You think it’s easy to earn someone else’s money?
It’s something you hear once in a while while working part-time or at a job.
It’s just as difficult to earn money through legitimate labor in modern times as it is here; not to mention the debt of a business.
Can you just trust a measly tongue and step up to the podium without any preparation? Maybe some can, but at least I couldn’t do that.
“What was it that we needed to get today?”
I asked Lady Tang with a faint smile.
“What we gain is the green woods, and what we lose is the iron chains?”
“No… that’s the Hwalbindang.”
This woman, if someone heard it, would be in big trouble.
Huh? “No? Then we acknowledge receiving half of the bookstore’s inheritance and debts from the creditors?”
Lady Tang laughed as if she’d succeeded when I looked flustered, and she shared her thoughts. She looked rather pleased, maybe because today went well.
“No.”
I shook my head lightly, dismissing her words.
“Then?”
“Our goal today was to get the stamps on the debt documents.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“Not at all. You can say whatever you want about acknowledging something, but we absolutely needed documents containing responsibilities and promises that don’t change.”
Oral contracts can be easily changed. That wasn’t my intention. You must have heard wrong. I never said that.
No. Boss, when did I say that? Why do you misunderstand and get angry with me? Please pass me to the manager. Just saying it can lead them to suddenly deny everything they said before.
Boom!
Regardless of the era, stamping a document means blocking off such situations, claiming that one will take infinite responsibility for what’s written on it.
Today, we had to secure all the stamps from the creditors to confirm Lady Tang’s bookstore inheritance and half of the debt repayment.
But there was a problem.
To look at documents on the spot and stamp them?
Even in modern times, casually stamping relatives’ blank promissory notes can get you cussed out online, so how much worse would it be in this time?
That’s why some prep work was necessary today.
“Hwarin, how many years do you think it’ll take to repay the debts from the money earned in this bookstore?”
I asked her a somewhat heavy question.
“A lifetime?”
Lady Tang replied in a slightly weak tone.
“Actually, it’s about 150 years. When I calculated it with net profits, that’s how it turned out. So Hwarin should really practice her martial arts diligently. She needs to live long to repay it.”
“Pfft, laughing at someone else’s life, huh?”
Lady Tang pouted, looking like she was sulking at my teasing tone.
“If the ledger is accurate, that is.”
“Huh? Did you manipulate the ledger? Did you put in fake records?”
Lady Tang immediately withdrew her lips and looked at me with a shocked expression.
“No, everything written there was transferred from the original ledgers.”
The concise ledger compiled in pamphlet form contained no new false records at all.
“Then how?”
“I touched the net profit.”
“Net profit?”
“The net profit is essentially what you earn minus what you spend. Even a large store that spends a lot will not earn as much as a small store that manages expenses well.”
“If you didn’t write fake records, how did you touch the net profit?”
“Your grandfather had many businesses, right? Yet he managed them all under one ledger. Uncle Head of Guards said he had to separate the ledgers for each business because of the sales, and an idea suddenly came to me.”
“What idea?”
“Without touching the profits of other businesses but massively inflating the expenses for the bookstore.”
While shaking the bait of debt repayment in front of the creditors, you have to make them seem like they’re dropping it lightly. By manipulating the bookstore’s ledger, showing that the annual income is insignificant.
The problem is, the other businesses besides the bookstore are being sold and their ledgers will be transferred.
If the expenses of other businesses are disguised as the bookstore’s or the fake records are discovered, it could become a major issue later on.
“What’s that?”
Lady Tang asked, her curiosity piqued.
“Hwarin, it just hit me. A method to drastically reduce the bookstore’s net profits just using the records.”
“Your grandfather’s charity work.”
I revealed the essence of my idea to her.
“Charity…? Ah!”
Lady Tang exclaimed as if she had realized something from my words. It’s nice that she understands quickly.
“Yes, donations, sponsorships, offerings. The numerous amounts spent on those charitable activities. That money doesn’t belong to any business but exists as an expense on the ledger. I asked Uncle Head of Guards to transfer those expenses to the bookstore’s ledger.”
What a brilliant idea! If you carefully distribute those charitable expenses without anyone noticing, the bookstore’s net profit will drastically drop. Of course, to seamlessly insert it into the ledger, a tremendously skilled expert would need to invest a lot of time and effort.
Uncle Head of Guards was impressed, nodding at my idea.
Then, please take care of that.
Ah…
Indeed, with decades of experience, Uncle Head of Guards was way too competent. The appropriately massaged ledger went unnoticed by the creditors.
When it was further simplified into pamphlet form, it became even harder for experts to catch on.
“There was such a method.”
Lady Tang looked at me with wide eyes, surprised by my trickery.
It’s too early to be surprised. There’s one more thing.
“The problem was, we needed to get the stamps before anyone noticed something odd from that pamphlet.”
If they sensed something suspicious and wanted to see the main ledger, they could catch on. Getting the stamps quickly before that was crucial.
“That’s where you came in, Yoon-ho. You got them to stamp it with your smooth talking.”
“How can you get those money-crazed people to stamp their approval just by being smooth-tongued?”
I looked at her with an expression that blatantly revealed that there had been a scheme beforehand.
“I don’t think the person who caused the revolution should be saying that… What did you do?”
Lady Tang looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.
I glanced away under her scrutinizing gaze and brought up the second scheme I had conducted beforehand.
“I hired a decoy.”
“A decoy? But the people present were either creditors or bodyguards.”
“I made those creditors my decoys.”
“Huh, how?”
“Not all creditors share the same grievances or anger. I got introduced to those with whom we had maintained good relations for decades. I promised them repayment and asked them to play the decoy.”
The second scheme.
I convinced a few of the creditors to align with us. Those who had a rightful claim seated themselves, playing the decoy without suspicion.
You should be grateful we’re having such a cordial conversation! How dare that debtor stand so shamelessly! Someone grab her by the hair and drag her out!
I provoked the creditors who enjoyed inflicting violence on the debtor, making them clap and fight whenever the auction was mentioned.
I dangled the food of debt in front of them, stirring anxiety. The decoys keep the atmosphere chaotic so the creditors wouldn’t have time to dig deep into the ledgers.
The creditors lost any time to deeply suspect the ledgers and, in the end,
I’m going to stamp it!
Once they stamped it, the role of the decoy was over.
I felt my heart sink when Jang No-ya, the elder of the Man Geum Battlefield, caught on to the situation. But thankfully, Jang No-ya was a friend of my grandfather.
Instead, he played a crucial decoy role, allowing us to receive stamps on all documents.
“About 20 years. If you live frugally, that should be enough to repay. As I mentioned before, working as a broker could lessen it even more. It’s definitely better than being out on the street, right?”
Broker.
Although the businesses of the Baek family will fade, the human network remains.
Just because you bought a new fabric shop doesn’t mean the silk contracts are automatically inherited.
Using my status as the sole heir of the Baek family, if I connect people and earn commission, the debts would decrease further.
In a world where one might take on a long-term loan of thirty years just to buy an apartment, thinking of it as a loan for a property on the main street can truly be seen as a lucrative deal.
Instead of blaming Lady Tang for everything that went wrong with her deceased mother and laying on the streets, the current situation with one property and manageable debt is ideal.
“You really…”
Lady Tang’s eyes trembled as she looked at me after hearing the details of the whole situation.
How about that? Isn’t it touching? With this, I’ve perfectly resolved the issue. So hire me!
I approached her, clasping one of her hands with one and covering it with the other.
“I’m glad I reached out instead of giving up.”
“Ugh, uh-huh.”
Why’s she avoiding my gaze? Is she about to cry? Lady Tang lowered her head and avoided my eyes.
“I’ll continue to help in the future. Let’s do well together.”
I gently coaxed her to stamp the imaginary employment contract.
“Uh, how much will you help?”
“Continuously for a while?”
“…For the next 20 years?”
No, before that, wouldn’t she have to become famous? Don’t you have confidence to pay off the debt?
“Why do you think it’ll be hard to repay?”
“Oh, it’s not that.”
“The timeline is flexible, so I’ll continue helping you. If it gets unexpectedly tough, we can just ditch everything and run away together.”
As time passes, if repayment turns out to be tougher than expected, we can just escape together. If I write hard and use a printer to copy my fame, surely one of them will hit.
At that stage, it would be okay to take Lady Tang along as my bodyguard and roam the world.
“…Do you know what that means?”
“Did I say something wrong?”
I’ll help her wholeheartedly, so I asked her to help me with my fame. Did that sound difficult?
“Ha. No, you wouldn’t say that. Just my overblown delusions.”
Lady Tang, lifting her head, no longer had trembling eyes. Instead, she looked at me with a complex and troubled expression.
What’s with that?
Huh? “Yoon-ho.”
Lady Tang chuckled at my perplexed face and called for me.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. Really. I will keep repaying this favor.”
Lady Tang placed her remaining hand on my hand and held it firmly.
Her face showed not despair or frustration, as days before, but rather the hope of moving forward.
——
“Not sleeping?”
In the attic of the bookstore, which had just been cleaned, Lady Tang called for me as I sat at the desk.
“Go ahead and sleep first.”
I replied while grinding ink.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to write a novel.”
“A book? Not The Story of Hong Gildong?”
Lady Tang hurriedly pulled off the blanket and asked me.
“No, I’m trying to write a sellable story.”
“Hmm… Since I have to work starting tomorrow, do it moderately and get to bed.”
Lady Tang, losing interest when I said it wasn’t Hong Gildong, pulled the blanket back over herself and lay down.
I cleared one side of the ink and dipped my brush into the ink.
It was a long time coming.
It took so long to get here.
Now the event has come to a close. From now on, I just have to run the bookstore and keep writing books.
‘What should I write?’
If fame is important, it would be logical to start with popular genres. So what should that be? There is a commercially more popular genre in this world.
Adult novels.
Should I write adult novels then? Should I first write that provocative modern adult story?
No thanks.
I, Kang Yoon-ho, have not forgotten the day I wrote Chronicles of the Wind and Cloud Heroes. I have not forgotten the day I cried out to the world. It would be one thing if there were no printing press, but I don’t want to completely give up writing martial arts stories in this world.
Then should I write a martial arts novel?
Is it the true attitude of a writer to challenge a genre that’s bound to fail?
No. As a writer, I should write something that satisfies both myself and the readers of this world.
I’ve already decided on the genre months ago. That’s what I’m writing.
An adult novel but not quite an adult novel, a martial arts story but not quite a martial arts story,
That is,
Let’s write a “Ddak-kyup-ji.”
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