Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 158

Jo Gyu-min earnestly tried to persuade Kang Jin-ho.

“Hey, can’t we just go to Hong Kong or Macau for a day and have some fun?”

Once Kang Jin-ho had decided to go, there was probably less than a 1% chance of changing his mind.

However, Kang Jin-ho was as firm as ever.

“If that’s what we were going to do, we would have gone to Hong Kong or Macau from the start. Don’t worry. I’ll give you plenty of time to play after work is done.”

“…After work is done?”

“First, we need to rent a car.”

At Kang Jin-ho’s words, Jo Gyu-min let out a hollow laugh.

“Kang Jin-ho, this is a foreign country. You don’t have a license here.”

“Huh? Are licenses different in each country?”

“Of course.”

“…I didn’t think of that.”

When Kang Jin-ho looked troubled, Jo Gyu-min shook his head as if he couldn’t help it.

‘He has a bit of a clueless side in unexpected places.’

“I’ve arranged for a pick-up vehicle. A driver will come with it.”

“Really?”

When Kang Jin-ho looked surprised, Jo Gyu-min chuckled and replied.

“Sometimes, it seems like you think Jae-kyung [a major Korean conglomerate] is some kind of corner store. Jae-kyung is one of the top three conglomerates in Korea.”

“Some people say it’s top five, though?”

“…Let’s just say top three. The chairman gets angry when he hears that.”

“Okay. So?”

“There’s no way a company that’s in the top three wouldn’t have connections in China. And even before those connections, Jae-kyung has a branch in China. Someone from the branch will come.”

“I see.”

Kang Jin-ho looked around, wondering where he should spend his time, but there was no need. Jo Gyu-min’s phone rang, and soon they received a call saying that they would arrive where the two were.

“Hello?”

Soon, a large off-road vehicle arrived, and a plump middle-aged man got out of the car and bowed to Kang Jin-ho.

“Hello.”

“You must be the people from headquarters? I’ve come to pick you up. I’m Nam Sang-hyuk, the deputy director working at the Guangzhou branch of Jae-kyung Group.”

“Nice to meet you.”

After Kang Jin-ho greeted him, Jo Gyu-min started whispering something to Nam Sang-hyuk. Nam Sang-hyuk’s expression changed several times, and then he bowed to Kang Jin-ho again.

Kang Jin-ho awkwardly returned Nam Sang-hyuk’s greeting.

“So, where exactly is your destination?”

“It seems to be around here.”

“It seems to be…”

Nam Sang-hyuk frowned as he looked at the map Kang Jin-ho was pointing at.

“It looks like it’s near the Zhuang Autonomous Region, but there aren’t really any buildings around here?”

Jo Gyu-min’s face began to look uneasy.

“Th-there are no buildings?”

“Yes. This is a completely mountainous area where only locals live. You know, like those places you see in documentaries.”

“The Tea Horse Road?”

“It’s similar, but a bit more lush. Still, how should I put it, it’s a bit of a breezy place.”

“Breezy?”

“There’s nothing but mountains and fields.”

Jo Gyu-min stared intently at Kang Jin-ho. But Kang Jin-ho nodded as if he already knew.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Why on earth are you going there?”

“I have some business to take care of.”

“Hmm, I understand. Let’s get in the car first. Have you eaten?”

Jo Gyu-min raised his hand.

“I’d like to eat first, if possible?”

“Okay. Let’s do that then.”

Kang Jin-ho looked displeased, but Jo Gyu-min remained firm. He knew Kang Jin-ho too well, so it was a natural course of action.

Kang Jin-ho wasn’t unprepared, but he had a tendency to take human discomfort for granted. This time, he probably came with the mindset that he could just sleep outside if there was no place to stay.

That meant that if they didn’t eat now, it would be hard to get a proper meal.

But Jo Gyu-min had no intention of letting today pass by like that.

“To a good restaurant! Please take us to a good restaurant.”

“Yes. I know this area like the back of my hand. But would you like Korean or Chinese food?”

“Of course, it’s Chinese. Why would we eat Korean food in China?”

“Is that so?”

Nam Sang-hyuk seemed to chuckle slightly, but Jo Gyu-min didn’t think it was strange at the time.

“…What is this?”

Jo Gyu-min was experiencing the limits of what humans could eat.

The fried rice was rice soaked in oil, and the stir-fried vegetables were vegetables soaked in oil.

The noodles had a fragrance like cosmetics, making him not even want to pick up a spoon.

The only things Jo Gyu-min could eat were the meat, which had a flavor he couldn’t do anything about because the spices were too strong, and the dumplings, which had nothing inside.

“Why does this taste like this? Is this really a good restaurant?”

“Can’t you see?”

Jo Gyu-min grimaced as he looked at the customers filling the restaurant. Besides, everyone was eating happily.

“The aroma is a bit unique, isn’t it?”

“Is this Chinese food?”

It was Chinese food since it was being sold in China. But the taste was very different from the Chinese food Jo Gyu-min had in mind.

For Jo Gyu-min, who had expected a stronger version of sweet and sour pork or a premium version of Kung Pao chicken, the food in front of him was something else disguised as Chinese food.

“The Chinese restaurants in Korea usually cater to Korean tastes. This is real Chinese food. What Koreans feel about Chinese food is… well…”

Nam Sang-hyuk pointed at the food and said,

“Usually, it’s either very salty, or the aroma is too strong, or it’s an oil bomb.”

“…That sounds like an insult.”

“It’s not an insult. You get used to it as you eat it. Once you eat Chinese food, Korean food starts to feel bland. For example, this mapo tofu uses chili peppers or capsaicin for spiciness in Korea, but here they use Sichuan peppercorns. It literally makes your mouth numb.”

Nam Sang-hyuk smiled and continued.

“It’s the same with cilantro.”

“Cilantro?”

“It’s the vegetable that smells like cosmetics that you just smelled. It’s hard to get used to at first, but once you do, you’ll miss it if it’s not there.”

“What? This?”

When Jo Gyu-min said that he absolutely couldn’t agree, Nam Sang-hyuk smiled.

“Food and culture are relative. I don’t know what Secretary Jo Gyu-min thinks, but what suits their taste may not suit ours, and what suits our taste may not suit theirs.”

“Still, this is a bit…”

“The same way you’re reacting now, Chinese people are horrified by perilla leaves when they eat Korean food.”

“What? Perilla leaves?”

“It’s just a pungent aroma to us, but it seems like Chinese people find it an unbearable smell.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes.”

Nam Sang-hyuk nodded and said,

“So, you shouldn’t think that these strong aromas or the smell of cilantro are strange. Culture is relative, and people are bound to adapt. There are many cases where you don’t understand a culture at first, but you come to understand it as you live in it.”

“Hmm…”

Jo Gyu-min slowly nodded. It was a reasonable point, and it was definitely something to learn from.

“So, when evaluating the food culture of another country, you need to have the mindset of accepting their culture first. Except for that damn fried rice that’s been showered in oil!”

“…The conclusion is strange?”

“I clearly told them to use less oil! These Middle Eastern oil tycoons! How much oil do they need to pour in to be satisfied! Is this fried rice? It’s just rice with oil!”

“Calm down.”

“I really can’t understand the Chinese people’s taste.”

Nam Sang-hyuk had ruined all the good things he had said.

‘Well, cultural relativity and all that is good and all, but…’

The problem was that there was nothing to eat right now. Understanding another country’s culture was definitely a good thing, but that could be done later, and he was hungry right now.

“So, there’s no other option besides Korean food and this?”

“There are many other foreign franchises. Fast food.”

When Jo Gyu-min looked at him as if asking why he hadn’t taken him there, Nam Sang-hyuk smiled.

“But if I had suggested going to such a place, would you have gone?”

“I wouldn’t have.”

“You have to experience everything yourself at least once. Please eat.”

‘What should I eat?’

While Jo Gyu-min was reluctantly chewing on dumplings, Kang Jin-ho was eating everything without being picky.

“Wow…”

He had seen many sides of Kang Jin-ho so far, but he could say with certainty that this was his most manly side. Look at that man chewing cilantro like it was steel.

“Is it good?”

Kang Jin-ho smiled and replied.

“It’s really bad.”

“…”

It wasn’t that Kang Jin-ho wasn’t a little shocked right now. He thought that since so much time had passed, the food wouldn’t be the same.

What was interesting was that the food Kang Jin-ho had eaten in the Central Plains in the past was much more bland than this. That was inevitable because at the time, the only oil available was chili oil, and chili oil, which was made from pork fat, was a very expensive ingredient in ordinary restaurants.

Therefore, most of the food was steamed or boiled.

But in just a few hundred years, most of the food had changed to be mostly fried or stir-fried.

‘I don’t know if the old days were better, or if my taste has changed.’

It wasn’t food that he couldn’t eat. He had even rummaged through trash cans in the Central Plains. He didn’t care whether the food was good or bad. But the oily fried rice was definitely a chore.

“Something feels ominous from the start…”

Jo Gyu-min joked.

At that moment, a commotion started behind them.

When he tried to turn around, Nam Sang-hyuk stopped him.

“Don’t look.”

“…Yes?”

“Since this is a restaurant that many locals frequent, those kinds of guys often come in. The Communist Party manages places where many tourists come, but those kinds of guys often come to places like this where many locals come.”

“Are they like the famous Triads [Chinese organized crime groups]?”

“I don’t know if I should call them the Triads. Actually, the name Triads is quite interesting. If you think about it, everyone is related to the Triads.”

“Hmm…”

“But everyone is also not related.”

“Anyway, they’re like gangsters?”

“Yes.”

At that moment, Kang Jin-ho got up from his seat.

“Ah, please sit down.”

When Nam Sang-hyuk was about to stop Kang Jin-ho in a panic, Jo Gyu-min reached out and pulled Nam Sang-hyuk back down.

“Stay still.”

“They are!”

“No.”

When Jo Gyu-min calmly shook his finger, Nam Sang-hyuk looked at Kang Jin-ho with a questioning look.

Kang Jin-ho approached the troublemakers and whispered something. Then, the thugs who were causing trouble whispered something to each other, glared at Kang Jin-ho, and then slowly retreated and ran outside.

“Wh-what was that?”

Nam Sang-hyuk couldn’t understand what had just happened.

When Kang Jin-ho returned to his seat with a nonchalant expression, Nam Sang-hyuk asked with a flushed face.

“What on earth did you do?”

Kang Jin-ho shrugged and said,

“It’s nothing much.”

“What did you say?”

“I told them to go get their boss and everyone else if they didn’t want to die.”

“Yes?”

Nam Sang-hyuk looked outside with trembling eyes.

Then, in the distance, he could see a group of men with meat cleavers wrapped in newspapers rushing towards them.

“…Wow, I’m going crazy.”