[Planting Gold in American Soil]
Choi Deok-bae, who had been lying on the bed in a luxury Manhattan hotel suite watching TV, turned to ask Yoon-gi, who was scribbling something on a map. Yoon-gi turned his head.
“What is it?”
As Yoon-gi listened quietly, Choi Deok-bae continued. Yoon-gi chuckled at the seemingly reasonable question and shook his head.
“I’m not that capable.”
For a moment, Choi Deok-bae jumped up from his seat. At his words, which seemed to reflect a slight scratch to his family pride, Yoon-gi made a soothing gesture.
“Don’t get so worked up. Did everyone in the Choi family pass the Awongwongje (top-tier civil service exam)? Is passing it considered average?”
“Well, even if you inherit the bloodline of the Choi family, you can still be ordinary.”
Choi Deok-bae’s words were true, and Yoon-gi admitted it to himself as well. But reality is reality.
“My life before the regression didn't give me the conditions to study. If I had studied back then, I think I could have easily become a department head at a major conglomerate.”
Yoon-gi nodded.
“That was an indirect answer. The problem is that the me before the regression really didn't know anything. Facebook? YouTube? Google? Of course, I know them all. But the problem is that while I know the brands, I have no idea how those brands were established.”
Only then could Choi Deok-bae understand why Yoon-gi was acting this way.
“I want to establish Facebook, too. I want to establish YouTube. No, if you think that’s a bit too far in the future, I want to swallow up Apple, Sony, and Samsung entirely.”
“But I can’t. Because I don’t know how.”
“You didn’t know?”
Choi Deok-bae, who had been speaking up to this point, narrowed his eyes while looking at Yoon-gi.
“Ah, no, that’s not it!”
Yoon-gi hurriedly folded the map and changed the subject.
“Anyway, what I can do right now is not to invest too far into the future, nor to make short-sighted investments. At the very least, I know what kind of products will be popular in the future, so my strategy is to recruit the talent who can make them a reality or invest in them.”
Yoon-gi nodded.
“Yes. My goal isn’t simply to become a rich man or the greatest genius. My goal, before coming to America, was to be the manager of the best conglomerate in Korea, and now, it’s to be the manager of the best conglomerate in the world. Isn’t the top priority for a manager to manage well?”
While Choi Deok-bae was nodding, Yoon-gi quickly bowed twice to the minibar provided in the hotel room.
“Are you doing a blog, too?”
“What is that?”
Choi Deok-bae’s hands kneaded as if grabbing a steamed bun, and his face turned red. Then, with a sound of “Ugh, ugh,” he made a perverted old man’s expression, only to come to his senses with a sharp “Ha!”
“I’m an adult, you know? And really… no, never mind.”
Yoon-gi had a lot to say but held back because he didn’t want to stoop to the same level, and Choi Deok-bae, who also had plenty to say, kept his mouth shut as well, feeling that speaking out loud would only prove his own level. Thanks to this, the silence was dramatically agreed upon, and soon the room was filled only with the sound of Yoon-gi’s pen as he studied.
Knock, knock, knock!
A quiet knocking sound echoed.
“Who is it?”
“Young Master, it’s me, Geun-tae.”
“Ah, come in.”
As Yoon-gi opened the door, Ryu Geun-tae entered and bowed his head.
“The negotiations with Microsoft are completely finished. Although they are unlisted shares, you will receive periodic dividends commensurate with the investment, and from 10 years from now, you will be able to exert power related to management.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Not at all. I am just grateful to the Young Master for giving me such a good experience.”
“You will have many more experiences in the future.”
“If I had my way, I would like the Chairman to keep me by his side forever…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make it happen even if I have to throw a tantrum. I trust you, too, sir.”
A bond of loyalty as strong as that between Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang bloomed between the two. Choi Deok-bae could see it, but he had enough tact not to intervene.
“If it’s alright, may I offer you one piece of advice?”
“What is it?”
Perhaps because he felt their relationship had become close enough, Ryu Geun-tae began to offer advice from the bottom of his heart.
“The Young Master speaks English at a high level through self-study and my tutoring, but judging by your conversation with Bill Gates, it seems there is still room to learn in terms of pronunciation. In that sense, how about living in the United States during your vacations, or at least starting from elementary school?”
“I was actually thinking of doing that. Thank you for the good suggestion.”
“I’m glad I didn’t disturb the Young Master’s peace of mind. Other than this, I don’t think there’s anything else I need to tell you.”
“I think I could start from this semester, but we still have work left to do, don’t we?”
“That is true.”
“Then, let’s go see Grandfather.”
Brigadier General Colson’s room was right next door. Since Yoon-gi was sharing a room with his mother, Park Yeon-ji, he headed to the Brigadier General’s room with Ryu Geun-tae.
Knock, knock, knock!
“Grandfather!”
“Oh, come in!”
As the door opened, Yoon-gi ran over and hugged his grandfather.
“This kid, seeing how sociable he is, he would have lived well no matter who he was born to.”
‘That is absolutely not true.’
For once, the opinions of Yoon-gi and Choi Deok-bae were in perfect agreement, and both chuckled inwardly without knowing who started it.
“Grandfather, where is Mom?”
“Are you looking for your mom in your grandfather’s room?”
At the disappointed expression on Brigadier General Colson’s face, Yoon-gi hugged him once more.
“That’s not it, I just didn’t see her here or next door. Of course, I came here to see you, Grandfather.”
“Your mother stepped out for a moment to meet some American friends.”
“Does Mom have American friends?”
“Of course. There are the daughters of my friends, aren’t there?”
“Ah.”
Watching his grandson nod, Brigadier General Colson asked.
“How is it, coming to America at your age? It was good to come, right?”
Brigadier General Colson wanted to say, ‘Why don’t you settle down in America with this grandfather?’, but he forced himself to hold back. He knew that living as his grandson was materially and emotionally less beneficial than living as Choi Ki-hyun’s grandson.
‘Should I quit Northrop and live in Korea?’
But he gave up on this, too. He believed that only by working at Northrop could he help Choi Ki-hyun.
“America seems like a truly amazing country. The land is so vast even in the countryside, and seeing how wide the cities are, it’s no wonder America is a superpower.”
Hearing his home country praised, Brigadier General Colson smiled broadly. Then, at Yoon-gi’s sudden bow, he asked with a slightly flustered laugh.
“Why, why are you suddenly bowing?”
“Thank you for letting me be born! If it weren’t for you, Grandfather, I wouldn’t be able to live this happily.”
“This kid…”
Brigadier General Colson felt as if his life had been rewarded, and he chatted with his grandson for a while. Only after quite some time had passed did Yoon-gi bring up the main point.
“Grandfather. I had a thought after seeing the corn farm the other day.”
“Hmm?”
“It seems like corn farming is the identity of your family. Are you ashamed of corn farming, Grandfather?”
Brigadier General Colson shook his head vigorously.
“Not at all. Even if I ran away because I hated corn farming, I respect my father more than anyone else. Now that I’m older, I just feel sorry. How worried must my parents have been, with the heart of a parent, while I was rolling around on the battlefield?”
There was a light of nostalgia for his parents in Brigadier General Colson’s eyes, which were slightly moist.
“That’s why I’m saying this, I want to farm corn in America, too.”
“Uhh?”
At the unexpected words, Brigadier General Colson looked stunned. No matter how nice the words sounded, surely it wasn’t corn farming?
“Ah, I don’t mean I’ll farm it myself, but to preserve the memories of our family, I thought I’d buy land in a few places in America and set up small corn fields.”
“Ho-ho…”
Brigadier General Colson thought it wasn’t a bad idea after all.
“Is it not possible?”
“No, how could it be impossible? If you cherish me and our family like that, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
“So I thought about it, and I want to buy land in these six places.”
As Yoon-gi spread the map of the United States on the bed, there were holes in six places, and the areas around those holes were circled with a red marker.
“These six places? What was your criteria?”
Yoon-gi looked shy.
“Actually, I talked to Mr. Geun-tae, but I don’t know much about American land. So we decided to hang a map on the wall and throw darts to decide.”
Geun-tae, having heard it that way from Yoon-gi, looked at Brigadier General Colson and nodded.
“Yes, that is correct.”
Of course, Geun-tae only heard it from Yoon-gi as a post-hoc justification.
“Wouldn’t it be better to decide properly?”
Yoon-gi shook his head.
“It’s just a feeling, but I think my ancestors might have chosen the places where I threw the darts.”
“Well, that could be true.”
Understanding the customs of Koreans, Brigadier General Colson did not add any further comments to his grandson’s words.
‘I’m glad my hometown is included.’
The places Yoon-gi pointed out were a total of six locations: Indiana, Texas, New Mexico, and Alaska. Among these, Indiana was a smokescreen to make it easier to persuade Brigadier General Colson. The other five were oil-producing regions that would later appear prominently in Korean news.
‘Thank you, Mr. Kim.’
Mr. Kim, who would hold a newspaper during lunch breaks at construction sites and curse the government, would spit and argue passionately whenever something good happened in America, saying the government should learn from them. Mr. Kim, who would bring the newspaper and lecture hundreds of times, saying, “Look! In this region!”, was a nuisance in the past, but now he was a nuisance in a different sense.
‘I wish I knew more, but this alone will be perfect preparation for 20 to 30 years from now.’
In effect, he had monopolized oil fields large enough to appear in the newspapers.
‘My job is to grow the Samwoo Group so that these oil fields aren’t forcibly taken by the U.S. government in 20 or 30 years. If I don’t have power, this future I’ve prepared so carefully will be nothing but a scrap of paper.’
As Yoon-gi nodded inwardly and was carefully making his future plans, Park Yeon-ji opened the door and entered.
“Oh, how did it go?”
At Brigadier General Colson’s words, Park Yeon-ji blushed and said cautiously.
“They said it’s a pregnancy.”
In an instant, Yoon-gi’s head snapped around like a flag caught in a gale.
‘What? Pregnancy?’