Hey Rookie, Just Shut Up and Watch
A man clenched his fists and trembled with the thrill of achievement and raw emotion, a long-cherished goal finally within his grasp.
At last… at last! Starting today, I too enter this place!
He was Elder Yu Su-myeong, newly appointed to the Elder Council of the Sichuan Dang Family. Still in his late fifties and young by elder standards, he was also the maternal cousin of Construction Department Manager Gwak Do.
Having completed his appointment ceremony the previous week, today marked his first attendance at the family’s most authoritative gathering—the Grand Council—held in the Family Head’s Hall as a proper, full-fledged new elder of the Elder Council.
Pressing down the hope and emotion swelling in his chest, he thought,
The Elder Council’s power has actually grown greater than when Hong Ilgon’s faction was still crushing the Family Head’s Hall. There’s an enormous amount we can do!
Unlike the past, when they had crushed the main line with debt and schemed through politics, the Elder Council’s current strength came from the usefulness and dignity of digesting the massive volume of work handed down by the Family Head’s Hall. Without the cooperation of the branch families—especially the Elder Council—the household could no longer function, so of course the Council’s authority had risen. Yet even so, the old conflicts between main and branch lines had not reappeared. No matter how high the Elder Council’s prestige soared, it remained a firefly before the moon of the Young Master’s authority. After all, weren’t the core elders of the Council one and all the Young Master’s people?
I too will be recognized as a proper elder and do my utmost to support the Dang Family!
As a new elder, determined to show proper courtesy to his seniors and the main line, he had arrived earliest of all and began greeting those who entered.
“Welcome, Senior Ma Jeonggu!”
A gaunt man with a thoroughly crumpled expression and a deathly black complexion came shuffling in, arms full of document bundles, muttering as he read. At the greeting he flicked his eyes up, saw Yu Su-myeong, and tilted his head.
“Ah, a rookie?”
“Yes! That’s right. I’m Yu Su-myeong, appointed elder starting today!”
“You poor bastard…”
“Pardon?”
Yu Su-myeong looked up at Ma Jeonggu as if he had misheard something strange, but Ma Jeonggu only shook his head. He patted Yu Su-myeong’s shoulder lightly.
“…Hang in there.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
And Ma Jeonggu staggered inside, muttering, Damn it… what sin did I commit in a past life to fall into work hell before I even die…
Yu Su-myeong did not quite understand, but he let it go, assuming something unpleasant must have happened at home.
A short while later:
“Senior U Seong-sik! Good day to you! New Elder Yu Su-myeong presents his respects!”
“…(a pitying look).”
“?”
“No, no. Welcome.”
Or:
“Senior Jin Cheong! It’s been a long time!”
“Eh? What brings you here?”
“Hahaha! I’ve only ever come to report on loan matters, and now we meet like this. I’m still the lowest of the low, but I’m an elder of the Elder Council now. From now on I’ll do my best to assist you at your side, Senior!”
“…Do you happen to have high blood pressure?”
“H-high blood pressure? No, I don’t…”
“…Right. Manage it in advance.”
Or:
“A rookie?”
“Good day, Senior Kwon Ram-hoe! Starting today I am the newly appointed elder…”
“Run for it!”
“Pardon?”
“…No, never mind. I must be tired and talking nonsense. Say, any interest in logistics and supply?”
“Pardon?”
The seniors’ welcomes were far more peculiar and lukewarm than he had expected. Yu Su-myeong burned inwardly.
Hazing, is it… Heh, if they think this is enough to break Yu Su-myeong’s spirit, they’re sorely mistaken! Just wait. Once I’ve read the room, I’ll show them what young vigor really looks like!
He was a diligent, ambitious talent worthy of being named elder, with both ability and drive to match, so he paid little mind to the seniors’ shabby, haggard appearances. Working outside the main house as a branch-family man, he simply had no idea of the murderous workload inside the main family—a sad little misunderstanding.
Soon the meeting began.
“Well then, as the Young Master is currently absent, I shall preside over today’s session, Family Head.”
“Do so, Elder Council Head.”
The elders reported on the status of the business fields or household affairs under their charge and exchanged opinions. That much was content Yu Su-myeong already knew. But… the process itself was drastically different from what he had expected.
“This year’s temperatures have been far too low, so rice production is expected to drop. Since the Sichuan Agricultural Cooperative must purchase crops from members at the contracted field-unit price based on average years, the projected losses come to roughly… this much.”
“Any way to minimize the losses?”
“We can add the main house’s rice to the grain sold to Chagatai and raise the price. Extracting high prices from foreigners is a patriotic act in its own way.”
“Hmm. Compile the details into a report, send it to the Young Master, and obtain his approval.”
“Yes.”
…
“As for this matter…”
“It would be best to do exactly as the Young Master directed.”
“And that matter…”
“The Young Master already gave instructions to handle it this way, so we plan to proceed accordingly.”
“What about that one?”
“To the Young Master…”
Listening quietly, Yu Su-myeong felt his mind growing increasingly distant.
They’re dumping everything on the Young Master, aren’t they?
The elders who ought to serve as advisors to the Family Head’s Hall—who should know their own fields best—would say, “I’ve reached this conclusion on my own, but for the details I’ll ask the Young Master and proceed,” and the Family Head would simply nod “Mm-hmm.” That was the true face of the highest decision-making body moving the Dang Family: the Grand Council!
While Yu Su-myeong sat dumbfounded, the conversation drifted to the recent spy incident. After the Poison Bee Unit Leader finished reporting that the Namgung Family had planted a spy at the Second State-run Ironworks construction site in an attempt to steal Dang Family secrets, the executives of the Family Head’s Hall and the elders of the Elder Council all erupted in fury without exception.
“How can the Namgung Family commit such shameless acts again…”
“We cannot let this stand!”
While everyone raged, Yu Su-myeong looked around with a spark of anticipation.
Yes, now we’ll finally see some proper Elder Council work.
He opened his eyes wide, eager to watch how the seniors would advise the Family Head with clear minds and cold reason. From the seat of honor, Dang Un-sang suppressed his anger and turned to Elder Council Head Bak Chang-eon beside him.
“What does the Elder Council Head think?”
At last…!
Yu Su-myeong gazed at Bak Chang-eon—the living legend of the Elder Council, the man he respected. Was he not the foremost meritorious retainer, praised as having built the present Dang Family together with Hui-yeom?
Surely he will present a brilliant plan I could never have imagined and show the Family Head the way…!
The aged, weary face of Bak Chang-eon only made him look wiser. His eyes, previously hidden under his brows, flashed open with light.
He spoke.
“I believe the first step is to ask the Young Master for his opinion.”
“…?”
“He is a man of outstanding talent to begin with, but more importantly, since it was the Young Master who thoroughly ordered the Poison Bee Unit to investigate whether spies had mixed into the Second State-run Ironworks construction site, he must have already foreseen this situation as well. And knowing the Young Master as we do, he will naturally have prepared a solution already.”
In ordinary circumstances such words might have drawn rebukes along the lines of “Then what are we even needed for?” Yet the achievements Hui-yeom had piled up and the trust he had built among people were more impregnable than the Theodosian triple walls of Constantinople. So instead of rebuking, everyone nodded in understanding. And above all, the very man who ought to have rebuked most—the Family Head himself—was smiling with quiet satisfaction and nodding along.
“In that case, I shall simply convey that the Young Master should handle it as he sees fit.”
“Yes, then we’ll leave it to the Young Master, and let’s end today’s meeting here.”
Ha-ha, ho-ho, they laughed, chatting amicably about what to have for lunch. Amid that warm atmosphere, only one person could not accept the situation: none other than Elder Yu Su-myeong. He looked around frantically, then hurriedly addressed the elder seated beside him—Jin Cheong.
“S-Senior Jin. Is this… all right?”
“? What do you mean, Elder Yu?”
Jin Cheong asked back indifferently, face steeped in exhaustion. Yu Su-myeong pressed on.
“I mean… the process and conclusion of this meeting… wasn’t it all just talk of dumping everything on the Young Master? Is this correct?”
“Ah.”
At the look of sudden realization on Jin Cheong’s face, Yu Su-myeong felt frustrated, thinking the senior had finally noticed the strangeness of the situation. But what Jin Cheong had realized was something a little different from Yu Su-myeong’s thoughts.
“Ah, so the rookie still doesn’t know.”
“Pardon?”
“The Grand Council is always like this. Each elder and executive reports and shares the status of the work under their charge, then for important agenda items they obtain the Family Head’s approval and submit them upward to the Young Master.”
“…Did I mishear you?”
“My, my, are your ears already going at that age?”
Jin Cheong patted his shoulder with a look of pity, as if thinking the man must be suffering under a considerable workload himself. Yu Su-myeong stared at him in a daze and said,
“N-no… so if I summarize what you just said, each person handles the work they can manage, and the work they can’t manage they report to the Family Head so it can be dumped on the Young Master.”
“‘Dumped’? Kindly rephrase it as transferring the work to someone better at it.”
“Isn’t that just wordplay?! Does no one realize how abnormal this situation itself is?!”
When Yu Su-myeong shouted, the gazes of the elders who had been dispersing in twos and threes turned back. Far from shrinking, Yu Su-myeong raised his voice even higher.
“That’s right! I know the Young Master is a heaven-sent talent. But he is still only twenty-three years old—still young! Separate from that wisdom, we elders ought to be supporting him with advice drawn from life experience, yet instead we’re throwing our own work onto him as well! What is this?! And the Family Head, smiling so contentedly while approving it all—what on earth…!”
“….”
“….”
In that instant, silence filled the Grand Council chamber. Everyone froze, eyes round as frogs struck by stones, staring at Yu Su-myeong.
Then a moment later—
“Puhahahahaha!!”
“Hwahahahahaha!!”
One after another they burst into roaring, belly laughter.
“Whoa~ This is why young blood is great!”
“Kyah~ I’m jealous. I used to be like that too.”
“A loyal subject! A true loyal subject, kekeke!”
While everyone cackled, Jin Cheong alone pressed a hand to his forehead and muttered,
“…Idiot.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Looks like a flood of work is about to come your way.”
Jin Cheong moved his body as if avoiding a plague and put distance between himself and Yu Su-myeong. While the dazed Yu Su-myeong stood blankly, Bak Chang-eon approached him.
“Elder Yu.”
“Ah, Elder Council Head.”
“Come to think of it, Elder Yu has not yet received a duty assignment. Is there a post you hope for?”
Originally an elder’s role had been to run branch-family businesses and merely offer advice on the main family’s operations. Under the system Hui-yeom had rebuilt, it was different. Of course they still ran their branch businesses, but they also had to participate actively in the main house’s operations and enterprises. Everyone handled main-house work and branch work together while keeping their original duties. …And astonishingly, the volume of work the main house processed had increased several times over. In any case, elders now also received and carried out assigned duties.
Here it comes…!
Yu Su-myeong’s eyes lit up.
“I would like to take charge of managing the Secretariat!”
His ambition was none other than to seize control of the Secretariat, the body that could stand at the side of Hui-yeom—who could be called the real power of the Dang Family—and assist him. And using that career as a springboard, in ten years I will become Elder Council Head!
Yu Su-myeong’s eyes shone with ambition. These so-called senior elders are all pathetic, every last one of them. This won’t do. I, I must succeed Elder Council Head Bak Chang-eon!
In his mind he was already picturing himself standing like a shadow beside an aged Hui-yeom who had become Family Head after Bak Chang-eon’s passing. What a magnificent sight that would be.
“…Are you serious?”
Bak Chang-eon’s eyes appeared once more from beneath his brows. They could not hide their horror. That post was one of the duties Bak Chang-eon himself held.
“I am!”
Yu Su-myeong’s spirited reply.
“Uh… um… w-well…”
Bak Chang-eon fidgeted with an unreadable expression, murmuring things like Is this right? or Still, we should try to keep people alive, shouldn’t we? or No, before that I need to stay alive myself… Finally he squeezed his eyes shut and spoke with solemn gravity.
“Very well. From today you are the elder responsible for the Secretariat. I will hand over the work, so follow me.”
“Thank you!! I will certainly repay your trust!”
“Just don’t desert.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing.”
Exactly one month passed.
At the Grand Council convened once more, Yu Su-myeong spoke with a soul-drained expression.
“…Thus, this agenda item has been submitted upward to the Young Master.”
Only now could he understand the seniors. The volume of work had never been something a human being could digest. Calling a life lived like a person “laziness” or “incompetence” was simply wrong!
While despairing at his own lack of ability, Yu Su-myeong thought through a mind blurred by sleep deprivation,
But what the hell is the Young Master, who processes every single task that flies over from us while also running his own businesses and handling new ventures?
Something on the level of Bodhidharma or Zhang Sanfeng of business? Watching him grind people into fuel to run enterprises, maybe he was some kind of blood demon who grew stronger through human sacrifice.
With such idle thoughts, Yu Su-myeong began to doze off.
And while the meeting proceeded in that fashion—
The Heavenly Sword Unit of the Namgung Family came seeking the main plaque of the Sichuan Dang Family, radiating a menacing aura.