I Became the Eldest Daughter of a Fallen Family - Chapter 22

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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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Episode 22. A Bargain Buy When You Look Closer
They say successful shops are different from the start, don’t they?
Even though a difficult customer did come, the Tang Hulu sold out completely. On top of that, getting rid of that bothersome Wi fellow and earning 700 more cash was a bonus.
‘Isn’t this a sign of a huge success?’
Thinking of how the Spiced Sauce she’d supplied to Master Jang’s butcher shop was selling like wildfire, her premonition felt quite good.
But the expressions on Master Jang and Mistress Yang’s faces, who had given up their shop space and were apparently setting new sales records daily with the Spiced Sauce, were decidedly odd.
“Mistress? Master? Why do you look like that?”
“……Ah, well. I was just thinking how you’ve treated us quite generously all this time.”
“Come now. Generously? I’ve been thorough with the numbers, haven’t I? The wholesale price for the Spiced Sauce isn’t that low, is it?”
A sixty percent Profit Margin for processed food was absolutely respectable.
Of course, since they sourced raw materials from Master Jang’s butcher shop, the shop was earning revenue twice over.
Ten cash per unit from the raw materials, and then another ten cash per unit from selling the Spiced Sauce.
Yet So Yeonhui herself was earning roughly twelve cash per unit from supplying the sauce after material costs, so it wasn’t a loss at all.
Rather, she was borrowing the stall space for Tang Hulu free of charge, so if anything, she was profiting handsomely.
Still, Master Jang shook his head as if troubled by something and let out a sigh.
“So Yeonhui, why on earth did you dispose of that Broken Silver that the young master of the Wi family gave you? The Wi are the foremost household not just here in Haenghwa-jin but in all of Cheongyang Prefecture—aren’t you worried about what might come after?”
“Come now, would I really drag your benefactor back to the magistrate’s office? For the sake of the Lady of the Wi house’s dignity, they won’t do such a thing.”
So Yeonhui, who had grounds for confidence, dismissed his concern with a wave, but this time Mistress Yang stepped in to reproach her.
“However it is, charging 700 cash just for packaging was too much. Why not treat it as an advance payment, and next time they visit, give them free Tang Hulu in the amount of the remainder?”
“It’s absolutely not too much. Do you know how remarkable that vessel is—that tub I gave them? Seven hundred cash is practically giving it away for nothing.”
A 6-liter Commercial-grade Stainless Steel Tub.
The precious thing had cost a full thirty Points and had been purchased with great determination to minimize the Tang Hulu from melting and spoiling during transport.
It was the fruit of all-in investment, procured along with the sausage maker for the sake of future business.
Handing over something like that for a mere 700 cash was hardly excessive.
So Yeonhui let out a long sigh, her face heavy with regret.
Master Jang then fell into brief contemplation before quietly nodding in understanding.
“Well, it’s smooth and gleaming with shine—the vessel does look quite fine. It looks exactly like the sort of brass ware the gentry use.”
An ordinary person might not often have occasion to see brass ware, but their circumstances were rather different.
Running a butcher shop, they often went to assist at banquets in wealthy households.
And Mistress Yang, who knew well how brilliantly polished the dishware used in such places shone, looked at So Yeonhui anew and nodded.
“Well then, seven hundred cash isn’t excessive after all. Fine brass ware costs more than gold, they say.”
“Indeed. Moreover, that vessel is the only one of its kind in this world that won’t even rust. I should have demanded 7,000 cash, not 700. Ah, thinking about it now makes me regret it so much.”
So Yeonhui sighed deeply, clearly full of regret.
But to demand 7,000 cash—wasn’t that rather ambitious?
Perhaps her aspirations were too grand?
Mistress Yang chuckled softly and shook her head repeatedly.
“If the proprietor of the Pungyun Trading House in town here had to face off against you, he’d turn tail and run. Looking at you, you’ve got the makings of a great general.”
At the praise that she would have accomplished great things had she been born male, So Yeonhui lifted her shoulders with pride.
“Well, I do take after my father quite a bit.”
The fact that her hands moved more deftly as she tidied up was surely just her imagination.
* * *
“Listen, Your Highness, the Sixth Prince! Or rather, Ayun. What grievance do you hold against me that you sent me to that woman’s shop? I’ve lived a long time, but I’ve never seen a woman like her!”
Wi Jeong burst through the door as if kicking it open, shouting.
He was the eldest grandson of the Cheongpyeong Wi Family, the foremost landowning clan in Cheongyang Prefecture, and Jinseong’s most celebrated young nobleman—the sort who had women pining away with lovesickness. Yet today, his appearance was utterly disheveled.
His hair was tousled and his face was patchy red and blue.
Looking as though he’d just returned from a brawl, Ju Hayun quietly set down his teacup and lifted his head.
“Hmm?”
At that, Wi Jeong set down the metal container he’d been holding with a bang on the table, then clung to Ju Hayun like a fledgling crying hunger to its mother, launching into his complaints.
“I handed her one unit of Broken Silver just to get change, and what did she do? She forced me to buy exactly one unit’s worth of Spiced Sauce and Tang Hulu, and on top of that, she extracted 700 cash just for packaging!”
“Seven hundred cash just for packaging?”
“That’s right! She did it so smoothly—handed over this iron vessel along with the sauce, took the Broken Silver in one smooth motion! It’s outright highway robbery!”
He fumed indignantly, even snorting. At that, Ju Hayun absently reached out to touch the object, then his finger froze.
“……Interesting. This is, I suspect, actually a gain on our side.”
“What?”
To Wi Jeong’s sharp question, Ju Hayun replied calmly.
“Wi Jeong, have you ever seen metal this smooth?”
“What?”
“At first I thought it was made of silver or iron, but it’s neither. And it’s not brass either.”
“……Really?”
“Look at the workmanship. It’s remarkable how thin and uniform the metal has been hammered, but the edge finishing is even more extraordinary. I doubt the imperial craftsmen could replicate it.”
He tapped the vessel with his fingernail here and there, lifted it in one hand to test its weight.
He even drew out a Steel Badge from his robe and scratched the vessel’s surface with it.
During this serious examination, Wi Jeong gradually calmed his excitement and settled quietly beside Ju Hayun.
“Now that you mention it, it is strange. Who in the world made something like this?”
The two sat side by side studying the vessel and were rather surprised.
The silver surface was as smooth as silk, yet it didn’t reflect the face clearly like a copper mirror would.
And there was something indescribable about it—the weight.
Ju Hayun suddenly lifted the vessel and began dumping its contents onto the table.
“Hey! What are you doing? That’s worth 300 cash in snacks! Haven’t you heard that wasting food brings punishment?”
“That’s not what matters right now.”
“Then what does?”
“This metal—even scratched by a blade, it doesn’t get a single blemish, yet it’s light as a feather.”
“What?”
“If this weren’t a vessel but a sword and armor instead, what do you think would happen?”
At Ju Hayun’s words, Wi Jeong’s body went rigid.
“An army equipped with weapons like these—do you think you could defeat them?”
A cold smile didn’t leave the man’s lips.
It lingered for a very long time.
* * *
The So family’s main hall.
With the whole family gathered around a single table for evening meal, Yeonhui bowed her head along with a deep sigh.
Weighed down by exhaustion, even as she held her chopsticks, she managed only a single spoonful of rice.
“That’s why I said you should go with your mother. Your father may have his limits, but with a little bribe, I could get in without difficulty.”
“Heavens, please don’t speak of such dangerous things.”
So Yeonhui shook her head weakly but firmly.
“If we get caught by mistake, and those connected to Yeon-ga use it as a pretext to harm Father, what then? It’s best not to create any grounds for suspicion. And with that Wi fellow constantly hanging about, I’m already uneasy enough…”
No. The misunderstanding should have been cleared up. Why does he keep coming around insisting on repaying a debt?
Just as she was despairing, unable to drive him away cleanly for fear of bringing calamity on the household.
Grandmother Hong’s hand, which had been idly moving her chopsticks, came to an abrupt halt.
“The Wi? Could it be the Cheongpyeong Wi—the household of General Wi Gyeom?”
What—did they know each other?
Worried that her rudeness today might be discovered, So Yeonhui hastily began to excuse herself.
“W-well…… it just happened that I met them by chance in Jinseong this time, quite casually, a very minor connection. Ah, hehehehe……”
Trying to gloss over it with a laugh, So Yeonhui gave an awkward smile. Then immediately, her father So Jin jumped in to shield So Yeonhui from Hong’s gaze.
“The Wi are hardly a household to curry favor with the Imperial Consort Yeon or the Chancellor, so there’s no need to be too worried. Still, it would be best not to get too close.”
“Right, I thought so. But I am a bit concerned that the young Wi master keeps coming to the shop and causing scenes. He didn’t seem to have a particularly good temperament.”
Particularly, his expression when he was strong-armed into paying 700 cash was quite something to see.
Thinking about it again, So Yeonhui couldn’t help but let out a stifled laugh.
But Hong immediately became indignant enough to flip the table and cried out loudly.
“What? You’ve exchanged words with a man from the Wi family? Surely that scoundrel didn’t broach marriage negotiations with you!”

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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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