The Junk Dealer Makes Good Money

[169] What is a Bitter Life

Since Jang Seong-woo was arrested by the police and sentenced to prison, Lee Si-woo has not heard from him.

I heard that he was released after being sentenced to 10 months in prison, but he didn’t really care about how he was living.

“… So I am living well. Do I look anxious?”

“It looks comfortable.”

“Why am I living comfortably unlike the tax chief? Just because I have bodyguards by my side?”

“ah… … .”

“Even when there were no bodyguards, I made a living doing what I had to do. Even my deceased father wouldn’t want the tax chief to suffer. Shouldn’t I show you how to live better than anyone else?”

At first, Si-woo Lee also felt quite stressed because he thought that Seong-woo Jang would come back someday and annoy him.

However, as he became faithful to reality with the thought of showing his father how to live well, the name Jang Seong-woo disappeared from his mind as if washed away.

We cannot survive without this determination to live in the world.

Shin Ha-jun showed a complicated expression when he saw Lee Si-woo, who calmly talked about his experiences.

“Would you like to work with me?”

“CEO… I only know about taxes.”

“Taxing means having more useful abilities than others. The best position I can offer to the tax chief is Dong-Gang Kang, Finance Director.”

“yes? I’m a whistleblower, but… … .”

“I trust my eyes.”

Others say that Si-woo Lee has a lot of people.

But it’s not a lot of clothes.

I just have a great eye for seeing people.

In the end, those who stood by Si-Woo Lee were the ones who made their own choices and were left behind.

Siwoo Lee didn’t even embrace those people evenly.

After persuasion and persuasion, he made them stay by his side.

And Shin Ha-jun was the same.

Although the world might point at him as a whistleblower.

‘But I’ll make sure no one blames the tax chief.’

It was he who helped Shin Ha-jun betray Kang Se-jin.

“I am Kang Dong’s financial director… … .”

“I want you to think about it. Isn’t it because of me that the chief tax accountant betrayed Kang Se-jin?”

Of course, Shin Jun-ha was a person who would have betrayed Kang Se-jin whenever he had a chance.

However, as Si-Woo Lee and Se-Jin Kang collided, the opportunity came sooner than expected.

With his help, I was able to finish my revenge.

Shin Ha-joon never forgot that thanks.

“I’ll just go. If you accept my offer, you can come to Gangdong.”

“… We will seriously consider it.”

“Forget the idea that you can’t die and live.”

Si-woo Lee bowed his head politely and left the shabby house.

As I got into the car parked in front of the gate, Moo-Yeol Lee asked for my next destination.

“Let’s go to the ironworks.”

“Aren’t you supposed to make an appointment in advance? … .”

“I called Chairman Insu-in. I’m going to see you today.”

“All right.”

Basically, I had to make an appointment to meet the buyer.

The position of chairman of the ironworks was always busy.

One month’s schedule is full.

However, the buyer said that it was possible even though he received the news that Si-woo Lee would come to visit him on the same day.

After arriving at the ironworks, Siwoo Lee got out of the car and said to Muyeol Lee.

“I think you should wait in the car. I will go.”

Si-woo Lee usually took Lee Mu-yeol to any position.

But this place was no ordinary place.

Although they met frequently due to their relationship with Shin Ae-ra, Insu-in was not in a position to meet casually.

Of course, even if Lee Moo-yeol went with him, Insu-in wouldn’t say much.

But today, I wanted to have a conversation with just the two of us.

Siwoo Lee, who walked proudly to the president’s office, stood at the entrance.

“How did you get here?”

“I have come to see the president.”

“Did you make an appointment?”

“yes. I contacted you today, but… … .”

The staff thought that it was the first time that a customer came with an appointment on the same day.

The employee who was blocking Lee Si-woo at the entrance frowned slightly.

“Can I tell you where and who you are?”

“Tell me Shiura Ishiura, Chairman of Gangdong Steelworks.”

Even if Siwoo Lee’s face was exposed in various media, not everyone recognized him.

Upon hearing Siwoo’s identity, the employee was startled and rushed to the lobby.

There is no employee who does not know the relationship between him and Shin Ae-ra.

And even after knowing that the opponent was the chairman of the Gangdong Works, there was no one who moved leisurely.

The staff who returned from delivering the news from the lobby politely bowed their heads.

“I’ll see you, Chairman.”

“yes.”

I followed him to the chairman’s room located on the top floor of the ironworks.

Upon entering, the waiting Insu-in smiled brightly.

“What are you doing?”

“It seems that I have never visited the president, so I came here to say hello.”

In business, Si-woo Lee had never met the person in charge.

She was busy and mostly met with Shin Ae Rana and Shin Won Sun.

I came to see your face yesterday, but it wasn’t for personal reasons that I came this time.

“Sit.”

“thank you.”

“Is this your first time in my office? Whoops.”

“I should have come and greeted you earlier, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not that I don’t know that the president is busy. Are you busier than Kang Dong?”

Nuriya Moon Jae-shin and senior officials were in charge and running it.

It was made so that Siwoo Lee could go back even if he wasn’t involved.

But Gangdong is different.

It was because of Kang Dong’s ability to focus on Shin Won-sun.

He had a big vacancy.

“I don’t pay much attention to Nuri lately. The important thing right now is Kang Dong.”

“Actually, everyone around Chairman Lee Si-woo is not normal.”

“Hey, Chairman… … .”

“I thought you would come.”

“yes?”

No matter how good Lee Si-woo was, it was difficult to organize Kang Dong’s executives.

The person in charge handed me a file prepared in advance.

“This is a list of people I know who are not currently affiliated with any of them.”

“thank you.”

“I want to help what I can help.”

Si-woo Lee opened the file folder that Insu-in held out.

There were about ten sheets of paper inside.

The personalities of several people were written there.

“I’ve already told you, so you should go see it right away.”

“The composition of the field and finance directors has been completed. I came here to get a recommendation from the head of the institute.”

It was a position where important research had to be done in the future.

The position that Siwoo Lee is most focused on now is the head of the research institute.

Research is needed to make Siwoo Lee’s dream come true.

“… Have you already finished configuring it?”

“yes. They are the people who will faithfully move from their respective positions.”

“As expected, you are quick to get the job done.”

“From the moment I overturned Gangdong, I moved with it in mind. I am glad that you accepted the offer.”

“I don’t know who they are, but I believe the president has chosen them well.”

If you want to be involved in the operation of Gangdong, you can.

Gangdong’s shares owned by the Steel Works were never small.

However, Injehu nailed it to never get involved in Gangdong’s operation.

“Thank you for your trust. Actually, the reason I came today is not because of Kang Dong’s problem.”

“then… … ?”

“Before I married my sister, I wanted to have a conversation with the president. I think I will have to prepare as soon as I organize Kang Dong’s work.”

“It would be. The wedding will have to be held before President Shin’s condition deteriorates.”

“At the same time, I apologize. I have to formally say hello to my sister… … .”

“The situation is not good. Still, thank you for coming to me and discussing it.”

I was not comfortable with the fact that Shin Won-sun gave me permission to marry him.

I wanted to make a separate time and get formal permission from the buyer.

However, as he took over Kang Dong instead of Shin Won-sun, a variable arose in the plan.

Si-woo Lee, looking at Insu-in’s bitter smile, got up from his seat and adjusted his outfit.

“I would like to formally greet you. This is Siwoo Lee, who will be my mother’s son-in-law in the future.”

Although Shin Ae-ra used the title of aunt for her, Insu-in was like a mother to her.

When Si-woo Lee slowly bowed his head to greet, In-su-in made a surprised expression.

“Chairman Lee Si-woo?”

“I have no choice but to call my name at an official occasion, but I would like you to call me by my name in private.”

“… You don’t have to do this.”

“no. Now Grandpa… If you leave, the only people I can call family to my sister will be me and my mother.”

Shi-woo regretted it.

I couldn’t open my heart to Shin Won-seon sooner.

The relationship was established too late.

At least, I thought that Shin Won-sun could live together longer.

However, Siwoo Lee’s thinking was wrong.

He didn’t have much time left.

“If I had established a relationship with my grandfather a little sooner… I have regrets.”

“… Let’s do that. In public, I have no choice but to call my name in private.”

“thank you.”

“thank you. First of all, because you called me mother.”

Insu-in knows that all of this is for Shin Ae-ra.

He came to himself to say hello, and the reason for saying this.

“As my mother’s son-in-law, I will become a person not ashamed of.”

It was a relationship that should have been reestablished someday anyway.

Lee Si-woo expressed his wish that she would become Shin Ae-ra’s real mother.

I wanted to help keep the fence of family from collapsing.

“He is not shy at all. I believe it will be so now and in the future.”

He was an Insu-in who always treated people coldly.

With the mindset of a businessman, I did not want to make a deep connection with people.

However, Shin Ae-ra and Lee Si-woo are different.

“Before getting married, I will come back to greet you with my sister.”

“We’ll see each other often anyway, so there’s no need to make a seat.”

“I want to do that.”

After that, the two talked for quite some time.

Of course, it wasn’t a business thing.

“I’ll just go.”

“okay. If you have any difficulties, please tell me anytime. I’ll help whatever I can.”

The Insu-in went to the lobby to meet Lee Si-woo.

It was very rare for her to look like this.

When the staff saw this, they expressed their curiosity.

* * *

After completing all the external schedules, Siwoo Lee returned to Gangdong.

He was not currently entering the president’s office, but was creating a separate space to handle his work.

“Vice President?”

“Are you here?”

“What’s going on? Why are all the employees here?”

As soon as they entered Gangdong, Siwoo Lee tilted his head when he saw the staff coming out.

“It is said that there was a crushing accident at Daehan Steel recently.”

“I heard the news.”

“That’s why we say we are doing a large-scale inspection of the site.”

A week ago, the crushing accident at Daehan Steel was thought to be due to poor safety issues at the site.

But there was a more fundamental problem.

Of course, the aging of the machine and poor field supervision were also problems.

“Just because we inspect the site doesn’t mean that the accident didn’t happen.”

“If I just ordered it from above, it would have come out for an on-site inspection.”

No matter how much protective gear was worn, it was force majeure if something happened.

If it is crushed by scrap metal that weighs more than 100 kg, it cannot withstand it.

“I am still concerned about the safety of the employees.”

“Gangdong has about 5,000 full-time employees. And there are about 3,000 non-regular workers. The reason we employ 8,000 people in total is to reduce the workload.”

Unlike factories that operate 24 hours a day, steel mills do not work at night.

Of course, it would be nice to run the machine 24 hours a day, but safety was a big problem.

In particular, in the case of a steel mill, there is a furnace.

The moment I accidentally fell there, the reality was that I couldn’t even find a trace of that person.

Moreover, the crushing accident was more dangerous for the steel mill than the accident in the blast furnace.

As a result, the total working time was never allowed to exceed eight hours.

In particular, those working in the field were required to strictly adhere to their working hours.

But even if you do, accidents will happen eventually.

“Are there any problems with the facility?”

“There is not. We are replacing the problematic foot and foot parts with new ones.”

There is absolutely no aging of the facility.

In the beginning, it wasn’t even that much time had passed since Gangdong was founded.

And above all else, the biggest concern for Jae-Jun Won was the safety of field workers.

These were machines that had to deal with scrap metal that had been forged at high temperatures and had to withstand the pressures generated by the heat.

I didn’t spare any money for anything related to the machine, knowing that problems would arise if something went wrong.

“Please wait until the inspection is over.”

“yes. After the inspection is over, I will go to the president.”