The Proposal — Part 2

How many joints does a human body have?

I didn't know the exact number, but I was fairly certain the world would benefit from me adding one or two extra joints to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠scoundrel in front of me.

When my eyes met Lim Hayeon's exasperated expression, I gave a solemn nod. Jeon Gilsan. Today, you leave this room as a hand-crafted mutant with several brand-new joints.

"Wait! I'm not saying I'd steal your business!"

Jeon Gilsan, apparently reading the mood, shouted in a desperate voice.

"I know all about the thuggery you pulled in Yichang! Looks like I need to fix that lying mouth of yours first."

Lim Hayeon's heels lifted as if she might bolt across the room at any moment. Gilsan hastily crossed his arms into a clumsy guard and yelled out again in panic.

"In Yichang I threatened my competitors, sure, but I never forcibly seized a business! Didn't I promise generous compensation when I tried to recruit author Hopil, too?"

Lim Hayeon turned to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me, silently demanding confirmation.

"He did say something like that."

Displeased as I was, I nodded.

"Haaah. Well then, I suppose there's no talking sense until we clear up this misunderstanding."

Jeon Gilsan let out a deep sigh, as if trying to calm his startled heart, and looked at me.

"And what misunderstanding would that be?"

"I never once asked you to avenge what Daseogak did to me."

Gilsan declared this surprising fact with a grave face.

"You never asked us to avenge you?"

Where exactly did this bastard learn to lie like that?

"Even I wouldn't be so senseless as to go after every last one of them, not when my mess in Yichang already has the Sichuan Tang Clan tangled up in it. I lost the business, so I figured I'd set personal feelings aside."

"But my Daseogak was taken from me."

I glared at Gilsan, my expression demanding he elaborate.

"Haa. All I did was explain things to my mother. Wasn't I obliged to tell her why I failed in Yichang? What I never imagined was that she'd run straight to Grandfather with it."

"Liar! Then what was all that tiger talk just now about?"

"Urk! Th-that was! It felt satisfying in the moment, all right? And look, common sense says if a cub gets bitten, the mother tiger isn't going to just sit there, is she?"

So much for setting personal feelings aside.

Gilsan's face flushed crimson, whether from the shame of confessing his bluff or something else entirely.

"And I'm supposed to believe that, in the position you're in?"

"It's the truth! Do you honestly think I want to spend the rest of my life flinching at every meal, terrified of a hand at my throat? This was entirely my mother's and grandfather's scheme! It truly has nothing to do with me!"

Gilsan protested his innocence with his whole body, desperate as a man on trial for his life.

Jeon Gilsan, you absolute fool. Getting roughed up by the Sichuan Tang Clan must have left a scar. Right. So ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he's claiming this whole thing unfolded under his mother's skirts. That tracks.

I could picture it clearly: the Mangeum Lord's face, roaring with laughter when word reached him that his scoundrel of a grandson had been given a taste of his own medicine.

So the Mangeum Lord hadn't dragged me to Wuhan purely out of a grandson's revenge after all. This idiot had certainly provided the spark, but he'd only lit the fuse — the real reason lay with the Lord of the Baek Family Manor.

"As it happens, I was just about to write a letter to Sichuan..."

Because I'm genuinely furious that you handed them the spark. I casually let a letter bearing the name of the Sichuan Tang Clan show itself on the table.

"I told you, no! I swear it's not true!"

Gilsan shot to his feet, face drained white, shaking all over as if to prove his innocence.

"Saying it isn't true changes nothing."

"Haaah. Fine! Even if it's not my fault, I'll take moral responsibility."

"And what exactly does taking moral responsibility entail?"

"I'll buy this business of yours at a handsome price."

"A handsome price for my business?"

"Food delivery by carrier pigeon. I believe it's a business that will bring a revolutionary transformation to the restaurant trade of Wuhan. I'd been wondering whose brilliance lay behind such an idea — and to think it was yours! Consider my sense of honor: I'll pay you the full sum written on this note. Is that not a generous offer?"

Jeon Gilsan held out a promissory note I knew all too well.

"Hmm? What's this?"

It was identical to the note the Mangeum Lord had given me. Even the amount was the same.

"Well? Does that make you willing to hand over the business?"

"It's a large sum, yes, but next to what I've sunk into this venture, it falls short."

I shook my head at Gilsan, who wore an insufferably confident smile.

"Is this really such an expensive business to run?"

Gilsan's eyes went wide, utterly unable to believe me.

If you won't take my word for it, then I'll just have to show you.

"Gugu, come here."

"Goo-goo!"

At my call, Gugu flew from her cage to the table in a single glide.

"So this is the Giosugu everyone in the capital's been talking about."

Let me show you exactly why.

Ready, Gugu? I caught her eye, then unfurled the hand signals I'd learned from Lim Hayeon.

"Gugu! Roll left! Roll right! Somersault!"

In the cramped space atop the table, Gugu performed a series of tricks wondrous enough to charge admission for, in the space of a breath.

"Oooooh. To think a bird could follow commands that well. GYAAK! The damn thing just—!"

"Goo-good!"

Having grasped the situation, Gugu performed one more somersault and splattered droppings all over Jeon Gilsan.

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that Gugu truly is a spirit beast.

"As you can see, the training costs for a Giosugu are astronomical. Factoring in the initial investment, the sum on that note wouldn't even recover my principal."

"Hmm... Then, as part of my moral responsibility, I'll throw in a trained pigeon handler — and double the sum on that note."

"Double?!"

It was a figure that made the eyes snap wide open.

"But there's a condition. We write up two copies of the contract."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's a little complicated. You pay the money first, and once you've received it, you stamp the contract at the price I originally proposed."

"You want a backdated contract? Why?"

Anyone actually buying the business would have no need for that. Why, then?

"There are... complicated family matters. Let's leave it at that."

"Double, you say..."

It was certainly a large sum — enough to buy and renovate two taverns outright.

"With that, you could go back to Yichang and open a respectable bookstore, even if it's no Daseogak. You've got Wind and Cloud of the Tang Clan, your debts would be settled — you could rise again. Well? Is that not enough by way of moral responsibility?"

It was, without question, an attractive offer. And yet something was off.

Why would a man with no interest in business, one who wants to live off his parents' money, offer to buy a business?

When an opponent dangles bait right in front of you, the question isn't what's on the hook — it's why they're dangling it at all.

Why has this situation come about? Why did this man come to me with this offer?

Moral responsibility? Fear of the Sichuan Tang Clan? No. Those are secondary. He didn't even know I was here.

I searched my mind for the clues I'd been given.

Jeon Gilsan, the Mangeum Lord's grandson. A promissory note from Mangeum Bank — the same note as mine. Add to that a backdated contract, something you'd only need if someone was going to verify it. And those "family matters"?

I had a suspicion.

"Do I need to decide now?"

I deliberately let hesitation show on my face as I asked Gilsan.

"You'll need time to think it over. The first repayment review date isn't far off, but... I'd say you have about three days."

Repayment review date? My suspicion was hardening into certainty.

"If I make up my mind, I'll send word to Mangeum Bookstore."

"I'll await a good answer."

Jeon Gilsan gave a nod and withdrew.

"Shall I sprinkle salt on him?"

"Goo-goo! Goo-goo!"

Furious, Gugu thrust her rear end toward the spot where Gilsan had vanished.

"That's enough, Gugu. No more pooping!"

"Goo-goo..."

Oh, don't you fake disappointment at me.

"Lady Hayeon, could you run to Haomen for me?"

"What for?"

"There's something bothering me. I need information."

If my hunch was right, this deal must never happen.

"Understood. I'll be back before you know it."

Lim Hayeon returned with Haomen's intelligence faster than I'd expected.

"So the Mangeum Lord gave his grandsons the same trial as mine..."

I sat in my office, murmuring quietly to myself. I knew it.

According to the information she'd brought back, the Mangeum Lord's grandsons had recently begun launching new businesses of their own.

Why would the Mangeum Lord's grandsons be taking the same test as me?

No — I had it backwards. Why was I taking the same test as the grandsons?

For an instant, the words the Mangeum Lord had spoken at our first meeting flashed through my mind.

"No... there's no way."

The Mangeum Lord knew about my relationship with Hwarin — it couldn't be. I gave a rueful chuckle at my own absurd imagination and turned my thoughts elsewhere.

What the grandsons were doing now was most likely the succession trial for Mangeum Bank itself.

The one to carry the Mangeum Lord's will, and the one to carry the will of the Lord of the Baek Family Manor. Since both trials measured roughly the same qualities, he'd probably simply couldn't be bothered to design separate tests.

"If I sell the business for double the principal, I could clear the make-a-profit trial in a single stroke."

The real question was whether that money would be enough to satisfy the Mangeum Lord.

Selling off a business I'd built mere months ago, and claiming to have inherited the Baek Family Lord's will with whatever I made off it — would that satisfy the Mangeum Lord?

Were I in his shoes, I'd find a thousand faults with the story. And there was another problem on top of that.

"Gugu!"

"Right. I have to solve your master's problem too."

I gently stroked Gugu as she landed on my shoulder, then sank back into thought.

If I sold the business now, I couldn't even earn the Simun's recognition. And then I'd never be able to save Lim Hayeon.

Selling to Jeon Gilsan was a losing gambit — one that couldn't even guarantee a solution to a single problem.

If I kept the business running steadily instead, I could earn twice the principal, and if I squeezed hard enough, I might even manage to buy Lim Hayeon's miracle.

"It'd be like slitting open the belly of the goose that lays golden eggs."

Why on earth would I sell the one business only I could run?

"Goo-goo?"

Gugu stared at me as if to ask how I could say such a thing about her.

"No, no — I didn't mean I'd actually cut you open..."

She fixed me with a look of wounded distrust and slipped straight back into her nest. I gave a soft laugh, then turned my gaze to the ceiling.

Selling the business to Jeon Gilsan was the inferior play. But now that I was truly wrestling with it, one worry remained.

The delivery business was running smoothly, sure — but could I actually recover the principal within the allotted time? Could I reach a sum that would satisfy the Mangeum Lord?

The business kept growing, but time was running short. If only there were a way to make money faster.

The problem was that I'd spent every last coin on that promissory note. No more gambles left to take.

Huh?

A way to make money faster?

"There is a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠way to multiply money without spending a single coin."

Not the inferior play — the superior one had just come to me.

My next meeting with Jeon Gilsan was arranged in short order.

"So, have you decided?"

"Double the principal is certainly a handsome sum. But when Mangeum Bank itself is at stake, the arithmetic changes."

I declared this with the swagger of a master detective who had unraveled the whole affair.

"Tch. Where'd you dig that up from? So you're saying you need more money?"

"That's not it. It's about the backdated contract. Isn't that a bit of a fraud? What if the Mangeum Lord finds out about it — do you really think he'll let it slide?"

"A-as long as we're not caught..."

Gilsan mumbled evasively, looking rattled.

"This is a trial handed down by the Lord himself. Bluntly speaking, Mangeum Bank tracks every coin flowing through Wuhan. Are you truly so confident you won't be caught?"

"...If you keep your mouth shut, it'll be fine, won't it?"

"Haaaaah."

You fool. You absolute scoundrel. I couldn't hold back the sigh.

The Mangeum Lord's grandson-farming has been a fantasy from start to finish.

This was a deal that should never have existed in the first place. Stamping that backdated contract would amount to deceiving the Mangeum Lord himself.

Getting dragged into a succession war for no reason could see him withdraw his promise to erase my debts as a gesture of goodwill. And yet I hadn't summoned Jeon Gilsan here merely to refuse him, either.

I had to pass the Mangeum Lord's trial. And for that, I needed to use this man.

"At that drinking party back in Yichang, you said you had no confidence in business, remember?"

I dredged up the conversation from that night of drinking with Gilsan in Yichang.

"It's not that I have no confidence..."

Unable to actually claim he had any, Gilsan avoided my eyes.

"Bluntly put, you're saying you've no confidence in beating your competitors, aren't you?"

Where do you think you're hiding? I drove a cold blade straight into his weak spot.

"Ugh..."

Wound stabbed — time to apply the salve.

"How would you like a way to run a business that runs itself, so long as you have the money?"

I flung the seductive offer at the scoundrel.

"You want me to invest? I'm supposed to be running a business."

"What I'm offering isn't an investment. It's a business."

"And what business could possibly work like that?"

One does.

Gilsan had to run a business, and I had to make money. Which meant I needed him to believe he was the one running it — with all the risk resting on his shoulders.

A business where Jeon Gilsan did all the suffering, and the money quietly flowed into my pocket.

And I happened to have one perfect offer in hand — one that would let me bleed this fool dry, whether he flourished or crashed and burned.

"Tell me — have you ever heard of a franchise, Gilsan?"

Jeon Gilsan. Become my slave.