Chapter 102: Harvesting the Spoils

Taesung Group headquarters conference room.

All presidents and executives of Taesung Group affiliates gathered one after another after receiving a call from the secretary’s office.

“Have you seen the news? I heard that Chairman Kim of Wookwang Group is stepping down from his position as CEO.”

“I guess the sudden meeting of executives was to discuss in more depth the acquisition of Wookwang Group affiliates?”

“So that’s why Taesung Chemical CEO Shim was called here.”

Executives of Taesung’s affiliates glanced at President Shim, the former president of Taesung Chemical.

The middle-aged man sitting next to President Shim coughed and asked quietly.

“President Shim, do you have any plans in advance regarding the reacquisition of Taesung Chemical?”

“As I said before, this is confidential information for security reasons. Please cooperate.”

President Shim spoke cut him off as if he was annoyed.

But several presidents of other affiliates joined in and asked secretly.

“Didn’t you put a condition for re-negotiation in the contract in advance, taking advantage of this opportunity?”

“Let’s not be so picky. We need to know your plan so we can help out.”

“It’s better to have more than one person to contribute ideas and persuade the chairman. Isn’t it?”

Although his expression seemed like he had a lot to say, President Shim stubbornly kept his mouth shut.

“If President Shim can bring Taesung Chemical back, it will be a truly glorious return. Let me congratulate you in advance.”

“I see! Since Master Seongjun broke off the engagement, I ended up having to get Taesung Chemical back with just one contract.”

“I heard there was a reason why the Chairman readily gave full authority over the acquisition and merger of Taesung Chemical. You didn’t see through it to this point, did you?”

At that moment, Secretary Kim entered the conference room.

“President Shim, you should go up to the chairman’s office.”

“Let’s do that.”

President Shim stood up from his seat without saying a word.

It was only after I arrived at the president’s office that I opened my mouth.

“Is it because of the reacquisition of Taesung Chemical?”

“I guess not, but maybe He called me to something greater.”

“Bigger things?”

President Shim’s expression hardened.

“Secretary Kim, just in case, I’m telling you in advance that I had absolutely nothing to do with the arson at the Wookwang Chemical factory. I’m innocent.”

“I know.”

“hmm?”

“Don’t worry. It’ll probably be a good thing.”

“Good job?”

Secretary Kim just smiled and said nothing more.

“Now that we’ve come this far, we can hear it from the chairman himself.”

When I tried to knock on the door of Chairman Shim’s office, Secretary Kim raised her arm and blocked it.

“Not yet.”

“Why? The chairman called me?”

“The Chairman is currently in private conversation. This is an important matter that will affect the future of Taesung Group, so please do not interrupt.”

“Who on earth are you talking to that you neglected the executive meeting of Taesung’s former affiliates? Then why did you call me?”

“You’ll know once you go in.”

* * *

I had a private meeting with my grandfather in the chairman’s office at the Taesung Group headquarters.

My grandfather read and reread the handwritten thank-you note he had sent me with a look of disbelief.

Even if you do that, nothing will change.

“Jeonghyeok, why are you holding this?”

“Why are you asking me about that when your grandfather sent it to you?”

“Jeonghyeok, you’ve been helping Taesung all this time… I just can’t believe it!”

Is this so unbelievable?

“It was a thank you letter for drawing the subway map and sending me a note informing me about the oil crisis.”

“······!”

“Three notes that my father sent when he received an invitation to the Blue House New Year’s luncheon along with three drinks with the President. He said he was grateful for that.”

“······!”

“I trust documents more than words.”

Grandfather sighed deeply and placed the letter on the living room table.

“Good. Tell me. I promise to reward you for your service to Taesung.”

“I wish my mother would take Taesung Chemical as a dowry when she gets married.”

In the end, what matters in a marriage between a conglomerate family is family and money, right?

Even though I can’t do it for my mother’s family, I plan to prepare a generous dowry that no one would envy and present it in a flower palanquin.

“My father chose me over my mother, so my marriage with Woo-kwang fell through. Not only my family, but also the presidents and executives of my affiliated companies are not happy about it.”

It was something I had already experienced when I ate tteokguk on New Year’s Day.

What would have happened if I hadn’t roasted my aunt in advance and received support fire?

Even though Grandfather had put an end to the matter, the affiliate company presidents’ mouths may have been shut, but their eyes did not change.

-Who caused Taesung Chemical, which took 7 years of hard work to grow into a 30 billion won company, to go down the drain?

That was the reason for the silent criticism pouring in towards our family of three.

Our hat was destined to be treated as a burden blocking our father’s path.

That flaw would haunt me for a long time.

That’s why.

‘Why did I plan the 3rd stage of the sinking of the U-Gwang?’

First, find Woo-kwang’s weakness.

Second, expose Woo Kwang’s corruption and bring him down.

Third, take over Wookwang’s affiliates.

‘I am now at the final stage of harvesting the affiliates. It is something that must be negotiated.’

I took a three-page contract out of my coin purse and shoved it toward my grandfather.

“When I handed over Taesung Chemical, I put in place some special provisions. Do you remember them?”

It was a contract regarding the merger and acquisition of Taesung Chemical.

“Woo Kwang currently does not have the capacity to repay the short-term promissory note for the acquisition of Tae Sung Chemical shares.”

The light is sinking.

“I will not put all my effort into squeezing out money I don’t have to take advantage of chemistry, which is someone else’s rice cake.”

“Yeah, it would be different if we deliberately caused Wookwang Construction to default and turned the promissory note into worthless pieces of paper.”

“But that doesn’t matter. Since default is also considered as an impossibility to pay the bill, we can just bring Taesung Chemical back.”

I smiled brightly.

“That would actually be better.”

“why?”

“If that happens, we will be able to buy Taesung Chemical and Wookwang Securities as per the contract without having to go to the reacquisition negotiation stage. We will also be able to buy the bankrupt Wookwang Construction at a cheap price.”

I pushed the contract in front of my grandfather.

“Chemistry is something that will cost you nothing and you will get it back anyway, so please give that to my mother.”

“No, you can’t. Taesung Chemical is your father’s job.”

Grandpa cut it off perfectly.

“I can’t take my child’s food bowl away and put it in my daughter-in-law’s hands.”


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“Wasn’t the story over when Taesung Chemical, which was your father’s share, was handed over to Wookwang?”

I tapped the part of the M&A agreement that said ’15 billion promissory note’, which was the acquisition amount, with my fingertips.

“Why did I create a three-page contract?”

“What, what are you making?”

“You insisted on attaching conditions for re-acquisition negotiations. What could be the reason?

“no way······!”

“If you don’t believe me, ask President Shim. He’ll be waiting outside the chairman’s office right now.”

“President Shim, are you there? If you’re there, come in!”

Grandfather shouted.

As if he had been waiting, the door to the chairman’s office opened wide, and President Shim entered with a stern expression.

“Mr. Chairman, did you call?”

“Who wrote the contract regarding the merger and acquisition of Taesung Chemical?”

“Written by Master Jeonghyeok.”

“It’s not like Jeong-hyeok wrote down what you said?”

“Mr. Chairman, do you think that makes sense? I would rather type it myself. You wouldn’t have a child who hasn’t even gone to elementary school type it on a typewriter.”

“······.”

“Besides, that’s a merger and acquisition contract with Wookwang worth 15 billion won. How could I not be crazy?”

The grandfather closed his mouth as if he was speechless at President Shim’s words.

“For your information, all the special terms and conditions regarding the reacquisition negotiations have been prepared by you, Master.”

“her?”

“The only thing I added to that contract was the last special clause written in my own handwriting at the bottom.”

Grandfather checked the very end of the three-page contract.

< Instead of pressuring the debtor to pay the bills before maturity, Taesung also handles the collateral, Wookwang Securities, in lieu of negotiating the terms for reacquisition.>

Grandfather burst into laughter.

“Does this make sense? Jeong-hyeok is only eight years old!”

“Yes, the moment I received that contract, I felt exactly like the chairman. But what can I do? This is happening right before my eyes.”

“her······!”

“I decided to accept it, thinking that the Chairman’s bloodline is indeed different, even though he is young.”

“This is it······.”

Grandfather took a deep breath.

“Even if my grandson looks just like me, he’s still only eight years old······.”

“That’s right.”

“Does it make sense that an eight-year-old kid would sign a merger and acquisition agreement with Woo Kwang?”

“Isn’t that ridiculous? I was feeling exactly like that.”

“They say he created a proper contract that only highlighted the key points······.”

“That’s what I mean. Anyway, I was just telling the truth.”

Mr. Shim shrugged.

“One of the two missions I announced while eating tteokguk on New Year’s Day was to bring back Taesung Chemical. That was also your blueprint.”

“······!”

“Actually, what I was thinking was to somehow drag out the acquisition negotiations with Wookwang and gradually embezzle Taesung Chemical’s assets, leaving behind only an empty shell.”

“That means······!”

“It almost caused a fire at Taesung Chemical instead of Wookwang Chemical. Wasn’t it a planned arson attack from the beginning to remove the chairman from his position as CEO?”

“Hmm!”

“Do you know how much I sweat? If there had been an explosion at Taesung Chemical, the chairman and I would have been in deep trouble.”

President Shim looked back at me.

“Thanks to your foresight, we were able to avoid disaster. So isn’t it the chairman’s blessing and Taesung’s blessing?”

“Honestly, our Jeong-hyeok is a lucky charm. I heard that the whole family had a dream about Jeong-hyeok riding a yellow dragon at the same time.”

My grandfather, who said he absolutely did not believe in superstitions, nodded with a solemn expression.

“But Taesung Chemical······.”

“Thanks to that contract, Taesung Chemical is going to be eaten up anyway. Please do as you wish, Master.”

“This is Taesung Chemical, which you have worked hard to develop for 7 years.”

“It was the Chairman who suggested that we settle the stake in Woo-kwang, and it was Master Jeong-hyeok who got it back.”

President Shim spoke bluntly.

“You have done a great job. Instead of belittling your achievements by making excuses about your age, I would like to ask you to reward me generously.”

My grandfather looked back at me.

“If you don’t want to hand over chemistry in your daughter-in-law’s name, then hand it over in the name of Master Jeonghyeok.”

“In Jeonghyeok’s name?”

“Think about it the other way around. If Woo-kwang had come forward to liquidate his stake, Tae-sung would have had to spit out all 15 billion won. But what about now?”

“······Without spending a single penny, I ended up eating up all of Woo Kwang’s shares worth 15 billion won.”

“Woo-kwang took all the blame, and Tae-sung was able to get rid of the troublesome 50% joint stock without losing any employees, factories, or shares. Who was the one to thank?”

“Ahem!”

“It’s all thanks to this contract that Master Jeonghyeok wrote. Isn’t that right?”

President Shim drove the wedge in.

“And that’s not all? The Woo Kwang Securities that were used as collateral were also included as a bonus.”

President Shim plopped down on the sofa next to me.

“Even if the stock price plummets, Wookwang Securities is a valuable company that can be acquired for at least 8 billion won. Thanks to you, I will make a big profit.”

Grandfather had a complicated expression.

On the other hand, President Shim tilted the coffee pot and brewed coffee with a relaxed expression.

My grandfather remained silent until he began to sip his coffee.

“Good. Taesung Chemical was supposed to be your father’s share anyway.”

Finally, the grandfather nodded.

“President Shim is right. We were able to sell off 15 billion won worth of Wookwang shares without spending a single penny, and the credit for that is entirely thanks to this merger and acquisition agreement. We have to admit that.”

It meant that they would give Taesung Chemical away.

President Shim drank his coffee with the corners of his lips raised.

He winked at me with one eye.

“thank you.”

I put my hands together and bowed my belly.

“So, are we done with our business? Then, I’ll take this opportunity to attend the executive meeting of the affiliated company······.”

“Not yet.”

“Do you have any more business?”

“Now let’s take this opportunity to exact a hefty amount of compensation from Woo-kwang. I’m thinking of taking down one more affiliate.”

“Tearing off affiliates as compensation for damages?”

Grandfather laughed in vain.

“I was the one who suggested breaking off the engagement, and I was the one who ended up losing the 15 billion won worth of Taesung Chemical shares. How can you demand compensation on top of that? It’s out of the question.”

“Why is there no excuse? Secretary Kim!”

As I shouted, Secretary Kim, who had been waiting outside the door, came in and politely handed me the documents she had been holding at her side.

“What is this?”

“This is a statement handwritten by former Taesung Construction CEO Cha Yun-seong.”

“The 2 billion won in bribes from Wookwang Construction that were taken from Taesung Construction’s safe!”

As expected from our grandfather!

Looks like you got the idea.

‘This is our father’s share!’

If you only take care of your mother’s share, won’t your father be disappointed?