Gun-Ho gave a call to Seukang Li while he was in Shanghai before leaving for Korea.
“Seukang Li? It’s me, Gun-Ho Goo.”
“Oh, Gun-Ho Goo. I just received a call from Huanle Shiji’s president—Baogang Chen—that you are here. I was told that you signed the memorandum of understanding, huh?”
“Yeah. Once I receive the TV schedule for the new drama, I will send someone to their team to work with them from Korea.”
“I will give a call to the broadcasting station’s president. I will get you the prime time. Given the situation that the drama will be produced with foreign investment funds, we will do what we can do to support it.”
“Thank you. And, I don’t think I can see you today. I have things in Korea that require my immediate attention. I gotta go back to Korea now.”
Gun-Ho gave an excuse to Seukang Li for not being able to see him in person during this trip. He had nothing urgent in Korea, but he just didn’t want to eat oily Chinese food again. He had enough Chinese food recently.
After getting off the phone with Gun-Ho, Seukang Li let out a deep sigh in relief. Now, he didn’t have to worry about losing the 300,000 dollars that were invested in the drama production company using his father’s name.
Gun-Ho gave the same excuse to Huanle Shiji’s President Baogang Chen when he invited him and President Shin for dinner.
“I would love to, but I have to go back to Korea as soon as possible. I have an urgent matter that I need to take care of in Seoul, but thank you for your offer.”
“That’s a shame. I wanted to celebrate this day with you. We signed the MOU.”
“I talked with Director Li on the phone earlier, letting him know that I have to leave without seeing him. I asked him to help us, so the drama could be placed in prime time.”
“Oh, you did?”
“He said he would give a call to someone at the broadcasting station. Once the TV schedule is confirmed, I will send someone to China right away.”
“Sounds great.”
Gun-Ho walked to President Jeong-Sook Shin, who was sitting at the hotel lobby.
“We are all done here. We can go back to Korea and wait for their TV schedule. You did very well today, Ms. President Shin.”
“Haha. I haven’t done much, Mr. President Goo. You are the one who did all the work.”
“To celebrate this day since we signed the MOU, Huanle Shiji’s president invited us for dinner, but I told him that I can’t be there because of a prior engagement. To be honest with you, I don’t want to have oily Chinese food today, and also, they always drink Baiju, which is too strong for me. Why don’t we eat something else for dinner today?”
“That’s good. I’ve been stressed a lot, and I need a more comfortable setting to enjoy dinner as well. Sir, since we have several hours left before our scheduled flight back to Korea, maybe we can meet with the director of the Shanghai art gallery.”
“Oh, Ms. Deng Jufen?”
“Right. Ms. Deng Jufen who helped us with hosting our avant-garde art exhibition in our art gallery in Seoul.”
“If I knew I would see her during this trip, I would have prepared a gift for her.”
“I bought a moisturizer at the duty-free shop at the airport when we came to Shanghai. I bought it for myself, but I can give this to her as a gift. I can buy another one on the way back home.”
“Sounds great. I will buy you a more expensive moisturizer later.”
“Haha. Thank you.”
It was time to say goodbye to Huanle Shiji Production Company’s president—Baogang Chen.
Gun-Ho said, “We have to go now.”
“I will let you use my car. The chauffeur will give you a ride to the airport. We can walk to our office. It’s close from here.”
“Oh, thank you so much.”
On the way heading to Shanghai Art Gallery in the car, President Jeong-Sook Shin showed a small piece of paper with a phone number on.
“I think that we’d better give her a call before we go to see her.”
“Of course, we should.”
Gun-Ho entered the phone number written on the paper that President Shin showed him. An old lady’s voice came out of the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hi, is it the director of Shanghai Art Gallery?”
“Yes, this is she.”
“GH Media’s President Jeong-Sook Shin from Korea would like to meet with you today. She is in Shanghai City right now. Will you be available to see her today?”
“Oh, really? Where is she exactly?”
“We are in Pudong. We are on the way to your gallery.”
“Sounds great. I will be here waiting for you.”
When they arrived at the Shanghai Art Gallery, Gun-Ho told the chauffeur to wait for them for an hour, before getting out of the car. He told the chauffeur that they would leave for the airport then. And, he put 100 Yuan into his hand.
Shanghai Art Gallery was having an art exhibition with Xin (new) ink-wash paintings at the time. The director’s office was on the second floor, and before walking up to the office, Gun-Ho and President Shin made a round of the exhibition enjoying the Chinese Xin ink-wash paintings.”
President Shin said, “They used bold colors in these ink-wash paintings. It’s interesting.”
“I see that. According to their art exhibition catalog, the motive of these paintings here is nature such as beautiful sunshine, clear water, and a cool breeze.”
“As you just said, those three elements that you mentioned—sunshine, water, and breeze—are being melted in every single one of the paintings displayed here.”
“Hmm.”
Gun-Ho and President Jeong-Sook Shin took enough time to enjoy the paintings before walking up to the second floor. When they arrived at the office, a female worker stood up quickly from her seat, as soon as she saw them coming into the office, to greet them.
She asked, “Are you the guests from Korea?”
“Yes, we are.”
“Our art gallery’s director is waiting for you.”
Director Deng Jufen was a slightly overweight lady. She warmly welcomed her visitors. She looked truly delighted to see President Shin particularly.
“Oh, my goodness! Ms. President Shin, it’s really good to see you again. Oh, my, Mr. President Goo is here too.”
Deng Jufen gave a hug to President Shin as she said, “How have you been?”
“I’ve been well, thank you. You look healthier, Ms. Director.”
“Well, I’m aging every day. Haha.”
“We took our time enjoying the Xin ink-wash paintings at the gallery on the first floor before coming to your office.”
“Oh, you did? What do you think? Give me some comments. I want to hear your opinion.”
“I like them. Even though they are ink-wash paintings, they used very bold colors. The daring choice of colors made them look vibrant.”
“If you happen to be interested in having an art exhibition in Korea with those paintings, please just let me know. All of the schedules are fully booked until the fall, but after then, it’s good.”
“Oh, I see.”
“And, when you have an art exhibition at GH Art Gallery, please send me the catalogs. I would love to see them.”
“Sure, I will do that.”
At that moment, the female worker brought Longjing tea to the office.
“I love the taste of this tea,” President Shin commented.
“Thank you. This is my favorite tea as well. I will give you both a box of Longjing tea, so you can take them with you to Korea.”
The art gallery director called for the female worker and told her to bring two boxes of Longjing Tea. When the female workers came back to the office with two boxes of the tea, the director gave them to Gun-Ho and President Shin, one for each.
“I hope you enjoy the tea in Korea too.”
“Thank you very much. I brought something for you too. It’s not much, but it’s a Korean skincare product—a moisturizer.”
When President Shin handed the moisturizer to the art gallery director, she became all excited like a child.
“Oh, my gosh. You brought me a very expensive moisturizer. I love it. Thank you so much. I love Korean skincare products. They are very fine products.”
The three people in the office enjoyed the hot Longjing tea.
