Chapter 398: Lee Qri

With the intensifying global financial crisis, Charles Capet, who was in South Korea, felt a deep sense of concern. The devaluation of the Korean won, severe asset deflation, and the rapid decline in consumer confidence all contributed to the downturn of the Korean economy.

In Seoul, at the entrance of the Shilla Hotel, a Lincoln stopped. Charles noticed the nervous expression on Son Ye-jin's face and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Charles, I..."

"Hey, call me oppa!" Charles patted her hand to comfort her. "Tonight, your new president Miky Lee will also be here, along with heirs of South Korea's chaebol families. I'm bringing you to this event tonight so nobody dares to bully you in South Korea anymore!"

"Oppa, I'm a bit scared. You know my identity is..." As a South Korean native, Son Ye-jin naturally feared these chaebols.

"Don't worry, I'm here with you," Charles reassured her. Even Lee Kun-hee's assets couldn't compare to his; Charles had no regard for the so-called chaebols.

More than half of the shares in Samsung, Hyundai, and LG were held by banks and investment groups on Wall Street. In fact, 90% of the preferred shares and 55% of the common shares were controlled by American capital, making a significant portion of the profit each year for the American capitalists.

"Let's go," Charles said as the driver opened the car door. Together, they got out, with Son Ye-jin elegantly linking her arm with Charles's, trying to stay composed.

In a custom Dior evening gown, Son Ye-jin looked increasingly captivating, with her fair skin and beautiful makeup catching everyone's attention.

"Charles, you made it," CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae-hyun welcomed Charles when he saw him.

Charles nodded and shook Lee Jae-hyun's hand, asking, "Is tonight special?"

Lee Jae-hyun shook his head, "No, it's just an ordinary cocktail party. Many government officials are also attending tonight."

"Over there, Ambassador Alexander Vershbow has been waiting for you for a while; you should go over," he added.

"Thanks," Charles responded. Alexander Vershbow was the American ambassador to South Korea, likely in his last year of tenure.

Charles then walked in the direction where Alexander was waiting, and Vershbow smiled as he approached.

"Charles, I'll head over there first," Son Ye-jin realized Charles had business to discuss and excused herself.

After meeting Vershbow, Charles began introducing himself.

Simultaneously, Charles's presence with Son Ye-jin at the cocktail party attracted some guests nearby.

Individuals from major chaebol groups like Samsung, SK, Hyundai, Lotte, and Daewoo were present. 

Alexander Vershbow and Charles moved to a corner of the banquet hall. "Mr. Ambassador, this is your last stretch in Korea, isn't it?"

Vershbow nodded, "I should hear back soon. Obama currently has very high public support!"

Last month, Hillary Clinton withdrew from the presidential race, leaving Obama as the Democratic candidate, with Biden as his running mate.

A running mate is the future Vice President and Senate President.

"I heard South Korea is preparing to enter a currency swap agreement with the United States. Is that true?" Charles had received information from the U.S. that the devaluation of the Korean won had caused a drop in exports and deflation. For the South Korean government, which had little dollar reserves, defending the won required continuously releasing dollars.

Vershbow was momentarily stunned, but then nodded, acknowledging that the U.S. and South Korea had indeed been discussing it recently.

Introduced by Alexander Vershbow, Charles also met and had a brief chat with Lee Myung-bak.

When Son Ye-jin saw Charles appear, she finally relaxed a bit; the atmosphere here felt quite stifling for her.

"Finished chatting?" Son Ye-jin asked Charles quietly as she walked up to him.

Charles nodded and glanced at his watch - more than forty minutes had passed.

Sun Yizhen sighed in relief, finally able to leave that place.

...

In a hillside villa in Itaewon, Seoul, in a large bathtub, Charles Capet was holding and kissing Lee Qri from T-ara.

Lee Qri, at 22 years old, had a nice figure and was one of the three later additions to the T-ara group. Charles quickly took a liking to her.

She was a student at Myongji University in Korea and, of course, an artist under East Asia Korea Entertainment. 

"Oppa, will our T-ara group really debut this year?" Lee Qri asked softly while holding onto Charles' neck.

"Of course," Charles replied, feeling her not-so-full chest while leaning on the edge of the bathtub. "You guys already have endorsement contracts, don't you? Of course, you'll debut!"

"All the girls are working hard; some have been trainees for several years," Lee Qri mentioned. Though her family's conditions were pretty good, it still wasn't easy to debut.

"Don't worry, you are my girl. You'll definitely become famous in Korea, and then we'll advance to Japan and China," Charles said while running his fingers through Lee Qri's wet hair.

Lee Qri nodded and then kissed him voluntarily. Soon, the bathroom was filled with their whispers and soft singing.

...

The next day, Son Ye-jin drove Charles from Itaewon to Gimpo International Airport in Seoul. 

"Will you come back to Korea?" Son Ye-jin asked, sitting close to Charles in the car.

"Of course I will," Charles smiled, patting her thigh. "You guys take care of things here. If there's any problem you can't handle, find Lee Jae-hyun."

"The Korean entertainment industry doesn't have a more powerful force than CJ Entertainment!"

The two giant chaebols in the Korean entertainment industry were the CJ Group of the Samsung family and the SK Group of the Koo family.

Son Ye-jin nodded, "The girl you mentioned is Lee Qri, right? I'll look out for her."

"Also, I've contacted the people in charge at Red Fruit Entertainment and East Asia Japan, we might exchange some resources when the time comes."

Charles turned and kissed her. "I don't want to leave you now. After Haeundae comes out, you should become much more famous, and you could take part in some co-productions between China and Japan."

The Korean Wave was sweeping through Asia. It was a bit unexpected just how popular it had become. 

"Since our company focuses mainly on nurturing actors, a little more freedom and some international channels should attract some stars with expiring contracts," Charles added. "You guys can decide for yourselves. You can also invest in movies or TV shows."

In Korea, few artists terminated their contracts because Korean entertainment agencies were very powerful. The cost of terminating a contract was high, so usually, artists would simply let their contracts expire before switching agencies.

"There's a good low-budget romance drama movie that Kim and I are interested in investing in!" Son Ye-jin had already met with Haeundae's director Yoon Je-kyun and the male lead, Jung Woo-sung.

She had a good impression of the originally casted female lead, Ha Ji-won. In fact, Son Ye-jin felt like she stole the female lead role from Ha Ji-won.

The romance drama My Love By My Side, which the company received, was very suited for an actress with Ha Ji-won's acting skills.

Charles put his arm around Son Ye-jin's shoulder. "You guys make the decisions. The company has money now. I heard the richest star in Korea is Bae Yong-joon because he started his own company. You can become the female version of Bae Yong-joon!"

"I already have plenty of money; you gave me 20% of East Asia Korea!" Son Ye-jin laughed.

"Right, once the US dollar to Korean won exchange rate exceeds 1400, you can close your position," Charles reminded Son Ye-jin. Earlier, she had bought 10 billion won worth of US dollars in foreign exchange.

"Now the won is dropping every day. The US dollar has already broken past the 1200 mark!" She bought them when the exchange rate was in the 1100s.

Suddenly, Charles received a call from his mother from the United States. "Charles, when do you plan to come back to the US?"

"Come back, not right now. I just returned to China, and I don't even feel the pressure of the financial crisis," Charles explained, pouting.

"It's really bad here, with the unemployment rate, stock market, and real economy all declining. Everyone from Wall Street to Hollywood is looking for you," Evelyn said, noting that too many people couldn't find Charles and had come to her instead.

"Haha, what can I do? If Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers, these big investment banks, can't handle it, there's nothing I can do," Charles knew they were looking for investments, but he had no interest in helping them.

"Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers are looking for buyers to survive. Leave them alone," Evelyn scoffed.

"So yeah, I don't want to return now. I don't have much cash flow. Just wait; Washington will take action. We should just focus on our business, right?" Charles didn't want to be pestered by those company heads or politicians looking for help.

Anyway, Lehman Brothers was going bankrupt, and Congress would surely inject a huge rescue fund.

The Federal Reserve would lower interest rates, the dollar would remain strong, and the US would print money like crazy, absorbing the world's resources to feed itself!

Possess the strongest military and the world's reserve currency? Who would dare watch the dollar collapse?

"Alright, then I'll go on vacation in Australia!" Evelyn was also annoyed by all those people.

"Sure, the sky won't fall down." Charles cheerfully hung up the phone.

*****

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