Chapter 182
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 182
Chapter 182. Chapter 1 (1)
I spoke first.
“Come to think of it, I heard something like that before. They kick out the shopkeeper of a store that is doing well, and then the owner of the store continues to run the business as usual.”
“Yes, that is truly despicable.”
My father clicked his tongue.
“But the problem is that there is no legal recourse. Of course, there are moral issues, but would anyone who cares about that do such a thing?”
That was true.
My father sighed and said,
“But we can't pay ten times the market price, so we'll have to give up on that.”
“Is there no other way?”
“Let me think about it.”
But then a thought occurred to him.
No matter how important he was as a shop owner, he was still just a shop owner compared to the Eunhae Trading Company. How could he make such an unreasonable demand of us?
Our trading company was now ranked 49th among the 100 trading companies in the world.
We are moral people, but if we do that to a trading company that will stop at nothing to get what it wants, who knows what might happen to us.
The common trait of people who don't care about morality, as my father said, is that they bow down to the strong and are arrogant to the weak.
“Father, something seems strange.”
Everyone turned their attention to me, and I calmly explained my thoughts.
My father and everyone else nodded in agreement.
“To be honest, it is strange.”
“That's right. Even though we have never done anything like this before, many people are afraid of the Eunhae Trading Company just because of its name. But to do something like this...”
“I think we need to investigate.”
My father nodded at Yeon Gak-ju's words and looked at me.
Huh?
Could it be?
But my bad feeling was right.
“Go.”
“What?”
“You seem to be the best person for the job.”
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
But I'm busy too!
I was about to protest, but stopped myself. Come to think of it, I was the least busy.
And so, I headed for Dongting Lake in Hunan Province.
.
.
.
Dongting Lake.
It is the largest lake in the Central Plains and is famous for the Aoyang Tower and the autumn moon reflected in the lake.
The scenery is so beautiful that anyone who appreciates the arts considers it a lifelong dream to climb the Yueyang Tower and compose a poem.
However, this place is also a place of fierce competition for merchants like us.
“So that's where our Trading Company's store is.”
“It seems so.”
Dongting Lake was so large that there were two ways to see it properly.
One was to climb a high tower, and the other was to take a boat.
It was also possible to go around the lake by carriage or palanquin, but that was difficult due to time constraints.
As a result, these two businesses were very popular in the Dongting Lake area, and competition was fierce.
The store affiliated with our trading company that was about to be driven out owned a boat, which made it a little different from the others.
The place was still crowded with people waiting in line.
Seeing that, I remembered what Yeon Gak-joo had told me.
“The owner of the flower carp boat shop is a man named Kang Seung. He is a wealthy merchant and has a knack for quickly understanding what people want. So, he devised a way to take people on a tour of Dongting Lake in large boats for those who don't have much money, and his business became a success.”
“I see. But I have one question.”
“Go ahead.”
“If the location was so good, why didn't he buy the store in advance? Why is it still rented?”
“There are circumstances. He spent all his spare cash on buying a large boat, so he couldn't afford to buy the store.”
“I see.”
Now he understood.
It must have been quite difficult to buy a large ship from a shop like this, and it would have been impossible to buy the shop itself.
“I haven't paid back all the money I borrowed to buy the ship yet.”
In that situation, it would have been difficult to borrow more money. It would have raised questions of fairness.
As they were watching the shop for a while,
“Ahem! Is the shopkeeper here?”
A group of people rushed to the shop and looked for the shopkeeper. After a while, a middle-aged man came out and approached them.
“Hello. I am Cheon Dae-in.”
“I came to see if you were ready to vacate the premises, but it doesn't look like you're in any hurry.”
“...Don't worry.”
“Hmph. Make sure you vacate by the agreed-upon date. That's all.”
The man called the shopkeeper trembled as he watched the middle-aged man walk away.
That middle-aged man is the owner of this building.
I remembered the information I received from my new informant before coming here.
His name is Cheon Deok-yeo.
He owned about twenty shops near Dongting Lake.
I called Yeo Eung-am.
“Ye Eung-am.”
“Yes, my Liege.”
“The man standing in the middle is Cheon Deok-yeo. Please keep an eye on him and make sure no one contacts him.”
“Yes, my Liege.”
“And Pal-gap.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Tell Kang, the shopkeeper, that I will visit him tonight.”
“Yes, sir.”
* *
The Cheon Deok-yeo family had lived a wealthy life for generations by collecting rent from shops near Dongting Lake.
As local dignitaries, they lived a comfortable life without any inconveniences.
One day, one of his close friends casually mentioned,
“Didn't you say that the shop where the flower shop is located is yours?”
“That's right.”
“You're really quick.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“How much money does that Hwaryeonsunjeon make? Are you satisfied with just the rent?”
“What can I do? Isn't that Hwaryeonsunjeon just a Hwaryeonsunjeon? Isn't it part of the Eunhae Trading Company?”
“Hmm.”
Upon hearing this, his friend said, "Even if it's part of the Eunhae Trading Company, it's still just a Hwaryeonsunjeon.
“But isn't it a trading company in Hubei Province? As the saying goes, distance makes the heart grow fonder, and this place is in Hunan Province. Do you really think they care about a place this far away?”
“....”
His friend looked around and whispered to him.
“Actually, Daegun Trading Company wants to take over that place.”
“Daegun Trading Company?”
Daegun Trading Company was a trading company based in Hunan Province and was one of the 100 largest trading companies in the country.
“If you play your cards right, I think you can make more money than you're getting now.”
After a moment of silence, Cheon Deok-yeo said to his friend.
“Did Daegun Trading Company send you?”
“You found out.”
“You!”
“But this is for your benefit, so I agreed to persuade you. If it were to cause any loss to my friend, I would never have agreed.”
“...”
“So think about it carefully.”
Two days later, Cheon Deok-yeo visited Daegun Trading Company with his friend.
In exchange for their cooperation, he was promised a quarter of the total income.
As it was a much better deal than what he currently had, he accepted the offer with satisfaction.
Cheon Deok-yeo returned from collecting payments from the trading company and fell into a happy dream.
In just ten days, he would be able to earn a lot more money.
Just then, his servant approached him.
“Someone from the Daegun Trading Company is here to see you.”
“Send them in.”
“Yes, sir.”
*
It was a late night.
Now that the lanterns on the boats that had been coloring Dongting Lake had disappeared, the lake was filled with a sense of loneliness.
At this hour, even those who had been drinking heavily at the tavern would be going home to sleep.
I entered the tavern.
I heard that he was staying at the shop, so he should still be here at this hour.
A small lamp was lit on the table, and a man was deep in thought.
It was the shopkeeper I had seen earlier.
He did not seem surprised to see me and stood up with clasped hands.
“Greetings, Captain.”
Although I was in charge of Hyungpung-guk at the Trading Company, my official title was Captain.
“We've never met before, so how did you know I was the Captain?”
“You have a relaxed expression and are dressed in fine clothes. This is a place where people with relatively deep pockets tend to come. And since you didn't look at the price tags, I assume you're not here to buy anything.”
“I see.”
As Yeon Gak-ju said, he was observant and quick-witted.
Smiling inwardly, I formally introduced myself.
“I am Eun Seo-ho, the captain of the Eunhae Trading Company.”
“I am Kang Seung, the owner of this restaurant, Chapter.”
He offered me a seat.
Once seated, I got straight to the point.
“My father, the head of the trading company, ordered me to investigate this matter.”
“What do you mean by investigate?”
“I believe there are other forces involved.”
“Are you saying that there is someone behind Cheon Deok-yeo?”
At that moment, Pal-gap approached me and whispered in a low voice.
“Ah, you mean the Daegun Trading Company is behind this.”
“...!”
Once again, Kang's eyes widened.
The Daegun Trading Company's status and fist power in this area were greater than he had thought.
Although it was a smaller trading company than our Eunhae Trading Company, there was a big difference between being based in this area and not.
“I heard that Daegun Trading Company bought a large ship recently.”
“...!”
His eyes widened, but he quickly clenched his fists and began to tremble.
“I expected this, but...”
He let out a deep sigh and said.
“Then I have no choice but to give up this business.”
“Why are you giving up this business?”
“What?”
“You haven't even paid back the money you borrowed to buy the ship, and you're saying you're going to quit? Do you think Eunhae Trading Company will allow that?”
“...”
“You have to work until you pay back all the money.”
“I want to do that too. But...”
“Is there a law that says you have to operate here?”
“No, that's not it, but...”
“Come to think of it, this store is small.”
I chuckled.
“How about expanding or relocating?”
He replied calmly, not knowing what I meant.
“It's not that I haven't thought about moving to another location. But I can't find a store...”
“You've already thought about that.”
“Of course. As a merchant, I would be disqualified if I didn't consider alternatives. But if the problem is with Daegun Trading Company, then I'm in a difficult position.”
“Don't worry about the store. I'll take care of it. Just get ready to move.”
* *
The next day
I started looking around at vacant stores.
“Oh, I like this one.”
The shop broker said in response to my words.
“Excellent choice.”
“I'll buy this one.”
“You mean buy it, not rent it?”
“Yes. Is that not possible?”
“Oh, no! Of course it is. But the market price for this place is a bit high...”
“It's next to Dongting Lake. I know it's expensive. How much is it?”
The real estate agent told me the price.
“....”
Damn it!
It's much more expensive than I thought.
But it doesn't matter.
That price would be a fatal blow that would make this deal impossible to cancel.
“I'll buy it at that price. Let's draw up the contract.”
“Yes.”
Soon, we drew up the contract.
“Oh, and I'd like to add one clause to the contract.”
“What kind of clause?”
“It is a clause stating that in order to cancel this contract, you must compensate me for 100 times the purchase price of the store.”
“What? Why?”
“Actually, I once bought a store, but the owner's son suddenly said he wanted to run it himself and kicked me out.”
“Oh no!”
“I'm just telling you in case something like that happens.”
“I understand. I'll add that clause.”
With that, I completed the store purchase process.
“Pal-gap, bring the owner of the store.”
“Yes, sir.”
.
.
.
A short time later, the owner of the store came to the store I had purchased.
“How do you like it?”
“What?”
“This is the store I purchased. And this is where Hwari Seonjeom will be expanding and relocating.”
The owner of Hwari Seonjeom was so surprised by my words that he could only blink his eyes.
After a long pause, he finally spoke.
“You mean this place?”
“Yes.”
“This large space?”
“Yes.”
It is a bit spacious.
Compared to the current store, it is almost four or five times larger.
The store owner finally asked me, as if he had realized the truth.
“You wouldn't just give this to me. What do you want in return?”
“Safety.”
“What?”
“I heard that you are very particular about safety when you take passengers on your boat. I heard that you get cursed at because of that.”
“That's true.”
“I ask that you continue to operate safely, even more safely than you do now.”
There was a reason why I emphasized safety to him.
Something was bound to happen soon.