An Advertising Genius Falls into the Joseon Era - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 16
Ha Yun was descending with a light step after concluding his business with Hwang Moksu when he turned a corner into the Alley.
“Huh?”
“What?”
In that moment, Ha Yun collided with Song Do Hyun, who happened to be walking the street.
Stop.
Both men’s footsteps halted simultaneously as they recognized each other.
Song Do Hyun held a thick bundle of ledgers in his hand, while Ha Yun carried a cloth wrapping containing gulbi.
Song Do Hyun furrowed his brow and spoke first.
“What are you doing here?”
“That’s what I should ask you.”
“What?”
When Ha Yun replied without backing down, the corner of Song Do Hyun’s mouth twitched slightly.
“A newcomer haengsoo has no manners toward his senior?”
“Who was it that abandoned manners first?”
“Perhaps working at a tavern has made your tongue rough—”
“And perhaps gossiping about people behind their backs has made yours thoroughly distasteful.”
“Not one to back down from anything, are you?”
“And who are you to talk?”
Between the two men hung a taut, unyielding tension.
The passersby nearby had even begun to notice their battle of wills, casting furtive glances as they hurried past.
‘Does he have something to rely on?’
Song Do Hyun looked Ha Yun up and down.
For a newcomer haengsoo, he was remarkably bold.
No matter that he’d been brought in on someone else’s recommendation, it was rare for a newcomer to display such audacity.
‘Tch. An irritating fellow.’
Ha Yun glared back at Song Do Hyun.
He’d disliked him from their first meeting, and now the man had begun openly disparaging him.
Ha Yun wouldn’t strike first, but if someone attacked him, he would not hold back.
“Move. I’m in a hurry.”
As Ha Yun tried to pass, Song Do Hyun folded his arms and blocked his path.
“Why should I?”
“If you’re going to stand there blocking the way, what exactly do you expect me to do?”
“The person in need should take the long way around.”
For a while, tense standoff continued between them.
Then Song Do Hyun glanced at the cloth wrapping in Ha Yun’s hand and asked.
“What is that?”
“Obviously a secret. Do you really think I’d tell you?”
Ha Yun hugged the wrapping closer and quickened his pace.
“What a shambles.”
Whoosh.
Song Do Hyun immediately followed, continuing to provoke him.
“By the look of it, you haven’t managed to sell many. Why not give up now and go back to running a soup stall?”
“How would you know how many gulbi I’ve sold?”
Ha Yun stopped and looked Song Do Hyun directly in the eye.
Because of the height difference, he had to look up quite a bit, but he didn’t flinch at all.
“It’s obvious enough to anyone with eyes.”
Song Do Hyun’s voice was thick with mockery.
“What skill could a freshly arrived newcomer possibly have to sell gulbi at all?”
Song Do Hyun began pressing on Ha Yun’s weaknesses one by one.
“Do you even have any connections to sell gulbi to?”
Strike.
Hit at a sore point, Ha Yun found himself unable to mount any defense.
“Or do you at least know when and where the markets are held?”
……
Again, Ha Yun pressed his lips firmly shut.
Seeing this, Song Do Hyun’s sneer deepened.
“Naturally, you have no connections whatsoever.”
Song Do Hyun held up his ledger, packed with the names of contacts, and moved behind Ha Yun.
Tap. Tap.
And with that, he tapped Ha Yun’s shoulder.
“What do you think? If you want, I could introduce you to a few places…….”
Song Do Hyun covered his mouth with the ledger, his expression smug with self-satisfaction.
There was no doubt—this contest was his victory.
No matter how hard Ha Yun scrambled and clawed, he couldn’t compare to someone who’d grown up here his whole life.
Song Do Hyun had that much confidence in himself.
In fact, he was always the top performer at Manshang.
He consistently sold double—sometimes triple—what the other haengsoo did, and brought in profits to match.
Yet the manager, Lim Sang Ok, seemed to find fault with him for some reason, treating him no better than any other haengsoo.
Song Do Hyun had always resented that.
He believed he wasn’t getting the treatment his abilities deserved.
So when Lim Sang Ok showed such high expectations of Ha Yun, it was only natural that Ha Yun rubbed him the wrong way.
That pretty face of his—unusual for a man—was especially grating to look at.
Ha Yun, who had been enduring this mockery in silence for a moment, finally spoke.
“No need for introductions.”
He brushed his shoulder as if wiping off something filthy.
“I’d rather bite my own tongue and die than accept an introduction from you.”
Ha Yun said this as he picked up the bojagi.
“I’ll do things my own way, so don’t concern yourself.”
Then, as if to emphasize the point, he muttered under his breath and turned to leave.
“What rotten luck. Absolutely infuriating.”
Song Do Hyun stared blankly after Ha Yun’s retreating back.
“My own way, is it…… Heh, this should be interesting.”
He murmured to himself as he opened the ledger in his hands.
“Yes, go ahead and sell however you like. The results will prove who the truly superior haengsoo is.”
Song Do Hyun closed the ledger with a satisfied expression and headed toward his next destination.
***
As Ha Yun drew closer to Min Seung Ji’s Residence, his pace naturally began to slow.
“Hmm, it’s bigger than I expected.”
He’d been walking alongside the compound wall for several minutes now.
It was far too large to be the wall of a single house.
The grayish-white wall stretched on endlessly, and above it, tile roof edges pierced the sky.
Uiju’s finest yangban household.
One could tell the rumors were no exaggeration simply from this wall alone. Even the single old pine tree visible beyond the gate conveyed the dignity of the household.
“So the lady of this house is called Choi, was it?”
It seemed likely that Min Seung Ji, a minister at court, would not be home.
Which meant Ha Yun’s true target today would be the mistress of this house—Lady Choi.
Ha Yun quickened his pace, having gathered some basic information about Lady Choi.
“So this is the place……!”
Finally reaching the main gate of Min Seung Ji’s Residence, Ha Yun approached.
That was when it happened.
“Stop.”
A sturdily built gatekeeper stepped into his path. The gatekeeper demanded, arms crossed, his posture deliberately imposing.
“What business brings you here?”
Ha Yun answered truthfully.
“I’ve come to see the lady of this house.”
“The lady? And why would you?”
“Because I have business with her.”
“Business?”
The gatekeeper’s eyes swept over Ha Yun from head to foot, slowly and deliberately.
Then his gaze caught on the object carefully wrapped in the bojagi.
“Hmm?”
Upon seeing this, the gatekeeper waved his hand dismissively and spoke in a curt tone.
“Looks to me like you’re a peddler hawking wares. This isn’t that sort of place, so be off with you.”
To the gatekeeper’s words, Ha Yun shot back confidently.
“I’m not a peddler.”
“Then what are you?”
A peddler. That’s what he was.
For all his words, Ha Yun had no real defense against being called a peddler.
The only difference was that he worked for Joseon’s greatest merchant house.
After all, Ha Yun was nothing but a peddler who had to sell goods.
And not just any goods—mere foodstuffs: gulbi.
‘If they find out I came to sell gulbi, I’ll be thrown out on my ear.’
Gulbi. Not silk, not jade—gulbi.
To pull out such wares before the finest Yangban household in Uiju was to invite ridicule he could hardly contest.
Yet Ha Yun, confident in his product, spoke with assurance.
“If you would just let me meet the mistress of this house, I’m certain she’ll recognize the true worth of what I’ve brought.”
“Heavens, you really are a peddler.”
With his purpose now baldly stated, the gatekeeper moved to drive Ha Yun away with even greater force.
“I don’t know what you’re peddling, but unless it’s something extraordinary, the lady won’t spare it a glance. Now be off with you.”
“With respect, sir, you can’t know that. Perhaps the mistress will take a liking to what I’ve brought?”
“Do you think you’re the first peddler to darken this gate? Give up and go home.”
Ha Yun knew something, though.
If only he could secure a meeting with Lady Choi, he could persuade her through words alone.
Winning over a client with a compelling presentation was one of Ha Yun’s greatest strengths. Every successful pitch began with persuasion.
Despite the continued rebuffs, Ha Yun showed no sign of backing down.
“Please, just once—let me meet the mistress. I promise I’ll cause no trouble. Won’t you?”
“No means no, and yet you persist.”
“Please! I’m begging you!”
Ha Yun pleaded with genuine desperation.
He couldn’t retreat now.
Especially not after his wounded pride from meeting Song Do Hyun just moments before.
He had to make this contract work, no matter what.
“If you don’t leave this instant, I’ll thrash you senseless!”
“Ugh!”
Unable to endure another refusal, Ha Yun suddenly grabbed hold of the gatekeeper’s trouser leg.
“What? You? You won’t let go?”
“I can’t! I won’t, even if it kills me!”
“So words are useless with you!”
The gatekeeper’s trouser leg was already dragged halfway down his waist, and now he seized his cudgel.
He was about to bring it down on Ha Yun when—
“What is all this commotion outside?”
A low, measured voice came from within. The gatekeeper froze at the sound.
“Madam!”
A middle-aged woman stood before them, her hair neatly bound up, her skirt and jeogori arranged with perfect propriety.
It was Lady Choi, the mistress of Min Seung Ji’s Residence.
“What is the meaning of all this noise?”
Lady Choi asked calmly.
Her voice was gentle, yet it carried an unmistakable firmness.
“I, that is—”
Flustered by the sudden turn of events, the gatekeeper stammered. Ha Yun still held fast to his trouser leg.
‘Now’s my chance!’
Seizing the moment, Ha Yun quickly scrambled to his feet and stepped forward.
“My respects to you!”
Ha Yun bowed deeply with proper courtesy.
“I am honored to meet the mistress of Min Seung Ji’s Residence.”
“And who might you be?”
“I am Lim Sang Ok of Manshang.”
“Manshang?”
Lady Choi’s eyebrows rose slightly.
In Uiju, there was scarcely a soul who didn’t know Manshang—not even among the Yangban.
Once Ha Yun’s affiliation was established, Lady Choi’s tone softened considerably.
“Hmm. A merchant from Manshang, and yet such unseemly behavior.”
A chill crept into her voice. Ha Yun bowed once more.
“I must apologize. I was so eager to show the mistress a particular item that I was forced into this breach of propriety.”
“A particular item?”
Lady Choi’s tone shifted. There was curiosity in her eyes now.
“What exactly could warrant such a disturbance?”
Door-to-door sales were uncommon in those days.
Most goods came from markets, or were hawked by street vendors passing through the village.
Especially in the case of well-known yangban households, servants typically purchased goods on their own, making situations like this quite rare.
“Well, you see……”
Ha Yun lowered his voice with deliberate care.
As though conducting a clandestine transaction.
“If I might explain it as a newly launched premium brand, I believe it would be easier to understand, madam.”
“A brand? Launched?”
Choi’s eyes narrowed at the unfamiliar words.
Ha Yun quickly corrected himself.
“Ah, forgive me—it would be more accurate to say Manshang is introducing a rare new commodity.”
“A rare commodity?”
“So rare, in fact, that if you do not acquire it now, you will find it nowhere else.”
“Hmm.”
Choi’s gaze drifted to the bojagi in Ha Yun’s hands.
What on earth could be wrapped inside to make the Haengsoo of Manshang kneel and plead like this?
And a commodity that cannot be obtained anywhere else if not now?
Her curiosity had been kindled.
Ha Yun’s stratagem was working.
Choi’s permission came without delay.
“Come this way.”
“Yes!”
Ha Yun hurried after Choi into the inner rooms.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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