Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Chapter 863: Antang Transportation Company’s Board Meeting (3) – Part 2

President Runsheng Yan said, “We don’t indiscreetly allow others to run bus lines in China. We carefully estimate the demand for the service before making the determination. That way, we can stabilize the employment of our people in the industry. I know that in Korea, a few large companies monopolize airline services and intercity bus services, but it’s different in China. We prioritize stable employment for our people.”

“Hmm.”

“The joint venture that President Jae-Sik Moon is running right now has only 9 buses. That’s why it doesn’t generate enough profits yet. Once it starts running 20 buses, it will generate 6 to 7% profits after tax, even after it pays 300 workers. I can guarantee that.”

“Hmm.”

“The profits reflect ticket sales fees.”

“Ticket sales fees?”

“Since the joint venture gives up participating in the terminal project, it has to pay us ticket sales fees. We are the ones that will run the terminal after all. The profits of 6 to 7% that I mentioned are reflecting the operational cost that includes these fees.”

Gun-Ho closed his eyes pretending that he was thinking about it.

After a while, Gun-Ho opened his eyes and said, “Okay. Let’s do it.”

“Alright. I don’t want the joint venture to be dissolved. It’s a shame that we can’t continue to work together for the terminal project, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t work together at all.”

“I agree with you. I prefer to terminate the joint venture and withdraw the business, but since the workers want to keep the company, I seem to have no choice. I’m expecting to receive a lot of help from President Runsheng Yan for the bus business, so we can safely have 20 buses.”

Everyone in the meeting room seemed to feel relieved by then. Gun-Ho initially expected to run the terminal as part of the joint venture’s business, but the joint venture became a smaller business as it gave up the terminal project. But, it was okay. The joint venture would continue without being dissolved anyway.

The office manager and the accounting manager smiled feeling relieved that the joint venture wouldn’t be terminated.

President Runsheng Yan asked for the office manager and said, “Please make a document with what President Goo—our Korean partner—and I just agreed on, and add it to Huiyi Jiyao (minutes of the meeting), and bring it to me. You brought your laptop, right?”

“Yes, sir. I will work on it right away, sir.”

Vice President Chun Chang announced, “We will take a break while the minutes of the meeting are being drafted.”

Gun-Ho and President Runsheng Yan stood up from their seats and had a handshake. They both grinned while looking at each other. It seemed that it was what they both wanted. Gun-Ho thought while looking at President Runsheng Yan’s greasy face, ‘He will be able to take out a loan from a bank using Ji Cheng Gao (a loan for the completed portion of an incomplete building) since the construction is almost finished. He already made a contribution to the government as he started building the terminal with a foreign investor’s funds. His contribution is already highly recognized by the government along with the director of the transportation department. He will safely keep his current position as the president of the group of transportation companies. Congratulations, President Runsheng Yan. I guess you achieved what you aimed for.’

President Runsheng Yan was thinking as well while gazing at Gun-Ho’s face.

‘This young man is very smart. He knows that the terminal project costs an enormous amount of money, and it will take forever to get his investment return from it. He can still make money by running the intercity bus business. It’s a good investment for him, compared to the money that he could make by leaving the same amount of funds in the bank and receiving interest income from the bank. So, he just wanted to keep the intercity bus business. Did he say that he had no choice but to keep the joint venture just because that’s what the workers desire? For the workers my as*. He and I are the same types of people. We don’t care about what workers want. We only care about what we will gain. Well, you will make your money as expected, President Goo. Congratulations.’

After about 20 minutes, the board meeting attendees gathered in the meeting room again. Gun-Ho and President Runsheng Yan signed the minutes of the meeting, and they had a handshake. The other meeting attendees clapped with a smile.

Vice President Chun Chang said, “Because the board meeting took more than we expected, it’s already past lunchtime. I will show you the restaurant for lunch today. The restaurant is located across the street from this hotel. It will only take 5 minutes to get there. We can walk. The name of the restaurant is ‘Jah Woon Chan Cheong.’”

The restaurant—Jah Woon Chan Cheong—was surprisingly huge in size and luxuriously decorated.

They were shown to a special room where they could see the restaurant’s garden. The room was large enough to accommodate 20 people. There was a round table in the middle of the room. President Runsheng Yan let Gun-Ho sit on a seat that was usually reserved for the most important person in the room. Gun-Ho expected President Runsheng Yan to sit next to him, but he left two seats vacant between him and Gun-Ho.

Gun-Ho asked him, “Why don’t you sit next to me? We don’t have to keep distance like that. Please take the seat next to me. Do you dislike me that much?”

“Haha. That’s not what it is. The deputy mayor and the transportation department’s director will join us here for lunch today.”

“Deputy mayor and the director of the transportation department?”

Hot tea was served first, and side dishes ensued. Baiju that was made in Guizhou Province was served as well, and the food started coming out. At that moment, Deputy Mayor Lixian Zhang and the transportation department’s Director Shouyi Hu arrived.

“Hey, President Goo.”

“Oh, Deputy Mayor Lixian Zhang, and Director Shouyi Hu.”

Gun-Ho, the deputy mayor, and the transportation department’s director had a handshake in greeting with pleasure. The deputy mayor and the transportation department’s director also had a handshake with Jae-Sik Moon and asked him if he was doing okay with his business and all.

Once the deputy mayor and the transportation department’s director sat at the table, President Runsheng Yan gave them a report about the board meeting. The two men kept saying “hmm” and “hmm” while listening to him. At the end of the report, President Runsheng Yan showed them the minutes of the meeting which Gun-Ho and President Runsheng Yan signed. After looking at the minutes of the meeting for a long while, the deputy mayor handed it to the director of the transportation department and said, “Keyi (okay).”

The deputy mayor collected all of the empty glasses and placed them in front of him, and started filling them up with clear Baiju. He then distributed them to each person at the table.

“You all have done a great job today at the board meeting. It would have been nice if the joint venture company could continue to participate in the terminal project. It’s a shame that the joint venture had to withdraw from the project. However, President Runsheng Yan, who is sitting next to me, is showing his strong will to finish constructing the terminal on his own without help from the joint venture. And also, President Goo, who is representing our Korean partners, wants to keep the joint venture business as its workers strongly want it. It’s not a 100% satisfactory outcome, but the agreement that both parties reached is acceptable. Well, you all must have had a tiring day. Let’s drink! Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

The deputy mayor again filled up all of the glasses with Baiju for the second round.

“We will drink our next glass of liquor to wish the prosperity of the joint venture that we all decided to keep. Even though I might not be here, the transportation department’s director and President Runsheng Yan will support the joint venture in procuring as many bus lines as possible. Let’s drink for the joint venture! Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

Gun-Ho looked at the deputy mayor with a surprising look on his face. He asked him, “Are you moving to somewhere else?”