Franchise God - Chapter 54



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Franchise God Episode 054

Chapter 12 The Farm Owner and the 40 Thieves (1)

“No, I guess they’re being cautious because they have to build a new one after spending so much money on the factory.”

-Isn’t that a good thing? If you spend a lot of money to buy a factory and then have to build a bigger one soon after, doesn’t that mean business is going well?

“Well, that’s true.”

– Think positively. Moving frequently is never a bad thing. If it means expanding the size of your home. Of course, if it means doing the opposite, you’re in a management crisis.

“So, Mr. Ha, you’re saying you won’t be opposed to building a new factory to expand it?”

-No, it’s not for me to judge. Am I a Prime Company executive? No, I’m not.

“…….”

Jeon Seong-ryeol had nothing to say, Jeong Seo-hee, who was listening from the side, quietly laughed, and the factory manager kept looking away because he didn’t know what expression to make.

– If it’s something like buying mushrooms or food ingredients, I’m more than welcome to ask. But, as for things like company management decisions, well, I’m an outsider, so please don’t ask me.

“Since when has the largest shareholder been someone outside the company?”

-You know, the principle of separation of ownership and management. I thoroughly adhere to the basic spirit of capitalism.

After hanging up the phone, Jeon Seong-ryeol smiled awkwardly and looked back at Jeong Seo-hee and the factory manager.

“Let’s do it. Whether we expand the factory or build a new one. The president should organize it well and come up with a plan.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Establishment of a food research and development department….”

“Factory expansion is a more urgent matter, but we will pursue that in parallel.”

Jeong Seo-hee answered calmly, and Jeon Seong-ryeol couldn’t help but feel reassured by her.

* * *

After asking around in all directions, Jeong Seo-jin found out that golden umbrella mushrooms were being produced in a mountain in Gyeonggi Province.

“You mean Mt. Seorak?”

“Yes, it seems like there’s a mushroom farm on that mountain. I’ve seen trailers coming and going every day, carrying mushrooms.”

The subordinate continued his explanation while holding out dozens of photos.

“As you can see, there is a 4-meter high barbed wire fence all around the bottom of the mountain, making it impossible to approach the mountain.”

“It’s like an iron wall.”

“After all, the yellow oyster mushroom is a high-quality food ingredient. I also confirmed who the owner is. It’s a person named Ha Su-yeong.”

“Ha Soo-young?”

Jeong Seo-jin frowned slightly at the name that sounded familiar and became lost in thought.

The staff provided additional explanation.

“I am CEO Jeon Seong-ryeol’s business partner.”

“Ah! I think I’ve heard of it.”

“It appears that Prime Company also has a small stake. And it has completely taken over Seongryeol Distribution Co., Ltd. from President Jeon Seongryeol.”

“Are you taking over Seongryeol Distribution?”

“Yes, it seems that when President Jeon Seong-ryeol decided to focus on the ramen company, he handed over Seongryeol Distribution to a trustworthy partner. Instead, it seems that he exclusively supplied the Hwangbi mushrooms and used them in ramen manufacturing. Seongryeol Distribution is still supplying Hwangbi mushrooms to Prime Company.”

“President Jeon Seong-ryeol has a better business sense than I thought. But I feel a bit sorry for that guy Ha Su-yeong. He could have established Prime Company himself.”

“It’s possible that you’re not really interested in anything other than farming.”

The employee continued speaking while showing the registry documents.

“Look here. It hasn’t been long since President Ha Su-yeong purchased Mt. Seorak. It was just this year.”

“this year?”

“Yes, as soon as we purchased it, we started putting up barbed wire, and then Sungryul Distribution acquired our old JM Food factory. Then Prime Company was established, and the current ramen war began.”

“If it’s a ramen war, it should be called a ramen massacre.”

When Jeong Seo-jin spoke nonchalantly, the employee looked embarrassed.

Jeong Seo-jin, who was lost in thought with her fingers intertwined, opened her mouth.

“Anyway, the yellow truffles are being cultivated on Mt. Seorak, and the owner of the mountain is Mr. Ha Su-yeong, that’s it.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“It is clear that this person, CEO Ha Su-yeong, succeeded in lowering the cost of cultivating Hwangbi mushrooms……”

Even the most renowned agricultural experts have failed to achieve this.

I thought Jeong Seo-jin was amazing.

“But who exactly is this person named President Ha Su-yeong? Is he a professor at a famous university or something?”

Jeong Seo-jin thought that Ha Su-yeong would be someone with an agricultural doctorate.

Otherwise, there would be no way we could have succeeded in lowering the unit price of cultivating golden silk umbrella mushrooms.

But the employee’s expression was strange.

“That’s… President Ha Su-young is now twenty years old.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“He’s not even a college professor, he’s a high school graduate.”

“…….”

Jeong Seo-jin was speechless.

* * *

“You have to make sense! How can a high school graduate lower the cost of cultivating yellow oyster mushrooms? That’s a project that our parent company tried to tackle and lost 10 billion won!”

President Taeyangsim Lee and Jeonghoon Lee became furious after hearing the report.

Executive Director Park Jeon-bo tightly closed his eyes at the scolding of the young CEO in his mid-40s, who was younger than him.

“It’s true, sir, the cultivation work itself is done by a single friend named Ha Su-yeong from start to finish. The laborers just harvest and transport the crop.”

“You grow that much by yourself? Director Park, do you think that makes sense?”

“Of course, you won’t be completely alone.

However, it seems certain that Sungryeol Distribution employees also bring in people they do not know and secretly do cultivation work.”

“Did Director Park see it with his own eyes?”

“I haven’t seen it, but I heard that other than the transport workers, no one has been caught coming and going from the mountain farm.”

In terms of age, Executive Director Park Jeon-bo is more than ten years older.

But CEO Lee Jeong-hoon spoke carelessly as if he were an older person.

He is a person who can do that.

It was not just because he was the president of Silk, but also because he was the son of the owner of Seohae Food Group.

The nobility of bloodline cannot be matched by anything else.

That was precisely why Executive Director Park Jeon-bo did not feel any resistance to President Lee Jeong-hoon’s overbearing and informal speech.

President Lee Jeong-hoon went back and forth to calm his troubled mind.

“Director Park, are you sure?”

“Yes, that’s for sure.”

“Oh my. If you’ve succeeded in lowering the cost of cultivating yellow oyster mushrooms, you should be playing around in the mushroom market. Why are you daring to sneak into the ramen market with that? Have these guys lost their minds? They don’t even know how to make ramen properly, so they’re just using old recipes that have expired patents…”

Lee Jeong-hoon doesn’t usually eat ramen, so he couldn’t understand why consumers were so crazy about Hwangbi Mushroom Ramen.

Managing Director Park Jeon-bo also had a hard time convincing Lee Jeong-hoon of the reason.

What more can I say to someone who hates ramen, saying that it is something only common people eat?

‘That’s not entirely wrong.’

Prime Company’s ramen manufacturing capabilities are poor.

Otherwise, there would be no way to make and sell ramen with an old recipe that has since been patented.

Excluding the Golden Silk Umbrella Mushroom, the company’s capabilities as a ramen company are insignificant.

The problem is that the yellow mushroom is the alpha and the omega.

“Director Park. Ha Su-young, how is that friend connected to Prime Company?”

“I understand that you became entangled in the distribution of pine mushrooms. It hasn’t even been a few months since you met Jeon Seong-ryeol.”

“You said you were twenty?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then isn’t Ha Su-yeong being cleverly used by that old man, Jeon Seong-ryeol?”

“That could be the case.”

Executive Director Park Jeon-bo also agreed with that idea to some extent.

Somehow, a 20-year-old young man with a special talent for mushroom picking and cultivation came into contact with a small distribution company.

The clever businessman, who recognized the young man’s abilities, secured business funds through the distribution of pine mushrooms and established a ramen company.

And by receiving golden silk umbrella mushrooms from the young man, he aims to dominate the ramen market.

This was the development that Park Jeon-bo and Lee Jeong-hoon had in mind.

because…….

“It appears that the funds for the establishment of Prime Company came from Makemiya Investment. Makemiya Investment has a special relationship with Jeon Seong-ryeol due to a contract for the bulk supply of pine mushrooms.”

“The picture is really clear.”

Young Ha Su-yeong is being used by the rascal Jeon Seong-ryeol.

That was what the president and the managing director thought.

This was because the ownership structure of Prime Company’s shares had not yet been properly identified.

Because the name Ha Su-yeong does not appear in the corporate registration.

“In conclusion, does this mean that a friend named Ha Su-yeong somehow succeeded in lowering the price of cultivating golden umbrella mushrooms, and that a friend named Jeon Seong-ryeol is monopolizing all of it and having a blast?”

“Ha Soo-young, that friend probably owns at most 10% of Prime Company’s shares.”

“I guess so. I would have done the same.”

It’s not hard to tease a twenty-year-old who has no business acumen but has a good item.

Lee Jeong-hoon finally laughed as if he felt relieved.

“What, Director Park? Isn’t it simple? Ha Soo-young meets that friend and turns the mushroom trade over to us. We can also put a lot of golden umbrella mushrooms in Yun Ramen and sell them.”

Yun Ramen, which is warmly loved by consumers.

Japchae ramen made with a recipe that is long past its patent protection period.

If they put in the same amount of golden silk umbrella mushrooms and sell them at similar prices, it’s obvious who will win.

“Jeon Seong-ryeol is not stupid, so he would have included an exclusive sales clause.”

“Why don’t we just pay the deposit instead? Director Park, take care of it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Park Jeon-bo bowed his head sharply.

* * *

“Seohee, go home safely. I’ll contact you.”

Jeong Seo-hee got out of the car today, feeling deep in her bones how a handsome man’s brightly smiling face could be so disgusting.

“You drive carefully too.”

“Don’t worry. I always drive safely.”

“I’m telling you to drive carefully in your life. Do you realize that you’re in the wrong lane right now?”

“I’m in the perfect lane right now. The lane called Jeong Seo-hee.”

“Yeah, that lane, the wrong lane. Can’t you hear the cars behind you honking at you to get out of the way quickly?”

“Who is doing that behind me?”

Jeong Jin-seok’s once bright expression becomes a little cold.

It wasn’t directed at Jeong Seo-hee. It was directed at the unknown men honking their horns behind her, telling her to get out of the way.

Of course, Jeong Seo-hee did not say it with that intention,

“You know, I’m not interested in guys.”

“Thank goodness. I was surprised.”

“But I’m even less interested in our mischievous cutie Jinseok.”

“Don’t worry. It’ll happen when our date is over.”

“With the current flow, I don’t think that will ever happen. Anyway, I’m going in.”

Jeong Seo-hee entered the mansion.

He saw his family members who had been chattering in the living room suddenly look at him.

Jeong Seo-hee, who had become quite accustomed to it now, ignored her family’s gaze without a care.

“Jinseok, please come in for a moment and say hello.”

“It’s late. He has to go to school tomorrow too. He has to prepare diligently for the entrance exam.”

Jeong Seo-hee intentionally emphasized the word ‘everytime’, and Jeong Jae-min coughed in vain.

Jeong Seo-hee, who had been quietly looking at her father, suddenly asked a question.

“Dad, I heard that ramen sales aren’t very good these days.”