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Episode 52: Bright Flower Pavilion (2)

“Is it Bright Flower Pavilion?”

“Yes. Bright Flower Pavilion,” Yang Jeon looked at Jin Myeong with a surprised expression at Jin Myeong’s words.

“Why?”

“No, I was surprised that Young Master chose a better name than I thought.”

“You said it was well built?”

“Yes. It definitely sounds more like a pleasure house name than before.”

‘I guess it was because the name included the word “flower”.’

“Is it coming out soon?”

“Yes, it seems so.”

The inside of the room was filled with a very good smell. Because of the rumor that they would give ten nyang of silver a year, quite a number of chefs came to visit. And now they were cooking in the kitchen. In order to be judged by Jin Myeong.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

‘How long have I been waiting like that?’

About ten candidates for the culinary taste came out, each with his or her own dish.

Jin Myeong began to eat the ten different foods on the table one by one.

‘It’s so unbelievably spicy.’ Sichuan cuisine is known for being spicy, but the food here is just as spicy.

‘If Sichuan is a bit spicy, this place is…….’

All ten dishes were spicy. But the spiciness seemed to be different.

‘It had a fragrant aroma, but it was also spicy and left my mouth feeling tingly.’

‘I could feel the sourness and spiciness at the same time.’

“I never thought there would be so many different kinds of spiciness.”

“…Me too.”

It seems that other people also have a hard time adapting to this spiciness.

“I have this and this.”

“I think this was okay too.”

They started picking out the dishes that tasted good. As the dishes were named, the faces of the chefs began to show a mixture of joy and sorrow.

“These five people first. The rest can go back.”

The faces of the chefs who were not chosen hardened at Jin Myeong’s words. They were about to confront Jin Myeong right away, but the Mak brothers appeared and started dragging them out.

“I’ve had a taste of the local cuisine here, so try making something good from somewhere else.”

“Yes?”

The remaining chefs looked puzzled at Jin Myeong’s words. Because they didn’t know that Jin Myeong would ask for dishes from other regions by Hunan chefs.

“Of course you should know how to do it. It’s not just people from Hunan who come to Dongting Lake.”

Rather, more people from other regions will come to Dongting Lake. And when you’re away from home for a long time, the first thing you would miss is food.

“Even so, since we’ve come to Hunan, shouldn’t we eat the food there?”

“Just do it. Do I have to tell you all the reasons one by one?”

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

“Go in and do it!” Im Sa-gyeong, who noticed Jin Myeong’s mood, hurriedly pushed the chefs into the kitchen.

They were still dissatisfied, but they couldn’t give up ten nyang of silver, so they ended up making the dish they could. And Jin Myeong ate the food they made again.

“How is it?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s important that it tastes good, but what’s more important is that it reflects the local characteristics……”

The problem is that they don’t know if Jin Myeong captures the flavor of the region well. Although Jin Myeong had traveled to many places on assignment, he didn’t remember eating local food because he was so busy moving around.

‘I remember the cuisine from Shaanxi though…….’

Unfortunately, there was not a single dish from Shaanxi before his eyes. And not only Jin Myeong, but also Shin Ye-hyang, Yang Jeon, and Gu Ja-hong were unable to accurately perceive the taste of food.

“You guys try it too.”

“Yes.”

In the end, Jin Myeong also offered food to Im Sa-gyeong and the Mak brothers.

“I personally……”

However, unlike Jin Myeong and his group who only stayed within the Heavenly Demon Sect, they seemed to have tried various foods. They quickly started selecting the food, and eventually recommended three chefs based on dishes.

“If we get more customers, we can pay more. But if we get complaints, we’ll reduce the amount.”

Ambitiously, Jin Myeong changed the name of the restaurant and also hired new chefs.

‘Now all we have to do is promote it properly.’

Jin Myeong even used people to spread rumors about Bright Flower Pavilion.

They changed the name, hired new chefs, and the food tasted a lot better. But despite spreading such rumors, contrary to Jin Myeong’s expectations, the number of customers did not increase at all.

‘After all, appearances are the same.’

The many guest houses, restaurants, and inns that are popular in Dongting Lake all have splendid exteriors. But this tower, or rather this tower that has now become Bright Flower Pavilion, was not like that at all.

‘The view from the observation deck isn’t bad…….’

The location is good. Dongting Lake is right in front, and it is a place where you can go boating while drinking. So, the problem is this appearance that could collapse at any moment.

‘Eventually, it has to be repaired.’

There is no money in the bank. Even the tribute money sent to the Heavenly Demon Sect was overdue, so there was no way there would be money to repair the building.

“No matter how much I think about it, there are too few courtesans.”

“That’s true. There are only four of them,” Yang Jeon also sighed at the situation that was not improving at all.

No matter how capable a general he was, this was the first time something like this had happened, so he seemed to be at a loss.

“There aren’t many people. Just four courtesans, Tower Master, and the Mak brothers?”

“Yes, everything.”

‘Too little.’

‘There are no guests now, but the number of courtesans is too small.’

“Let’s decide what we need first.”

Jin Myeong decided to set priorities.

“Of course, a pleasure house would need a courtesan.”

“Yes. Four is not enough.”

“How did you manage to run it like this?”

“It seems there used to be a lot of them. But business was so bad that they all left.”

Since they were not paid their wages, the courtesans began to leave the brothels. And the number of personal guests of the departed courtesans also began to decrease. As the number of customers decreases, there is less money, other courtesans leave, and even the hostess leaves, so the food becomes less tasty. This vicious cycle continued.

“In the end, they must have brought in bad alcohol.”

“Yes.”

Jin Myeong’s head started hurting because the problems kept piling up.

“First things first. I’m going to replace this damn building that looks like it could collapse at any moment.”

“Yes? How?”

“With my own money.”

The legacy left by Jin Myeong’s father was not small, but he had also previously received a reward from the Heavenly Demon through a mission to bring back treasure.

“No, of course, the money I received from the Sect Leader back then was enough……”

And Jin Myeong brought bank notes just in case.

“How much did I receive from the leader?”

“If you calculate it in silver, I would have received about a thousand nyang.”

“That’s a lot. How much do you think it would cost to turn it into something fancy?”

Yang Jeon couldn’t easily answer Jin Myeong’s words.

“It depends on how extravagantly you make it. A thousand nyang might not be enough, or it might be enough.”

“Hmm. Then let’s change it to around 700 nyang.”

“……”

Yang Jeon had a headache because of Jin Myeong who could easily say 700 nyang. Now, it seemed that Jin Myeong was thinking of using all of the thousand nyang he had received from the Heavenly Demon here.

“It’s okay. It’s not like I don’t have enough money.”

“It’s not like it’s overflowing though.”

“If you can live off of it for your entire life without working, then you have more than enough.”

“Ouch. Okay. I’ll contact the sect and have them bring the money.”

Yang Jeon knew that he could not break Jin Myeong’s stubbornness.

“Next. The Tower’s mascot.”

“Huh? Masc……?”

“We just need a courtesan who comes to mind when we think of Bright Flower Pavilion.”

This is not what Jin Myeong read in the novel.

But doesn’t that happen sometimes in martial arts?

‘The best courtesan of the mystical pleasure house. The fools who spend a lot of money at the pleasure house to see that courtesan. No, the customers.’

Jin Myeong also thought it was necessary.

“Then how do we get the courtesan?”

“Usually, they buy from the common people or borrow from the Hao Clan (Haomen).”

“Hmm. I guess I’ll have to borrow it from the Hao Clan first.”

There is nothing negative about bringing in commoners. But now, Bright Flower Pavilion needed skilled courtesans.

“Tower Master, bring those courtesans.”

“Yes!”

At Jin Myeong’s words, Im Sa-gyeong, who had been listening to the conversation between the two, hurriedly left. Still, he couldn’t understand why Jin Myeong would do this for this tavern.

‘Why should this scion spend such a huge amount of money to keep this thing alive?’

‘He should have given me the money instead.’

Im Sa-gyeong tried hard to erase the thoughts that were coming to his mind and took the four courtesans who remained in the pleasure house to Jin Myeong.

“No matter how I look at it……”

Jin Myeong quietly looked at the four courtesans.

“Our names are Mae, Nan, Guk, Juk?”

“Yes?”

Named after the Four Flowers, they did not look like courtesans to Jin Myeong.

“I’m saying you don’t look like a courtesan.”

“……”

The four women said nothing.

“What did you do previously?”

“I was a courtesan, before coming here. But it’s different now……”
“I sold laughter and skills.”

They seemed dissatisfied with their current life.

“What kind of skills do you have?”

“We’re pretty good at playing musical instruments.”

“Can you demonstrate something?”

Despite Jin Myeong’s sudden words, they quickly began to bring out their instruments. And soon the four women’s performance echoed throughout Bright Flower Pavilion.

“How is it? Are you okay?”

“No, Young Master! Are you really a human?”

As soon as the performance was over, Jin Myeong asked a question, and at the same time, Yang Jeon got angry.

“Huh? Why all of a sudden?”

“How can you be so calm after listening to that performance?”

“It did sound a bit sad, but was it really that good?”

Unlike Jin Myeong, who had an expression of not knowing, Yang Jeon already had tears in his eyes. Not only Yang Jeon, but Gu Ja-hong’s eyes were also red.

“Rather, it seems like Lady Shin is doing okay. Aren’t you guys exaggerating a bit?”

“No. I was touched too.”

Although Shin Ye-hyang’s expression didn’t change at all, it seemed that Jin Myeong was the only one who didn’t feel anything special after hearing the performance.

“What is certain is that their playing is excellent. Why didn’t you use it?”

“Yes?”

If they had maintained the performance well, he didn’t think it would have ended up like this. But on the other hand, if it had failed even after using that performance, it would have been impossible to recover.

“I guess it’s decided what to do with this.”

Jin Myeong finished playing and looked at the Four Courtesans standing there blankly.

‘It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have them as mascots.’

Anyway, we need a mascot. But Jin Myeong thought one was better than four.

‘We should just leave them as secret weapons. I have to educate the kids anyway.’

Jin Myeong began to tell Yang Jeon his organized thoughts.

“Let’s sell things like music and dance and just talking, like they did at our sect.”

‘I don’t think I’ll allow any physical contact or pressure to pour drinks.’

“Will that work?”

But Yang Jeon didn’t think that kind of plan would work out well. The more Jin Myeong’s money was involved, the more worried he was.

“It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”

This kind of thing might work out well too. What inspired Jin Myeong were the restaurants he had seen in his past life where jazz singers sang and pianists played the piano.

‘It’s okay. It costs a little more to go to a private room.’

A plan began to take shape in his head.

“Tower Master. Can we meet the Hao Clan?”

“I will look into it,” Im Sa-gyeong went out of Bright Flower Pavilion right away. And he did not disappoint Jin Myeong’s expectations and made an appointment to meet with the branch manager of the Hao Clan’s Hunan Branch.

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