A Genius Speaks with Money

Chapter 3

A room used only by the owner'

s family at the Taeseong Hotel.

The door opened and the air in the room changed oddly.

A walk without any excess in a neat suit.

Even though he had aged, a strong energy was still felt in the man'

s appearance.

The person who created Taeseong.

Lim Man-seok.

I, Lim Hyunjun, had read Chairman Lim Man-seok'

s autobiography in my previous life.

Lim Man-seok did not dream of a group called Taeseong from the beginning.

Just a life of eating well and living well was his goal.

A simple yet desperate reason that only a person who has experienced hunger knows. Since I also did not know that, I might have empathized more.

Lim Man-seok was born in a poor family and could not even attend school properly.

His learning was short, but his eyes for reading the world were faster than anyone else'

s.

He worked with grease on his hands since he was young.

He did manual labor, went to the labor market, and saved money by doing chores at a factory he luckily entered.

Even while doing so, he said he always had that thought.

“Living like this, it will be this way for a lifetime. I must earn more. To earn more, what should I do?”

So he moved earlier than others and found gaps that others failed to think of.

He was a person who did not stop his hands even during others'

break time and agonized over ways to earn even one more penny.

The answer he obtained by agonizing like that was one.

“If you work under someone else, you only earn other people'

s money for a lifetime. I must do my own work.”

Lim Man-seok started from small carpentry work.

At first, he received leftover work at other people'

s construction sites to build walls, and as capital was created little by little, he started to take and use materials directly.

At some point, Lim Man-seok had become a person who commissions work rather than a person who builds houses.

“I must set the table, not the grains of rice someone else left over after eating.”

After that, Lim Man-seok'

s business gradually grew.

He jumped into the construction industry and established a company called Taeseong Construction.

During the period when the Korean economy was growing, he saw opportunities and moved earlier than anyone else.

“I pave roads, build buildings, and grow the company.”

Every time the city grew, Lim Man-seok paved roads and established bridges.

He built buildings and established companies wherever people gathered.

He captured the places where money flows faster than anyone else, and in order to earn money, he unconditionally moved.

Is there not also a famous anecdote?

“Hey. Have you even tried it?”

If someone told Lim Man-seok it was impossible, he would ask back like this.

He directly collided with his body and eventually accomplished things people said would not work.

“We do not have ships? Then we can just make them and float them.”

“We do not have money to buy machines? Then we can just make and use them ourselves.”

Lim Man-seok was such a person. If there is no way, you can just create it.

As Taeseong Construction succeeded like that, Lim Man-seok naturally reached out to other fields.

Since he did construction, he needed a steel mill and a cement factory to go into those buildings.

Since he established buildings.

He needed the electronics industry and finance industry to fill the inside.

Since factories increased, he needed the shipbuilding industry and trading industry to export overseas.

Business expanded one by one like that gathered to become the giant name called Taeseong Group.

Lim Man-seok'

s belief was simple.

“If you see land, you build a building, if you see the sea, you float a ship, and if people gather, you do business.”

“It is fine if we do the work that no one does.”

“Go first and take a spot before others go.”

With this belief, he built Taeseong and the company also grew faster than the speed at which the Korean economy grew.

Numerous cars ran on the roads Lim Man-seok made.

Numerous companies were born in the buildings he established.

The ships Lim Man-seok floated roamed the whole world.

The Taeseong Group Lim Man-seok became a giant empire that no one could easily covet.

Lim Man-seok was still a person who instinctively knew that those who will make it make it, and those who will not will not.

So he accurately distinguished those who would do work and those who would not be able to do work.

Such a person has now visited Taeseong Hotel to see the fellow who will lead Taeseong in the future.

Lim Hyunjun was also within that.

However, Lim Man-seok did not have much interest in me.

What is visible in his eyes are only the people who do work, the company'

s performance, and the flow of money.

He would be watching whether these fellows are figures worthy of overturning the table of Taeseong.

Or whether they are just fellows holding a rice spoon. Lim Man-seok, who was looking around the room, muttered.

“You spent the money properly.”

A voice where one cannot know if it is a compliment or a sarcastic remark.

Lim Man-seok said while walking a few more steps forward.

“Where is Vice President Kang?”

At Lim Man-seok'

s call, a man hurriedly entered the room and said,“Yes, Chairman, I am here.”

Vice President Kang Yoon-seok, the figure responsible for the practical operation of Taeseong Hotel.

Lim Man-seok glanced at Kang Yoon-seok and then nodded his head slowly.

“Right. What is the state of the hotel'

s operation like?”

“Would you like to see for yourself and judge, Chairman?”

Kang Yoon-seok spat out words cautiously even while sweating profusely.

However, Lim Man-seok did not seem to care much about his answer from the start.

I watched Chairman Lim Man-seok intently to see how he does things.

Chairman Lim Man-seok sat in his spot and tapped the table with his fingertips.

“Do you not know me?”

“No. How could I not know you, Chairman.”

“A fellow who obviously knows what I will ask is welcoming me without even preparing?”

At Chairman Lim Man-seok'

s scolding, Vice President Kang Yoon-seok'

s face hardened in an instant.

“Do it properly. Keep your wits about you.”

“I am sorry, Chairman.”

Lim Man-seok continued while letting out a sigh.

“No excuses are needed. I heard the hotel'

s performance, is this your best? Surely you are not planning to continue in this state?”

Vice President Kang Yoon-seok'

s complexion turned white and he stammered.

“Th-th-that is…. No, Chairman. I will do my best and work hard.”

“Best is a given, do it well. While thinking of the family members trailing behind you. Understood?”

“Yes, Chairman. I will keep it in mind.”

Chairman Lim Man-seok waved his hand.

It was a signal to go out.

As Vice President Kang Yoon-seok left the room, food came inside immediately.

There were only things that looked luxurious at a single glance.

Watching that, saliva pooled in my mouth.

Since I had never eaten such luxurious food in my previous life, in a way my reaction was natural.

When Lim Man-seok quietly put food into his mouth, the people in the room each picked up their spoons and chopsticks.

It was the same for me.

A happy smile was built of its own accord while stuffing the food in front of my eyes into my mouth.

The gazes of the family members who saw that appearance changed oddly.

Mrs. Yoon Myeong-sook, who is Lim Man-seok'

s wife and my grandmother, opened her mouth.

“Dear, did you starve that child for several days?”

My mother, Kang Ji-yeon, spat out words in bewilderment.

“No, Mother.”

But no matter how one looked at it, the appearance of me eating rice was too different from before.

Like a person in a trance, I just ate up the food without hesitation while not caring about the surroundings.

Lim Hye-seon, the eldest daughter of Chairman Lim Man-seok, wiped her mouth and opened her mouth quietly.

“It must be because it is the age to grow a lot. It is good to see since he eats so heartily.”

Shin Seo-yoon, the second daughter-in-law of Chairman Lim Man-seok, said while frowning.

“Even so. The place is what it is, and without dignity….”

“Ahem. Honey. Ahem.”

My uncle, Lim Do-hyun, scolded his wife.

It was then.

“Ah, I ate well.”

While I was speaking with the traces of having eaten food remaining just as they were around my mouth, Kang Ji-yeon wiped it for me with a handkerchief.

Whether that was good, I smiled broadly.

Chairman Lim Man-seok, who was watching quietly, glanced at me once and then moved his gaze and asked President Lim Do-hyun.

“I hear you are laboring to handle a big task?”

The man dressed in a neat-looking suit slowly opened his mouth.

“I am working to successfully conclude the Iraq refinery project.”

The person who was speaking to Chairman Lim Man-seok with a cold but refined attitude and speech without excess was President Lim Do-hyun, who is in charge of Taeseong Construction and Taeseong Finance.

President Lim Do-hyun was the second son of Chairman Lim Man-seok and was also a figure with a brilliant brain.

Of course, as I also know who will lead Taeseong in the future, he was seen not as an uncle but only as a person leading Taeseong.

Lim Man-seok nodded while looking at Lim Do-hyun. It meant to continue talking.

“It is the work of constructing a facility with a refining capacity of 140,000 barrels per day in the Karbala region. It is a total scale of 6 billion dollars and is a project ordered by the South Refineries Company under the Iraqi Ministry of Oil.”

“Iraq is still an unstable place. What will you do about the risk?”

“There might be political instability factors, but it is a project that the Iraqi government is pushing for economic reconstruction.”

Chairman Lim Man-seok muttered while stroking his chin with his hand.

“Government-led…. It is not bad. So how much can you leave as profit?”

“The current expected return rate is over 15%. If additional refinery infrastructure expansion is considered, it will become a stable business in the long term as well.”

Lim Man-seok'

s expression became much softer as if President Lim Do-hyun'

s answer was quite satisfactory.

“Good. Manage it thoroughly and do well.”

“Yes, Father.”

Chairman Lim Man-seok'

s head turned to the opposite side.

It was Vice Chairman Lim Do-kyung of Taeseong Electronics, who is my father.

Vice Chairman Lim Do-kyung put down what he was eating at his father'

s fierce gaze and cautiously lowered his head.

All family members, including me, were watching that appearance.

To them, this kind of thing seemed like people who were used to it.

“Messenger app? I hear the rumors are widespread that you are going around distracted by such a thing.”

At Chairman Lim Man-seok'

s scolding, a chill flowed as if even the air had cooled icily.

“A fellow who is the Vice Chairman of Taeseong Electronics cannot even properly take care of a single semiconductor and defiles the name of Taeseong while paying attention to a strange place!”

Lim Do-kyung tried to make an excuse while sweating, but Lim Man-seok blocked his words while waving his hands.

“Shut your mouth! Behave properly so that I never hear such talk again. Tsk tsk. How could the position be more of a waste than the person.”

Lim Do-kyung'

s face turned white and he lowered his head.

It was when the family members in the room were keeping their mouths shut quietly.

An unexpected voice was heard breaking the silence.

“Then we can just grow the messenger business in Taeseong Electronics in earnest.”

The gazes shifted to one place simultaneously.

I continued speaking as if it were nothing.

“Grandfather, the world is changing now. A messenger app is not a simple communication tool, but will become the core that can be connected with all businesses in the future.”

It was a speech as if filled with conviction.

“Taeseong Electronics makes semiconductors, right? Where should we sell those semiconductors? The era of relying only on smartphones will end. We must have our own service platform. That way, we can diversify the profit structure.”

Silence lingered in the room.

The expression of Chairman Lim Man-seok, who was smirking as if it were absurd, changed at once.

“What does a fellow who competes for last place in school know that he is blabbering!”

At Chairman Lim Man-seok'

s fiery scolding, I, Lim Hyunjun, replied while grinning.

“Grandfather, then would you believe me if I become first in my class at least?”