For half a year, Starlight Food’s high-flying journey continued. Kim Sehee felt it was about time to distribute dividends.
Dividends are one of the key factors in assessing a company’s value. Generally, the higher the dividends, the higher the company’s sales and the stronger its financial health. Unless you’re planning to hit it big and quit, higher dividends usually mean the company has a hefty reserve.
Kim Sehee felt it was time to release the reserves accumulated over the past six months. She planned to distribute dividends annually, aiming to make Hana the richest person in South Korea by the time she grew up. Hana was a child worth that much.
Starlight Food had recently joined the 2 trillion won sales club, a significant milestone indicating it had surpassed many mid-sized companies. Just half a year ago, it was a small company with annual sales of a few billion won. Reaching this level in such a short time was nothing short of miraculous.
Of course, Kim Sehee wasn’t a deity. She had Hana’s incredible luck to thank. Without striking oil, there’s no way to increase sales a thousandfold in half a year. With plans to expand into the U.S. market with Tangle and other products, next year’s sales could even reach 10 trillion won.
Starlight Food announced its net profit for the past six months, shocking the stock market. The net profit was 500 billion won, a staggering figure for a company that had only 20 billion won in sales last year.
The stock market was abuzz with Starlight Food’s meteoric rise. The stock, originally at 30,000 won per share, was now nearing 100,000 won. Investors were ecstatic, not just for the dividends but also because their shares had hit the ceiling.
The 500 billion won in dividends was split according to shareholding ratios. Kim Sehee took about 270 billion won, and Hana got 200 billion. Even after taxes, it was a substantial amount.
Hana’s wealth was growing steadily without her even realizing it. Kim Sehee decided to set up a wealth management team for Hana. By the time Hana graduated, she could amass an unimaginable fortune. The money she had now could buy an apartment in Seoul every month if deposited in a bank.
At this point, Starlight Food and Hana were inseparable. However, Hana held the upper hand. Without Hana, Starlight Food would collapse, but Hana could always find another company. Her ability to create special food items was unparalleled.
—
“Jiyu, Yumi, hello!”
“Has Hana arrived?”
I greeted Jiyu and Yumi and sat down, placing my bag on the desk. Inside were snacks for later. My books were already in my locker, so my bag was just a snack launcher.
“Hana, why did you bring so many snacks?” Yumi asked, peeking into my bag.
“For when I get hungry!” I replied.
“Hana, you’re saying your sugar is dropping… Hana, sometimes you sound just like our dad!”
Yumi was 10 years old, so if it were my age, it wouldn’t matter if I called her uncle or ahjussi (uncle). That just shows how old I am. Anyway, I ignored Yumi’s words and hung my bag on the chair. Today was a field trip day, so I didn’t have to sit through boring classes. That’s one of the good things about elementary school.
Or maybe it’s just elementary schools these days. Back in my day, we just carried textbooks around and had regular classes, but elementary schools now are different. They don’t just do classes every day; they try to give kids as many different experiences as possible. I totally agree with that approach. Just doing classes is neither fun nor rewarding. You need these field trips to refresh your mind and keep it sharp. And it’s not like studying hard in elementary school gets you anything. You can start studying hard in middle school and it’s fine. Of course, if I say this, the kids might get jealous, but I was the top student in my school.
While chatting with Jiyu and Yumi, time flew by, and it was already 9 o’clock. The teacher opened the classroom door and walked in, smiling brightly.
“Hello~”
“Hello, teacher!”
Maybe because they’re still in 3rd grade, they seem so pure and innocent. Of course, I’m not like that. I’m a fossil among fossils. I’m probably around the same age as the teacher. The teacher stood at the desk and said,
“Today, we’re going to make pizza bread for our field trip! Everyone, get up and line up outside the classroom!”
Just hearing “pizza bread” made my mouth water. I heard that in some foreign countries, pizza bread is considered so weird that it can’t even be called bread, but in Korea, it’s different. It’s one of the most familiar and commonly eaten breads, right? I smiled brightly and went outside to line up.
“Pizza bread! Making bread sounds fun!”
“Right? Remember how fun it was making cookies last time?”
Jiyu and Yumi were also super excited, laughing and smiling. Just the fact that we weren’t having a boring class was a big plus. The best times are when you’re not studying from textbooks but doing something else. So, we followed the teacher’s instructions and moved to another location. This elementary school has a lot of practice rooms, which is great.
—
The kids and I arrived at a place full of ovens. It looked like the same spot where we made cookies last time… Well, cookies and bread are kind of in the same category.
“Hana, look at this!”
“It’s so pretty!”
We were assigned seats, and Jiyu and Yumi were delighted by the cute patterned aprons placed in front of them. There was one on each table for the kids to wear. I also picked up an apron and looked it over. It was just a regular apron.
“Hmm…”
While I was looking at the apron, the teacher and a woman who looked like a chef came in. She seemed like a baker, probably an employee here to help us make bread.
“Alright, everyone! Put on the aprons on your seats~”
As the teacher said this, the kids started chattering and putting on their aprons.
“Hana, tie my strings for me!”
Of course, if you’re skilled enough, you can put on an apron by yourself, but we weren’t that skilled yet, so we decided to help each other tie the strings. I carefully tied Jiyu and Yumi’s apron strings and then asked them,
“Tie mine too!”
I turned my back to Yumi and asked. Yumi smiled brightly and tied my strings tightly. She tied them so tight it was almost suffocating. With our aprons on, we looked like real chefs.
