Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 19

President Kim Jin-yong’s gaze now fixed on the nodule attached to the root, the jade bead. The appearance of a jade bead was proof of the spirit’s age.

Jade beads don’t appear in young wild ginseng.

Gulp.

President Kim Jin-yong swallowed hard, his mouth dry.

Then, he glanced at Hyun-sung, who was standing by the window.

Oops! He realized.

He was, after all, a party to the transaction. He should have kept his expression under control. But he had forgotten, overcome by his desire for the item.

He had been in business for over 30 years, but it wasn’t easy to encounter such a treasure. So, it was perhaps natural that he was mesmerized the moment he saw the wild ginseng.

Whew!

President Kim Jin-yong took a short, controlled breath. It was to regain his composure.

Fortunately, the other party was young. Whether he knew or not, he was just looking out the window with a nonchalant expression, showing no change.

Hehe.

The thought that he might be able to make a big score at once crossed his mind.

President Kim Jin-yong, who had no idea who Hyun-sung was, was already counting his chickens before they hatched [making premature assumptions about a positive outcome].

Pfft.

A faint smile spread across Hyun-sung’s lips as he looked out the window. He had already confirmed President Kim Jin-yong’s assessment of the wild ginseng from his first glance.

If the item was certain, then he just needed to match President Kim Jin-yong’s trading pattern. It was information given to him by his own son, Kim Dong-soo, no less.

He just had to pretend to be swimming while touching the ground [feigning ignorance or weakness to gain an advantage].

“Ahem.”

Hyun-sung announced his start with a dry cough.

Thud.

Without hesitation, he immediately moved towards President Kim Jin-yong.

Then, looking at President Kim Jin-yong, he quietly asked.

“Are you done appraising it?”

“Yes, roughly…….”

He was a sly old fox, as expected. He had just been going crazy with a microscope, and now he was saying ‘roughly’.

It was laughable.

He couldn’t possibly not know that he was just trying to act important. He had expected it anyway, but he couldn’t help but laugh when he actually encountered it.

Hyun-sung forced himself to suppress his laughter and asked again.

“Even if you only looked roughly, you know it’s a treasure, right?”

“Huh?”

This wasn’t it…….

President Kim Jin-yong was momentarily taken aback. He was just leaving room for negotiation, but he was being driven to call it a treasure. And he was praising it in an ambiguous way. The atmosphere had become strange.

Hyun-sung wiped his mouth, continuing his words. He felt like he would burst out laughing if he didn’t.

“I think I came to the right place.”

Constant praise, the first method Kim Dong-soo had taught him.

He said he was particularly weak to praise. If he did that, the trading atmosphere would naturally improve.

Was that why?

A smile appeared on President Kim Jin-yong’s face.

“Haha…, why are you doing this, young man?”

“Actually, someone introduced me.”

He had to strike while the iron was hot. Hyun-sung immediately added the next method as an option.

Connections, the second method.

Of course, the main character of that ‘someone’ was Kim Jin-yong’s only son, Kim Dong-soo. There was no reason to reveal who it was anyway, so it didn’t matter.

He had laid the basic groundwork like this.

The atmosphere was good enough, now it was the real game.

Hyun-sung looked at President Kim Jin-yong and asked.

“In your expert opinion, how old do you think the wild ginseng is?”

“Well…….”

President Kim Jin-yong was slightly troubled. He had been planning to call it about 20 years old and finish the deal, since he was a young kid.

But he smelled something fishy. He was definitely a high school student based on his appearance, but his actions were unmistakably those of an experienced negotiator. If he messed up in this case, he would be utterly humiliated.

Of course, the price of that humiliation would be his precious money.

As President Kim Jin-yong’s thoughts lengthened, Hyun-sung spoke again.

“I don’t think it’s something you need to think about for so long.”

“……Hmm, well. It’s such a rare wild ginseng.”

As expected, the expected answer came from President Kim Jin-yong’s mouth.

He wasn’t going to agree in one go.

Inevitably, Hyun-sung also began to calculate. If necessary, he could stay overnight. There was no need to rush now.

His purpose in coming here was to get the highest price for the wild ginseng. His future life depended on it. There was no need to rush, and he had no intention of doing so.

He knew President Kim Jin-yong inside and out anyway.

Hyun-sung nodded.

‘Let’s go all the way.’

At this point, Hyun-sung threw in another hidden bait.

“Oh, I didn’t mention it, but coming all the way here from Gangwon-do, you don’t think I only brought one root, do you?”

“No, that means…….”

Tap tap.

Instead of answering, Hyun-sung lightly tapped his backpack.

The reason for releasing more items was simple. It was a strategy to seize the initiative with quantity.

As expected, President Kim Jin-yong’s eyes changed.

“How many more roots?”

“Not many, but I’m going to decide after getting a quote for this one first.”

‘Decide?’

President Kim Jin-yong doubted his ears. Wasn’t he saying that he would just take them and leave if he didn’t like the price?

Huh!

Right in front of his face…….

President Kim Jin-yong’s head became complicated.

The situation was completely different from what he had initially thought.

There wasn’t just one root, there were more. Judging by his expression, there seemed to be two or three more. But the problem was that he wasn’t even saying that exactly.

He was going to haggle.

‘What is this guy?’

President Kim Jin-yong’s worries deepened.

He had a feeling that if he messed with him just because he was young, he might create something he would regret for the rest of his life.

Then…….

Yes! A head-on confrontation.

Tingle.

He had been in this business for a whopping 30 years. His gut reacted before his head.

This guy was giving him a warning. He was saying that if he messed with the wild ginseng, he would leave without looking back.

There was only one way to deal with this.

Go back to the basics and do it by the book. Just like the teachings he had learned from his father.

President Kim Jin-yong’s complexion changed completely from before.

“Let’s sit down first.”

“Sure.”

Unlike President Kim Jin-yong’s stiff tone, Hyun-sung answered comfortably. He thought there was no need to be nervous since he just had to act according to the script.

President Kim Jin-yong looked at Hyun-sung and spoke again.

“Take them all out, right?”

“Huh?”

“This is not the way to do things.”

“Huh?”

Hyun-sung thought he had misheard for a moment. He had even mentioned additional quantity to seize the initiative in the deal. But instead, the other party came out even stronger.

‘What went wrong?’

Just as Hyun-sung was about to fall into contemplation, President Kim Jin-yong spoke again.

“First, if you don’t mind, could you introduce yourself?”

“Yes? Ah, sure. I’m…….”

President Kim Jin-yong cut off Hyun-sung’s words as he was about to speak.

“How rude of me, I should introduce myself first. As you can see, I’m Kim Jin-yong, running a small herbal medicine shop. I have a son, who is in the second year of high school. He’s probably about the same age as our guest.”

‘What?’

Something was going wrong.

Why the sudden self-introduction?

And what was with the ‘small herbal medicine shop’?

It was disgusting.

And even mentioning his son, who he hadn’t even asked about? Of course, he must be talking about Kim Dong-soo.

What was his intention?

At that moment, President Kim Jin-yong gave Hyun-sung a look.

He was saying with his eyes, ‘Now it’s your turn’.

He felt like he was being cornered, but he couldn’t not answer.

Hyun-sung opened his mouth.

“I’m Kim Hyun-sung. I’m fifty…, no, the same age as Dong-soo.”

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“You know my Dong-soo?”

“Ah! That’s…….”

Hyun-sung was momentarily speechless. He had been careful, but he had made a mistake because he was being pushed back by the situation.

The reason was obvious.

Because he had deviated from the expected script, his mind began to get tangled, and he ended up making a slip of the tongue.

According to Hyun-sung’s expectations, President Kim Jin-yong should be more actively involved in the deal because of the wild ginseng in his backpack.

Then, the price of the wild ginseng would naturally go up, which was exactly what Hyun-sung had expected and was his ultimate goal.

Of course, it was the method that Kim Jin-yong’s son, Kim Dong-soo, had told him about before. Greed for the item, that was President Kim Jin-yong’s weakness.

But the situation had changed strangely.

He had expected him to be actively involved because of his greed, but instead, he took a step back and suddenly started asking for introductions, saying it wasn’t the way to do things.

That’s because there was something Hyun-sung didn’t know.

Kim Dong-soo didn’t have many memories or recollections of his grandfather. And Kim Dong-soo was a child that Kim Jin-yong had late in life. So, Kim Dong-soo’s grandfather had already passed away when he was young.

So, naturally, he couldn’t talk to Hyun-sung about his grandfather even if he wanted to, and Hyun-sung, who had no way of knowing this fact, was naturally confused.

President Kim Jin-yong was now following his father’s teachings to the letter.

Whew!

Hyun-sung took a short breath and quickly racked his brains.

‘What should I do?’

Perhaps because of the years he had lived, his contemplation didn’t last long.

“Didn’t you say it a little while ago, President?”

“Did I?”

“Yes, that your son is in the second year of high school…….”

Since he had decided to insist, he couldn’t back down. Hyun-sung stared intently at President Kim Jin-yong and said.

Then, President Kim Jin-yong tilted his head and continued.

“That’s true, but did I even mention my son’s name?”

“Yes, I definitely heard it. Otherwise, how would I know? Isn’t that right? President?”

“Well…….”

President Kim Jin-yong answered and glanced at Hyun-sung’s face.

‘Look at this guy.’

He wasn’t that far gone yet. He wasn’t so forgetful that he would forget what he had said a little while ago.

That was beside the point, the problem was this guy’s attitude.

A young kid was lying through his teeth.

But how did he know our Dong-soo’s name?

‘Did he investigate me?’

President Kim Jin-yong shook his head. He didn’t think he would go that far.

But if that wasn’t the case, this situation couldn’t be explained.

Who the hell was this guy?

Huh!

He’d find out if he kept watching.

Sometimes, pretending to be fooled was a good way to use the other party.

A smile suddenly spread across President Kim Jin-yong’s face.

Then, Hyun-sung also felt relieved at President Kim Jin-yong’s smile. He thought that the Kim Dong-soo issue would pass without incident.

In fact, he had been very flustered a little while ago.

The two men, with their different thoughts, spent some time talking about everyday things rather than wild ginseng.

After a while.

President Kim Jin-yong looked at Hyun-sung and asked.

“So, you’re the same age as our Dong-soo, so I’ll speak comfortably.”

“Yes, of course you should. I’m more comfortable with that too.”

Even as he answered, Hyun-sung’s heart wasn’t at ease. President Kim Jin-yong’s actions were too different from what Kim Dong-soo had said.

He had said that there was no case of treating a customer disrespectfully just because they were young.

But……, why suddenly?

Was the principle changing?

That couldn’t be.

Then what did that mean?

Hyun-sung’s questions about President Kim Jin-yong’s change of heart only piled up.

At that moment, President Kim Jin-yong continued.

“And you know…….”

President Kim Jin-yong began to lecture as if he had made up his mind.

He said it wasn’t the way to do things. He said that at the very least, he should show all the items and then the transaction should take place.

He heard that it wasn’t business ethics, it wasn’t manners, and he shouldn’t do that anywhere else. At the end, he even said that he was saying this because he was the same age as his son.

President Kim Jin-yong was thoroughly trampling on Hyun-sung, like putting soybeans into a mold and stomping on them [completely overpowering and controlling him]. On the other hand, Hyun-sung, who had become completely subdued, could only nod his head repeatedly.