Max-Level Son of a Chaebol Family - Chapter 40

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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40. The Big Shots of the Former Era (1)

Yoo Jong-tae walked over triumphantly and majestically.

“Young Master, I, Yoo Jong-tae, have returned after successfully completing my mission!”

“Well done!”

I gave him a thumbs up.

Yoo Jong-tae stuck close to me like a puppy waiting for praise.

“Young Master, aren’t you curious about how I obtained this invitation? Shall I tell you in great detail?”

“That’s fine.”

I watched everything through Vision Sharing with the Grim Reaper.

But I couldn’t openly tell him the truth.

“I trust Team Leader Yoo. That’s it!”

“Young Masterrrr!”

Yoo Jong-tae seemed moved as he clasped his hands together and twisted his body around.

“I knew Young Master would recognize my loyalty and abilities! I never thought you’d trust and entrust me to this extent!”

His gaze was somehow very burdensome.

Uncle Cheol-gu, who was crunching on hardtack, spoke up indifferently.

“Damn. Running one errand and acting all high and mighty.”

“H-high and mighty?”

“Anyone watching would think you were dragged to the KCIA, kept your mouth shut, and nearly drowned from water torture.”

“…”

Yoo Jong-tae looked like he wanted to argue back, but after glancing at me, he bit his lips tightly.

It was after I had told him earlier that he didn’t need to explain the details of the incident.

“Just you wait and see. Someday I’ll claim it – the number one spot for loyalty! I’ve staked my life on this too!”

Yoo Jong-tae’s quiet mutter seemed full of ambition.

I like ambitious people!

* * *

The first place I visited after obtaining the invitation was, of course, Myeongdong.

I looked up at the building located in a secluded alley in Myeongdong.

【Myeongdong Songgolmae Pawnshop】

It’s been such a long time, no wait, I was here just a few days ago?

But strangely, every time I come here it feels like it’s been ages?

Yoo Jong-tae put his hand to his forehead and pretended to survey the area while letting out an exclamation of admiration.

“It’s been quite a while since I’ve been here too. There was a time when I wore down the threshold coming and going so often. Is the first invitation for Myeongdong Hawk Elder?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll go deliver it right away and come back!”

“No.”

I grinned.

“This time I’m going myself.”

I need to deliver the invitation to Master personally.

And keep the promise I made back then too.

-Next time I’ll come visit with a gift even better than Western Pastries.

So I brought it.

A gift that Master will absolutely love!

Uncle Cheol-gu scratched the back of his head while looking at the pawn shop.

“Huh, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been here too.”

Everyone’s saying it’s been a while?

I can understand Yoo Jong-tae who worked under Secretary Kim, but who would have thought even Uncle Cheol-gu had visited Songgolmae Pawnshop before.

Well, ordinary people do come to pawn shops without knowing what they’re getting into.

Ding-a-ling.

“Welcome.”

As always, a voice came from beyond the pawn shop iron bars.

It was Master.

Master pushed up his monocle and twitched his eyebrows.

“Well, who do we have here?”

“How do you do, Elder? Have you been well? I’m Yoo Jong-tae, Team Leader of the 5th Team of Taeseong Group Security Department. Do you remember me?”

Yoo Jong-tae greeted him with exaggerated enthusiasm.

“Oh my, Elder, you look even younger than before. I heard you made a fortune by sweeping up prime Gangnam apartments, and your fortune seems even brighter now.”

“Elder, it’s been a while. *smack*.”

Uncle Cheol-gu scratched the back of his head and greeted him awkwardly.

I put my hands together and gave a respectful bow.

“Hello.”

Master singled me out among the three of us and asked.

“Little Customer, what brings you here this time? I don’t think you came because something got seized as collateral.”

“That’s right.”

“Then why did you come to the pawn shop? Did you bring these guys to hold another auction here?”

“No, I came to give you the present I promised last time.”

“A present?”

I respectfully placed the invitation on the counter behind the lowered pawn shop iron bars.

The golden glow of the invitation was so brilliant that it brightened up the gloomy pawn shop iron bars.

“This is an invitation to the Year-End Night being held at Hyeonmu Hotel.”

“What?”

Master’s eyes flashed with light.

It was exactly like the eyes of a hawk that spots prey while soaring through the sky.

“There’s no way people from the shadows like us would receive an invitation to the Year-End Night, is there?”

Of course that would be the case.

It was an event exclusively for the Republic of Korea’s social elite, those who wielded money, honor, and power on the Sunny Side.

High Society gatherings were forbidden not only to riffraff but even to crude nouveau riche.

“This invitation couldn’t have come to me for free. Someone must have paid the price on my behalf and brought it.”

“That’s why it’s a present.”

“Oh ho, I’m grateful for this. But why does the word ‘bribe’ ring in my ears instead of the word ‘present’?”

That’s because presents are given from the heart without expecting anything in return, while bribes are given with the hope of solicitation.

I can’t say I have absolutely no expectations when giving this golden invitation.

But that depends on Master’s decision.

It’s somewhat different from bribery solicitation where you must deliver results equivalent to what you received.

“The cost of obtaining that invitation couldn’t have been cheap. What do I need to do?”

“You just need to attend the Year-End Night event. It would be even better if you decide to make a donation in line with the event’s purpose.”

“Donation?”

Master tilted his head.

“Isn’t the Year-End Night event basically a fundraising event anyway? If I go to something like that, I feel like my pockets will just be emptied helplessly, which is exactly what I hate.”

Master tapped the invitation with his fingertips.

“Somehow I smell money from this, you know? Huh, I really don’t understand what’s going on.”

As expected of our Master, so quick to catch on!

When it comes to money-making opportunities, he really catches them like a ghost, doesn’t he?

“That’s right. To be honest, I’m thinking of offering you a money-making opportunity there.”

“Oh ho!”

“For reference, the invitation is a gift, but this is a business proposal.”

“I thought so!”

Master grinned wickedly and waved the invitation.

“I wondered why you came to deliver this invitation personally! Now that mystery is solved! You cunning Little Customer.”

“You said you smelled money from this, right? So will you accept the invitation or not?”

“Whether I accept the invitation or not, let’s decide after I hear your business proposal first!”

He really doesn’t want to take even the slightest loss.

Still, I grinned broadly.

“It’ll be a once-in-a-lifetime deal that you absolutely won’t regret. Could you lend me your ear for a moment?”

“Let’s do that.”

Master gladly lent me his ear.

Every time my whispered words continued, Master made gasping sounds.

How many times did I hear those gasping sounds?

“Uhahahaha!”

Finally, Master burst into hearty laughter.

“So basically you’re asking me to be a shill?”

This was the reason I had come to visit Master directly.

‘When driving people into a frenzy of madness, what you absolutely need is a skilled shill. In that sense, there’s no more reliable shill than Master.’

For those who know Master, his very existence as an ‘investment genius who uses Hawk’s Eye to sweep up only profitable ventures’ would seem like a guaranteed box office hit.

“Good grief, I can hardly believe this is a business proposal from a seven-year-old.”

Master looked down at me with strange eyes.

“The proposal is grand, the compensation is grand, and the plan is even grander. Where did such a little rascal pop out from? Won’t you really consider learning the business under me?”

He wants me to watch the pawn shop for another 10 years?

Not a chance!

“Stop talking nonsense. So what will you do? Will you attend the Year-End Night or not? Will you act as a shill or won’t you?”

“Of course I’ll go! Of course I’ll be a shill! What kind of opportunity is this? I have to seize it!”

Master’s sharply slanted eyes curved like crescents.

“Will you really give me one station per 300 million won?”

“If Taeseong Construction wins the Subway Line 2 construction project.”

“Of course! From what I can see, Wooguang absolutely cannot win the Subway Line 2 construction project!”

“Your words seem a bit different from last time?”

Last time when I came to this pawn shop because I was short 18 million won to buy the Hannam-dong Mansion.

Master and Secretary Kim had this conversation.

-To be honest, I do covet the land near subway stations. But if you want to extort 8 million won of my hard-earned money for that reason, you should have come from Wooguang, not here! Isn’t that right?

-So you believe Wooguang has reached a more advantageous position than our Taeseong?

-Of course. Isn’t that the truth?

-Not at all. Our Taeseong will win this Subway Line 2 construction project.

-Won’t that be difficult? This time Wooguang was one step ahead. Word has reached even here that they properly buttered up the high-ranking officials.

Master spoke with the same confident voice as back then.

“That was before the Wookwang Construction Bribery Ledger fell into Taeseong’s hands.”

At the mention of the bribery ledger, Uncle Cheol-gu blinked his eyes blankly.

“I know what that ledger contains, whose hands it’s in, and how they’re using it for blackmail, so you didn’t think I’d still be foolishly predicting Wooguang’s victory, did you?”

The longer Master spoke, the rounder Uncle Cheol-gu’s eyes became.

His slow, cow-like blinking was a bonus.

“Besides, this time President Cha of Taeseong Construction and all those incompetent executives got their heads chopped off and were kicked out, right?”

How is his information always so fast anyway.

I don’t know how he already knows about what happened yesterday.

Whatever the case.

I pointed to the invitation.

“Everyone must have been going crazy trying to find the owner of the anonymous threatening letter, so this is a cheap offer out of gratitude for keeping your mouth shut.”

“Cheap?”

“I’m planning to charge the other owners of invitations at a much higher price.”

“What? How much are you planning to charge them?”

“Just a little bit more on top. One station per 500 million!”

“Hahaha! Good! That’s very good! I get 300 million, but those bastards get 500 million! Of course, that’s how it should be!”

Master slapped his knee.

“To see those bastards writhing in pain, I must make this deal happen!”

Yes, this is our Master.

He likes making a profit himself, but he likes beating down competitors in the same industry even more.

Master excitedly rolled up both sleeves.

“Do you know where those bastards live? If you don’t know, I’m prepared to write down their addresses for you.”

“Do you think I would have stepped forward to deliver invitations without knowing such things?”

“As expected! I knew you would know. You really are a remarkable Little Customer, aren’t you?”

He’s making a fuss telling me not to dawdle here and to go deliver the invitations right away.

So I subtly made a request.

“Since you’re going to help spread the word anyway, couldn’t you do just one more service for me?”

“Service? Ahem! If it costs even a single won, I refuse in advance…”

“I was hoping you could call those people you mentioned earlier and really get them riled up?”

“What?”

This is an era when a public phone call costs 10 won.

Would Master really make three phone calls for me?

I had no choice but to open my coin purse to offer the phone money.

“Leave that to me! This is going to be very fun! Hahahaha!”

“…”

My stingy Master excitedly and readily agreed.

And how fast his action was.

He immediately made a phone call right there on the spot.

“Hey, Maljuk Intersection Horse Head! This is Myeongdong Hawk! Listen and don’t be shocked. I just got an invitation to the Year-End Night!”

Click.

“······.”

“······.”

This was truly getting straight to the point!

He only said what he wanted to say and hung up the telephone.

But the effect was certain.

Ring! Ring!

Looking at the telephone ringing like crazy, Master chuckled with glee.

“He must be dying of frustration, right? Oh, ten years of pent-up stress just went away!”

Master laughed joyfully and clapped his palms together.

“Now then, where’s that contract saying we’ll hand over one station for 300 million each… Huh?”

Jingle.

“······.”

Little Customer’s group had already fled and was nowhere to be found.

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