Chapter 404 - Date at Fortress Wall of Seoul (4) – Part 1
Chapter 404: Date at Fortress Wall of Seoul (4) – Part 1
Gun-Ho asked Young-Eun again, “Did you… just say that you want a rich man for your spouse?”
“Yes, I did.”
“You don’t care about the shared values or interest in life, or the person’s emotional maturity or anything like that? I don’t understand.”
“A person can still be rich with a decent philosophy of life and emotional maturity.”
The fact that Young-Eun liked a rich man turned Gun-Ho off about her. Gun-Ho felt awfully disappointed in her, and he became sarcastic in talking to her.
“Then you might want to try those men who have a wealthy family like the owner family of a conglomerate.”
Gun-Ho gulped down his beer.
Young-Eun smiled coldly without saying a word.
“I believe that medical doctors make a decent living. Wouldn’t that be enough for you? Do you still need more money?”
Gun-Ho felt upset, and he stammered in anger and disappointment.
Young-Eun rolled up her sleeve quietly and showed a scar on her left arm. It was a horrendous scar for a lady’s arm.
“What… How… did you get that scar?”
“I was bitten by a poisonous insect.”
“A poisonous insect?”
“Yes. I volunteered to provide medical service in Africa and worked there for three years. I had a decent job here with a decent pay, but I still volunteered in Africa, and I got bitten by a poisonous insect there. Do you think I did that because I was hungry for money?”
Gun-Ho’s eyes widened and looked at Young-Eun with all ears.
“I lost my mom when I was a junior in high school. She died of ovarian cancer. Before my mom died, I wanted to become a painter just like my aunt. But, I applied for medical school instead. I wanted to be a medical researcher in a cancer research center that is dedicated to ovarian cancer and treatment. Well, I actually wanted to marry a rich man, so I could open my own cancer research center with his help.”
“Hmm.”
“However, there was another world that I newly recognized at that time. There were people who had to die just because they didn’t have money to buy medicine.”
By that time, Young-Eun finished her beer.
“Research is not a one-person job. You need a team of researchers who have the same goal and who could work together systematically to achieve that goal. A research center that is operated by the government or a university would be an ideal setting. That’s why I chose to volunteer in Africa at that time. It is true that a medical doctor makes a decent living, but even with their relatively high salary, it’s hard to save more than 5 million won per month. Even if I save my salary for twenty years, I wouldn’t be able to afford to buy a condo in Gangnam District just like the one you are living in right now. I realized that there are tons of people in this world, who need my help, especially the people who can’t afford to receive proper medical treatment because of money. I knew I shouldn’t insist on researching the cancer that caused my mom’s death. I also realized that I would need a lot of money to be able to help them, so I decided to marry someone who is rich with significant wealth.”
After hearing Young-Eun’s reasons on why she wanted to marry a rich man, Gun-Ho realized that he hastily jumped to conclusions.
Gun-Ho slowly rolled up his left sleeve. His burn scars and stitches appeared on his left arm. Young-Eun’s eyes widened.
“I earned these honorable scars in an effort to make money when I worked at a factory. I worked in a plastic factory and got burned in handling injection molding machines there. I was paid daily, and I worked so hard by taking day and night shifts. I had to make money. I did everything in order to make money. I invested in the stock market and in real estate as well. I wanted to make money more and more indefinitely. I now have enough money to buy tens of condos in Gangnam District right away, which cannot be bought with a medical doctor’s salary even with their twenty years of saving. It’s not like I have a conglomerate or anything like that, but I do have money to help you. I want to spend the rest of my life with someone who has lofty goals and values in life like you, Ms. Young-Eun.”
Gun-Ho inadvertently grabbed Young-Eun’s hand, and Young-Eun pulled her hand out quietly.
“Let’s call it a night. I have an appointment with someone.”
Young-Eun then started walking in her usual soldier-like walking style toward the parking lot.
An art exhibition with sculptures was ongoing at GH Gallery.
It was not one artist’s solo art exhibition, but several young artists participated in it. GH Gallery became a popular place to hang out among the young office workers in GH Building. They often spent time in the GH Gallery during their lunch break. Sometimes, junior or high school students stopped by the gallery and asked if there was any plan to hold another cartoon exhibition or similar.
Gun-Ho usually went to the gallery before or after lunch hours in order to avoid the crowd during the lunch break. Since several artists participated in the current exhibition, sometimes a few artists were sitting on a bench in the center of the gallery. Gun-Ho was laughing while looking at a sculpture at the gallery.
“These artists are very skillful. This one looks very well made.”
There was a figure of a candlestick with a bird sitting on it, and another sculpture next to it depicted an earphone and a butterfly on it. Gun-Ho was thinking if he wanted to buy a sculpture that he liked the most just like he had often done at the previous art exhibitions. He then decided not to do it this time.
“I don’t want to pile up artworks at home. They would cram my condo.”
When he came back to his office after looking around the art exhibition at the gallery, he received a call from Min-Hyeok Kim in China.
“I just made a lease agreement for an office in Zienzilou (office building) located in Ping Qi Lu in Suzhou City. No security deposit is required. We just need to pay 5.4 million Korean won upfront for a one-year period of rent.”
“Hmm, so it would be 450,000 won per month.”
“It’s about 99 ㎡ (30 pyung). I already obtained the business registration.”
“450,000 won per month for a 30 pyung large office is not bad at all.”
“Yeah, it took a great deal of legwork on my side.”
“It’s not far from the storage, right?”
“No, it’s not. The office is less than 4 kilometers away from our storage.”
“The storage doesn’t belong to the joint venture company, so once you start generating enough revenue, you will need to send the monthly rent to my personal bank account.”
“Okay, I will do that.”
“Since the office is ready, you will need to fill in the office with furniture and stuff. You also need to hire a few workers, too.”
“For now, we will place three desks in the office and hire one bookkeeper. We won’t hire a security guard for the storage as an employee.”
“Well, do what you think is necessary. You will need a car though in order to do sales activities. Get an Audi.”
“An Audi is too expensive. Maybe we will get a Jincou xing (compact) car in installments. What do you think?”
“You can buy a car in installments?”
“Yeah, it’s possible. It works just like a loan. Since Dingding can prove her income from the international school, we can make it in installments.”