Genius Grandson Of The Loan Shark King

It took more than five hours of driving from Seoul to finally arrive in Gyeongsan.

“Sir, are you home?”

Despite possessing considerable wealth, Jang Daeho’s house was more modest than I had expected.

Chief Ma pressed the worn doorbell and raised his voice.

Instead of an answer from inside, a voice called out from the yard.

“Who is it?”

The gate opened, and an elderly man with white hair stepped out.

Jang Daeho was a small-framed, rather ordinary-looking old man.

Chief Ma bowed deeply as he greeted him.

“Hello, sir. My name is Ma Seokdae. Our boss wished to meet you, so we came here.”

“And who is this boss of yours?”

As their conversation began, I stepped out of the car and approached.

“Hello, sir. My name is Kim Muhyuk. I know it’s rude, but since I had no way to contact you, I came without an appointment. My apologies.”

Jang Daeho silently studied me for a moment before finally speaking.

“So you’re the one they call the successor to Chairman Cheon Taesan? Well then, come inside. You’ve come a long way, so I should at least spare you time for a cup of tea.”

“Thank you.”

I followed Jang Daeho as he calmly turned and walked toward the house.

Unlike the exterior, the inside was clean and tidy.

“Sir, do we have guests?”

A woman who appeared to be a housekeeper peeked out from the kitchen.

“Bring two cups of tea to the study, then go home. Come back around dinner time.”

“Yes.”

“You, follow me.”

The study we entered was lined wall-to-wall with books.

It was a spacious room, filled with the strong scent of old paper.

“Please, sit.”

Jang Daeho sat down first and gestured for me to do the same.

That he knew who I was wasn’t particularly surprising. What was unexpected was that he was willing to talk so openly.

Jang Daeho began slowly.

“I’ve heard a lot about you. They say you’re the spitting image of Chairman Cheon Taesan. Let’s see... your face doesn’t quite seem so, but perhaps the way you handle things is similar.”

“You flatter me.”

He took out a small notebook and began jotting something down.

While our small talk continued, the study door opened.

The housekeeper set down a teapot and cups before leaving again.

Pouring the tea himself, Jang Daeho spoke.

“Now... tell me. The reason you came all the way from Seoul. Surely it’s not just to meet me face-to-face.”

Instead of answering immediately, I picked up the teacup he had poured, inhaling its aroma.

“It smells wonderful.”

“It’s my favorite tea.”

After fully savoring the scent, I took a sip and set the cup down.

I could see a glimmer of curiosity in Jang Daeho’s eyes as he looked at me.

“I learned about you only recently. But the more I learned, the more I wondered—how could someone like you never once have their name known to the public?”

“What business would a country bumpkin have with notoriety? I’m just an old man living in the countryside.”

“I heard you played a major role in the birth of Ilseong Group. They say the late Chairman Seo Ilseong used to visit you here every holiday.”

Rather than deny it or act modest, he continued calmly. freewebnovёl.ƈom

“I’ve also heard stories about you and Chairman Seo Ilseong. And that you told Daehyeon’s Chairman Song Youngjoo to come meet you in person if he wished to see you.”

Seo Ilseong, founder of Ilseong Group.

Song Youngjoo, founder of Daehyeon Group.

Everyone connected to him had been a pivotal figure in building Korea’s modern economy.

“You’ve done your homework. These days, there’s hardly anyone left who remembers that. Yes... back when Chairman Seo was alive, we met often.”

His expression softened with nostalgia, as though tracing back memories.

“They were turbulent times. Why else would a man abandon his wife and children to come south? It was a place where having something was a crime. If there’s a hell on earth, that was it.”

Soon, sadness began to show on his wrinkled face.

“Heh, I must be getting old. Here I am telling these stories to a young man I’ve only just met.”

“Not at all. Isn’t it thanks to people like you that we live as we do now? I respect not only my grandfather, but also men like Chairman Song and Chairman Seo who endured that era.”

It wasn’t just lip service.

It was genuine respect for those who had survived the humiliation of Japanese occupation and the chaos of the Korean War.

“You’re different from most young people these days. Just having such thoughts is no easy thing. Well, enough small talk. I’d like to hear why you’ve come.”

“I came because I need your help, sir.”

“Help?”

There was a look of mild puzzlement on his face.

It seemed he didn’t yet know about my connection to Chairman Seo Yonggeon.

“Yes.”

“And what could I possibly help you with?”

“Sir, I’d like you to transfer to me the shares you own.”

“What?”

“I’ll pay you triple—no, up to five times their value. Or, you could simply delegate your voting rights to me. I’ll compensate you generously.”

For a moment, silence hung in the study.

Jang Daeho, looking somewhat taken aback, suddenly burst into loud laughter.

“Well, this is amusing—telling such jokes to a man close to the grave. Didn’t you come here knowing my relationship with Ilseong? Yet you ask me to hand over my shares.”

When his laughter subsided, his face had turned stern.

“I’m aware. But isn’t that relationship with the late Chairman Seo Ilseong? From what I know, you’ve had no dealings since his passing.”

Indeed, since Seo Ilseong’s death, neither Seo Yonggeon nor any of the late chairman’s children had paid him even a courtesy visit.

At that, Jang Daeho’s expression grew uncomfortable, as if I’d struck a nerve.

“...It’s only natural to feel affection for the children I’ve known since they were younger than you. If you’re going to talk nonsense, you’d best leave.”

It was a clear dismissal, but I had no intention of giving up.

“Even without your help, I will not stop my attack on Ilseong.”

“You needn’t tell me about your affairs.”

The goodwill he had shown me earlier was now replaced with distance and a firm demeanor.

“What will it take for you to help me, sir?”

“The only reason I gave you any of my time was out of respect for Chairman Cheon Taesan. But I’m starting to think I may regret that.”

His tone carried a clear sense of finality.

“Have you ever wondered why I live out here in the countryside? It’s because I’m sick of seeing this and that filth—beasts blinded by greed... the very sort you live among.”

It sounded as though he was referring to the succession war within Ilseong Group.

“That’s enough. You’ve used up all the time I can give you.”

“Sir.”

There was no reply.

I considered using more forceful means, but something about using such tactics on Jang Daeho didn’t sit right with me.

“Sir. Whatever it is you want, I will give it to you—anything.”

He still didn’t respond, but I couldn’t just give up here.

Since learning about him, I had been wondering what sort of offer he absolutely could not refuse.

Finally, it came to me—something that, in today’s Korea, only I could make possible.

“I’ll bring your wife and children from the North to Korea. If they’re still alive, that is.”

“...What did you just say?”

The thought came from my belief that even after coming south, the reason he had never remarried was out of guilt toward his family in the North.

“I said I will bring your family from your hometown here.”

Though his face remained stiff, the calm in his eyes began to tremble.

Then, anger flared across his features as he shouted.

“You’d better watch yourself!”

“I don’t make promises I can’t keep. Isn’t what you want most your family?”

“...”

“You could have easily made a new family here in the South, but you didn’t. That’s because of the guilt you feel toward the family you left behind, isn’t it? You’ve lived alone all this time, resenting yourself for abandoning your wife and children.”

So furious was he that his body trembled, glaring at me as though he would kill me.

But I didn’t avert my eyes, continuing to speak.

“You can atone for it, sir. Right now, it’s possible.”

“Do you think I haven’t tried? Do you know how much money I poured into it?!”

“Yes, I know. I also know every request for a separated family reunion was rejected.”

“And you know that, yet you dare to speak of something impossible? To my face?!”

His rage soon turned into grief, his voice shaking violently.

In every word was an unerasable sense of regret.

“You have no idea how painful it is for me. You don’t know. Anyone who had truly suffered such a loss could never say such a thing to me.”

“It’s possible.”

"To the very end..."

No doubt, Jang Daeho had already tried everything in his power.

Even with Seo Ilseong’s help to petition the government, the fact that he couldn’t even learn whether his family was alive or dead meant one of two things:

They were either dead... or designated by the North Korean government as a special control case.

“I’ll start by finding out whether they’re alive or not. I wanted to check beforehand, but since no one other than you, sir, knows the exact personal details of your family, I had to tell you in person. I truly apologize.”

Before coming to meet him, I had wanted to investigate first, but even with all of Chief Ma’s digging, he couldn’t find anything detailed enough to be useful.

I even checked to see if there might be a government record of his requests for separated family reunions, but nowhere did Jang Daeho’s name appear.

“...”

“Sir.”

“That’s enough. I don’t want to suffer any more.”

“Sir.”

“Don’t make this harder on me.”

“Just give me their personal details. I’ll at least find out if they’re alive or not.”

“...”

Even as I pleaded, Jang Daeho closed his eyes without answering.

I didn’t press him further. I simply waited.

The room was filled with a heavy silence.

After who knows how long, he opened his eyes, his face clouded with grief.

“Can you truly do it?” freёwebnovel.com

“As I’ve said before—it’s possible.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Believe me. I’ll resolve the resentment you’ve carried for fifty years.”

“Tell me exactly how you plan to do it. Then I’ll think it over.”

In other words, he wanted me to lay my cards on the table.

“I plan to work through the Chinese government. There’s no country better than China when it comes to dealing with North Korea.”

“That’s nonsense. And you think the Chinese government will entertain your request?”

“Yes. In this country, only I can make it happen.”

I said it calmly, but with conviction.

Jang Daeho studied my expression and my eyes.

He hesitated for a long time, countless expressions flickering over his face before he finally stood, walked over to a bookshelf, and returned with a notebook and a photo album.

“For your sake, I hope you’re not toying with an old man.”

He opened the photo album.

The photographs inside were worn and frayed from years of being handled.

Looking at them with a faraway expression, he handed them to me.

“My wife and children.”

A photo of him with his wife.

One of his wife alone, cradling a newborn.

And one of the whole family together.

Inside the album, there were only those three photos.

“These pictures are what kept me alive. I lived clinging to the foolish hope that someday we’d be reunited. If I’d known we would be kept apart for this long...”

He trailed off, bowing his head.

It was a regret that had hardened over decades, impossible to touch.

Looking at the faded, well-worn photos, I spoke.

“Sir, I’ll make sure you can take a new family photo.”

“If you can do that, I could die with no regrets.”

“What are their names and ages? And where did they live?”

“It’s all written here.”

He handed me the notebook he’d brought.

Like the photos, the notebook’s edges were worn and frayed.

Turning past the first page, where the names of his family were scrawled, I found every kind of detail—where they lived, their ages, and countless little things.

It was a notebook steeped in the determination never to forget them.

“That’s everything I can remember.”

“I’ll find them for you.”

“I can’t give you the photos, but you can take the notebook.”

I nodded.

With the personal details in that notebook, I felt confident I could track them down.

“Understood.”

“I don’t hold out much hope... but I’d like to believe you mean what you say. If you really manage it, I’ll give you everything I own. Please...”

“If we find your family, give it to them instead.”

His face completely crumpled as he nodded.

“...I’ll leave it in your hands.”

“I’ll be going now. I’ll return with good news.”

He saw me out of the house.

Even when we were so far apart we were little more than dots, he remained standing at the gate, watching us.

On the drive back to Seoul, I gave Chief Ma an immediate order.

“Contact Wen Jiabao’s office and set up a call.”

“Yes, boss.”

If anyone had the influence over North Korea to find Jang Daeho’s family, it was Wen Jiabao.

There would be political complications, of course, but that was Wen Jiabao’s problem to manage.

A few days later, I was connected to Wen Jiabao on the phone.

His voice over the receiver sounded cheerful.

— Mr. Kim, it’s been a while.

“Yes, Vice Premier. I trust you’ve been well?”

— Thanks to you, Mr. Kim, my voice in the Party has grown stronger. Even after James returned to America, you established a China branch and invested in various projects here, hahahaha.

When Han Kyungyeong finished his China schedule and returned to the U.S., Wen Jiabao had contacted me first.

He had said that if there was ever anything he could do, he would help. That was when I felt our relationship had taken another step forward.

“I appreciate you making time during this busy year-end period. The reason I’m calling is because there’s someone I need to locate in North Korea.”

— In the North?

“Yes, Vice Premier. They’re people crucial to what I’m doing. I know it’s a difficult request, but I want to bring them from the North to South Korea.”

— ...

“Vice Premier?”

— You’re asking me... to find someone in the North ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) and send them to the South?

Wen Jiabao’s voice carried clear incredulity.