"What? 1.1 billion won?"
Lee Young-soo, who was celebrating his anticipated victory with the other colluding CEOs, shouted after receiving a call from the section chief.
The other CEOs also tensed up, listening intently to the conversation.
"CEO Lee, aren't you being too greedy? How much profit margin did you include in your bid that there's a 100 million won difference?"
"But… what…"
Lee Young-soo stammered, and the section chief sighed.
"I was planning to push for a re-bid, saying the prices were too low, but be reasonable this time."
Lee Young-soo protested,
"I wasn't being greedy! I barely included any profit margin, just to secure a contract with Sasung! It's only a 1% margin! How can I lower the price any further?"
The section chief was surprised.
"A 1% margin? Really?"
"Yes! And the electronic scrap market is volatile, so even 1% is risky. I bid considering the possibility of a loss. If I lower the price any further, you're asking me to go bankrupt."
"Then what about Chunha Trading's 1.1 billion won bid?"
"…"
Lee Young-soo was speechless. The section chief said impatiently,
"So you're saying you can't lower the price?"
"Yes, I don't think 1.1 billion won is possible…"
"Damn it. CEO Han was so confident… So a re-bid is pointless. We'll just award the contract to Chunha Trading. The money we agreed on will be deposited, right? I have a conscience, so send at least half of it."
Lee Young-soo wanted to pretend the deal never happened, but he couldn't afford to offend the section chief, as it would ruin his chances of doing business with Sasung in the future. He forced a smile.
"O-of course."
He ended the call, slammed his fist on the table, and shouted,
"Those Chunha Trading bastards!"
One of the CEOs asked,
"What happened? Did Chunha Trading bid 1.1 billion won?"
Lee Young-soo nodded, and everyone groaned.
"What are those guys doing? Are you sure we did the sampling correctly? Double-check with your companies."
They hurriedly recalculated their estimates, but the conclusion was the same.
"No matter how we calculate it, 1.1 billion won is impossible. Chunha Trading has been buying boards at prices higher than the gold value lately. Are they insane?"
Lee Young-soo closed his eyes and thought. There was only one explanation for Chunha Trading's behavior.
"They're taking a loss."
"Even this time? But that's ridiculous…"
The reason they had colluded was because of Chunha Trading's recent aggressive moves.
Chunha Trading had always been the dominant player in the electronic scrap market, but they were still just middlemen like them, collecting scrap and delivering it to smelters.
Since their ultimate destination was the same, the prices they could offer were similar, and it was a competition of salesmanship. There was room for smaller players to survive. But then Chunha Trading started buying scrap at prices higher than the gold value.
The other CEOs, struggling to acquire electronic scrap because of Chunha Trading, were approached by Lee Young-soo with a proposal.
Chunha Trading was clearly trying to drive them out of business by taking a loss, so they could use this opportunity to increase Chunha Trading's losses.
Lee Young-soo believed that Chunha Trading was using the profits from their monopoly on large corporations' electronic scrap to offset their losses.
So if they could prevent Chunha Trading from making a profit from large corporations' scrap through the bidding process, they could bankrupt them.
But the result was the opposite of what they had expected.
"They probably bid at a loss to prevent us from winning the first bid and discourage us from participating in future bids."
The other CEOs nodded in agreement.
"They probably thought we would be intimidated by the huge price difference and give up."
The CEOs, regaining their composure, started offering suggestions.
"We didn't lose anything, since we're getting paid regardless of who wins the bid. Let's have all the large corporations switch to a bidding process and make Chunha Trading keep taking losses."
Lee Young-soo nodded.
"That's right. They'll eventually collapse under the weight of their losses."
One of the CEOs sighed.
"Chunha Trading's financial resources seem limitless. They're still holding on despite all the losses."
Lee Young-soo said in a firm voice,
"They must have their limits. We can bring them down if we keep pushing."
"Then let's set our next target. After Sasung, it's MG, right?"
As they were discussing their plans, Lee Young-soo's phone rang. He excused himself and stepped outside to answer the call.
"Yes, this is Lee Young-soo."
[It's Han Jae-eon.]
Lee Young-soo's face turned pale.
"C-CEO Han."
[What's with this bidding process? What happened? Is this all you're capable of, CEO Lee?]
Lee Young-soo hurriedly explained the conclusion they had reached.
Han Jae-eon remained silent for a while and then said,
[I understand. Alright, let's proceed. But CEO Lee…]
"Yes, CEO Han."
[I hate it when people make me lose money. I'll trust you for now and continue investing, but… I don't think I need to spell it out for you, do I?]
"Of course not. Don't worry."
[I trust you.]
There were no surprises.
Over the next month, many large corporations, starting with Sasung, switched to a bidding process for electronic waste disposal, but Chunha Trading won every single bid.
The competitors were baffled, and Chunha Trading's reputation in the electronic scrap industry soared.
"Thank you for your hard work on the bidding process."
Park Jong-bum smiled slyly.
"It was quite an interesting experience."
We had used every trick in the book, from aqua regia to swapping samples and bribing entire management teams. We even gave blank bid documents with Chunha Trading's seal to the bribed managers, who would then check the other bids and write down a slightly higher price before submitting them.
"You can handle it without me now, right?"
Park Jong-bum was startled.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm done with my work in Korea, so I need to go to China. The Hong Kong handover is in a few weeks, and I'm planning to start operating there in earnest. Director Park, you'll be in charge of all the company's bidding and related matters from now on."
Park Jong-bum's face fell.
"Sir, that's too much work! I'm already swamped. I have to manage the company while you're gone, hire new recruits, and now I have to handle the bidding process too…"
I chuckled at his complaints.
"Then hire more people. The office staff are experienced now, so promote them and hire more people to share the workload. But you should still handle the important matters yourself. I'll have Managing Director Kim return to Korea when I go to China, so you two can discuss and divide the work."
"Alright…"
I smiled and said,
"I'll leave it to you."
***
I arrived at Shenzhen Airport and saw Maru waiting for me at the gate.
I rushed over to him excitedly.
"How have you been? It's been a while. You've gotten a tan."
Maru's skin, which wasn't very fair to begin with, had become even darker under the scorching Shenzhen sun.
"I almost died from the heat. You said you would switch with me soon…"
I said apologetically,
"Sorry, sorry. Things kept coming up. I wasn't slacking off. I was really busy."
Maru snorted.
"That's why I didn't complain. Anyway, did you take care of everything in Korea?"
"Of course, I'm Park Sol, remember? I took care of everything."
"Congratulations."
I patted his shoulder.
"Let's go to the factory. I'm dying of curiosity."
We took a taxi to the factory, once again enduring the sweltering Shenzhen heat.
"Did you hire good employees?"
"Yes, they all agreed to the six-month overseas travel restriction."
"Any objections?"
Maru chuckled.
"None. I offered double the salary during the restriction period, so no one refused."
"Good, security is crucial. We've sent employees to other countries and are still sending more, so the goods will be pouring in. Some branches have already collected and shipped them to Hong Kong, so we'll be very busy once the Hong Kong route is fully operational."
"Really? That's great. I've been getting a lot of complaints."
I was puzzled by his words.
"What do you mean, complaints? Who's complaining?"
"The manufacturing companies, of course. Everything we produce is sold out immediately. Word has spread that we're selling cheap IC chips, so everyone is trying to reserve them. We can't keep up with the demand."
I was excited by his words.
"Really? It's only been a month since the factory started operating."
"I didn't expect it to be this crazy either. Anyway, let's talk more at the factory."
The factory was exactly as I had instructed Maru to build.
A high fence, three production buildings, an office building, and a warehouse. I was very satisfied.
We went to the office, and I praised Maru.
"You did a great job. I love it. The IC chip restoration is done inside the production buildings, right?"
"Of course. What if someone sees us doing it outside?"
I nodded.
"Anyway, good work. It must have been tough. Now, tell me more about what you were saying earlier. They're that desperate?"
"Hyung, do you remember what we saw at the main gate earlier?"
I recalled seeing the security guards arguing with some people at the gate as we entered in the taxi.
"Weren't they just stopping some peddlers?"
Maru shook his head.
"They were here to buy IC chips. They couldn't get any because we're fully booked, so they were trying to force their way in. I'm not kidding, it's chaos. We're getting non-stop phone calls and visitors like those guys. The supply is severely lacking."
I beamed.
"This is amazing!"
"Yes, it is. The supply issue will be resolved once Hong Kong is returned, but there's one thing that bothers me."
"What is it?"
"You're planning to be the intermediary connecting hundreds of thousands of junkyards and hundreds of thousands of manufacturers, right?"
I nodded.
"That's right."
"Then there will be tens of thousands of transactions every day. Can this factory handle that volume? It's already chaos after just one month."
Maru's words made me think.
"That's true."
"I've been running the factory for a month, and the office is swamped with phone calls and reservations. The production line is focused on fulfilling the reserved orders, so it takes time to sort the chips. And then there are those people who barge in like that. You'll see when you take over, but we can't handle this volume with our current system."
I nodded.
"You're right. I didn't think of that. It's because we've been doing things the same way. I see the problem now."
"So I've been thinking, how about this?"
"What?"
"Once the supply stabilizes, we open a store."
"Open a store?"
"Yes, we categorize and display the restored IC chips in the store. Then the manufacturers can come and buy what they need. It would make our work much easier. What do you think?"
TL/n -
You can read the complete novel by supporting me at
[email protected]/inkbound
(replace @ = a)