Chapter 1598 Unit 707

Zhao Fusheng and the others left the banquet hall without attracting anyone's attention.

Or rather, even if someone noticed, they assumed Bong Joon-ho and Ahn Sung-ki had something to discuss with Zhao Fusheng, since he was the guest of honor today.

"By the way, that Director Shin, he's a direct descendant of the Lotte Shin family, right?"

Zhao Fusheng suddenly asked Ahn Sung-ki.

Ahn Sung-ki was startled, but he didn't hide it and honestly nodded: "Yes, he's the grandnephew of Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho."

"Grandnephew?"

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, then recalled the information about Shin Kyuk-ho in his memory.

Shin Kyuk-ho's life could probably be described as a history of a loser marrying into a Japanese war criminal family, leveraging connections with the powerful, and relying on the pursuit of ultimate quality to become South Korea's fifth-largest chaebol.

In the 1920s, Shin Kyuk-ho was born in Ulsan. At that time, there was no such thing as South Korea; the entire Korean Peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule, with constant war and people struggling to survive.

Shin Kyuk-ho experienced all kinds of oppression and hardship from a young age. In the 1940s, he stowed away on a ship to Japan and, to avoid detection, took a Japanese name: Shigemitsu Takeo.

After two years in Japan, Shin Kyuk-ho caught the eye of an investor who gave him 50,000 yen to start a factory.

In Zhao Fusheng's view, there must have been some shady deal involved.

But his luck seemed poor; just after opening the factory, Japan's war situation tightened, and the factory was bombed before it even started operating. Most people would have been crushed, but not Shin Kyuk-ho. He was tenacious, shamelessly borrowing more money from the investor, and his second venture quickly soared, allowing him to pay off his debts.

But as an outsider, Shin Kyuk-ho was always ostracized by the Japanese. What to do?

He figured he needed to find a backer first!

So Shin Kyuk-ho kicked out his wife, married into the Shigemitsu family, and wed Shigemitsu Hatsuko.

Never underestimate Shigemitsu Hatsuko. Her uncle was Shigemitsu Mamoru, a Class A war criminal. After World War II, Shigemitsu Mamoru was favored by the Emperor. Shin Kyuk-ho used this connection to curry favor with the powerful, mingling in Japan's political and business elite circles, and from then on, his business grew rapidly.

But don't think Shin Kyuk-ho only had those tricks. He was actually very strict about product quality, pursuing perfection in everything. In that era, Lotte became synonymous with quality.

Later, when Japan and South Korea normalized diplomatic relations in the 1960s, Shin Kyuk-ho saw the opportunity immediately. He returned to South Korea and founded Lotte Confectionery, which gradually developed into the Lotte Group of today.

After returning to South Korea, Shin Kyuk-ho often reinvested Lotte's profits into local projects, so many political and business figures held him in high regard.

Originally, in grooming his successors, Shin Kyuk-ho had a well-laid plan. He put his eldest son, Shin Dong-joo, in charge of the Japanese parent company and arranged for his younger son, Shin Dong-bin, to manage Lotte's South Korean subsidiary. The two brothers operated in different countries, keeping out of each other's way.

Shin Kyuk-ho's arrangement was actually meant to facilitate the eldest son's rise, but he didn't expect the younger son to be more capable. Under Shin Dong-bin's management, the subsidiary's performance quickly surpassed the Japanese parent company, even exceeding it by thirteen times.

Shin Dong-joo sensed trouble, so after Shin Kyuk-ho formally delegated power, he secretly began increasing his stake in Lotte's South Korean operations, aiming to take over quickly. This greatly displeased his younger brother.

Perhaps this move by the eldest son angered the old man. Soon after, Shin Kyuk-ho removed the eldest son from all his positions in Lotte Japan. The younger brother thought, 'Damn, what an opportunity!'

So he took the chance to replace the board of Lotte Japan and took over his brother's parent company.

The eldest son, of course, wouldn't give up. No one knows what tricks he pulled behind the scenes, but he managed to get the ninety-something-year-old father to fly from South Korea to Japan in a wheelchair, pointing at the younger son's nose and cursing: 'Get out of Lotte!'

The old man wanted the younger son out. The Shin family were fence-sitters, and everyone sided with the eldest brother. The mother was furious when she saw the eldest son and the old man ganging up on the younger son. Protective of her child, she mobilized all resources, seeking support from industry peers like Uniqlo chairman Yanai Tadashi, Mizuho Bank, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

It must be said, the descendants of Japanese war criminals really know how to fight in a group.

With his mother's backing, the younger son, Shin Dong-bin, immediately toughened up. He publicly stated that Shin Kyuk-ho's dismissal order had not passed the board's vote and was invalid. At the same time, he called an emergency meeting of the Japanese parent company's directors and directly removed his father, Shin Kyuk-ho, from the chairman position. Think about it—what kind of emergency board meeting was that? The board members had long been replaced with his own people.

The old man was speechless. He had completely fallen into his own son's hands and was forced out.

Helpless, the old man Shin Kyuk-ho and the eldest son Shin Dong-joo had to slink back to South Korea, and the conflict among the father and sons reached its peak.

Although the younger son, Shin Dong-bin, lost family bonds, he at least won the business war.

Of course, these events would erupt several years later. For now, Lotte in South Korea was still under the control of the eldest son, Shin Dong-joo.

And this Director Shin, named Shin Ji-hyo, was one of the Shin family's relatives, a third-generation rich kid.

"Let's go. We'll go meet that Director Shin."

Zhao Fusheng said with a light smile to Bong Joon-ho and the others.

Bong Joon-ho and Ahn Sung-ki looked serious. They weren't as relaxed as Zhao Fusheng. After all, they were about to face a genuine third-generation South Korean chaebol, not to mention that Lotte was one of the top five chaebols in South Korea and a behemoth owning one of the three major cinema chains.

As film professionals, saying they weren't nervous facing a Lotte director would be a lie.

Soon, they arrived at a private room door and saw Sol Kyung-gu standing there with a few people. Blocking their way were several bodyguards in black suits.

"Sorry, we can't let you in."

"Let go! My girlfriend is inside!"

Sol Kyung-gu was extremely anxious. After all, his girlfriend had been taken away, and by Shin Ji-hyo, who was notorious in the industry for his lechery. It was driving him crazy!

"Quite a commotion!"

Zhao Fusheng smiled and spoke.

The two groups in conflict heard this and finally noticed Ahn Sung-ki, Bong Joon-ho, and Zhao Fusheng.

"Teacher Ahn Sung-ki, Joon-ho..."

Sol Kyung-gu looked at Zhao Fusheng and the others, his gaze sweeping over Zhao Fusheng and Jiang Wen with some surprise, but he didn't speak. Instead, he looked at Ahn Sung-ki: "Teacher, Yoona..."

"I know."

Ahn Sung-ki nodded and pointed to Zhao Fusheng: "This is Chairman Zhao of China's Future Group. He's here to help us."

Sol Kyung-gu looked at Zhao Fusheng suspiciously, his expression strange.

But Zhao Fusheng ignored him and said to Hu Donghai behind him: "Get rid of them."

'Them' naturally referred to those black suits.

Hu Donghai nodded and stepped forward.

"He's alone..."

Ahn Sung-ki hesitated and asked Jiang Wen.

At that moment, Jiang Wen didn't speak, but Zhao Fusheng smiled: "To be honest, I'm afraid these guys might get killed."

Huh?

Hearing this, Ahn Sung-ki was stunned.

The next moment, he witnessed a scene that left him dumbfounded.

Within ten seconds, Hu Donghai, as easily as chopping vegetables, knocked down Shin Ji-hyo's bodyguards.

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

Thump!

Four people fell to the ground with dull thuds.

"This..."

Bong Joon-ho and the others were all stunned. It was too frightening.

"Looks like they're from Unit 707 veterans." Hu Donghai stepped back and said to Zhao Fusheng.

"Unit 707?"

Zhao Fusheng was puzzled: "What unit is that?"

"Well, have you seen 'Strike the White Tiger Regiment'?" Hu Donghai tilted his head, thinking, and explained: "This Unit 707 was built from the remnants of the White Tiger Regiment. It's a special forces unit in South Korea. But their skills are really not that great; their regimental flag is still in our capital."

Zhao Fusheng rolled his eyes. Fortunately, Hu Donghai had spoken in Chinese; otherwise, the Koreans' expressions probably wouldn't have been too pleasant.

But since that was the case, he was quite curious to see what kind of person this Shin Ji-hyo was.