The King of Labor (2)
'Here... they definitely did something to the concrete.'
Although he had spent most of his life as a day laborer, he had learned a great deal by listening to other workers over the years. Because of that, Yoon-gi was certain that the concrete he was looking at now would inevitably cause a major problem later.
He ground his teeth. He had embarked on this construction project with such ambition, but the moment he saw the concrete that had been 'deliberately ruined by anyone's standards,' his blood boiled.
'It's too obvious who ordered this.'
No one in their right mind would incite such sabotage at this construction site. A little bit of digging into the intelligence network would reveal the relationship between Choi Cheol-kyu and JSD. That meant the culprit was someone with almost no intelligence network at all.
'Uncle... no, Choi Cheol-min, you've crossed the line.'
He could ignore the tantrums thrown in front of his grandfather. He could ignore the shouting when his favors were rejected. But he could not tolerate this blatant attempt to bring a person down.
'Hoo.'
Yoon-gi calmed his boiling insides and began to walk again. Ryu Geun-tae, who had been offering words of encouragement to the workers, finished his speech without making it look obvious.
"If you keep working as hard as you are now, I won't let you down when it comes to food. Everyone, keep up the hard work. Got it?"
Leaving behind the shouts of the workers in that section, Ryu Geun-tae and Yoon-gi began to walk again. And that day, Yoon-gi discovered signs of irregularities in several places.
"President, here is the department store blueprint you asked for."
It was Kim Jeong-seon's construction office. But the person Ryu Geun-tae called 'President' was not Kim Jeong-seon, but Yoon-gi.
"Spread it out."
A large map filled the reception table. The first-floor blueprint of the premium department store, aiming for two basement levels and seven floors above ground, was laid out before Yoon-gi, Kim Jeong-seon, Ryu Geun-tae, and Choi Cheol-kyu.
Scribble, scribble, scribble!
At 10:00 PM, in the dim light of the fluorescent lamp, Yoon-gi drew circles all over the blueprint with a marker.
"President Kim, you see the places I've circled, right?"
"Yes, I do."
Watching Kim Jeong-seon, who bowed his head politely, Yoon-gi met his eyes and spoke with gravity.
"Cross-reference this with the work logs and find out who worked on these spots. Everyone, from the foreman down to the day laborers."
"Understood. Is there a problem with those areas?"
Kim Jeong-seon's expression stiffened. It was because the 'young President' before him wouldn't ask for such a thing without a reason.
"Yes, a very big problem. But don't point it out; just find out who they are. And have the people who match the logs work in specific locations."
"You mean you want me to ferret them out, but not catch them red-handed?"
"Exactly. For now, just collect the evidence."
"I will do that. And I am truly sorry. I should have checked this myself first..."
"It's alright. The budget isn't exactly generous right now, so you must be busy. I can help with things like this anytime."
The department store currently under construction was indeed a premium one, but it was certainly smaller in scale compared to modern department stores, and the construction methods were less labor-intensive. Even so, the costs involved were by no means trivial.
More than 450 workers were deployed daily. At the time, the daily wage for a day laborer was around 15,000 won, so even if all 450 were calculated as day laborers, it cost about 7 million won per day. Since the sum of material costs and equipment rental fees was usually slightly higher than labor costs, the actual daily expenditure reached 15 million won.
By modern standards, that would be roughly 70 million won per day. It was fortunate that Yoon-gi had purchased the land cheaply in advance; if rumors had spread that he was selecting a site for a department store, the land costs would have been astronomical.
"Thank you for understanding. But President, if this isn't handled quickly, there will be problems..."
As Kim Jeong-seon trailed off, Ryu Geun-tae picked up the conversation.
"President, if we have to redo this part, I think there will be a setback in our current capital management. The situation is already quite tight, so depending on the circumstances, we might need to consider pausing construction for a while."
The dividends Yoon-gi received from Microsoft this year were just over 400,000 dollars. That was a little over 260 million won in Korean currency. By rights, that amount wouldn't even keep the construction going for 20 days. The cost of building a department store was beyond imagination.
Still, because Yoon-gi had purchased prime land in Seoul at low prices, he was collecting significant rental income from the buildings on those sites, and because he had been rolling his money, he had the capacity to continue construction until the end of September. Of course, this was only possible because he wasn't in a desperate situation to defend his Microsoft stake.
"Proceed for now. Even if we redo this area, it just means the construction that could be maintained until the end of September will be shortened to mid-September, right? I can handle that somehow."
"Understood."
Because he had no doubts about his master, Ryu Geun-tae nodded immediately, and the four-person meeting at the construction office came to an end.
"Honestly, I was a bit surprised too."
In Yoon-gi's room with the lights off, only the bluish figure of Choi Deok-bae floated in the air.
"I'm closer to an expert on the field, but I haven't actually built one myself. If I had lived this life with only vague memories instead of studying, I would have literally gone bankrupt."
Yoon-gi shook his head. His expression was enough to scare even a ghost. With a grinding sound, Yoon-gi opened his mouth, his voice sharp and cold.
"I'll have to make my uncle pay for this."
"Burp-!"
One of the lackeys in the gang patted his stomach and let out a burp into the air. This scene wasn't just the Oh Jeong-su gang; it was the appearance of most of the workers working at Yoon-gi's site.
"The daily wage here is a bit stingy, but I have to admit, the food is really something."
Hearing this, Oh Jeong-su clicked his tongue, but he didn't particularly disagree. The food at the construction site's canteen was that good. Yoon-gi had set the wages at a precarious line based on his own experience, and instead created attractive aspects in other areas. Of course, workers who only wanted the money would work for a day and go elsewhere, but those who wanted a warm meal settled down at this construction site.
This was a good thing for the construction office, a good thing for the workers, and a good thing for Oh Jeong-su's gang.
"Anyway, it's good that the people here don't change often. We can keep hanging around."
"I think so too. Anyway, same thing again today. Got it?"
At Oh Jeong-su's words, the gang began to repeat the work they had been doing at this site. They ruined the concrete in ways that weren't easily noticeable and sprinkled corrosive substances on areas where construction was already complete. Of course, if an inspection were to take place later, most of it would be discovered, but Oh Jeong-su intended to bribe the people in charge, so he believed his plan would surely succeed.
'Compared to ten 500-seat rooms, this is a profitable business.'
Oh Jeong-su and his party, who were humming while ruining the construction, never dreamed they would be caught. The work zones were divided by groups, which made security possible. However, they never dreamed that ghosts existed in the world.
The moment his suspicion turned into certainty, Choi Deok-bae was sure of the Oh Jeong-su gang's future.
In this era, it was very difficult for construction to take place without bribery. It wasn't much different in modern times, but one could say it was much easier for commoners to feel it. Right away, police would loiter nearby to pick fights with day laborers, or in severe cases, take office staff to the police station just for fun. Government officials were the same. Even though they had given permission, they would often come by and talk about non-compliance with regulations to extort money for their drinking bills that day.
If government officials and police were like this, it went without saying for the gangsters nearby. Gangsters and petty thugs would also frequently come by with wooden clubs, talking about 'security costs' and extorting money, so these losses were passed on entirely to the day laborers' wages and subcontractors.
However, Yoon-gi's construction site, if nothing else, provided good food. The expressions of the workers, who were working in the middle of summer with a popsicle in their mouths, showed the feeling that 'it's still worth living.'
This was the same for Oh Jeong-su's gang. The sight of them sucking on popsicles while doing such ungrateful work made Choi Deok-bae, who was watching from above, click his tongue.
Sure enough. Ten fierce-looking soldiers in military uniforms appeared at the construction site and headed toward the place where Oh Jeong-su's party was working.
Clack, clack!
They were even in full combat gear, so the sound of metal rang out from the guns on their backs every time they walked, which was enough to cause fear among the personnel currently at the construction site.
"Drag them away!"
The neck vein of the Captain, whose three diamonds shone brightly, swelled to the thickness of a finger, and at the same time, his voice rang out loudly across the construction site. It was a complete all-stop. Workers within sight turned their heads, and those who weren't found the source of the sound.
"W, what is this?"
At Oh Jeong-su's words, the Captain immediately slapped Oh Jeong-su across the cheek.
"You bastard! How dare you mix impurities into the concrete here?"
For a moment, Oh Jeong-su felt dizzy. 'No, how? How did they find out?' Oh Jeong-su looked at his lackeys, but they also had expressions of complete ignorance and were trembling.
"I, it's a misunderstanding. We didn't do anything like that..."
With a slap, Oh Jeong-su screamed and spat out blood onto the ground. It was just a simple slap, but a handful of blood and tooth fragments were mixed in, and thanks to this, Oh Jeong-su was in a state where he couldn't even speak properly anymore.
"Looking at the construction log here, problems occurred in the concrete and other areas only in the places you worked on, and you're telling me it's a misunderstanding? You and the bastards behind you are red bastards who attempted to collapse the ROK-US alliance. Drag them away!"
Oh Jeong-su peed himself in that instant. 'R, red?' But his mouth was mangled, so no words came out. 'I'm not a red! I'm telling you I'm not a red!'