novelraw Chapter 62
Chapter 62
Chapter 62
The man called Chef Paeng was filling the pre-made dumpling skins with filling.
A pot of dumplings was steaming on one side, and Chef Paeng checked the ingredients for the dumpling filling.
“We sold more than usual today. Tell them we're out of ingredients for the dumplings and don't take any more orders. We'll be done after we sell about five more plates.”
The man called Chef Paeng spoke bluntly, without even responding to what had just been said.
He was a man of enormous build. His body wasn't obese, but it was packed with muscle and he had a thick frame.
A man this tall and well-built was bound to have great strength, even if he hadn't specially learned martial arts.
Danmok Yeon thought that controlling this man would be very easy. A person who had experienced misfortune was bound to have negative thoughts even if left alone. And Danmok Yeon's Soul Bewitching Art worked really well on such people.
There would be no need to exert much effort to control a person like this.
Danmok Yeon was already overflowing with confidence.
He approached Chef Paeng like a wisp of smoke. To say he was like a wisp of smoke was not just a metaphor. His form was actually like smoke.
If the chef, Paeng Ga-jong, had seen him closely, he would have thought that a fog was rolling in towards him.
However, Paeng Ga-jong, who was dripping with sweat, showed no particular reaction even while Danmok Yeon was flickering around him. It was a good situation to perform a wicked art, and he had momentarily created the right environment. If so, it was a foregone conclusion that he should lose his will and become obedient to the sound he heard in his ear.
Danmok Yeon, when the task he had thought would be simple hit a wall, found it strange.
Wouldn't a man with a history of countless women he had lived with running away be easily broken by just a little prodding of those past memories?
But this man was filled with will.
The will to quickly finish steaming all the dumplings and leave the kitchen.
The will to wash his sweat-drenched body with cold water and then sleep with a refreshed feeling.
The time when he could give a small rest to his body, weary from labor, was just around the corner. Because of that, he was overflowing with motivation.
The reason Danmok Yeon could tell was because Paeng Ga-jong kept muttering those words to himself.
‘This is the first time I've seen a human like this. To think there could be a person so full of positive energy from the will to quickly finish work and go home?’
Just as he was thinking that, an attendant approached.
“Chef Paeng, you haven't forgotten what I told you, have you? That there is someone waiting for you. You haven't forgotten that he is no ordinary person, have you? He's a Manager of the Golden Merchant Guild, a Manager! If you get on his good side, fixing your fortune is just a matter of time. If you go there, you might even be able to go to the brothel every day.”
At that, the look in Paeng Ga-jong's eyes changed.
He liked women. He was also quite good at winning their favor because of his handsome appearance. The pay for a chef at Cheonghaeru wasn't bad, so if he launched a material offensive, there weren't many women who didn't fall for him.
However, due to shoddy goods, that period did not last six months. What was six months? It was a long time if it lasted three.
Danmok Yeon had thought that the man named Paeng Ga-jong would feel despair.
He had been excited, thinking his work was finally over, but now he had to meet someone.
So he had thought that now might be the opportunity, but that too was his delusion.
Paeng Ga-jong really liked women, and at the fantasy that he might be introduced to many women if he met the Manager of the Golden Merchant Guild, he seemed to become even more motivated.
Almost no one knew that fact, but the people who were most immune to Danmok Yeon's wicked arts were precisely those who were overflowing with motivation.
Looking at it that way, Paeng Ga-jong and Danmok Yeon were a very bad match.
“Is that so? Then I should buy that person the remaining dumplings.”
Paeng Ga-jong said, thinking it wouldn't be good to meet him empty-handed.
“That would be good. He will be very pleased. He has been waiting for quite a long time, so if you go over in advance, he'll be very happy just with that.”
If that was the case, then Paeng Ga-jong had no reason to hesitate any longer.
His movements became even faster.
He put even more care into making the dumplings. He kneaded the dough a little more diligently to make the skins even chewier, and he was not stingy with the filling.
Having made a first-class bribe in that way, he finally went to Cheon Ha-seong.
The attendant, feeling smug for no reason, personally took Chef Paeng to Cheon Ha-seong.
Cheon Ha-seong wore a face full of curiosity as he saw the attendant coming with a man of enormous build.
He was also a quick-witted person, so he had already guessed the identity of the large man. Thinking that he shouldn't be sitting down to greet him, he shot up from his seat.
Paeng Ga-jong was over fifty, but this was not a place where one was treated according to their age. It was a place where being looked down upon by fresh-faced greenhorns was a daily occurrence. But to have the man who was a Manager of the Golden Merchant Guild come out like this to greet him, he was automatically moved and grateful.
“Manager, I am called Paeng Ga-jong, a chef of Cheonghaeru. I heard that you wished to see me, so I came. Work ended early today. This was all that was left, but I wanted to treat you, so I brought it. I hope you're not tired of it.”
Cheon Ha-seong was honestly surprised to see five whole plates of dumplings. Although he had really enjoyed eating one plate, didn't this seem a bit excessive?
As he was having that thought, Paeng Ga-jong came and sat in front of him as if to say not to worry.
“I will help you.”
At that, Cheon Ha-seong hesitated and then said.
“Would it be possible to pack this to go? Actually, my partner…”
Then, Cheon Ha-seong thought it was a bit ambiguous to talk about Seo Hyo-eun. They hadn't even held a wedding ceremony yet, but she had suddenly become pregnant.
He was very happy, thinking it had turned out well, but he also felt that others might see Head Instructor Seo in a poor light. He didn't want Head Instructor Seo to be judged poorly, and since they were no different from a married couple, just without the ceremony, Cheon Ha-seong changed his words.
“It's because my wife cannot forget the dumplings she ate here. She became pregnant recently, and she has become so haggard she can't even speak because she can't eat any other food.”
As Cheon Ha-seong's words continued, Paeng Ga-jong's expression gradually brightened. As a chef, what could be better than hearing that a customer who had eaten his food could not forget its taste?
“Is that so? Then please wait just a moment. I will pack them up and be right out.”
As Paeng Ga-jong stood up, Cheon Ha-seong quickly slipped him some money.
Hadn't Paeng Ga-jong come out, having already calculated to buy those dumplings himself?
Paeng Ga-jong adamantly refused, but Cheon Ha-seong gave the money to the attendant.
“Use this to pay, and please return Chef Paeng's money.”
At that, the attendant smiled brightly as if to say, 'Of course,' and said he would.
“Then doesn't this become a forced sale on my part?”
When Paeng Ga-jong spoke with an apologetic face, Cheon Ha-seong shook his head.
“You should absolutely not think that way. Just the thought of my wife eating these dumplings and being happy makes me truly joyful. Please hurry and pack them for me.”
“Understood.”
Paeng Ga-jong, thinking it couldn't be helped, went to the kitchen and packed other dishes along with the dumplings. Then he paid for them himself.
A Manager of the Golden Merchant Guild would not be short on money, but still, he had taken a great liking to the Cheon Ha-seong he had just met and really wanted to give him a gift.
A moment later, they left Cheonghaeru together.
Cheon Ha-seong said he wanted to treat Paeng Ga-jong to a drink at a good place, but Paeng Ga-jong said it would be better for him to go to his wife as quickly as possible.
Cheon Ha-seong also wanted to do so, but he couldn't talk about taking the chef to the Divine Cult on the street.
“Chef, actually, there is something I would like to say to you, so I was hoping we could talk in a quiet place.”
At that, Paeng Ga-jong made a surprised face and then said.
“If that is the case, how about we go to my house and talk over a cup of tea? It seems like an important conversation, and if we go for a drink, it might be difficult to talk properly. As it happens, my house is close by.”
“If you say it is alright, then I would be happy to.”
Thinking that things might go surprisingly well, Cheon Ha-seong immediately agreed.
In the meantime, there was one who was following behind them, plunged into extreme confusion.
It was Danmok Yeon.
For a while, he had felt no difficulty in hearing what the two were saying. But from a certain moment, he could no longer hear their words. No matter how hard he tried to listen using his internal energy, he could not hear.
Only then did he realize that this had a consistency.
Until now, he had been able to hear when Cheon Ha-seong had trivial conversations with other people. But the conversations he had with important people were inaudible.
This time, it didn't seem to be because the other person was important, but because the conversation itself was important.
‘Is he intentionally putting up a Qi barrier?’
However, even that was not easily convincing.
Putting up a Qi barrier was not something a young martial artist like Cheon Ha-seong could do easily. Furthermore, the idea that he could freely put up a barrier and maintain it for a long time was even more incomprehensible. If they were having a conversation so important that it required a Qi barrier, shouldn't they not be talking while walking down the road like this?
And Cheon Ha-seong was currently on a journey outside the Divine Cult. It didn't make sense in many ways for him to waste his internal energy in such a manner.
Cheon Ha-seong continued to talk, unaware of who was following him or what he was thinking.
Paeng Ga-jong showed interest as he listened to what Cheon Ha-seong said.
Cheon Ha-seong had told him most of the story, except for the fact that he was a person of the Divine Cult and that the place he wanted Paeng Ga-jong to go with him to was the Divine Cult.
“So, what you're saying, Manager, is that you would like me to leave Cheonghaeru and go with you?”
A small misunderstanding arose there.
Because the travel pass the Divine Cult's martial artists had given to Cheon Ha-seong happened to be that of a Manager of the Golden Merchant Guild, Paeng Ga-jong thought this was a matter for the Golden Merchant Guild.
He was once again filled with dreams.
Cheon Ha-seong, thinking he had to tell him that wasn't it quickly, wished they would arrive at Paeng Ga-jong's house soon.
“When did the Manager's wife say she ate the dumplings I made? Did she not say what part she particularly liked?”
Cheon Ha-seong was preoccupied, thinking about how best to bring up the story, but Paeng Ga-jong, whenever he had a chance to speak, diligently asked such things. He seemed quite curious.