Chapter 631 - Episode 2 I Knew It
“When a creek dries up, the big fish dig into the creek bed to hide while small fish climb upstream with all their might. In this case, they converted all of the CB and are now openly recruiting shareholders. They demanded for a provisional shareholder meeting last month.”
“What for?”
“To kick me out, what else? The meeting is in a week.”
“A shareholder meeting. They must be quite prepared.”
Mu-ssang remained indifferent. He had unintentionally inherited the company but didn’t feel like getting himself involved in all of the politics. Still, if he neglected his responsibilities completely, the Jangs would end up taking over the company. That’s one of the reasons why he dealt with Jang Cheol-su and Kim Dal-su separately.
“There is one issue: even though my wife only cares about her own family, I still didn’t expect Hui-ja and the Daeil Fabric’s CEO to betray me. She told me she was wrapping up her business, but she betrayed me at the last moment instead.”
“Well, betrayal is what you are good at, so I guess you are just getting a taste of your own medicine.”
Mu-ssang jested. Based on the way his uncle took over Kim Gi-taek’s business, this was as expected. Considering how his uncle had triumphed over his battle with the Jangs, and how he was used to always getting his way, it was no surprised that he felt betrayed as he was now when the CEO sold her shares without consulting him first.
“Well I am not so innocent either. I still don’t understand how my family ended up like this. It must be karma for all the times I have wrecked up other people’s lives.”
Bak In-bo took it in stride.
“Anyway you didn’t call me for that. The IRS and prosecutors must have been harassing you. And the district office’s environment department must have paid you a visit to examine the waste water too.”
Mu-ssang squinted his eyes at Bak In-bo.
Bak In-bo’s eyes widened. “How did you know all this? I knew something was up, that’s why I called you.”
“The vice governor Jang Cheol-su and the prosecutor Gim Dal-su are working together to hammer you, Bak In-bo. They have help from the police force and tax investigators, and they plan to bury you alive using the Marlin gang.
“What? What a sly bastard!”
Bak In-bo frowned deeply. As a typical double standard, he seemed to have forgotten how he had once employed the Samsik gang to undermine the Jangs.
“You don’t have to worry about the IRS or the prosecutors anymore.”
Mu-ssang grinned. as of the moment, Jang Cheol-su, Gim Dal-su, the head of the regional IRS office, as well as the prosecutors who were bribed by the Jangs, were all “working” diligently on the Ennedi Plateau.
“I recall reading an article recently about five officials and a local construction company’s CEO who have gone missing. It only mentioned their initials but still...”
Bak In-bo stood abruptly, his eyes wide open. He manage to connect the dots. His nephew must have figured out their scheme and have already dealt with them somehow.
“I am not so forgiving as to spare someone who has threatened to take away my source of livelihood. The authorities must have placed an embargo, and some rookie journalist managed to pick it up and reported the story. Too bad.”
Mu-ssang clucked his tongue. He could easily predict where the journalist would end up.
“Fuck!”
Bak In-bo collapsed onto the sofa.
“What were you thinking? I don’t really care about them, but you are my nephew.”
Bak In-bo was anxious. He also had a few officials on his payroll. The worst that could happen was just to pay a bit more taxes, pay any fines, and at most be put on probation. After all, one should familiarize oneself which such things in order to run a business in this country. But if his nephew had really “taken care of” five people, this was already beyond his control.
“I can take care of my own business.”
Mu-ssang cut him off.
“Well you certainly take your business seriously. I just hope nothing goes wrong.”
Bak In-bo felt thirsty all of a sudden and drank from a cup in big gulps. The company’s future was important, but his nephew’s future was 10 times more. He is the sole heir of the Bak family and to the company after all. Also, he couldn’t bear to see his sister-in-law’s face if something happened to him.
“You don’t have to worry about anything. I will get rid of the obstacles while you only have to do your job.”
Mu-ssang was indifferent, which infuriated Bak In-bo. But he simply stared back at Mu-ssang and nodded. Even as a kid, Mu-ssang has always been prudent and audacious at the same time. He cured his own illnesses while a university hospital couldn’t even manage to do so. He also had the ability to leave a note inside of a locked office that is located within a skyscraper. Yet now, both uncle and nephew shared the same fate. He had no choice but to trust Mu-ssang.
“If you say so. If they are really gone as you say they are, I feel like I have just been relieved of some days-old constipation.”
Bak In-bo, having now regained his calm, smirked.
“What are the Jangs up to these days?”
“They are having a taste of their own medicine. I did some retaliation myself. I bought 17,857 shares from Jang Gyeong-taek. Now the Jangs will start fighting amongst themselves.”
“In the end, the old aristocrats will succumb to money as well. And it is just like you to sow such a huge seed of conflict within them.”
“Even if I fall, I shall do so splendidly. In the end, people don’t betray, but money does. I may not be a conscientious person myself, but I am still miles better compared to the Jangs. They preyed on the weak their entire lives. Now it’s time they have a taste of their own medicine.”
Bak In-bo chuckled. It was strange, but whenever he met his nephew, he always found some form of catharsis.
‘I thought he had changed. But he is still a scheming, petty bastard after all.’
Mu-ssang thought as he stared at his uncle, who was guffawing so hard his shoulders shook. When a zebra is being chased by a lion, it instinctively runs toward a weaker zebra, so that the lion will be distracted and prey on the weaker one instead. That was how the saying “It’s a zebra that kills a zebra, not a lion” came about.
Humans were just like zebras. The only difference was that they know of vengeance and have a desire to retaliate. The Jang brothers would now face criticism and retaliation from the other Jangs, while some would still choose to side with the more powerful Jang brothers. But no matter its size, an organization would often collapses due to internal power struggle rather than from external threats.
“You must have successfully persuaded Hui-ja. Knowing you, you are not one who would easily give up.”
“Seems like no one can fool you. You are right, when the Jangs were confused, I used Hui-ja to ascertain U-tak’s ownership of the travel agency. Jang Gi-su didn’t waste a moment to exchange his textile shares with travel agency shares. He must be short on cash to have acted so hastily.”
“You are always scheming, but you are no different, aren’t you? You must be short on cash yourself after purchasing the lands put up by the Jangs.”
“How do you know everything?”
Bak In-bo’s eyes widened. Whenever he met his nephew, his heart would drop several times. He was indeed taking out many loans just to be able to buy the lands from the Jangs.
“I can’t read people’s minds.”
“Of course, you can’t. No one can.”
Bak In-bo sighed deeply. He did not expect that his wife would scheme with her family to overtake his company. He didn’t expect that his longtime client would betray him. Likewise, he also didn’t know what his nephew was up to.
“Even if it is a bequest or inheritance, you will still be bombed with taxes. The net worth of one Hyangsim Textile’s share is roughly 32,000 won. Then 225,857 shares would be worth roughly 7,200,000 won. I will purchase them from you now. You must be postponing the inheritance because of the taxes, aren’t you?”
“That amount is not just lunch money! How will you ever get that much money? Don’t bother.”
Mu-ssang pressed down on the intercom and called for Ms. Jeong.
“Ms. Jeong, which bank do you use?”
“The Bank of Daegu.”
“Open an account for me and let me know once it’s done.”
Mu-ssang handed her his stamp and stamp certificate. Ms. Jeong was left wondering as she exited the room.
“Are the travel agency shares all in U-tak’s ownership now?”
“Yes. It is legally inherited. My own shares are now his too. There won’t be a single Jang left in the company.”
Bak In-bo’s eyes had a menacing look, which gave Mu-ssang the chills. He just bore witness to a scene where a petty person’s vengeance was about to take down an entire family. This just proved that one must be careful not to disrespect anyone.
“Thank you for bringing him up. I was never once welcomed even by my own wife. But thanks to you, I can now find peace in the afterlife.”
Momentarily, the look that Bak In-bo gave Mu-ssang softened greatly. He had always been jealous of his brother for having a beautiful and kind wife. In his case, no amount of money was enough to save his marriage.
“When you pass, U-tak will become my only relative.”
“What about your mother?”
“That’s my business.”
“Ugh!” Bak In-bo was taken aback with his nephew’s cold response.
“You should try to find her before it’s too late.”
Bak In-bo muttered. Mu-ssang didn’t react. As the conversation came to an end, a heavy silence descended upon them. Both the uncle and the nephew were busy pondering on their own thoughts.
The telephone rang and broke the silence.
“Mr. Bak. I have opened an account for you.”
“I see. Give me a minute.”
Mu-ssang called the branch manager of the BNP Paribas and transferred 10,000,000,000 won, before he called Ms. Jeong again to get a check issued from the bank.
“You really are rich.”
Ms. Jeong handed him the check worth 7,200,000 won. Mu-ssang grinned and handed the check to his uncle.
“What is this? Is it real?”
Bak In-bo’s eyes widened in surprise after he checked the amount printed on the check. It was indeed a 7,200,000-won check. He knew his nephew was not one to make jokes so lightly, but 7,200,000 won was indeed no small amount.
“Did you rob a bank in France?”
“Let’s just say I somehow ended up with a sizable amount of money.”
Mu-ssang gave a vague response.
“Oh my God!”
Bak In-bo continued to exclaim. Suddenly, his nephew felt like a stranger to him. He knew Mu-ssang wouldn’t answer him no matter how much he insisted. He felt like the person in front of him was not his nephew anymore, but some leprechaun from a fairy tale.
“I’m sorry to keep sending you on errands, but please deposit this in my uncle’s account.”
“Then I could have just asked the amount to be transferred directly while I was at the bank? Why is the check even needed?”
Ms. Jeong complained.
“If we deposit the amount directly, the Jangs would question the authenticity of the transaction. Make sure to scan both sides of the check and include it in the contract.”
historical
“Whoa! You really thought of everything.”
“Why are you so surprised! Hahaha.”
Mu-ssang guffawed. When he organized the shares of the Doba oil field, that task was a hundredfold more complicated than this.
“Is there any other problem?”
“The amount of this transaction will not be precise, so you only have to focus on calculating the taxes.”
“My nephew is much richer than me. A-yeong, prepare the contract and transfer the shares to him right away. Send the remaining amount to my sister-in-law and use the rest as the advance. Today is my lucky day.”
Bak In-bo was ecstatic. He didn’t know how it came to be, but his nephew was now a powerful figure, that even becoming the owner of Hyangsim Textile was not considered a big deal for him anymore. It was definitely a great decision on his part to give the company to Mu-ssang.
“I see. I’m feeling a bit dizzy though.”
Ms. Jeong held up the check with a confused face.
“A-yeong, this is no time to tarry. What’s the update on the purchased lands?”
“2,300 majigi of paddies. 300 majigi of fields. 12,000 jeongbo of mountains. 30,000 pyeong of an orchard. I’m not sure about the rest but so far, we own 65 percent of the Jangs’ paddies, give or take.”
“Haha!”
Bak In-bo guffawed then coughed. He was reminded of the day when his father-in-law looked down on him while he was bowing low on the ground. That day, the old man was even smoking tobacco in a long pipe.
“You would have never expected me to strike like this.”
Bak In-bo propped up his glasses as he wiped away the tears that welled up at the corner of his eye.
“Should we purchase the rest too?”
“How much money do we need?”
“Roughly 130,000,000 won.”
“We already have the bullets, it’s time to fire them. Call Mr. Jin. U-tak will have a third of the newly acquired real estate. Mu-ssang will have two-thirds. Do you understand?”
“Of course. I’ll handle it right away.”
Ms. Jeong left and headed toward her office excitedly. As the one handling the company’s finances, she was happy that the company was overflowing with money. When the company account was dried up, she felt lethargic herself. Moreover, Bak Mu-ssang was her husband-to-be’s boss. He was already like family, not just a simple business acquaintance. It was only right for her to feel happy.
“A-yeong, I have picked quite an awesome heir, haven’t I?”
Ms. Jeong held the doorknob as she looked back.
“You are definitely good at your job.”
“Yeah! That’s about the only thing I’m good at. Haha.”
Bak In-bo muttered self-deprecatingly and laughed. Ms. Jeong silently opened the door and exited the room.
“Uncle, what do you mean to do with the shares?”
“Looking back, I had wronged your father so deeply. If only I had given him some fields when he left the family, then he wouldn’t have to work so hard, leading him to get poisoned by pesticides. I was at fault. If I had just given him some fields, then he wouldn’t have to struggle so much.”
Bak In-bo stopped talking all of sudden and looked out the window regretfully.
“On a windy day like this, wouldn’t it be nice to share some rice wine and leek pancakes with my own brother? But it is now too late to regret.”
Huge teardrops streaked down Bak In-bo’s face. Mu-ssang listened without a word.
“My brother has already passed, and I shall not take my stupidity to posterity. The land is a symbol of both life and spirit. Just think of it as a bribe. I’m bribing you to be on good terms with U-tak and to look after him!”
“I shall accept it. Don’t worry about him.”
There was a saying that goes: a person changes drastically as they approached their final days. He used to think his uncle was someone who relies greatly on reason and logic and would never allow himself to be tangled with emotions.
“Thank you.”
Bak In-bo held his nephew’s hand. Mu-ssang, out of pity, couldn’t bear to pull back from his uncle’s wrinkled, veiny hand.