Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 80

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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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80. SHIP OF MIRACLES

Past nine in the evening, Seok-won’s black BMW 540i pulled into the Hannam-dong Main House.
After parking in the spacious garage, he stepped out and climbed the stairs, a leather briefcase in one hand.
May had arrived, bringing warmer temperatures and humid air, while the illuminated Garden lay serene and empty of visitors.
Following the stone-paved path through the meticulously maintained Garden with its varied ornamental trees, he entered the main residence to find Jo Deok-rye waiting at the entrance in her home dress.

“You’re here at last?”
“You haven’t retired for the evening yet.”
“It’s not even ten o’clock. Going to bed now would be far too early.”
“True enough.”

Seok-won answered with an embarrassed smile.

“Since tomorrow is the weekend, I had a casual dinner gathering with my team members. That’s why I’m late.”
“You didn’t drive after drinking, did you?”
“Of course not. I let the staff handle the second round on their own and only joined them for the meal. And I didn’t touch a drop of alcohol.”

Only then did Jo Deok-rye’s expression relax with relief.

“Good. You did well. Even if you do drink, never get behind the wheel.”
“I won’t. Please don’t worry.”

Seok-won noticed the house was quieter than usual and asked Jo Deok-rye about it.

“Where is Father?”
“He said he had an appointment and would be back late after having a drink.”

Chairman Park Tae-hong always had his secretary and Driver accompanying him, so there was no particular concern on that front.

“Still, your father should cut back on his drinking. I know it’s unavoidable in business, but at his age, he really ought to start taking better care of his health.”

As Jo Deok-rye’s nagging showed signs of lengthening—her only complaint being his drinking habits that showed no signs of diminishing with age—Seok-won tactfully retreated, placing one foot on the stairs.

“Then I’ll head upstairs.”
“Go ahead.”

Seok-won strode purposefully up to his room on the second floor.
He placed his briefcase on the desk, undressed, and entered the attached bathroom for a shower.
Despite his hectic schedule, he maintained a rigorous exercise regimen, and the humid mirror reflected a physique that had grown even more muscular and defined.
After toweling off with a large towel, Seok-won changed into comfortable shorts and a white t-shirt before leaving the bathroom.
As he stood at his desk and was about to retrieve the documents from his briefcase, his phone rang.

“Who could that be at this hour?”

Seok-won picked up his phone and brought it to his ear.

“Hello.”
“Boss, it’s me.”

At the bright sound of Landon Shore’s voice, he glanced at his wristwatch set aside on the desk and spoke.

“What brings you to call at this hour?”
“I’m calling to report something.”
“Go ahead.”

Seok-won pushed his chair back and sat down as he replied.

“We’ve completed the liquidation of all bond and stock positions, and profits have been confirmed.”

Seok-won, who had been waiting for precisely this news, gripped his phone tighter and asked.

“How much did we make?”
“We achieved a 21% return on bonds and a 47% return on stocks.”
“The stock returns exceeded my expectations.”
“Major investment banks including Bear Stearns and JP Morgan took massive losses on several hedge funds in crisis, and news of their troubles caused stock prices to plummet sharply. We benefited greatly from that.”
“Seeing actual hedge funds go bankrupt must have sent the market into even greater panic.”
“Exactly.”

In the stock market, where investor psychology wielded enormous influence, nothing was more terrifying than fear.

“Excluding expenses, we’ve earned 5.08 billion dollars combined from bonds and stocks.”

At such a staggering sum, Seok-won let out a short whistle despite himself.
Landon Shore’s voice continued, brimming with excitement.

[Including earnings from yen trades, you’ve generated a total profit of 5.73 billion dollars from this betting round.]

Seok-won’s face broke into a broad smile as he spoke.

“Not quite. I still have the collapsed investment banks and insurance stocks I picked up at the bottom and went long on again. Combined with that, we shouldn’t fall short of 5.8 billion dollars.”
[Ah, you’re right. I overlooked that.]

Landon Shore replied with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“There’s still some cleanup to do, but everyone worked hard.”
[We simply executed according to your instructions, sir. There’s hardly any credit due to us.]
“Details are always the most critical element, aren’t they? Even with clear directives, if they hadn’t been executed with such meticulous care, we wouldn’t have achieved such impressive results.”

He generously praised the efforts and dedication of Landon Shore and the Investment Fund staff, acknowledging their contributions.
Though they couldn’t see each other’s faces, Landon Shore felt deeply moved by the sincerity in his words through the phone.

[Combined with the previously managed investment capital, the fund assets have surpassed 24 billion dollars. What should we do with this?]

In Korean won, it amounted to tens of trillions—an astronomical sum.
To have multiplied the investment in less than three years was truly remarkable.

‘Having knowledge of the future certainly helped, but beyond that, it was the succession of major events that allowed me to expand the capital so dramatically.’

Without those opportunities, even with foresight, it would have been difficult to snowball the money like this in such a short time.
Seok-won, who had already thought this through, answered without hesitation.

“I have another investment target in mind. For now, let’s hold it.”
[You’ve already decided on the next investment opportunity?]

Seok-won held the phone to his ear, a sly smile spreading across his face.

“There will be quite a few things dropping in price this time too.”

Landon Shore’s anticipation swelled at these words.

[I’m already curious about what it could be.]
“I’ll give you the specifics soon. Just wait a little longer.”
[Understood.]

Landon burst into laughter as he answered.

[Being with the boss means there’s never a moment to catch my breath or calm the excitement.]
“Do you hate it?”
[Not at all. These days the adrenaline never stops pumping, and my body feels so invigorated—it’s as if I’ve become ten years younger.]

At his playful tone, Seok-won allowed himself a subtle smile.

[And I’ve acquired the cargo ship you mentioned last time.]

Upon hearing this, Seok-won’s eyes brightened with interest as he asked.

“The hull is in intact condition, I assume?”
[We halted the dismantling work just as it was beginning at the dock, so I’ll need to send someone to verify the exact condition.]

Since the ship purchase itself had been executed hastily under his orders, Landon hadn’t had the chance to confirm those details.

“We came dangerously close to a major disaster if we’d been even slightly late. I’m truly grateful. You’ve done excellent work.”
[It’s not that. At first, I was puzzled why you’d pay a premium to acquire such an old, worn-out cargo ship instead of a luxury yacht.]
“I can understand that.”
[But after learning the history behind the cargo ship, I came to understand your reasoning.]

He then spoke with considerable gravity.

[Had I discovered that such a historically significant cargo ship was destined to be sold as scrap metal and dismantled in China, I would have done everything in my power to prevent it.]
“There were complications along the way, but everything worked out well in the end, so it’s fine.”
[You’re right. Ah, and we’ve agreed on a purchase price of 430,000 dollars.]

At the current exchange rate, that was slightly less than 400 million won.

[The Chinese ship scrapping company noticed our desperation to acquire the vessel and inflated the price accordingly, so it ended up costing significantly more than the original estimate.]

The scrap price it had fetched in the United States was 355,900 dollars, so we’d overpaid by 74,000 dollars.
But Seok-won didn’t mind in the slightest.

“The ship is worth far more than that, so it’s acceptable.”
[So even though it was obvious they were trying to pull a fast one, I simply agreed to their demands.]
“You did the right thing. If we’d wasted time haggling over the price and the hull had sustained damage in the process, that would have been far worse.”

Leaning back against the chair, Seok-won asked.

“So when can we bring the ship to Korea?”
[First, we’ll need to send people to inspect the hull thoroughly, then tow it. It will take considerable time.]
“Given that it’s been sitting idle in port for over twenty years without operation, the condition won’t be good.”
[From what I’ve heard, the engine room is so damaged that independent operation is impossible without completely removing and replacing everything. That’s what they told me.]

As if he’d anticipated as much, Seok-won nodded slightly while holding his phone.

“It’s unfortunate, but considering it’s a scrapped ship, that’s only natural.”
[Indeed.]
“Since we’re not planning to bring it here and put it back into operation anyway, don’t force any repairs. Just have it towed here.”
[Understood.]

Hearing the response, Seok-won added another thought.

“But if the condition is too poor, it won’t look good. Clean it up by removing rust and such from the hull.”
[I’ll see to it.]
“And if possible, I’d like to have it brought to Korea by early June. Can you manage that?”
[If the boss desires it, we’ll make it happen even if it seems impossible.]

At the slightly flattering remark, Seok-won let out a laugh.

“Then I’m counting on you.”
[Leave it to me.]

Landon Shore replied with a reassuringly confident tone.

[I’ll end the call and send you a copy of the ship purchase contract by fax.]
“Understood.”

After ending the call, Seok-won stood up and checked whether the fax machine installed on one side of his desk was properly powered on.

“If it were the era I originally lived in, I could check everything directly on my smartphone without even needing to open email. It’s really inconvenient.”

But this was still an age where smartphones were unthinkable and the internet was difficult to use, so he had no choice but to rely on the fax machine despite its inconvenience.
The fact that he could even have a fax machine installed at home was only possible because it was Seok-won.
Of course, there was PC communication service using telephone lines and modems, but it was so slow that it made him want to scream.

“Sigh. It’ll be several more years before the ultra-high-speed internet network is installed. How am I supposed to wait until then?”

As he muttered to himself, the fax machine whirred to life with a mechanical hum, and it began spitting out copies of the contract that Landon Shore had sent from the United States.
Of course, even that seemed painfully slow to Seok-won.
Once the final page finished printing and the fax machine fell silent, Seok-won, who had been watching with his arms crossed beside it, picked up the ejected documents and reviewed them.
The English-language contract stated the purchase of a single cargo ship with a displacement of 15,200 tons, owned by a Chinese Ship Scrapping Company, for $430,000.
Two black-and-white photographs of the cargo ship in dry dock undergoing scrapping operations were attached to the final page of the contract.
On the bow of the cargo ship in the photograph that caught his eye, the ship’s name “SS Meredith Victory” was written in large letters in white paint, though somewhat faded.
Upon seeing this, Seok-won’s lips curved into a deep smile as he murmured to himself.

“The Miracle Ship is returning to Korea.”

The SS Meredith Victory that Seok-won had purchased was none other than the cargo ship that had been called the Ship of Miracles—the vessel that, despite its modest displacement of merely 5,000 tons, had rescued over 14,000 refugees during the Hungnam evacuation operation in the Korean War.
In the original timeline, it had participated in the Vietnam War after the Korean War and performed brilliantly, but was eventually forgotten and left to decay for years before being sold for a mere $355,900 and scrapped for scrap metal, ending its tumultuous life.
That the SS Meredith Victory—which had carried countless refugees fleeing their homeland to escape the relentless onslaught of the Chinese Communist forces and had created a Christmas miracle—should be dismantled for scrap metal at a Chinese shipyard was truly a lamentable and sorrowful end.
But this time, thanks to Seok-won’s intervention—he who had not forgotten and continued to remember—such a tragic fate could be prevented.

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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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