Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 344

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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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344. Regardless of the cost, I’ll make sure he pays for his sins.

Once our conversation concluded, Seok-won rose first and left the study room.
Park Jin-hyung watched the study door close before turning to Park Tae-hong, who was already lighting his third cigarette, his expression clouded with concern.

“Are you truly planning to entrust Seok-won with the dollar reserves we’ve converted?”

Unlike the grave Park Jin-hyung, Park Tae-hong reclined against the plush sofa with an air of ease.

“Are you worried he’ll squander it all?”

Park Jin-hyung leaned forward as he spoke.

“This is hardly a matter for jest. The reserve fund amounts to 320 million dollars. Surely you’re not considering handing over the entire sum?”
“That’s precisely what I intend to do.”

Park Tae-hong answered without the slightest hesitation.
Park Jin-hyung’s anxiety intensified at the prospect of surrendering the group’s lifeline—dollars that might prove crucial should a foreign exchange crisis strike—to an investment fraught with risk. The notion of entrusting the entire reserve fund only deepened his dread.

“I’m aware of Seok-won’s exceptional investment acumen, but placing the entire reserve fund in his hands seems far too perilous.”

Park Tae-hong responded with composure to his eldest son’s indirect dissuasion.

“Does it seem that way to you?”

Park Jin-hyung nodded urgently.

“If you wish to pursue this investment, wouldn’t it be wiser to entrust only half—or perhaps a third—of the fund as a safer approach?”

Park Tae-hong gazed at his eldest son’s face for a moment, then rose without answering.
Opening a drawer in the solid wood desk behind him, Park Tae-hong retrieved a document envelope and returned to the sofa.

“Take a look at this.”

Park Tae-hong placed the document envelope on the table.

“What is this?”
“You’ll understand once you look at it.”

Park Jin-hyung gazed at Park Tae-hong with a puzzled expression before reaching out to take the envelope of documents.
He then withdrew the papers inside and examined their contents.

O-Gwang Industries: Principal 11,300,000,000 ￦
Return Rate: 5.3x
Profit 48,590,000,000 ￦ (excluding principal)

Cheonho Steel: Principal 5,000,000,000 ￦
Return Rate: 10.4x
Profit 47,000,000,000 ￦ (excluding principal)

Total Profit: 95,590,000,000 ￦
(Nine billion five hundred fifty-nine million won)

“…!”

Park Jin-hyung’s eyes widened in shock at the figures before him, and he lifted his gaze to meet Park Tae-hong’s.

“What… what is all this?”

Park Tae-hong chuckled softly at the dazed expression on his face.

‘I had the same reaction when I first saw this.’

Park Tae-hong smiled wryly to himself and spoke.

“As you can see, it’s an investment settlement statement.”

A sudden thought flashed through Park Jin-hyung’s mind, and his expression turned incredulous.

“Surely not…”

Park Tae-hong explained, a cigarette held between his fingers.

“I mentioned before that I once entrusted some money to my second son, didn’t I?”
“So this is the money you were referring to back then, sir?”
“That’s right. In less than a year, he managed to multiply it like this.”
“Good heavens…”

Park Jin-hyung examined the settlement statement in his hands multiple times, as if struggling to believe what he was seeing.
Honestly, even thinking about it now, all I could say was that Park Tae-hong was truly remarkable.

‘So this time, I’m already curious to see just how much he’ll multiply it and bring back.’

Thanks to my unwavering faith in my second son, I never once entertained the thought that I might lose the money.
Park Tae-hong exhaled a stream of white cigarette smoke and spoke at a leisurely pace.

“At this rate, he’s certainly worthy of entrusting money to.”

Then, suddenly, Park Tae-hong’s brow furrowed.

“The fees and bonuses are a bit—no, quite expensive, but since he’s the type to keep his word once he’s spoken it, I’m certain he’ll bring back at least double, if not three or four times the amount.”

Though there was a hint of complaint mixed in about how there wasn’t even a family discount, Park Tae-hong’s words carried absolute conviction.
Park Jin-hyung wondered if it could really be that simple, but with such clear evidence right before his eyes, he had no way to refute it.

***

It was evening when Seok-won returned to his house in Seocho-dong, slipping off his shoes in the entryway before flipping the light switch on the wall.
The lights came on all at once, and the dark interior of the house brightened instantly.
After tossing my shirt carelessly over the back of the living room sofa, I headed straight to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and pulled out a cold can of beer.

Click!

As I popped the top and took a long swig, the refreshing carbonation flowed from my mouth down my throat and spread throughout my body, washing away the fatigue of the entire day.
After downing more than half the beer in one go, I was unbuttoning my shirt with one hand, about to head for a shower, when my phone rang.
I pulled out my phone from my shirt pocket and saw Landon Shore’s number on the screen, so I pressed the answer button.

[Boss. Is it okay to talk right now?]

With the phone pressed to my ear, I picked up the half-finished can of beer again and spoke.

“Tell me.”
[I contacted you because it appears the Quantum Fund has begun liquidating its position in the ringgit.]

Seok-won narrowed his brow and asked.

“What’s the ringgit exchange rate right now?”
[3.20 ringgit per dollar.]
“We’ve already made a 28% profit, but there’s still more to gain. Why are they pulling out so soon?”
[Precisely. A few days ago, the ringgit exchange rate stopped declining and began trading sideways, which I found puzzling. It turns out the Quantum Fund was the cause—they were buying ringgit in massive quantities to liquidate their position.]

As a major player, the Quantum Fund’s position shifts inevitably exerted enormous influence over the ringgit’s directional movement.
Knowing this, Landon Shore had called immediately.

“Could there be some variable affecting the exchange rate that we haven’t detected yet?”
[I’ve been examining this closely myself, but so far I haven’t found anything significant. If anything, Malaysia’s government has banned short selling entirely on the stock market and suspended massive construction projects worth billions of dollars—only negative news for the currency. I’m baffled as to why they’re suddenly doing this.]

Unlike Thailand or the Philippines, Malaysia’s government had taken a hardline stance, refusing to seek IMF assistance and directly confronting currency speculators—a posture decidedly negative for the ringgit.
Yet George Hamilton, a titan of Wall Street and someone more attuned to money flows than anyone, could not simply dismiss the Quantum Fund’s position shift.

“What about the movements of other hedge funds?”
[Some have hastily followed the Quantum Fund and resumed buying ringgit, but most are holding and watching carefully.]
“But the moment the exchange rate direction shifts, they’ll act immediately.”
[If they’re late, profits shrink—or worse, they could take losses. That’s inevitable.]

With such enormous short bets placed on the ringgit, if liquidation occurred all at once, the artificially inflated exchange rate would plummet catastrophically. A fierce game of reading the room was unavoidable.
As I pondered George Hamilton’s true intentions, stroking my chin with one hand, a sudden thought flashed through my mind.

“Perhaps they’re hunting for bigger prey.”
[Bigger prey? Are you referring to Hong Kong?]
“Yes.”

Seok-won tightened his grip on the phone in his hand and spoke.

“Hong Kong isn’t an easy opponent for the Quantum Fund. To wage war, they’d need to consolidate their full strength.”
[Now that you mention it, that makes perfect sense. If we view this as a preliminary move against Hong Kong, all of the Quantum Fund’s current actions become clear.]
“Hong Kong is set to return to China on July 1st after 156 years. They’re likely planning to strike amid the chaos during that transition.”

Landon Shore let out a small exclamation.

[Targeting the gap when neither Britain nor China can easily provide support—you’re quite the cunning operator, aren’t you?]
“Striking when your opponent is most vulnerable is the fundamental principle of any conflict, so it’s only natural.”
[Then shouldn’t we also hurry and liquidate our positions in Malaysia?]

Landon Shore spoke with barely concealed urgency.
Seok-won paused to consider, then shook his head slightly.

“No. For now, we maintain our positions as they are.”

Landon Shore’s voice took on a worried edge.

[If Quantum Fund attacks Hong Kong as you predict, won’t the other funds swarm in like hornets, pulling their capital out of Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia?]

Unlike Landon Shore, who fretted over missing the timing, Seok-won remained composed.

“If Quantum Fund is indeed targeting the gap when Hong Kong reverts to China, they won’t make their move until mid-June at the earliest.”
[That makes sense—moving too quickly would invite British intervention.]
“Exactly. Britain especially has a grudge against George Hamilton, so they might actively join the fight for revenge. Quantum Fund will want to avoid that at all costs.”
[I agree with that assessment.]

It was only natural to predict that Britain would be grinding its teeth over Quantum Fund—the proud British Empire’s dignity had been utterly humiliated in that affair.

“So we still have about a month before we need to act hastily.”
[That’s true, but the ringgit has fallen almost to its floor now. It seems unlikely to depreciate much further. Wouldn’t closing our position here be a reasonable choice?]
“I see it differently.”
[You believe the ringgit will fall further?]
“If my projections are correct, it will reach 4 ringgit per dollar.”

Over the phone, Landon Shore let out a gasp of disbelief.

[Another 25% depreciation? Are you saying that?]
“Yes. Given Malaysia’s government’s hardline stance, strict regulations to prevent capital flight will certainly come soon. When the exchange rate swings sharply again from that, that’s when we’ll realize our profits and exit.”

Though not entirely without anxiety, Landon Shore nodded at Seok-won’s confident words.

[If that’s your assessment… I understand.]
“Still, just in case, we’re monitoring Quantum Fund’s movements closely.”
[Understood.]

Landon gave a brief response and smoothly shifted the conversation.

[Ah, and regarding the attempted murder case perpetrators you mentioned last time, I’ve entrusted the matter to a Washington lobbying firm and three civic organizations.]

Seok-won’s eyes sparkled at the news he’d been waiting for.

“They’re the type who deliver results for their money, I assume?”
[Of course. They’re organizations with considerable influence over both houses of Congress and the White House. If we apply pressure through them, it will be difficult for the Pentagon or law enforcement to simply brush the case aside.]

Rather than filing a direct complaint, Landon advised that lobbying members of Congress and White House officials while leveraging civic organizations to publicize the case would be more effective in pressuring for proper punishment. Seok-won decided to abandon his original plan in favor of this approach.

[The downside is that while the results are guaranteed, the cost is substantial.]
“You said we agreed to pay fifteen million dollars combined across the three organizations, correct?”
[That’s correct.]

Seok-won spoke in a low, resolute voice.

“Money is no object. Make sure those bastards pay the full price for what they’ve done.”

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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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