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Gun-Ho decided to take a short trip to Tokyo, Japan for three nights and four days .
"I've never been in Japan . Let's visit Tokyo and see how Japanese people make their life and also get some idea about my next business item . "
Gun-Ho stopped by a travel agency . The agency recommended him a trip package that included a Tokyo city tour and a visit to a small city, Nikko which was famous for hot springs .
"Okay, I will take it . "
Gun-Ho wanted to forget about things going on in his head and reserved a flight ticket to Japan right away .
Gun-Ho was still anxious while he was in Japan .
He couldn't pay attention to the tour guide, but all he could think of was his stock price .
He followed his tour group to Meiji Jingu Gaien in Shibuya, where his hotel was located . He still couldn't enjoy the tour; he was still thinking about his stocks .
"I invested 1 . 1 billion won . Am I going to succeed or fail in this investment?"
While he was lost in thought, Gun-Ho realized that an old couple kept glancing at him .
"If I had 10 billion won, I wouldn't be this nervous about the 1 . 1 billion won investment . However, 1 . 1 billion won is all I have right now . Of course, I am anxious . I invested all I have . "
Gun-Ho felt anxious and he looked around . The old man of the old couple came to Gun-Ho with a smile and asked,
"Young man, how come are you traveling by yourself? Don't you have a girlfriend?
"Haha, no, I don't . "
"What have you done so far then without getting a girlfriend? In the old times, you could have your own children already at your age . "
A nosy old man, Gun-Ho thought . The old man's wife seemed to feel sorry for Gun-Ho because she seemed to know how nosy her husband could be . She kept dragging the old man's arm toward her . There were many old couples in the tour group . Some women's group was there as well . Gun-Ho was the only young man in the tour group .
"I see several young ladies here . Why don't you ask one of them out?"
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"Haha, I will pass, sir . "
The old man talked to Gun-Ho again when the group went to a shopping mall, Shibuya109 .
"You should buy something and distribute it among your female friends . That's one of the ways to get a girlfriend . "
Gun-Ho thought that while he couldn't think of anything else but his stocks, this old man's head is filled with girlfriend thing .
The following day, the group continued to Nikko . Gun-Ho was looking outside the window enjoying the view in the tour bus heading to Nikko when the old man came and sat next to him; he was holding some food .
Gun-Ho thought this old man could be very tiresome .
"Try this . It's mochi; we bought them on the street in Shibuya . It's tasty . "
"Thank you . I will try one . Sir, which presidential candidate do you think will be elected?"
"Myung-Bak of course . Dong-Young Jeong is too weak . "
"Why do you say that?"
"Our current president Moo-Hyun Roh hasn't done anything good for our economy . On the other hand, Myung-Bak Lee used to work as a CEO of a big company . I believe he will make our economy much better . Don't you think so, young man?"
"I agree with you, sir . Thank you for the mochi . "
Gun-Ho continued to look outside the window; otherwise, he thought the old man would keep talking to him .
The tour group arrived at Nikko Tosho-gu . The tourists were busy taking pictures .
"Oh! Look at that monkey sculpture . "
There was a three-lady group; they seemed to be colleagues in an office . One of them came to Gun-Ho and asked him to take a picture of them .
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"Did you come by yourself?"
They asked Gun-Ho and laughed .
Gun-Ho didn't say anything while feeling embarrassed .
"Is this your rebound trip?"
One of them said, and the three ladies started laughing again .
"Sh*t, I feel so embarrassed that I can't enjoy my trip anymore . "
Gun-Ho talked to himself .
"Sir, what do you do for a living?"
"Sir?"
Gun-Ho was baffled when those young ladies called him sir . Well, Gun-Ho was already 35 years old, maybe he was old enough to be called sir in those young ladies' eyes .
"I am a survey researcher . Who do you think will be elected in the presidential election this year?"
"Kyung-Young Huh . "
Those ladies started laughing again .
"Don't you think the candidate, Dong-Young Jeong would win for the presidential election?"
"Nah… Myung-Bak Lee will win . Girls, let's go . The tour guide is calling us . Hurry up . "
Gun-Ho felt a sense of relief after hearing people say MB would be elected .
"Okay . I'm betting on the winning side . "
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Gun-Ho came back to Korea, and the first thing he did was checking his stock price .
They increased by 5% .
"Little people seemed to constantly buy the stocks, but it's slow . "
Gun-Ho felt too nervous and bored to wait for the stock price hike . He decided to rent a car and travel around Korea .
"I haven't been in a lot of places in Korea . "
Gun-Ho came back home after visiting Jeolla Province, Gyeongsang Province, Chungcheong Province, and Gangwon Province . And he checked the stock price . Not much changed .
Gun-Ho thought that maybe he should start working . It was hard to get a decent office job in Korea, but he could easily find a manual labor job . He started working in a distribution center in Deucksan Town . His job was a night job loading and unloading trucks with heavy packages . Time would fly and he would feel too busy to think of his stocks .
The work was hard . He didn't even have time to go to the bathroom . The workers there looked poor and hungry . Gun-Ho could see himself a few years ago .
"You don't look like you belong here . Why don't you learn some skills and get a better job?"
A man in his 50s who was working the same job with Gun-Ho talked to him .
"Every job is equally valuable . This is fine as long as I get paid . "
"If you do this kind of manual work for a long time, it would cause a physical pain here and there in your body . "
The work was indeed hard . Gun-Ho already felt pain in his waist . His arms felt tender .
"You shouldn't lift a heavy box with your waist like that . You should straighten your waist and use your knee to lift the box . "
Gun-Ho was being paid about 1,500,000 won per month for the manual labor work at night . He sweated heavily every night and he had to apply pain relief patches on his shoulders and waist to make 1 . 5 million won per month; it was too little for the pain he had to suffer .
"You can't be rich by doing a manual labor work job . You have to either get a profession after studying a lot, or you have to be born to rich parents so your life starting point is different from most people . "
Since it was a night job, Gun-Ho didn't have to worry about encountering someone he knew while he was working . Gun-Ho was working there to kill time while waiting for a desirable outcome of his 1 . 1 billion won stock investment . Gun-Ho thought that the others who were working there to support their family would never get out of their poverty .
"Maybe that's why many young people these days decided not to have children . They barely make a living for themselves . "
Another good thing about working there was that he could have a good sleep during the day since the work at night exhausted him enough to make him pass out during the day . He continued this life for two months and he didn't think of stocks during the two months .
Autumn was almost gone and Cosmos flowers were falling down .
One day, Gun-Ho got up around lunchtime after working late at night and he was reading an economic newspaper when he was stunned .
[Warning! EE-HWA Construction stock hike]
It was about EE-Hwa Construction stock . It said that the Korea Exchange (KRX) observed an unusual stock price hike on EE-Hwa Construction and warned investors about the specific stock .
If a stock price goes up by 60% during the past five days, Korea Exchange warns investors and temporarily halts trading for one day in order to prevent damage on investors .
"I made it!"
Gun-Ho immediately opened his stock account .
"If I sell it now, my net account value will be 1 . 76 billion won!"
By investing 1 . 1 billion won, Gun-Ho made 660 million won .
"Nicely done . It's enough . Let's sell it . "
Gun-Ho decided to sell it the next day once the Korea Exchange's temporary trading halts on the stock would be lifted .
Gun-Ho, let the distribution center know that he would quit the job .
"We like working with you . Why are you quitting? I was talking with the team leader to raise your pay . We will raise it to 1,700,000 won . "
"Haha, thank you, but I already found another job . "
Gun-Ho wanted to scream to the distribution center staff that 'Hey, I am a man with 1 . 76 billion won . ' Actually, Gun-Ho wanted to scream it to the world .