The Chinese Partner and a Detective's Nose
◈ Chinese Business Partner: Wang Qianshu ◈
Chairman Wang Chenchen's younger brother rose from his seat and bowed politely to Young-hoon's party.
"How do you do. My name is Wang Qianshu. As my brother mentioned, we operate fifty department stores and some three hundred discount marts and distribution companies across China. Our department stores and discount marts hold the number-one market share in the country, though in general distribution we've only managed to cling to third place. I understand you met a fellow named Li Keqiang in Beijing on your way here. The company that man runs is about the size of a corner shop — mine, you can think of as roughly the scale of a supermarket."
Wang Qianshu introduced himself with obvious pride, standing tall and confident.
On the flight to Shanghai, Young-hoon had already made a pact with the two chairmen: with the exception of anything related to the elixir business, he would take the lead in every negotiation. True to that agreement, Young-hoon once again steered the conversation.
"How do you do. I'm Kim Young-hoon, CEO of YH. I oversee our liquor business as well as our coffee and tea ventures."
With the introductions out of the way, it was time to get down to business. But first, Young-hoon asked permission.
"Chairman Wang, do you speak English?"
"Of course. I studied in the United States, so English poses no difficulty for me. Shall we converse in English from here on?"
Once they had settled on a language, Young-hoon and Chairman Wang Qianshu went straight to the heart of the matter. The three chairmen, whose English was weak, relied on Director Park and Wang Mimi to interpret for them.
Young-hoon first asked Chairman Wang whether he knew anything about the elixir. The man had wheedled a taste out of his brother Wang Chenchen before, it turned out, and knew its flavor and effects in considerable detail. Moreover, by some channel or other, he was also fairly well informed about the conversation Young-hoon had held with Chairman Li Keqiang in Xu Jiayin's office.
Young-hoon found himself suddenly curious about how the Wang brothers gathered their intelligence.
"May I ask… how exactly you came to know about the conversation between Chairman Li and myself?"
When the question was relayed to him, Chairman Wang Chenchen let out a hearty laugh and answered with refreshing candor.
"All CEO Kim needs to understand is that this is not the Republic of Korea, a liberal democracy. This is the People's Republic of China, a socialist state. In other words, the walls have ears, and the walls have eyes. I daresay that Xu fellow has a fair grasp of what we say to each other as well."
His curiosity piqued, Young-hoon probed a little deeper.
"Doesn't being under constant surveillance, every move you make, wear on your nerves?"
"You get so used to it that you stop feeling anything. That's why we settle important matters through handwritten exchanges, or with anti-bugging equipment installed. But somehow they always find a way through — the information leaks out in the end, no matter what we do. It's enough to make the ghosts weep, hahaha."
"Then might I ask — are you not bugging Chairman Xu's side yourself, Chairman?"
"Oh? Does such a thing actually happen?"
When Chairman Wang Chenchen answered with a sly, evasive smile, Young-hoon decided he had crossed the line and changed the subject.
"Ah, my apologies — our conversation wandered off track for a moment. Shall we get down to business in earnest now?"
The truth was that Chairman Wang Qianshu was more interested in high-proof liquor than in wine. Young-hoon laid out his thinking.
"…Then what would you say if baijiu — the liquor the Chinese love — showed the same effects as the wine?"
Chairman Wang Qianshu looked as though he could already smell a fortune. His eyes gleaming as he lunged at the offer, it was clear he hadn't caught wind of this particular development yet.
"No further discussion needed. Whatever the quantity, I will import and sell every last drop."
"Ah, I can't confirm anything just yet. Consider it a candidate, for now. I met Chairman Li Keqiang in Beijing yesterday, and he said exactly the same thing."
"We're on a far larger scale than that Li Keqiang character. If you absolutely must supply him as well, I'd ask you to look after me a little more favorably."
It seemed that when brothers didn't get along, the younger siblings inevitably followed suit. His own brother was at odds with Chairman Xu Jiayin, so there was no way he could be friendly with Xu's brother-in-law. And with him and Li Keqiang locked in fierce competition in the distribution market, goodwill was clearly out of the question.
Young-hoon figured that by playing Chairman Wang Qianshu and Chairman Li Keqiang off against each other just right, he could sell the Downgraded Magic Additive Wine with far greater profit and far less effort.
With the wine negotiations more or less wrapped up, it was time to discuss the tea and coffee business.
"Understood. Then shall we move on to the tea business?"
Wang Mimi knew exactly how Young-hoon had staged his demonstration for Chairman Li Keqiang in Beijing. Working in perfect sync, the two of them arranged things so Chairman Wang Qianshu could sample the tea, and Young-hoon stirred in just the tiniest pinch of the Magic Seasoning before handing the cup over.
The moment Chairman Wang Qianshu savored the tea Young-hoon offered, he shot up from his seat. Given the Chinese reverence for tea, his instincts told him at once that this was not something he could let slip away — a goose that laid golden eggs, plain and simple. He was no different from Chairman Li Keqiang, whom Young-hoon had met with in Beijing. He proposed on the spot that he be allowed exclusive import and distribution rights, insisting passionately that he would pay any price to secure them.
But remembering what Head of Division Kim Jong-seok had told him, Young-hoon had no intention whatsoever of granting exclusive rights to any single party. In his mind, the plan was already fixed: the northern region centered on Beijing would go to Chairman Li Keqiang, and the Henan region centered on Shanghai would go to Chairman Wang Qianshu. Moreover, since he intended to import tea from China in bulk, reprocess it in Korea, and sell it back to China, he was certain that maintaining a good relationship with Chairman Wang Qianshu would be a win-win for both sides.
"I imagine Chairman Wang and I will have a great deal to discuss going forward. It looks like we'll need to import raw materials from China, after all."
"Contact me at any time and I will come to you immediately. Please, I beg you — give us this opportunity."
"Once our beverage business gets underway, I'll extend an invitation when the time is right."
With the beverage business also more or less settled, Young-hoon now wanted to consult Wang Mimi about the drama production he was planning.
"CEO Wang Mimi, I'm planning to produce a twenty-episode drama."
"Really? What's it about?"
"Just a love story between a man and a woman. The script is already complete. The only thing is, it's written in Korean…"
"You know I speak Korean very well, don't you? If you have the script with you, could you let me take a look?"
Young-hoon pulled the script out of his bag and handed it to her. It ran to more than six hundred A4 pages.
"Thank you. I'll read it and get feedback to you as soon as possible."
"Yes, I'll be counting on you. Ah, and one more thing — as you go through it, please also judge whether this drama could succeed in the Chinese market."
"You needn't worry, CEO Kim. Of course, making the drama well is what matters most, but I believe presentation is every bit as important as content. In other words, I think viewership can rise or fall depending entirely on how you market it. So as long as the work isn't a total disaster, we will import it, no questions asked."
"Is there really any need to go that far? I'll simply do my absolute best to make something that won't disappoint you, CEO Wang."
With that final exchange with Wang Mimi, the business talks with the Shanghai Media Group came to a close. If things proceeded as Young-hoon planned, entry into the Chinese market looked to be no problem at all. He had already secured two massive buyers.
Young-hoon and his party enjoyed a convivial, lavish lunch, saw Chairman Wang off, and boarded the flight back to Korea.
The moment Young-hoon arrived in Korea, he logged onto an internet portal site. He wanted to check what kind of reception Returned Love, released at six o'clock the previous afternoon, had received. Of course he was confident it would succeed, but just in case, his heart was beating a little faster. It turned out to be a truly pointless worry. Returned Love was sweeping the number-one spot on every single music site in the country.
Only then did Young-hoon call President Lee Jae-man with a glad heart to let him know he'd arrived in Korea. When he asked after the Five Girls, Lee said that with the year-end season in full swing, events were pouring in and the girls were busy to the point of losing their minds. They seemed too frazzled by the hectic schedule for a long phone call, so Young-hoon arranged to meet in a day or two and hung up.
Apparently Director Park had found the previous night far too enjoyable, because he kept pestering Chairman Jang and Chairman Choi to go again. In the end, it was decided they would make another pleasure trip to China sometime in the first half of next year.
Young-hoon made it home, but whether the two-night, three-day China schedule had finally caught up with him, exhaustion hit him so hard that he flopped onto the sofa. Su-jin, watching from beside him, jabbed at him.
"Figures. Just as I thought. So you didn't go to China to work — you went to work the night shift."
"What are you talking about? Your big brother worked himself to the bone to make money, I'm telling you."
"Sure, 'night work,' was it? Tsk. Where are you trying to pull a scam, coming home with your face all gaunt like that? You must have been running matches all night for two days straight."
"You little — there's nothing you won't say to your big brother. Hey, quit the nonsense and bring me a glass of water."
"Did you buy me a present?"
"What present, between us?"
"I suppose you didn't even have time to shop, what with all your night work. Between us, my foot. Help yourself."
Having gotten a rise out of Young-hoon, Su-jin bolted to her room. Grumbling, Young-hoon poured himself a glass of water, drank it, and resolved to catch up on the sleep he'd missed over the past three days. He slept for a long while, woke when Su-jin called him for dinner, ate, and went back to bed. And just like that, Young-hoon's Sunday was gone.
December 4th, Monday. The fatigue of the China trip still lingered, and he felt tired even now. Enduring Su-jin's teasing, Young-hoon dutifully ate his breakfast and set off for the office.
Today was finally the day he would submit his resignation. Even once it was accepted, he'd have to spend about a week handing over his work — but to whom, he had no idea. Apart from Lee Ji-young, the only woman on the team, everyone in Marketing Team 3 had already left or was on their way out. After a moment's thought, Young-hoon decided to simply leave the handover in written form.
He also needed to win over PD Lee Hyo-young and PD Shin Hye-yoon one more time before the day was out. Only then, he figured, could he set the overall direction at tomorrow's meeting.
He was sketching out one plan after another in his head when Assistant Manager Park walked in carrying coffee.
"Well, well~ CEO Kim. Sounds like you had yourself a fun little trip to China?"
"Why? Is it written all over my face?"
"It is. Your face is all gaunt. Just how much water did you lose to come back looking like that? I'd love to try it sometime."
"What are you on about? I met with Chairman Wang Chenchen and Chairman Xu Jiayin and did nothing but talk business the whole time."
"Right, right~ business is great. And then at night you ride hard and fast, I bet."
"Tch. I've got nothing to say. I abstain."
Young-hoon raised both hands in surrender. Explaining himself would be pointless — Assistant Manager Park was not a man to be fooled. Then, suddenly, he cocked his head and asked,
"By the way, why did my father tag along on that trip in the first place?"
"Well, I suppose he went as the personal physician to Chairman Jang and Chairman Choi?"
"Those two chairmen look healthier than my father does. Something shady is going on, I can feel it. I'd better open a case — Detective Park is on the job."
"Weren't you the one whose detective office has no clients to speak of…? When exactly are you planning to shut it down?"
"What are you talking about? I've just been hired for a case and I'm hard at work on it as we speak."
Whoa! Wait a second — if he's not careful, am I going to get dragged into this too? I need to draw a clear line between myself and the Director. And if anything comes to light, I'm completely in the clear, no matter what.
Young-hoon had learned to fear Assistant Manager Park's instincts, which could veer off in any direction at a moment's notice. He resolved to prepare himself an excuse for dodging blame — and soon.