Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho didn’t think the fight between two actresses was a big deal. All he was concerned about was whether it would add more popularity to Lia and eventually, would result in an increase in her performance price.

‘Lia is now very popular because of the success of the Chinese TV drama. What if she asks for a way higher price when we ask her to take a part in the movie—Shiguang Ru Meng. She’s not going to ask for more money, but her agency—BM Entertainment—would. That dandy-looking entertainment manager would absolutely ask for more. He is not the type of guy who would let any opportunity to make more money slip away.’

Gun-Ho received a call from Jae-Sik Moon.

“I talked with the real estate agent about the stores in the food alley.”

“How much do they want?”

“It’s expensive. For the store on the ground floor, they are asking 300 Yuan per pyung on a monthly basis.”

“300 Yuan? You said the place is 200 pyung large, right?”

“It turns out to be 180 pyung to be exact. So, it’s 54,000 Yuan per month.”

“How much is it in Korean won? Let me see… Assuming 1 Yuan is 170 Korean Won, it would be 9.18 million won. It is expensive, man.”

“According to the rent system in China, there is no security deposit or premium required. We just need to make the whole payment upfront for the period that we rent.”

“What about the one on the second floor?”

“For that one, they are asking 200 Yuan per pyung. It’s 100 pyung large, so the monthly rent would be 20,000 Yuan which is around 3.4 million won.”

“Hmm.”

“I tried to lower the price with them, but they were so determined with their asking price. The owner of the building is Antang Engineering College. I talked with the people in their finance department.”

“So, if we rent both places, we will have to pay 150 million won per year. And, if we add the cost to redo the interior, it will cost us a lot.”

“Soon-Young’s mom contacted the KFC headquarters. If we open a KFC, we have to do the interior as they instruct and purchase all the appliances and equipment. It will cost a lot since it’s larger than 80 pyung. Moreover, we also have to take into account the franchise fee and training fee.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“We initially thought of 500 million won. I think we should expect to spend well over 700 million won if we include the store on the second floor.”

“Hmm, that’s way more than I expected.”

“I learned an interesting thing though. I heard that a foreigner can open a company for a food business in this area.”

“Really?”

“Since this is an undeveloped area that is located deep in the west, they don’t see many foreign investments here. So, the local government easily allows a foreigner to establish a company.”

“Really?”

“I was told that a business registration can be easily issued by the Administration for Industry and Commerce.”

“Who told you that?”

“Soon-Young’s mom has many friends in the condo community—Huaxi Huayuan. One of her friend’s husband is a high-ranking officer at the Administration for Industry and Commerce. She told her about it.”

“If we form a company, is it possible to get a loan from a bank using the shops?”

“I don’t know. I can find it out for you.”

“Yeah, find it out. You remember the bank branch manager at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China? The one who helped us take out a loan when we purchased the condos at Huaxi Huayuan.”

“Of course, I do. Mr. Xiaodong Liu, right?”

“Yeah, that’s him. Arrange a dinner meeting with him, and show our gratitude for his help in buying the condos. And have some drinks with him too. And then, I guess you can casually ask about the loan for the stores.”

“Hmm, got it. I will do that.”

“If we form a company, we can do a partnership, and each takes the shares of the company according to the amount that we put into it.”

“That… that sounds great.”

“Well, if we can take out a loan, then you should make a contract for those two stores. I will transfer the money then.”

“Okay. I will give you a call once I get more information.”

“How is the terminal construction going?”

“The construction has stopped for now.”

“Even though the construction came to a halt, we still have the workers at the construction team of the joint venture, right?”

“You mean the construction Xiaozu (team)? Yeah, we still have them. They actually seem to be busy. I saw them having their own meeting today.”

“How many workers do we have in the construction team?”

“We have five. Two of them are Gonchengshi (skilled engineers), and we pay them with a bit higher wage.”

“I see. Well, if there happen any changes, just let me know. Also, don’t forget to meet with the bank branch manager.”

“Okay, I will.”

After getting off the phone with Jae-Sik Moon, Gun-Ho had a cup of tea.

‘Establishing a food company… I think it will cost around 700 million won to open the restaurants. Maybe I should put 500 million won in the food business and take out a loan of 200 million won from a bank. We don’t have any real estate property to secure the loan though. Would the bank still lend me money? Will they take the lease agreement as collateral for the loan?

Once I open the food company and run restaurants with the company’s name, I don’t have to limit my business to running some restaurants only, but I can expand the food business to the trading of food and agricultural products. Jae-Sik’s wife will be good at the trading business as well since she is very active and nosy. If I open the food company in Antang City, I want to recover my investment funds and start receiving extra income within two years just like GH Media and GH Parts Company that Min-Hyeok is running. Will it be possible?’

While thinking of his future food business in China, Gun-Ho fell asleep.

He woke up to the sound of his smart phone’s ring. Being frightened by the sound, he answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hello. It’s from BM Entertainment.”

“I’m sorry? Who?”

Gun-Ho was not fully awake at that moment, and he was a bit off.

“This is the entertainment manager at BM Entertainment, sir.”

“Oh, Mr. Manager. It has been a while. How have you been?”

“The soap opera—Shiguang Ru Meng—finished more than 20 episodes already.”

“20 episodes have already aired, huh?”

“I’m not very good at interpreting Chinese letters, but I was told that ‘Shiguang Ru Meng’ means ‘Time like a Dream.’ As it says, time flies like a dream.”

Gun-Ho could easily picture BM Entertainment’s dandy entertainment manager’s smile with his eyes.

“If Seol-Bing was the lead actress who played the main role in Shiguang Ru Meng, that TV drama wouldn’t succeed enough to make profits. It was Lia who made the drama successful. Lia is currently receiving half of what Seol-Bing receives, but she won’t be able to work by receiving the same price. After Shiguang Ru Meng, she gained enough popularity to ask for more. Lia is very famous in China with her name—Lial Zhang—and we are getting a lot of inquiries from other production companies about her.”

“Is that so?”

“The reason why I called you today, sir, is that I heard GH Media is planning to participate in producing a movie. If GH Media wants Lia to take a role in a movie, you have to let us know in advance, so we can find a spot in her busy schedule.”

“I haven’t even read the film scenario yet. We are still reviewing the possibility.”

“If you make your decision, please let us know as soon as possible.”