Family Ties and Business Lessons
A few misunderstandings were cleared up, and a makeshift table was quickly set up on the observation deck.
The attendants brought out a table and chairs from who knows where and covered it with a pristine white tablecloth, as if it were a hotel restaurant.
Do they seriously carry that stuff around with them all the time? This uncle’s character is something else.
While Lee Shin watched Lee Chan-bin with the fascinated eyes of someone who had discovered an interesting creature, Yun Cho-a returned with takeout coffee and chocolate cake, neatly arranging them on the table.
“It’s not much, but please help yourselves.”
“Indeed. It’s been nearly three years since I’ve seen a table this ‘not much.’”
“It’s the best-selling dessert at our Lair Cafe. It’s not too sweet, so I like it a lot too.”
“I was trying not to say anything, but our nephew really lacks basic manners. When an adult visits, shouldn’t you first ask if they’ve eaten and offer to move to a proper place? Suggesting we talk here?”
“I was also trying not to say anything, but our second uncle lacks manners too. You show up at someone else’s house without even a phone call, and empty-handed at that? If it were me, I’d at least stop by the convenience store and bring a case of Bacchus. That’s why people without manners need to at least have some tact.”
“What did you just say, you little—”
“Whoops. My true feelings slipped out.”
Just eat. Eat. It’s delicious, okay?
Lee Shin grinned brightly as he stabbed his fork into the cake and popped a piece into his mouth.
Lee Chan-bin sat back down with a sullen expression and sipped his coffee.
“So, why did you really come? To see my face?”
“Watch your mouth. I stopped by while I was here to see the stadium I’m building.”
“Hmm? The stadium… you’re building?”
“Ido Construction is mine. So of course I’m the one building it.”
“But aren’t you the president of Ido Motors, second uncle?”
“Hah…”
Lee Chan-bin let out a scoffing laugh.
“I realized it when I saw you turning prime land into some childish playground. My nephew only has talent for guild work and knows absolutely nothing about business. Listen carefully.”
To summarize the complicated explanation:
The Ido Group’s power was so concentrated on Chairman Lee Sang-byuk that people called it an absolute monarchy. His children used their own “lines” to manage the subsidiaries in order to solidify that power.
In other words, they were essentially middle managers.
“I have an office at Ido Motors, Ido Construction, Ido Heavy Industries, and even Ido Hotel.”
“……Wow…… that’s impressive?”
“What? Are you finally seeing how great your second uncle is?”
“No, not you. I’m talking about Grandpa. He’s getting on in years, but his ambition is still burning strong. He’ll probably be just fine until he’s a hundred.”
“!!”
Lee Chan-bin was caught off guard.
Indeed, Lee Shin had seen right through to the core.
Lee Chan-bin acted as if he owned those subsidiaries, but when you looked closely, all the real power still originated from Chairman Lee Sang-byuk.
Put nicely, he was a proxy. Put harshly, a mouthpiece. In cruder terms, a figurehead president.
Perhaps because something he didn’t want exposed had been revealed, Lee Chan-bin’s brow furrowed slightly.
“I learned a lot. It was a very informative conversation. So, could our greeeaaat second uncle please tell me the ‘real’ reason he came to visit a mere guild representative?”
“You arrogant little—”
Inhale. Exhale… I can’t ruin things over something like this.
Lee Chan-bin swallowed the words he was about to say and took a deep breath to calm himself.
Then he got straight to the point.
“……You’ve been harassing our people lately, I hear.”
“If you cut out the middle and just say that, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Start from the beginning. What kind of complaint is this?”
“Don’t play dumb. The site managers called me begging for help. They said you’ve got their hands and feet completely tied, and it’s gone way too far. A few even asked to be pulled from the site entirely.”
“Hands and feet? Tied? Hmm…… Ahhh—? You mean that?”
Lee Shin’s smile changed slightly. The bright, cheerful expression took on a faintly bitter edge.
“Yeah, that did happen.”
Fundamentally, Lee Shin didn’t interfere with things he wasn’t directly involved in.
Whether it was because he had a strong sense of self-objectivity or because of the trauma from that department head bastard who still popped into his head whenever he sat in front of a computer, he wasn’t sure.
Regardless, once he entrusted someone with a task, he tended to give them full authority based on trust.
That’s why, after signing the contract with Ido Construction for the stadium, he had tried to stop paying attention to it. He had tried… but then he happened to overhear something.
— “Hey, Director Choi, how much are you skimming this time? Ten percent? Fifteen?”
— “Fifteen sounds good. After all, if they’re the president’s family, they’re still part of the Ido family. We should help each other out at times like this.”
— “True. If not now, when are we supposed to get our cut? Right?”
It was a conversation he’d caught from the site managers while stepping out briefly during a company dinner.
At first he hadn’t understood what they were saying. They were throwing around so much jargon that his head was spinning.
So he recorded it, and Yun Cho-a gave him a very simple interpretation.
— “It’s about receiving rebates.”
— “They’re taking kickbacks? In my stadium? Sister, explain it in detail. Don’t leave out a single word.”
They were skimming a bit from labor costs and staffing agencies, pocketing some of the meal expenses, and even taking a cut from the mana stones used in the noise-blocking magic circles installed for 24-hour construction…
It was such an adorable display of creative economics that he genuinely wanted to bite their heads off.
“Right. I was willing to let it slide if they’d only taken a reasonable cut for their trouble. But our dear managers crossed the line pretty badly, didn’t they?”
They had touched the most critical materials.
The cement and rebar that formed the core of the building!
Even thinking about it now made him angry. He could only imagine how furious he had been back then.
In a rare moment, Lee Shin had spoken with a completely blank expression, asking what the hell was going on.
The response he received was ridiculous.
“They actually got mad at me, saying it was their business? Yeah, that’s when I realized. Age really can be eaten through your asshole.”
They dared to tamper with the materials for a stadium that would hold a hundred thousand of his people—his fans? And they felt no shame?
From that moment on, they were no longer human to Lee Shin. They were beasts.
And how should one treat animals? The answer was simple.
“Since you’re here, let me be direct. Is this really all Ido Construction is capable of? Does the title of ‘best’ and ‘number one’ really fit people who start acting like rats before construction has even properly begun? Is that the dignity of Ido?”
“That’s why. I told them to follow the contract exactly, to the letter. Honestly, I’d love to just scrap the contract entirely, but what can I do? Hate them or not, they’re still family. Tsk, I’d say I’ve been pretty generous, wouldn’t you?”
Of course, they weren’t actually family.
He had already tested the waters with the previous sponsorship issue. If he pushed it again with the stadium construction, he couldn’t predict how his grandfather would react. That was the real reason.
The fire that the tactless bug had started last time had been put out, but he didn’t want to risk any lingering embers.
This was Lee Shin’s own quick-witted calculation. It was also because dealing with them separately would be annoying.
In summary, tying their hands and closely supervising them had been Lee Shin’s way of preventing the situation from blowing up.
Unfortunately, Lee Chan-bin didn’t seem to see it that way.
“……I was just listening because I was curious what you were talking about, but what exactly is the problem here?”
“!!”
Lee Shin looked genuinely surprised, which was rare.
“They’re skimming labor costs, taking bribes, and diverting materials, and you’re saying that’s not a problem?”
“You must still be too young to understand. In the construction world, those things are trivial.”
Labor costs were at the site manager’s discretion, and when staffing agencies or subcontractors offered bribes, who would tell them not to accept?
If there was any real fault, it was touching the core materials, but all those site managers were people who had been covered in dirt on construction sites with Lee Chan-bin since the old days.
In a way, they were the contributors who had made it possible for Lee Chan-bin to feast on the automobile business. So they deserved to enjoy that much, at least.
Therefore, from Lee Chan-bin’s perspective, Lee Shin’s reaction seemed like nothing but an overreaction.
“Oh my god! An overreaction?”
“The construction industry is one where results are everything. No matter the process, as long as the result is good, that’s enough. Evaluation can come after the results are in. That’s also why site managers hold so much power.”
“Because it hasn’t been completed yet, there was no need to interfere?”
“Well, something like that. Anyway, what I want to advise you is this.”
Lee Chan-bin lit a cigarette with a hiss.
“If corruption, customs, and the things you find uncomfortable are long-standing traditions in this industry, then you need to understand them. That’s what business is.”
You need to understand.
Understand, understand, understand…
Suddenly, Lee Shin thought back to the old days.
Back when he would commute in the early morning dew and spend all day coding logic on a monitor.
Even then, he had heard a lot about customs, understanding, and the like.
— “Hey, hey, just let that go. Leave it alone. Shh, that’s not something we should touch. It’s an industry custom. We’re all in the same business, so let’s not make things awkward. Just understand and move on. You get what I’m saying, right?”
— “Ha, seriously, Mr. Lee, do you always have to make things difficult by pointing out every little thing? Sure, you have the skills now and can say whatever you want, but later when your head hardens, you’ll be the one in trouble.”
Things that made him uncomfortable. Things that benefited him.
They were dishonest acts done in the name of compromise, and in return, his pockets would grow heavier.
The company—no, society—told him to understand.
For the sake of collective benefit rather than personal conscience.
When he came out of those thoughts, the serious expression on Lee Shin’s face had been replaced by his usual bright smile.
“I understand. It seems I was judging things by my own standards instead of trying to understand.”
“I’m glad you’re more reasonable than I expected.”
“It was a very good lesson. I’ll be sure to remember what business really is.”
“I feel pretty good knowing I was able to help my nephew. Since we’re already face-to-face, why don’t we clean this up as well?”
At Lee Chan-bin’s gesture, an attendant in a suit pulled out a document envelope and placed it neatly in front of Lee Shin.
“What’s this?”
“It’s what you mentioned earlier.”
“What I mentioned earlier…… Ah!”
A conversation flashed through his mind.
— “Look, sister. We’re building a hotel on that scenic coastal area with the great ocean view. Then a department store over there, and a multiplex and club on that side.”
— “Essentially, it’s about drawing people’s footsteps.”
Lee Chan-bin took a satisfying drag from his cigarette, rinsed his mouth with coffee, and looked around.
The view from the observation deck was quite impressive. It was almost too good for such a rural town.
“You said you needed related facilities, right? No need to worry about it. Just sign here, and I’ll take care of the hotel, department store, everything.”
“Is this also business?”
“That’s right. It’s business.”
“Sounds good. Let’s do business then.”
At those words, a broad smile spread across Lee Chan-bin’s face.
“Hahaha, I must have misunderstood you all this time. To think I called a kid who communicates this well a good-for-nothing.”
“From the first time I saw you, you didn’t feel like a stranger. I quite like you too, second uncle.”
Hahaha. Hahahaha.
Lee Chan-bin laughed heartily. Lee Shin laughed back at him.
Just as Lee Chan-bin reached out his hand, certain the deal was sealed—
The smile vanished from Lee Shin’s face as if it had never been there. And with his next words, the smile disappeared from Lee Chan-bin’s face as well.
“Sister, give me the phone number for Shinseong Construction that we saved earlier.”
“!!”
Business is about understanding? Fine.
Then just as I understand you, you should understand me too.
That’s only fair, isn’t it?
Lee Shin placed the phone displaying the number on the table and spoke casually.
“Shall we try doing business again, President Lee Chan-bin?”