Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 436

438

‘It’s not like there are no people, but business is bad even with people around?’

No matter how much I thought about it, it didn’t make sense.

I could understand if there were no people. It’s still early, so it’s natural that there aren’t many people since the promotion hasn’t been done enough.

But if that’s not the case, and business is bad even with people around, then the cause must be internal, not external.

That was why Hyun-sung was practically running towards the marketplace.

“Hoo!”

Arriving at the marketplace, Hyun-sung started by checking the items on display.

‘Hmm?’

Hyun-sung tilted his head after checking the dried bracken [a type of fern]. The reason was that it wasn’t the color of bracken he knew.

But what was strange was that there were two colors. One was close to black, and the other was yellowish-brown.

Hyun-sung asked immediately.

“Why are these different colors?”

“The black one was dried last spring, and the yellowish one was dried this spring.”

“Is it normal for them to be different colors like this? As far as I know, if they’re dried properly in the sun, they should be black like this one, right?”

“That’s…”

Lee Soon-ok, the head of the women’s association, couldn’t easily continue speaking.

Seeing Lee Soon-ok unable to speak properly, Hyun-sung didn’t ask further. The fact that she couldn’t speak properly meant that she herself knew there was a problem somewhere. He could find out more details later.

Hyun-sung then turned his gaze to the stall next to it. There were black beans and soybeans. One of the main local specialties.

Hyun-sung’s expression darkened again. It was because of the condition of the beans. They should naturally be shiny, but at first glance, they didn’t look good.

“Why is the color like this again?”

“It seems like it’s because of the drying process…”

Lee Soon-ok couldn’t speak properly this time either.

Hyun-sung turned his gaze to the stall next to it again. Hyun-sung spent over an hour checking all the stalls. At some point, Hyun-sung had a pen and notepad in his hand.

After checking all the stalls, Hyun-sung moved to the food-selling area on the opposite side. Then, just like before, he carefully checked each item and started taking notes.

How much time had passed?

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

Hyun-sung took Lee Soon-ok into the office inside the marketplace.

“Could you excuse us for a moment?”

Hyun-sung said to the women in the office. Then, the three women in the office glanced at Hyun-sung and went outside.

“Would you like a cup of coffee?”

Lee Soon-ok asked with difficulty, looking at Hyun-sung, who had a stiff expression.

“No, thank you. Let’s sit over here first.”

Hyun-sung’s expression was still stiff. That’s because, at first, he thought that business was bad because there was a problem with the goods or the price.

But after checking, he found that there was a problem with both the goods and the price.

And that wasn’t all.

It was natural that there would be a lot of wind in the spring. So, it was perhaps natural that dust would accumulate on the stalls. But he couldn’t understand why people who were trying to do business would leave it like that. So, Hyun-sung’s expression naturally stiffened.

As soon as Lee Soon-ok sat down, Hyun-sung immediately opened his mouth.

“How was the first day?”

“It was good. Honestly, everyone sold quite a bit on the first day.”

“Then a lot of goods must have been sold that day, right?”

“Of course. Some people even sold all the goods they had prepared that day.”

Hyun-sung nodded. He had roughly guessed that. Hyun-sung had also directly checked the goods on the first day. The quality of the goods was good that day, and the prices weren’t set as high as they were today.

Hyun-sung asked again.

“Then, how was the second day?”

“It dropped sharply from the first day.”

“So, business started to go bad from the second day?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“And that’s why you came to me on the third day?”

“Yes, I thought it wouldn’t work out if we continued like this. I thought something big would happen if we didn’t make some changes.”

Lee Soon-ok’s expression showed a sense of unease.

Seeing that, Hyun-sung asked again.

“Just now, did you say changes?”

“Yes, I don’t think this is right.”

“What’s not right?”

“Pardon?”

“What’s not right? Tell me.”

Hyun-sung raised his chin and asked as if he was pressing her.

Then, Lee Soon-ok looked at Hyun-sung as if she was dumbfounded and didn’t know what to do. That’s because Hyun-sung’s appearance was unfamiliar, one she had never seen before.

Hyun-sung’s words continued.

“Tell me. What kind of changes do you want? And tell me what’s wrong right now.”

“No, Mr. President… why suddenly…”

“Do you really not know why I’m doing this? Huh?”

Hyun-sung looked straight at Lee Soon-ok.

Then, Lee Soon-ok avoided Hyun-sung’s gaze and barely opened her mouth.

“Did I make some kind of mistake…”

“Mistake?”

“Yes, otherwise, you wouldn’t be like this to me…”

“Do you really not know, or are you pretending not to know?”

“…”

Lee Soon-ok just looked at Hyun-sung as if she didn’t know what he was talking about.

“Hoo!”

Then, Hyun-sung took a short breath, got up from his seat, and headed to the refrigerator. He poured a glass of water, drank it, and returned to his seat. Then, he opened his mouth again.

“Don’t blame me for anything I say from now on.”

“…”

Lee Soon-ok nodded slightly with a surprised expression.

Then, Hyun-sung immediately opened his mouth.

“What did the head of the women’s association say to me at first?”

“Yes? Me?”

“Yes, did you tell me not to worry about it? Did you clearly tell me that you would take care of everything at the marketplace?”

“… Yes.”

That’s what Lee Soon-ok had said to Hyun-sung from the beginning. She said that she would take care of all the operations related to the marketplace, so he shouldn’t worry about it.

If Lee Soon-ok, the head of the women’s association, said that herself, what more needed to be said? So, he trusted her and entrusted her with 100% of the work.

“But is this what you call taking care of it?”

“…”

“Is this how you were planning to run things when you said that to me?”

“This way…?”

“Honestly, I want to express it in harsher words right now, but I’m holding back.”

“…”

In a word, it was a complete mess. From the most basic cleanliness issues to the quality of the goods and the prices, nothing was right. And the display was also a mess.

When Hyun-sung didn’t say anything, Hyun-sung opened his mouth again.

“What do you think is the basis of business, head of the women’s association?”

“That’s… well, the goods have to be good…”

“Goods? Of course, goods are important too. But the basis of all business is cleanliness. It goes without saying for food businesses, and it’s the same for businesses that sell goods. Did you see it earlier? The stalls covered in dust.”

“That’s because the wind is blowing since it’s spring…”

“Are you blaming the wind now?”

“…”

“That’s unacceptable in any case. I think that if the wind blows ten times, you have to wipe it ten times, and if it blows a hundred times, you have to wipe it even a hundred times. What do you think, head of the women’s association?”

“… Yes, I understand.”

Lee Soon-ok barely nodded.

Looking at her, Hyun-sung opened his mouth again.

“And why do the people at the store look like that?”

“Yes? Their faces? Are you perhaps talking about their makeup?”

“I can’t tell you even that. I’m talking about people’s expressions.”

“Ah, expressions.”

“Why, do you have any idea what I’m talking about?”

“Well, it’s the same for me, and since it’s our first time doing business, we’re not good at managing our expressions. When a customer comes, we have to greet them, but we’re not good at that…”

Lee Soon-ok shook her head slightly.

Then, Hyun-sung continued.

“I’m not forcing you to greet customers like employees working at a department store. But even so, isn’t it too much to just stare blankly when a customer comes?”

“Yes, I admit it. I’ll fix that part.”

“The basics of business that I’m talking about are cleanliness and greetings, do you understand?”

“Yes…”

Lee Soon-ok nodded and answered.

Excessive is as bad as deficient.

Everything has its limits; too much is as bad as too little.

Hyun-sung stopped talking for a moment at that point and went outside to get two cups of coffee from the coffee vending machine and brought them in.

“Here, have some.”

“No, I should get it for you…”

“No, what does it matter who gets it? Have some.”

Hyun-sung started drinking coffee. Then, Lee Soon-ok also slowly started drinking coffee, as if she had relaxed from before.

After a while, Hyun-sung put down his paper cup and continued.

“By any chance, who manages the vending machine?”

“Why? Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s not that, but when I was getting coffee earlier, it seemed to be managed very cleanly.”

There was no way Hyun-sung wouldn’t know who was managing it. Nevertheless, the reason he asked who was managing it was to praise Lee Soon-ok, the head of the women’s association, on purpose. The reason was to save Lee Soon-ok’s pride.

Hyun-sung’s age was over 50, but that was a fact that only Hyun-sung knew. Anyway, Hyun-sung’s appearance now was that of a twenty-four-year-old who had only been discharged from the military for two months.

Was that why?

Lee Soon-ok’s expression was brighter than before. Then, she immediately continued.

“I’ve been managing the vending machine from the beginning.”

“I thought it was clean. So, how much coffee is sold?”

“It’s a huge hit.”

Lee Soon-ok liked it, raising her thumb.

It was a part that he had expected to some extent anyway. There were no other coffee shops in the countryside, and this was the only place to get coffee, so he judged that most people who came here would drink it.

But Hyun-sung knew that now was not the time to say that.

“As expected, people recognize it because the head of the women’s association manages it well.”

“Hoho, is that so?”

“Of course, and when I drink it, it’s not bland and has a good taste.”

“Actually, I was trying to find that taste…”

Lee Soon-ok’s long speech began.

Hyun-sung nodded and tried to listen to her words without missing a single one. The reason was to soothe her heart, which might have been upset by what Hyun-sung himself had said earlier.

Anyway, she wouldn’t have felt good about being scolded by someone like her younger sibling. And since he had to nag her again from now on, he deliberately tried to ease her mind a little more.

When Lee Soon-ok’s explanation ended, Hyun-sung called her softly.

“Head of the women’s association!”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“I’m going to say something really unpleasant from now on. So, don’t be upset even if you are.”

“Yes? Ah, yes…”

Lee Soon-ok’s expression hardened again as if she was nervous. But it wasn’t an expression that she felt bad, but an expression that showed her willingness to improve.

“First of all, you know that the basics of business are cleanliness and greetings, right?”

“Yes, I will definitely take care of that part from this time on. I will wipe it frequently, and I will practice greetings myself to fix it.”

“Gather together and practice. If you practice like that, that part will be improved quickly.”

“Yes, I understand. I will definitely do that.”

As expected, Lee Soon-ok’s heart was definitely open, perhaps because she had eased her mind while drinking coffee earlier and praised her for managing the vending machine.

Hyun-sung’s words continued.

“Then, from now on, I will talk about the goods and prices in earnest. I shouldn’t say this, but in fact, 50% of today’s goods were garbage.”

“Garbage?”

“Yes, of course, my words may be an excessive expression, but I think that goods that should not be sold to customers are garbage.”

“No, even so…”

“Actually, I held back from overturning it in front of people earlier. Do you know why?”

Hyun-sung spoke in harsh words on purpose. The reason was that he thought it was necessary to make her aware of how serious it was.

“Why…?”

“Because of the head of the women’s association.”

“Yes? Because of me?”

“Yes, the marketplace is the face of the head of the women’s association. If I had done that there, it would have been like tarnishing the face of the head of the women’s association. I couldn’t do that. I shouldn’t do that.”

“…”

Lee Soon-ok bit her lower lip tightly and couldn’t say anything.

Then, Hyun-sung’s words continued.