Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: The Furious Merchant
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“Argh, ptooey!”
Yoon Kang-deok spat right in front of the building.
“Hey! What the hell are you doing?”
The security guard came rushing over, and Yoon Kang-deok shot back without backing down, eyes blazing.
“Ah, I’m going, I’m going~!”
“Ugh, seriously. Don’t ever come back!”
As the guard yelled with a scowl, Yoon Kang-deok grumbled inwardly.
‘Who said anything about coming back? Hmph!’
He’d come in person this time, but next time, they’d be the ones seeking him out.
Yoon Kang-deok trembled with rage at the humiliation he’d just suffered.
In his 26 or 27 years of business experience, had he ever been this furious?
He’d heard plenty about young people these days, but experiencing it firsthand was utterly mortifying.
A snot-nosed kid staring him down and talking back to an elder like that!
‘The world’s gone to hell, truly gone to hell!’
Yoon Kang-deok vented his surging anger by kicking a utility pole rolling on the street.
Boom!
“Ow!”
Of course, the pole was fine, and only his foot throbbed in pain. Yoon Kang-deok glared at it resentfully, muttering curses under his breath as he limped away.
Before long, he arrived at a bustling alley.
The retro vibe screamed 60s-70s, with shops so packed that crowds spilled out, people lining up just to grab numbered tickets amid the sea of humanity.
‘That place just has a waiting crowd, huh? Damn, they’re really raking it in.’
Yoon Kang-deok clicked his tongue at the café across from the gukbap joint.
How could small merchants like him compete against such massive capital? Song Woo-yeon’s advice had already evaporated from his mind, replaced by blind fury.
A bit further down, he spotted [Happiness Snacks], teeming with young people. Rumor had it they were famous for some food challenge. Cameras flashed constantly—no quiet days there.
And at night, it burst with customers downing chicken feet and soju. No doubt they were shoveling in cash by the bundle.
‘Meanwhile, the gopchang place next to us is deader than dead every day!’
Sure, their gopchang had a faint off smell, but wasn’t that just par for the course with the stuff?
It didn’t bother Yoon Kang-deok’s palate much.
‘That nuclear spicy chicken feet or whatever is supposed to be brutally hot. Why do people even like that crap?’
He just couldn’t wrap his head around it.
Turn the corner, and there was a sleek café.
Snowflake bingsu or something. Yoon Kang-deok had tried it once before—not bad at all.
Regular bingsu crunched with ice chunks that hurt your teeth and chilled your gums, but this snowflake version melted smoothly in your mouth without any of that.
‘That one’s pretty good.’
It was the only bingsu spot in the alley, too.
Yoon Kang-deok eyed a touch more kindly. Through the clear plate-glass window, he could see it packed inside.
His stomach suddenly churned, so he whipped his head away.
Picking up the pace past Bingwa, the crowds thinned out. Peering into other shops’ windows, there were customers, but nothing like a mob scene.
Compared to what he’d just seen, it left a bitter taste.
‘Sang-wook’s place struggled at first but finally got going. Thought they were turning a corner, and now back to square one.’
One step,
‘They closed today? Makes sense—veggie prices have skyrocketed lately.’
One step,
‘Café’s lost all its customers. Everyone’s flocking there instead. Damn it.’
With every step, his gut twisted. A jealous rage coiled tight in his belly, hard to suppress.
Yoon Kang-deok’s steps halted in front of one shop.
[Wholehearted Noodles]
The weathered sign from years of companionship filled his vision. Standing there, the past felt numb.
“Hey, Grandpa. What took you so long? Skipping lunch service?”
The mill owner next door peeked out and asked.
“I was worried you might be sick or something.”
“Don’t even get me started!”
Yoon Kang-deok exploded.
“You have no idea what happened when I went to those bastards!”
“Those bastards?”
“Yeah! That place over there!”
Yoon Kang-deok jabbed his index finger toward [Hapjae Neighborhood Gukbap 0212].
“The gukbap joint? Why’d you go there?”
“That owner’s got no manners! Treating elders like dirt. Don’t you dare buy anything from there. Got it?!”
Even as Yoon Kang-deok ranted furiously, the mill owner looked utterly unfazed.
“Is that so?”
“I’ll make sure those punks can’t do business here! Let ‘em know that!”
“…….”
“They think they can ignore the merchants’ association and just keep going? Huh? They stole all our customers—they should be groveling in apology. No business ethics, none!”
The mill owner listened quietly until Yoon Kang-deok paused to catch his breath amid his fury, then dropped casually:
“That owner there doesn’t seem the type.”
“What?!”
“I mean, maybe you’re misunderstanding, Grandpa? When that gukbap place first opened, their owner handed out rice cakes to everyone around here. Always greets folks whenever we cross paths. Super nice to people.”
Yoon Kang-deok froze at the unexpected response.
“What, you siding with them over me?!”
“Oh, come on, Gramps. What’s with picking sides at our age? I’m just saying there’s gotta be a mix-up or something.”
The mill owner muttered to himself, ‘First time a shop owner’s shared rice cakes with a mill guy like me. Gotta admire the gesture~.’
Frustrated that things weren’t going his way, Yoon Kang-deok flushed red and raised his voice.
“No, not that owner! The head guy overseeing all those shops over there. He’s the rude one!”
“So what if he is? Why drag the innocent gukbap owner Kim into it?”
“Clear water at the top makes clear water below! Seeing that branch manager’s attitude, that Kim guy’s no saint either!”
“Nah~. That gukbap owner Kim’s not like that, I’m telling you.”
As the mill owner parroted “not like that” like a parrot, Yoon Kang-deok frustratingly thumped his chest.
“Whatever he is, I can’t stand seeing those jerks do business here! Not until dirt’s in my eyes!”
“Whew. Alright, alright. Calm down. Nobody’s saying otherwise.”
The mill owner shrugged and backed off, knowing Yoon Kang-deok’s stubborn streak made further talk pointless.
But Yoon Kang-deok didn’t stop there—he doubled down.
“It’s not just that one! Everything around there’s the same!”
He started lumping all the shops under The Song and cursing them together.
“Yeah! All those places need to go bust before they wise up!”
At that, the mill owner, who’d been heading inside, turned back.
“That’s too harsh.”
“What?!”
“Happiness Snacks is run by Owner Han. You know that—why talk like that?”
“Ahem, hem.”
Yoon Kang-deok cleared his throat awkwardly, realizing his slip.
“Owner Han’s been through hell and back. And that son of his? Such a dutiful kid, helping out every day so his mom doesn’t strain herself. How admirable is that?”
In Korea, no elder hates a filial son.
“Ever since they met that head office boss, things have gone smoothly for them. They praise him nonstop, call him a benefactor. What’d you do to go cursing up a storm like that?”
“Th-that was…”
“You didn’t go blabbing some merchants’ association nonsense, did you?”
“It was an agenda passed by majority vote at the last meeting! What’s wrong with that?”
“Barely scraping 51%! And how many even showed up? Sigh, world’s a mess.”
The mill owner tsked.
“Anyway, quit the nonsense and prep for business. Gukbap Kim’s an outsider, sure, but the other owners are our alley folks. Stir up bad blood, and it’ll bite us all~.”
“I’m not badmouthing! This is the right thing!”
“Yeah, yeah~.”
The mill owner waved dismissively and ducked inside.
Yoon Kang-deok’s bellowing drew curious peeks from other owners, who eyed him strangely, wondering what was up.
Feeling their stares, Yoon Kang-deok snapped preemptively.
“You’re all getting screwed over too! I’m stepping up to get your compensation— what’s the problem?!”
Surrounding voices chimed in one by one.
“……Sigh.”
“Hey, for Owner Han’s sake, ease up.”
They tossed retorts and slipped back inside, leaving Yoon Kang-deok alone.
“Ha!”
He let out a hollow laugh. It was absurd. Just moments ago, he’d swelled with righteous fervor to crush the den of evil and uphold justice.
Now, standing solo on the street, he felt pathetically small.
“What the hell… Why is it turning out like this…….”
Yoon Kang-deok muttered blankly. His lost voice scattered limply into the air.
“Wonder if he’s caught on by now.”
I propped my chin, gazing out the window.
Didn’t I say it?
I’d figured from the start it might play out like this.
-But Woo-yeon, handing stuff out not to customers but to nearby shops… What’s the point?
-It matters. A lot.
Layer by layer, one by one—they’d piled up, waiting to become fertilizer.
-Smile bright, bow politely when you hand them out. And if you pass neighbors, give a quick nod too.
-uh, uh? Even to strangers?
-Yes. Do it.
All of it would become a shield protecting me later.
“Like now.”
I smiled faintly.
The shops were business as usual today. Booming.
I flipped through papers to the next page.
Time to move to the next phase.
Franchise management.