Director Sim continued to talk about the progress of the soap opera production to Gun-Ho.
“We are currently casting actors and actresses. We will find a Chinese actor for the main male character and a Korean actress for the main female character. The pay for the actors, actress, and the screenwriter won’t exceed 50% of our entire production budget. I will make sure of it.”
“Good.”
“I actually have an actress that I’d like to work with for this drama. She is with BM Entertainment. She sings very well, and she just needs a bit of guidance for acting, which I can give to her. Chinese people will love her.”
“Once the casting is done, they will start shooting the soap opera?”
“No, sir. We will have to do a table-read first, where actors and actresses sit together and read through the script. During this phase, we make sure that the actors understand their roles and see if they work fine with the other actors. We give feedback and comments, and discuss the roles and certain lines to make sure they express them as they were initially intended by the screenwriter.”
“Wow, it sounds so complicated. I guess there is no easy work in the world, huh? The drama production field sounds complex enough.”
“We are creating characters. It’s not an easy work at all, sir.”
“If a Korean actress joins them, they will have to get her a five-star hotel to stay, right?”
“Of course, sir. That’s why half of a drama production cost is spent for actors and screenwriters. In Korea, we usually spend more than that.”
“Well, keep up the good work. I told them that I would send 1 million dollars once the casting is completed. So, let me know when it’s done.”
“Okay, sir, I will do that.”
Gun-Ho then made a call to Jae-Sik Moon in China.
“Hi, President Moon. How was your Thanksgiving Day in China? The business must have been hectic since people travel around a lot during the holiday season.”
“Oh, my gosh. We were extremely busy. Our buses had to operate from very early in the morning. Thanksgiving week is considered as a special week, and they increased the number of bus operations, and we worked more hours than usual.”
“I guess you couldn’t go home early.”
“The situation became better since yesterday. We don’t have so many passengers traveling out of Antang City anymore, but a lot of people are coming into Antang City.”
“Really?”
“We had a special visitor on Thanksgiving Day. The city’s party secretary came to our terminal. I’ve met him too.”
“Really?”
“Once the party secretary visited our terminal, other chief government officers came along with him. Even the Public Security Bureau’s director came to our terminal too. There were several journalists who took a picture of me and the party secretary while we were talking to each other.”
“Really? Man, you are becoming famous, huh? What did the city’s party secretary say to you?”
“It seemed that he didn’t know that the terminal was being built by a joint venture company. In addition, when he found out that the co-venturer was a Korean businessman, he looked surprised. And, he told me that we made the right decision to participate in the terminal project, and that he would provide necessary support making sure that we make our profits. His words were good at least.”
“I hope they give us more bus lines.”
“I was actually going to ask him about it, but the Antang City’s transportation company’s president quickly chipped in and told me to say that we tried hard to facilitate the citizens’ traveling during the Thanksgiving week. He said that the conversation between me and the party secretary was on the air live.”
“I see.”
“Man, there are so many people in China. The terminal was packed with people including the station square. Even the roads and streets around the terminal were filled with people.”
“Those people are all our customers, and we make money per person.”
“When the Chinese partners said that they would build a hotel here, I doubted that it would make money. But, now, I’m sure the hotel business will succeed in this location. The traffic is extremely heavy.”
“Really?”
“Anyway, the day before Thanksgiving Day, our workers and the public security officers worked so hard to handle so many passengers. The chief officer at the police station in the terminal introduced the director of the Public Security Bureau to me. He looked like he was in his 50s, and he looked really tough like a gangster. I’m sure that he is a good fighter.”
“Haha, really? Well, you are building up a very useful network there.”
“It looks like so. The Public Security Bureau’s director told me to come to him when I face any difficulties here, and he gave me his business card.”
“That’s nice.”
“I was surprised when the public security officers caught several pickpockets. They are indeed professionals with talent, and they have good eyes. I had no idea what was happening even though the snatching act occurred right in front of me, but they caught the pickpocket right away.”
“Is that right?”
“Once they caught one, they handcuffed him on the spot. I’ve seen several pickpockets and criminals here. Those people have very scary tattoos on their bodies.”
“Jae-Sik, you should be very careful. They might carry a weapon too.”
“Haha. Okay, I will be careful.”
“Since your wife doesn’t have a friend there to talk with, you should be very good to her. She might feel lonely. You are the only family that she has there.”
“When she was staying with her parents in Wonmee Town, Bucheon City after placing our condo in Mangweon Town on the market, she experienced a minor stomach pain, and she told me that sometimes she felt like suffocating. All those symptoms were gone after she moved here.”
“Really?”
“Our condo community has a lot of trees; it almost looks like a forest. Also, the area is very clean with many luxurious vacation homes. She said that she takes a walk pretty often around the area and she loves it. She wanted to ride a bicycle, but I told her no. She will have to wait until she gives birth.”
“Of course. It’s dangerous to ride a bicycle at the moment.”
“She is going everywhere exploring the area. She already went to the traditional market for a grocery shopping without me. She bought bean sprouts and tofu the other day. Eun-Hwa Jo often joined us for dinner at our home. She loves my wife’s food.”
“I see.”
“Oh, I was going to tell you this. I made the final payment for the five condos here. The loan is taken care of as well.”
“Really? Good work.”
“They are finishing the interior right now. Once it’s done, I will place them on the market to rent them out. It was supposed to be done earlier, but delayed because of the Thanksgiving holiday. I’m sorry about it.”
“You don’t have to rush. Take your time. That’s fine. You said that the monthly rent will be about 3,000 Yuan per condo, right?”
“Yeah. Since it’s a luxurious condo, we can ask for the price.”
“If we rent out the five of them, the total monthly rent that we receive would be 15,000 Yuan.”
“Right. But, we will have to pay for the interest of the loan that we took out when we purchased them. It will be about 10,000 Yuan.”
“We will make 5,000 Yuan per month then. I will give you 3,000 Yuan per month which is a monthly rent of one condo. That’s for your work managing the condo rental.”
“You don’t have to pay me for it. I’ve received a lot of help from you, President Goo. I owe you. I can’t accept it.”
“If you don’t accept the payment for the work that I asked you to do, then I can’t ask you for more work in the future. You should take it.”
“Okay. Then, give it to my wife. My wife will handle the rental management work from now on.”
“Really? That sounds great.”
“My wife is an active woman. Once she gives birth to the child, I’m sure that she will go to every corner of Antang City on a bicycle.”
“Being active is good. That means that she is healthy. I think you are a lucky man.”
“Haha. Thank you.”
Jae-Sik Moon often laughed out loud these days. Gun-Ho thought about the past Jae-Sik Moon who was asking him for 50,000 won, over the phone, that he would send him a book of the alumni directory of their high school, in return. At that time, his voice was gloomy and depressing. Jae-Sik Moon was no longer that man. He was a confident businessman now, who was meeting with important government officers in China, such as the director of the Public Security Bureau and the city’s party secretary.
‘He should be proud of himself. He owns a nice condo in East Incheon City, that is worth 200 million won. He is working as the president of a company in China with a corresponding salary. Even his voice exudes his confidence and high self-esteem.’
Gun-Ho grinned and said, “I feel so relieved that you are settling there very well. Also, I’m so glad that your wife likes the place too. Well, I will let you go now. Talk to you later.”
“Okay, thank you, and take care.”
