Be reborn and be happy to the fullest

"Haha, the president is so cunning, using my past achievements to answer the current question. You know perfectly well that I'm asking for your own opinion..."

Han Xiaozhou smiled, not actually expecting Li Shuo to give a direct answer.

To her surprise, Li Shuo quickly nodded and said:

"My opinion is the same as everyone else's: whether it's looks or talent, Hyo-joo, you far surpass Gyu-ri..."

What? They didn't try to evade the question; they gave a direct and straightforward answer!

Han Xiaozhou stared blankly at Li Shuo, feeling that his understanding of him had deepened further: being young and rich seemed to be just one of his advantages; this man's personality, his speech, and even the maturity and composure he displayed were extremely charming in every aspect!

At that moment, Nam Gyu-ri ran out wearing a limited-edition Chanel polka-dot dress: "Ta-da, Oppa, how is it?"

"Beautiful, very beautiful..."

"Hehe, let's go..."

Nam Gyu-ri stepped forward and hugged Lee Seok's arm. The woman, dressed in new clothes, was in a good mood, so she wasn't bothered that Han Hyo-joo hadn't left.

“I just contacted the head chef at the shop and asked her to prepare a new dessert series. I think you’ll like it…” Nam Gyu-ri’s eyes sparkled as she spoke, like a child expecting praise.

"I am looking forward……"

Twenty minutes later, the three of them arrived at the foot of a building...

The dessert shop that Nam Gyu-ri chose wasn't a standalone street-front shop; it was located inside a building, and this building...

Lee Seok glanced at the Korean word "elephant" on the signboard and, as expected, realized that this was probably another of Lim Se-ah's "dowry." Well, since the name was still "elephant," it might not be, but it was still related to Lim Se-ah.

The core business of the Elephant Group is Elephant Foods, a company that actually started as a department store and supermarket chain, focusing on high-end dining. Therefore, the department stores that accompany large supermarkets are usually related to the Elephant Group. Furthermore, because Lin Shiya married into the Sanxing family, the Elephant Group gave her, the eldest princess, an extremely generous dowry to match her husband's family.

Of course, it is precisely because of the Elephant Foods family's full support for Lim Se-ah that Lim Se-ah is now forced to save Elephant Foods, which is also the root of her conflict with Lee Se-ki, the heir of Samsung...

What Li Shuo didn't know was that he was thinking about Lin Shiya and Li Shiji, and the latter two were actually thinking about him too.

After the Samsung Bank case was concluded, Attorney Kim returned to the Samsung headquarters building, organized the documents, and then met with Lee Se-ki.

"...That's the verdict. Because it was the Seoul District Court, there wasn't much we could do... Nevertheless, we actively sought remedies afterward, contacting Lee Seok through Shin Han-moon..."

In front of Lee Se-ki, Attorney Kim naturally dared not lie and truthfully recounted the court proceedings of the Samsung Bank case. Because of his skillful use of words, it seemed that the legal department had also done a lot of work. Finally, he introduced Shin Han-moon, which was Attorney Kim's way of mentoring his junior.

The last part of a conversation often leaves a deeper impression. Even someone as formidable as the Three-Star Prince easily followed Attorney Kim's approach and immediately asked, "Shen Hanwen? Is that the junior from the Capital Law School you mentioned to me before?"

"Yes, he performed exceptionally well in school, so I recruited him into the department's fraternity. Now, after graduation, he's joined the capital city's district court as a judge's assistant in this case... Although he's only an assistant, Shen Hanwen has been a great help this time, allowing us to keep track of the judge's progress and obtain the verdict ahead of time... However, considering that Madam was present at the time, we didn't interfere with the court..."

Attorney Kim spoke tactfully and vaguely, but it suited Lee Se-ki's taste perfectly. Because he had been raised by his domineering father since childhood, this prince was not the kind of arrogant and domineering playboy, but a relatively "gentle" and "feminine" person.

Lee Se-ki usually doesn't want anyone to know that he did what he did. Even after achieving great success, he doesn't want to be publicized. Instead, he hopes to gain praise quietly and indirectly.

Lee Se-ki had similar thoughts regarding Elephant Foods and Lim Se-ah: Although Samsung had been quietly making moves against Elephant Foods, even laying in wait to acquire it at the bankruptcy liquidation price, he didn't want Lim Se-ah to know about it, let alone ask her to help Elephant Foods.

Therefore, Attorney Kim's "non-interference in the court's verdict" actually aligned with Lee Se-ki's wishes. Of course, this crown prince was not one to suffer losses alone. After Attorney Kim finished explaining how Shin Han-moon and Lee Seok met, Lee Se-ki calmly said:

"You mean I need to meet with Li Shuo? Is this mere overseas conglomerate really that influential?"

"No, the Shuoguo Group does have some influence in China, but that has nothing to do with us. The Shuoguo Group mainly has ample capital, and there are rumors that it also has some connections with Wall Street..."

Wall Street?

The capital behind Samsung is Wall Street, so this is a power he needs to respect. Lee Se-ki was silent for a few seconds, then said calmly, "If what you say is true, I can arrange for him to meet with me... provided that this person can be completely used by me, or that Shuoguo can reach a deeper cooperation with Samsung. You need to grasp the balance in this!"

Samsung's rise to become South Korea's top conglomerate is not entirely due to its tyrannical behavior. On the contrary, it is generally very friendly towards foreign capital, willing to attract capital into South Korea, and share some profits with its partners in certain niche industries in South Korea.

In fact, most of the world's successful conglomerates have a similar style to Samsung. Being overly assertive and domineering usually leads to failure; "harmony brings wealth" is the theme of the business world.

“Okay, I will arrange for Shen Hanwen to conduct a second round of probing on Li Shuo as soon as possible, and then bind him with interests so that he can restrain Miss Lin…”

According to Attorney Kim and Lee Se-ki, the purpose of bribing Lee Seok was to prevent him from "doing bad things" and, ideally, to keep him at odds with Lim Se-ah, thus diverting her attention and preventing her from interfering in the Elephant Foods business.

Lee Se-ki nodded, then asked softly, "Did you find out? Where did Se-ah go the night before last?"

The Crown Prince kept a close eye on his wife, mainly because he himself was not capable enough to provide her with what she needed. Therefore, he was very sensitive to Lin Shiya's behavior of not returning home at night.

Lee Se-ki knew that Lim Se-ah owned a secret villa in Longshan District. This was a loophole he had given his wife. If she didn't come home at night, she could only stay at the secret villa. However, the night before last, the servants at the secret villa reported that there was no trace of the Crown Princess.

"The next day, we discovered that Madam had returned to the Lin family, presumably because she had received news of Elephant Foods' financial difficulties..." Attorney Jin reported based on clues obtained by the intelligence department, then changed the subject, adding, "But according to our secret informant at the Lin family, Madam didn't return until the early hours of the morning that night, and her whereabouts were a mystery for the first half of the night..."

Lee Se-ki clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, saying, "Find out the truth for me!"

"Yes"

The matter should have ended there, but the next moment, Lee Se-ki's gaze swept over the documents that Attorney Kim had just submitted. The first page contained Lee Seok's photo and some information.

"Is that Li Shuo? So young...and handsome..."

Lee Se-ki was quite surprised. He had thought that Lee Seok should be at least in his forties or fifties, since the information showed that he was the founder of a certain conglomerate.

"Uh, yes, we suspect that he is the son of some official in China, that is, a so-called 'red'...you know..."

Lee Se-ki looked enlightened, but Lee Seok's overly young and handsome face still made him extremely uncomfortable, so he casually ordered, "Before revealing anything to him, investigate Lee Seok first, especially his relationship with Se-ah..."

"Yes"

……

While Lee Se-gi cautiously ordered his men to investigate Lee Seok because he was too young and handsome, Lee Seok had already entered a dessert shop on the 6th floor of a department store with two Hallyu stars. Under the soft light of the crystal chandelier, Nam Gyu-ri carefully peeled a creamy baked shrimp and held it to Lee Seok's mouth: "Oppa, try this..."

"click"

Li Shuo was about to open his mouth when his keen ears noticed the sound of a camera shutter opening and closing. He raised an eyebrow and, out of the corner of his eye, saw a masked man acting suspiciously, hiding behind a booth, one hand inside his clothes, which appeared to contain a DSLR camera.

Paparazzi?

Li Shuo's first reaction was to immediately notify the secretary's office and have the Shuoguo security personnel surround him: he had driven here himself because he was taking two women on a date, and Number 3 and the Shuoguo security personnel were lagging behind and had not yet caught up.

"I'm sorry, I was so careless."

Hearing Nam Gyu-ri's voice, Lee Seok realized that because he had been distracted, Nam Gyu-ri had smeared some cream on his lips and was now hurriedly wiping it off with a wet wipe.

"It's ok"

Lee Seok smiled gently, took Nam Gyu-ri's hand, thought for a moment, and asked softly, "Gyu-ri, if our relationship is exposed by the media, do you think it will cause you inconvenience?"

The security personnel from Shuoguo Security hadn't caught up yet, but the paparazzi reporter, as if sensing danger, had already stood up.

At this point, if Li Shuo got up to chase after them, there was a certain probability that he would not be able to catch up. Moreover, considering that the relationship between these two K-pop stars was more about physical attraction than romance, Li Shuo seemed to have no need to hide anything.

The main difference lies in the vastly different social environments and business styles between China and other countries. China is characterized by a traditional, conservative environment where "the tallest tree in the forest is bound to be felled by the wind," while other countries are characterized by a nakedly powerful and vulnerable capitalist society.

In this environment, Li Shuo needed to establish the authority of the Shuoguo Consortium abroad with the goal of "making its reputation as prestigious as that of Samsung," so as to attract powerful consortia of similar strength to cooperate with it, or for outstanding graduates from prestigious universities to join it, and so on.