Kim Chun was overly excited to see workers unloading lumbers at Arirang Wharf.
If there was no one around him, he would have shouted out, ‘hooray.’ He looked at the lumbers and Youngho simultaneously as if he wanted some more.
“I will be bringing them several more times. You can use them all.”
“I would’ve hugged you if there were not many people around here. But I’ll do that next time. I’ve never seen this amount of lumbers before.”
“Well, the surfaces are almost rotten.”
“They’re not. If you peeled the outer layer off, it’s like a new tree inside.”
Kim Chun was afraid that Youngho might try to throw them away.
He seemed to want Youngho to go back to Siberia to get more lumbers as soon as everything was unloaded.
“Well, these guys traveled more than a month. How about treating them tonight?”
“Of course, I will. They can eat a lot today, rest well tomorrow, and set off the next day again.”
“Oh, Commissioner Kim. They need a longer break than that. Sailors need at least five days of rest. They worked without taking off their weekends for the whole month. Don’t you think they deserve some more time?”
“Do they need that much time?”
“Of course, they can sail right away, but then we’ll have to pay them for non-duty allowance for their weekends and holidays. They’d love to make extra money for their hard work.”
An idea suddenly just popped up in Kim Chun’s head.
“Boss. Some people among the Kyrgyz Koryoin immigrants who just moved here want to work on ships. Can they be trainees on board?”
“The captain might like to hear that. Why don’t you talk to him directly? I’ll tell Mr. Park about it too.”
It was all shipping companies’ hope to find trustworthy sailors. Any captain would want a sailor whose identity was guaranteed since many sailors tended to be rough and were prone to troubles.
It was the same for Arirang Shipping. Although one or two security guards were always on board with other sailors, still it would be great to have more reliable sailors in the first place. Koryoin immigrants seemed to be good candidates for reliable sailors because they would be living in the autonomous state anyway. Moreover, Kim Chun would be glad to hear that some immigrants would be hired by Arirang Shipping since he had been having a hard time creating jobs for the increasing number of immigrants.
Many young Koryoins from Kyrgyzstan wanted to get hired as sailors. Even the follower couple was asked by some of them to help them get the position.
“Mr. CEO, can anyone be on board?”
“Well, anyone who can adapt to being on the water for an extended period of time can.”
“Why do you ask?”
“I’ve been getting applications from people who are in their 40s. I don’t think they’ll be as strong as people in their 20s or 30s.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Anyone who has normal strength can do it. But, why are they so dying to get this job anyway?”
“They had never seen any ocean let alone foreign countries. They’re curious and excited to travel abroad. Most importantly, the job pays well.”
The job must have sounded all exciting to them, but they had no idea what the huge waves of the ocean could do. It was also not an easy job to stay in a tiny cabin on a ship. Half of the applicants would probably drop out after being on board as trainees.
“Take everyone who’s willing to become trainees. After experiencing the ocean once, they can decide if they still want to be sailors.”
“Shouldn’t we tell Mr. Park about it first?”
“Of course, we should. I bet he’d love to hear that there are so many applicants.”
“I’m just afraid that he won’t like that there are so many older applicants. I need to make sure that people who asked me for help get the job.”
“You received something from them?”
“No, there’s a guy who brings me sheep milk at my doorstep every morning. It’s a little too much, and I’ve been feeling bad. I hope this gentleman gets the job.”
The follower couple was now getting a form of bribe now.
Suh Min-seok complained as he took the favor without thinking about consequences.
***
The icebreaker freighter that returned to the state left to the North Sea route again a few days later with new trainee sailors on board. It was because Kim Chun grilled the captain that they should make the best out of the warm season. Although those freighters could break the ice, they could break the ice that was only about one meter thick, so they could only sail through the North Sea route for only five months a year. Until Youngho’s new icebreaker was finished, the state would have to rely on the freighters. Kim Chun managed to send the sailors to the sea again after guaranteeing two one-month-long breaks each in early spring and late fall for them in exchange for five months of their hard work on board.
“I’m the CEO of the shipping company. Why would you decide everything on your own, Commissioner Kim?”
“Mr. Park, the autonomous state is Arirang Shipping’s major client. You should satisfy your client then. I made a decision for you because you’re too busy doing other things. Also, many of the sailors are residents of the autonomous state. They should follow the state’s break standard too.”
“Hahaha… I knew you’d do this to me.”
“You’ve got to remember that the shipper is at a higher position than the shipping company.”
“Oh, you’re giving me a lecture now?.”
“Of course, Mr. Park. You know we’re all in this together. We should help each other out.”
“Alright, alright. Honestly, I’m fine with it.”
“So, could you please increase the number of round trips for the sailing season just by one?”
“Well, I’m going to thoroughly consider my major client’s request. But don’t get your hopes up.”
Later, Jong-il had to calm Kim Chun down who kept on asking for more round trips.
“Commissioner Kim. Why are you being so greedy for lumbers? We’ll have enough lumbers for the state anyway.”
“We’ve got a mill. I just want to sell some of them to foreign countries.”
“I don’t think we’ll have enough to sell to Atyrau. Just save it for the state.”
“We also have lumbers that we get from Kyrgyzstan. So, I’d like to sell it to the Kazakh people in Atyrau. They’ll love to hear that those lumbers are from Siberia.”
Many Kazakh people had hostile feelings toward Russia since it was Russian policy that left their land so desolate. People would feel comforted to hear that the autonomous state had taken Russia’s resource.
“You’re such a patriot.”
“Well, I should ask the central government to give an appreciative medal to Arirang Shipping.”
***
“Jong-il, tell our agents to make the under clerk at the lumber mill in Siberia on our side no matter what. While they do that, we can take the train to cross the border.”
“Argh… We need to take that long, boring train again?”
It would be great if they could take a private Jet, but they had to move in secret. The train was the best way for them to not leave any trace of their trip.
“When does our car ferry return?”
“Why?”
“I don’t know what we’ll find there, but I think there will be quite a lot of them. How are we going to move them?”
“Dude, you just broke the jinx. When you make a fuss and say it’s going to be a lot before it even starts, then the opposite will happen.”
“You know what? If we get something out of this, I’ll take it all.”
“Okay, you get it all.”
The two were quite excited about this mission.
The Chinese-Russia joint-venture enterprise would have collected quite a lot of resources for years of their business in Siberia. Whether it was gold or ore, the company would have waited until a certain amount was gathered and transported it all at once. Since it was caught on satellite pictures that heavy equipment was used, Youngho expected that a huge amount had been gathered already.
Youngho had worked with Jong-il for so many years that his heart was light as he left the state. There was nothing to worry about this mission for they had many experiences of this kind. Since they would be taking what had been taken illegally, he did not feel sorry or guilty.
Instead, he felt he was on a field trip. Many early-age teachers on a field trip would do a treasure hunt on a field trip day, and he felt like he was going on a treasure hunt to Siberia.
“It feels nice to be on this train again since we’re just going to be here for one day.”
“There’s no fun in this except that we get to drink as much as we want.”
“This is why we get on this train.”
“Did you see those guys in the next car? Can you guess where they’re from?”
“Of course, they’re Chinese. Why are they on the train that’s going to the opposite direction from where they’re supposed to be?”
If they were connected in Mongolia, they should have come from Ulan-Ude of Russia, but it was weird that they were on the train that came from Moscow.
Youngho and Jong-il got on a train in Astana, Kazakhstan, to Omsk, and got on the Trans-Siberian Railway to get to Vladivostok. Youngho saw the guys several times going in and out of the restroom. He noticed that they moved like trained people.
“They sure don’t look like soldiers or diplomats. This is quite fishy.”
“If they get off in Krasnoyarsk, we should find out about them. This could be related to our work.”
“I thought this mission would be boring but if they are involved, it’s going to be excited.”
“Let’s be as quiet as we can. I don’t want to raise their guard.”
“They’re no match for us.”
“Dude, bullets don’t dodge for us. They’re not regular guys. I feel like they’re trained shooters. They must’ve gotten on the train in Perm or Yekaterinburg. There are many Chinese companies there.”
“Whoa, they are everywhere. Let’s get to the bottom of this.”
