Chapter 65: When the first snow falls again (1)
Translator: hwarang
Editor: coyo
The next day the people I was expecting arrived.
“Youunnnnng Ma.s.steeerrrr!”
Kw.a.n.g Du rushed at me as if he hadn’t seen me for dozens of years.
I stepped to the side and walked up to Kong Su Chan that was behind him.
“You must be tired from your journey.”
“Have you been well, sir?”
Kw.a.n.g Du made a face of dissatisfaction seeing me greet Kong Su Chan first.
“Ehh, so you are taking care of your money first.”
“Hoho so you consider manager Kong as my wallet right?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
Kong Su Chan just gave the fl.u.s.tered Kw.a.n.g Du a smile, “It’s all right.”
“No that’s not what I meant.”
“I am someone who manages money. I don’t feel bad being considered a wallet.”
“No that’s not what I meant but why are you like this? Didn’t we have a good time on our way here? Huh?”
Seeing Kw.a.n.g Du here brightened my mood. This was a special trait about Kw.a.n.g Du.
Kw.a.n.g Du came next to me and said, “I understand why you took care of him first. You are the type that saves the best for last.”
“No I think you misunderstood me. I think if you save something for too long it would turn bad.”
With a frown Kw.a.n.g Du pretended he hadn’t heard what I said to him.
“You must be tired from your journey. Lets eat first since you may be hungry.”
Seeing the dishes that were limited to Ho Buk, Kw.a.n.g Du eyes brightened. I ordered them especially for him.
“Wow! It’s really good. This is definitely the capital. Nothing in San Dong can compare to this place!”
“Eat as much as you want! If you want more I will order it for you.”
“Young master! I only have you young master.”
After feeding them, we started talking.
“How are my parents doing?”
“They are doing well.”
“Don’t they miss me?”
“They didn’t say anything like that.”
“Hmph, they wouldn’t.”
“Since you are still young you don’t know. Parents also want their children to be independent from them. Until when will they take care of their child? You should go and look for them once in a while young master.”
“Hahaha.”
Since he attacked me I should return the favor. There was something that still poked a nerve.
“How is Do Soon-ee?”
“Ah, just as I was about to forget it, you remind me again.”
“How can you forget your first love?”
“I told you it’s not my first love.”
Kong Soo Chan was laughing next to me. It looked as if he would bet that it was Kw.a.n.g Du’s first love.
“But young master, don’t you miss Lady Song?”
“Is she well?”
“She became more beautiful.”
“How do you know?”
“She came to see the mistress again.”
I felt thankful for her again since she was taking care of my mother when I was away from home. But I already knew that she was doing this to look good in front of me. She was experiencing changes in her life. The part the she considered irrelevant is now more relevant to her. Because of this she is taking care of my mother.
This is how changes are.
Once one thing changes, everything else changes.
After hearing the news about San Dong, I told them the reason why I brought them here.
“We are going to make a merchant guild.”
Kong Soo Chan nodded his head as if he was already expecting this.
“I was expecting you to say something like this since you brought me all the way here.”
“What do you think?”
“It isn’t easy creating a merchant guild. First we need a large investment.”
“I know. I don’t plan of making a big one at first. Let’s start with a small one first. But you have to take into account that we will be ever-expanding.”
“Expanding as in?”
“I plan on having this guild in almost every city in the central plain. Although we may start small. This will be considered the root of this operation. I am saying to not make a straw house but make a house with a solid groundwork since we need a strong foundation.”
It may sound easy, but it was no small effort. Kong Soo Chang nodded slowly.
“I understand what you mean.”
There was strong expectation in Kong Soo Chan’s eyes. Maybe this was something that he dreamt of.
“And please make it so that we can communicate between here and San Dong.”
“Understood sir, leave it to me.”
“How much do you think you might need?”
“From my calculations in order to start we might need at least fifty thousand nyang and…”
I handed him a bank card. This was something that I had prepared beforehand.
“Here is hundred thousand nyang. Use that for now.”
Kong Soo Chan was surprised. Kw.a.n.g Du who was standing next to us was even more surprised.
“Can I touch it?”
Kw.a.n.g Du stroke the bank card.
If it was me from before, I would never have even thought of using the money that I stole from the villains. Since I thought that it was not just.
But those thoughts are now irrelevant since I will not repeat the past. There are many regrets and mistakes that I made back then.
Rather than dwelling in the past, I will pay more attention to my current life.
Although this money came from an evil place the money itself wasn’t evil. Just the person who was using it. I didn’t care how the money went back into circulation since Kang Ho wouldn’t care how I spend it.
“This is enough sir. I could do everything you said and more with it.”
“If you need some more please ask me and don’t be hesitant in using the money. I’ll leave everything in your capable hands.”
“Please leave it to me.”
Then I looked at Kw.a.n.g Du and said, “So until this project is completed you will be his bodyguard.”
“Yes young master.”
Kw.a.n.g Du said with a smile. He was happy that I was trusting him with such an important mission.
Kong Soo Chan got up from the seat.
“You should rest today and start tomorrow.”
“No. I am not the type to take a rest until something is finished.”
Kw.a.n.g Soo Chan asked Kw.a.n.g Du, “Will you be alright?”
“Of course. We will be back young master.”
The two of them left the inn. Seeing them walk out of here full of energy revitalized me.
The following night I took Kw.a.n.g Du to the ‘wind’ tavern.
On the way there we saw a someone walking on the street. The person who was in the middle was Ma Chul Goon. There were many occasions where I saw him when I was still the Mengju. It really made me wonder how Ma Bong Gi could have a son like that. After exchanging a couple of words I came to realize how intelligent he was. But that was not all, his personality wasn’t all that bad either. This was a mystery that I could never solve.
Anyway, when Ma Bong Gi became the Mengju, he became the acting master of Heavenly Dao Gate, but what was he doing here?”
Beside him as an old man and there were seven other experts behind him and I knew who they were.
They were the Heavenly Dao Gate’s private guard the Seven Celestrial Dragons. Originally they were Ma Bong Gi’s personal guards but since he is now the Mengju he didn’t need their protection so they were now protecting Ma Chul Goon. But the person that caught my attention wasn’t them but the one behind them.
He had a cold and emotionless stare, reminding me of Number Seven.
So it’s them.
I was certain that they were from the same organization.
They were not just attached to Ma Jung s...o...b..t to the other successors as well. Seeing that they were attached to the different successors I was certain that it was an outside force. And that something or someone was pulling the strings
But I couldn’t get involved with them just yet. ‘Yes, go fight amongst yourself, since I will only get stronger.’
“What is it young master” Kw.a.n.g Du asked carefully, seeing my serious face.
“It’s nothing.”
“If you need something young master you must tell me fist.”
You punk you think I don’t know your feelings.
“Alright, I’ll call you first when I get into dangerous situation.”
“You don’t need to do that, there are other occasions when…”
*****
I introduced Kw.a.n.g Du to Baek Pyo.
“He is my subordinate Kw.a.n.g Du. The person that I trust the most.”
This was the moment when I introduced the person who I trusted the most in my previous life to the person I trust the most in this life.
Although their characters were completely different. They had one thing in common which was that they were both very emotional.
Hearing me say that I trust him the most, Kw.a.n.g Du jokingly said, “Thank you for taking care of my young master who may be lacking in many areas.”
Since this was their first encounter they just exchanged light greetings.
Since Baek Pyo wasn’t the type to joke around he said, “Lacking? Thanks to master Byuk I had a very good time, and our revenue increased due to him.”
I took Kw.a.n.g Du to where I usually sat and ordered my usual drink and snacks.
“Wow! This alcohol kills.” Kw.a.n.g Du had a very surprised expression.
“Then… did you borrow money from the owner?”
Hearing this Baek Pyo started laughing.
Since arriving to Mu Han, I learned that Baek Pyo was a man with many smiles. If I remember correctly I don’t recall him laughing when he was still my guard.
That night, after coming back to the inn, we had another drink together. We brought the snacks and drink to our room and started drinking. We were looking outside for quite sometime as we drank.
It was busy with people closing down their shops and going back to their home, people with swords on their belt rushing off to different places, there were different types of people.
The first one to break the silence was Kw.a.n.g Du, “I finally understand why you like that place so much.”
“Did I look like I enjoy that place?”
I was surprised, I thought I didn’t show any emotion since we left early after a quick introduction.
“Do you not?”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because he is not an ordinary owner. His aura feels different than regular owners. I don’t think I could describe it with words. Anyway, I felt very safe around him.”
I’ve been with him for so long I got numb to it, but since this was Kw.a.n.g Du’s first meeting with Baek Pyo he must have felt something from him.
I told Kw.a.n.g Du about Baek Pyo. How he was the head guard for the previous Mengju, how I helped him and his family without him knowing. I told him how I felt about Baek Pyo without hiding anything since I didn’t want to lie to Kw.a.n.g Du.
I truly wanted to take Baek Pyo with me. I wanted to do anything to make him into my subordinate.
But I was unable to make my decision since I knew that the road that I was going to take was a hard and arduous one.
Regardless of my feelings, it wouldn’t be easy to make him into my subordinate since he is someone who doesn’t follow easily.
Since Kw.a.n.g Du knows my feelings he said, “You should tell him that you helped him. How you saved his family.”
“Why?”
“Why not? You should get his thanks.”
“Get his thanks? You think I am that type of person.”
“Why, never know what he might say once you tell him? How do you know someone’s feelings?
You might end up not knowing but if you don’t tell them no one will know anything.”
“Wouldn’t it be cooler if you tell him instead of me?”
“Alright then young master. So that was the reason why you called me.”
“Ha Ha Ha.”
I poured him a drink.
“Young Master.”
“What?”
“After telling him everything tell him to come with you. When I saw you with him young master, you had this light in your eyes. This was the first time I have ever seen you like that when you look at somebody.”
“Different than when I look at you too?”
“I wouldn’t know that since you are looking at me.”
This was very hard for Kw.a.n.g Du to say since he knew that his place would be smaller once Baek Pyo joins. He knew that the attention that he is getting will be divided.
But Kw.a.n.g Du said this to comfort me.
“Alright, I’ll think about it.”
“You must.”
The cold breeze that was coming through the window signified that I the winter is coming.
After finishing our drink I laid on my bed but couldn’t go to sleep. I looked at Kw.a.n.g Du that was across from me, but it seemed that he also couldn’t fall asleep. He must also have a lot to think about.
Making decisions like this was more difficult than fighting twenty or so experts.
With that, it grew deeper into the night.