The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 227



Only Krnovel

227. First shovel (1)

Land not far from where Pangyo New Town will be built.

East and West Pangyo bridges were divided by the highway, and it was in the East Pangyo area that the IIT Korea campus would be built.

A bit out of Dongpangyo.

My grandfather, the chairman, me, the vice president, and several politicians attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

After finishing the groundbreaking ceremony on a grand scale and shaking hands with politicians and local officials, my grandfather and I were able to enter the construction site in private.

“We’re finally getting to break the first shovel.”

“I didn’t know you would bring an entire foreign university with you because I was afraid you would say it wasn’t my grandson.”

“It’s just one campus, but IIT has one campus that is treated as a separate university, so that makes sense.”

“But isn’t it a waste? Ten years ago, the land was only used for farming, but now the land price has increased dozens of times due to the development of new cities. Even now, land prices are rising by 1 million won per pyeong per month.”

When new city development is announced, land prices rise vertically.

Among them, Pangyo was an area that could be called the most successful new city development project.

Since I had purchased this land a long time ago, I could have made a profit of at least 20 times more if I resold it.

Yes, I wonder how much it will take.

In the long run, it would have been more helpful to create a system to recruit talented people in a stable manner by attracting IIT’s Korean campus.

“It’s not a waste at all. And if 10 more years pass, won’t the land price rise at least five times more? If I’m in a hurry, I’ll think about selling it then.”

“By the way, I heard that you have purchased quite a bit of other land in Pangyo. What do you plan to do there?”

Land was purchased throughout Pangyo.

The largest site will house the IIT campus, but the remaining land is yet to find an owner.

“We plan to build a large office building on that land. It will become a home for IT companies.”

“Are you planning to invite IT companies to Pangyo?”

“If Pangyo is close to Seoul, wouldn’t it be worth it for IT companies to relocate? Many IT companies collaborating with Taewo Group will relocate here.”

A plan was made to turn Pangyo New Town into a proper IT city.

Of course, since we have just started digging, it was planned to take 3 to 4 years for the outline to be revealed.

“The first steps have been taken at IIT, but the new Taewoo Group building is still a long way off.”

“It is said that a public bidding for the KEPCO site will be held soon. First, we must take steps slowly, starting with obtaining the KEPCO site.”

“Even if we receive a bid for the KEPCO site, in order to build a high-rise building, regulatory issues must be resolved, which will not be easy.”

“Licensing issues usually take about 4 to 5 years. However, if we succeed in bidding for the KEPCO site, we have thought of a way to drastically reduce that time.”

“I can’t wait to see the first shovel being dug. If I don’t see that, I don’t think I’ll be able to close my eyes even after I die.”

“Why do you say that again?”

It was the grandfather who had still corrected himself.

However, because he was old, he could not help but feel impatience, and he had to secure a site for a new building as soon as possible for his grandfather.

Not only securing the KEPCO site, but also the site of the Charlotte Group.

I had to resolve it within this year to satisfy my grandfather.

* * *

The KEPCO site issue was a matter to be resolved by the political world.

There were signs that public bidding would begin within this year at the latest.

There has still been no word on the Charlotte Group’s site issue.

I’ve already waited several months.

The Anor family brand entered the Charlotte Group, but there was still no response.

They will probably give us an answer only after they succeed in entering China, but strangely, it was Charlotte Group that was showing signs of sluggishness in entering China.

And today.

An invitation came from Charlotte Group.

Chairman Jin Ho-gyun, Vice Chairman Jin Jin-oh, and Vice Chairman Jin Dong-gu.

I was invited to a kind of family gathering where everyone was gathered together.

“It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen you. I thought the Charlotte Group had forgotten about me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you waiting, but things inside the group weren’t organized, so we couldn’t move on to the next step.”

Chairman Jin Ho-gyun made a sincere apology.

I didn’t complain for the purpose of receiving an apology, but I smiled sheepishly at the sight of Chairman Jin Ho-gyun offering a sincere apology.

“No. So are things within the group sorted out now?”

“Well, I can’t keep my face up. Sorry, it hasn’t been sorted out yet. I’ve called you to ask for your help with that problem.”

Chairman Jin Ho-gyun said, slightly turning his head.

He seemed really embarrassed, and there was only one thing that would cause Chairman Jin Ho-gyun to react like this.

Child problem.

Seeing the faces of the eldest son and second son sitting on either side of him turning red, it was clear that something was wrong between them.

“I will do my best to help in any way I can.”

“Vice Chairman Jin Dong-oh says he will try to expand into China. What do you think?”

“Didn’t you decide that Vice Chairman Jin Dong-gu would be in charge of entering China?”

“That’s true, but I guess I can’t take the opportunity of Vice Chairman Jin Dong-oh.”

It was Chairman Jin Ho-gyun, who was called an iron-blooded manager.

However, when it came to his children, he was no different from any other father.

He told me that he had chosen Vice Chairman Jin Dong-gu to be the next chairman, but perhaps Vice Chairman Jin Dong-oh begged for him to be given one last chance.

No parent can beat their child.

It seemed that Vice Chairman Jin Dong-oh’s plea had weakened his heart and he had not yet decided on the person in charge of entering the Chinese market.

“I’m just following Chairman Jin’s wishes.”

“Are you saying it doesn’t matter whether the person in charge is Vice Chairman Jin Jin-oh or Vice Chairman Jin Jin-gu?”

“That’s right. I trusted Chairman Jin and took on this task. I plan to revise and proceed with all plans according to Chairman Jin’s wishes.”

There was no need for me to step forward here.

During our previous meeting, I was a little inclined towards the second son, Vice Chairman Jin Dong-gu, but if I step forward when Chairman Jin is so conflicted, I will only end up getting angry on the other side.

“I didn’t mean to put a burden on you. I will make the final decision.”

[father! I definitely have to do it!]

Suddenly Japanese came out.

It was the voice of Vice Chairman Jin Dong-oh, the eldest son, and although he could listen to Korean, he was immature at speaking it.

“Chairman, I can never give in. I have already made all the plans, and all I have to do is enter the Chinese market. I don’t want to lose the dinner I prepared to Vice Chairman Jin Dong-oh.”

[You stole it! I had been planning to enter China for a long time!]

It was a contrasting tone of voice from the two vice presidents.

Vice Chairman Jin Dong-oh called the chairman father to assert his position as the eldest son.

However, Vice Chairman Jin Dong-gu paid attention to his title to show that it was an official position.

“It’s because the vessels are so small. Anyone who will lead the Charlotte Group must have a broad mind that can embrace everything. Tsk tsk tsk, what’s so urgent?”

[Rumors have already spread throughout the group that the person who succeeds in entering China will become the next chairman. But how can you give up!]

“I can’t give up either.”

It was a very tense argument between the vice presidents.

Chairman Jin must have been heartbroken to see such a sight, so he came up with a trick.

“Anyway, I was planning to put one person in charge of Charlotte Group’s Korean subsidiary and the other in charge of Japan’s Charlotte Corporation. So don’t be too biased.”

“Are you sure?”

[If so, hmm.]

It was such a complacent idea.

Give half of the company to each child?

If that happens, the power of the Charlotte Group will be reduced by half.

Although he was not unaware of this, Chairman Jin and Chairman Jang of Hyunjae Group also made this choice.

“I may be rude, but may I intervene?”

“You have to listen to whatever Vice Chairman Kim says.”

“To protect the Charlotte Group that Chairman Jin has grown, a winner-takes-all approach is essential. If the group is divided in half, the power of the Charlotte Group may not be halved, but rather reduced to half.”

Japanese shallot and Korean shallot.

Will the eldest son and second son cooperate with each other even though they have separate possessions?

Rather, it was fortunate that they did not undermine each other’s strength while competing.

“Are you saying I have to hand everything over to one person?”

“I will use a slightly profane term. In order for the Charlotte Group to last, we must hand over everything to the person who wins, and give it to the loser and split it up.”

“Hmm, you’re not wrong, but it’s not easy to do that as a father….”

The advice ends here.

The choice was entirely up to Chairman Jin, and I had no intention of intervening further.

All I could think about was that it would be nice to quickly find someone in charge of entering the Chinese market and hand over the Charlotte Group’s land.

[father! Just give me one last chance. I will prove that I have management skills as good as anyone else.]

“Hmm, Vice President Jin Dong-gu. I guess you’ll have to give in this time.”

“Chairman! It is not right to take away my opportunity to give Vice Chairman Jin Jin-oh a chance.”

It was Vice Chairman Jin Dong-gu who raised his voice.

I was in a situation where I was vomiting blood because I was so unfair.

He turned his head towards me with a look in his eyes asking for help, and I moved my chin ever so slightly, signaling him to just accept it.

“We will give Vice Chairman Jin Dong-gu a better opportunity, so don’t be too upset.”

“Oh, I understand.”

[I will definitely do it. I will prove to mainland China the ability of the eldest son to carry on my father’s blood!]

The situation was sorted out suddenly.

The person in charge of China will be changed from Vice Chairman Jin Dong-gu to Vice Chairman Jin Dong-oh.

Vice Chairman Jin Dong-oh was about to fly to China right away, so the meal did not last long.

When the meal was over.

Vice Chairman Jin Dong-gu carefully approached me and spoke softly.

“Why did you ask your brother to hand over the Chinese expansion business?”

“I never said that.”

“You gave me a signal with your chin!”

As expected, pretending not to know doesn’t work.

I tried to pretend not to notice because I didn’t want to talk too long, but I had no choice but to add something when I saw Vice Chairman Jin Dong-gu’s expression as if he was lost in the world.

“You seem to think that entering China is the only way to the throne. In fact, entering China is a poisoned chalice.”

“If it’s a poisoned chalice, do you think your entry into China will fail?”

“It would be difficult for me to say anything about that. But I can assure you that if you enter China with insufficient management skills, you will inevitably fail.”

“…I believe it. If Vice Chairman Kim does what he says, I will definitely repay you. But if things don’t work out that way, I might resent you for the rest of my life.”

It never happens that Vice Chairman Jin Dong-gu resents me.

The outcome of Charlotte Group’s entry into China was already decided.