RR 15
[015] First Property 2.
She immediately stood up from the chair, knelt on the floor, and bowed her head.
“I was wrong, Father. Just this once, please forgive me.”
She was a daughter whose ambition outstripped her ability.
Because of the limitations of being a daughter and an “out-married” woman (meaning someone who marries out of the family and thus belongs to her husband’s family), she was eliminated early from the succession structure, but she constantly waited for an opportunity.
Now, she was going a step further, trying to create that opportunity herself.
She would push her husband into politics and gain political power.
The underlying thought was probably that it didn’t necessarily have to be the presidency.
She must have believed that if she stood in a position where she could influence politics and eliminate Sunyang’s successors one by one, an opportunity would surely come.
It was obvious that her foolish son-in-law, captivated by his cunning daughter’s temptation, would have gladly thrown in his resignation from the prosecutor’s office.
“Be content with what you have now and do your best. The moment the department store’s management performance drops even a little, I’ll completely replace everything. You are not yet the complete owner.”
At her father’s final warning, Jin Seo-yoon’s knees trembled, and she couldn’t stand up.
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The Aftermath and New Plans
With a flushed face and twitching lips, my uncle-in-law stormed out of the study without looking back.
Something was amiss.
After confirming that no one was in the living room, I stealthily moved towards Chairman Jin’s study door.
Sure enough, loud voices erupted.
He was a terrifying and resolute old man. Indeed, the nickname “Iron-Faced” suited him.
It seemed his intention was firm: to only pass on the department store to his daughter.
From her perspective, it must have been unfair to see her seemingly much dumber brothers securing positions in the main affiliates.
Receiving the same bloodline, but unable to dream of an equal share (1/N), she resorted to such cunning tricks. Her management ability was still difficult to judge, but her petty cunning was quite good.
I need to change my mind about this.
I had intended to make my aunt kneel and pluck out my uncle-in-law’s eyeballs, but that can be postponed for a while.
For now, it’s better to have these discarded, sidelined individuals stand by my side and exploit them as much as possible.
Hearing the chair scrape against the floor, I quickly moved away.
Pretending to lounge on the living room sofa, I glanced sideways and saw my aunt also leaving the house listlessly, just like my uncle-in-law.
When Chairman Jin emerged shortly after, I immediately jumped up from the sofa.
“Oh, my Do-jun. Were you bored?”
“No. I was reading a book.”
“Really? That’s a good habit. Always keep books close.”
“Yes.”
As Chairman Jin stroked my head, a secretary hurriedly entered the living room through the front door, bowed respectfully, and handed him a thick envelope of documents.
“Chairman. This is the matter you instructed earlier.”
“Alright. Is the acquisition complete?”
“Yes. The registration transfer is all done.”
“You’ve worked hard. What about construction?”
“It will begin tomorrow morning. And as soon as the ranch is complete, two horses will be moved from Jeju first, and two Thoroughbreds have been ordered. You should be able to see them at the ranch in six months.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
As the secretary bowed and left, Chairman Jin opened the envelope with a bright smile.
The thick documents were clearly the ranch’s deed. And a few photos and blueprints.
The photos were of the horses ordered from Arabia, and the blueprints were of the ranch itself.
“How about it? Isn’t this one really handsome?”
I didn’t care whether the horse was handsome or not, but I clapped my hands and pretended to like it. What I was most curious about was whether it was really all fifty thousand pyeong, and whose name was on the deed.
After admiring the horse photos with my grandfather for a while, I finally unfolded the deed.
“Do-jun.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
“This is the land deed for the place you wanted. All eighty thousand pyeong.”
Oh, wow! It increased by thirty thousand pyeong.
“I remember Grandfather mentioning fifty thousand pyeong earlier?”
“You little rascal. You even remember the numbers. Hoho.”
I understood the meaning of his laughter. How important it was to remember accurate numbers in business management!
“There were several landowners, and it didn’t perfectly fit fifty thousand pyeong. So, it increased to eighty thousand pyeong.”
In my mind, I was already diligently calculating how much the land compensation for eighty thousand pyeong would be, so I started to smile.
“Are you that happy?”
Seeing me unable to hide my smile, Chairman Jin also looked satisfied.
I was happy because of the land, but he would think I was happy because of the ranch and the horses.
Now, I had to secure it. Although it was under my name, if Chairman Jin held the deed, he could sell it at his discretion.
The document was the guarantee. I had to have it.
I put down the horse photos and continued to handle the deed, pretending to read it with interest.
“You rascal. Do you understand it just by looking at it?”
“Still, it’s ‘mine,’ so I like it. Hehe.”
“What? Uh-huh. Look at this kid. You’re trying to secure the land deed first, huh?”
Land deed? Not at all. I was securing a savings account worth over 16 billion won. A savings account that would mature in two or three years.
The market price for a 31-pyeong Eunma Apartment was only 75 million won at the time. This was enough money to buy over 200 of those apartments. And this money would be my seed capital.
Chairman Jin stroked my head and said,
“If you lose that, it’ll be a big problem, so your grandfather will keep it for you.”
I put on a sullen expression as I looked at the hand he extended. Of course, I didn’t hand over the documents. I needed to hear what I wanted to hear.
Seeing my expression, he let out another chuckle.
“You little one, you don’t want it taken away because it’s yours, do you? Hoho.”
He must have interpreted my actions as greed or possessiveness, and fortunately, my grandfather liked such possessiveness very much.
“Good. Then you keep it yourself. Don’t put it in your desk drawer and forget it. If you forget it, this ranch is not yours. Do you understand what I mean?”
“Yes, Grandfather. Thank you.”
I jumped up from the sofa and… although it was a chore, I hugged my grandfather.
Still, he gave me 16 billion won as a gift, so shouldn’t I show him this much aegyo (charm)?
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Mother’s Worries and My Subtle Influence
When I returned home after a week of being a playful grandchild at my grandfather’s mansion, my mother greeted me with a stern face.
“Do-jun. Let me see what Grandfather gave you.”
Of course. I knew he wouldn’t give it to me that easily.
Indeed, he wouldn’t entrust a child with a deed.
The interesting point was that he told my mother, not my father, that he had given me the land. Was he perhaps a little more at ease with the unwelcome daughter-in-law than with his untrustworthy son?
I handed the envelope to my mother.
She hastily took it, scrutinized the photos and documents for a long time, then put them down.
I couldn’t read her expression.
The cold treatment she had received for so long, and now this 180-degree turn of attention and a gift. Although it was a piece of paper as good as barren wasteland, it was the first property the Chairman had gifted.
She seemed uneasy and apprehensive about being happy.
“Do-jun. I’ll keep this. So you don’t lose it.”
Traditionally, it’s correct for a mother to keep the pocket money children receive.
“Yes. Please do.”
“And Grandfather specifically asked you not to boast about the ranch to your other cousins. Understood?”
“Understood. Don’t worry.”
My mother, who knew my serious nature, seemed relieved.
I observed her expression, then carefully opened my mouth.
“Mother.”
“Yes. Why?”
“By any chance… do you have any money?”
As I abruptly brought up money, my mother’s eyes widened.
“Money? Why? Did you run out of pocket money? No, you don’t use pocket money. If there’s anything you want, tell me. Mom will buy it for you.”
Being a child, it was natural for her to think of it as mere pocket money, but the money I spoke of was not on that level.
“No. I don’t need pocket money; I’ll need a lot of money.”
“A lot of money? How much?”
Now, my mother’s eyes shifted with curiosity.
“I heard something when I was at Grandfather’s house. Ilsan is… where is that?”
“Ilsan? Well. Mom doesn’t know either? Why?”
As expected, she had no idea about worldly affairs.
Well, it didn’t matter. I didn’t expect it anyway. All I wished was for my kind, kind mother to have at least one reliable stash of cash.
My job was just to subtly drop hints.
“I don’t really know, but they say a place called Ilsan will soon turn into a city. And that the land prices will go up?”
“What? Who said that? Grandfather?”
“Ah, no. Grandfather’s company uncles said something like that.”
She wouldn’t be so naive as to not grasp my meaning. Nor was she a brainless woman who would squander all the generous living expenses her father-in-law sent her.
With bank interest rates at 15% annually, she would certainly have saved a considerable amount of money, and how she chose to use that nest egg was her own decision.
Though a little flustered, I left my mother, who was now deep in thought with sparkling eyes, and went up to my room. I plopped onto my bed and reviewed what I needed to do next, but there was nothing particularly special.
I was too young.
If I were in my twenties, how much more preparation could I have done? Putting aside my regret, I picked up a book.
There’s nothing like reading to suppress an impatient mind. In fact, there wasn’t much else to do besides reading in that era.
I spent the entire winter break with books, and thus a new era, the Sixth Republic, began.
On February 25th, Roh Tae-woo was inaugurated as the 13th president, and soon after, the 13th National Assembly election campaign began.
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A Master Tactician and His Triumph
Chairman Jin Yang-cheol was a tactician beyond my imagination.
The most surprising thing, in particular, was how he utilized the National Assembly election as an advertisement billboard for Sunyang Electronics.
As the election approached, all regional candidates drove around their constituencies in trucks, their voices hoarse, trying to win votes.
Chairman Jin, aiming for the special boom of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, was preparing ultra-expensive TVs and VCRs needed for watching and recording games. He hastily made prototypes and began “loaning” them to all candidates.
These were TVs with huge 33-inch screens, supporting stereo sound with separate surround speakers and a woofer, and even equipped with PIP (Picture In Picture) function, allowing two channels to be viewed simultaneously for the first time.
In an era when a fresh college graduate’s monthly salary was around 330,000 won, these were ultra-expensive TVs costing a whopping 2.6 million won.
And a 450,000 won VCR boasting incredible technology: a wireless remote control.
These two products rode on the candidates’ trucks and toured the entire nation.
Voters flocked, showing more interest in the electronic products than in the candidates’ blood-curdling campaign promises.
It was a clever tactic that solved product testing and advertising at once. In neighborhoods where a campaign truck had passed, inquiries poured in, and TV news, which covered this immense curiosity, put the final stamp on the advertisement.
Compared to such an advertising effect, my uncle-in-law’s election to the National Assembly was hardly newsworthy.
Because if Sunyang’s son-in-law were to lose in Suwon, a city even called Sunyang-si, it would be akin to a natural disaster.
However, even such an obvious event had to be celebrated.
The victory celebration was expected to be held at Grandfather’s mansion but was instead held at the Grand Ballroom of Sunyang Hotel.
It seemed they avoided the house, likely because veteran National Assembly members were also attending. This was to prevent media capture of national representatives frequenting a chaebol home, which could cause controversy.
When the celebration was announced to be at the hotel, my father and mother’s expressions improved slightly.
The reason was that, unlike at home, they wouldn’t be treated like housekeepers at the hotel.
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