Chapter 18
“W-wait, one hundred boxes? Are you serious?”
Hayun asked, stammering.
“That is correct. All of them.”
There was a resolute look in Madam Choi’s eyes.
“You said it yourself, did you not? That you only had one hundred boxes.”
“Yes, that’s true, but…”
“Then it would be right to buy them all. Before the other daegam purchase them.”
What Madam Choi was worried about was other people possessing the same item as her.
When one has money overflowing to the point of decay, one naturally begins to seek out things that are special and rare. And when that desire reaches its ultimate point, one begins to seek things of which there is only a single one in existence.
Even if it is a tribute item meant to be presented to the king.
Greed shimmered in Madam Choi’s eyes.
“Would you be able to send me one hundred boxes of these every holiday from now on?”
“Every holiday?”
“Why? Is that not possible?”
“N-no, that’s not it, but…”
The more they talked, the more Hayun’s mind went blank. As always, rich people were difficult to understand.
‘One hundred boxes……’
One hundred wooden boxes amounted to the enormous sum of two thousand nyang.
And if she could secure a fixed contract to supply one hundred boxes every year, it was difficult to even imagine how much profit she would make going forward.
Even though the production cost, including the gulbi, came close to ten nyang per box, the profit left after that was still enormous.
‘This is huge!’
She felt like screaming out loud right then and there.
Hayun desperately suppressed that urge and continued acting.
“Understood. Normally, I would have to divide the stock among several households, but if that is what you wish, then I suppose there is no helping it. I will give you all the stock I have.”
“You have made the right decision.”
Madam Choi gazed at the wooden box with a satisfied expression.
Hayun added one more thing.
“However, with an order of that size, I will need some time.”
“How much?”
Hayun hurriedly began calculating.
The wooden boxes could be completed within two weeks, but arranging and decorating the contents inside them would take just as much time. On top of that, moving one hundred boxes of goods was impossible for her to do alone. She would need other people’s help.
After finishing her calculations, Hayun said,
“I will need at least about a month.”
“Then make it so.”
Madam Choi readily agreed.
The length of time was not particularly important to her anyway.
The one hundred boxes she was purchasing now were not something she needed immediately. They were gifts to distribute during the upcoming holiday.
At this level of quality, they would make an excellent gift, no less impressive than any red ginseng.
Madam Choi’s face was filled with satisfaction at having secured such a rare holiday gift thanks to Hayun.
“Thank you, my lady.”
And so, having successfully completed the deal, Hayun left the residence of Minister Min.
“Phew”
The moment she stepped outside, the long sigh she had been holding back burst out.
“One hundred boxes……”
Her legs were trembling, and her heart was pounding. When she leaned her body against one side of the wall, she finally began to calm down a little.
“Calm down, Im Hayun. You’ve accomplished things even more difficult than this.”
In truth, although two thousand nyang was certainly a huge sum, compared to the tens of billions of won worth of advertising campaigns Hayun had handled throughout her career, it was a relatively insignificant amount.
But she had done this without a single penny of capital.
And in the Joseon Dynasty, no less.
The fact that she had landed a contract like this sent a shiver through her entire body.
“Hehehe, with this, those other haengsu won’t be able to say a word anymore.”
With a much lighter heart, Hayun returned to Man-sang.
***
One month later. It was time for the Man-sang meeting.
The haengsu had gathered in the spacious wooden-floored hall.
It was a scene no different from usual, but today the atmosphere was considerably heavier. Every face was stiff, and no one dared to speak first.
“Is everyone doing well?”
Daebang Im Sang-ok entered and greeted them exactly as he always did.
“…We pay our respects to Daebang.”
The haengsu answered reluctantly, but their voices were barely audible.
The reason was that today was the day they would review the amount of gulbi each person had sold over the past month.
Im Sang-ok took his seat at the head of the room and got straight to the point.
“So, how are things progressing?”
Gulp!
The haengsu fidgeted, hesitating to speak.
Some pretended to be preoccupied with something else, while others stared off into the distant mountains.
“Well, I…”
Eventually, someone managed to open his mouth, and the other haengsu began revealing their sales figures one after another.
“I barely sold 120 dureum. I apologize.”
“I only managed to sell 110 dureum. I have no face to show.”
“I sold 140 dureum. Even that was barely enough.”
“I sold 130 dureum. I am sorry I could not do better.”
Almost all of them had fallen short of the target of 200 dureum that each person was supposed to sell.
In truth, even that amount was considerably more than they normally sold. But considering that the price of gulbi was expected to plummet next month, the situation was undeniably painful.
Whenever they thought of the gulbi still piled high in the warehouses, they could not help but sigh. If they were lucky, they would break even. At worst, they could suffer a tremendous loss.
“You have all worked hard.”
But Im Sang-ok did not scold them. Instead, he nodded as if offering words of comfort.
Having risen from the lowest-ranking haengsu to the position of Daebang himself, he understood the difficulties of those beneath him better than anyone.
Im Sang-ok continued the conversation with a calm expression.
“Are there any haengsu who have not spoken yet? Speak comfortably.”
“I sold 120 dureum.”
“I also sold 120.”
“I barely managed to sell 140 dureum.”
Since there was no particularly impressive achievement to boast about, everyone hurried to announce their sales numbers.
Those with especially poor results were even more eager to finish their announcements before drawing anyone’s attention.
And as the sales reports continued, only two people had yet to reveal their results: Song Do-hyeon and Hayun.
Stare!
As though conscious of each other, the two exchanged glances in midair.
‘What are you doing? Why don’t you say it already?’
‘Hmph. I suppose you don’t have anything worth announcing.’
Of the two who exchanged glances for a moment, the one who eventually raised his hand first was Song Do-hyeon.
“Oh, Haengsu Song. Go ahead.”
The candidate to become Man-sang’s next Daebang.
When Song Do-hyeon’s turn came, everyone held their breath and listened intently to what he had to say.
“So, Haengsu Song, how much did you sell?”
At Im Sang-ok’s question, Song Do-hyeon answered leisurely.
“Eight hundred dureum.”
“E-eight hundred dureum?”
The moment the number was announced, the entire hall erupted.
“Incredible!”
“As expected of Haengsu Song!”
“What! That’s eight times what I sold! Amazing! Truly amazing!”
Everyone looked at Song Do-hyeon with awe.
While the others had fallen far short of the average target of 200 dureum, he alone had accomplished several times that amount.
It was truly an astonishing achievement.
A victorious smile spread across Song Do-hyeon’s lips. He looked at Hayun with a triumphant expression.
‘Hmph, how about that? This is the difference between you and me.’
However, Hayun showed no particular reaction.
Neither disappointment… Nor admiration.
She simply waited quietly for her turn.
“You have worked hard, Haengsu Song.”
Im Sang-ok nodded with a satisfied expression. Then he asked,
“Is there anyone who has not spoken yet?”
“I will speak.”
It was now the final turn.
Hayun raised her hand high.
“Oh, Haengsu Im. You were still left.”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward Hayun.
The gazes were quite different from the ones they had directed at Song Do-hyeon.
Rather than expectation, they were filled with distrust. Yet Im Sang-ok asked her with the same gentle smile as always.
“So, Haengsu Im, how much did you sell? Since this is your first time, do not feel pressured. Speak comfortably.”
“Well, I……”
Hayun paused for a moment before answering.
“I sold one hundred dureum.”
“One hundred dureum…… For your first time, that is not bad.”
Im Sang-ok stroked his beard with an expression that made it difficult to discern his thoughts.
It was not a small number. But it was also difficult to call it outstanding.
The lowest sales figure so far had been 110 dureum, meaning that based purely on the results, Hayun had come in last.
Considering that this was her first time in actual practice and that she had achieved this with absolutely no capital, it was not a bad result. However, recalling all the bold claims she had made until now, it was also true that one hundred dureum fell short of expectations.
The other haengsu did not miss this opportunity and began to speak.
“Pfft, you were that confident after selling a mere hundred dureum?”
“You did reasonably well, I suppose, but compared to all that big talk you gave us, it’s nothing special.”
“You cannot even compare her to Haengsu Song.”
“Looks like this kind of work isn’t suited to you. How about quitting and going back to running your tavern? Puhahaha.”
All kinds of sarcastic remarks poured out.
Of course, Hayun was somewhat at fault as well.
For a newcomer, she should have been bowing flat on the ground, yet she had spent an entire month showing no respect to her seniors and barely showing her face at all. Given that, their reaction was not entirely unreasonable.
Over the past month, Hayun had not spoken to anyone except Reception Chief Yoon.
She had not even bothered with greetings, and for some reason, she was constantly running around all day as though she were terribly busy.
She had even rarely shown up at the communal meals where everyone gathered.
Some wondered what on earth Hayun was doing, but they did not pay much attention to it.
It was bound to be a futile effort anyway, A meaningless endeavor, and now the result was right before their eyes.
The result of coming in last in sales.
With that being the case, how could they possibly refrain from laughing at her?
As everyone mocked Hayun, however, the face of the one person who should have been happiest of all, Song Do-hyeon, had instead hardened.
‘She sold 100 dureum?’
A place where he had encountered Hayun not long ago suddenly came to Song Do-hyeon’s mind.
At the time, he had not thought much of it, but nearby was the residence of Minister Min, the finest yangban household in Uiju.
Hayun had definitely been hurrying toward that place, carrying an unidentified bundle.
No matter how much he thought about it, the only place that could have bought as much as 100 dureum of gulbi from Hayun was that household.
That realization made Song Do-hyeon uneasy.
‘Surely not?’
It was at that very moment, as an ominous premonition flashed through his mind, that…
“However, there is something else I would like to say.”
“What is it?”
Hayun suddenly added another remark.
“However, the gulbi I sold was priced at twenty nyang per dureum.”
“What?”
Hayun’s words caused the entire hall to erupt once again.
“You sold one dureum of gulbi for twenty nyang?”
“Are you insane?”
“How can you sell something worth five nyang for twenty nyang?”
“Isn’t this just outright fraud?”
“No, who on earth would buy gulbi at that price?”
Furious protests erupted over the outrageous profiteering.
No matter how much of a merchant one might be, there were lines one should not cross. This had clearly gone too far.
Even if one was making a profit, taking a markup four times the normal price was incompatible with Man-sang’s principles.
And for someone like Im Sang-ok, who placed great importance on righteousness and human decency, this was even more difficult to tolerate.
His face as he looked at Hayun was openly filled with disappointment.
“Is what you have said truly the truth?”
Unlike before, Im Sang-ok asked in a stern voice. It was closer to a reprimand than a question.
“Why did you sell the gulbi at such an exorbitant price, Haengsu Im? Confess every detail of your reasoning.”
Im Sang-ok stared at Hayun with an utterly serious expression.
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