Chapter 158: What they want and what I want (1)  

I picked up the call.

However, it was someone with an unexpected set of skills.

– Representative-nim. What should I do about this person who says he has a big influence on China’s Communist party?

China was a place that was still full of corruption. No matter how well you follow their regulations, it was difficult to survive if you got on the Communist party’s bad side. On the flip side, nothing you did could get you in trouble if you had good relationships with the Communist party.

In Chinese, they call it guanxi.

That is why having a big influence on the Chinese Communist party was a significant thing.

“How big is his influence?”

– He’s mentioning names like Li Peng and Jin Cuoqiang and, according to this person, he is apparently close to one of the directors of the party. That person is supposedly seventh in command.

He must be talking about State Councilor Jin Cuoqiang that is seventh in command of the Communist party.

Honestly speaking, I have some connections with the Chinese Communist party as well. It was important to build those connections as I was trying to take control of a Chinese company, so I used my fame as a golf player as well as a lot of money in order to buy that connection.

The most important one of those connections is Li Xiang Nan.

She is an actress. However, that alone is not enough to explain Li Xiang Nan.

She debuted at the young age of 12 and received the nickname of the, ‘nation’s younger sister,’ which helped her grow.

She has never lost her popularity ever since her debut. She has been the most famous celebrity in China for over 30 years.

The source of that was her connections with China’s most influential people. She used her stunning beauty, excellent conversation skills, and her intelligence to build some extremely amazing connections.

She was now one of the hidden power players in China.

In simple terms, she was the most loved woman of Wang Kun, the first ranked Vice Premier in the Chinese Communist party.

I was able to connect with Wang Kun as well as many other influential people thanks to her.

Jin Cuoqiang was one of those people.

However, he wasn’t a very reliable connection. Although I was pretty close to Li Xiang Nan, I was not that close with the others. I barely had time to get to know them better.

Basically, Li Xiang Nan is like my fan while the others take care of me every so often because of her.

That was why someone who was close to the high-ranked individuals in the Chinese Communist party would be very helpful for me.

That is, as long as that person is not bluffing.

Well, I was planning on going to China soon for the golf competition on Hainan Island. Li Xiang Nan asked me to participate during early February and I happily agreed to do so, knowing that it was a chance to expand my connections.

I can figure out this person’s level of influence at that time.

“I plan on participating in the Chinese Hainan competition at the end of the month. Please ask him for a list of people he can introduce me to at that time.”

– I understand.

I got another call as soon as I ended that call.

It was Fulfill’s executive director, Kim Sang Bin. Although Fulfill is a startup support company, it is also responsible for the acquisition of other companies as well. All of the experts were gathered within Fulfill.

I had been waiting for this call. I had given him some tasks related to the acquisition of an Electric Car Company almost immediately after discussions with Chairman Jung Man Yong went terrible.

Kim Sang Bin is a cold person. He just gave a brief greeting before getting right down to business.

> We have a meeting with the Chinese Hanam Motors.

“That’s great. The meeting with the US GM is in four days, right?”

> That is correct.

“I will participate in that meeting as well. Please send me over the related documents.”

> I will e-mail it to you right away. You should be able to open it in about 10 minutes.

Four days later.

“I think our employees can discuss the fine details later.”

I reached my hand out first.

GM’s Vice President shook my hand with his hairy hand.

“I look forward to good results.”

I hoped for that as well.

But I didn’t have that high of an expectation for it. We may agree on the big picture, but GM did not want to give up on having a monopoly.

A world-wide monopoly deal.

GM wanted to be the sole recipient of the Sodium-Ion battery.

This was the case for the other companies as well. I have talked to three other companies prior to GM, and all of their number one conditions were having a monopoly.

However, something like that would never happen. Energy One was the only one who managed to successfully create Sodium-Ion batteries.

In other words, we had the advantage and had the rights to make the conditions.

But they think that they could ask for something so preposterous because they are a world-renowned auto company. They were basically kicking away their opportunity.

However, I didn’t cut off the negotiations just like that. There was a reason that I was negotiating with GM and the other companies.

‘I’m sure that his ass is on fire by now. Why hasn’t he contacted me yet?’

Riiiiing- Riiiiiing-

I knew he would call. Chairman Jung Man Yong was personally calling me.

It was obvious what he wanted. If I successfully negotiate with another auto company, Golden Dragon Autos’ situation would become even worse.

He probably wants to at least get some scraps while he still can.

Riiiiing- Riiiiiing-

I waited until the phone rang a few times.

Chairman Jung Man Yong kept calling as if he was trying to see who would win, while I slowly picked up after waiting for a long time.

“Ah Chairman-nim. Hello.”

– It’s so hard to get you on the phone.

“I apologize. I’ve been busy with golf and going around negotiating with companies. Did you need something?”

– Let’s talk in person. Give me some time. The sooner the better.

“As you probably know already, the US Open is less than a month away. Can we meet after the US Open?”

– The Open Championship is a month after the US Open and the PGA Championship is half a month after that. I’m sure that you plan on participating in other tournaments as well. Are you planning on making me wait that long?

Oh, he’s quite well-informed.

Honestly speaking I didn’t plan on dragging it out that long. The Energy One factory will be created by this winter at the latest. I needed to hurry and gain ownership of an Electric Car Company prior to that.

However, Chairman Jung Man Yong was the one who was freaking out. It meant that I could do whatever I wanted.

“Is there something that is urgent?”

– Let’s meet in person. I won’t take much of your time. I’ll go to you.

‘Wow, the esteemed Chairman is willing to do the traveling.’

I guess he really is desperate.

“I understand. Then I will see you in my office.”

My office in Stepping Stones Co.

Chairman Jung Man Yong got right down to business as soon as he sat down.

“I’ll hand it over to you.”

There was nothing else.

I just quietly sat there. I wanted him to tell me everything he had planned to say.

“I’ll hand over the Golden Dragon Autos’ electric business, as well as the Indian factory. There’s no reason to go around meeting with GM nor any other foreign companies. Do the nation a favor and rescue a Korean company.”

Nation? For someone talking about the nation, he sure had no problem stealing things from promising startups in the past.

Of course, I didn’t plan to bring that up. I didn’t care much for patriotism either.

I only moved for my own benefit.

That would be the same for this deal with Chairman Jung Man Yong as well. I don’t care if I become enemies with Chairman Jung Man Yong, I will take away anything that would benefit me. At the lowest possible cost, of course.

There was something else that I wanted from him right now.

“Why don’t you add one more onto that since you’re taking care of things?”

“Which one are you talking about?”

“Bi-on. The drone company you acquired five years ago. There’s no chance of reviving it because of the Chinese dominance anyway. Let me take it and try to save it.”

“Hohoho.”

Chairman Jung Man Yong laughed as if he couldn’t believe it.

I wonder why. Anybody could tell that Bi-on was a lost cause. In that case, he should be happy to hand it over.

Chairman Jung Man Yong didn’t have a reason to laugh like that.

However, the reason for it came from somewhere completely unrelated.

“You seem to be buying up a significant amount of businesses these days. The ones I know about are already collectively worth over two trillion won. Where did you get so much money? And what is the reason for acquiring so many companies? You can lose everything at once like that.”

Is that why he was laughing like that?

I guess it could seem that way to Jung Man Yong. He might think that I am greedily gathering businesses without having any plan.

But that would be completely wrong. He doesn’t know how many experts I have gathered for this.

Most importantly, I have plenty of money. I do admit, there are some risky investments I am making to most effectively handle that money.

“That is my problem. You don’t need to worry about that, Chairman-nim.”

“Haha, I understand. Anyway, if I’m willing to give that much, shouldn’t you give me something as well?”

Give?

He sure has the wrong idea. The Golden Dragon Group and Chairman Jung Man Yong should be thanking me for taking on their failing businesses.

Of course, Jung Man Yong probably wants to revive these two companies by developing new technology, but greed alone won’t make that happen.

But why don’t I play along for now. Getting at each other’s throat won’t do us any good anyway.

“Is there something you want in particular?”

“Phone battery.”

If it is that, I’ll definitely make a deal with him. Energy One’s first products will be phone batteries and car batteries.

“I understand. I’ll let my team know.”

I nodded my head.

However, Chairman Jung Man Yong was not done yet. The important part was what came next.

“Only to Golden Dragon Electronics.”

These businessmen really like the word, ‘only.’ All of them talk about having a monopoly as if it was a hit song.

“You are being too greedy.”

“It’ll be beneficial for Energy One as well.”

I think I understand Chairman Jung Man Yong’s plan. I think I also understand what he means by it being beneficial for Energy One as well.

But I just kept my mouth shut. It wouldn’t be too late to say what I had to say after hearing him out first.

“And why is that?”

“There is a limit to how many batteries a factory can create anyway. It’ll take at least two years to expand the factory. Our Golden Dragon Electronics will increase our production to match you. I’m saying let’s be partners in regard to the cell phone industry. Of course, I will give you a good price for it.”

Honestly speaking, it was more beneficial for Energy One to partner with Golden Dragon Electronics than to sell a few to multiple companies. We can use it to increase the value of our product.

However, that is only when the production rate is low.

Energy One will be able to create at least twenty times what it is creating right now within 3 years. Well, as long as things go as I’ve planned.

When that time comes, we would be supplying over 60 percent of all cell phones in the world. There would be no need to have a monopoly contract with one company.

We would actually be able to not sell to companies that try to bring down the value of our product.

“I will give you a monopoly for one year from production for now.”

“1 year? Go big and do 10 years.”

“Just one year. Please significantly increase your share in the world market during that time. Then I would have no choice but to partner with Golden Dragon Electronics.”

Jung Man Yong raised his voice in order to try to persuade me to change this time period, but I did not show any signs of budging.

“I apologize, but I have another appointment to get to. You’ll need to speak with my team about the details of that issue.”

“Hmm.”

Chairman Jung Man Yong lightly sighed as if he was frustrated.