I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Chaebol Family-Chapter 72: The Value of One Pound (4)

The reason I’m going through such a complicated process to acquire Barings Bank is simple.

Because I can.

I have money, and power—normally not something you can buy with money—happens to be on the market in a form that money can buy... so there’s no reason not to.

Money, by nature, is the fundamental commodity in a capitalist society, but it’s not an absolute medium of exchange. You can’t do politics without money, but that doesn’t mean having a lot of it wins you an election...

‘...To be honest, Barings Bank does have quite a bit that needs to be cut off.’

It’s not quite Lehman Brothers level, but if I try to swallow it all at once, I’ll get a stomachache. I need to carve out the unnecessary parts under the pretext of restructuring and keep only the core assets.

Of course, the biggest problem is people. There’s just no one suitable to use.

Anyone who’s ever played those old Romance of the Three Kingdoms games would know. At the start, you steamroll the dumb AI, but eventually, even if you can win battles, there’s a point where you stagnate because you don’t have the generals to actually occupy the cities...

This was exactly that kind of situation.

“Anyway, the real problem is that there’s no one trustworthy... Si-hyun, don’t you have any friends worth recommending?”

“Recommend? Uh...”

Maybe she was reminded of something from the past—Lee Si-hyun flinched and gave a little shiver.

“Ahaha, it’s fine if you recommend your siblings too. They haven’t joined the company yet, so laundering their background would be easy. Should I send them to study abroad in the UK or something?”

“Ah, no. That’s okay. Thinking about it again... I’m not sure I’d want my siblings working at a place like this...”

“What? What’s wrong with our workplace?”

I asked in surprise. Si-hyun hesitated and mumbled before finally answering.

“I mean... do you really not know? There’s this huge rumor that if you say the wrong thing, you might end up buried somewhere off the East Sea...”

...That’s not very efficient, is it? It’s not like we’re in the CCTV-ridden 21st century or anything.

“Those kinds of employees are taken care of by Joo-eun.”

“...Exactly, and the fact that you say things like that so ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) casually is the problem. Sometimes when I hear you talk, it honestly creeps me out. You’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you? You’re not actually the kind of person who’d get blood on her hands.”

I grumbled and shook my head.

“Seriously, we really do need to work more on employee training. They're way too soft.”

In the end, the problem was dragging normal employees from Daehwa Securities into some kind of shady secret society. I should’ve recruited more extraordinary people from the start...

Even if Grandpa had given his permission, there was a limit to the talent pool I could raise within the framework of Daehwa Group.

That’s exactly why I’ve been breaking my back trying to spread my influence across the world. Once I acquire Barings Bank, I’ll be able to expand my influence in Europe too.

“Yaaawn...”

So, so...

I’ll just sleep a little first.

***

The next day.

Clinging to its pride, the UK still refused to withdraw from the ERM. They also refused to bail out Barings Bank.

Instead, like Sweden, they raised short-term interest rates to 20% and tried to forcibly clamp down on the pound’s liquidity.

“Knew it.”

I scoffed. Alpha Fund still wasn’t on Quantum Fund’s level, huh?

But what now? The two of us are on the same side this time.

[George Soros Joins UK Front! Injects $12 Billion into Pound Short-Sell!]

[Sweden Collapses, Finally Announces ERM Withdrawal...]

[Hedge Funds Regroup, Declare War on the Pound]

[Pound Short-Sell Estimated at $90 Billion...]

-rustle–

The thin, cold feel of paper brushed against my fingertips.

Reading the newspaper at home with a cup of coffee brought delightfully good news. The dominoes I’d lined up were falling one by one toward the UK.

Now... it was time to bring down the pound.

...

As I smiled quietly in satisfaction, the nanny came over to ask:

“Young Miss, it may be summer vacation, but... is it really okay for you to skip middle school? I know it’s fun to play outside, but please don’t push yourself too hard.”

Her eyes scanned me up and down in concern. She didn’t say it out loud, but she was clearly worried.

...Ah, right, I came home yesterday looking totally wiped.

“It’s fine. I’ve already been given permission not to go anymore... I only need to show up for things like the entrance ceremony or exams.”

I hugged the nanny and buried my face in her chest. If she still saw me as a child, then I could act like one. freewebnøvel.com

“Besides... I don’t want to go to school. It’s annoying, and I hate wearing that uniform.”

Waaah. Ha-yeon doesn’t wanna go to school.

“....”

-sigh–

The nanny gently stroked my hair and let out a soft sigh. The smile on her lips looked a lot like mine.

“I may not be an educated person... but I get the sense that you’re doing something really big, Young Miss. Aren’t you?”

I hadn’t told her anything about what I was doing—didn’t want to put her in danger—but she seemed to have picked up on it from raising me all these years.

‘That’s right, the nanny’s always been sharp.’

In my past life, I heard she’d helped Yoo Jin-cheol manage one of Daehwa Group’s subsidiaries quite well. Sure, the environment’s completely different now, so she can’t do it anymore... but that brain of hers isn’t going anywhere.

“...Yeah.”

I didn’t deny it.

“Just don’t push yourself too hard. What matters most is your happiness...”

“But I’m already happy.”

“Sometimes it’s not a bad thing to live like an ordinary person. If you run too fast, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s really important.”

In her arms, speaking like a mother, I thought to myself.

Ordinariness.

There was a time when I wished I could’ve been born a normal little girl. Being hated by my father left deep scars in my childhood.

But...

“It’s okay, Nanny. I like being extraordinary.”

“Really?”

I nodded. She picked the wrong moment.

If I’d just come back from a massive failure, maybe. But right now? You don’t tell someone who just hit a royal straight flush in poker to watch out for gambling addiction.

Besides, I’m the kind of person who can land at least two pairs every round.

“I’m seriously so happy right now. So much that I wish life could always be like this.”

At least for now, I was truly, perfectly happy.

Because I loved money and power like a lunatic.

***

The value of the pound kept rising and falling. The Bank of England was desperately trying to stop it from dropping.

Raising interest rates wasn’t enough—they were opening the national treasury and outright buying pounds... but how long could they keep that up?

The Bank of England’s vaults weren’t infinite.

Meanwhile, I skimmed through a contract with a faint smile.

It was the contract to acquire Barings Bank.

“Shouldn’t they be paying me in dollars instead of pounds?”

The pound’s about to go to hell—might as well get paid in dollars to preserve the value.

Hearing my mockery, Yoo Seon-jun clicked his tongue. He was currently at a bank in Berlin, so we were talking by international phone call.

-“Man, you’re seriously ruthless.”

“What’s ruthless is how Barings turned a $700 million loss into a $1 billion loss. Ugh, what am I gonna do about my money?”

From the other end of the line came a mutter full of disbelief.

-“...Since when was it your money?”

Even as he said that, Yoo Seon-jun didn’t really deny it. The losses had snowballed because they’d failed to catch Nick Leeson in time.

And I was the one who had to cover all those losses, so technically, yeah, it was my loss. Though I’d already squeezed a good chunk of that money out of Leeson...

That’s that and this is this.

Who told them to sign a contract with me, anyway?

“There’s not quite enough in the Berlin bank to cover it all... I’ll have to move the Swiss funds there first to make up the difference.”

-“What about the pound positions?”

“Leave that at $10 billion. If you pull it out now, the loss will be too big.”

I juggled the numbers in my head, moving the money around. Thankfully I’d prepped in advance—normally, a bank like this would be too big for me to absorb.

To secure liquidity, I had to go with the most efficient setup. There was already so much money tied up thanks to the Soviet collapse.

“I got permission to use the overseas Daehwa branches, but... damn, I wish I had more money.”

No matter how much you earn, it’s never enough. And there’s always more ways to spend it than you can count.

Still, I never hesitate to spend when I need to. If I need money, I’ll just make more.

A moment later—

-“Ah, hold on.”

Seon-jun stepped away briefly, then came back sounding excited.

-“Hey, Ha-yeon. Barings just called. If they don’t get a bailout by tomorrow, they’ll accept your acquisition offer.”

The surrender of what was once the UK’s top bank.

My whole body shivered with a wave of thrill.

‘Finally...’

I fought to suppress the grin creeping up my face and asked:

“How much bailout have they raised so far?”

-“About $200 million.”

“Ahaha! Good. That’s what I like to hear. Do you have any idea how much effort I put into this?”

And one day later—

The bailout never came.

Barings Bank became mine.