Doctor’s Rebirth - Chapter 915
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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 915
Baekrin County had now been divided into Baekrin Seo-hyeon and Baekrin Dong-hyeon.
Though the territory was quite expansive, the constant influx of people from all directions meant it now housed a considerable population.
Many villages had transformed into small cities.
A place called Lijeong, originally just a small village, had grown into a small city as a central trading hub where countless people came and went, thanks to the newly established distribution routes within Baekrin County.
In the outskirts of such a small city stood a restaurant called Chunmong—Spring’s Dream.
Despite its poetic name, it was a shabby establishment with only six seats.
Jin Cheon-hee and Yoo Ho were stepping into this modest shop.
“There are only flies flying around in here…”
“It seems to have failed far worse than expected?”
My eyes were already emitting a brilliant blue light.
I was conducting a high-speed, precision scan like some advanced device!
“This, this… it’s the textbook example of an unprofitable establishment. First, the cleaning is sloppy—there’s quite a bit of dust. And food stains still remain on the floor. The ventilation isn’t proper either, so it reeks. That’s minus one point already.”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘minus’?”
“It means a deduction in points.”
With that, I took a seat along with Yoo Ho.
A middle-aged man, the owner, sat behind the counter.
Yet he merely watched us sit down with a somewhat listless demeanor.
Only when I let out a deliberate cough did he reluctantly and sluggishly rise to his feet.
[Minus one more point. He should have started attending to customers the moment we entered.]
I spoke through sound transmission so the restaurant owner couldn’t hear.
[Where did you learn such things?]
[When I took over the inn from the Geum family. The Chief Manager and Hyeon helped me with it.]
The Chief Manager’s involvement made sense given his profession, but Sama Hyeon—that fellow never missed a chance to help with anything his brother did.
“Welcome. Will you be dining?”
[The tone is a bit curt too… Minus one point. That brings the total to minus three points. This is looking worse and worse.]
I wondered if that fellow had taught me this strange scoring system as well.
Yoo Ho pondered this.
Soon, I spoke aloud to the owner.
“What dishes do you have here?”
“We serve Pian’er Chuan and Bai Zhu Rou.”
儿
“We’re selling braised pork belly and white-boiled pork.”
Pian’er Chuan!
A dish originating from Hangzhou, made with bamboo shoots and julienned pork in a broth noodle preparation.
The subtle flavor of bamboo shoots and the succulence of pork achieve a remarkable harmony with soy-based seasoning.
Bai Zhu Rou, on the other hand, is a type of boiled meat dish said to have originated in the imperial palace of Beijing.
Somehow, it had spread widely among the common people!
[Interesting. The previous head chef was quite capable, wasn’t he?]
[What do you mean by that?]
[Baekjayuk is a dish where pork is boiled and sliced. Pyeonacheon also uses pork. If I make the broth for pyeonacheon from the leftover meat while preparing baekjayuk, it works out perfectly, doesn’t it?]
[Is that really such a remarkable thing?]
[It is remarkable. In cooking, the cost ratio and material waste rate determine a restaurant’s profit margins.]
This was also something Sama Hyeon had taught me.
‘What? Isn’t that fellow a Kang Ho-in?’
He has a notorious reputation for peeling the skin off people’s faces whenever he’s bored, yet this martial artist is conducting such meticulous research?
When Yoo Ho saw him in person.
‘It’s hard to tell with how he fawns in front of his hyeong.’
He doesn’t look like a martial artist, nor does he look like someone obsessed with the restaurant business.
But there is one thing that’s certain.
That bastard is doing all three.
‘No matter how many disciples the Young Master takes in, he always ends up with strange ones.’
Yoo Ho’s thoughts reached that point.
Still, acknowledging his skills, he answered Jin Cheon-hee through transmission.
[In other words, by standardizing the ingredients, you maximize profit… That’s it, isn’t it.]
[Exactly! Can’t you feel the previous Head Chef’s dedication, Yoo Ho?]
Yoo Ho didn’t answer.
“Please bring one serving each of baekjayuk and pyeonacheon.”
“Yes, sir.”
The middle-aged man said so and slowly walked inside.
“But why did I have to come here? You know how busy the Master is.”
Yoo Ho asked aloud, not through transmission.
Jegalling wouldn’t have lent him out for no reason.
Yoo Ho caught Jin Cheon-hee’s subtle wink directed at him.
Understanding that wink, he had lent him out.
Damn it.
Whenever Jin Cheon-hee sets something in motion through Muyue, Yoo Ho becomes busy as well.
No matter how divided the departments are, ultimately all work is connected.
The work of the Outer Chief Manager affects the Inner Chief Manager too.
“That’s because Yoo Ho might need to make something for us. Special cooking tools, things like that might be necessary.”
A single wink.
The disciple said Yoo Ho was needed.
The master recognized why the disciple winked that Yoo Ho was needed and agreed.
A gesture lasting less than 0.3 seconds.
With that, Priest Jegalling had already discussed the plans ahead.
“Sigh… You came along for such a trivial reason? Are you trying to kill yourself, you fool?”
The fox was busy, yet overwork was impossible for him.
Being a noble existence, he had contracted an illness where he wouldn’t fall sick even if worked to death.
People called that immortality.
“Ahahaha. Well, it’s not that much. Come on. After I finish this, I’ll make you some delicious yukhoe to cheer you up, Yoo Ho. All right?”
Yoo Ho felt a deep sense of frustration.
“Still, the proprietor’s customer service attitude is definitely another minus point.”
“What reason did you find to deduct points again?”
“He should at least offer drinks! Does he have no intention of running a business!?”
He spoke openly about how the proprietor had gone into the kitchen.
And for good reason—the man paid no attention to his guests whatsoever.
To the point where he didn’t even hear what I was saying.
“I’ll forgive the pian-a-cheon since it’s a noodle soup dish, but baek-ja-yuk pairs wonderfully with alcohol.”
“I see.”
“Especially alcohol—it has higher profit margins than food, so the more you sell, the better!”
But since he didn’t even bother recommending it, this shows a serious problem with his hospitality!
“You’re quite relentless, Young Master. Were you really thinking about such things? Wait, but you’re a doctor—why are you complaining that he didn’t recommend alcohol…?”
“Why did we come here in the first place?”
“I understood we came to teach him cooking techniques?”
“No, no. Improving cooking skills is just one of the conditions. The real important thing is that this shop needs to become a massive success.”
My doctor self had clocked out for the day.
I’d be lounging around like a sloth until Baekrin Medical Guild opened.
Now it was time for that fellow—the legendary Ten Great Housekeepers, Ilgwang—to clock in.
That persona had seized control of my hands and was steering me!
And that self was saying this:
A massive hit!
This place must become a massive hit!
But the path to success is long and arduous.
This world had no SNS, no magazines, no television.
In this world, restaurants became famous only through word of mouth.
Naturally, becoming known as a hit restaurant was no easy feat.
That’s why I hadn’t held a small festival when opening Baekrin Inn in the first place!
Using that as an excuse to invite some people along!
“Good cooking alone doesn’t guarantee success. You need excellent customer service too, and of course, meticulous shop management. First and foremost, you can’t let the place get this filthy.”
“As I mentioned before, you’re quite relentless.”
While the two of us were talking, the food arrived.
Pian-a-cheon and baek-ja-yuk!
I decided to eat the pian-a-cheon first.
But Yoo Ho didn’t eat.
After all, he didn’t particularly enjoy human food, so it was only natural.
“This… this taste!?”
I slurped up a mouthful of noodles and my expression shifted in surprise.
Then I picked up my chopsticks and grabbed some baek-ja-yuk.
Hmm.
“Gasp… this taste!?”
Then Jin Cheon-hee turned his gaze toward Yoo Ho.
“Yoo Ho! Come here for a moment! Try some of this!”
His speech pattern had suddenly become strange.
Yoo Ho’s forehead creased with wrinkles.
“I’m already right here. Why did you suddenly change your speech pattern like that… Anyway… what exactly makes you want me to taste this…?”
Despite his irritation, Yoo Ho took a bite of the braised pork.
“Huh!? This taste…!?”
And rarely, killing intent leaked out from him.
Jin Cheon-hee quickly used his will to shield the innkeeper from Yoo Ho’s murderous aura, displaying a remarkable technique.
A martial art only the greatest masters could perform.
However, Yoo Ho seemed utterly indifferent.
“Why would you make me eat something this tasteless!!”
“Well, it’s awkward if I’m the only one eating it. I’d appreciate it if you’d taste it and give me your honest evaluation.”
No matter how I looked at it, I could feel the determination of someone unwilling to suffer alone.
Yoo Ho reflected.
‘I see. My master has already… traveled around with that fellow and eaten garbage-tier food together.’
The young master called it a gourmet tour, while the master called it garbage collection.
Though I don’t understand why he’d put such things in his own mouth, since his disciple was doing it, he went along.
‘…’
A true master indeed.
While his disciple was putting garbage in his mouth, the master himself sat down and put that garbage in his own mouth as well.
Wasn’t a master in the martial world essentially madness itself?
Come to think of it, even when Yoo Ho was in his heyday consuming people left and right, there were many mad masters.
Those who would not hesitate to die for their disciples.
Knowing they would die, they squeezed out every last drop of their innate true energy and passed it to their disciples, their own hair turning white before they perished.
And their bodies became as light and dry as cicada shells, tasteless.
At that moment, Yoo Ho understood what kind of madness masters in the martial world possessed.
Raising a disciple was not something to be done with a sound mind.
Jegalling was the same.
If someone other than Jin Cheon-hee had recommended eating such garbage, that person would have been torn into six pieces on the spot.
Yoo Ho spoke.
“First, this braised pork has been boiled far too long ago. It seems to have been boiled at least two days ago, stored, and then reheated before serving… When that happens, the meat becomes dry and develops an odor.”
‘Quite impressive. He doesn’t care much for human cuisine, yet his palate is remarkably accurate.’
Jin Cheon-hee silently admired this.
Unaware of his thoughts, Yoo Ho continued.
“The meat quality is poor, and they tried to hide it with spices, but it tastes terribly off. There’s even a slightly spoiled note to it. And there’s also the problem with the bamboo shoots.”
“The bamboo shoots?”
“Yes. These too are old because the meat quality is low, and the flavor has changed—it’s inedible.”
“Right. The meat itself is old. You catch on quickly.”
“Yes. The bamboo shoots are at least fresh and the soy sauce seasoning is passable… but that doesn’t mean food garbage transforms into a proper dish.”
Truly a scathing assessment!
Jin Cheon-hee was startled by Yoo Ho’s sharp critique, but quickly patted his chest in relief.
‘When I think about it, isn’t it only natural?’
Before Jin Cheon-hee appeared, it was Yoo Ho who prepared my Master’s meals.
His culinary skills were actually no different at all.
“That’s right, Yoo Ho! I think the same way you do.”
“You already knew but asked anyway. In any case… his personality is terrible… But this isn’t even a matter of cooking skill anymore, is it?”
Regardless of whether he has cooking skill or not, he lacks the attitude and will to cook in the first place.
And he has no money either.
A few days ago, judging by the weather, he probably reheats boiled meat from around last week and serves it.
Hygiene aside, the prepared food doesn’t sell, which means the turnover rate has become extremely poor.
‘Hmm, in this era, people often get food poisoning from eating.’
Add the head chef’s laziness to that, and this hellish food is complete.
It seems he lacks the funds to throw away the meat and buy fresh supplies.
Yet he doesn’t even make an effort to maintain the shop properly.
You can tell just by looking at his customer service attitude and the shop’s condition.
“Right. The person himself is in a state of helplessness, floundering about.”
“I see. Rather than helplessness, I suspect he’s simply a naturally lazy human being. So what do you intend to do? If a person’s nature is fundamentally crude and base, no method will work.”
Biting sarcasm.
Even I felt a sting hearing it.
‘So this is why all the Medical Assistants who receive instruction from Yoo Ho end up having their spirits crushed.’
But he’s right.
“Well… I’ve thought that far too. So I’ll take a roundabout approach, but I’m going to use rough methods.”
“Rough methods?”
“Yeah! I need to rebuild his mental fortitude from scratch. There’s no way around it.”
Cheonhailgwang’s eyes gleamed a sharp blue.
“Proprietor! Look at me!”
And he jumped to his feet, shouting.
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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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