Chapter 14
The fish market was filled with the salty scent of the sea.
Dried fish hung in rows along one side of the wall, while piles of salt were heaped up across the floor.
Fluttering the hem of his splendid silk clothes, Song Do-hyeon stepped inside.
“Greetings.”
“Oh, who do we have here? Isn’t that Haengsu Song?”
The owner of the fish shop, Mr. Jang, sprang up with delight. His face was a mixture of happiness and nervousness.
“What brings you here?”
“What do you mean, what brings me here? I came because I wanted to see you, Brother Jang.”
To merchants, a haengsu of Man-sang was practically the same as the heavens themselves.
Simply doing business with Man-sang was a kind of seal of approval. It meant that one could be trusted to trade in carefully selected goods.
Falling out of favor with Man-sang was practically the same as giving up on doing business in Uiju.
On top of that, Song Do-hyeon was considered a candidate for Man-sang’s next Daehangsu, so Mr. Jang had no choice but to be even more careful around him.
Thud.
Song Do-hyeon naturally sat down in the chair Mr. Jang had been sitting in just moments earlier.
Then, as he straightened his clothes, he asked,
“Have you been well all this time?”
“What trouble could I possibly have? What about you, Haengsu Song? Everything well?”
“Well, there is one thing that’s been bothering me……”
A sinister smile briefly crossed Song Do-hyeon’s lips.
“But I think it will be resolved nicely before long.”
However, he soon changed his expression and smoothly steered the conversation elsewhere.
“Putting that aside, how has business been lately?”
“It’s just enough to put food on the table.”
Mr. Jang answered modestly, waving his hands.
In truth, Mr. Jang’s fish shop was doing fairly well, but there was no way he could say that he was doing well in front of a haengsu of Man-sang.
“Oh, by the way, I received the salt you brought over some time ago.”
Mr. Jang added cautiously,
“Perhaps because it came from Taean, the quality was excellent.”
“Is that so?”
Song Do-hyeon answered absentmindedly as he looked around the fish shop. His gaze stopped on the gulbi in one corner of the shop.
“Is there anything else you need?”
“Well, these days there are a lot of people looking for dried squid, so it would be nice if I had some…”
Mr. Jang hesitated for a moment before asking,
“Would you be able to get some?”
“Of course. Absolutely.”
Contrary to his expectations, Song Do-hyeon readily agreed.
“I have a trading contact in the Gangneung area, so I’ll see what I can do.”
“Oh! There’s no one like you!”
“It’s nothing.”
Song Do-hyeon smiled benevolently.
“If you ever need anything, just let me know. If it’s something involving you, Brother, I’ll go all out to help.”
“Haengsu Song… Thank you!”
Mr. Jang nodded with a deeply moved expression.
“Oh, right!”
It was then.
Song Do-hyeon suddenly began rummaging around and taking something out.
“I heard that your daughter recently gave birth to a son…”
“How did you know that?”
Mr. Jang’s eyes widened.
“How could I not know things concerning you, Brother? I even know what you had for lunch yesterday.”
“Haha, you really are something.”
Mr. Jang scratched his head awkwardly.
A moment later, Song Do-hyeon held out the item he had prepared.
“Here, it’s a gift.”
“What is this?”
Mr. Jang looked at it curiously.
What Song Do-hyeon had handed him was none other than a writing brush. It was an object that seemed completely out of place in a shop filled with the smell of fish.
“A brush?”
“It was difficult to obtain from the finest brush shop in Hanyang. When it comes time for the baby’s first-birthday grab, if he grabs a brush, doesn’t that mean he’ll grow up to become a great person?”
Song Do-hyeon spoke as though it were nothing.
“You really didn’t have to go this far…”
“Please accept it, if only for the sake of my sincerity.”
“Thank you. Haengsu Song. I’ll gratefully accept it.”
Mr. Jang’s expression brightened considerably.
Song Do-hyeon’s thoughtful gesture of even preparing a first-birthday gift for his grandson created a warm, friendly atmosphere inside the fish shop.
However, that lasted only for a moment. Song Do-hyeon suddenly changed his expression and lowered his voice.
“More importantly, I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor? What kind of favor?”
By now, Song Do-hyeon’s eyes had become chillingly cold and indifferent.
“You’ll need to buy some gulbi from me, Brother.”
“You want me to buy gulbi?”
Mr. Jang looked flustered as he glanced toward one side of the shop. There, gulbi from the previous shipment was already piled up like a mountain.
Song Do-hyeon had already seen it with his own eyes. Even so, he continued with what could hardly be called a request.
“Yes. Things have turned out that way.”
“Hmm…”
Mr. Jang looked troubled by the unexpected request. But there was no way he could simply refuse a request from a Man-sang haengsu.
After a brief moment of thought, Mr. Jang asked,
“All right. How much should I buy?”
“I think seventy dureum should be enough.”
“Seventy dureum?”
Mr. Jang’s voice rose.
Seventy dureum amounted to 1,400 fish. At a small shop like his, only around sixty gulbi were sold in a month, meaning it would take a full two years or more to sell that many.
“Seventy dureum? That’s a bit…”
When Mr. Jang showed concern over the enormous quantity, Song Do-hyeon tilted his head.
“Why? You don’t want to?”
“No, it’s not that… It’s just that you suddenly came here and made such a request, so I’m in a bit of a difficult position…”
“A difficult position?”
One corner of Song Do-hyeon’s mouth lifted.
Mr. Jang wiped away the sweat running down his face as he continued the conversation.
“As you know, seventy dureum of gulbi comes to a whopping 350 nyang, doesn’t it? Three hundred fifty nyang is half a year’s worth of sales for us.”
The quantity Song Do-hyeon had proposed was equivalent to half a year of the fish shop’s revenue.
In fact, Song Do-hyeon already knew that.
‘The amount of goods he’s been taking from us makes the estimate pretty obvious.’
Before visiting the fish shop, Song Do-hyeon had investigated the merchants he did business with and organized a list.
Their inventory, personal circumstances, and what had happened to them recently, among other things. And based on that list, he was going around one by one and forcing them to buy gulbi.
“I’m sorry, Haengsu Song.”
Even under that pressure, Mr. Jang indicated that he had no choice but to refuse.
“If you had given me some warning beforehand, perhaps, but where would I get that much money right away?”
In truth, if Mr. Jang pushed himself, there was no reason he couldn’t bring in the gulbi. The problem with taking in that much gulbi was that he would have to pour all of his assets into it.
Having his funds tied up was practically a death sentence for a merchant. There was no way Mr. Jang could accept such a proposal.
As though he understood Mr. Jang’s circumstances, Song Do-hyeon nodded.
“I knew you’d say that, so I came up with a way to handle it.”
With that, Song Do-hyeon spread a sheet of paper across the table. It was densely covered in writing.
Mr. Jang asked with a puzzled expression,
“What is this?”
“A promissory note.”
“A promissory note?”
Mr. Jang’s eyes widened.
“Write a promissory note and take the goods first. You can pay for them little by little.”
“What…!”
Mr. Jang could not hide his bewilderment.
A promissory note. In truth, this was essentially the same as telling him to buy the gulbi by force.
“Hmm…!”
With the promissory note laid before him, Mr. Jang’s brow deepened.
Even if he bought the gulbi immediately, it would still be a considerable burden once interest was taken into account. Even if he somehow managed to sell the gulbi, there would be nothing left after paying the interest.
Seeing that he understood those concerns, Song Do-hyeon said,
“Instead, I’ll waive the interest for six months. No interest!”
At the words no interest, the gloomy expression that had covered Mr. Jang’s face moments earlier brightened.
Now the situation was completely different.
If he could take the goods first without spending a single coin, it was an unequivocally profitable deal. There was the six-month restriction, but as long as he managed to sell the gulbi somehow within that period, every sale would leave him with money in his pocket.
From Mr. Jang’s perspective, there was no reason to refuse. It was such a good offer that it made his eyes spin.
Instead, Mr. Jang cautiously asked,
“Would that really be all right?”
“What kind of relationship do you and I have, Brother Jang? Of course it’s all right.”
“Hmm, then there’s nothing left to think about.”
In the end, Mr. Jang accepted Song Do-hyeon’s proposal.
“All right. I’ll purchase the gulbi.”
“You made the right decision. Just sign here.”
Once Mr. Jang agreed, Song Do-hyeon pushed the promissory note toward him.
“But the brush…”
Then Song Do-hyeon suddenly realized there was no brush with which to write on the promissory note and looked around.
“Ah!”
Song Do-hyeon’s gaze naturally fell on the brush Mr. Jang was holding.
It was the very brush he had just given him as a gift for his grandson’s first-birthday grab.
“Use that.”
“Th-this?”
Mr. Jang was considerably flustered by the suggestion, but Song Do-hyeon spoke as though it were nothing.
“It’s just a brush. You can wash it clean and give it back afterward, can’t you?”
“W-well, I suppose so.”
“Then use that brush.”
“A-all right.”
Reluctantly, Mr. Jang began signing with the brush meant for his grandson’s first-birthday grab.
“Write it like this. ‘I, Jang, agree to purchase seventy dureum of gulbi for 350 nyang.’”
“All right.”
Mr. Jang wrote the promissory note without hesitation, based on the current market price.
Song Do-hyeon watched him with a satisfied expression.
“There. Is it done?”
“You’ve worked hard. Then I’ll send seventy dureum of gulbi over here shortly.”
“Thank you, Haengsu Song. I won’t forget this favor.”
“You’re welcome. I’m the one who should be grateful. You’re buying our goods like this, after all.”
Song Do-hyeon tucked the promissory note safely inside his clothes.
Then he stood and bowed his head.
“Then I’ll be on my way. Take care.”
“Safe travels.”
And so, having concluded his contract with Mr. Jang, Song Do-hyeon left the fish shop.
There was a cold smile on his face as he turned away.
“My, my.”
Song Do-hyeon muttered as he looked at the promissory note.
“It’s almost a problem when things are too easy.”
The amount of gulbi assigned to each haengsu was 200 dureum.
Having filled thirty percent of his quota in just a few hours, Song Do-hyeon’s face was filled with an unmistakable smile.
“Next, I should visit the fish shops around Seogyo.”
Even so, Song Do-hyeon was not satisfied yet.
He had to make absolutely certain that Ha-yoon was put firmly in her place this time. So thoroughly that she would never dare to challenge him again.
Song Do-hyeon quickened his pace.
“Was the owner there supposed to be named Mr. Park?”
Even though it had already been ten years since Song Do-hyeon became acquainted with Mr. Park, he still hadn’t memorized his name.
After checking the name in his ledger, Song Do-hyeon nodded.
“Ah, right. Mr. Park. He recently bought 100 nyang worth of dried seafood… Thirty dureum should do for this one.”
Relying on the ledger, Song Do-hyeon continued walking toward the fish shop operated by Mr. Park.
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