Chapter 375
Chapter 375
One of them.
Lee Young-nam had a different look in his eyes.
He grumbled as he watched Yoo-hyun eating his food.
“Yoo, I have a favor to ask you.”
“What?”
When Yoo-hyun asked, Lee Young-nam waved his hand and picked up his glass.
He seemed to not want to burden Yoo-hyun.
“It’s nothing. Come on, let’s drink.”
Clang.
The glasses clinked, and they chatted a bit more.
Throughout the conversation, Lee Young-nam kept sending Yoo-hyun a trusting glance.
And the next day.
Before Yoo-hyun could file a petition, a report was sent to the head of the urban development department of Haenam County Office.
The head, who was sitting at his desk and flipping through the report, said.
“Is this true?”
“Yes. The villagers voluntarily developed a tourist attraction. There was no promotion, but a lot of people came.”
Seo Joong-han, the chief who had visited Yeontae-ri yesterday, explained with saliva flying.
It was a tourist attraction that was already completed without spending any money.
He wouldn’t miss such an item that he could eat for free by just putting a spoon on it.
The head nodded repeatedly, as if he had the same idea.
“Huh. I was thinking of doing something around here since the Wando Bridge is about to be built, and this treasure popped out.”
“Isn’t the Yeosu Expo going to be held soon? If we link it with this place and make it bigger, we can promote it quite grandly.”
The head’s eyes widened at Seo Joong-han’s words.
Then he clapped his hands and said.
“That’s it. This will be perfect for raising the governor’s achievements.”
“Yes. The election period is not far away either.”
“As expected, you’re the best chief. Go ahead with it.”
“Yes. I understand.”
Seo Joong-han smiled faintly and bowed his head.
A week passed since then.
There were some big changes during that time.
First of all, Park Chul-hong, the deputy head, returned to his original workplace in Gangwon Province.
The day he left.
His compact car was parked in front of the factory site.
His luggage, which he had stayed for almost two years and returned with, was small enough to fit in a small trunk.
But he left his mark on the factory.
A TV installed at the entrance of the factory, a work diary that he changed 10 times, a conveyor belt that he restarted, and various devices with fingerprints on them.
He had a faint smile on his face as he looked around the factory alone and came out.
Yoo-hyun approached Park Chul-hong, who was standing on the flat ground, and said.
“Do you feel relieved?”
He fiddled with his fingers with an awkward expression and looked at Yoo-hyun.
“Did I say thank you?”
“No. You’re going to say it now.”
“Thank you. I learned a lot thanks to you, Yoo.”
Park Chul-hong had changed a lot in a short period of time.
His personality, which was always shrunk, became much more relaxed, and he overcame his lack of sociability to some extent by restoring his relationship with the villagers.
Most importantly, he found his own answer to what he had to do at the factory.
The result was seen in his face as he looked straight into Yoo-hyun’s eyes.
He was still young and naive, but he was admirable.
Yoo-hyun smiled brightly and asked him to do something.
“It won’t be easy when you go back.”
“Of course it will be harder than here.”
“You’ve been too comfortable here, so you can suffer a bit.”
And he made Park Chul-hong comfortable with his good-natured words.
It was Yoo-hyun’s wish to send him off with a smile at the end.
“What did you say?”
Park Chul-hong made an absurd expression, and a snicker came from beside him.
Park Chul-hong lowered his head and greeted Jo Ki-jung and Kang Jong-ho as well.
They had been together for much longer than Yoo-hyun, even though they didn’t touch each other much.
That’s why they had a lot to say to each other.
“Hahaha.”
Yoo-hyun smiled as he watched them share their memories.
Park Cheol-hong, the meticulous team leader who paid attention to every detail.
Jo Gi-jeong, the expert in handling electronic products.
Kang Jong-ho, the master of organizing things.
They all came to this place with a stigma of being unfit for corporate life, but Yoo-hyun saw that they had amazing strengths.
They just couldn’t find the right job for them in the company.
Looking at them, Yoo-hyun thought of the countless people who had passed by him.
He didn’t have to look far.
Kim Hyun-min, the team manager, Choi Min-hee, the deputy manager, Kim Young-gil, the section chief, Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager.
And the people from the Ulsan factory.
Many of them had not seen the light in the past.
He remembered a phrase that came to his mind naturally.
Personnel is everything.
It’s important to use good people well.
Depending on how you handle a gemstone, it can become a diamond or remain a pebble.
It meant that the role of a leader was that big.
Yoo-hyun felt that part that he had not cared about in the past deeply in his heart now.
He waved his hand at Park Cheol-hong, who had gained a small insight.
“Then I’ll go.”
He got into his compact car and drove down the narrow road.
Was it because he felt that Park Cheol-hong had left for real?
Jo Gi-jeong and Kang Jong-ho were silent for a moment.
Creak.
Yoo-hyun took out a can of beer from the fridge and handed it to them.
“Let’s have a cold drink?”
“Sounds good.”
The two smiled.
Next, there were more tourists in the village.
The iPhone sales had calmed down, but the people who had visited once came back twice and three times.
The word of mouth spread well, and many people still visited the village.
Thanks to that, the park golf and fishing spot’s paid system also settled in.
Of course, it was ridiculously cheap compared to other places, but there was no problem in maintaining the operating cost.
That alone was a huge change.
But today.
Through the mouths of the people who had visited Haenam County Office, a great change was announced.
Yoo-hyun, who was sitting on the sofa in Bokdeokbang, listened to Choi Jeong-bok’s words.
“I got the budget. Haenam County will directly support the tourism project linked to park golf and fishing spot.”
“That’s great.”
Yoo-hyun smiled and Bae Yong-hwan, who was next to Lee Young-nam, asked cautiously.
“Han Ju-im, did you ask Haenam County for the big road restoration you mentioned last time?”
“Yes. I did.”
He had filed a complaint online.
He also called, but he only got an unfriendly answer that it would take quite a lot of time to review it.
But why did he suddenly ask that?
He felt a sharp gaze and turned his head.
Lee Young-nam, who was sitting next to him, grabbed Yoo-hyun’s hand.
His voice was full of excitement.
“As expected, it was Han Ju-im.”
“What?”
Looking at Yoo-hyun who was bewildered, Jeon Il-ho smiled brightly across him.
“Brother, Haenam County will start the big road restoration project right away.”
“Right away?”
Lee Young-nam held Yoo-hyun’s hand firmly whether he was surprised or not.
“It’s all thanks to Han Ju-im. Thank you.”
“Yeah. Thanks to Han Ju-im stepping up, things went smoothly. I didn’t know you could do this when you said you would do it then.”
Bae Yong-hwan also joined in praising him as if he was flying an airplane. Yoo-hyun was at a loss for words.
“No, what did I do…”
Choi Jeong-bok and Jeon Il-ho also joined in the praise parade.
“Brother, you don’t have to be humble. And I’m sorry for saying no last time.”
“Me too. I didn’t know your big idea. I was too narrow-minded. I’ll reflect on it.”
“…”
In this atmosphere, Yoo-hyun had nothing more to say.
He felt like misunderstandings were piling up.
What on earth happened?
That night, Yoo-hyun sat on a chair in his lodging and sorted out his thoughts.
He understood why they got the budget.
The park golf course and the fishing spot that the villagers had voluntarily built were of high quality.
They had a good chance of impressing the officials.
But what about the road?
The county would not willingly do such a costly construction.
Yoo-hyun had filed a complaint, but it had not been properly processed yet.
Even if there were many complaints, it was not enough.
There must have been some other reason.
What could it be?
He wished he could ask the relevant staff directly, but that was impossible.
Instead, Yoo-hyun turned on his laptop.
He connected to the internet and searched for many news articles related to Haenam County.
“The new Wando Bridge construction permit has been issued, and the county governor’s term is almost over…”
These external factors could have influenced the situation.
Of course, it was just a guess.
As he was browsing the news, one article caught his eye.
The Yeosu Expo was a big event supported by the state.
It was obvious that many people from home and abroad would flock there.
Since Haenam County and Yeosu City were not far apart, he could benefit from the spillover effect if he timed it right.
“A national event… Ah.”
A sudden thought crossed his mind and he picked up his phone.
A faint smile appeared on his lips as he wondered what was going on.
At that moment,
A blue-eyed Caucasian man slumped on a sofa in the lobby of Baekje Hotel.
His notebook on the table had ‘Sprint Company’ written on it.
He spat out an annoyed word in English from his exhausted mouth.
“Those G20 preparation committee bastards, they’re so stupid. How can they keep me here for such a worthless meeting?”
The junior from the same company who was sitting across from him was looking at his phone while listening to him.
His brow furrowed as if he was bothered by something.
“Alice, what are you doing? Is it important?”
“No. I was just summarizing the meeting content for a moment.”
Despite being tired, Jeong Da-hye answered with a proper posture.
The man who was looking at her shook his head vigorously.
“You’re such a workaholic. That’s why you want to go to Yeosu yourself to check on the Expo preparation situation.”
“I have to go. It might help with the G20 bid.”
“You do whatever you want. You’re the team leader for this project.”
The man waved his hand and leaned back on the sofa.
Jeong Da-hye picked up her phone again and checked the message.
“Stop by since you’re in Haenam?”
She didn’t even laugh sarcastically this time.
She just wondered how he knew she was going to Yeosu and sent her this message.
Haenam County’s support was fierce.
They had already built temporary restrooms all over the park golf course even though the city development budget had not been approved for long.
Street lights were installed and signs were put up.
The name came from Yeontae-ri where the first hole was located, and Yeonseung-ri agreed to it.
The fishing spot also improved.
The county rechecked the electric wiring and laid a large wooden board about 20 meters long over the reservoir water.
People could enjoy fishing not only from the shore but also from inside the water.
Vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom
An excavator was digging up the hills of Yeontae-ri and Yeonseung-ri.
The end of the hill had already been dug up quite a bit, and underneath it, the traces of a big road buried in dirt were revealed.
They were not digging up the whole hill, but only the end part, and they decided to use the old shape of the road, so they expected that the work time would not be long.
That meant that the road restoration, which had been a long-cherished wish of both villages, would soon be finished.
Choi Jeong Bok muttered as he watched that scene.
“Why couldn’t they do this simple thing before?”
“It’s an expensive job.”
Yoo-hyun answered simply and Choi Jeong Bok nodded his head.
He had a nostalgic expression on his face.
He had joined the village late, but what about the other villagers?
“It’s all thanks to my brother…”
“Brother, wait a minute.”
Yoo-hyun pulled Choi Jeong Bok’s arm as he was about to continue.
Then he hid his body behind a tree.