94: Chapter 94 Trip to Shanghai

October 15th, Shanghai Pudong Airport.

Chairman Wang Shunyi's first action upon exiting the arrivals gate wasn't to look for a pickup sign, but to look up at the ceiling—it was very high, a dome-style structure with exposed steel frames, and the lights cast a cold white glow upon them.

This was different from Incheon Airport; Incheon's lights were warmer, the corridors narrower, and there were fewer people. Here, people were everywhere, dragging suitcases, holding up phones, or squatting on the ground, their voices eight octaves higher than the Korean he was used to hearing.

As he stood at the entrance of the arrivals hall waiting for a car, there was an indescribable scent in the air. It wasn't smoke or exhaust, but a humid wind blowing from the river, carrying the fermented scent of silt and leaves.

He had never smelled this before, but he didn't dislike it. Park Min-ji stood beside him, flipping up the collar of her trench coat. She took off her sunglasses, looked around, and said it was hotter than Seoul.

In mid-October, one already needed a light jacket in Seoul, but in Shanghai, a single layer was still enough.

"Chairman, the car is here."

Kim Sang-woo walked over quickly, dragging a suitcase. A black Mercedes pulled up in the temporary parking lane, and the driver got out to open the door for them.

He spoke in Chinese, which Chairman Wang Shunyi didn't understand, but he caught one phrase: "luggage trunk." He found that at 1:00 PM Beijing time, his brain was reacting much slower than usual. Kim Sang-woo sat in the front passenger seat, while Chairman Wang Shunyi and Park Min-ji sat in the back.

The car drove out of the airport and onto the highway, passing stretches of high-rise residential buildings with beige and light gray painted walls and colorful quilts hanging on the balconies to dry.

He thought back to the years he lived in a semi-basement, where drying quilts could only be done by stringing a rope inside the room.

"Chairman, the hotel is booked at the Bund. There's a meeting with the China regional team tomorrow at 10:00 AM, dinner with Jang Jun-hyeok in the afternoon, and we'll head to Guangzhou the day after to look at warehouse and factory sites. We'll return to Shanghai the day after that, stay for one more day, and then fly back to Seoul."

Kim Sang-woo turned around from the front seat to read the schedule. The tablet screen in his hand was reflecting light, so he had to tilt his head to see it clearly.

"Are the tickets from Shanghai to Guangzhou booked?"

"They're booked. Business class, for four people."

Park Min-ji had her eyes closed in the back seat, her eyelashes trembling slightly. She wasn't asleep.

Chairman Wang Shunyi knew. She got carsick but never said anything; whenever she'd been in a car for a long time, she would close her eyes and lean against the backrest, not speaking to him. He rolled down the window a crack to let some air in. She didn't open her eyes, but the corner of her mouth twitched.

The hotel was by the Huangpu River, on the 38th floor. While checking in at the front desk, Park Min-ji stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at the Huangpu River.

The river was very wide, and the water was a yellowish-brown, different from the grayish-blue of the Han River.

The ships coming and going moved sluggishly. The sound of their whistles rose from the river, muffled like distant thunder. Chairman Wang Shunyi walked to her side and stood before the window to look at the river view.

Below, the pedestrians on the Bund were densely packed. The Oriental Pearl Tower was on the other side of the river, its spire piercing into the grayish-white clouds. The clouds were thick but not oppressive, as if brewing a rain that hadn't yet arrived.

"What are you thinking about?"

She turned her head to look at him, a few strands of hair blown up by the air conditioner.

"I'm thinking about how this place is different from Seoul. People in Seoul walk fast, and people here walk fast too, but their expressions are different. People in Seoul frown when they're in a hurry, but people here have no expression. I don't know if it's exhaustion or habit."

"You even observe things like that?"

"If a businessperson doesn't watch people's expressions, they won't do well."

Kim Sang-woo walked over from the front desk with the room cards and gave one to Chairman Wang Shunyi. It was a presidential suite with a river view.

Chairman Wang Shunyi took the card, looked at the room number, and handed it to Park Min-ji. "You stay in this one. I'll stay across from you."

She took the room card without pushing back. When Kim Young-jun was booking the rooms, he had instructed him to get two rooms next to each other.

Kim Young-jun had nosily asked, "Chairman, do you want a suite?"

He didn't say anything, just stared straight at Kim Sang-woo. Seeing this, Kim Sang-woo knew what needed to be done.

At noon, they had a buffet in the hotel restaurant. Chairman Wang Shunyi took a bowl of noodles; the broth was soy sauce-colored, with a few pieces of green vegetables and a poached egg floating in it.

The noodles were thin, and the texture wasn't right—too soft. He took a few bites, put them down, and went to get a cup of coffee.

Park Min-ji walked over with a bowl of wontons and sat across from him. She scooped up a wonton with a small spoon, blew on it, and put it in her mouth. After chewing twice, she said the broth was seasoned okay.

She ate quietly. At a nearby table, a child was crying, and an adult was coaxing them in a Shanghai accent.

At 2:00 PM, Chairman Wang Shunyi met Zhang Wei in the hotel conference room. Zhang Wei wore a dark blue suit with a perfectly tied tie. When they shook hands, his palm was dry, and his grip was neither too heavy nor too light. He first said 'Hello' in Korean with standard pronunciation, then asked if the Chairman's journey had been tiring.

When he reported that cumulative sales had reached 45 million RMB, with spicy noodles and hot and sour noodles accounting for 40% of the total, he paused. His gaze moved from Chairman Wang Shunyi's face to his notebook, then back again. He knew those numbers by heart, but he still read them word for word during the report, fearing he might misread even one.

Chairman Wang Shunyi asked him, "Zhang Wei-xi, what about the share of e-commerce platforms?"

"Tmall is 60%, and JD.com is 40%. We're still negotiating offline channels; we're in contact with FamilyMart, Lawson, 7-Eleven, and Yonghui Supermarket. The signing time will be around early November, and the entry fees have been stuck in tough negotiations for nearly two months."

His speaking speed slowed down during these few sentences as he observed Chairman Wang Shunyi's expression.

"Did you go to the negotiations yourself, or did you send your subordinates?"

"I went. I went for the first two times, and Liu Fang went for the subsequent times."

When he mentioned Liu Fang, he turned sideways and pointed to the e-commerce operations manager, a young woman with a ponytail sitting next to Zhang Wei, her head constantly lowered as she took notes.

She wore a pair of thin-framed glasses and had a very small tattoo on the back of her hand.

"Chairman, the profit margin for offline channels is five to eight percentage points lower than e-commerce. Entry fees and shelf fees can't be pushed down, and the conditions for hypermarkets are even harsher than convenience stores. Yonghui's side requires the first batch of stock to be three times more than convenience stores, and the payment period is longer. Liu Fang has already gone through three rounds of grinding with them, but it won't come down."

Chairman Wang Shunyi's gaze rested on Liu Fang. Liu Fang looked up; her voice wasn't loud but was very steady.

"Chairman, Yonghui's procurement manager is surnamed Lin. She's a woman in her forties who has worked at Yonghui for twelve years. She doesn't know much about Korean food; at first, she didn't even know what 'fire chicken noodles' were. I sent her samples, and after she tried them, she said the taste was good, but the price was still too high."

She opened her notebook. "She proposed a plan—Yonghui has over nine hundred stores nationwide. If we are willing to give them exclusive promotion rights for three months, the entry fee can be waived and the shelf fee halved. The promotion rights mainly mean we can't give other supermarkets a lower price during the Double Eleven and Double Twelve periods."

Chairman Wang Shunyi looked at her, his gaze lingering on her face for four or five seconds before moving to the small tattoo on the back of her hand. It was a flower, though he couldn't see clearly what kind.

"The exclusive promotion rights can be given, but not just to Yonghui. Over nine hundred stores for three months in exchange for waived entry fees and halved shelf fees—the other party doesn't lose out, and neither do we."

Both Zhang Wei and Liu Fang were taking notes in their notebooks. Liu Fang wrote very quickly, her pen nib scratching against the paper.

After the meeting, Chairman Wang Shunyi stood by the window. Park Min-ji hadn't come to the meeting and was resting alone in her room. Kim Sang-woo and Lee Jung-hoon were packing up documents. Zhang Wei came over to shake hands and take his leave, saying, "Chairman, I'll be waiting for you in the office tomorrow."

"Let's say 10:00 AM tomorrow."

The door closed, and the sound of Zhang Wei and Liu Fang's footsteps in the corridor grew fainter.

At 6:30 PM, Jang Jun-hyeok booked a private room at a restaurant on Nanjing Road. The decor was in the old Shanghai style, with dark wooden tables, leather sofas, and calendar posters hanging on the walls.

Jang Jun-hyeok arrived early and was sitting on the sofa scrolling through his phone. He stood up to shake hands when he saw Chairman Wang Shunyi enter. Park Min-ji followed behind, wearing a light gray dress with her hair down and light makeup.

A waiter came in to pour tea. Jang Jun-hyeok recited several dish names in Chinese. Chairman Wang Shunyi didn't understand, but he guessed it was the menu when he heard the words "Shanghai Braised Pork."

Jang Jun-hyeok turned his head to explain in Korean that braised pork is a representative dish of Benbang cuisine. It's on the sweeter side and might not suit Korean tastes, but one must try it when in Shanghai.

"Haha, Jun-hyeok, don't you know I'm of Chinese descent?" Chairman Wang Shunyi laughed, then turned to the waiter and said:

"Give us one serving each of stir-fried seasonal vegetables, crab roe tofu, steamed sea bass, and a bowl of hot and sour soup."

When the food was served, Jang Jun-hyeok didn't talk about work. He first served Park Min-ji some food, saying, "You used to love seafood back in school; the sea bass here is quite fresh."

Park Min-ji lowered her head to eat the fish, picking out the bones and placing them on the edge of her plate. Chairman Wang Shunyi picked up a piece of braised pork and put it in his mouth; the fat melted on the tip of his tongue—it was sweet and very soft. He took another piece and finished the whole thing.

"Director Zhang, the condiment track in the Chinese market is fiercely competitive. Why should an outside brand like ours compete with local brands? We have no advantage in channels, price, or brand." He put down his chopsticks and looked at Jang Jun-hyeok.

"Taste."

Jang Jun-hyeok didn't hesitate.

"Chinese consumers don't have high loyalty to food; they'll switch whenever a brand comes out with a new flavor. But if you make it so they can't live without that taste, they'll keep buying. Your noodles have a recognizable flavor. The noodles from Chinese local brands all taste the same. Consumers will remember your noodles after eating them. That is your greatest advantage."

"What about logistics? We have three warehouses in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu, but Central China isn't covered yet. When can the Wuhan Warehouse be finalized?"

Jang Jun-hyeok picked up a piece of tofu, swallowed it slowly, and took a sip of water.

"I've already spoken to the people at the Wuhan Warehouse. We'll sign next month, and it'll be in use before the end of the year. Regarding the exclusive promotion rights plan Liu Fang went to negotiate with Yonghui, the conditions are negotiable, but you should be mentally prepared. Yonghui's procurement manager is not easy to talk to."

Chairman Wang Shunyi finished the last piece of braised pork and picked up his teacup to take a sip. Park Min-ji sat beside him, their legs occasionally brushing against each other under the table.

"Once the Wuhan Warehouse is established, delivery times in Central China can be compressed to within two days. As for Yonghui, let Liu Fang continue to follow up."

Jang Jun-hyeok nodded. "Is the stock for Double Eleven enough? Last year we helped a Korean cosmetics brand with Double Eleven; they prepared a million units, and they sold out on the first day. It was too late to restock, and consumers complained for half a year. This is your first time participating in Double Eleven, and the traffic will be many times higher than usual."

"500,000 packs each for spicy and hot and sour. 300,000 each for classic noodles and low-calorie noodles. 200,000 each for bibimbap and rice wine. A total of 1.5 million packs. Is that enough?"

Jang Jun-hyeok thought for a moment. "Not enough. Add another 500,000. Add 200,000 each for spicy and hot and sour, and 100,000 for classic noodles. Put the extra stock in the Chengdu Warehouse; Southwest China is the main battlefield for spicy noodles."

Chairman Wang Shunyi glanced at Kim Sang-woo. Kim Sang-woo took notes in his notebook.

After dinner, Jang Jun-hyeok saw them to the hotel entrance, shook hands, and said he would confirm the Wuhan Warehouse matter with the Chairman before signing. Chairman Wang Shunyi said they'd stay in touch.

Jang Jun-hyeok turned and walked into the pale yellow streetlights of nighttime Shanghai. The wind from the Bund blew off the river, carrying a fishy scent.

The hotel lobby was very quiet. Chairman Wang Shunyi stood in front of the elevator waiting. Park Min-ji stood beside him, hands in her trench coat pockets.

"Are we going to look at factory sites tomorrow?" she asked.

"After the meeting in the morning, we'll go in the afternoon. I had Kim Sang-woo pick two places, one in Pudong and one in Kunshan. You come with me."

"I don't understand factories."

"You understand numbers. You can calculate which policy is better and which cost is lower faster than I can."

The elevator doors opened. She went in first and pressed the 38th floor. He followed and stood beside her. When the elevator reached the 20th floor, she said, "The braised pork was too sweet; I'm not really used to it."

"It was alright, quite good."

"You used to never eat sweet things—you'd find any sweet dish cloying. Why the change today?"

He thought about it but couldn't come up with a reason. He looked at the blurred reflection on the silver metal door and said nothing.

They reached the 38th floor. She exited first, and he followed. Their footsteps were almost silent on the carpet.

"Goodnight," she said.

"Goodnight."

He stood in the corridor and watched the door close. The corridor lights were a warm yellow, shining against the dark wallpaper and accentuating the bean-sized light of the wall lamps.

He stood for a few seconds, then turned to the room across the hall and swiped his card to enter. The curtains weren't drawn, and the Huangpu River outside was dark in the night. The lights of the cruise ships moved slowly across the river; the music on the ships couldn't be heard, only the lights were visible.

He stood by the window and lit a cigarette, the red glow of the tip reflecting in the glass. His phone vibrated. A message from Park Min-ji: What time are we leaving tomorrow?

He replied with three words: 8:30.

She replied: Okay.

He stubbed out the cigarette, pulled back the covers, and lay down. The hotel bed was very soft, and there were two pillows. He rolled over and stared at the ceiling with his eyes open.

The ceiling was high, higher than in his apartment in Seoul. The hotel's central air conditioning hummed. He didn't have trouble sleeping in new places, but the first night was always hard to fall asleep. He tossed and turned a few more times and eventually closed his eyes, though he didn't know when.