jagalchi Market, and the meat wholesaler.

The following day passed much the same way.

It was the day before the results were announced, but the shop’s routine was no different from usual.

Then, late that afternoon, the peace was broken.

Ding!

The bell over the shop entrance rang, and people entirely unlike the usual work-clothed customers looking for parts walked in.

Two men in suits. One appeared to be in his mid-thirties, the other in his early forties.

They were both neatly dressed, making them look out of place amid the shop’s grease-stained surroundings.

My older brother’s expression grew awkward behind the counter. He glanced at Father, who had been reading the newspaper, as though asking for help.

Confusion showed in Father’s eyes as well. Then the younger man looked around the shop once and approached the counter.

“What can I do for you?”

Despite my brother’s question, the man did not look at him. He looked at me farther inside the shop.

“You’re Kim Hyun-woo, correct?”

His calm voice was not threatening, but it carried weight.

“Yes. I’m Kim Hyun-woo. And you are?”

The man took a business card from his inner jacket pocket.

The smooth, practiced way he set it down on the counter with one hand made it clear he was used to doing this.

“I’m Deputy General Manager Kim Min-su of Sales Team 3 at Daeseong Fisheries & Produce. Sales Team 3 handles foreign-vessel supply work.”

Deputy General Manager Kim Min-su of Daeseong Fisheries & Produce, Sales Team 3.

They moved quickly.

“Could you spare me a moment? This isn’t a private meeting. I merely stopped by to introduce myself as someone in the industry. We can have a cup of tea.”

His tone was calm, but it carried the kind of weight that made refusal seem impossible.

I briefly looked at my family.

In front of my brother’s awkward expression and Father’s fixed gaze, I spoke as if nothing were wrong.

“I’ll be out for a little while.”

If they had been suspicious people, Father would have stepped in. But he had clearly heard the name Daeseong Fisheries & Produce with his own ears, and Father was not someone who would fail to grasp the situation.

Still...

“Want me to come with you?”

He cautiously asked whether I wanted help, but I gave a faint smile.

“No. I’m fine.”

Then I spoke to Deputy General Manager Kim.

“Let’s go to the coffee shop nearby.”

There was a small coffee shop in the alley beside the store.

The three of us went in and sat at a table in the corner.

Deputy General Manager Kim ordered drinks, then spoke to the man beside him.

“Assistant Manager, could you give us a moment...?”

“Yes.”

The other man moved to another table, leaving the two of us alone.

When the drinks arrived, Deputy General Manager Kim took a sip and got to the point.

“Mr. Kim Hyun-woo, I heard you submitted a supply bid for the Australian grain ship. Pacific Grain Lines, MV Adelaide Star. The deadline was yesterday, and the results come out tomorrow.”

“...”

“Congratulations. Just getting into the bidding is no ordinary feat. There hasn’t been a single new entrant into the foreign-vessel supply market in five years. But... there’s one point I wanted to address. Your quote was 25% below the supplier average. I heard you set your margin at 12%. Through Park Man-ho.”

The company and ship names were information any bidder could know.

But the 12% margin had only been shared inside Dong-yang Shipping Agency’s office.

That meant their headquarters network reached all the way into Park Man-ho’s office.

I took a sip of tea and waited for Deputy General Manager Kim’s next words.

“Daeseong Fisheries & Produce built this market over the past five years. You understand what I mean by built it, don’t you? It means the market does not run if our company lets go. It also means we can make sure it does not run.”

Deputy General Manager Kim took a sheet of paper from his inner pocket and laid it on the table.

It listed five company names, with their closure dates beside them.

From 1984 to 1987.

“Over five years, seven companies have tried entering this market. Not one of them lasted more than a year. These five made it onto the list. The other two folded so quickly that they weren’t even worth adding.”

After taking another sip, Deputy General Manager Kim slowly tapped the paper with one finger.

“Don’t misunderstand. This does not mean it’s a list of companies our firm directly shut down. But one thing is certain. Every owner on this list met me last, right before closing their business. Me, Deputy General Manager Kim Min-su of Sales Team 3. Isn’t that an interesting coincidence?”

I held back a snort.

His threatening tone was convincing enough, but with that last line, he had practically confessed that he had taken care of them all himself.

At this point, his little scheme was only amusing.

I knew all about how Mark Rich’s team had built up Glencore, how Cargill had handled ADM, and how Trafigura had cleared out new entrants in Southeast Asia.

Compared to that, Deputy General Manager Kim’s threat was child’s play.

“And one more thing.”

Deputy General Manager Kim took out a second sheet.

This one was a comparison chart of wholesale prices from Jagalchi and the meat wholesaler. It was organized by category: wholesale price, supply-company bid price, and Kim Hyun-woo’s direct-deal price.

There was no need to ask where he had gotten it.

The real purpose of this chart was to show that their headquarters network reached all the way into Mr. Park’s office.

“It’s all laid out here. President Park Jong-ho and President Lee Jeong-hwan gave you reduced prices. Both have been dealing with our company for five years. Each does 1.2 billion won a year with us. Your first deal with them will bring each of them 8 million won.”

He lightly pressed a finger against the paper.

“Even if you win the bid, one phone call from me to each of them next week will leave them with one of two choices. They can tell you they can’t offer those reduced prices, or they can refuse to deal with you at all. That’s what they’ll decide. I’m not forcing them. They know better than anyone which carries more weight, 1.2 billion won or 8 million won. Will you be all right? Winning the bid will feel good, but you’ll have quite a headache if you can’t get the goods, won’t you?”

Deputy General Manager Kim took another sip of tea and slowly leaned back.

This time, he became more direct.

“Mr. Kim Hyun-woo, frankly, I find this puzzling. You’re in your final year at Pusan National University, and you have a good academic background. After graduating, you could join a general trading company or a bank. Why did you enter this field? Did you come in without knowing what kind of field this is? Did Park Man-ho not explain it to you?”

When I simply watched him in silence, he slowly added one more sentence.

“This is how our company sees you. As a smart student who took a wrong turn for a moment. That is all. At the company level, we honestly don’t have much time or resources to spend dealing with one Kim Hyun-woo. Even if we do nothing, the market will handle it on its own. Still, there was one thing I wanted to make clear.”

He slowly gathered the two sheets and returned them to his inner pocket.

“If you mean to put down roots here, then go ahead. That’s your freedom, Mr. Kim Hyun-woo. But after tomorrow’s announcement, when you carry out your first deal, think it over again around the time you begin your second. We’ll have reason to meet again then.”

He seemed to have said everything he had come to say.

I thought I would be irritated, but listening to his threats brought back old memories.

During my days at Glencore, I had received the same sort of threat twice. Once from a sales director at Trafigura, and once from a vice president at a Japanese general trading company.

Of course, both were far better at it than Deputy General Manager Kim.

The Trafigura man had been truly frightening because he could threaten someone without showing in the slightest that he was threatening them. The Japanese man had even layered pity into his voice for me after making his threat.

Back then, I had been flustered and afraid.

Now, Deputy General Manager Kim in front of me only seemed cute.

“Deputy General Manager Kim.”

“Yes?”

“I listened carefully.”

When I smiled, Deputy General Manager Kim looked slightly puzzled.

At this stage, new entrants normally said one of two things: that they would think it over, or that they needed time to consider it.

But I had no intention of saying either.

“I looked over the list of five companies, and I clearly saw that your headquarters network reaches Park Man-ho’s office. I also understand that the two presidents will each receive a phone call from you next week. If that’s the case, I think you’ve shown me every card you brought today. Is that right?”

Perhaps my response was unexpected. Deputy General Manager Kim said nothing for a long time.

He took a sip of tea to buy time.

I could easily guess what that silence meant.

An alarm was probably ringing in his head, warning him that something had gone wrong.

“...Mr. Kim Hyun-woo, it seems you think everything I brought today was a threat.”

“No. I didn’t take it as a threat. You clearly said it wasn’t a threat, Deputy General Manager Kim. Thank you for the valuable information. We’ll see next week how the two presidents respond to your calls. For now, the ship arrives the day after tomorrow, so I’ll proceed with the first deal. If we have reason to meet again, we’ll meet then.”

Deputy General Manager Kim started to rise after me, then hesitated.

Normally, a new entrant did not stand first at a meeting like this.

If the person being threatened had the authority to end the meeting, it meant the threat had not worked.

Surely he understood at least that much?

“...Very well.”

I smiled politely at him as he stood awkwardly, then left the coffee shop and returned home.

“What did they say?”

Father had been waiting for me at the shop. I shrugged.

“Nothing much... They just want a fair fight. I guess they see me as competition.”

“You’re doing all right, aren’t you?”

“Of course.”

After easing my family’s worries, I went upstairs as if nothing had happened.