The Gift — 5
What would happen if I could pass the trial on the branch store's profits alone?
Starting this business was pointless after all. Clearly the sales from Dangga Pungun are where the real money is. Haha. Please finish the ledger calculations, I'll be on my way. Goodbye forever, debtors' life.
Would the Mangeum Lord really let that slide?
He does show me favor, true — but he's a schemer whose favor always comes twisted, so I couldn't let my guard down. And watching the branch store today, so beautifully appointed, my suspicion crystallized into certainty.
He will never sit still.
Marry my granddaughter and this building is yours as a wedding gift. A lure dangled in plain sight.
If I announced I'd pocket the net profits and call the trial done — marriage be damned — he certainly wouldn't take it lying down.
Not that I intended to give up the branch's profits. But the Mangeum Lord was not a man to underestimate. So what was I to do?
The solution, as it happened, had been prepared long ago.
"Different ownership or not, this is, above all, a Daseogak branch. It follows the parent store's management policies — naturally, I'd say?"
First, set the stage.
Not an independent Wuhan bookstore, but a branch of Daseogak. A fact the Mangeum Lord himself had acknowledged — I simply confirmed it once more.
"Yes. Of course."
Once he'd agreed, it was time to spring the plan.
"Then the branch's books will be purchased from the Daseogak main store."
Touching net profits might earn his displeasure?
Then I'll simply eat the distribution margin in the middle.
At my unexpected proposal, Jeon Unyeop's eyes went wide with astonishment.
"Yichang may be close by, but books that sell well in Wuhan will move at a pace Yichang can't begin to compare with. Rather than that, I'll connect you directly with the printworks."
"The Yichang main store has its own printworks. We can handle the volume easily enough."
I held up three fingers to indicate how many presses I owned.
"You truly possess three of those expensive printing presses?"
"Two of them are brand-new models, no less. That's more than enough to run the Wuhan branch without a hitch."
"Assuming they can be transported along the Yangtze waterways."
Printing them is only half the job. What about shipping? That's what he means, I suppose. Well.
I've prepared for that too.
"I already hold a long-term contract with the Seocheon Escort Agency, so it's no trouble at all."
"You had even that arranged in advance?"
This kid. He can't shut his mouth, can he.
The branch store plan had been in the works since the day I returned to Yichang. Supply books exclusively to the branches along the Yangtze. Daseogak, the first bookstore anywhere to release Dangga Pungun — it was bound to work.
Though I hadn't expected to open a branch this much sooner than planned. But the Mangeum Lord had permitted the branch, so the main store's operating policies would be beyond his reach.
"Might I ask — is the Mangeum Exchange assisting with operations as well?"
I tossed one more question at the speechless Jeon Unyeop.
Be surprised by this too. Disappointing if you didn't. And besides — I've got one more thing my eye on.
"Naturally. Neither of you has any connections in Wuhan, so we intend to support you actively until you find your footing. Originally, we planned to arrange book purchases through Mangeum Bookstore as well."
"And you'd have recruited the staff through the Mangeum Exchange too, I take it."
I gave a light smile and looked around the Daseogak. A large bookstore in the heart of the commercial district. It would surely need plenty of hands?
Perhaps sensing something sly in me, Jeon Unyeop spoke up with a slightly uneasy expression.
"You don't mean... to hire Joseon people? For deliverymen it might pass, but some customers balk at them as bookstore staff, so I'd advise against it."
"No. Hire most of the staff through the Mangeum Exchange."
Had he heard the rumor that I'm some Joseon association leader? Good deduction, wrong target.
What I want is something else entirely.
"When you say most?"
"For a portion, I'll be using talent I've prepared myself."
For exactly this moment, I had personnel trained the Spartan way.
"I'm sorry, what...?"
"You cannot come in here!"
Just as I was about to answer how operations would work, a commotion broke out beyond the door.
"The manager here is my manager, so I've come to see him!"
"You cannot enter!"
"Ah! Manager Kang!"
How on earth did she find the place? The girl waving from the doorway was Ha Soso.
"Perfect timing. Let her in. It's been a while, Soso."
I called out the name of the girl I hadn't seen in an age, warmth in my voice.
Her showing up at the branch was a surprise, but the timing couldn't be better. When opportunity knocks, act as if you planned everything.
"Hee hee!"
The moment resistance at the entrance weakened, Soso folded herself up like a rabbit and came bouncing straight to my side.
"And this young lady is?"
"One of the talents I've prepared. The branches will operate by hiring managers dispatched from headquarters."
Administrative staff who had been diligently building hands-on experience in Yichang.
Along with the printworks, they were the crucial cards that would make me money.
Daseogak's Wuhan branch, in the end, ran on the same core principle as the restaurant franchise business I was building in Wuhan.
How much influence the parent store could exert over its branches.
Book production through the printworks, managers dispatched from the main store, and the most important people and goods monopolized by headquarters — it really was that simple.
It was a business model even the Mangeum Lord could not help but acknowledge.
"Soso, who are you looking for?"
Her face bright with reunion, Soso was scanning the room like a child on a holiday hunting for the uncle who hands out allowance.
I'm the one who pays your salary. Who exactly are you looking for?
"Oh, nothing at all! Wow! This Daseogak seems even bigger than the one in Yichang!"
"The managers will have to work hard here. You did say you wanted to transfer, didn't you, Soso?"
I'd already spread the news in Yichang about recruiting branch managers.
"Yes! I came early to scout the place — and have some fun, of course!"
"Good to have you, Soso. You were brave, coming to a strange city all alone."
"Hee hee! You're here, and Hayeon unni, and plenty of people I know. Plus room and board, and better pay than I make now. A girl's got to work hard so she'll have a proper dowry saved up when she meets a good husband!"
Soso cracked jokes as if it were nothing.
She had a point, though — in a world where girls married in their late teens or early twenties, even the ever-cheerful Soso, daughter of a poor family, must have her own quiet worries.
"Haha. Right. Is the Yichang Daseogak running well?"
"It is not! Do you have any idea how big the hole you left behind was, Manager?"
Soso glared up at me, wounded to her core.
"Haha."
"The managers were in an absolute panic — 'what do we do now?' — every single day!"
"I heard they adapted quickly enough and are running things well."
"Well, they're all literate, capable people. And we had the head butler uncle, too."
The ever-reliable Baek Manor head butler, as expected. Having once commanded an entire great manor, he was the finest man a person could trust with anything.
"Thanks to him, I could come here with an easy mind."
"Uuu... he barks whenever anyone makes a mistake, but everyone was praying for you to come back soon."
Soso hunched her shoulders and scrunched up, as if she could still hear his scolding ringing in her ears.
"I wish I could go back soon myself."
How I want this trial over, so I can write Volume 4 of Dangga Pungun in peaceful Yichang.
"But, Manager."
As I brooded with a rueful face, Soso stepped right up in front of me and called out.
"Hmm?"
Why is she looking at me so warily?
"Where are they?"
Covering her mouth with one hand, she asked in a hushed voice.
"Who are you talking about?"
Why is she glancing around like that? Was she really searching for someone this whole time, not just looking at the store?
"Maybe... maybe a hideous, monstrous beauty is hiding somewhere, something like that..."
Who on earth is she talking about? Just as I opened my mouth to ask, a loud voice rang out from the entrance again.
"Young Lady Jegal Hyang has arrived!"
She's here at last.
What—? Before I could even turn toward the entrance, Ha Soso had already gone bounding toward it.
"Where, where?!"
"Hm?"
"AAAHHHHH?!"
Soso. Why are you screaming.
"Young Master Kaang."
I've finally pulled myself togetherooo. Jegal Hyang approached Kang Yunho with a body as wobbly as ice cream that had melted and only just barely congealed back into shape.
"Are you feeling all right?"
Startled by the sight of her staggering toward him, Kang Yunho hurried over with a worried look.
"Hnk! Yeees! I'm suddenly all better!"
And yet it was so hard just getting back hereooo. Why do I feel so wide awake all of a suddenoo? When Jegal Hyang saw the concern written on his face, something strange and warm seemed to swell up in her chest.
"Thank goodness."
"And the... the person beside you...?"
Why is she glaring at me like thatooo? She looks absolutely furiousoo. Jegal Hyang's shoulders shrank back instinctively.
"......"
Ha Soso's eyes were burning.
"I'm s-, s-, s-, so sorry for as-, askingaaa!"
Something about the mood demanded an apology. Jegal Hyang found herself bowing her head before those smoldering eyes without quite knowing why.
"She's one of our main-store staff. Apparently she mistook you for the branch owner. Soso, this is Young Lady Jegal Hyang, the owner of this branch. ...Soso?"
"This... this isn't how it's supposed to be..."
Ha Soso gave Jegal Hyang a stiff bow, then slunk off into a corner, shoulders sagging.
"Now that Young Lady Jegal has arrived, let's go up to the second floor, shall we?"
Jegal Hyang and Kang Yunho nodded through the awkward atmosphere and went upstairs with Jeon Unyeop.
"Wow!"
"Ohh..."
The second floor of Daseogak was a sight that would put any of Wuhan's finest teahouses to shame.
"We built the second floor with the ambition of making the teahouse that would represent all of Wuhan. We used huali wood, the finest of fine hardwoods, and gave the same painstaking care to the reading area and the tea-and-conversation space alike."
Jeon Unyeop's confidence was justified — the second floor was genuinely, lavishly elegant.
"You've put real care into the service counter as well."
The counter Kang Yunho pointed to was stocked with a whole array of implements for preparing teas and confections, neatly arranged.
"Time was short, so we bought ready-made pieces, but they'll serve your purposes more than well enough."
"Excellent! Then, Young Lady Jegal."
Kang Yunho turned to her with a faintly mischievous smile.
"Yes?"
"Shall I pour you a coffee?"
Jegal Hyang could only stare, dazed, as Kang Yunho slipped behind the counter with practiced ease and began preparing it like a seasoned teahouse attendant.
Young Master Kang is... making coffee for meooo.
Watching him examine the unfamiliar implements with such a serious face, she found she simply could not look away.
Here was the man she was courting — dressed to the nines, working, and all for her.
Only a counter stood between them, and yet this unseen side of Kang Yunho set her heart tingling in the strangest way.
"Hnk. Yes. Coffee, pleaseoo."
Somehow I feel like I've become Young Master Kang's one and only customerooo. Jegal Hyang answered with a small, shy smile.
"Any preference?"
"Whatever you give me, I'll drinkoo."
"If you're going to run a Daseogak, you ought to experience situations like this, shouldn't you? It's not quite one of ours, but there's a menu right here. Look it over and tell me what you'd like."
Jegal Hyang looked down at the offered menu.
"Ah, um, that is..."
Ordering something in a place like this is completely new to meoooo. The words simply would not come.
"There's no need to feel pressured. I'm the one taking the order, so think of it as practice — go ahead and order."
Right. My first coffee order in my whole life, and I'm placing it with Young Master Kang. If we're going to run this place together, I need to know these things toooo. Jegal Hyang steeled herself and ordered.
"A-, an Americano, please."
A textbook-perfect order, measured to the inchooo. Privately satisfied, she puffed up with pride.
"Please choose a cup size."
And it had only just begun.
"I'm sorry?"
"It's on the menu."
Next to the word "Americano" were characters Jegal Hyang had never once laid eyes on in her life.
What on earth is this writing? If it's an Americano, say Americano. I've never seen it in my lifeooo. Should I ask Young Master Kang? But what if he's disappointed in me for not knowing something like thisoo?
With a trembling hand, she pointed at the characters beside the Americano and spoke.
"Americano... T, please."
"Ah, you mean a Tall size?"
Tall. What is that? Is it bigooo? I can't drink big cups though. Jegal Hyang pointed, hand trembling again, at the other word.
"Then S. S-, s-, small, please."
"Ah, you mean the Short size."
Small was small — but what's Short? Why on earth is the menu written in words nobody understands, I ask youooo! Jegal Hyang wanted to scream.
"Th-, then T — no, a Tall, pleaseoo."
Is it finally over? At Kang Yunho's nod, she let out a long internal sigh of relief.
"Shall I make it cold? Or hot?"
"C-, cold, please."
This much I can doooo! Jegal Hyang felt like applauding her own quick thinking.
"I'll add just the right amount of ice. Shall I add an extra shot as well?"
The order, however, was not yet over.
Sh-, what's a shot? Is a shot different from a Short? I distinctly ordered a Tall. Could Young Master Kang have misspoken? No. That can't be itooo. N-, noooo. Then what is it? I don't want to look foolish in front of him. I don't want to be thought of as a woman who can't even order a cup of coffee... this is too hardoooo!
"Ah, um, thatthatthatthat..."
Jegal Hyang, who hours ago had been melting into a puddle, was now slowly freezing solid, like ice.
Ordering coffee by oneself.
It remained, for her, a realm far, far beyond reach.
"Ha... this is bad."
Ha Soso watched it all from the side, an expression of utter exhaustion on her face.