Chapter 122

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Most of the employees at Aurum started the day with the breakfast box supplied by Hyunwoo’s mother’s business, called
Hyunwoo’s Mom
. It was not wrapped individually, but in groups of boxes, tailored to the number of the team. When the boxes were delivered, the team members divided them among themselves. As they were not nicely wrapped, sometimes they wondered about the hygiene of the food inside.
Are they using weird ingredients?
Is there no sanitary issue here?
But their concern about the food hygiene was gone since Aurum’s general affairs team made an ad hoc inspection of Hyunwoo’s mother’s factory.

I hear the inspection team was really surprised to find the factory was so clean.


I guess so. Look at assistant manager Hyunwoo working at the office. Even though he’s a high school graduate, he is working really smart. I think like mother, like son.

Someone called Hyunwoo on purpose to congratulate him.

I really admire your mom. She is really great.


Hahaha. Don’t mention it. That must be expected. Thanks anyway. Let me convey it to my mother.

Hyunwoo felt good to hear their compliments.
At the same time, he felt bad about the inspection team’s abrupt visit to the factory because his mother was really stunned about it.
I wish they had informed me in advance of their visit.
At that moment, a good idea came to his mind. Snack houses in front of the school would be much better if they had such an unexpected inspection.
Suddenly, he thought about the main gate security man Suyoung Oh, former principal of Ansan High School.
Hyunwoo waited for lunchtime and then went directly to the security’s office.
Suyong greeted him gladly,
What brought you here? I heard about the company inspection team’s visit to the factory. I expected they couldn’t find anything wrong there, given your mother’s reputation.


Thanks, sir. By the way, I’ve got something to tell you. In fact, it’s something that happened last Friday in front of Ansan High School…

Hyunwoo told him about what happened in detail.
Hearing that, Suyoung opened a morning newspaper with eyes wide open. It was a local paper that carried an article about the food poisoning incident at the school.
There were more students who suffered food poisoning than Hyunwoo thought. A total of 21 students were affected. Fortunately, they were all discharged in one day, but not only the parents but also the school expressed concern about food hygiene because of the fundamental problem of the lack of sanitary conditions of the snack houses in front of the school.
Hyunwoo explained to Suyoung about his idea to fix the problem. However, Suyoung disagreed,
We tried that before, but all the snack houses opposed such an abrupt inspection. To say the least, they displayed nerve, suggesting the students go to other snack houses if they wanted.

Hyunwoo presented a solution,
Well, all we have to do is just have one clean snack house there. We give them the certificate on food hygiene and have the students visit that place only. Then, other snack houses will have to follow suit to survive.


That’s an ideal proposal. There are not many women like your mother,
said Suyoung.
Suddenly Suyoung proposed an idea,
Oh, yea. I’ve got a good idea. Why doesn’t your mother open a snack house in front of the school?


What did you say? My mother?


I don’t think your mother physically should be at the shop to run it. She should just manage the shop.

Still, Hyunwoo was not persuaded. It was hard to find a place for the snack house, and even if she could find one, it was not the right thing for her mother to open one with such a purpose.

There must be some other way. Let me give it some thought.

Hyunwoo went back to his office, and Suyoung just looked at him from behind.
Though Hyunwoo rejected his idea, Hyunwoo’s mother might think differently.
Suyoung checked out the contact list on his phone and called someone.

Oh my god, sir. How have you been doing?
said the other party.

Long time no see, Mr. Lee. How are you?
said Suyoung

Well, I’ve got some headaches these days.

He was in agony because of the food poisoning incident.

I thought you’re stressed out because of that. How about a drink this evening?


Why not? I’ll treat you this time, sir.

Several days later on Saturday, Hyunwoo left for the retail warehouse of N&C Korea, located in front of the House of Happiness early in the morning.
There were a total of seven crowded inside. Among them was one person unfamiliar to Hyunwoo, and another person who Hyunwoo hadn’t seen for a while.
Hyunwoo waved to Sungwoo Paek, shouting,
Hey, long time no see. When did you arrive?


Last night.


I wish you had called me then. Did you sleep at the motel again?


Well, I felt more comfortable there. I was going to call you for a drink, but it’s too late.

While Hyunwoo was exchanging greetings with him, Sungrak and Jaegyong called together the three men, and said,
These are the new hires. Directors of the orphanages recommended them with confidence, saying they’re sincere and diligent.


Oh, you hired them quickly,
said Hyunwoo.

How do you do, sir. My name is Sungyong Lee.


My name is Jongkuk Kim.

They were all tall and strong. In particular, Jongkuk looked like a real fighter.
Actually, he did boxing when he was a child. He had a dream of winning a gold medal as a member of the national team when he grew up, but he gave up because of wounds he suffered when he was in high school. They were all in their 30s and all from the orphanages.

I’m glad to work with you. What a good association we have like this! Hope we all can keep it to the end. Let me say just a few words, as you might think a long speech as something like nagging.

They looked at him with sparkling eyes.

Some time ago, when I was reading a book, I noticed something like this. It’s not your fault that you are born to a poor family. N&C Korea is a place where you can earn as much as you want.

Then he pointed to the men standing beside him,
These guys Sungrak, Jaegyong, and Sungwoo all struggled at first, but they have gained a financial foothold to some extent today. It’s your turn. As long as you work hard, I’ll try to give you the chance. You guys want to be called rich, right?


Got it, sir!


We’ll do our best, sir!

They all lowered their heads deeply to him.
With that brief speech, Hyunwoo now spoke about some other topic like the products in Vietnam and other sales products, which he wanted to mention anyway.
Sungwoo nodded his head,
Actually, we’ve got nothing to lose when there are lots of things for sale, but when you’re out in the field, you’ll run into lots of difficulties as the products are not the castor. Worse, there are few who know the companies with those brands, and we’re not that familiar with the brands, either.

That’s what Hyunwoo had been thinking about, too. He was aware of the consumers’ awareness of the products and his own lack of knowledge of the sales products, so he began to think hard about it, and came up with some sort of idea.

Sungrak, can you visit Vietnam with one of the staff here? Your sales activities will be much smoother if you stay there for several days and learn about the sales products.


Me? I don’t know anybody there.

Reassuring him, Hyunwoo continued,
Let me inform my acquaintances there in advance. When you arrive there, the local Korean presidents will greet you as VIPs. Don’t feel any burden. Just go there and learn some things.

Though Sungrak looked uneasy, Hyunwoo didn’t care.
This time he turned to Sungwoo,
How about raising the awareness of the company by doing business in franchise style?


Franchise? I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Hyunwoo briefed him about his idea. In short, Hyunwoo was thinking of making a franchise name to sell all the products under that name, and he planned to create a good image of the franchise name for the consumers to trust.

In other words you want to select only quality products and do the business like the department stores or large supermarkets, right?


Well, what I mean is that I don’t want to make the sales company something like a franchise, but have all the producers tied under one franchise name. In other words, we’re not selecting and selling only quality products, but the quality producers are united under one franchise name for sale.


Is that feasible?

Hyunwoo had thought a lot about its feasibility,
This is my idea. We create an independent franchise company and give authentication of franchise certificate to the product. To put it easily, just like KS, HACCP, ISO, etc.


Hummmm… It really looks big. Then, the image of the franchise is very important. You also need to earn its reputation.


I’ve got a good idea on that, too,
said Hyunwoo confidently.

We can use the Dream Team. Just like we did in the past. Korean technicians went over to Vietnam and made enormous innovation in the technology of the castor, and such products were all tied together under one franchise name. Don’t you think we can earn the consumers’ awareness and product reputation quickly?

Sungwoo opened his eyes wide. Hearing what he said, that was a real possibility.
What did matter was how the press would report on it, namely whether the press could highlight the new franchise like they did the Dream Team.
Hyunwoo wasn’t sure of that, either.

I’m going to give it a try. If things don’t work out well, I’m going to spend some kickback to have it on air.


You had better coin a good franchise name. As you said, the name should show the nature of the franchise well.


I’ve got one already.


What is that?


Ko. VE dream.

Sungwoo tilted his head, hearing that,
Ko. VE dream? I feel it’s weird.


Doesn’t matter. I’m okay as long as it conveys my original intention well. And the funny name can draw a big interest, too. If we can give the consumers an impression that our product has the best value for the price, that’s already a success.


You’re right, but…what does the name mean anyway?

Instead of explaining, Hyunwoo wrote it down on the paper.
KO.VE Dream

Ah! Korea Vietnam Dream team!
shouted Sungwoo.