Chapter 356
The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company Chapter 356
Chapter 356. In Shandong (2)
The reason I was flustered was because of the person walking toward me.
Namgung Kang.
He was the captain of the Baekcheon Trading Company.
As far as I knew, once every five years, the senior members of the Martial Alliance would gather to review the qualifications of the captains of the trading companies.
As the Baekcheon Trading Company is funded by the Martial Alliance, the opinions of the senior members are very important.
And since those senior members are the ones who contribute a certain amount of money to the Baekcheon Trading Company, they are bound to be very interested.
This is because the profits, excluding reinvestments, go into their pockets.
Last fall, Namgung Kang decided to hoard fish bones and lime powder, which are the most important ingredients for making gold-plated armor.
However, thanks to my timely response, they suffered significant financial losses and their status was greatly diminished.
I heard that this made Namgung Kang's position quite unstable.
But seeing him walking so proudly, I guess he managed to keep his position again.
He was persistent in his previous life, too.
And if he were dismissed so easily, it wouldn't be fun.
With so much to repay, the future will be even more interesting.
Ah...
I stopped slightly, struck by a sudden thought.
“What's wrong?”
Seo Woo-musha asked me, and I answered in a low voice, controlling my expression.
“I'm worried that he might notice my true abilities. I can't avoid him now...”
“Don't worry about that.”
“What?”
“I'll explain later. For now, just stay calm and respond to him.”
Soon we were close, and I greeted him first.
“Ah! Aren't you the captain of the Baekcheon Trading Company?”
He responded to my greeting with a kind smile.
“Ah, you're the captain of the Eunhae Trading Company!”
“You remember me! I'm honored.”
“Hahaha, what's there to be honored? So, seeing you here, I guess you're also attending this meeting.”
“Yes, that's right. I'm glad I came to see you, Captain.”
“This guy is flattering me. Hehehe.”
He laughed heartily.
Go ahead and laugh.
For revenge, I can put gold on my face as much as you want.
“Ah, you seem to be in a hurry. I think I've kept you too long.”
“Not at all. It was nice to see you.”
“Then, please go ahead.”
“See you next time.”
With that, Namgung Gang, the captain of the Trading Company, hurriedly left with the others.
I stared at his back.
My current level is at its peak.
Thanks to him, I was able to gauge his level as well. His level is also at its peak.
As expected of the Namgung Clan.
Even with such talent, they decided that he had no place in the clan.
I heard that since he was young, he believed that he could not gain influence within his clan through martial arts, so he turned his attention to the Trading Company.
After all, there are many masters of the highest level in the Namgung Clan, and the current Clan Head is also a master of the Dao.
Anyway, Seo Woo told me not to worry, so I met him and exchanged greetings...
Did he really not notice my level?
If he had, he wouldn't have looked so calm. To be honest, at my age, it's impossible to be at the peak of my abilities.
“May I ask for an explanation now?”
Seo Woo-mushu nodded in response to my question.
“Yes. To be honest, we don't know the exact level of your Liege's abilities. It was difficult to tell before, but now it's even harder.”
“What? Didn't you say before that you knew everything about my level in the North Sea?”
Seo Woo-mu shook his head and replied.
“That was not because we had gauged your level, but because we saw you reach a new level at that time.”
“What?”
“Of course, if we saw you use your martial arts, we would be able to tell your level. But just by looking at you, we have no idea. It's like looking at an ordinary person.”
That wasn't the case before, was it?
But you said it was like that before?
“Didn't you know my level before?”
“As I said, we knew because we saw you use your martial arts.”
I turned my head and looked at the other bodyguards.
“As Captain Seo said, I also cannot tell your exact level just by looking at you.”
Everyone nodded at Jin-yu's words.
They had no reason to lie to me. And Namgung Gang's reaction was the same.
Come to think of it, Captain Namgung Kang didn't seem to know anything about my level before.
He found out about my level when I was hailed as a hero at the Dragon and Phoenix Duel.
Then...
That's good.
I smiled.
Regardless of the reason, it was good that the Martial Alliance didn't know much about my level.
I sent a telepathic message to my bodyguards.
- My external level is still at its peak. Please keep it a secret that I have reached my peak this time.
They seemed to understand my telepathy and clasped their hands together.
By the way, what is Namgung Kang, the head of the Trading Company, in such a hurry for?
My intuition told me to follow him.
I began to follow him.
A short time later,
Namgung Gang and his party arrived at a place that was not the bustling downtown area of Jeonam.
It was a little off the main street, and there was a three-story tavern there.
It was called Geumgyeru.
They went inside, and we naturally followed them.
Then, I heard the conversation of the customers on the first floor.
“As expected, if you want to eat spicy chicken stew in Jinan, you have to eat it here. It's just that it's in a remote place, so people don't know about it.”
“Oh! You're right!”
“It's a shame we can't have a drink with such delicious food because of the prohibition.”
“Yeah, you're right.”
So that's why the tavern is called Geumgyeru.
Spicy chicken stew is one of Shandong's famous dishes.
How delicious could it be?
I have to try it.
At that moment, a waiter approached us.
“Welcome. How many people are there?”
“Eight.”
I asked after confirming that Namgung Gang, the captain of the trading company, and his party had gone up to the third floor.
“Is there any room upstairs?”
“The third floor is currently reserved, so only this floor is available.”
They are thorough, as expected.
“Then we'll take this floor.”
We took seats by the railing on this floor and ordered food.
“I heard that the spicy chicken stew here is famous.”
“Yes, that's right! It's our most famous dish at Geumgyeru!”
“Then please bring us that, and we'll order drinks ourselves.”
“Certainly.”
That's how we ended up eating chicken stew there by accident.
While waiting for our food, I concentrated my senses on the third floor.
I heard various conversations. All of them were meaningless chatter.
Meanwhile, our food was served.
“Enjoy your meal.”
“Thank you.”
I said to everyone.
“Let's eat.”
“I'll enjoy it!”
“I'll enjoy it.”
The moment I took a bite of the spicy chicken stew, I was surprised.
Wow! Why is this so delicious?
It was the most delicious spicy chicken stew I had ever eaten in my entire life.
The conversation of the guests on the first floor about this dish was not an exaggeration at all.
In fact, it seemed to be an understatement.
“Wow! This is incredibly delicious!”
The other bodyguards agreed with Pal-gap and began to devour the food.
However, even though I had often come here in my previous life, I had never seen Geumgyeru before.
Moreover, if this was a place that made such delicious food, there was no way I wouldn't know about it... Gasp!
This is not the time for me to be like this.
The food was so delicious that it distracted me.
I quickly regained my composure and focused on the conversation.
Fortunately, they were finally getting to the point.
“So, you want me to shake that old man?”
“That's all you have to do.”
“But now that I think about it, I feel like I'm getting the short end of the stick. As you know, that old man doesn't get shaken up easily. I have to take a risk, so the amount you're offering seems too low.”
“You think it's too low?”
“Since you're offering it anyway, how about adding another hundred nyang?”
“Alright. What's another hundred nyang?”
“Thank you very much. And please keep your promise to give me the position of deputy head when I go to the Trading Company.”
Even at first glance, there was something fishy about their conversation.
“Well, we'd better be going.”
“Take care.”
I quickly pretended not to notice anything and focused on my food.
“Wow, this is really delicious.”
“Yes, it is. Can we order another one?”
“Of course. I'm not being stingy about food.”
My words made him smile brightly, and he called the waiter and ordered another spicy chicken dish.
* *
Namgung Gang, the captain of the Trading Company, finished his conversation and came down from the third floor of the tavern.
His newly appointed assistant asked him cautiously.
“Are you sure you want to add another hundred nyang?”
“It's worth spending another hundred nyang on this. It will help Baek Cheon Trading Company climb even higher.”
“That's true, but…”
“Why?”
“I'm not sure about bringing that guy into Baekcheon Trading Company. If he reveals our business...”
“Don't worry. He won't be working at our company.”
“What?”
After a moment, he understood what he meant and nodded.
It was because of his insight that Captain Namgung Kang chose him as his second-in-command.
“You are truly the captain!”
Namgung Kang was in a hurry.
Earlier this year, there had been discussions about the position of captain of the Baekcheon Trading Company, and the senior members of the Martial Alliance were considering dismissing him.
“In the rankings of the 100 best trading companies announced by the Imperial Palace during the last Dongji, the Baekcheon Trading Company ranked sixth.”
“It didn't go up from last time, but it went down.”
“I'm sorry.”
“We suffered losses, we were criticized, and our ranking went down... Why should we keep you as the captain?”
“...”
“But considering your family's reputation and your hard work so far, I'll give you one more chance.”
“Thank you!”
“But this time, there is a condition.”
“What condition?”
“Three years! Within that time, make Baekcheon Trading Company one of the three greatest trading companies in the world. If you fail, it's really over.”
“But isn't there a five-year period for the appointment and dismissal of the captain?”
“Of course, that's true. But if you can't make it one of the three greatest trading companies in the world within three years, then that's the limit of your abilities. What's the point of keeping you around any longer?”
“....”
That was it.
He had to make Baekcheon Trading Company one of the three greatest trading companies in the world within three years.
In order to accomplish that in such a short time, he had no choice but to destroy the higher-ranked trading companies or steal their business.
“I gave those old men expensive gifts and kissed up to them... Damn it, a conditional captain!”
As he cursed the senior members of the Martial Alliance in his heart, he came down from the third floor and stopped short.
That was because there were familiar faces at the table over there.
“Aren't those the captain and his men from the Eunhae Trading Company?”
His aide seemed to recognize them as well.
“Did they overhear our conversation?”
“It's possible.”
At that moment, Pal-gap raised his hand and called the waiter.
“Here's our order!”
“Yes!”
“Please add five more servings of spicy chicken stew.”
“Sure!”
Their table was covered with piles of chicken bones.
If they had been concentrating on eavesdropping, there would have been no such traces.
Moreover, seeing that, he somehow felt hungry himself.
“Judging from the looks of it, they seem to have come here just to eat.”
“It seems so to me too. They are eating really well.”
“Let's go. It's not good if they find out that we saw them.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Just in case, he had cleared out the entire third floor, so their conversation could not be heard from this floor.
“With his martial arts skills at their peak, he wouldn't be able to hear the conversation upstairs. Plus, the ceilings here are quite high.”
That was why he had chosen this place as the meeting spot.
Eun Seo-ho's martial arts skills were not apparent, but that didn't mean he didn't have any special mental techniques.
Furthermore, if his background or qi had been suspicious, the Martial Alliance would not have willingly hailed him as a hero at the last Dragon and Phoenix Duel.
Even if the Martial Alliance needed to divert people's attention, they would not have done so if there had been anything suspicious.
That's how the Martial Alliance works.
With that thought, Namgung Kang cleared his mind and hurriedly left the tavern.
* *
I glanced at the back of Namgung Kang, the captain of the Trading Company, as he left the tavern.
Just as I thought, even though he saw us, he pretended not to and left as if he were running away.
No doubt he came here with something to hide.
I got up from my seat and pretended to go to the restroom, but instead I quietly made my way to the third floor.
There, I saw a man sitting alone, drinking tea, and I checked his face.
Who is he?
I've never seen him before, not even in my previous life.
I quietly returned to my seat and sent telepathy to Jin-yu Musha, asking him to find out more about that man.
Something was definitely going on at Baekcheon Trading Company. Moreover, his intentions did not look good at all.
If that was the case, I had to stop him.