"I don't know the details. CEO Lee of Hanyang Tech just said he would pay me 3 million won per month, regardless of who wins the bid, as long as I conduct the process fairly."
"Fairly?"
"Yes. To be honest, I didn't feel good about accepting bribes in exchange for favors. But according to CEO Lee, I don't have to do anything special, just conduct the bidding process. So I thought, why not?"
I clicked my tongue at Kim In-soo's naivete.
"You still don't get it after being played by me? There's no such thing as a free lunch. He's just luring you in with that offer."
"…"
I had intimidated him enough, it was time to soften my approach.
I put my arm around his shoulder and said gently,
"Assistant Manager Kim, I apologize for being so harsh earlier. I was just desperate. Let me give you some good advice. What do you think is the most important thing when accepting a bribe? The amount?"
He flinched at the word "bribe," and I smiled.
"No, the amount is important, but the most important thing is who's giving you the bribe. Someone you can trust."
He looked at me incredulously. I had just threatened him with a recording and was now advising him to accept bribes from trustworthy people.
"Oh, this recorder? Director Park, destroy it."
"Yes, sir."
Park Jong-bum took out a hammer he had prepared, placed the recorder on the floor, and smashed it repeatedly.
The recorder was reduced to a mangled mess.
Kim In-soo sighed in relief, seeing the recorder destroyed. But at the same time, he looked terrified by Park Jong-bum's violent act.
I put my arm around Kim In-soo and said,
"That was just a tactic to persuade you. I never intended to expose you to your company."
"Th-thank you."
"Again, the most important thing is to accept bribes from someone you can trust. In our case, only Director Park and I know that you've been receiving money from us. But you said you made a deal with all those companies?"
"Yes…"
I refilled his glass and said,
"Listen carefully. Even families turn on each other these days. And you're talking about competing companies? Do you think a deal with over ten companies will last? I don't know how or what you agreed on, but don't you think one of them might report you to your company if there's a problem?"
Kim In-soo nodded, seemingly understanding my point.
"Partnerships ruin businesses, and you're talking about competitors? This is absurd."
I emptied my whiskey glass and took a bite of the apple slices on the table.
"But look, have I ever made any unreasonable demands? I just asked you to let me know if other companies offered you a better price. That's just common courtesy in the business world. It's like telling your existing client to match the price offered by another company. Isn't it?"
I patted his shoulder.
"Me, who has been giving you money consistently for over a year without asking for any favors, and a group of over ten unreliable companies… who do you trust more? Me, of course."
"Y-yes, of course."
"Right? Don't risk your job for a measly 1 million won. And if you had told me earlier, I would have given you more. This is why communication is important. Director Park?"
Park Jong-bum took out 2 million won and handed it to me. I combined it with the 2 million won Kim In-soo had returned and handed it back to him.
"Four million won. Every month. And Director Park, take Assistant Manager Kim out to nice places more often. This wouldn't have happened if you had built a closer relationship with him."
"I'm sorry, sir. I'll be more careful in the future."
"Good."
But Kim In-soo still hesitated to take the money.
I frowned.
"Why aren't you taking it? Are we still not communicating properly?"
Kim In-soo waved his hands frantically.
"Th-that's not it! I'm just not sure if I should accept this…"
"What do you mean?"
"I accepted their offer not just for the money, but also because I have no way to influence the bidding process. I've been receiving money from you, so I feel obligated to try and help Chunha Trading win the bid, but there's nothing I can do."
He lowered his head and said,
"If Chunha Trading loses the bid, I won't be able to receive any more money from you. I thought it would be better to accept their offer, so it wouldn't matter who won the bid…"
"How does the bidding process work?"
"We provide samples to each company, and they submit their bid prices in sealed envelopes. Then, the envelopes are opened simultaneously in the presence of me, the manager, and the section chief. And the winning bidder is selected immediately. There's no room for me to intervene."
I pondered his words.
If the envelopes were opened simultaneously in the presence of multiple people, there was no way to manipulate the process.
And I had been maintaining a good relationship with the manager, but I had never even met the section chief.
"No room for intervention, huh. What are your responsibilities in this bidding process, Assistant Manager Kim?"
"I'm in charge of providing the samples and contacting the companies."
"Hmm."
There was definitely nothing he could do with his limited authority.
I thought for a moment and then smiled brightly, handing him the money again.
"Well, if we lose the bid, it can't be helped. But please accept this money. We've been doing business for a long time, and I value our relationship. I won't blame you if we lose, so don't worry and take it."
I waved the money at the hesitant Kim In-soo.
"My arm is getting tired. It's heavy. Just take it."
Kim In-soo took the money with a slightly touched expression.
"Th-thank you. If there's anything I can do for you, just let me know."
We called in some hostesses for Kim In-soo and started drinking.
Although I was preoccupied with the bidding process, I pretended to be enjoying myself to keep Kim In-soo happy.
Eventually, Kim In-soo passed out from drinking, and we sent him home. I started discussing the situation with Park Jong-bum.
"This is a problem. If they provide samples, the prices will be revealed to everyone. And the other companies participating in the bid must have their own sampling capabilities."
The technology to extract gold with a 70% recovery rate was already widely known.
Park Jong-bum suddenly clapped his hands, as if he had a good idea.
"How about swapping the samples? Semiconductors might look similar, but their gold content varies greatly. If we swap them with low-gold-content samples, the other companies will underestimate the value and bid lower."
I shook my head.
"It won't be easy. Do you think we can bypass Sasung Semiconductor's security and smuggle in samples for ten companies? That's impossible."
Sasung Semiconductor's security was extremely tight. They conducted body searches and used metal detectors, just like at airports. There was no way to smuggle anything in.
"But the samples are our only option. We can't swap the sealed bid envelopes."
The bid envelopes were sealed with the company's official seal to prevent forgery.
"Samples… samples… The samples are the key."
We racked our brains, but we couldn't come up with a solution.
I sighed and said,
"Let's go back. We'll figure something out."
The next day, I continued pondering as I walked around the company.
"It won't be easy. Considering the possibility of them bidding with almost no profit margin…"
I muttered as I walked aimlessly,
"Just being able to say they do business with Sasung would be a significant advantage, so maybe we should bid even at a loss… But I have my pride as a businessman, I don't want to work for free. It's not fun if we don't make a profit, but I don't want to let others have it either."
As I was lost in thought, it was almost lunchtime. As I was heading back to the office, the lab director approached me, holding a gold bar.
"Sir, the gold bar from today's processing is ready."
I took the gold bar, and its gleaming surface seemed to lift my spirits.
"Gold is always a pleasure to look at. It's so beautiful."
I smiled and said,
"Is the work manageable? The smell of the chemicals must be terrible."
The director scratched the back of his head.
"It's something I have to endure. There's no other company that treats its employees as well as ours, especially in these times. My colleagues used to tease me for joining a small company, but now they envy me. They're all worried about losing their jobs. Hahaha."
He was called "director," but he was actually a recent PhD graduate and wasn't that old.
At the time, Chunha Trading was much smaller than it was now, and we had struggled to find researchers. He was one of the few talented people we managed to recruit.
"They envy you? Then if you know anyone who's truly talented, bring them in. We're always looking for talented people."
"Yes, sir! I actually have someone in mind, I'll try to recruit them."
"Good. Do that. By the way, what are you processing that you were able to produce a gold bar in just half a day? It wouldn't be this much if it was just board stripping."
"We're processing the wafers that arrived last week."
Stripping was the process of dissolving the surface gold with chemicals.
Finished products like circuit boards only had gold plating on the connectors, and most of the gold was inside the IC chips. So our in-house recovery rate for boards was only about 10%.
But it was different for wafers.
Wafers were the core components for manufacturing IC chips. They were essentially exposed internal components, so the amount of gold on the surface was much higher.
"I see. That makes sense. Wafers, huh."
The mention of wafers reminded me of the Sasung Semiconductor bid.
"Wait, what's the recovery rate for wafers?"
"About 30% with the stripping process."
"30%, you say?"
His answer sparked an idea.
"Hmm? Stripping. Wafers. If I play this right…"