Chapter 174
money starts work
“Nurse Jung In-sook. long time no see.”
“Did you even remember my name?”
At the gamjatang restaurant, I took turns saying hello to the doctors and nurses.
Is it because of past success? It was to the point where I could feel the warm eyes of envy looking at me.
“CEO Shin Kim, could you please sign my autograph for me?”
A father who brought a cute-looking kindergartener came and said.
“yes. Princess, what’s your name?”
I leaned down to talk to the child, but the father said shyly.
“The autograph is for me. Because I am a fan.”
“Ah yes.”
Starting with the baby’s father, I sign autographs for each guest one by one.
“In the past, every time you came, you ate a bowl of bone hangover soup.”
“you’re right. You know.”
I had a light conversation with the restaurant workers and looked at Jo Soo-ah for a while.
She was startled when she saw me, who had been crying profusely, but now she seems to have calmed down a bit.
Maybe even the appearance with tears is so pretty.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve never eaten bone hangover soup with Jo Soo-ah.’
She used to enjoy eating my favorite foods, such as beef over rice, kimchi stew, and squid over rice, but she especially avoided bone hangover soup.
As a 24-year-old after graduating from college, I couldn’t have just come out into society and showed people I like tearing a pig’s backbone.
* * *
I greeted the people at the hospital and ate gamjatang with the bodyguards.
If you come all the way to Cheonan, this is a must-try dish.
‘As expected, this taste.’
The pleasure of carefully searing the meat between the bones.
When I left the restaurant, of course I was with Jo Soo-ah.
She said on the streets of Cheonan, in a place where you can see the overpass and E-Mart.
“What do I do when I come here? People might think it’s strange because I’m crying… … .”
Jo Soo-ah was worried.
It was as if a lot of words and feelings had been conveyed just by coming all the way here.
Only worries about people remain.
“I don’t care what you think.”
“yes?”
“You asked to be a family. I don’t care what people think.”
I thought a lot while I was in America.
Let’s not live conscious of other people’s attention or popularity, just because we made a lot of money.
Joshua said cautiously, in a trembling voice.
“Do you really think of me as family?”
“yes. I want you to be my family.”
I didn’t think it was a very romantic confession, but it was the answer that my heart told me to.
“Can’t we just like each other like we do now? After you get tired of me, aren’t you going to meet a prettier woman?”
“Would you like me to tell you how it feels for someone I know, Jo Soo-ah?”
“I wonder.”
I answered while searching for memories of the past.
“The moment I just saw you for the first time, the moment I said hello as a new employee, it was so pretty. It’s so pretty that it’s hard to see your face properly.”
Joshua’s face turned red.
She probably remembers the day we first met.
The day I was assigned as a subordinate by team leader Ahn Myeong-guk.
They looked at each other awkwardly and exchanged greetings.
“I think I got prettier as time went on. In terms of personality, appearance, and everything, the longer you look at it, the prettier you become. And I’m a person who puts a lot of meaning into the time we spend together.”
1 year, 2 years, 3 years.
The time we spent together deepened our bond.
Still, it seems that Jo Soo-ah’s worries have not completely disappeared.
“Isn’t oppa supposed to date a woman with a lot of money?”
“why?”
“Rich people usually do.”
Not only in dramas and novels, but also in reality, chaebols meet with chaebols.
Of course, I could have worried about that.
“I’m not halfway rich.”
He was not rich enough to think of increasing his wealth through marriage.
“Are all your worries gone?”
“One last thing. Like Elon Musk, my brother enjoys partying with pretty girls, so what do you do?”
“… … .”
He became super rich and was compared to Elon Musk.
“I have The only parties I’ve had in America were pizza, chicken, or hamburger parties with Oh Myung-woo.”
“ah… … .”
Jo Soo-ah came to America and saw it, so he would know the atmosphere of the house well.
“I lived a very lonely life.”
“yes. So please be my family.”
* * *
LK Group had great expectations after signing the contract with Kim Shin.
Chairman Koo Jin-mo hosted a meeting of the heads of the LK Electronics business headquarters.
“Chief general manager, how is Earth console production going?”
“Within this week, the division for console production will be reorganized.”
I received a report from the head of LK Electronics’ business headquarters.
“What about design?”
“The LK Signature development team is fine-tuning the exterior design of the console. As soon as the design is finalized, mold production will begin.”
Signature is a luxury flagship brand of TVs and refrigerators from LK Electronics.
The price of a refrigerator reached 17 million won and a rollable TV reached 150 million won.
It was the will of the group chairman to entrust the console design to the place where the best talents of LK Electronics gathered.
―LK makes the most beautiful consoles.
In the past, Sony, a Japanese company, led the electronics industry with a simple yet elegant design.
That emotional design philosophy was to the extent that Apple took over.
LK Electronics also said that it is not inferior to the beauty of TV or refrigerator design.
“Anything from Earth Resources is sold anywhere in the world. This means that products made by LK can gain worldwide popularity. This will be an opportunity to significantly increase brand value and product sales.”
Gu Jin-mo said forcefully.
LK Electronics with a market capitalization of 13 trillion.
Twenty years ago, compared to Lee Sung Electronics, there was not a big gap in company value as it is now.
The production of earth consoles and rollable phones is an opportunity for LK Electronics to leap forward again.
“We make sure that there are no disruptions in production. Earth Resources should consider signing with us lucky.”
“Yes. We are preparing to make it much shorter than the contract schedule.”
“How about a rollable phone?”
“We ordered factories in Vietnam and Brazil to reorganize their production lines. We have placed orders with parts makers, and we are using flights to bring in stock as much as possible.”
“Don’t worry about margins, let’s move forward as much as possible. Parts are received by air, and if there is no line, assembly is done by hand. Of course, it is necessary to pay attention to quality.”
There was a unique organizational culture in Korean conglomerates that said, “Let it happen even if it doesn’t work.”
* * *
At dawn, Jo Soo-ah and I came to an apartment in Seoul and spent the night together.
“Should I go to work by today?”
“yes. I have to go into the company.”
After having a simple breakfast with a sandwich, she goes to work at Arcor.
Since I came to Korea, I checked Korean media articles first.
〈“The year-end KOSPI may go to 3,700… … .” The basis for the prospect of Korean securities companies>
〈Chemicals 2Q results + target price rise expected with strong appeal〉
〈Export performance rises despite delta mutation concerns〉
〈Stock market against corona, real estate is rich in rising materials〉
〈LK Group stock, Lee Sung Group stock. Stock prices of all subsidiaries rose due to Kim Shin effect>
As always, the Korean press is full of positive outlook.
As the KOSPI exceeded 3,300, people who did not invest seemed to be behind the times when watching broadcasts or newspapers.
The Korean media eagerly uses irritating words such as “thunderbolt beggar” and “young girl,” but the American media told a completely different story.
<US inflation emergency lights on>
〈New York Stock Exchange, Investor Sentiment Frozen by Inflation Concerns〉
〈St. Louis Fed President, “First rate hike expected at the end of 2022.”>
〈McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, 3M, and Hilton continue to raise prices〉
Fear was spreading in the stock market.
New York, the world’s financial center, and the whole world paid attention to me who warned of a bubble.
―Ellie: Rumors about investor A are really spreading. There are many industry insiders who ask me directly.
―Ellie: Reporters don’t have too much basis to report on, but it can be said that Wall Street is guessing the identity.
It must be because of last year’s huge profits and investor A at stake.
‘The fear is getting worse.’
There must have been many people who felt that it was a bubble, but greed creates a bigger bubble.
That’s why I forcibly suppressed it whenever I felt impatience.
‘I think I’ll have to move slowly.’
When a bubble gets too big to bear, it eventually bursts.
Over $150 billion was dormant in bank accounts.
Since the amount is so large, I have no choice but to be careful, but now I feel that it is really time to start.
―Kim Shin: Let’s proceed according to the portfolio.
―Ellie: Really?
-Kim Shin: Yes. Let’s do it now.
Sleeping money makes it work.
The purchase of put options and the short selling of stocks whose stock price will decline if an economic recession is expected began.
‘Tesla’s short sale alone reaches 20 billion dollars.’
It feels like a huge accident after coming to Korea, but this investment was prepared little by little for a long time.
Despite his personal acquaintance with Elon Musk, Tesla short selling was a pure investment.
‘Because business is just business.’
While I was working on a big project, the business idea I had at the coffee shop the day before kept popping into my head.
Comments that if you put wheels on your phone, it’s a car.
Korea’s core industries were smartphones, automobiles, and electric car batteries.
LK Group was also pushing automotive electrical devices as a next-generation strategic business.
‘Electric cars are much more expensive than internal combustion engines. It will take several years to become price competitive, but people like new things more than you think.’
In Silicon Valley, thousands of startups are created every day.
“Kim Shin, if you have extra money, there’s a great company.”
“Awesome company? Where are you?”
“SES. Do you know where?”
“I do not know. It sounds like the name of a Korean girl group that was active in the past.”
“haha. It’s a solid energy system. It’s a battery company.”
I received investment advice from Chris, who is developing an autonomous driving system for trucks.
It is said to be a company that develops lithium metal batteries that exceed the performance of lithium ion batteries.
If electric cars are the core of future mobility business, batteries are the center.
“The technology is great. All-solid-state battery technology is difficult to commercialize right away. And the size of the company is also large. But this will not be an investment that will fail.”
“why?”
“Because there are so many companies that are salivating in the battery-related business.”
I also invested in a battery technology company in Silicon Valley, and my understanding of the electric vehicle market has improved more than before.
I sent a text message to Lee Jong-yeop, who was resting in Korea.
-Kim Shin: Jong-yeop.
―Lee Jong-yeop: Yes, bro.
―Kim Shin: Electric cars from Future Cars. Borrow everything and bring it.
* * *
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Various electric vehicles released by Future Car.
There were subsidy policies in Korea and the United States, but I felt it while driving vehicles that could be purchased from 30 million won in Seoul.
‘There must be many people living there.’
After actually driving it, it was worth the ride.
Driving a Tesla gives you a new experience, but the interior materials and ride comfort were very poor.
It was hard to find such flaws.
“The driving range is 15% to 20% less than a Tesla.”
Rather than a limitation of battery technology, I thought that it was a limitation of electric efficiency used in future cars.
It’s a big gap compared to Tesla, but it’s grown very quickly considering the late start of electric vehicles.
‘Isn’t this worth trying?’
I made up my mind and sent the text.
―Kim Shin: Could I possibly meet Chairman Jin Myeong-il?
―Jin Yu-gyeong: Dad?
―Kim Shin: I have something to tell you about business.