The Chaebol Who Flies From Space - Chapter 71



Only Noblemtl

71. Texas Ranch (2)

“Are you really buying this place for ranch use?”

This was the question the president had been keeping in mind.

Why would a successful oil tycoon buy up land in rural Texas? The president also went around asking his sources, but this place was just a barren land with nothing. There was oil-bearing shale beneath the ground, but he didn’t have the technology to extract it.

“Only the president knows. When the time comes, he will extract shale gas from the land he purchased.”

“Shale gas? I heard that the ground here is so hard that it’s not profitable.”

“If technology stays the same, then yes. Mining technology is still developing.”

The president looked as if he had been hit in the back of the head.

There are still people in Texas who are mining shale gas. They are barely making ends meet and holding on without closing their businesses, but it is by no means easy.

“At current oil prices, shale gas is no answer. The cost of extraction is too high. Even if technology advances, the price of oil will have to exceed $50 to make a profit from shale gas extracted here.”

The president, who knows a lot about the oil industry, reacted negatively.

The current oil price is fluctuating between $32 and $35. Most experts are predicting that the price will remain in this price range for the time being, unless there are special variables.

“That’s because the shale companies have no money, so they have to pay the landowners who lease the land. If they buy the land and mine it directly, the cost will be significantly lower. It will be about a quarter lower. That’s the amount the company pays the landowner.”

The president also listened to what I said and became lost in thought.

“But isn’t the $35 level the limit?”

“What if the technology advances and the cost of mining drops to under $30? What if we already have the technology?”

I had the technology to dig shale out of the land I had purchased right away. If I started mining right away, I could lower the price to $10.

Shale gas mining technology is not difficult. It is just being put off because it is only fun when oil prices rise.

Mining technology has major side effects.

Not only is the environment polluted, but mining is done in a way that shocks the ground, so earthquakes occur frequently.

It is inevitable that many complaints will arise.

Even if you lobby the local government, if the complaints are strong, your business will be hindered.

One reason shale producers can survive on small-scale production is that local governments do not grant permits to large companies.

The owners of shale companies are all local figures, meaning they have close ties to the county.

It was all too common for the brother or son of a shale company president to be the local mayor.

In any case, it is usually not difficult to break through this kind of close bond.

There was no need for me to go ahead now.

As oil prices rise and technology advances, the shale mining boom will naturally spread to this area.

You just have to wait for that.

“It seems to have sufficient investment value. The price of local land that is currently being traded at a low price will rise significantly in the future.”

“That’s why I buy. If you’re short on cash, you’ll have to wait a long time, so it’s a stupid investment, but for now, all I have is cash.”

“I’ll have to go and tell Judy that Jamie likes it here so much he’s going to buy more ranch land.”

Jamie is not a person who gets along well with strangers. He was awkward around people to begin with, and it got worse after he became a famous actor.

It means that you should be very friendly with people you are familiar with, but it takes time to get to know someone you are meeting for the first time.

If it were Korea, I would probably be criticized for being shameless, but in the United States, where the entire country has an individualistic tendency, I was able to pursue my acting career without any problems.

Jamie’s face was flushed with excitement as she was dressed in a robe, having just finished showering in her room.

As soon as I entered the room, all the words I had been keeping in my heart poured out.

“It’s a desolate countryside with nothing to see, but that’s what I really like about it.”

“That’s strange. Don’t women usually dislike the countryside where there’s nothing?”

You didn’t listen to a thing I said.

“You know I’m of Swedish descent, right?”

I didn’t know. But I couldn’t say anything and just nodded quietly.

“Coming here, I feel like the scenery of my hometown is very similar to what my father told me about.”

“This place is similar to Sweden?”

Where are you looking? I didn’t think it was like that at all, but in this case, silence was the answer.

“The desolate mountains and plains without any trees or grass, with only grass and small shrubs growing here and there, are so similar to my hometown in Sweden that my father used to tell me about when I was young. The scenery in the pictures my father showed me was exactly the same.”

“And come to think of it, I don’t think we’ve ever talked about our families. Didn’t you grow up in New York?”

“No, my mom and dad divorced when I was little, so I grew up in New York with my mom, but Minneapolis is my hometown.”

“A city in Minnesota?”

“Yeah, there. I grew up there until I was nine. Then I came to New York with my mom and went to school.”

In America, divorce was a daily occurrence. It was not unusual for parents to get divorced.

“You must have had a hard time. Wasn’t it difficult financially?”

The biggest problem in divorced families is, of course, financial issues. It is not common for a woman to support her children and earn a living alone without her husband.

“No, my mother is a pretty capable lawyer. In fact, our financial situation improved after we moved to New York.”

“Your mother is a lawyer? Is that why Stella chose to become a lawyer?”

Jamie’s older sister Stella was a successful lawyer at Wattel, a famous New York law firm.

“It might have had some influence. That’s what I saw and heard when I was young. I didn’t really enjoy the law, but Stella did.”

I heard stories about Jamie’s family that I didn’t know before we officially started dating.

“Your father still lives in Minneapolis?”

“Then you got married again and are living well. I sometimes meet you when I go to see my father. My new mother loves me very much. I also get along well with the younger siblings born from that relationship.”

This was also cool. It was something I couldn’t even imagine in Korea.

“You have a younger sibling? I thought you only had sisters?”

“There are three of us. Let’s go to Minneapolis together sometime. I’m sure Daddy will be happy to see you.”

Jamie became a chatterbox as if to compensate for not being able to talk much after getting off the plane.

Even during my college years, I only talked about personal interests and lectures, and rarely talked about my family.

“It’s going to be a lot louder from now on. I brought you here because the paparazzi got wind of us dating and started swarming us.”

The passionate love affair between a world-famous actress and a wealthy Asian man was sweet fodder for the paparazzi.

Team Leader Oh warned that a stranger with a camera was seen around the mansion.

Jamie frowned at my words.

“From now on, the paparazzi will be following me around like crazy.”

It’s an inevitable process that many celebrities go through.

A single photo taken by chance could fetch anywhere from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. The yellow papers would rush in, going crazy.

Outside, you have to live like you’re under surveillance all day long. There’s a reason why stars don’t go out of their houses.

Jamie’s personal life was free of scandals, so there were hardly any paparazzi chasing him.

From now on, it was going to be incredibly sticky.

“I don’t have any plans to film for the time being, so it doesn’t matter. I have everything I need at home, so what’s the problem? If I don’t go out, the paparazzi won’t be able to help me.”

If I go after Jamie and it doesn’t work out, he’ll follow me around, but I have no reason to go out.

“When I go back, I’ll just have to stay locked up in the house.”

“For security reasons, we need to move quickly. How is the house now?”

“Should we live together in the house where Yongwon lives now?”

“Security doesn’t seem to be that great there, so how about staying here for the time being until the remodeling of the new house is finished?”

Jamie nodded after thinking about what I said for a while.

“Not bad, right? How hard would it be for the paparazzi to get here? What about accommodations? You’re not going to stay at the hotel, are you? Where are you going to stay?”

There couldn’t be a better hotel in Midland.

It’s not a bad place to stay for business, but it’s not enough for a hotel where you can stay alone with your lover.

“for a moment.”

I called the president and explained the situation, and he quickly found a suitable place to live.

We rented a house attached to a ranch. We stayed one night at a hotel and then moved on.

“The ranch owner stays mostly in San Diego, where his company is located, so this place is always empty.”

“It’s a well-maintained house considering it’s empty?”

“This is a house where three generations lived together. After they all passed away, the remaining children inherited it. Although they don’t come here often, they spend their summer vacations here, and the ranch staff who live nearby take good care of it, so it’s always clean. Now that it’s been cleaned, it’s a place worth staying.”

The house introduced by local real estate agent Judy was large and spacious, as one would expect from a southern home.

It didn’t have the run-down feel that an old building usually has.

Rather, I really liked the atmosphere that time gave me.

The Rose Garden along the Mississippi River, where I spent my childhood, was also built in this style.

As I entered the house, I felt a clean and neat atmosphere. The president left to stay at a nearby staff dormitory.

After unpacking briefly in the room on the second floor and coming down to the living room, I was informed that dinner was ready.

Let’s go out

“what’s this?”

“I told you to prepare it.”

I asked the manager in advance about Jamie’s eating habits and was told that he likes Mexican tacos.

Mexican style corn tortillas are stuffed with meat, topped with onions and cilantro, and seasoned with lime juice and salsa.

Americans have mixed feelings about it because of the coriander, but I heard that Jamie likes it the way it is.

“I’m going to get fat if I keep doing this! If I eat this, I’ll have to exercise all day.”

Jamie, who likes meat but has to stay in shape for her job, can’t eat meat-laden tacos very often.

Even though he was complaining, he couldn’t take his eyes off the tacos.

“Eat, you’ll have more leftovers. It’ll be too late to regret it when you gain weight.”

“Are you telling me to eat it or not?”

“Do whatever your heart desires.”

Tacos are a difficult food to eat quietly. Jamie looked happy as he carefully picked up a taco and ate it.

“Beer would be perfect here.”

“Don’t cry later and be satisfied with orange juice.”

The mountain of tago that had been piled up on the table disappeared at some point.

If strangers saw me, they would think I was starving all the time.

Jamie grumbled, wiping the traces of food from the corners of his mouth.

“I ate it because you gave it to me, but it’s not my usual diet.”

“Who said what?”

After a full meal, a light drink is the perfect thing to do.

He took out the secret drink he had prepared.

When he had drunk a little, Jamie rested his chin on his hand and looked at me quietly.

As the sun set and the surroundings grew dark, the lights in the garden came on one by one, and the fragrance of the flowers in full bloom reached my nose.

“I’ve liked you since we went to college together.”

“okay?”

It was a word I don’t remember.

“I couldn’t open my mouth to say that I liked you. I guess it was because there were a lot of girls around me who said they liked you.”

“I didn’t have a girlfriend at that time?”

“I know, I was stupid and didn’t understand my feelings and was only focused on other things. So I did everything I could to get you to look at me, but you didn’t, so I just gave up.”

“I was popular in college?”

In my memory, my college days were just a matter of going back and forth between the classroom and the dormitory. I wondered if there were such people.

“Yeah, but the girls who liked you wouldn’t budge no matter how many signals you sent, so rumors spread.”

“What rumor?”

“You’re gay.”

I spit out my drink at that sound.

“I?”

“Yeah, you.”

I touched my forehead because my head hurt.

“Why is this the first time I’m hearing this?

“There’s no way you’d hear what the girls are saying. No matter how much you yank your tail between your legs, you won’t get over it, so the girls are disappointed in you and are spreading those rumors out of spite.”

It’s been quite common for Asian men to be mistaken for gay. In my case, it may have been my looks that played a part. When I first woke up and saw this face, I grumbled that it was a weird face.

“Linda did it. She hung around you and then when you wouldn’t budge, she left and started spreading rumors.

“Linda Garyfield? She liked me? She was the popular girl in college. Anyway, that’s surprising. Not only did she like me, but she spread bad rumors about me.”

“So then there were guys who were interested in you hanging around for a while.”

This was a bit of a creepy story.