Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 440

The first week of May arrived.

The canola flowers were finally beginning to bloom. It was just the start, but in a couple of days, the fields would gradually transform into a sea of yellow.

Perhaps because of the anticipation, the number of visitors had dipped after the cherry blossoms faded, but starting today, the crowds were noticeably increasing again.

April had been incredible.

For about a week after the cherry blossoms peaked, only around a thousand people visited each day. But that number changed dramatically after one event.

The broadcast.

Once the village was featured on a TV program called ‘Hometown Report,’ the number of visitors tripled almost overnight. Within ten days, even weekdays saw at least 5,000 people flocking to the village.

On weekends, the numbers swelled to 7,000.

It wasn’t just the townspeople who were astonished.

Hyun-sung was skeptical at first too. He knew the power of television was significant, but he hadn’t expected such a sudden and massive increase.

Lee Soon-ok, the head of the women’s association, was equally surprised.

She had rushed to prepare after Hyun-sung informed her about the upcoming broadcast, scrambling to secure supplies and expand the menu.

But even that wasn’t enough.

Just days after the program aired, people poured in, and the prepared supplies were depleted in a single day. That day marked the first time the marketplace’s total sales exceeded ten million won [approximately $7,500 USD].

The atmosphere that day was festive.

It was only natural. It would have been strange if the people, many of whom were new to business, hadn’t been ecstatic after selling over ten million won.

That’s how they spent a hectic month of April, and now it was the 5th of May.

Two people sat face to face in the marketplace office.

Hyun-sung and Lee Soon-ok.

“Please check this and approve the payment,” Lee Soon-ok said, handing Hyun-sung a ledger. The notebook summarized all the business records for April.

Hyun-sung immediately asked, “Madam President, why are you showing this to me?”

“Of course, I have to show it to you. You’re the one who created the conditions for us to do business like this.”

“No, that’s because I originally…”

“No,” Lee Soon-ok interrupted, shaking her head. “Mr. President, that’s not the case. As I said before, the average age of our women’s association is fifty. We may be country women, but we’re not naive. We know who made this possible.”

“Owner?”

“I don’t know how you’ll take this, but our women’s association calls you ‘Master.’ Thanks to you, our families are thriving, and the village is prospering. So, we decided to call you ‘Master.'”

“No, even so, that’s a bit…”

Hyun-sung momentarily thought of two other people who used the same term.

Park Hee-cheol and Baek Du-soon. Both of them also referred to Hyun-sung as ‘Master.’

Park Hee-cheol had declared him his master and his guiding light. Baek Du-soon had also called him master, asking him to guide him, saying that a rough stone’s value depended on the master who shaped it.

Hyun-sung looked back at Lee Soon-ok and continued, “You don’t have to go that far…”

“Don’t worry about it too much. We’re just saying it because we want to. It simply means we rely on you a great deal. Perhaps it’s because we’ve been farming all our lives. In a way, you’ve opened up a new world for us.”

“A new world?”

“Yes, the oldest member of our women’s association is sixty-five years old. Do you know what she says?”

Hyun-sung knew who she was referring to: Lee Bun-nyeo, who lived in the lower village. Nowadays, sixty-five was considered relatively young, but in the past, anyone over sixty was considered a grandmother.

“Why? What does she say?”

“She says she has no regrets even if she dies now.”

“Really? What do you mean?”

“It just means she’s finally satisfied with her life. She said she’s been living like this for the first time since she got married at nineteen. If she says this month is happier than the past forty-six years, what does that tell you?”

“…”

“She’s incredibly content with her life now. Her life feels like a dream. But is that just for her? No, it’s not just her; it’s me and the other women too.”

Hyun-sung had no choice but to nod. He knew that Lee Soon-ok’s words weren’t just empty phrases; they came from the heart.

He was well aware of how those women had spent their entire lives in their hometown.

Lee Soon-ok continued, “Who is it? Who made us so happy?”

She looked at Hyun-sung for a moment before continuing. “It’s you, Mr. President. You’re the one who led us all to a new world. I wanted to tell you this at least once. So, it’s not strange that we call you ‘Master.’ And frankly, the term isn’t important. What matters is how grateful we are to you. That’s the point.”

“Haha… Madam President, now that I see it, you’re quite eloquent.”

“Hoho, eloquent?”

“Yes, after hearing you speak today, I understand why you’re the president.”

“Is that an insult?”

“How could it be? Anyway, I understand what you’re saying. I’m just grateful that you told me all of that.”

Hyun-sung had no choice but to acknowledge everything.

The important thing was that they were happy. That had been Hyun-sung’s goal from the beginning.

“Yes, I understand. Then I’ll take a look at the ledger.”

Hyun-sung began to examine the notebook Lee Soon-ok had handed him.

He was startled by what he saw.

“Madam President, there was a week where sales exceeded 1.3 million won [approximately $975 USD] every day.”

“Ah, that time? That was the week when the cherry blossoms were at their peak. So many people came, and although we ran short on mountain vegetables, the food sales were high, so overall sales were high. I was completely overwhelmed all day long. And that was only possible because you told me to expand the menu.”

*Shaleuk.* [Sound of pages turning]

Hyun-sung continued flipping through the ledger. After a long examination, he was surprised once again by the last page.

“Total sales exceeded 200 million won [approximately $150,000 USD] in twenty days?”

“Yes, I honestly couldn’t believe it even while we were doing business. We sold 200 million won in twenty days! When I calculated it, we sold an average of 10 million won [approximately $7,500 USD] a day.”

“You must have been incredibly busy.”

Hyun-sung hadn’t expected it to be this much.

He had been curious about the sales figures but hesitated to ask. After all, he didn’t want to interfere with the marketplace’s operations.

But now that he was reviewing the ledger, he couldn’t help but be amazed. Most of all, he was astonished by the total sales.

Two hundred million won.

In a time when a ninth-grade civil servant’s base salary was 250,000 won [approximately $187 USD], 200 million won was an unimaginable sum.

Hyun-sung’s gaze shifted to another section: the 3% commission on sales.

Six million won [approximately $4,500 USD].

The amount collected was six million won, even though the marketplace had only been open for less than a month. At this rate, if you only considered the two months of April and May, when the flowers were in full bloom, it would come out to around twenty million won.

And when the cosmos flowers started blooming in September, people would flock to the village again. If that happened, business would be booming for another two months.

Four months a year – even if you only counted those four months, it would amount to about forty million won.

Forty million won in commissions alone.

Besides that, business wouldn’t be bad in the other months either, so what would the total commission for the year be?

And that wasn’t all.

If the commission was that high, how much were the actual sales…?

*Peusik.* [Sound of stifled laughter]

When he thought this far, Hyun-sung couldn’t help but chuckle.

Lee Soon-ok immediately asked, “Why?”

“I’m just worried that our women’s association president will fall asleep while counting money.”

“Is that so? I’ve been having headaches lately because of it. As the amount gets bigger, I get nervous… And by the way, the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation [NACF; a nationwide agricultural cooperative in South Korea] has decided to come and collect the money directly, starting a few days ago.”

“From the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation?”

“Yes, I was worried, so I contacted them, and they said they would come directly. So, it’s a little easier these days. Otherwise, I would have to take that money home and deposit it in the NACF the next day, and I couldn’t sleep at night, just in case.”

That was a valid concern.

It wasn’t just a small amount; when there was a lot of money, it could be over ten million won a day, so transporting that to and from the house would be a significant worry.

“That’s good. If I had known in advance, I would have talked to the NACF… Anyway, thank you for your hard work.”

“Yes, but the problem is the future.”

“The future?”

“Yes, I’m worried about how to use that money. What do you think, Mr. President?”

“Anyway, we decided to use it for the village development fund, right?”

“That’s right, but…”

Lee Soon-ok trailed off, leaving a lingering feeling of something she was thinking about.

He was curious, so Hyun-sung immediately asked, “Why? Do you have any other thoughts?”

“About the village management committee, it’s a bit…”

“The village management committee? Why, is there a problem?”

“You’re 빠졌잖아요 [missing/excluded]. In my opinion, you should be on there more than anyone else.”

“Me?”

“Yes, of course. You made all of this possible, but you’re 빠졌잖아요…”

“No.”

Hyun-sung raised his hand, cutting off Lee Soon-ok before she could finish. “I trust the people on the management committee. The village chief, the group leader, the women’s association president, and the leader will make good decisions because they’re the ones who will lead this village anyway.”

“Well, I’m skeptical about whether that’s true…”

“Why do you think so?”

“It’s a bit difficult to say this myself, but I think you should definitely be involved. As they often say, ‘the bear does the trick, and the 되놈 [derogatory term for Chinese people] takes the money,’ right? You made everything…”

“You’re there, right?”

“Me?”

“Yes, I trust you. And anyway, from now on, your influence will inevitably become stronger. After all, you created the development fund with your own hands, didn’t you? Isn’t that right?”

“That’s right, but…”

“I don’t know what you’re worried about, but if you have the right mindset, there won’t be any problems.”

“…”

After Hyun-sung finished speaking, Lee Soon-ok seemed to be thinking about something for a while without saying anything.

About a minute later, she opened her mouth. “Mr. President.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“This is just a hypothetical, but what if the adults make the wrong decision?”

“Really? What do you mean?”

“No, I mean, what if… In that case…”

“Madam President!”

Hyun-sung cut off Lee Soon-ok’s words once again. “There is no ‘what if.’ And I don’t know what you’re worried about that you keep saying that, but if you stay focused and don’t waver, nothing will go wrong.”

“…”

“And as I said a little while ago, from now on, your opinion will be the most important. So, you just need to have the right thoughts. Do you understand?”

“…Yes, I understand. And can I ask you one more thing?”

Lee Soon-ok, who had answered with difficulty, looked at Hyun-sung and asked.

Hyun-sung nodded and immediately answered, “Of course. What is it?”

“What do you think is the most needed thing in our village?”

“Needed?”

“Yes, please tell me just one thing. To be honest, I don’t know where to start.”

Hyun-sung thought for a moment and then opened his mouth. “I’ll ask you the opposite. What’s the most uncomfortable thing in our village right now?”

“The uncomfortable thing is… the road.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s not paved, so when a bus passes by, the dust…”

“That’s it.”

“Yes?”

Lee Soon-ok stared at Hyun-sung as if she didn’t understand what he was talking about.

Hyun-sung smiled and continued, “That’s it. That’s what our village needs most.”

“Ah, you mean…”

Lee Soon-ok nodded, smiling as if she now understood what he meant.

Anyway, it would be possible to pave the road in twenty years. Furthermore, road expansion would be possible in thirty years, and since Hyun-sung knew that, that was the first thing that came to his mind.

“Wait a minute!” Lee Soon-ok raised her hand and tilted her head. “Isn’t the road too narrow, even if it’s paved?”

“Of course, it’s narrow.”

“Shouldn’t we widen the road first before paving it?”

“No, we have to do it at the same time. Widen the road and pave it.”

“Ah! That’s right! There was such a way!”

*Tak!* [Sound of a hand slapping a thigh]

Lee Soon-ok slapped her thigh and smiled brightly.

Hyun-sung also smiled as he watched her.

Now Lee Soon-ok would know what to do first. If things went as planned, the village road would be improved at least thirty years earlier than in his previous life.

Local autonomy!

No, maybe the first instance of true village autonomy would begin, funded entirely by private capital.