[Episode 151] Trees are another life
Even during the meeting, Lee Min-goo asked Si-woo Lee for his understanding.
“What happened?”
“It is said that the color of the leaves in the 3rd area of the Arboretum has changed. We will have to go to the site and check it, but since it is red, it seems that we need to act quickly.”
“… I will go with you. Even one tree in the arboretum must not die.”
Siwoo Lee, who had stopped the meeting, stood up.
Managing trees elsewhere was important, but especially the trees in the arboretum.
When a tree dies, the ashes buried under it must all be removed.
This was not polite to the deceased.
As we hurriedly headed to District 3, about 100 people were put in to manage the arboretum.
“What happened?”
Upon arriving at the site, Si-woo Lee, who noticed that the pine leaves were red, asked the person in charge.
“It is my fault. I’m sorry, sir… … .”
Deputy Director Park Chan-gyu cried and bowed his head.
He was not originally in charge of this place.
However, the manager recently submitted a leave of absence due to health reasons.
In one day, I became the person in charge of District 3, and a mistake occurred in my work.
“A tree is like a human body. Excessive nutrients were injected and necrosis is progressing as a result.”
At the words of Jin-soo Kang, who made a calm expression, Si-woo wrinkled his impression.
Jinsoo Kang is the person who manages the entire arboretum. Even if each district had a person in charge, he was the one who should be held responsible for this issue.
“It seems that Manager Kang is not aware of how serious this situation is now.”
“… sorry.”
“Don’t you know that the trees in this arboretum shouldn’t be in trouble! The remains of the deceased are buried under it.”
Apparently, a problem arose in the area where the ashes were buried.
He expressed his anger at what happened in Area 3, where the ashes were put in first.
“The part I can take responsibility for is… … .”
Siwoo Lee was famous as a representative who did not get angry with his employees.
He seldom got angry.
To the extent that there were people who called Shiu a Bodhisattva.
Seeing such a person getting angry, Park Chan-gyu bowed his head in succession.
“Cut off the necrotic area as much as possible and do everything possible to prevent further problems. And Manager Kang Jin-soo is following me.”
Kang Jin-soo bit his lip at the sight of Si-woo Lee who turned his body coldly.
As he followed Si-Woo Lee, the officers of Nuri, who rushed to District 3, sighed deeply.
Moon Jae-shin, who was watching the situation, stopped Lee Min-goo from raising his arms to direct the scene.
“I think it would be better for Director Seo Il-kwon to be put in District 3 and CEO Lee to finish his work?”
“I will do that, deputy chief.”
When Lee Min-gu was put in here when he had to finish the work of landscaping at sunrise, the work would have to be delayed.
Of course, the trees in the arboretum were important, but the finishing touches to the sunrise landscaping were also important.
At Moon Jae-shin’s instructions, Lee Min-gu hurriedly called Seo Il-kwon.
While the employees were busy at the site, Siwoo Lee slowly walked around the arboretum.
“Are you sad?”
“no. It’s because I didn’t manage it properly.”
“If he had known that the fence in District 3 had just been replaced, Manager Kang should have paid more attention.”
“… There is no face.”
Trees were Nuri’s property.
Jin-soo Kang’s eyes, who had ruined his important property, became moist.
“I want the people who manage the arboretum to be proud.”
“All employees should be proud to be employees of Nuri… … .”
I didn’t mean it in that sense.
Lee Si-woo, who cut off Kang Jin-soo’s words, said in a soft voice.
“no. Just because you’re an employee of Nuri doesn’t mean you should feel proud. I want to work with the pride of giving warmth to those who have ended their lives in solitude and exhaustion.”
Almost all of the ashes enshrined in the arboretum here were treated as innocent people.
“If I, who is in charge of this place, is embarrassed and angry, who will take care of it? I thought that if I had to keep my cool, the staff would move quickly without panicking.”
Anger was not too late to fix this.
Trees were groups of creatures.
I knew all too well that if one tree got sick, the tree next to it would also be destroyed.
“okay. Because I was lacking, I couldn’t comprehend the thoughts of Manager Kang. It’s not good to be angry.”
Siu Lee used to think that he didn’t value the trees in the arboretum.
Of course, when he should be angry and angry, because he was strangely cool.
“Isn’t the CEO still young? You just have to experience and learn one by one. I’m over 40, and I still lack a lot.”
At Jinsu Kang’s words, Siwoo stopped walking and looked at the trees and the woodblock with his name engraved on it.
“All the names engraved on the trees here are precious to me.”
“Why don’t you know? Our staff at Nuri also love this arboretum.”
“That’s fortunate.”
Si-woo Lee placed his hand on the wooden board engraved with the words ‘The late Lee Jin-seong’ and gently stroked it.
Kang Jin-soo looked at him quietly and opened his mouth.
“The staff who manage this arboretum start each morning with a memorial service for the deceased. So that the meaning of why we reside here and guard the tree does not fade.”
At first, he knew that Siwoo Lee didn’t form the arboretum for the purpose of making money.
Siwoo Lee never moved the trees in this arboretum.
Even if the ashes were not placed on the tree, they were nailed to never touch it.
“I’m sorry I got angry.”
“I understand the president’s feelings. But I never once thought of it as just a workplace.”
This arboretum was more than just a workplace for Kang Jin-soo.
This is a place where lonely people who have been neglected by the world are located.
At Jinsu Kang’s words, Siwoo Lee removed his hand from the woodblock and turned around.
“If you think we need to add more managers, just let us know. We will keep the manpower here always tight.”
“I will.”
There is something called a declaration ceremony in Nuri Landscape Architecture.
New employees are required to stay permanently at the arboretum for at least two months.
It didn’t matter if it was a field job or an office job.
Si-woo Lee finished the conversation with Jin-soo Kang and returned to the scene.
“Cut off all branches with necrosis! Hurry!”
The faces of the employees moving quickly were full of earnestness.
It had to be pruned before further necrosis progressed, and to be dealt with as quickly as possible.
And Park Chan-gyu, who made a mistake, moved quickly with the on-site staff rather than giving orders at the site.
“Chief! From this line on, the tree is fine.”
“When does the sap arrive?”
“He said he would be there in an hour.”
It was the site where all the staff who managed the arboretum were hung up on.
All available equipment was in place and started operation.
Efforts were made to fix the work by using all means and methods, of course, ladder trucks and water sprinklers.
That’s how six hours of work was completed.
The staff sat down on the floor to see if they could relax.
“My mistake almost caused a lot of trouble. sorry.”
Park Chan-gyu, who made a big mistake in this case, bowed his head toward the staff.
Jinsoo Kang, who was sitting on the floor with a tired expression, shook his head.
“The field team 2 responsible for area 3 is also responsible. It’s not just the manager’s fault.”
Twenty employees of the field 2 team in charge of the trees in area 3 stood up.
Although his fault was large, he did not receive a proper takeover.
It happened because of the 2nd team leader who suddenly took a leave of absence.
However, I couldn’t complain about the second team leader.
It wasn’t that the team’s organizational power was so bad that they resented the person who had cancer and had urgent surgery.
“We are fine. Wouldn’t it be important to protect these trees? Don’t blame yourself, Deputy Chief Park!”
One of the staff sat under the guarded tree and stroked it with his hand.
Each tree here has its own story.
He knew how the owners of the ashes buried under the tree had lived, and for what reason they became innocent.
The staff working here at the arboretum did not just take care of the trees.
“This tree is meaningful to me. I heard that the person who died below this was a seventy-year-old old man living alone. I grew up with my grandmother, so it was very sad to see people like that.”
Each employee had different values.
It was my values that changed depending on how I was living my life.
For them, the trees in the arboretum changed their lives.
“It is our mission to protect these trees bearing the names of those who have left alone. Everyone makes mistakes, right?”
Siwoo Lee didn’t know that the employees valued trees so much.
I stayed on the field until the end and watched how much effort they put in.
He moved with the belief that he would save his life.
For them, the arboretum was not just part of the educational process.
More than half of them leave after two months.
However, there were a lot of employees who could not forget this place and returned to the arboretum again.
* * *
Cho Il-chul hit the desk hard.
“Why are no more trees coming in!”
“CEO, even if you give me money, the tree vendors are blocking the tree. According to the employees who went to the site, Nuri Jojo established a branch in each area.”
It has been a little over two weeks since Sunrise Landscaping made its name splendid.
In order to block the trees being supplied to Nuri Landscaping for two weeks, only 20,000 trees were purchased from Sunrise Landscaping.
However, the number of trees supplied did not increase.
“Does that make sense? No, does it make sense to say that not one or two tree vendors supply trees to Nuri Landscaping, and everyone is refusing our offer?!”
“Sir, we don’t even have land to store trees anymore.”
Although 20,000 trees were supplied, the problem was that very few businesses would use these trees.
Sunrise Landscaping was unknown to the landscape industry.
Even with Kang Se-jin’s huge support, it was difficult to win the business.
“How about contact from the Jinhan group?”
“… All businesses are being canceled altogether.”
“What?”
“CEO, maybe we just touched Nuri for nothing… … .”
“If you’re going to say something useless, get out, you bastard!”
bang-!
Cho Il-chul slammed the desk once more and sat down on the chair.
Jinhan Group made a promise to continue various businesses with the trees supplied by Sunrise Landscape.
However, in just two weeks, the business of Jinhan Group collapsed.
“The cost of managing trees is not too high. Above all, the scale of the down payment for the tree merchants was large.”
“With only 3 billion won, the sunrise landscape shakes? nonsense.”
“It’s not just three billion. We spent over 6 billion on buying 20,000 trees.”
The price of trees, which was originally maintained at 100,000 to 200,000 won per tree, soared to the sky with the advent of sunrise landscaping.
No matter how huge the funds flowed from Se-jin Kang, the funds they used were enormous.
“What about KG?”
“The KG Group will also review the business completely… We have been notified.”
“If you supply wood, they will take care of everything!”
Jo Il-chul burst into anger at the not-so-comfortable situation.
In his anger, the employees bowed their heads and did not say anything.
“Then you are saying that there is no business to consume 20,000 trees?”
“There are a lot of businesses that you can find, but if you do that, they will drop to an exorbitant price.”
A huge amount of money has already been invested.
If we retreated like this, the sunrise landscape was over.
I had to somehow make the money flow smoothly.
“The princes group will come out like this.”
“… Even now, the wooden statues are not moving while watching the eyes of the prince group. Most of all, we seem to recognize that things are getting worse as the companies that gave us the trees are starting to go bankrupt one by one.”
All sides were blocked off.
Jo Il-chul bit his lip hard.
“Find a way somehow! Otherwise, all of you will be able to fly away.”
