CLS-Chapter 93

Chapter 93 

“Isn’t this too good of a condition?”

“What do you mean?”

“Young Master Jin working alone for twenty years couldn’t revive the Sacred Hand Hall.”

“…Mm, that’s right, I suppose.”

“And while the Sacred Hand Hall’s reputation is impressive, it’s not something Young Master Jin absolutely needs.”

“That’s true too.”

“So why are you willing to pay Young Master Jin such an enormous salary of one gold nyang per month for twenty years to help him revive the Sacred Hand Hall? It doesn’t seem like Young Master Wei has much to gain from this.”

“Why wouldn’t I gain anything? I’d be making money.”

“You already have plenty of money. Do you really think you could recover your investment after twenty years of putting in that much money? You might end up losing all the money you invested.”

Wei Yan-ho drank the leaf tea placed before him without answering.

“I don’t think Young Master Jin has any particularly remarkable relationship with Master Wei. Even if it weren’t a medical hall, there are countless ways to make money, so I don’t understand your intention in using this particular method.”

Wei Yan-ho set down his teacup.

“It’s fate.”

“What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it fate that I rolled in here and got to know that kid?”

“Fate…”

Wei Yan-ho answered casually.

“Since I’m someone who wants nothing more than a room and food anyway, if I have money, it would be good to use it for something meaningful. So-ah is someone who will accomplish great things. Though he’s young now, if So-ah revives the Sacred Hand Hall and becomes an excellent physician, he’ll be able to save countless people. So I think it’s not bad to believe in him once.”

“It’s hard to understand, but if that’s your will, Master…”

Jin So-ah covered his mouth with his hand.

Then he carefully snuck out of the building, making sure his footsteps couldn’t be heard.

‘I never knew Young Master Wei thought of me that way.’

Until just moments ago, he was no different from a vicious loan shark, but who would have known he was thinking such thoughts inside?

Ha Dae-bung’s words weren’t wrong. Even if he worked his entire life now, realistically it would be impossible to pay back twenty gold nyang of debt and rebuild the Sacred Hand Hall.

But if he did as Wei Yan-ho instructed, in twenty years he might have paid off all his debts and be making a name for himself as a renowned physician at the rebuilt Sacred Hand Hall.

‘He did it all thinking of me…’

He felt sorry for having thought badly of Wei Yan-ho, even briefly.

“I have to repay him.”

The only thing he could do was become an excellent physician. With that thought, Jin So-ah ran toward home.

“Did he leave?”

Ha Dae-bung slightly opened the door and looked outside, seeing Jin So-ah running away in the distance.

“Yes, he left.”

“Hehehe.”

A wicked smile crossed Wei Yan-ho’s lips.

“Deceiving one little kid is nothing at all.”

“…This seems very malicious?”

“Does it?”

Wei Yan-ho smiled with satisfaction. With this, he had easily obtained an obedient slave with a good background and excellent ripple effects.

“To think I’d participate in something like this, when I’ve lived my whole life on my reputation…”

Ha Dae-bung had a dumbfounded expression.

“A vicious loan shark talking about reputation!”

“…I adhered to the established interest rates.”

“Sixty percent?”

“Four and a half percent.”

Ha Dae-bung corrected Wei Yan-ho’s words and smacked his lips.

“You really lived quite conscientiously.”

“I was naturally born with a good nature.”

“Did you wet your lips?”

“…Earlier.”

Ha Dae-bung smiled sheepishly and continued.

“That aside, I feel like I might have some pangs of conscience.”

“It’s not a bad condition for So-ah either.”

“That’s true, but…”

What he had said earlier was half true. The only clearly different fact was that a signboard like the Sacred Hand Hall wasn’t something you could easily obtain anywhere, and just holding that signboard was worth more than twenty gold nyang to Jin So-ah.

“So what will you do now?”

At Wei Yan-ho’s words, Ha Dae-bung swallowed hard.

“Since it seems difficult to escape the branch manager position even if you continue working as is, why don’t you change jobs with this opportunity?”

“…Why do you want to hire me? From Master Wei’s perspective, am I any different from a loan shark who sucks the blood of those without money? I may not have wielded a sword, but what I did wasn’t much different from what the Black Earth Manor did.”

“That’s exactly why!”

Wei Yan-ho clapped his hands.

“That skill of maintaining a shop while collecting those terrifying interest rates! That mental fortitude that could ruthlessly crush the heads of people who came to your shop grasping at straws like drowning people and push them underwater!”

“…That’s an insult, isn’t it?”

“With that level of ability, you’d have to do well at whatever you’re assigned. Yes, absolutely. How about it? I’ll pay you plenty, so how about starting fresh as the general manager of the new Sacred Hand Hall?”

“In the past, I would have thought this was a lifeline I’d grab without looking back…”

Having vividly witnessed Jin So-ah getting bamboozled right before his eyes, he began to suspect that this lifeline might actually be a fishing line.

“Am I perhaps being deceived too?”

“Why would someone as perceptive as you think that?”

“…I am being deceived, aren’t I?”

“No, not at all.”

Ha Dae-bung fell into anguish, looking at Wei Yan-ho’s dubious expression.

He too had met many people who were rolling around in the upper world, but this was the first time he’d encountered someone whose intentions were so impossible to read. When anyone plans something, their emotions or intentions inevitably show even slightly in their expression, but Wei Yan-ho had none of that.

Even now, with an expression like he owned the world, he was slouched in his chair as if everything was bothersome—how could anyone read any intention from that appearance?

“Ugh.”

Ha Dae-bung let out a long sigh.

‘Whether it’s a lifeline or a fishing line, it’s certain that this could be a new opportunity.’

He had already been feeling fed up with the loan business anyway.

That’s how loan shops were. All you could do was operate them—there was nothing like expanding business or trying something new. All he could do was just gape his mouth open and then snap up and swallow whoever came.

Though Ha Dae-bung displayed natural talent in this field, his thirst for new work where he could plan and move on his own had been growing.

“Will you let me operate as I wish?”

“I can’t say I’ll give you full authority, but I’ll try to interfere as little as possible. And as you can see, I’m someone who couldn’t interfere well even if I wanted to.”

“…That does seem to be the case.”

To interfere, you have to know something, and to know, you have to move. From what he’d heard, this seemed to be the type of human who wouldn’t leave his room for half a month or a whole month, so how could such a person know how a medical hall operates and interfere?

‘He’s not very reliable, but…’

It would be something you should never do based on judging a person, but that person’s ability could be called exceptional.

‘It’s definitely a fishing line…’

But the bait was too appetizing. With bait of that caliber, it wouldn’t be too bad to take a bite. It was just a choice between not biting the bait and starving to death, or biting the appetizing bait and leaving the aftermath to fate.

“I’ll do it.”

Ha Dae-bung nodded vigorously.

Wei Yan-ho grinned and extended his hand to Ha Dae-bung.

Ha Dae-bung clasped Wei Yan-ho’s extended hand.

“Please take care of me.”

“Yes, likewise.”

The revival of the Sacred Hand Hall that would bring a storm to Hubei’s medical world was beginning.

“First, what we need most is a building.”

“A building?”

“The building has to be impressive so people will think, ‘Ah, if I go to this medical hall, saving my life would be nothing special.'”

“I see.”

Wei Yan-ho also nodded.

Whether it’s people or business, appearance is always important. Wei Yan-ho too wouldn’t have been so easily deceived if his master’s appearance hadn’t been that of an immortal sage.

If only it hadn’t been for that red face like a jujube and those snow-white whiskers!

“Swindler!”

“Pardon?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Wei Yan-ho shook his head vigorously. Just thinking about his master made him feel sick to his stomach.

“I think there’s a suitable building.”

“Do you have a building you’ve purchased?”

“It’s not like that… but I think we can get a building for free where there’s no owner and no one claiming to be the owner.”

“Where are you talking about? Is there such a place?”

“The Black Earth Manor.”

“…”

Ha Dae-bung stared at Wei Yan-ho with a blank expression.

Was this crazy bastard seriously saying he’d set up a medical hall in the building that had been used as a criminal organization’s base until now?

“Maybe you should reconsider?”

“Why? The building is impressive, close to the city center. There’s hardly such a good location in Wuhan.”

“That’s true, but…”

In terms of location alone, there was nothing to argue about.

It was right in the middle of Wuhan and on a main street. Moreover, it was so famous that you’d be hard-pressed to find someone living in Wuhan who didn’t know where the Black Earth Manor was, so as a location, it couldn’t be better.

But human perception doesn’t work that way.

What good would it do to gain a location but destroy public trust?

“…No one builds a restaurant on top of where they removed a cesspit.”

“Come on, there could be a shift in perception—a place that was used to torment people is now a place that saves people.”

“That’s just wishful thinking.”

“Let’s move past that for now.”

“And second, recruiting quality physicians is important.”

“Hmm…”

“Even if we make a big announcement about opening a medical hall under the Sacred Hand Hall name, if the people who initially visit the medical hall don’t receive proper treatment, they’ll soon stop coming. It’s important to get word-of-mouth.”

“And then?”

“Finally, it’s still about rumors.”

Ha Dae-bung brought his hands to his face and made a whispering gesture.

“No matter how good a medical hall you set up, if people don’t recognize it, it’s completely useless. We need to spread rumors quickly and definitively.”

Wei Yan-ho nodded.

“Indeed, you are my Zhang Zi-fang.”

“Hehehe.”

“Then you must have solutions for all those situations?”

“…”

Ha Dae-bung became like a mute who had eaten honey.

Why should Ha Dae-bung be the one to have those solutions?

“Me?”

“Didn’t you ask to let you operate as you wish?”

“I did.”

“But I do all this work while you just pick the fruits? Leave all the hard work to others?”

That wasn’t what he meant, but somehow the atmosphere was making him seem shameless.

“Th-that’s not it.”

“Then you must have solutions?”

“…”

“If you don’t have them, create them. By tomorrow.”

Ha Dae-bung felt that something was going wrong, but it was too late to pull his feet out—he had stepped in too deep. The Wei Yan-ho swamp was like a deep marsh that once you fell in, you absolutely couldn’t escape from.

“Can I quit?”

“If you die, where can’t you go?”

“…Mother.”

Moisture welled up around Ha Dae-bung’s eyes.