CH23 | MCT

Acquiring a Mine (3)

Tae-soo helped the mine owner up from the ground, where he had been sobbing.

After settling him down properly, Tae-soo dusted off the dirt on his clothes.

“Ugh… To have my limestone mine and cement factory taken from me like this…”

“Are your family members safe?”

“Thankfully, they are. But I’ve lost the mine, the factory, even my home. I’ll be out on the streets in no time… Ugh.”

“As long as your family is safe, that’s what matters most. Do you still have a lot of debt left?”

“No… This settles everything.”

That was a relief.

Unlike Tae-soo’s family, at least he wouldn’t have to go into hiding to escape his debts.

‘Jang Mal-dong must have cut him some slack while rushing to collect his loans. Right now, time is money for him.’

Tae-soo patted the mine owner on the shoulder.

The man was clearly capable.

Just looking at the limestone mine and cement factory was enough to tell how skilled he was at running a mining operation.

And because of that, Tae-soo didn’t want to let him slip away.

“Don’t make any hasty decisions. Can you wait just three days?”

“Three days?”

“I’m going to meet with the loan shark.”

A flicker of hope sparked in the mine owner’s eyes.

“You mean… you’ll get my mine and factory back for me?”

The mine owner shook his head immediately.

“No, that would be impossible. But my workers—all of them are hardworking, good people. This place is their livelihood, their future.”

The mine owner suddenly grabbed Tae-soo’s hands.

“Please, I beg you. I don’t care what happens to me. Just don’t let my workers scatter. Could you find a reliable buyer who can take over everything at once?”

The desperation in his voice was palpable.

At that moment—

“Boss! Are you alright?”

“Boss, we were so worried about you!”

The factory workers, who had been watching from a distance, rushed inside as soon as they saw the loan sharks leave.

‘They seem to have a strong bond.’

A well-run limestone mine and cement factory.

It was no surprise that the owner and his workers shared such a tight-knit connection.

Tae-soo’s respect for the man grew even more.

“I’ll see you in three days. You need to pull yourself together and reassure your workers. Stay put until then.”

“Ugh… It’s my fault. I was too greedy, insisting on that reckless gold mine development… This is all on me.”

“Don’t beat yourself up too much. Everything will work out. You’ll make a comeback.”

“Ugh… Th-Thank you. Even just hearing that… Thank you.”

The mine owner was deeply grateful to Tae-soo.

As he sobbed, embracing his workers, Tae-soo and Han-soo quietly left the factory.

“Hyung, what do we do? We were too late. Should we start looking for another mine?”

Han-soo sounded regretful.

Finding another mine that met their conditions so perfectly wouldn’t be easy.

“This sucks. I really thought this was a golden opportunity. What a waste.”

Unlike Han-soo, Tae-soo didn’t seem the least bit regretful.

Han-soo found that odd.

“Hyung, aren’t you disappointed? You don’t look it at all.”

“It’s too early to be disappointed.”

Tae-soo glanced back at the cement factory.

“I’m going to find Jang Mal-dong.”

“What? Again? Why?”

“I’m going to try and acquire this mine and factory.”

Han-soo’s jaw dropped.

But after thinking it through, he realized it made sense.

“Han-soo, you stay here.”

“Why me?”

“That mine owner is too talented to let go. Make sure he doesn’t run off.”

“……”

“And chase away any rats sniffing around. Got it?”

“Leave it to me.”

Tae-soo turned to leave.

“Well then, I’m off to Seoul for a bit.”

To buy the factory and mine—for dirt cheap!

I’ll make sure to drive the price way, way down!

***

August 2, 1972, 11:30 PM.

Jang Mal-dong’s House in Myeong-dong.

Even in the dead of night, Jang Mal-dong’s house was brightly lit.

His loan collectors were coming and going nonstop.

Day and night, his doorstep was worn thin from the endless foot traffic.

For the past ten days, Jang Mal-dong had turned away everyone who came to see him, focusing solely on collecting his debts.

Tick-tock.

It was already 11:30 PM.

Only ten minutes left until the time that brat had mentioned.

Jang Mal-dong roared,

“What the hell is everyone doing standing around?! We don’t have much time left! Besides Song Jin-gu, is there anyone else who hasn’t collected their debts yet?!”

Some of the men who had been sent across the country hadn’t returned yet.

Whether they had succeeded or failed, there was no word from them.

Jang Mal-dong stomped his foot in frustration.

“Sir! Song Jin-gu just arrived!”

“Tell that bastard to get in here immediately!”

A man in a traditional Korean hanbok stepped outside.

Left alone in the spacious room, Jang Mal-dong fanned himself furiously.

His nerves were on fire, and he gulped down cold water in an attempt to cool off.

He was already thin to begin with, and after ten days of this, he was practically skin and bones.

Creak. Clack.

The hanbok-wearing man returned, this time with Song Jin-gu in tow.

Jang Mal-dong immediately asked,

“How much of the debt did you recover?”

“The time was too tight… I’d say we recovered about 60%.”

60%…

Jang Mal-dong had already braced himself for retrieving less than half.

This was better news than expected.

“Elder, I’ve returned.”

Song Jin-gu knelt down respectfully and presented the recovered money and documents to Jang Mal-dong.

“I personally collected from the major corporations nationwide. As for the smaller ones, I had enforcers and thugs handle them.”

“Well done.”

“I prioritized assets that could be liquidated immediately, but with the time constraints, I couldn’t collect as much as I’d hoped.”

“You did well.”

Jang Mal-dong separated the money from the documents and began assessing the total amount.

Then, a particular document caught his eye.

“Hm? Dae-yang Tungsten and Dae-yang Cement? These are solid businesses. You managed to acquire both the mine and the factory?”

“They failed after a disastrous attempt at gold mining.”

“Oh-ho, now that’s quite the stroke of luck. Under normal circumstances, these would’ve fetched a high price. What a shame. Anyway, good work.”

“By the way, I ran into a lunatic there.”

“A lunatic?”

“You remember that punk who used my name to meet you a while back?”

The one who actually managed to get a loan contract from a loan shark!

The bastard who stirred up this entire mess by claiming to have backing!

If his information turns out to be false, I’ll make him pay for every single one of my losses.

That brat won’t die peacefully.

Just thinking about Tae-soo made Jang Mal-dong grit his teeth.

“That cocky little punk—what was he doing there?”

“He said he had business with the mine owner.”

“What kind of business?”

“I was too busy collecting debts to find out…”

Song Jin-gu scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish.

Jang Mal-dong glanced at the documents again.

‘What could that lunatic possibly want there?’

He was curious.

But he quickly shook his head.

‘This isn’t the time to be worrying about that. The debts have been collected. That’s all that matters. Forget about him.’

He carefully stored the documents in his safe.

The man in the hanbok spoke quietly.

“It’s time.”

The clock read 11:40 PM.

Song Jin-gu hurriedly turned on the radio.

Chzzzt. Chzzzt—.

Jang Mal-dong’s mouth was dry. He licked his parched lips.

Song Jin-gu swallowed hard.

Everyone in the room listened intently as the broadcast began.

"…For these reasons, the government has deemed it impossible to overlook the situation any longer. Accordingly, we are announcing an 'Emergency Decree on Economic Stability and Growth.' … Effective August 3rd, 12:00 AM, all private loans will be frozen."

Thud!

Jang Mal-dong kicked off the silk cushion and shot to his feet, eyes wide open in disbelief.

“H-He really did it! Park Jung-hwan actually announced the loan freeze!”

The man in the hanbok twitched, his eyes flickering with shock.

‘That brat… He really did have backing. And a kind of backing I couldn’t even begin to imagine.’

Song Jin-gu was just as stunned.

Hearing this for the first time, his head spun.

“A loan freeze? What does that even mean? Don’t tell me the loan contracts are just… worthless scraps of paper now?”

No one answered.

Jang Mal-dong and the man in the hanbok were lost in thought.

The August 3rd Loan Freeze Policy.

There were three key points:

As of August 3rd, 1972, all private loan agreements were null and void.

The government had secured 200 billion won to assist businesses in converting their outstanding bank loans into three-year grace periods with five-year instalment repayments.

The average private loan interest rate of 46% per year (3.84% per month) was reduced to 16.2% per year (1.35% per month).

Jang Mal-dong closed his eyes and let out a slow, shaky breath.

‘If it weren’t for that brat, I would have been completely ruined.’

He recalled the smug grin on Tae-soo’s face.

"I wonder how the great hand of Myeong-dong repays his debts. I look forward to it."

‘What a tenacious bastard. A crazy, fearless bastard. And now, this Jang Mal-dong is truly indebted to him.’

He also remembered stamping that loan contract.

A 20-million-won contract!

‘Compared to the fortune I just saved, that’s nothing… But damn it, I really have to cough it up now.’

There was no way around it.

A promise from Jang Mal-dong’s own mouth was as good as law.

“Hahaha! That brat is a lunatic! The biggest lunatic I’ve ever met in my entire life!”

People call someone unpredictable a lunatic—whether in a good way or a bad way.

And right then—

A man came rushing in, breathless.

It was Jjak-gwi.

“T-The lunatic is here!”

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

Tae-soo was knocking at Jang Mal-dong’s gate.

Creak. Clack.

Tae-soo stepped into the room.

Jang Mal-dong sat on his silk cushion as usual, fanning himself lazily.

The man in the hanbok stood off to the side.

Tae-soo walked in with long strides and plopped himself down on the floor without hesitation.

“You heard the government’s announcement, didn’t you?”

“…Yeah. You were right.”

Tae-soo grinned.

“So, should I start with some small talk and build up to the point like last time, or just get straight to business?”

Bold as ever.

Jang Mal-dong, already exhausted from the whirlwind of events, let out a sigh.

Verifying uncertain information had been exhausting. Hounding people to recover debts for the past ten days had been exhausting.

With a sharp flick of his wrist, he snapped his fan shut.

“It’s late. Let’s just wrap this up quickly. What brings you here at this hour?”

“I’m here to settle the loan contract.”

Tae-soo pulled the contract from inside his jacket.

Jang Mal-dong wasn’t surprised—he had been expecting this.

“You wanted cash, in a lump sum, right?”

“Elder, I want to exchange it for something else.”

“Something else? And what would that be?”

A glint flashed in Jang Mal-dong’s eyes.

Suddenly, Song Jin-gu’s words came back to him.

"I ran into a lunatic there."

"He said he had business with the mine owner."

Jang Mal-dong’s lips curled into a sly smile.

“…You’re talking about Dae-yang Tungsten and Dae-yang Cement, aren’t you?”