WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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◈ The Conglomerate Heir Just Wants to Fail ◈

Chapter 9

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Quarterly earnings report day.

President Jo Eungsu of Daeseung Shopping came to the vice chairman's office looking even more energetic than before.

He carried a thick report in his hands.

"Vice Chairman! Here's last quarter's earnings report!"

Unable to hide his excitement, he spread the report out in front of me.

"Our operating profit margin... hasn't yet reached the 0% target you set, but we've succeeded in bringing it down to 4%!"

President Jo's proud report left my thoughts in disarray.

'Four percent? We're still making a profit?'

"Hmm... It's still not enough. You'll need to try harder."

I deliberately sounded dissatisfied.

I had to put more pressure on him and force the company into the red.

"Yes, Vice Chairman! Next quarter, I'll do everything I can to reach 0%!"

President Jo seemed even more fired up.

Then he added in an even more excited voice.

"And, Vice Chairman, there's some astonishing news! Although our operating profit margin was only 4%, our total operating profit actually rose slightly compared to the same period last year!"

"...What?"

What did that mean?

We had brought the profit margin down to 4%, but total profits had risen?

I'd set things up for them to fail, and they'd made even more money?

Whatever President Jo made of my reaction, he beamed even more broadly and pulled out a tablet.

"This is our sales trend from last quarter."

A red line rose almost vertically across the screen, and President Jo pointed at it.

"Sales exploded! The low-margin, high-volume strategy worked perfectly! Inventory turnover rose dramatically, cutting warehouse and management costs. And because our volume increased, logistics costs per unit actually fell!"

What was that supposed to mean...?

"On top of that, suppliers are competing to get their products into our stores, so they're lowering their wholesale prices without us even asking! Ha ha! The stores in our marts and department stores have also seen major sales growth thanks to increased foot traffic. Vacancies are filling up, and rental income has risen considerably as well! What I've just described is the increase in profit from pure business operations. It doesn't even include the rise in real estate values at each branch!"

I listened blankly to President Jo's explanation.

It felt as though my mind had gone completely blank.

"...Good work."

It was all I could manage to squeeze out.

"Ha ha ha! Not at all! This is all thanks to your foresight and bold decisions, Vice Chairman! As expected of the chairman's grandson! These days, work is truly a joy! It feels like I've gone back to my thirties and am running around the field again! I'll work myself to the bone for Daeseung Shopping, Vice Chairman!"

President Jo practically shouted, overcome with emotion.

"Uh... well... don't overdo it. Take it easy..."

Flustered, I blurted it out without thinking.

"No! How could I rest while serving such a young vice chairman? Then I'll take my leave and prepare next quarter's plans!"

President Jo bowed at a ninety-degree angle once more before leaving the vice chairman's office with energetic steps.

Left alone, I stared blankly at the empty doorway for a long time.

'This... isn't right...'

My thoughts were a tangled mess.

Where had it all gone wrong?

.

Other affiliate presidents in the hallway watched President Jo leave the vice chairman's office in triumph with strange looks in their eyes.

President Jeong of Daeseung Construction, in particular, wore a complicated expression.

"Ah! President Park! President Jeong! Hello!"

"Heh heh, President Jo. Things seem to be going well these days?"

At the casual remark from President Park of Heavy Industries, Jo Eungsu bent at the waist and gave them the credit.

"Was I that obvious? Ha ha, isn't it all thanks to you two presidents?"

"Thanks to us? Daeseung Construction has already filled half of next year's targets thanks to you, President Jo."

Daeseung Shopping was building new logistics centers and shopping malls.

Naturally, Daeseung Construction would have to handle the work, so it was good news for President Jeong as well.

Once money entered a conglomerate group like this, it rarely flowed back out. Instead, it drove up the results of its affiliated companies in succession.

"Why me? What did I do?"

President Park asked suspiciously.

"Well, you're keeping the Hanseong bastards from playing clever tricks in retail through Hwasu. Isn't that right?"

"Huh. President Jo, you're finally starting to see the bigger picture."

President Park had originally been displeased with Jo Eungsu for lacking nerve. But he was also hearty and simple-minded, so he seemed to have taken a liking to President Jo Eungsu lately after seeing him give Hanseong a hard time.

However, President Jeong, who was personally close to President Park, seemed to be hearing this for the first time.

"Hyung?"

"You know, the Hwasu matter."

"Yes. I heard the legal team successfully recovered the full performance bond."

"That's good. It is. But we can't just let those Hanseong bastards swallow Hwasu whole, can we?"

It was exactly the kind of thinking one would expect from President Park. If Daeseung could not have it, then Hanseong should not get it either.

"We caught on early, luckily. But Hwasu deliberately hid its insolvency, so I raised hell with the creditor group. I said we should recover not only the performance bond, but damages too."

"...Will that work?"

President Jeong, who had been listening beside him, asked cautiously.

President Park laughed loudly and gave President Jeong's shoulder a tap.

"I gently hinted that we might sit down at the acquisition table again if the additional insolvency issues were resolved. They were completely thrown off."

"Are you considering acquiring it again?"

"Of course not. But if we tie up the creditor group and drag things out, Hanseong will have no choice but to bid even more. The more we shake things up, the more money those Hanseong bastards will have to pour in."

"Ah!"

President Jeong nodded.

With no way to know how much money Hwasu Heavy Industries would ultimately require, Hanseong could hardly jump carelessly into the chicken game in the retail industry.

"Heh heh, but I think we hit the jackpot this time."

"Yes...? What do you mean?"

"While I was stirring things up at Hwasu, I got hold of a few more documents. Some of them had material related to ship-engine patents mixed in."

"What? Wasn't that patent technology the very reason we entered the bidding for Hwasu?"

President Jo Eungsu asked in alarm.

President Park nodded with satisfaction.

"Exactly! We can't steal the patent itself outright, of course. But the bastard who runs our research institute says even these hints are enough to dramatically close the technology gap. While those Hanseong bastards struggle under the weight of a rotten company, we'll extract only the core technology and pull far ahead. Ha ha ha!"

"Hyung, that... could become a serious legal problem."

"They cheated us first! This is self-defense, self-defense! And did we steal anything? They failed to manage it properly, and we just picked up what they let slip!"

President Park waved a hand as though it were nothing. But President Jo Eungsu's face, bright until moments ago, had stiffened.

He had learned something he never needed to know.

"Th-then I'll be going now, President."

"All right, President Jo. Keep up the good work."

When President Jo vanished as though fleeing, President Park clicked his tongue.

"Tsk, tsk. That fellow still has no nerve. A man shouldn't be that timid."

"...Hyung, I don't want to hear about dangerous things like that anymore."

"What, you punk? You've been in the same boat as me for how long now?"

Before President Jeong became president of the construction company, President Park had held that position. President Jeong had been President Park's right hand then.

"Still, hyung, you should be more careful now."

"Hey, do you think I could've made it to this position if I'd lived my life worrying about that sort of thing?"

Whenever Chairman Kang Sinsu got drunk, he would keep President Park at his side and fill a beer glass full of soju as he said, "You're my ichibanyari, my First Spear, the first man to charge into enemy lines!"

Those words from Chairman Kang had been a lifelong medal for President Park.

"Those were good days... Those days."

"Hyung..."

President Park's eyes turned wistfully toward the past.

"This won't do, President Jeong."

"Yes, hyung."

"I need to smoke a cigarette before I go in. You head in first."

"...I thought you'd quit."

"I can't help it. The chairman's on my mind. I'll come along later."

President Park turned and left without even waiting for President Jeong's answer.

.

"Cancel them all."

I spoke with a languid expression.

"Yes? Vice Chairman, b-but real estate is booming right now."

Exactly. That was why I was saying it.

Anyway, if I just did the opposite of whatever the president wanted, it should work out.

I tapped the dozens of PF project documents President Jeong of Daeseung Construction had submitted for approval.

"You said you're already busy because of the shopping projects."

"There's no construction company in Korea that is too busy to build, Vice Chairman!"

"...?"

I tilted my head, unable to understand what President Jeong meant.

"First, we take every job that comes in. If we're busy, we subcontract it out. Small and mid-sized construction firms are lined up waiting to take our subcontracting work."

Ah.

The word "subcontracting" caught my attention.

It had been the same when I carried cement at construction sites.

There had been a small company that hired us, and above it were other companies connected in a chain.

At first, I avoided sites said to be built by Daeseung because I was afraid of running into someone who knew me. But when I finally went, I did not see a single person from Daeseung Construction.

"Those subcontractors, and the subcontractors below them, all make money too, right?"

"That's right."

"Then if we just build everything ourselves, wouldn't we maximize profits without money leaking away in the middle?"

I was asking because I genuinely wanted to know.

Wasn't it the same principle as cutting out middlemen and dealing directly to keep more for yourself?

"In theory, yes. But the biggest reason is risk diversification. Construction sites involve countless variables. Delays, surging material prices, and... unfortunately, safety accidents can occur as well. If Daeseung Construction directly hired all personnel and directly managed every stage, we would bear all those risks ourselves. But when we subcontract work, those risks are shared with each subcontractor."

Maybe I should not have asked.

President Jeong might think it was such a basic question...

But President Jeong showed no sign of thinking that as he continued his explanation.

"There is also the issue of flexibility in workforce management. Construction operates on a project basis, so the number of workers needed changes greatly depending on the period. One site may need hundreds of people, but only dozens remain once the work is nearing completion. If we directly hired everyone as full-time employees, we might manage during a construction boom like this one, but we could not retain all of them during a downturn. The subcontracting structure lets us efficiently use only as many workers as we need, when we need them."

Having explained that much, President Jeong discreetly studied my expression.

Perhaps he was checking whether I understood.

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