Chapter 29
Chapter 29
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Time to Grab the Clubs (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Old Man Jeon?"
Sima Geon, who had been wolfing down the snacks Sima Jin had prepared, jerked his head up in surprise.
"That's right. The atmosphere's been off for a while now, but I never thought he'd pull the trigger so suddenly."
As Sima Hyeon spoke, Cheol Woo—who had been shoveling food into his massive mouth—reached for a bowl of cheap liquor.
"That's weird. Is he sick or something? He looked perfectly fine when I saw him a few days ago."
"It's not so much illness. He said he's just worn out from a lifetime of ranching. Tired of it all."
"Then just hand it over to his sons. Oh, wait—does he even have any?"
Sima Hyeon shook his head at Cheol Woo's question.
"Three sons."
"What? Is the old man looking for a successor like this place?"
Cheol Woo asked with a look of disbelief.
"Nah. All three brothers have made names for themselves as merchants, from what I hear. Who knows, though—there might be some backstory. Word is the eldest and second son took a big hit financially. Anyway, the key point is Old Man Jeon's ranch is about to change hands soon, and the buyer has no intention of running it as a ranch."
"What a headache."
Sima Geon frowned. They'd been getting a steady supply of cattle, pigs, and sheep from the ranch for their business.
"At least he's offering to sell us his livestock first. And at a discount. The problem is the money."
Sima Hyeon gave a wry smile.
"How many animals are we talking, exactly?"
"Around forty cattle, and about a hundred each of pigs and sheep."
"That many?"
"He said that's just a fraction of what he had. About thirty percent of what he raised back when you were running the butcher shop, Old Man."
"Do we have the money to buy even that much...?"
Sima Geon glanced at Sima Hyeon as he asked.
"Nope. Even scraping together every last coin, we couldn't cover it. Best we could do is about ten percent."
"That wouldn't even get a ranch off the ground properly."
"No way."
Sima Hyeon shook his head firmly.
"Why are you stressing? It's not like there's only one ranch out there. Just do business with someone else."
Cheol Woo said, looking exasperated.
"No other ranch nearby supplies that steadily or with such quality stock. We could look farther out, sure, but when you factor in transport time and costs, it's not a great option."
"Yeah, I guess."
Cheol Woo nodded in understanding, and Sima Geon—who had been lost in thought—slapped the table with his palm.
"Then let's buy it."
"What have you been listening to? We don't have the money."
Sima Hyeon looked frustrated.
"Just borrow what we're short. They say business is done with other people's money."
"Who says?"
Sima Hyeon shot him an incredulous look.
"Uh, well... heard it somewhere. Anyway, since the old man's giving us a deal, let's take it over."
"It's not just about buying the animals. We need a place to raise them."
"Eh, just let 'em loose on the mountain or something. Right?"
Sima Geon nudged Cheol Woo's side.
"Works for me. If needed, I can chop some trees and whip up a fence."
"Exactly. Grass is everywhere—manage 'em a bit, and they'll grow fine on their own."
"Boss is right. That's how you raise beasts anyway."
Sima Hyeon grimaced desperately as Sima Geon and Cheol Woo chuckled back and forth.
"Talk some sense. It's not that simple. We'd need official permission from the authorities too. Who's gonna manage all those animals? To run it like Old Man Jeon's place, we'd need a ton of workers—and that's no small expense."
"We got a guy who's about to be eating free around here."
Cheol Woo grinned wickedly. Sima Hyeon flinched but nodded slowly.
"Ho? That's not a bad idea."
Sima Ho—who had dreamed of revenge every day for Cheon Woo Hwang, whom he'd thought dead in his place—had locked himself away at home for days upon learning the man had knelt to the Blood Banner Gang and joined their ranks. A sense of inexplicable betrayal gnawed at him.
"If we're short on hands, just hire some reliable folks from the old man's ranch workers. Scout around locally too."
Sima Geon chuckled lightly and raised his cup. Sima Hyeon clinked his roughly against it.
"Screw it. Fine, I'll make it happen."
"Whew, it's hot."
Cheol Woo fanned himself furiously as he entered the butcher shop.
Despite his miserable expression, not a single bead of sweat dotted his forehead.
"You're back?"
Sima Geon, minding the shop, handed him a water ladle with ice floating in it.
"Ice in this heat?"
Cheol Woo tossed the money from his meat delivery onto the counter and gulped it down eagerly.
"Pulled a chunk from the underground storeroom. The water was lukewarm—bordering on hot—and I was dying for something cool."
"Heh! Good thinking. Hyeon didn't say anything? He'll flip if he finds out."
"He's not here. Went to collect from the Blood Banner Gang."
"The meat money from that feast they threw last time?"
"Yeah."
"Those thieving bastards. That was ages ago—now they pay? What the hell."
Cheol Woo finished Sima Geon's ladle and spat a hearty curse.
"Better than nothing if they pay."
"What're you talking about?"
"They weren't gonna hand it over. Hyeon went to squeeze it out of them."
Cheol Woo's eyes narrowed.
"Isn't that dangerous, boss? Those guys have been throwing their weight around lately."
"He said he could handle it, so we'll wait and see."
"Got it. This the last one?"
Cheol Woo shook the empty ladle, still thirsty.
"Yeah."
"Can't we grab just one more? Plenty in the underground storeroom."
"No. Remember what Old Man said? It's touch-and-go holding out till winter. He didn't tend to it much last winter 'cause he was under the weather. Picking at it bit by bit like this'll cause problems soon."
"Alright. Man, that old guy's something else. I've heard nobles and big shots build ice houses ahead of time, but a butcher shop with ice? Unheard of."
"That's why his shop's the best around. Always fresh meat."
"And that underground storeroom's depth—masterfully built. No way it went up overnight. Who'd even think of air vents in an ice cellar?"
Cheol Woo shook his head, recalling his shock at first seeing it.
"Saved our hides, that's for sure. Without it, dealing with unsold meat in this weather would be a nightmare."
"What else? We'd be salting and smoking like mad. Heh!"
As Cheol Woo burst out laughing and licked the last drops from the ladle, Sima Hyeon returned from collecting at the Blood Banner Gang.
"Hey, good work. Come on in..."
Cheol Woo waved cheerfully but trailed off.
Sima Hyeon's face was grim as he entered the shop. His clothes were caked in dirt, and his left eye socket was swollen red.
"What happened?"
Cheol Woo shot to his feet.
"Water."
Sima Hyeon waved him off irritably.
Sima Geon handed him the ladle.
Sima Hyeon gulped it down hastily, then whipped his head around.
"You took ice from the storeroom?"
No ice visible, but in this heat, water this cold meant ice.
"I've told you not to touch the ice anymore. We won't last till winter like this."
Sima Hyeon glared irritably.
"That's not the point. Come here a sec."
Sima Geon prodded the swollen eyelid.
"What happened to this?"
"It's nothing."
Sima Hyeon brushed Sima Geon's hand away and turned his head.
Cheol Woo was glaring daggers in that direction.
"Blood Banner Gang bastards, huh?"
"No."
"Like hell it's not. You went to collect from them. Those sons of—"
Cheol Woo started raging, but Sima Geon chucked the ladle at him.
"Shut it. Cool off."
His calm, steely voice silenced Cheol Woo instantly.
"Spill it. What went down?"
Sima Hyeon glanced at Sima Geon, realized he couldn't dodge it, and spoke slowly.
"They didn't pay up fully, so I pressed for the rest. They beat me a few times."
"Knew it."
Cheol Woo clenched his fists in fury.
Sima Geon, expression unchanging, asked again.
"How much did they give?"
"About half."
Sima Geon's blank face softened slightly.
"Half's not a huge loss."
"Think of the time invested—that's a big loss. Even more if they'd sold it elsewhere."
Cheol Woo chimed in agreement.
"Damn right. Not like it was one or two animals. They scarfed it down happily enough then. Those bastards planned this from the start. Boss, I'll go collect it. Come on!"
Cheol Woo grabbed Sima Hyeon's arm, but Sima Geon sighed.
"And do what?"
"Get our money."
Considering Sima Hyeon, Sima Geon sent a secret transmission.
Cheol Woo snorted, thinking of the Bi Do Association.
"Even if they have backing..."
"Hm, yeah, good point."
Cheol Woo nodded, and Sima Hyeon looked puzzled.
"What're you two on about?"
"It's a thing."
Sima Geon shot a displeased glance at the dismissive Cheol Woo and continued.
"Too much noise won't help Ho either. He's already pissed at the Blood Banner Gang."
"True."
Cheol Woo smacked his lips, thinking of Sima Ho—who, since accepting Old Man Jeon's offer, had been learning the ranch ropes for days.
"So we just swallow it, boss? Eat the loss?"
"Yeah. Not a big one. Think of it as a mad dog bite."
"Damn! Mad dogs need a good clubbing."
As Cheol Woo fumed, Sima Geon nudged his side.
"I'll grab the booze from the storeroom. Let's drink it off. Nothing beats liquor for cooling tempers."
Cheol Woo licked his lips at "booze" and slunk back to his seat.
"Fine, holding back for you, boss—but mad dogs don't quit. Leave 'em be, and they'll lunge again. What then?"
Sima Geon paused en route to the underground storeroom and glanced back.
"Then, like you said, we pick up the clubs."