Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 485

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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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485. You’re already showing proper filial piety to your parents the moment you enter the world.

Jung Hwan-yeop burst into the office in a flustered rush, quickly scanning Manager Choi Ho-geun’s desk before collapsing into a chair.

“Phew! Just barely made it.”

Yu Seok-hyun, wearing a silk necktie, swiveled his chair sideways to face Jung Hwan-yeop and tapped the watch on his wrist.

“You’re five minutes late, so unfortunately that’s out.”
“Come on! That’s within acceptable range.”

Jung Hwan-yeop removed his upper garment and placed his document bag on the desk, casting a sideways glance at Manager Choi Ho-geun’s empty seat.

“By the way, where’s the manager?”
“He went to see the Finance Director.”

Noh Hee-won, the youngest member, replied while distributing printouts.

“Oh really? If he’d caught me being late, I would’ve heard nagging all day long. Lucky me. Everyone knows I arrived right on time today, didn’t I!”
“Just your word for it?”

Hong Jae-hee, dressed in a two-piece suit today, asked, and Jung Hwan-yeop exclaimed with a flourish.

“I’ll buy everyone coffee after lunch today!”

But despite his spirited declaration, the team’s response was lukewarm.

“Ugh…”
“Isn’t that a bit too modest as hush money?”

Hearing the jeers from around the room, Jung Hwan-yeop’s expression turned sullen.

“Coffee is plenty! What more do you want!”
“You received a substantial performance bonus last time, yet you’re being so stingy.”
“Dig up the ground. See if a single hundred-won coin comes out.”

At Hong Jae-hee’s words, Jung Hwan-yeop lifted his chin and shot back.

“Why is everyone making such a racket this early in the morning?”

I turned at the sound of a voice behind me, and Manager Choi Ho-geun entered the office with an approval stamp in one hand.

“Oh my! Manager! You’re here.”

Jung Hwan-yeop approached with an ingratiating chuckle, but Manager Choi Ho-geun pushed him away with a weary gaze.

“That’s disgusting. Get away from me.”
“Come on, why are you being so prickly? Did the director chew you out or something?”
“Am I you? And the only thing you’re good at as a manager is showing up late.”
“Late? I arrived exactly on time!”

Jung Hwan-yeop answered without a shred of shame.
Manager Choi Ho-geun placed his hand holding the approval stamp on his hip and looked at him with a pitying expression.

“Wipe the sweat off your forehead before you lie. And I saw you sprinting down the hallway well past the start time. What kind of trick are you trying to pull?”
“Ah… oh no.”

Jung Hwan-yeop hastily wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and let out an awkward cough.

“When did you see that? Wow, your eyes are sharp.”
“Look… never mind, I shouldn’t even bother. Anyway, bring me a written apology!”
“A written apology for just five minutes late? Isn’t that too harsh?”
“Listen here. I wouldn’t do this for a first offense, but this is already your third time this month!”

When Manager Choi Ho-geun finally raised his voice, Jung Hwan-yeop, with nothing left to say, averted his gaze.

“I apologize.”
“Apologizing doesn’t cut it.”

Manager Choi Ho-geun furrowed his brow as if his patience had snapped.

“Ever since you started dating, you’ve been completely scatterbrained.”
“But I haven’t made any trading mistakes, have I?”
“If you had, you’d already be fired!”

Manager Choi Ho-geun glared at him and pressed the point.

“Just let this slide for now, and please, let’s do better going forward. Okay?”
“Yes, sir! I’ll come in thirty minutes early from now on.”
“Fine, just don’t be late again. Ugh, how did I end up with a subordinate like that… He sticks to me like a leech and won’t let go.”

Yet despite all the accumulated grievances, Choi Ho-geun was soft on Jung Hwan-yeop.
Watching the two of them bicker like Tom and Jerry as usual, the team members suppressed their laughter and smiled quietly.

“Oh, by the way. Did you see that?”
“What now?”

Choi Ho-geun replied with an annoyed tone as he walked back to his desk.

“The article in Time magazine.”
“Oh! I saw that.”

Hong Jae-hee chimed in with sparkling eyes.

“The article about how our president surpassed Christopher Alexander, the Microsoft chairman, and became the world’s richest man.”
“Yes, that one!”

Jung Hwan-yeop gave Hong Jae-hee a thumbs up.

“I saw it yesterday—not just in the newspapers, but on the 9 o’clock news too.”

Following Yu Seok-hyun, Noh Hee-won also added her comment with sparkling eyes.

“I even heard about it on the bus radio this morning.”

Since Seok-won graced the cover of Time magazine, the entire nation had been buzzing about it, so Choi Ho-geun naturally knew about it.
He too had been startled when he first read the article.
He knew that Seok-won managed an almost incomprehensibly vast amount of capital, but he hadn’t known the exact figures, so his shock was understandable.
After reading the article—that he not only surpassed Christopher Alexander, the Microsoft chairman who had held the number one position for six consecutive years, but also ascended to become the world’s richest man with an estimated fortune of ninety billion dollars—he felt both impressed and proud.
It was remarkable enough that a fellow Korean had claimed the top spot, surpassing all the world’s most prominent figures, but the fact that the person who achieved this was his own boss made him even happier, and he felt his shoulders straighten with pride.
Choi Ho-geun suppressed his urge to make a fuss and spoke with apparent composure.

“In these difficult economic times following the IMF crisis, it’s only natural that people are talking about Korea having the world’s richest man.”
“Really? You don’t seem very surprised, sir.”

Choi Ho-geun shrugged as he replied.

“When you went to New York, you saw firsthand how massive the sums the President moves around are. We’re already managing over a trillion won in funds right now, so there’s nothing particularly surprising about it, is there?”
“That’s true.”

As Hong Jae-hee nodded in agreement, Yu Seok-hyun spoke up.

“A trillion won is already a staggering amount, but 90 billion dollars? I can’t even begin to fathom how much that actually is.”
“According to the articles, he earned all that money directly through investments. He really is remarkable.”

Admiration radiated from Noh Hee-won’s face.
At that moment, Jung Hwan-yeop folded his arms and grinned widely as he spoke.

“When it comes to investing, he’s truly the best. We took seed money that was only worth a few hundred billion and grew it this massive while we were just managing the funds, right?”
“Exactly.”
“There’s truly no genius quite like him.”

Everyone agreed without a single dissenting voice.
In fact, the team members followed Seok-won’s directions and felt the gap in ability every single day, so they naturally had no choice but to nod in agreement.
It also became motivation that drove them to push themselves harder so they could keep pace with him, even if only slightly.
Manager Choi Ho-geun, still seated in his chair, mentally retraced how the Fund Management Department’s capital had grown, and couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.

‘I don’t know who came up with the nickname “Midas touch,” but it’s absolutely fitting.’

* * *

Seated at the desk in the President’s Office with tall buildings visible beyond the expansive glass windows, Seok-won carefully examined the approval documents in his hand.
Just as he picked up his favored Montblanc fountain pen to sign, his right ear began to itch.

“Hmm.”

Seok-won slightly furrowed his brow and, still holding the fountain pen, raised his hand to scratch his ear.
Eom Tae-jun, the Finance Director standing before the desk, noticed this and asked with a puzzled expression.

“Is there something uncomfortable, sir?”
“Someone must be talking about me—my ear’s itching.”

Seok-won chuckled lightly and casually finished signing.
He then closed the approval stamp pad and handed it back to Finance Director Eom Tae-jun as he spoke.

“For the export payments coming in from Best Buy, transfer our portion immediately to Digital Wave instead of letting it sit for several days unnecessarily.”

Eom Tae-jun, the Finance Director, accepted the approval slip and responded.

“Normally, when we have money to pay our partner companies, we hold onto it for a week, sometimes two weeks or even a month before paying. But since we pay in cash immediately without using promissory notes, everyone is extremely satisfied.”
“That’s how it should be in the first place. We’re not in such dire financial straits that we need to hoard money and squeeze out extra interest. There’s no reason to be petty about it.”
“You’re absolutely right.”

Since Seok-won became the owner, several long-standing vices had changed, one of which was paying transaction fees in cash without holding onto the money or using promissory notes.
Under the old practice, payment delays or promissory notes were common, leaving suppliers unable to receive payment for three or four months after delivering goods.

‘While many large corporations collapsed, when the IMF crisis hit, hundreds and thousands of subcontractors went bankrupt in droves. One major cause was precisely this promissory note practice.’

But not a single company operated by Seok-won, nor Daheung Venture Capital, failed to pay their transaction partners on time. They didn’t use promissory notes either—they paid in cash—so from the perspective of trading partners, nothing could be better.
Then, suddenly recalling something, Eom Tae-jun, the Finance Director, spoke with a slightly troubled expression.

“And there’s one more thing I need to mention.”
“Go ahead.”
“Following your instructions, we decided to provide childbirth congratulations bonuses as a welfare benefit when employees have children.”
“And?”

Eom Tae-jun, the Finance Director, hesitated and trailed off under the attention.

“An employee gave birth not long ago, and….”

At this, Seok-won’s brow furrowed slightly.

“If she gave birth, it’s a joyous occasion, so we should just give the congratulations bonus according to the rules.”
“But she gave birth to triplets.”

For a moment, Seok-won blinked in bewilderment.
Then he immediately straightened up and asked again, just to be sure.

“Did you just say triplets?”
“Yes.”
“One child is already a blessing, but receiving three at once is even more worthy of celebration.”

Suppressing his bewilderment, Seok-won spoke, and Eom Tae-jun, the Finance Director, awkwardly chuckled in agreement.

“That’s true. But the issue is whether we should count this as a first birth and pay twenty million won, or consider it a third birth and pay sixty million won.”

According to the newly established rules, the first child would receive a twenty million won birth congratulations bonus, the second child would receive forty million won, and the third would receive sixty million won.
However, triplets had been born instead of twins, and there was no separate regulation for such circumstances, leaving the staff uncertain about how to proceed.
Seok-won had been equally flustered when he first heard the news, so I fully understood the employees’ confusion.
But having quickly regained his composure, Seok-won stroked his cleanly shaven chin thoughtfully for a moment.
Then, having reached a decision, he looked at Eom Tae-jun, the Finance Director standing before him, and spoke.

“Don’t overthink it. Just give them all the bonuses.”
“Pardon?”
“Since they had all three children at once, pay out all the applicable congratulations bonuses in full.”
Only then did Finance Director Eom Tae-jun’s eyes widen in understanding.
“That would be one hundred and twenty million won. Are you certain that’s acceptable?”

Since the lottery hadn’t yet been introduced, the first prize for the Housing Lottery—the most prominent lottery at the time—was one hundred and fifty million won, so his concern was understandable.
But Seok-won smiled and replied.

“Giving only twenty million or settling for sixty million would be awkward either way. When someone is blessed with the rare gift of triplets, fortune itself has arrived at their doorstep.”
“Ha ha. At this rate, it’s not just fortune—it’s a jackpot.”
“Since we’re already here, I’ll add thirty million from my own pocket to round it out to one hundred and fifty million won.”

Finance Director Eom Tae-jun nodded with a smile at Seok-won’s generous decision.

“Understood. The triplets are already showing filial piety to their parents the moment they enter the world.”
“It does seem that way.”

Seok-won’s lips curved into a pleased smile as well.

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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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