Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 464

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

464. As long as he doesn’t do something ridiculous and startle everyone, that would be a relief.

In the center of the elegantly appointed Chairman’s Office, Park Tae-hong sat on a European sofa flanked by his eldest son, Park Jin-hyung, and other group executives.
Park Tae-hong exhaled white smoke with a cigarette wedged between his fingers, his gaze settling on Gil Seong-ho, the Chief Secretary, seated to his left.

“Isn’t it time yet?”

Gil Seong-ho immediately rolled up his sleeve to check his watch and replied.

“It’s exactly three o’clock, so the bidding results should be announced any moment now.”
“Hmm. I don’t know why time feels so slow today.”

Park Tae-hong put another cigarette between his lips.
The spacious Chairman’s Office was thick with cigarette smoke and an atmosphere of anxiety.
The normally stern Park Tae-hong’s restlessness stemmed from one reason: today was when the bidding results for Gimpo Landfill and Korean Tongun would be announced.
With a staggering total of 2.7 trillion won at stake, Park Tae-hong and all the executives were at the peak of tension.
Of course, Gimpo Landfill would go to Blue Hole Construction, which Seok-won had established, while Daeheung Group would actually be acquiring only Korean Tongun.
Even so, the bid amount was a whopping 1.5 trillion won—the largest corporate acquisition in Daeheung Group’s history.
Initially, Park Tae-hong had considered acquiring Korean Tongun at his second son’s persuasion.
But during the review process, he discovered that Korean Tongun possessed a nationwide distribution network and owned prime real estate around train stations and other key locations, which would create substantial synergies with their existing department store business, prompting him to pursue the acquisition more aggressively.

“Once we acquire Korean Tongun, we’ll establish a solid foundation for the group to leap forward as a distribution and sales specialist company with a nationwide logistics system.”

Park Tae-hong stubbed out the nearly finished cigarette in a crystal ashtray and immediately lit a fresh one.
From chain-smoking without pause, cigarette butts had already accumulated thickly in the ashtray.

“Maybe I should have bid a hundred million more.”

As Park Tae-hong smacked his lips with a slightly regretful expression, his eldest son Park Jin-hyung, seated beside him, tried to reassure him.

“Didn’t Seok-won advise that excessive overpayment could lead to the winner’s curse? And since we’re the only ones who can pay the entire acquisition price in dollars, the bidding is merely a formality. Let’s trust what he said.”

Jo Yun-won, the Executive Director seated beside Park Jin-hyung, also chimed in.

“With exchange rates surging again and fears of another currency crisis looming, the government will certainly give us additional points for being able to secure such a massive dollar amount.”

But as Park Tae-hong flicked the cigarette between his fingers, unable to hide his anxiety, Gil Seong-ho spoke calmly.

“To be honest, 1.5 trillion won is the maximum we could afford to bid. Let’s wait a bit longer and see how things develop.”

In reality, I had spent a considerable amount of my cash reserves acquiring Nasan Department Store, so without Seok-won’s assistance, I wouldn’t have been able to put forward even 500 billion won, let alone 1.5 trillion.

“Sigh. All right.”

Chairman Park Tae-hong exhaled softly.

“Since I’ve already submitted the bid, there’s no point in regretting it now. What’s done is done.”

He then leaned back in his chair, lit a cigarette, and waited for the bidding results to be announced.
President Park Jin-hyung and the other executives sat in silence, occasionally glancing at their watches with tense expressions.
Time seemed to crawl by with unusual slowness today.
In the heavy silence, all that could be heard was the sound of anxious breathing and the crackling of burning tobacco.
When 2 PM, the scheduled announcement time, had long passed and everyone’s patience had reached its limit.
A ringtone pierced through the silence.
As Chief Secretary Gil Seong-ho pulled his phone from his inner pocket, Chairman Park Tae-hong straightened up and asked urgently.

“Is it Director Choi?”

After checking the name displayed on the screen, Chief Secretary Gil Seong-ho answered immediately.

“Yes, sir.”
“Answer it quickly. Actually, I’ll take it myself. Give it here!”

Unable to contain himself, Chairman Park Tae-hong extended his hand, and Chief Secretary Gil Seong-ho quickly handed over the phone.
Chairman Park Tae-hong brought the phone to his ear and shouted without preamble.

“What’s the result!”
[We’ve secured it, Chairman. We’ve won the bid for both Gimpo Landfill and Korean Tongun at 2.7 trillion won!]

At the news he’d been waiting for, Chairman Park Tae-hong broke into a broad smile and burst out laughing.

“Ha ha ha! That’s wonderful news indeed. You all did great work.”
[I’ll collect the winning bid documents and head straight to Headquarters.]
“Good. We’ll be waiting for you.”

As Chairman Park Tae-hong lowered the phone, President Park Jin-hyung, who had been listening intently, asked urgently.

“Did we win the bid?”

The other executives also looked at Park Tae-hong with eager anticipation in their eyes.
Park Tae-hong, whose face had been etched with anxiety moments before, now beamed with a bright smile as he spoke in a cheerful voice.

“It appears we’ve secured the bid.”
“I knew it! I had a good feeling about this.”

As Park Jin-hyung burst into cheers, Chief Secretary Gil Seong-ho also smiled and spoke.

“Congratulations, Chairman.”

The other executives then released their tension and celebrated freely.

“To have Korean Tongun in our grasp—it feels like a dream.”
“Now the Daeheung Group’s ranking in the business world will skyrocket.”

As everyone painted a bright future with hopeful expressions, Park Tae-hong burst into such a joyful laugh that it seemed to lift the room, commending the executives.

“Ha ha ha! This is the fruit of everyone’s hard work. You’ve all done splendidly.”

In fact, rumors had circulated that the relationship between the current administration and the Daeheung Group was favorable, and by attaching the condition of paying the entire acquisition price in dollars, they had essentially secured the bid.
However, in the final stages of bidding, the distribution conglomerate Lotte Group aggressively entered the race for Korean Tongun, making the situation uncertain.
This was because Lotte Group ranked far higher in the business hierarchy and, more importantly, possessed sufficient capital mobilization power.
Thus, they had to remain anxious until the very end, but ultimately defeated the formidable competitor and secured Korean Tongun.
Park Tae-hong, so delighted that his excitement scarcely subsided, turned to Jo Yun-won with a flushed face and spoke.

“The full acquisition payment is due within four days, correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Though it shouldn’t happen, just to be safe—make sure to instruct Daehung Venture Capital not to miss the deadline and to deposit the funds on time.”
“Understood.”

Then, a sudden thought crossed Park Tae-hong’s mind, and he furrowed his brow as he turned toward his eldest son.

“My second son is in Russia, isn’t he?”
“Yes. He said there was a matter he needed to handle personally.”
“With a bid involving trillions of won at stake, what could possibly be so important that he’d abandon his post? He’d barely returned from the United States before rushing off to Russia. The boy’s as unpredictable as they come.”

Park Tae-hong grumbled petulantly, his tone tinged with displeasure.
On a day with such joyful news, everyone should gather together, yet one person always found some excuse about being busy and was never present—a fact that clearly bothered him.
Park Jin-hyung, catching the note of regret in his voice, laughed with a soft “ha ha.”

“When you’re handling major projects, there are naturally many things demanding your attention.”
“As long as he doesn’t go off on some wild tangent and startle everyone, I suppose that’s fortunate enough.”

***

At that same moment.
Seok-won, who had arrived at the Khrunichev Space Center on the outskirts of Moscow with his entourage, felt an itching sensation and touched his ear with his finger.

“Is something wrong?”
“Someone must be talking about me—my ear keeps itching.”
“Pardon?”

Pavlovich stared at me with a bewildered expression.

“It’s nothing to worry about.”

I chuckled softly and lifted my gaze toward the massive factory building standing before us.
Like most Russian space facilities, support had dried up almost entirely after the Soviet collapse, leaving the structure dilapidated and shabby from poor maintenance.
To make matters worse, as Russia declared a moratorium and its economic situation deteriorated, space-related enterprises like Khrunichev found themselves in increasingly dire straits.
In such circumstances, my visit was quite literally a blessing from heaven for Khrunichev.
Normally, one had to submit a request forty-five days in advance to visit the facility, yet they had waived that procedure entirely and granted immediate access—and the president himself had rushed out to personally offer his guidance.
Vladimir Nesterov, the president with a robust build and a well-groomed mustache, kept a watchful eye on me, his financial benefactor, as he enthusiastically explained the factory facilities, gesticulating animatedly.

“The facility you’re looking at is our main assembly building. It spans a height of forty meters and stretches an impressive one point five kilometers in length as a single structure.”

He continued with evident pride.

“It’s the longest single building in Moscow.”

Nesterov raised his arm and pointed to two yellow electric carts lined up side by side.

“The interior is far too expansive to tour on foot, so we’ll proceed by cart from here on.”

Seok-won nodded and boarded one of two electric carts with his entourage, splitting the group between them.
Moments later, the electric cart glided smoothly forward and entered the factory interior.
The first thing that caught my eye upon stepping inside was an enormous rocket lying on the floor, fully assembled.
As the electric cart came to a stop beside the rocket, Vladimir Nesterov, who had been sitting in the front passenger seat, turned to look back at Seok-won and spoke.

“What you’re looking at right now is the Proton rocket. To be precise, it’s the Proton-K variant.”

It was my first time seeing a space rocket up close, and the overwhelming presence of its massive proportions—53 meters in length and 7.4 meters in diameter—drew a soft gasp from me.
Sensing my satisfaction, Vladimir Nesterov smiled and continued.

“Its first launch was in 1965, and it has been launched over 200 times since then, successfully placing more than 50 satellites into orbit.”
“It’s truly magnificent… no, beautiful.”

Unable to tear my gaze from the pristine white rocket body, Vladimir Nesterov’s chest swelled with pride.

“It’s not just our company’s symbol and source of pride, but Russia’s as well.”

Vladimir Nesterov, his expression brimming with confidence, added further words.

“The rocket in front is the unit being sent to Korea.”
“May I get closer and touch it?”
“Normally that wouldn’t be permitted, but since you’ve now become the rocket’s new owner, feel free to do as you wish.”

Seok-won eagerly stepped down from the electric cart.
Vladimir Nesterov and the rest of the entourage promptly followed suit.
Wearing a hard hat, I approached the massive rocket and carefully raised one arm, placing my hand on its curved fuselage.
The cold metallic sensation transmitted through my palm.
Imagining this colossal rocket erupting with tremendous pillars of flame, soaring upward to pierce the atmosphere and venture into space, my heart raced with excitement.
And knowing that this rocket now belonged to me made it feel all the more extraordinary.
After running my palm across the fuselage, I turned back to Vladimir Nesterov with an expression brimming with anticipation.

“When can we transport the rocket to Korea?”
“Since we’ll need to disassemble and divide it for transport, it will take more than two months.”
“Let’s have it finished within a month.”

Vladimir Nesterov, eager to accommodate his generous patron’s requests, nonetheless wore a troubled expression, as if to suggest it simply couldn’t be done.

“It’s delicate and sensitive work, so I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”
“I’ll double the transportation fee.”
“Really, sir?”

As Seok-won nodded, Nesterov cleared his throat and quickly changed his tune.

“Well. Normally it wouldn’t be possible, but we’ll work double shifts and try to finish within a month.”

So it was true—when something couldn’t be done, it was simply a matter of insufficient funds.
Seok-won smiled with satisfaction and spoke.

“Just make sure the rocket doesn’t develop any problems because we’re rushing. You understand that, don’t you?”
“You needn’t worry about that.”

The reason Seok-won was pushing so hard was that while the Russian government had approved the export of the Proton rocket, he couldn’t predict when they might change their minds.
So he wanted to get it to Korea before any unforeseen circumstances could arise.
Seok-won lightly tapped the smooth rocket fuselage with his palm, murmuring softly to himself.

“See you again soon in Korea.”

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