Story of a Big Player from Gangnam

Gun-Ho and Mae-Hyang followed the realtor to the apartment to take a look at it. The apartment was really large. There were three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The interior was a bit outdated but at least it maintained unity, by placing furniture all in white: a desk and a fitted wardrobe.

“Oh! I love this apartment. It’s large. Oh! There are two bathrooms!”

Mae-Hyang seemed to be more excited than Gun-Ho.

Gun-Ho felt like he could smell Chinese food in the apartment and he thought he would have to ventilate the apartment by keeping windows open for maybe a day. The current occupant said they could vacate the apartment within three days.

Gun-Ho decided to take it and made a lease contract. It was 120㎡ large, so 36 pyung in Korea.

“I know this is too big for myself, but I want to receive good energy from Marwin. I had been in church and a Buddhist temple—Doseon temple in Dobong Mountain to pray when I was studying for the level-9 government job exam. That didn’t work! My mom also went to see Gatbawi Buddha sitting in Palgong Mountain which was located in Daegu City to pray for me. That didn’t work either! I failed all of the government job exams I had tried: the level-9 and provincial government job exams. I want to receive Marwin’s energy, who is one of the richest men in the world! It might work this time.”

Gun-Ho asked the realtor as he was walking out of the apartment after finishing his tour.

“Where are the most expensive condos or houses in Hangzhou City?”

“The ones that have the view of West Lake are probably the most expensive properties.”

“How much are they?”

“The newly constructed houses in the Hoobinlu area are over 3,000,000 Yuan.”

3 million Yuan is 360 million won.

“Hmm… That area must be corresponding to Gangnam in Seoul!”

Gun-Ho decided to acquire a real estate in that area someday.

Gun-Ho applied for Alien Resident Certificate.

Once he submitted his business license along with his passport, they scheduled his physical exam. They also confirmed that once he completed the physical exam, he would receive an Alien Resident Certificate. Once he received his Alien Resident Certificate, he could obtain a driver’s license and acquire a real estate.

Three days passed since he visited the apartment that he wanted to move in. It was Gun-Ho’s moving day to the Hobanhwawon apartment.

He wanted to clean the apartment before he actually moved in. As Mae-Hyang suggested, Gun-Ho hired someone to clean the apartment. He also asked someone to change the toilet after he was told by the realtor that the toilet can be easily replaced, as long as he had money for it.

“Whoa, the apartment looks great once I changed the desk and the bed. I am the king in this space. I can practice speaking in Chinese loudly. No one will ask me to keep it down in my apartment.”

It occurred to him that he wanted to bring his parents here and live together in this spacious apartment.

“A condo in this size and condition will cost several hundred million won in Korea. I had been moving around from one tiny room to another. I guess I lived long enough to see a person like me live in a huge apartment like this. Haha.”

Gun-Ho thought he made the right decision in moving into this apartment, even though he had to pay 2,500 Yuan every month.

Gun-Ho went to the 1 Danwon, unit 202 where Marwin had used to live and walked around in front of that apartment.

“This apartment produced the man—one of the world’s richest men. I will come here sometimes and receive the energy.

Gun-Ho closed his eyes while he was still standing in front of the unit 202 and started praying quietly.

“Dear God, our father in heaven, and dear Buddha—and dear gods in the universe, please help this young Korean man, Gun-Ho Goo to become rich just like Mr. Marwin.”

Gun-Ho felt better after he prayed in his heart.

Gun-Ho purchased a fabulous bike.

The bikes in China had a number tag attached behind them. Since the land was flat and the road was wide, it was easy to ride even for a long distance. And since there were tons of people riding a bike, Gun-Ho didn’t feel embarrassed.

“It’s nice that I can go anywhere on this bike. There is a basket attached on the front of the bike. It can carry grocery bags. How convenient.”

As he was getting used to the life in China, Gun-Ho didn’t neglect his study of the Chinese language. As he learned new Chinese letters every day, he could recognize more letters from store signs on the street; he felt delighted.

“Chaos… that is a supermarket. Chanting… is a restaurant…”

He also became familiarized with roads, streets, and places in the area. Gun-Ho deposited every day, the revenue that Dingming handed over at the end of the day. Sometimes the revenue didn’t even reach 3,000 Yuan and that disappointed him. However, that didn’t terrify Gun-Ho since his expectation for making money was somewhere else.

“I just need this restaurant to keep going without loss.”

To attract more customers to his restaurant, Gun-Ho visited several travel agencies with Mae-Hyang, which didn’t result in an increase of foot traffic to the restaurant.

“Why would Korean tourists have Korean food when they flew all the way to China to experience Chinese culture? They would rather try traditional Chinese food.”

The restaurant’s typical customers were Korean employees of Korean companies who had stayed in Hangzhou City for a long time, international students from Japan, and curious Chinese people. The Korean workers came to the Mando Hotel Korean restaurant because they missed Korean food due to their prolonged stay away from Korea. The Japanese international students came to the Korean restaurant because they couldn’t find a Japanese restaurant in the vicinity of the area.

Gun-Ho received his physical exam for Alien Resident Certificate.

The officer in Public Security Office asked Gun-Ho while he was reviewing his application if he was living in the Hobanhwawon apartment. It seemed that they recognized the apartment community with a good reputation.

Korean international students were not often found in Gun-Ho’s Korean restaurant because of the relatively high price. However, the Korean workers came to the restaurant pretty often. Gun-Ho became closer with these Koreans.

“Does this restaurant have a new owner now? You seem to be young.”

“I hope to see you often in my restaurant. I’m Gun-Ho Goo.”

“Since you are the new owner, I’d like to tell you one thing or a suggestion. The food here doesn’t quite taste like authentic Korean food. Have you thought of bringing Korean cook from Korea?”

“I will definitely consider it even though I can’t do it right away because of the labor cost. Once I get enough revenue to bring a cook from Korea, I will do that.”

Gun-Ho had always been polite and kind to customers. The Korean workers sometimes asked Gun-Ho to drink with them.”

“Let’s have a drink together, sir. We are all away from our country and feel lonely, right?”

“Maybe next time since I am at work right now.”

“One drink should be fine. Take it.”

Gun-Ho hadn’t had these types of experience when he ran the Vietnamese noodle soup restaurant in Noryangjin since he didn’t serve alcohol at that time. With alcohol, many customers asked Gun-Ho to drink together or made a joke to him.

“Sir, where do you live?”

“I live in the Hobanhwawon apartment.”

“Oh, that apartment is pricey to rent. You are living in a good place.”

Gun-Ho had never ever heard that he lived in a good place before when he lived in Korea in his entire life. He felt good. ‘Those pricks living in Gangnam must have felt this way all the time,’ Gun-Ho thought.

It had been a month since Gun-Ho came to China.

He still can’t speak Chinese but he can read most of the business signs on the street, and he became more familiarized with the road and direction since he could read. He became healthy as well since he rode a bike every day.

He made a sales statement for the month. After deducting all expenses such as ingredients, labor, maintenance fee, etc., he made 36,000 Yuan in that month. He needed to put aside 25,000 out of it for the next period rent for the restaurant. That left him with 11,000 Yuan which Gun-Ho could use. From 11,000 Yuan, he needed to pay the apartment rent of 2,500 Yuan. After subtracting the rent, Gun-Ho got 8,500 Yuan on his hand. It’s about 1 million won.

“I knew this.”

8,500 Yuan was not much at all to Gun-Ho, however, it was a significant amount of money for most Chinese people. The kitchen ladies took less than 2,000 Yuan per month.

“It’s okay as long as there is no loss.”

Gun-Ho tried to comfort himself.

During the past one month, Gun-Ho already received the Alien Resident Certificate and the driver’s license. He started collecting information for his real estate investment.