Opening the Gate — 2
Lim Hayeon's cooking had unmistakably improved by leaps and bounds.
"I tried a full spread of beef bulgogi today."
Subtle side dishes balanced against a main dish where the flavor hit with confidence. Even the rice was cooked to the chewy texture I like, and there was soup to boot.
It was a truly fine breakfast table to start the day with.
"Well, well."
No wonder I'd heard bustle and clatter in the small hours. Was she short on sleep and still preparing from dawn?
"This time I prepared everything myself. Well, Chef An did give me a little advice... but still."
Lim Hayeon said, fidgeting with both hands, looking a touch embarrassed.
"Delicious. Let's eat together."
For a woman who, mere months ago, hadn't known the first thing about cooking to reach this level — I couldn't help but marvel. Was it Chef An's teaching skill, or Lim Hayeon's capacity to absorb?
"Mmm."
Lim Hayeon too seemed pleased with my wordless eating, letting out a contented little hum.
"..."
"Lady Jegal. Does the food not suit your palate, perhaps?"
Jegal Hyang had eaten a few side dishes, then fallen silent, simply staring at me.
Maybe there wasn't a dish she liked.
"N-no. It's deli... i-it's, it's quite edible-oo."
Jegal Hyang stole a glance at Lim Hayeon, then gave a halfhearted nod.
"So that's the end of the meals Lady Hayeon makes for us. Sibi will be arriving this evening, you see."
Lunch would be at the inn, and from dinner onward Sibi would be doing the cooking. So this marked the end of Lim Hayeon's cuisine.
I deliberately put on an exaggerated look of regret as I turned to her.
"If you want, I could keep making it for you?"
"...I shall look forward to dinner."
"Just insult me instead!"
"It was, ah, tasty, though."
It was true she'd improved enormously — though going from zero counts as enormous improvement too, doesn't it.
A meal a woman makes specially for me is a romance in its own right, but if I ate it every day, I suspect I'd prefer a professional's cooking.
"Haah. I'll bring the tea."
Was something written on my face? Or did Lady Jegal simply not eat much breakfast?
Jegal Hyang barely touched her meal, and until it ended she kept sneaking glances at me without a word.
"Thank you for the meal."
We finished off the meal with tea that Lim Hayeon served.
"...?!"
Jegal Hyang took one sip, then froze, staring at her cup with wide, startled eyes.
"Haha. Lady Hayeon brews a remarkable cup of tea."
I'd never been much of a tea drinker myself, but I made a point of drinking whenever Lim Hayeon brewed it.
"There are sweets too — say the word if you'd like more."
Lim Hayeon offered the plate, and Jegal Hyang looked at her with a strange expression before finally picking up a sweet.
Breakfast was more or less finished. Shall we talk a little business now?
"There is something I wish to discuss with you ladies."
"Since organizing the branch's books is nearly done, let's discuss promoting the branch."
Living with three of us under one roof makes for pleasant mornings.
Branch owner, manager, and middle management, all gathered in the mansion's living room to confer over breakfast. It really is nice.
Of course, having two candidates for the title of Hubei's Most Beautiful Woman seated on either side of me was a feast for the eyes as well — that much goes without saying, almost painfully so.
"With Wind and Cloud of the Tang Clan's reputation, I don't suppose we'd need to put much effort into publicity, would we?"
Lim Hayeon set her teacup down on the table and tilted her head at my words.
It was true that Dangga Pungun was growing famous in Hubei Province, and that the fake Hophil affair had spread its name even further. People had already come to the unopened branch asking after it, after all.
"There's a chance fewer readers will come to Daseogak on account of Dangga Pungun than we expect. True book lovers may well have already found ways to read it."
Dangga Pungun wasn't being sold in Wuhan, but plenty of readers could have gotten copies from Yichang, or bought pirated editions printed in other cities.
"That could well be. Unlike Yichang, there are lots of big shops here like Mangeum Bookstore, so we'll have competitors to think about too."
"Which is exactly why I want us all to put our heads together on how to promote Wuhan Daseogak. Do you have any ideas of your own, Lady Jegal?"
"..."
I turned my head to find Jegal Hyang gazing blankly into space, lost in some thought.
"Lady Jegal?"
"Yes, Ho... no! I mean — no, Young Master Kang!"
Was she thinking about something else? Or just drowsy after breakfast?
When I explained the publicity question again, Jegal Hyang shook her head.
"Then I'd better go first with my plan."
Naturally, ideas don't just pop out because it's morning.
I looked back and forth between the two women and spoke.
"Have either of you prepared anything?"
I nodded toward Lim Hayeon.
Readers who had already read Dangga Pungun. Readers who knew the name but had never cracked a volume. I had one stratagem prepared for the readers who were about to become devoted fans.
"To commemorate the branch opening, I intend to offer an autographed copy by the author Hophil as a prize."
My strategy: the signed copy.
A promotional tactic beloved even in the modern era.
"Pardon? Whose autographed copy?"
"A-a-an autographed copy by author Hophil-oo?"
Both women shot up from their chairs in alarm and stared at me.
"Each purchase of one book earns a raffle ticket, and at the end of the month we hold the drawing for the prize."
"An autographed copy by author Hophil..."
"With a system like this, even readers who've already read Dangga Pungun would be far more likely to buy the copy sold at our branch, wouldn't they?"
"At that point even the Daseohoe members would come to buy."
"C-can I buy one too-oo?"
No need to be that shocked yet. I smirked and went on.
"And that's not all."
Because I still have another part of the plan.
"When you smile like that, it makes me nervous."
That's harsh. Nervous? I'd call it something to look forward to.
"The first month, Volume 1; the second month, Volume 2; the third month, Volume 3 — each will be the autographed prize."
"Th-then wouldn't someone who bought the whole set in the first month have to buy again to get the autograph-ooo?"
"Precisely. To obtain all three autographed volumes, you'd have to buy again the following month — even if you'd already bought the books."
Three rounds of drawings, repeated over three months. To win the signed copies, readers would have to keep buying Dangga Pungun.
"Wow..."
"That's shameless commerce worthy of you. Why not offer a bonus gift to anyone who collects all three, while you're at it."
Lim Hayeon seemed in high spirits at meeting the wicked merchant Kang Yunho after so long, watching me as if she couldn't look away.
"That's my Lady Hayeon. You read me perfectly."
How did she know?
"Huh?"
"Collect all three, and I'll trade them for an autographed Volume 4. Well? At this point, wouldn't collectors be drooling?"
Do not be satisfied with a single signed copy.
Collect the full set of signed copies, and the next volume's signature is free. Stop the gacha, and you can never obtain the Volume 4 signature. So keep pulling until you've collected them all.
The infamous gacha system known as the Complete Gacha.
"..."
"Haah. I've been tainted by this too..."
While Jegal Hyang sat utterly speechless, Lim Hayeon sighed softly, a bitter look on her face.
"It's a good idea, but there's a problem."
Lim Hayeon reheated the tea water and turned to me.
"What problem is that?"
"Once we get author Hophil's permission for the autographed copies, Daseogak delivers the books to him, he signs each one by hand, then Daseogak retrieves them and ships them as prizes — wouldn't that take far too long?"
Yichang to Wuhan is the same as sea freight from Seoul to Busan.
Even granting it was river shipping, counting the round trip at every stage meant we'd never have the signed copies in hand, let alone by opening day. Who knew when they'd arrive.
A fair point.
"Have faith in me. I have a solution."
The truth was, I'd already had them made in advance, expecting exactly this.
At the right moment, I'll just say Hophil sent them along. Simple.
"Well, if you say so, I'll trust you."
"..."
Why does Lady Jegal keep staring at my face?
I turned my head away from the gaze fixed on me.
"Lady Jegal. Is there something you wish to say?"
At the turn of my head, Jegal Hyang averted her eyes in embarrassment, then opened her mouth.
"Is, is author Hophil coming here in person?"
No. He's already here.
"Oh! Of course. Author Hophil could just come himself, couldn't he?"
"That's not quite it, but I have my own methods, so don't worry. Now — any good ideas beyond mine, anyone?"
"..."
Lady Jegal is a pass, then. It's not as if she's the type to push an opinion forward even if she has one. Perhaps I should ask her later, through something like a diary.
"How about we hand out flyers?"
When I shifted my gaze to Lim Hayeon, she offered up an idea.
"Like we did for the inn's affiliate launch?"
"Except this time, the branch staff will hand them out wearing qipao dresses."
"..."
Is she a genius?
"Wh-what? They can just do it with an escort along, can't they?"
No need to be embarrassed. It's an idea that deserves a thumbs-up.
"I think we can call this meeting adjourned."
Taking my Complete Gacha and building on the flyer distribution I'd taught her — remarkable.
I even gave Lim Hayeon a small round of applause.
"What was that for?"
Lim Hayeon waved her hands, wearing an ambiguous smile — was it pleased, or rueful?
"Um..."
"Yes, Lady Jegal?"
Had Jegal Hyang come up with an idea worthy of applause too? If so, I'd have to award bonus points and give her the seal clap.
I looked at her expectantly.
"What's a qipao?"
"Ah, so Lady Jegal hasn't yet seen the staff uniforms."
Since I'd had expensive silk commissioned for the new staff members' outfits, I hadn't yet been able to distribute the qipao to everyone.
"Shall I go put one on for you?"
Lim Hayeon rose from her seat with a magnanimous air.
"You may show everyone once the staff uniforms are finished."
No. Absolutely not.
This is hardly the time to be putting one on.
"Hm? What's the harm?"
"We have a great deal to do today, that's all."
"It wouldn't take that long, though..."
"Even leaving now, the schedule will be tight — let's get moving. I'll help clean up."
Lim Hayeon looked at me with a vaguely suspicious expression, but since nothing I'd said was wrong, she soon joined in tidying up.
A close call.
Smoothly deflected.
The truth was, I'd asked Mangeum Hall to tailor a qipao for Jegal Hyang as well, and I couldn't bring myself to say that what I really wanted was to see the two of them wearing theirs together.
"Uuuuugh. The gap is just too cruel-ooo."
A lady of the house must support her man properly-ooo.
Beauty, work, cooking, tea — the more I looked, the fewer cracks I could find to wedge myself into-ooo.
"I want to be useful to Young Master Kang too, just like Hayeon-unni-ooo."
But there's a whole picture-scroll of a gap between "capable" and "delusional." What with my hobby being nothing but reading, how on earth could I ever outdo Hayeon-unni-ooo?
With her two working housemates gone for the day, the jobless-yet-landlady Jegal Hyang, youngest daughter of the Zhuge Clan, sat alone in her room, muttering in agony.
"Miss Jegal Hyang! And here I find you, with your room still a mess!"
"Eep!"
Sibi barged in without warning, and Jegal Hyang startled up from her seat at the sudden arrival.
"Here's what you asked for — Young Master Kang's personal details and information on author Hophil. I told the Head Steward, and he arranged it all nicely for you."
"Thank you so muuuuch."
"I'll start cleaning from the outside in, so set aside anything you need on one side."
Sibi surveyed Jegal Hyang's room, wrecked after only a few days, sighed inwardly, rolled up her sleeves, and marched out.
"Come to think of it, now's not the time for this-oo."
Jegal Hyang dashed to her desk with the information Sibi had brought.
The question she'd realized yesterday.
Why does Young Master Kang's handwriting match author Hophil's?
Why is the style of Young Master Kang's diary so similar to author Hophil's Wind and Cloud of the Tang Clan?
That sense of wrongness she'd felt even during breakfast. Spreading the given information, the new information, and everything she had observed across her desk and her mind, she began retracing it all, step by step.
"I still need more evidence-oo."
If her deduction were a battle formation, it lacked the single line, the single stone, needed to complete it.
How could she find that evidence-ooo? Jegal Hyang pictured the room beyond the corridor — a room brimming with evidence.
No, I can't. That would be improper. But the truth is in there-oo. And what could matter more than the truth-oo?
After endless deliberation, Jegal Hyang nodded firmly.
"It's been a while since my last deployment-ooo."
Infiltration master of the home front, genius of escape, artisan of formations. Jegal Hyang pulled a box out from the corner.
"No one will ever catch me-oo."
Infiltrating Young Master Kang's room it is.
I finished my work quickly, returned home, and opened my door to find a familiar box sitting there.
What on earth?
The moment the door opened, the box made a break for it — or tried to. Not. So. Fast. I slammed the door shut faster than anyone alive.
"Heek!"
A tiny scream, barely audible, rang out from inside the box.
Why is it in my room?
Taking my eyes off the box, I noticed the air around it shimmered hazy white.
That perception-obscuring formation I'd shown her before, was it?
When I panicked and moved to stand by the door, the box — realizing its escape route was now blocked — began creeping cautiously along.
Though of course I could see its every move perfectly clearly.
"Lady Jegal."
"..."
The box jolted, visibly startled.
"My lady. Wrapping yourself in a box does not, in fact, make you invisible."
"Eh? How did you know-oo?"
Ah, right — that's a focus-concentration technique. I can see the box just fine.
"If you have something to say, take the box off and say it."
"Heek! Young Master Kaaaang!"
I lifted the box in one go. Inside, Jegal Hyang stared up at me with the frantic look of a beaver whose dam had been demolished overnight.
"Wh-what brings you to my room?"
"W-well, you see... it's this-ooo."
Jegal Hyang gingerly handed me a familiar book.
It was Hophil's autographed copy of Dangga Pungun.
Had she come seeking one, being such a devoted reader?
"Young Master Kang. May I ask you one question-oo?"
"Of course. Ask away."
Awkward. Is she about to ask why there's an autographed copy in my room?
Should I say Hophil sent them ahead and casually give her one? Or shut her up by scolding her for barging into a man's room uninvited?
Just as a hundred options flashed through my mind —
Jegal Hyang, her face boundlessly earnest, drew out a single question that made me forget every one of them.
"Young Master Kang is author Hophil, isn't he-oo?"