Goblin Library - Chapter 212

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 212.

At the Airport, Lee Gang-hun stood beside Wang Hong.
“You must visit Korea next time. I’ll show you many wonderful places.”
“At my age, traveling abroad has become such a hassle. Can’t even smoke freely on the airplane.”
Wang Hong’s response drew a soft chuckle from Lee Gang-hun as he turned toward the gate. “Then I’ll see you again next time. Stay healthy until then.”
“Then I’ll see you next time. Please take care of yourself until then.”
“Go on then. And try not to get stabbed again.”
“I’d prefer that myself.”
Lee Gang-hun added with a light touch to his abdomen.
“Getting stabbed hurts, after all.”
At his jest, Wang Hong shook his head with a small smile and waved. Lee Gang-hun bowed and stepped through the gate.

***

At the Airport of the country he’d returned to after half a month, Lee Gang-hun dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief.
Having just come from Korea, the sweltering heat of this place felt all the more vivid.
“Perfect weather for making money.”
Taking a deep breath, Lee Gang-hun emerged through the gate.
“Li!”
Hearing his name called, Lee Gang-hun turned. There stood Salim.
“Salim.”
Lee Gang-hun raised his hand in greeting, and Salim hurried over while scanning his surroundings cautiously.
“Why have you come back?”
“To make money, of course.”
“The Chinese are still looking to kill you if they spot you.”
“Still?”
“Of course.”
At Salim’s words, Lee Gang-hun pulled out his phone.
He found Peng Ying’s number and made the call. Peng Ying was a mid-level boss among the Chinese Organized Crime members Lee Gang-hun had encountered here.
“Hey, Li.”
“Boss Peng, it’s been a while.”
“Not that long, really.”
“True enough. By any chance, have orders come down from above regarding me?”
“Orders? Not particularly.”
“None at all?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I had a conversation with your boss.”
“Our boss? You know our boss?”
“I’ve met with Zhang Xiong.”
“….”
Peng Ying, who had been silent for a moment, spoke.
“Well, seeing that you’re still alive, it seems things went well.”
“You could say that. I’ve decided to conduct business with the Triad executives from now on.”
“With us?”
“That’s why I came with peace of mind, but it seems Boss Peng hasn’t heard about me yet… I’m starting to feel uneasy.”
“You came here? To this country?”
“I’ve decided to do business with the Triad brothers, so there’s no reason I couldn’t come to this country.”
“That’s true. Then you’ll need to contact the boss. Neither I nor the local representatives have heard anything about you yet… There are plenty of people who’ll draw their blades the moment they see you.”
At Peng Ying’s words, I exhaled heavily.
“I’m really glad I called Boss Peng.”
“Call him right away. Oh! And where are you going to stay?”
“I’ll be staying at the Warehouse.”
“Really?”
“The Warehouse turned out to be quite livable.”
“Fine, do as you like. Anyway, if you don’t want to get stabbed again, call quickly.”
“Yes.”
After ending the call, I phoned the Triad executives I’d agreed to work with.
And I learned that those executives had already contacted their subordinates. However, the highest-ranking person among those currently in this country hadn’t informed his subordinates of that contact.
It seemed he intended to give me some leeway, perhaps because he’d suffered losses because of me in the past.
And later, he would make excuses that the information hadn’t been fully transmitted to his subordinates.
Of course, I understood their position.
The executives had only suffered financial losses because of me, but the local representatives had additionally received criticism from the executives.
So they couldn’t help but dislike me more than the executives did.
In any case, after receiving assurances about my safety from the executives, Salim and I entered the Coffee Shop inside the Airport.
“The prices here are quite expensive.”
At Salim’s suggestion to skip this place and go eat in the City instead, I shook my head.
“It’s safer to stay here until word spreads that I’m not to be touched.”
Then, after ordering coffee and bread, I checked my watch and spoke.
“Let’s stay here for about an hour. That should be enough time for word to spread.”
“Understood.”
“Oh! Is everything alright at Home?”
“My wife is happy these days because I’ve been bringing home good money.”
“That’s good. I’ll make sure you earn plenty more in the future, so I’m counting on you.”
“I’m the one counting on you.”
“How are the others?”
“Everyone is doing well.”
At Salim’s words, I nodded, then suddenly looked at him and spoke.
“The Company President said something like this.”
“What did he say?”
At the mention of the Company President saying something, Salim looked at him with a tense expression.
He worried the Company President might have told him to reduce employee salaries or cut staff due to excessive wage expenditures.
Watching Salim’s anxiety, Lee Gang-hun smiled and spoke.
“People are managed through money, not through personal relationships.”
Salim squinted slightly.
“That sounds a bit… cold-hearted.”
“The words are harsh, but they fit well in the relationship between employer and employee. You shouldn’t expect people to work harder based on affection or personal bonds just because they’ve grown close while working. It means you should manage people properly by paying them fairly, without relying on personal connections.”
“When you put it that way, it sounds like good advice.”
“Right. It’s good advice. Work is something you do for money, not out of emotion.”
After passing time with various conversations, Lee Gang-hun stood up after about an hour.
“Come on, let’s head to the warehouse and start discussing business.”
At Lee Gang-hun’s words, Salim went with him to the Parking Lot, got in the car, and departed for the Warehouse.

Lee Gang-hun was touring the Village with his employees, which lay a short distance from the City.
“Looking at it again, the Village really is quite dilapidated.”
Since I had come for preliminary surveys before, I already knew what the Village was like.
But now that I was returning to begin operations in earnest, it felt even more run-down.
“Isn’t that why you chose this place? The older it is, the easier it should be to purchase.”
Mahmoud continued, looking around.
“Still, the people are honest and the Village is clean.”
“Clean isn’t quite the word—there’s just nothing here.”
“That’s why the land prices are cheap.”
“Let’s head toward the Lake.”
At Lee Gang-hun’s words, the group got in the car and moved toward the Lake.
The Lake was larger than expected. The greenery and trees surrounding it also looked quite pleasant.
However…
“The water quality isn’t very good.”
Lee Gang-hun squinted at the murky-colored water.
“This won’t do…”
At Lee Gang-hun’s words, Mahmoud spoke.
“The water quality may look poor, but it’s not at a severe level.”
“Is that so?”
“It’s just that there are quite a few suspended particles.”
Mahmoud scooped water with his hand and sprinkled it into the air, where it fell gleaming clearly.
“They use this water as drinking water.”
“Drinking water? This water?”
“If you filter it, it’s drinkable enough.”
At Mahmoud’s words, Lee Gang-hun put his hand in the water and spoke.
“First, we need to connect the water supply here.”
“That’s true. The wealthy won’t be drawing water from here to drink. However, the water supply construction won’t be easy.”
“No, it will be.”
“Pardon?”
Mahmoud looked at me with a puzzled expression, and I smiled as I explained.
“Do you know what’s best about civil engineering projects?”
“What is it?”
“Permits come through easily when you’re connected to people with power.”
I gestured toward the direction where the water supply was located and continued.
“The people who will come to live on this land are the wealthy and the Chinese. High-ranking officials will be included as well. Would they be happy if there’s no water supply running to the places where they’ll be living?”
“No, they wouldn’t be.”
“Exactly. So they’ll change policies if necessary to bring the water supply here.”
Salim, who had been listening quietly beside us, asked softly.
“Couldn’t we suggest building houses in places where water supply already exists?”
I nodded.
“We could.”
“Then what will we do?”
I pointed to the Lake.
“But this is the only place nearby with a Lake.”
“Can we proceed based on just one Lake?”
“It’s possible.”
I gazed at the Lake as I spoke.
“When people struggle to survive, they prefer places that are easy to live in and convenient for commuting. But once life improves, they prioritize the view. A park, forest, or body of water visible from home—the real estate market thrives on such views alone.”
I spread my arms wide.
“Look around. This entire country is covered in loess yellow. In a land like this, the area around this Lake will become a truly desirable place to live.”
Then I pointed to the land surrounding the Lake.
“We’ll reclaim the land around this Lake and plant trees and grass. It will become a green zone that’s rare to find in this region. The land here will be worth its weight in gold.”
“Then shouldn’t we buy some of this land ourselves?”
“No, we won’t buy this land.”
“The prices will skyrocket once you buy it.”
“They will. That’s why we need to have the Chinese and high-ranking officials here buy the land.”
Mahmoud looked at me questioningly, and I smiled as I explained.
“That way, they’ll put their effort into developing this area.”
“Ah…”
Mahmoud nodded as if he understood what I meant.
“Our company is small. We can’t handle this project with our own money. So we need to bring in people with power.”
“That makes sense.”
Looking at Mahmoud and the employees who understood my meaning, I said.
“But you all should buy land if you can.”
“Are we allowed to buy it?”
“If I don’t buy, then I don’t buy. There’s no reason for you locals not to purchase. Has the land value here shown any movement yet?”
“Not yet, sir.”
At Mahmoud’s response, Lee Gang-hun nodded and pulled out his phone.
“Well then, let’s attract some customers.”
Lee Gang-hun dialed a number saved in his phone.
“President, it’s Lee. How have you been? Ha! I’m here on business, of course. Yes, it’s about that construction project you mentioned before—the one about building a house. I’d like to discuss that matter with you. Yes! Oh, and if it’s convenient, I was hoping we could meet with anyone you know who’s looking to build or buy a new home. Haha! Have I ever let you down before?”
After setting up that appointment, Lee Gang-hun called several wealthy businessmen he’d come to know during his time conducting business in this country.
After arranging meetings over the next few days, Lee Gang-hun called the Chinese contacts.
“Wang Ju-myung, it’s been a while since we last spoke.”
It was Wang Ju-myung, with whom Lee Gang-hun had established a connection here.
“I’ve felt like I’ve only been receiving favors from you, so I’ve brought you an opportunity to profit. Do you have time to meet now? Every day that passes on this matter means we lose that much profit. Haha! I’ll explain the details when we meet.”
Lee Gang-hun hung up with a smile and looked at his employees.
“If you’re going to buy land, buy it early. Once we start, the land values will skyrocket day by day, just like in that call.”
“Understood.”
Lee Gang-hun gazed intently at Ho-su before speaking.
“By the way, are there fish in this lake here?”
“There should be.”
“Is that so?”
Lee Gang-hun smiled faintly.
“Fishing with a view like this is quite peaceful and pleasant.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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