When Lee Hyun-woo returned to the company after meeting Goo Chang-mo, the governor of Jeju Island, Oh Min-woo sought him out.
“I heard you’re attracting foreign companies to Jeju Silicon Beach?”
This guy also openly refers to Jeju’s information and communication industry complex as Silicon Beach.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Then, how about trying to attract 【Give and Take】 as well?”
Why did that name suddenly come up? Seeing curiosity etched in Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes, Oh Min-woo began to explain.
“I’ve been in regular contact with those guys. So, they know I’ve come to Jeju. Recently, I bragged about this place to them, and they said they’d like to visit. Then yesterday, I heard from Director Han that the chairman wants to attract foreign companies to Silicon Beach. Naturally, I asked those guys what they thought, and their response wasn’t bad.”
“Really?”
“Yes, they said they want to set up a research center in Korea.”
Although the scale of 【Give and Take】 is much smaller compared to the place Lee Hyun-woo is pursuing, it is being noticed as an innovative company in the United States.
Incidentally, 【Give and Take】 recently unveiled another website to the world.
The name was 【Online Grocery】, and since grocery means food, it literally was a site dealing with food online.
Lee Hyun-woo was comparing the form of this site to 【van web】 from his previous life.
【van web】 had grown significantly during the dot-com era and was an online supermarket concept, taking orders for groceries, pharmaceuticals, and household goods from the website and delivering them.
Unfortunately, it went bankrupt when the dot-com bubble burst.
Naturally, he predicted the fate of 【Online Grocery】 pessimistically.
‘This business is difficult in the U.S., but could it be possible in Korea?’
In fact, managing and transporting goods across the entire U.S. incurs enormous costs.
In his past life, 【van web】 expanded like an octopus, relying only on investments from Son Zhongyi and various capitals, but couldn’t handle the deficits and collapsed.
“Besides the research center, if they do business in Korea, I’m willing to invest.”
Thinking that it might land softly in the relatively small Korea, he said this to Oh Min-woo.
“Really?”
Oh Min-woo was astonished.
“Honestly, the concept of 【Online Grocery】 must be in Jeju. Don’t you agree?”
“Ah… yes. It’s not easy to get certain items here. They say a large discount store will open next year, but it seems it will take some time before it operates properly. But if 【Online Grocery】 sets up shop in Jeju?”
“At least hundreds of our 【Jungle】 employees will become regulars.”
“Yes, that’s right. Oh? But why can’t we do it? We also have 【Jungle Shopping】. Although we don’t handle groceries yet, wouldn’t it be worth trying soon?”
“That’s why we should do it simultaneously. We’ll enter the market, and let them do it too.”
There was no law saying there shouldn’t be multiple similar businesses.
In fact, in a functioning market economy, it was quite common, and the government disliked market monopoly by one company, so having more than two might be better.
“Okay. Then I’ll talk to them and let you know.”
“Sure, keep me updated on the results.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
After sending Oh Min-woo out, Lee Hyun-woo noticed it was almost time to go home.
At this time of day, he had to think about what dinner would be served at home.
‘I hope it’s not a failure today…’
Recently, his wife, Kim Ah-young, had been continuously experimenting with food.
Unlike the conversation with Oh Min-woo earlier, Lee Hyun-woo had been struggling because Kim Ah-young had been obtaining plenty of groceries.
‘I didn’t think about 【Seorabeol Hotel】 being in Jeju.’
As Kim Ah-young settled into life in Jeju, 【Seorabeol Hotel】’s Jeju branch was rapidly upgraded to a level comparable to the headquarters.
Although she hadn’t officially started working yet, she seemed to be preparing thoroughly beforehand.
All services at the Jeju branch were being upgraded to the highest level.
The same went for food ingredients, so whenever she needed, Kim Ah-young would contact the hotel kitchen to purchase as much as she needed.
More importantly, she was learning to cook directly from the head chef there.
However, perhaps because of different talents, there was a noticeable difference between her cooking and that of the head chef.
Yesterday, she made horse meat shabu-shabu, but it had a peculiar gamey smell that made it hard to swallow.
Pretending not to be disappointed would only make Kim Ah-young disheartened, so he had a hard time eating it with a smile.
“Sigh…”
A sigh escaped him for no reason.
What kind of experimental dish would it be today?
‘I just want to eat ramen.’
The next day, as soon as he arrived at work, Oh Min-woo came to the chairman’s office, raising his voice.
“I convinced them!”
“Really? I mean, how in just one day…”
Although he said this, Lee Hyun-woo himself had also convinced three big shots in just one day the day before.
Of course, it wasn’t definitive that their research centers would be attracted to Jeju, but it would be hard for anyone to believe that someone could draw an invitation from them in just one day.
“The research center is definite, and 【Online Grocery】 will come to Jeju to look around and decide.”
“You and those guys are really impulsive.”
But thinking back, Ray Burrin and Mikhail Feiss also seemed quite impulsive in his previous life.
They called it a challenge, but in reality, there were many cases where they did things impulsively regardless of the success rate.
“Well, anyway, isn’t it a good thing? The more research centers we have here, the more high-level developers we’ll have, and the entire island’s IT experts will accumulate.”
“That’s true.”
There’s also a saying that the best infrastructure is people.
It means that there’s no ecosystem in human life without humans.
Of course, to rapidly create IT infrastructure in Jeju, there must be many IT talents.
Once again, Lee Hyun-woo resolved to attract foreign companies like 【Yaho】 as much as possible.
“By the way, when can you make some time for dinner?”
“Dinner? Why all of a sudden?”
“My wife wants to invite you, and I’ll also call Yoo Chul.”
“Wow, your wife? That’s great. I’m getting tired of eating out.”
Seeing Oh Min-woo’s delighted expression, Lee Hyun-woo made a subtle face.
‘I don’t know.’
His wife seemed to be gaining confidence in her cooking bit by bit. The previous day, she even presented a new fusion dish using seafood, but Lee Hyun-woo had to dilute it with water because it was too spicy and salty.
The next day, while taking the two of them, Lee Hyun-woo, just in case of any mishaps, said this.
“But the bigger the expectation, the greater the disappointment…”
“Oh, don’t worry. There’s no way it’s worse than my cooking, is there?”
“That’s right, hyung. Have you ever tasted Min-woo’s cooking? He showed me what happens when you mix a lot of ketchup with salt.”
“Really?”
If it’s to that extent, wouldn’t Kim Ah-young’s cooking skills be on par?
‘There’s no room for complacency.’
Lee Hyun-woo shook his head immediately.
Then he said,
“You know my wife and I are open, right? After eating, please give honest feedback, it’s okay.”
Lee Hyun-woo hoped that this time, his wife would focus on the basics instead of experimenting with food.
For that, sometimes harsh words are necessary.
Hoping these guys would take the hit for him, he came home, but after eating the food, their evaluations were overly generous.
“Wow, sister-in-law! It’s really delicious.”
“Me too. This is the best food I’ve ever tasted. Could you share the recipe with me later?”
“Hohoho, of course.”
Why are they like this? Lee Hyun-woo was momentarily confused. Could it be that his taste is different from theirs?
But it wasn’t, as was revealed by their conversation after they got home.
“Wow, I thought I was going to die. That was the first time I’ve had such bland chicken.”
“What are you talking about? Didn’t she say it was Jeju black pork salad?”
“What? Really? No, the black pork barbecue I had recently didn’t taste like that.”
“I never knew the cooking method could make such a difference.”
“But why did you say it was delicious? Didn’t Hyun-woo hyung ask for honest feedback?”
“Have you ever heard of ‘cha-do-sal-in-ji-gye’?”
“Of course… I like martial arts novels too… I get it now. Hyun-woo hyung wanted to change his wife’s cooking methods through us.”
“If you get involved in that, you’ll incur his wife’s wrath, so there’s no need to cooperate.”
“That’s right. The problem is that by saying that, Hyun-woo hyung will have to eat it without complaint from now on.”
“I feel a bit sorry, but it can’t be helped. I was a bit jealous seeing him live happily, so I feel a bit better.”
But the two made a judgment knowing only half the story.
The next day at work, after hearing what Lee Hyun-woo said,
“My wife wants to call over you two who were satisfied with her cooking often. So, how about having dinner together every evening…”
“I’d like to refuse.”
“Me too…”
“Refusal is refused. But if you have any other ideas, they’re always welcome.”
“What do you mean by other ideas?”
“I mean solving it together.”
“Why do we have to solve this?”
“You know how I’ve treated the founding members, right? We’ve shared sad times, tough times, happy times, and joyful times, just like one body.”
“……”
“……”
“I’ll take ideas.”
“How about hiring a housekeeper?”
“Oh, I suggested that, but she said no. Specifically, she said she won’t use one until my mom does.”
“Then we eat out for a while. Fusion is good, but we should also taste Jeju’s local food culture.”
“That’s appealing. As expected, Yoo Chul is sentimental, so he comes up with these ideas well.”
Actually, this was brought up for his survival.
But this remark stimulated Lee Hyun-woo’s inspiration.
“Now that I think about it, there’s food trucks.”
“Food trucks? What are those?”
“In short, it’s making and selling food from a truck.”
“Don’t tell me you’re suggesting doing that with your wife every night?”
“Are you kidding? Why would I advertise that my wife makes unheard-of fusion food all over the place?”
“Then…”
“Just watch what I do.”
That day, Lee Hyun-woo had to visit the governor of Jeju Island, Goo Chang-mo, once again.
“I asked to see you because I have a good idea.”
“Yes, yes, please go ahead.”
These days, whatever Lee Hyun-woo said was fantastic, so Goo Chang-mo’s voice was full of anticipation.
“As I looked around here and there, I noticed there are quite a few street vendors in Jeju.”
“Ah, yes… Even though we disperse them by force, they come back the next day, so we can’t do much about it. But we are continuing the crackdown.”
“Instead of cracking down, how about bringing them into the system?”
“Into the system? What do you mean…”
“Our company employees, when settling in Jeju, were most curious about the local food here. But we haven’t discovered many such places yet. Sometimes while walking, I noticed the food sold in street stalls is delicious. Then I thought, it would be great to sell this tasty food from trucks.”
“Ah…”
“If you could allow registration within the bounds of not obstructing traffic, it would be a win-win situation. For your information, we are willing to modify and lease trucks to them for free, so you don’t have to worry about the money.”
The reason he was doing this, of course, was to use the food trucks as an excuse to go out for dinner with Kim Ah-young.
Also, making a donation to the local community as a commemoration of their settlement in Jeju would be beneficial for both parties.
Goo Chang-mo nodded with delight.
“I never thought you’d come up with such an idea. I had my fortune read this year, and it said a noble person would come to Jeju. It seems to be spot on. Hahaha.”
