Chapter 56
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: The Business Begins (3)
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The Splendid Flower House had closed its doors, but no one paid it any mind.
They said it would return after renovations, but no one held any expectations.
“Are you really going to do it for half price?”
And so, Jinmyeong was once again being pestered by Yang Jeon.
People were already hard at work, having demolished the old Gumaru building and started constructing the new Splendid Flower House.
“Don’t you think it will be fine? Just looking at it now, the building will clearly be magnificent.”
They were currently staying in the lodging built next to the construction site of the Splendid Flower House.
It was a place both luxurious and comfortable, with no inconveniences whatsoever.
If a hastily made lodging was this good, one couldn't help but have high expectations for the newly built Splendid Flower House.
“If the exterior is impressive, customers are bound to come in.”
“Yes. That’s precisely why I’m asking. Why half price?”
This place already had no customers and made no money.
For now, they were getting by on Jinmyeong's personal funds, but that couldn't last forever.
“It’s clear you don’t quite understand, Yang Jeon.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
“It’s to draw people in. The price has to be affordable for people to think, ‘Shall I give it a try?’”
If the price were high, there would be no reason to come to the Splendid Flower House.
There were already other good places, so why would they come here?
“So, are you planning to keep the prices low forever?”
“Of course not. One hundred days. Exactly one hundred days.”
During those hundred days, they had to attract a massive number of customers and become famous.
“They’ll get used to the half-price and become captivated by the Splendid Flower House. Then, even when the prices go up, they will come back.”
“I’m not so sure.”
Thanks to the help of the Namga Merchant Guild, the liquor was high quality, and the chefs were excellent.
And the courtesans Jinmyeong had brought were also exceptionally beautiful.
But this was no ordinary pleasure house.
“Will people spend a lot of money in a place where they can’t even hold a courtesan, but can only watch performances, drink, and talk?”
“Well, that remains to be seen.”
Yang Jeon remained skeptical, but Jinmyeong appeared more confident than expected.
“And we’ll charge so much that commoners can’t even enter the private rooms.”
“Pardon?”
“How about we set the fifth floor at around one hundred silver coins?”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
One hundred silver coins! Who on earth would come here!
Who would spend an amount that could feed a family of four for four years in a single day?
“Still, I think the fifth floor has to be priced that high. A place where ordinary people can’t even set foot. What do you think?”
“Even if you ask me what I think…”
Yang Jeon couldn’t answer easily. He couldn't be sure if what Jinmyeong was saying was truly right.
If anything, he felt Jinmyeong was thinking too simplistically.
“People who feel superior because they have a lot of money. We’re catering to those people by offering them an exclusive place.”
“…Will that work?”
“We have to make it work.”
Wasn’t that why he had hired new chefs and brought in only the finest liquor?
“And how is Yuran?”
“She has talent.”
The woman Jinmyeong had bought for five silver coins.
Resting and eating well here, her emaciated body had begun to fill out.
The scars on her face were also fading, revealing the beauty that had been hidden beneath.
“Is that so? Then it’s right to make her the mascot—or rather, the face of this place, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It seems so…”
The one who absorbed the teachings of the Four Gentlemen the best was Yuran, who had never learned anything before.
She was absorbing all of the Four Gentlemen's lessons at a truly incredible pace.
“Then she will become the master of the fifth floor.”
“Ah…”
“Still, she’ll have to show her face at first.”
We couldn't hide their faces from the beginning.
For the first hundred days, all the courtesans had to appear and present themselves to the customers.
“The second floor will be ten silver coins, the third twenty, the fourth fifty, and the fifth one hundred.”
“…I really don’t know.”
“The first floor is cheap, so anyone can come. But from the second floor up, you can’t get in without honor, power, or money.”
Yang Jeon realized.
He would never be able to change Jinmyeong’s mind.
“There are so many rich people in this wide world.”
The scions of the Five Great Families, the children of major merchant guilds, and the offspring of high-ranking officials.
Those were the exact people Jinmyeong was targeting.
Even in a different era, as long as the rich got richer and the poor got poorer, there would always be those born with a silver spoon.
“If this fails, don’t blame me. It’s your money, Young Master.”
“That’s right. It’s my money, so I’ll do as I please.”
In the end, Yang Jeon gave up on trying to persuade Jinmyeong.
As Yang Jeon’s worries deepened, time passed.
Finally, the magnificent Splendid Flower House that Jinmyeong had envisioned was completed, and its doors finally opened.
“Is this really that place, Gumaru?”
“It seems they’ve changed the name to the Splendid Flower House now.”
“That old name was terrible.”
And on the day the Splendid Flower House first opened its doors, people began to flock to it.
However, it didn’t take long for looks of confusion, rather than anticipation, to appear on their faces.
“This is a pleasure house?”
“It just looks like a simple tavern.”
Normally, the term ‘pleasure house’ brought to mind a typical red-light district establishment.
But the first floor of the Splendid Flower House they were seeing now looked more like a tavern or an inn than a typical pleasure house.
“Come, come, please have a seat. You can order from here.”
There were even waiters in the pleasure house.
The waiters skillfully guided the customers to their tables.
“Hmm.”
They felt they had been tricked by the half-price offer and had come for nothing.
But swayed by the waiters’ adept guidance, they found themselves ordering food and drinks before they knew it.
“It doesn’t seem like a pleasure house, but…”
“Let’s just think of it as a tavern.”
“Still, isn’t it surprising that we can drink this liquor at this price?”
It seemed the half-price claim wasn’t a lie.
Although it wasn't the pleasure house they had expected, their spirits lifted at the fact that they could enjoy excellent food and high-quality liquor at a low price.
“Are those the courtesans of this place?”
“Magnificent.”
The customers watched quietly as the courtesans appeared with their instruments.
The courtesans who appeared gave a simple greeting to the customers, then went up on the stage Jinmyeong had built in the center of the first floor and began to play their instruments.
“What in the world is this?”
“A sudden performance?”
As the courtesans who had appeared out of nowhere began to play music and dance, the customers looked bewildered.
“Mm. This is certainly good.”
“This isn’t bad either.”
Their confusion was brief.
They quickly became engrossed in the courtesans’ music and dance.
They began to pour and drink their liquor faster and faster.
“The reaction is better than I thought.”
“Still, I think it will be difficult for a while.”
The immediate reaction wasn’t bad, but Yang Jeon was still pessimistic.
It was likely because of the preconceived notion that a pleasure house was part of a red-light district.
“We don’t always have to be the same as everyone else. Who knows? Maybe other pleasure houses will start copying us later.”
“Well, I’m not so sure about that.”
It was impossible to know if such a pleasure house truly existed in the Central Plains.
But if such establishments were to become popular, it would undoubtedly be because of the Splendid Flower House.
“Have the courtesans who finish their performances move around discreetly.”
“Yes.”
Not all the courtesans performed at once.
Jinmyeong had no intention of letting the non-performing courtesans remain idle.
They had to move around the first floor, becoming conversation partners for the customers.
“I wonder what’s on the second floor?”
“I heard you have to pay quite a bit for that floor.”
“How much?”
“Ten silver coins, I think?”
“Is it that amazing?”
The customers talking about the second floor still couldn’t understand.
Of course, the food and liquor were delicious.
The courtesans dancing and playing music at the front were a feast for the eyes and ears.
But it didn’t seem like it would be worth ten silver coins.
“Don’t they stop you from touching them even if you go upstairs?”
“No way. It’s ten silver coins, after all.”
The most important rule at the Splendid Flower House.
Unless a courtesan consented, you must never touch her.
When they first heard this upon arriving, it was so absurd they thought they had misheard.
If they had heard this beforehand, they wouldn’t have even considered coming to the Splendid Flower House, half price or not.
In any case, because of the threat of being thrown out, most were only talking with the courtesans, but not everyone was the same.
“Aah! Stop it!”
“Tsk! What’s with all the screaming!”
Jinmyeong frowned at the sharp scream followed by a man’s voice.
“If you’re a courtesan, act like one and pour the drinks! Why are you so high and mighty!”
The man, his face flushed as if he were drunk, grabbed the wrist of the courtesan next to him and shouted.
“Sir.”
“Huh? What is it?”
The man turned his head irritably at the voice coming from behind him.
A man with a massive build was looking down at him.
“You can’t do that in the Splendid Flower House.”
As Mak Il, the eldest of the Mak brothers, smiled with a menacing face, the man who had been harassing the courtesan froze.
“Sir, I’m afraid you’ll have to leave now.”
“Huh? What! Who are you!”
Mak Il said, grabbing the man by the scruff of his neck.
The man tried to resist, but he was no match for Mak Il.
“I’m a customer!”
“I’m sorry, but the Splendid Flower House has no need for customers like you.”
The reply didn’t come from Mak Il.
The man scowled at Jinmyeong, who had appeared before him.
“Who are you!”
“The owner of this place.”
“Oh yeah! Perfect! To build such a ridiculous pleasure house and then act so unreasonable!”
“If you don’t like it, don’t come. But if you do come, you have to follow the rules.”
The man, about to lunge at Jinmyeong, froze as an immense pressure crushed his body.
He thought Mak Il had pinned him down, but that wasn’t it.
In fact, Mak Il was standing still, some distance away from him.
“Ugh.”
An inexplicable chill made his body tremble uncontrollably.
And the man realized it was because of Jinmyeong, who was smiling in front of him.
“Get out.”
“…Ugh.”
“I won’t take your money.”
But even at Jinmyeong's words, the man couldn't move.
All he could do was somehow remain standing on his trembling legs.
“He’s fainted. How could a man who knows no martial arts withstand your killing intent, Young Master?”
The situation was finally resolved only after Yang Jeon stepped in.
Mak Il threw the unconscious man outside.
After the sudden incident, the noisy Splendid Flower House became incredibly quiet.
They never imagined that a customer would actually be thrown out.
“That was quite a commotion. Please enjoy yourselves.”
The quiet atmosphere only broke after Jinmyeong went up to the second floor.
“But is this really okay?”
“What now?”
Yang Jeon had immediately followed Jinmyeong.
He felt Jinmyeong’s action of kicking out a customer was a bit too harsh.
“What if we lose all our customers because of this?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Jinmyeong looked down again at the bustling atmosphere of the first floor.
“Don’t get the wrong idea, Yang Jeon. This is just for fun. I was a little serious, but it doesn’t matter if this place fails.”
Was it because Jinmyeong's money was invested in it?
Or was it because Jinmyeong had worked harder than he expected?
It seemed Yang Jeon had come to believe that the Splendid Flower House absolutely had to be filled with customers.
“So don’t you attach too much meaning to this either. It’s nothing more than that.”
Hearing Jinmyeong’s words, which felt almost cold, Yang Jeon could only nod.