Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 471

473

At that moment.

“Did you hear?”

Baek Doo-soon, who was harvesting lettuce on the farm, asked Shin Yu-bin next to him, as if to confirm.

Shin Yu-bin immediately responded with an excited voice.

“Yes, Team Leader. I definitely heard it too. They said the buses arrived at the entrance of the village, but they couldn’t see the end of the line. How many buses could there be?”

“That’s what I’m saying, how many buses could there be?”

It was then.

Static.

A voice came from the walkie-talkie again.

-As far as I can see, there are about twenty buses, and we’ll have to wait and see about the rest. Over!

Baek Doo-soon and Shin Yu-bin looked at each other, their mouths wide open in disbelief.

Then, a voice was heard again from the walkie-talkie.

-Please confirm the region.

Shin Yu-bin, confirming that it was Hyun-sung’s voice, immediately opened his mouth.

“Our boss seems very interested in the region?”

“Of course, that’s our lifeline.”

“Lifeline?”

“Yes, the area our boss is putting the most effort into is the Seoul metropolitan area, including Seoul. That’s why he’s been chasing after travel agencies so diligently since last year.”

“So, you mean we’re seeing the results of that today?”

“Exactly. He’s been chasing them for a year, and if there’s no effect, there’s no need to keep chasing them so hard.”

It’s a natural thing. If the advertising is focused on Seoul and the metropolitan area, but there’s no effect, the conclusion is that there’s no need to go all the way there.

Static.

The parking attendant’s reply followed immediately.

-Seoul, Gyeonggi [province surrounding Seoul], and Incheon [major port city near Seoul]. I’m not sure, but it seems like Seoul license plates are the most common. Then Gyeonggi, and finally Incheon.

Baek Doo-soon nodded, satisfied, and continued.

“So, our boss did a good job with the advertising.”

“I guess so, but there’s something I can’t understand no matter how much I think about it.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Our boss, I mean. How did he even think about chasing after travel agencies at his age? No matter how much I think about it, I can only think it’s amazing.”

“That’s our boss for you.”

Baek Doo-soon nodded as if it were obvious, with a satisfied expression.

Seeing that, Shin Yu-bin spoke again.

“Come to think of it, our team leader is definitely different from other people.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re friends with the boss, but you don’t feel any jealousy at all. I think it would be hard for me, to be honest.”

“Did you say jealousy just now?”

“Yes, because you’re friends, so naturally…”

“Haha…”

Baek Doo-soon laughed loudly before Shin Yu-bin could finish speaking.

Shin Yu-bin tilted his head and asked immediately.

“Why are you laughing? I don’t think this is a laughing matter?”

“You don’t know why I’m laughing?”

“No, honestly, it might be a situation where you could lose face, but you’re laughing, so I don’t know why.”

Shin Yu-bin looked at Baek Doo-soon as if he was curious about the reason.

Baek Doo-soon, as if it were nothing, moved the lettuce box he had finished working on and immediately continued.

“Generally, you only feel jealousy when you’re on a similar level.”

“Level?”

“Yeah, you have to be in a similar situation to feel that kind of emotion. And from the moment I decided to come here, I decided not to even think about that. There’s no comparison between me and the boss anyway. And it’s funny to worry about pride between friends. Or am I weird…?”

Baek Doo-soon tilted his head.

In fact, the moment he first came here and saw the size of the restaurant, he emptied his mind. He realized that even though he was a friend from the military, he was on a completely different level.

Perhaps that’s why, while watching Hyun-sung all this time, he never had any unnecessary thoughts of jealousy or hurt pride. Rather, he sincerely rejoiced and cheered him on as his work went well.

It’s the same now.

Thanks to his efforts, customers are flocking in, so he acknowledges him once again and is genuinely happy.

Shin Yu-bin continued.

“It’s not that you’re weird, it’s the opposite.”

“Opposite?”

“Yes, it’s nice to see. When I see kids who are jealous or envious of their friends because of unnecessary pride, I honestly feel pathetic. But it’s nice to see that you don’t have any of that.”

“Haha, is that so? I was worried you might think I was a guy with no pride, but I was secretly worried.”

Baek Doo-soon laughed lightly and continued.

Static.

At that moment, a voice was heard again from the walkie-talkie.

-The final confirmed number of buses is 30. Among the 10 buses in the back, 7 have Gangwon [province in eastern South Korea] license plates and the remaining 3 have Gyeongnam [province in southeastern South Korea] license plates.

Baek Doo-soon, after checking the contents of the walkie-talkie, immediately spoke with a surprised expression.

“Did you just say 3 buses are from Gyeongnam?”

“Yes, I definitely heard Gyeongnam too.”

“Does this mean that the rumors about this place have already spread throughout the country?”

“Huh? How do you know that?”

“The boss said he didn’t go that far. He said he only went to the Gangwon area, Seoul, and the metropolitan area. Wow! If this is the case, this is really a hit!”

Baek Doo-soon’s expression was brighter than ever.

Then Shin Yu-bin asked again.

“Are you that happy?”

“Of course, I’m happy. Because that means our future is bright. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see, but at this point, we can say it’s almost 99% hopeful. To be honest, I was a little anxious even this morning.”

“Anxious? Why?”

“Because today is such an important day. The number of customers who come today will be a measure of how much this place can develop in the future. But seeing the atmosphere of people flocking in from all over the country before 12 o’clock, it’s almost certain. So, of course, I can’t help but be happy.”

“Ah, yes…”

Shin Yu-bin nodded immediately. He hadn’t thought that far, but after listening to Baek Doo-soon’s story, he realized that what he said was absolutely right.

Shin Yu-bin asked urgently as if he had remembered something.

“By the way! Team Leader, if there are 30 buses, how many people are there in total?”

“Of course, it varies from bus to bus, but usually a tour bus has a capacity of about 50 people, so if you add them all up, there will be about 1500 people. I don’t know for sure, but the restaurant must be on emergency alert by now. Because 1500 people will be rushing in at once.”

“Wow! 1500 people at once, that’s really amazing.”

“I’m honestly looking forward to it.”

“Huh? What are you looking forward to?”

“Tonight, I mean. I wonder how many people will have come and gone after we finish 영업 [yeong-eop, business hours/operations].”

It was right then.

Static.

Again, a voice flowed from the walkie-talkie.

-This time it’s passenger cars! Again, I can’t see the end of the line!

It was the excited voice of the parking attendant in charge of 안내 [annae, guidance/information] at the entrance of the village. Then, the voice of the president, Hyun-sung, was heard immediately.

-All employees, please be nervous and 힘내십시오 [himnae-sip-sio, cheer up/do your best]! We will write a new history today!

Shashak!

At that moment, Baek Doo-soon and Shin Yu-bin exchanged glances as if they had made a promise, and then began to move their hands even faster. They instinctively knew that there would be additional 물량 [mool-lyang, volume/quantity of work].

***

“Did you say we’re writing a new history now?”

“Yes, Chairman! There has never been such 매출 [mae-chool, sales] in the Korean restaurant industry until now!”

From the voice of Chief Manager Choi Jin-young, I could immediately tell how excited he was.

Perhaps that’s why.

Chairman Shin Chun-oh asked directly instead of saying anything else.

“Okay, how much is it?”

“It’s 1 billion won!”

“How much?”

Chairman Shin Chun-oh doubted his ears.

Does this make sense? Of course, I admit that the restaurant is the largest in Korea. But even so, 1 billion won in one day, not even a week…

Chairman Shin Chun-oh asked again as if trying to confirm.

“Did you just say 1 billion won?”

“Yes, Chairman. I clearly heard President Kim say that.”

“Huh…!”

Chairman Shin Chun-oh was speechless.

Of course, he had some expectations. Considering the number of tourists who came last year, he thought that a certain number of people would flock this year as well. But he never thought that it would directly lead to the restaurant’s 매출 [mae-chool, sales].

Chief Manager Choi Jin-young’s words continued again.

“500 tour buses came.”

“As many as 500?”

“Yes, Chairman, as you know, President Kim has been visiting every travel agency in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, and Incheon since last year, right?”

“Of course, he did. So, you’re saying he saw the effects of that?”

“Yes, of course. Otherwise, 500 buses wouldn’t have flocked in one day.”

“So, President Kim’s judgment was correct after all.”

Chairman Shin Chun-oh had no choice but to nod.

It was a year ago. Hyun-sung came up to Seoul and stopped by for a while.

The reason he came to Seoul was for advertising.

The target of the advertising was travel agencies.

Naturally, I couldn’t help but tilt my head. The reason was that, at first glance, I had a negative judgment about whether it would be effective.

The reason for the negative judgment was one.

That’s right.

Distance!

The distance from the Seoul metropolitan area to that countryside was too far.

Moving around with a passenger car is a matter of personal preference, so it’s possible, but I thought it would be different when going through a travel agency.

The reason is that it’s not an individual but a group.

Going through a travel agency means moving as a group, which I thought would be realistically difficult. That’s because I thought it would be difficult to gather that many people.

But Hyun-sung’s thoughts were different.

He said that distance wouldn’t be a problem.

The reason was surprisingly simple. It was the confidence of being the ‘largest’.

The scale of the cherry blossoms is the largest, and the scale of the restaurant is also the largest.

Hyun-sung was aiming for people’s psychology.

That’s right.

Curiosity and the desire to show off.

He said that people would buy the products offered by travel agencies regardless of the distance because of the curiosity that the word ‘largest’ gives and the desire to 자랑 [jarang, boast/show off] to others.

And that result came out today.

500 tour buses.

The number 500 proves that Hyun-sung’s judgment was correct. That’s why Chairman Shin Chun-oh had no choice but to admit it.

Chairman Shin Chun-oh’s words continued again.

“So, in the end, the travel agencies carried at least 25,000 people.”

“Yes, that’s right. This is a method that no one could have thought of. And there’s something else interesting.”

“Again? What is it this time?”

“It’s about the bus drivers.”

“Bus drivers?”

Chairman Shin Chun-oh tilted his head and looked at Chief Manager Choi Jin-young. The reason is that, at first glance, I couldn’t understand why he was mentioning the bus driver in this situation.

“Yes, the bus drivers are very satisfied.”

“Very satisfied? What does that mean?”

“President Kim, well…”

Chief Manager Choi Jin-young began to explain how Hyun-sung treated the bus drivers. As his explanation continued, Chairman Shin Chun-oh simply smiled and listened quietly.

And finally, when his explanation was over, Chairman Shin Chun-oh immediately spoke as if he had been waiting.

“That’s amazing.”

“Yes? What do you mean…?”

“I’m talking about President Kim. In the end, isn’t the purpose to win the hearts of the bus drivers and do business? President Kim is a natural businessman after all.”

“Ah, yes. But that’s…”

Chief Manager Choi Jin-young left a lingering feeling and couldn’t finish his words.

Then Chairman Shin Chun-oh asked immediately.

“Huh? What’s with that nuance now? Are you saying that my words are wrong?”

“Of course, it’s not that the chairman’s words are completely wrong, but it doesn’t seem like it’s just for business.”

“Hmm…? What does that mean? If it’s not for business, what else could it be?”

“President Kim, well, to the drivers…”

Chief Manager Choi Jin-young began to say exactly what Hyun-sung had said to the drivers. Then, Chairman Shin Chun-oh’s expression began to change strangely from a certain point, unlike at first.

And finally, when Chief Manager Choi Jin-young’s explanation was over, he immediately spoke.

“So, you’re saying that President Kim told the drivers that it was a small gift for them as the head of a household?”

“Yes, that’s right. He said it was a gift from their families, so please eat it and 힘내십시오 [himnae-sip-sio, cheer up/do your best]. And he didn’t forget to say that their families are also cheering for them at this time.”

“Haha, this is really something…”

“Isn’t it really amazing? How could someone who is only twenty-five years old think of saying such a thing? Honestly, I felt a lump in my throat when I heard that.”

Chief Manager Choi Jin-young lightly tapped his chest several times at the end of his words.

“…”

Chairman Shin Chun-oh had nothing to say.

When he heard that the bus drivers were treated to a meal, he naturally thought it was just for business.

Because the drivers who received the treatment will actively promote it to travel agencies.

But after hearing what Hyun-sung said to the drivers later, he realized that it might not be all there is to it.

It was an unexpected word.

The words that he wanted to give a gift on behalf of his family.

Of course, even if the purpose is for business, the fact that he even says those words is just amazing.

But I wonder why I think that those words might not be a lie for business, but sincerity…

If it’s Hyun-sung, not someone else.

But how did he think of that…

Just as Chairman Shin Chun-oh was about to fall into thought, another word came out of Chief Manager Choi Jin-young’s mouth.

“Chairman, there’s something else that will surprise you.”

“Again?”

“Yes, this is also an amazing fact. President Kim said that he didn’t expect this either.”

“President Kim didn’t expect it either? Okay, what is it?”

“That’s right…”

Chief Manager Choi Jin-young’s explanation began to continue again at length.