Striking It Rich (2)
“Peonies? Puhahahaha!”
“Are you out of your mind?”
“Winter’s almost here. It’s exactly the season when peony seeds dry out, which means the price is at its highest...”
“Right. Looks like he doesn’t even know the basics of trade.”
“He must want to buy when it’s most expensive and sell when it’s practically worthless.”
“Besides, peonies are only good for their pretty flowers and the roots, which can be boiled down for medicine. They’re not even that important as herbs.”
The moment Seok Geum-ryong said he wanted to buy peonies, laughter burst out from all over the Geumhwa Merchant Group’s ranks.
“Pfft! Y-you really mean that?”
Even Geum Dosong, the head of the expedition, had to ask again, incredulous.
“Of course.”
By contrast, Seok Geum-ryong did not waver in the slightest.
If he had been an ordinary man, he would have been swept away by the public’s opinion. But Seok Geum-ryong was different.
More than that, he had committed nearly ten years’ worth of information to memory, and none of it would ever be forgotten.
“You’re not seriously saying you want to spend all ten gold pieces on peonies, are you? There’s an old saying merchants pass around: never put all your eggs in one basket. That means...”
Though Geum Dosong thought Seok Geum-ryong was hopelessly ignorant of the world, he still tried to show a little charity since, at least in name, the young man was Seok Myeo-hee’s younger brother.
“Ah, yes. I know that very well. But peonies are oddly irresistible to me.”
With his wide, innocent eyes blinking as though he had never suffered a hard day in his life, he stared fixedly at the peonies. It was infuriating how pure he looked.
This boy probably didn’t inherit even one-quarter, one-tenth, no, one-hundredth of Lord Seok Jisung’s business sense.
If this had been his own son instead of a young master from Seokga Manor, he might have been tempted to knock some sense into him. In the end, he only laughed.
“...As you wish.”
And deep in his heart, Geum Dosong sneered at and belittled Seok Geum-ryong. He had heard the boy had no maternal clan to lean on and no real foundation behind him, and even clicked his tongue at the thought that he might die before passing the family’s fifteenth-house examination.
“Here are ten gold pieces. I’ll pay the full amount up front, so... I’d like to buy as many peonies as possible.”
Even amid everyone else’s mockery and ridicule, Seok Geum-ryong did not even blink as he swept up every peony available on the market.
“Oh, my! What an excellent choice. The price is a little high right now, but since you’re buying so much, we’ll give you as many as we can.”
The merchant handling the direct sale rubbed his hands together with a broad, tightly suppressed smile, looking as if he had just hooked a perfect sucker.
Seok Geum-ryong could see right through their thoughts, but he did not give in.
Just wait. Exactly one month from now, you’ll see what happens.
Seok Geum-ryong, who knew the future, was certain of a complete victory.
* * *
It had already been half a month since Seok Geum-ryong had followed the Geumhwa Merchant Group and bought no fewer than three carts’ worth of peonies, while ridicule had continued to rain down from every direction.
The Geumhwa Merchant Group still had plenty of spare capital, so they had gone on to purchase all sorts of grain in addition, while Seok Geum-ryong, having spent everything he had on peonies, had not even enough petty cash left to pay for meals.
“Should we really not give that precious young master any food?”
“Don’t bother. Lady Seok Myeo-hee said we didn’t need to give him any special treatment.”
“Besides, just look at his face. He must be starving, and yet he still won’t beg for a bite.”
Whenever Seok Geum-ryong got hungry, he simply took the Bigu Pill he had prepared in advance to stave off hunger and got by on that.
But after nearly half a month of that, his strength finally began to run thin.
Maybe I should have left myself some silver for meals?
The thought came to him for an instant, but he shook his head hard.
Because in just a few days, he would make ten times, no, even more than that in profit. He had to buy as much as possible, even if it meant going hungry for a while.
That was the only way the gains would be enormous.
Grrrrumble.
He was still holding out against hunger when it happened.
“Young Master.”
Late at night, while all the merchants slept, a slender boy approached him in the dark.
Seok Geum-ryong immediately let his guard down at the sight of the boy’s familiar face and clothing.
“You are...”
“Yes. I’m Jang Sam, one of the porters who came along with the caravan.”
A porter was, in other words, a pack carrier.
This young boy, Jang Sam, was one of the lowest-ranking porters in the caravan, but he was unusually kind-hearted and warm.
“The thing is, I brought this...”
Jang Sam hesitated, then carefully handed over a leather pouch he had been guarding as if it were precious.
To Seok Geum-ryong’s surprise, the pouch held dried beef, along with several other foods that were still warm.
“How did you...?”
Deeply moved by the unexpected kindness of the young porter, Seok Geum-ryong asked.
“I, I actually grew up as the eldest son of a poor family, so I know what it means to be hungry. I’m a fool who doesn’t know much else, but I know that pain very well, Young Master.”
Jang Sam bowed deeply before him, offering his respects with utmost sincerity.
“Thank you.”
How could he possibly express that gratitude?
“Hehe, it’s nothing. If the others see this, they’ll give me an earful, so please eat quickly.”
Jang Sam was just about to leave after sharing his warmth, when Seok Geum-ryong stopped him.
“Here, this...”
What he held out was a plump, excellent peony root.
“Huh?”
Jang Sam looked startled and sniffled when Seok Geum-ryong suddenly offered him the peony.
“For certain illnesses... strangely enough, I’ve heard that water boiled from peonies, flowers and roots together, is good for the body. If you catch a cold, boil it and drink it right away.”
“Haha, yes sir. I understand.”
“You must, absolutely must. All right? You heard me?”
Jang Sam, confronted by the earnest admonition of a handsome, highborn young master who looked like he had stepped out of a fairy tale, nodded in a daze, still not understanding what was happening.
“Yes, sir. I’ll remember it well. Very well.”
Only after hearing that did Seok Geum-ryong finally feel relief.
Because in as little as seven days, and no later than half a month, a historic plague would sweep through Hebei.
At first it would seem like an ordinary cold, chills, or body aches, but in truth it was a vile disease sent by a pestilential demon that took human lives.
As people died one after another, even the doctors would be powerless to stop it.
So when every physician with any name to his was racking his brains over how to create an effective cure, they discovered something astonishing.
Strangely enough, in Gujak County, a tiny village in Hebei that mainly grew peonies, there were people who suffered the early symptoms of the plague, like colds, yet not a single person died.
Attending physicians who took note of this strange phenomenon in Gujak County began to suspect that perhaps peonies had a preventive and calming effect on the plague.
In time, through repeated testing, they would reach the conclusion that peony was the perfect prescription for the plague...
From that day on, a single peony root would trigger an unprecedented price surge in the history of the Central Plains, worth more than a cartload of barley, rice, or millet.
People would even come to blows, and martial artists would kill one another, all for the sake of obtaining that one root. Absurd incidents of that sort would unfold as well.
In his past life, Woo Do-min had no choice but to remember this event in considerable detail, and even Seokga Manor, at the time, had beaten its chest in bitter regret for not buying peonies in advance.
And so Seok Geum-ryong’s caravan journey with the Geumhwa Merchant Group came to an end, and they returned home.
“Young Master Geum-ryong. You must take good care of those peonies.”
“You absolutely mustn’t throw them away on the way.”
“Kahahahah!”
Even now, the Geumhwa Merchant Group was still sneering, but instead of merely mocking him, they had gone to the trouble of transporting all those peonies, enough to fill three carts, all the way to Seok Geum-ryong’s estate.
Then came a feast of peony blossoms, filling the manor with their fragrance.
“Eep! Y-young Master? What in the world is all this?”
“What kind of flowers are these?”
As soon as they arrived, Scholar in Blue Gong Sang-pil and the servant Deung Chon were the first to greet him. But the moment they saw the enormous quantity of peonies, they turned pale and nearly grabbed the backs of their necks.
“Good heavens, you spent all that gold on this utterly useless herb? You bought the whole thing?”
“You’ve been robbed blind, and properly so.”
When even the other retainers under Seok Geum-ryong began voicing their complaints, he smiled brightly and suggested a tasting.
Of course, this was to prevent the plague.
In the end, before anyone in Seok Geum-ryong’s faction could fully voice their grievances, they drank peony-infused water and proper medicinal broth, and spent an oddly memorable night together.
All the while, they had no idea that this was an act that would save many lives.
* * *
After Seok Geum-ryong’s return, there was plenty of talk about how he had bought up an enormous quantity of a useless herb called peony.
Even Scholar in Blue Gong Sang-pil, who cared for Seok Geum-ryong more than most, asked him bluntly:
“Young Master. Why did you buy peony, of all things, when its value rises so little?”
He was serious enough to ask it with a hardened expression.
Seok Geum-ryong, in turn, found himself at a loss for how to respond.
I can’t exactly say I know the future, that a plague is about to break out, and that this is the specific medicine for it, can I?
Just then, as he was struggling for an answer, Seok Geum-ryong’s quick and agile mind found a good excuse.
“Well... I remember that my mother was very fond of peony blossoms.”
“Y-yes?”
“The madam?”
Gong Sang-pil and Deung Chon looked at him in surprise.
The lady of the house had liked flowers and gardens, yes, but had she ever been especially fond of peonies?
They tilted their heads in confusion.
“Near the end of her life, she said she wanted to make a garden of peony flowers. So...”
“Haah...”
“Even so, to invest that much gold...”
Just as a dispute was about to erupt among the few who still could not accept the explanation, the thing everyone had been waiting for finally happened.
“Housekeeper Gong! Housekeeper Gong!”
“Please come out! There’s chaos everywhere!”
The future Seok Geum-ryong had predicted unfolded exactly as expected.
Hoo...
Seok Geum-ryong, driven all the way to the edge of danger, breathed inwardly and felt relief.
At last, it had come.
Sure enough:
“They say the plague has broken out!”
“It’s spreading from poor households first, and because the symptoms are so similar to a cold, nobody knew until now.”
“But strangely enough... word is spreading that the cure is medicinal broth made from peonies, and the price of peony has shot up to five gold pieces per root!”
At last, along with the news that the plague had broken out, the price of peonies began to soar.
Heh.
At that news, Seok Geum-ryong let out a small smile where no one could see him and clenched his fist tightly.
Just as I expected. The future is flowing exactly as I know it should! Unless I interfere completely and change that flow... this won’t be altered by my tiny act of buying peonies!
A great current could not be stopped. Unless one interfered with it too heavily in an attempt to halt it, a mere insignificant action could not change the vast flow of time.
It was the moment Seok Geum-ryong became utterly certain of the future information he possessed.