Thump-thump!
It felt like I was finally getting to have a company dinner after a long time. Of course, since I was still in elementary school, calling it a “company dinner” felt a bit off. Maybe it was more like eating out?
Anyway, Maru said she’d treat us to some delicious beef after school to help us bond with her friends. So, I brought Jiyu and Yumi along to the beef restaurant.
The place looked ridiculously expensive. From what I’d heard, the money spent on one beef dinner here could buy you pork for 3-4 meals. That’s how pricey beef was in Korea.
Sizzle-sizzle—
The beef was browning nicely on the grill. Maru was busy cooking, while Jiyu, Yumi, and I watched the meat cook with hungry eyes. Everyone was fidgeting, chopsticks in hand, barely able to wait. Me included.
But meat has to cook, right? And beef isn’t like other meats that need to be grilled for a long time. It’s best when cooked just right. Overcook it, and it gets tough and loses its flavor.
“It’s done! Dig in, kids!”
Maru said, holding the tongs. Jiyu and Yumi attacked the beef with their chopsticks like they’d been waiting for this moment their whole lives.
“Thank you, Hana’s sister, for the beef!”
“Thank you!”
Of course, since Maru was treating us, the kids thanked her first. Though, to be honest, it wasn’t Maru paying—it was the company. Maru wasn’t exactly rolling in cash. She was still a newbie at work, a total rookie.
“So good!”
“This is why we eat beef!”
Jiyu and Yumi were eating with satisfied smiles. I picked up a piece of beef with my chopsticks and popped it into my mouth. It melted instantly, sliding down my throat before I could even savor it. I didn’t know meat could be this tender.
“Hana, eat more! I’ll grill until you burst!”
Maru was confidently grilling, probably because she had the company card with no limit. If she had to pay for this beef herself, her face would probably turn pale. Not that I’d let her, though. Maru was always so good to me.
“Hana, what did you do during vacation?”
Yumi asked curiously. It was only natural to ask about each other’s vacations while eating. I gave a vague answer. I couldn’t exactly say I’d been to another world.
“I just hung out! Didn’t do much during vacation.”
It was true. Summer vacation had flown by in the blink of an eye. I’d wanted to go to a cool pool or the beach, but I didn’t get the chance. I turned the question back to Yumi.
“What about you, Yumi?”
Yumi wrapped some ssam while answering.
“I went to the amusement park with Jiyu and went to the valley with my family! Summer vacation is all about going somewhere cool and having fun.”
As she spoke, Yumi handed the ssam to Maru. It was only fair to give the person grilling some ssam in return. Grilling meat is hard work, after all.
“Thanks, Yumi!”
Maru smiled and ate the ssam Yumi handed her. Then Jiyu chimed in.
“Hana, I called you to hang out, but you didn’t answer. I asked your sister, and she said you went to the countryside? Where’d you go?”
“Pfft!”
I couldn’t help but spit out my water at Jiyu’s question. It seemed like the staff had told everyone I’d gone to the countryside while I was gone. I mean, I *had* disappeared suddenly.
As I hesitated to answer, Maru quickly changed the subject.
“Alright, alright! There’s still plenty of beef left, so eat up! Should we order more drinks? Bring us a bottle of cola, please!”
Thankfully, Maru’s quick thinking stopped Jiyu from digging further. I wiped the cold sweat off my brow and kept eating the beef.
—
Kim Sehee had to let Hana go after playing with her for a while. As much as she wanted to keep Hana all to herself, she couldn’t.
After Hana left, Kim Sehee’s head cooled down. She felt herself becoming more composed, thinking about what had just happened.
I remembered the employees from Walmart. If it’s Walmart, isn’t it the most successful retail company in the U.S.? I might have felt a bit rude.
Starlight Food is nothing compared to Walmart, just a small business. No, not even a small business, more like a supermarket level. From employment, sales, to the number of employees, the difference is probably over a hundred times. Playing with Hana, I seemed to have lost my mind.
Kim Sehee called James and Layla, who were looking around the company. This time, she did her best to welcome them in a formal place so they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.
“Sorry, there was an urgent matter at the company level…”
Kim Sehee apologized. Seeing Kim Sehee being humble, James made a fuss and said, “No problem at all! You’ve created such a miraculous hair loss product, so it’s understandable that you’re busy.”
James, having already experienced the effects of Tangle, seemed almost like a fanatic of Starlight Food. Layla gave James a look, and he coughed awkwardly, changing the subject.
“Looking around the company, I saw many plants produced by Starlight Food with miraculous effects.”
Fortunately, James was grateful that Kim Sehee could speak English, avoiding misunderstandings due to translation. In such business, every word matters. Even though Layla has Korean-like Korean skills, she couldn’t interpret James’s underlying meanings.
“That’s right. From cherry tomatoes to rice, grapes, and coffee. They have the best taste and quality. No, even globally, there’s no food with such taste.”
Kim Sehee spoke with pride. She was confident that even the best from around the world couldn’t match the taste of what Starlight Food produces.
“Is that so? That’s really amazing.”
James continued to respond to Kim Sehee’s words. Seeing her boss like this, Layla felt there was no progress in the negotiation and brought up the main point.
“Ahem… Boss, the reason we came to Starlight Food is…”
Layla explained to Kim Sehee in detail. Walmart would take responsibility for distributing the plants produced by Starlight Food in North America.
“The U.S. population alone is 330 million. Adding Canada’s 40 million, it’s a staggering 370 million.”
Kim Sehee was speechless at the realistic population size. Even though Korea has a large population relative to its land size, it’s nothing compared to the U.S.
“And considering the consumption level of each citizen, the purchasing power is much higher than other foreign countries. From your perspective, it’s not a bad choice.”
Thinking of the average American salary, there was no burden in buying the plants from Starlight Food. In fact, they could sell them at a higher price than in Korea. Americans earn more, after all. Selling to the U.S. could generate more revenue than selling to India, the most populous country.
Indians, except for the top wealthy, are generally poor, while Americans, even the lower class, earn well. Selling Starlight Food’s plants in the U.S. could earn several times more than in developing countries.
And the most important point is that the quantity of plants produced by Starlight Food is limited. Although the growth rate of their plants is exceptionally high compared to others, it’s still a stretch to supply the entire world. Even utilizing all farmland to the extreme, entering the U.S. market is the limit.
While Kim Sehee was pondering, Layla drove the point home.
“We at Walmart can offer the maximum profit sharing. Our goal is to increase market share, not to profit immediately.”
With Amazon rapidly rising, Walmart needed exclusive products to counter Amazon.
Then, hair loss consumers would have no choice but to come to Walmart.
