AFJE 04

Chapter 4

“Welcome! Welcome to Insaeng Jumak!”

“Huh?”

The peddlers stared at one another in confusion at the enthusiastic welcome.

At an ordinary tavern, they would usually receive nothing more than a curt,

“Lodging? Food?”

But Ha-yoon greeted them with a bright smile from the moment they entered.

“Come this way. It’s cool and breezy over here. This is a good spot.”

“Y-yes. All right.”

“You must be tired. Give me your bundles. I’ll keep them safely inside.”

“Even our luggage?”

“Yes. I’ll keep them safe, so just relax and focus on your meal.”

Ha-yoon practically took the peddlers’ bundles from their hands.

It was a carefully calculated move to make sure they would not turn around and leave.

“Th-thank you.”

The peddlers looked at Ha-yoon with bewildered expressions.

They had never received this kind of treatment before.

It almost made them feel like noblemen.

“Ugh, this is a little heavy.”

“If it’s too much, you can just leave it there…”

“No, I’m fine. Mr. Moon! Come help me carry this over here!”

“All right! Oh my, this thing is heavy!”

Ha-yoon and Munsik began carrying the bundles with great effort. The peddlers watched them with fascinated expressions.

“Heh. I’ve seen all kinds of things in my life, but this is something else.”

“Indeed. I’ve never been treated like this in my whole life.”

“That young lady sure is friendly.”

“Not just friendly. She’s quite beautiful too. She’s like a fairy descended from heaven!”

Even through the eyes of people from the Joseon era, Ha-yoon was exceptionally beautiful.

Her clear, flawless skin and large, bright eyes were especially striking.

Her short bob haircut was completely out of place in this era, but even taking that into account, Ha-yoon’s beauty was extraordinary. She was no less beautiful than any young lady from a noble family.

When such a woman welcomed them with a bright smile, the peddlers could hardly take their eyes off her.

“She sure is beautiful…”

“Coming here was a good decision after all…”

“Ha! If I’d known this place would be like this, I would’ve come here long ago.”

This, too, was part of Ha-yoon’s carefully calculated strategy.

There was a statistic that said using attractive employees could increase sales by 30%.

It was an open secret that having handsome or beautiful employees could increase sales.

That was why, more than anything else, businesses in the service industry often considered appearance when hiring employees who directly dealt with customers.

Appearance was practically a weapon in the service industry.

So, under the excuse of making an investment, Ha-yoon had bought new clothes and shoes and dressed herself up properly.

Heh. Around here, I’m practically a celebrity.

Ha-yoon had never cared much about dressing up because she had always been focused on her work.

But after falling into Joseon, she had to make use of everything she had.

Whether it was her appearance, her knowledge, or anything else.

“Ahem. We’re hungry, so shall we order some food first?”

“Oh, what am I doing? Let’s order quickly.”

“Then, eight bowls of gukbap…”

Just as the peddlers were about to order gukbap without the slightest hesitation—

“Wait!”

Smack!

Ha-yoon hurried over and placed a wooden board on the table.

“What’s this?”

“It’s our menu. Take your time and choose whatever you’d like.”

“A menu?”

The peddlers, who had never seen a menu in their lives, stared at it with wide eyes.

“W-what in the world is this?”

At the very top of the menu, Ha-yoon had added set meals.

[Assorted Set]

(2 People) 2 Bowls of Insaeng Gukbap + 1 Pollock Pancake / 12 ◎

[Gukbap]

Gukbap / 4 ◎

Insaeng Gukbap / 5 ◎

[Jeon]

Chili Pepper Pancake / 2 ◎

Potato Pancake / 3 ◎

Pollock Pancake / 5 ◎

[Seasoned Vegetables]

Seasoned Bean Sprouts / 2 ◎

Seasoned Wild Garlic Leaves / 4 ◎

[Alcohol]

Makgeolli / 3 ◎

Dongdongju / 3 ◎

Insaengju / 5 ◎

.

.

.

The peddlers were quite shocked when they saw the variety of food and the prices written beside each item.

“I had no idea a tavern could have this much food…!”

“Forget that. The prices are all written down!”

“I’ve never seen a place that shows its prices so honestly!”

The peddlers looked over the menu with fascination.

In an era without fixed-price systems, the price was usually whatever the owner decided to charge.

That was why travelers ordered gukbap, whose price was generally consistent no matter where in the country they went, so they would not get overcharged by unscrupulous merchants.

But when prices were displayed this transparently, things were different.

They could order other foods without worrying about being overcharged.

On top of that, choosing their own food was fun in itself.

The peddlers became completely absorbed in choosing what to eat and stared at the menu for quite some time.

“Since everything is written down, I want to try a little of everything.”

“Then gukbap… and a bowl of makgeolli. Ah, should we order some pollock pancake too?”

“Let’s do it. Let’s do it. We might as well eat well today.”

“Insaeng Gukbap…? What’s this?”

Ha-yoon, who had been listening to their conversation nearby, answered.

“Ah, that’s a special kind of gukbap that we sell only here.”

“Only here?”

“Yes. We add our tavern’s secret seasoning to regular gukbap. You’ll regret it if you leave without trying it.”

“Hmm…”

Hearing that it could only be eaten here, the peddlers’ hearts began leaning toward Insaeng Gukbap despite the slightly higher price. After all, the difference was not that large.

“Hmm. Then I’ll give it a try. I’ll have Insaeng Gukbap.”

“Me too. Insaeng Gukbap.”

“We’ve been treated so well. How could we not try it? Let’s all have Insaeng Gukbap.”

The eight men nodded and were about to place the same order when—

“Wait a moment.”

One of them noticed the assorted set and called out.

“If we’re going to order that much, wouldn’t it be better to get the two-person set instead? If we order that, the pollock pancake is only 2 jeon.”

“Oh! What?”

“Wow, at that price, it’s practically free!”

The discovery that they could get pollock pancake for only 2 jeon as part of the set made them change their minds again.

Their spending had gradually increased from basic gukbap, to Insaeng Gukbap, and finally to the assorted set.

This, too, was one of Ha-yoon’s carefully designed strategies.

“Then give us four two-person sets. And two bowls of dongdongju as well. We should have a drink today.”

“Yes, sir. Certainly.”

After taking their order, Ha-yoon turned away with a smile hidden inside.

Just as planned.

Normally, these men would have ordered only one bowl of gukbap each. But after looking at the menu, they had ordered the assorted sets and even added dongdongju.

She should have earned 32 jeon from them.

Instead, she had earned 54 jeon.

That was an increase in sales of a whopping 81%.

A short while later,

Ok-bun came out carrying steaming bowls of gukbap. Generous portions of meat and green onions were piled on top of the milky-white broth.

“Here are eight bowls of Insaeng Gukbap!”

Thump, thump, thump.

As the earthenware bowls were placed on the wooden platform, anticipation began to appear on the peddlers’ faces.

“Wow, that looks incredible.”

“Shall we give it a try?”

Just then—

“Wait a moment.”

Ha-yoon suddenly approached carrying a small plate.

A piece of freshly grilled fish rested on it, golden brown from the heat.

The peddlers looked puzzled.

“We didn’t order this.”

“Is this even ours?”

“It’s a service.”

Ha-yoon said this while giving them a playful wink.

“Service? What’s that?”

“Ah, it’s a little extra. Free.”

“Free?”

“It’s a special gift for our first customers today.”

Ha-yoon lowered her voice playfully and whispered,

“By the way, I’m giving this to you without the tavern owner’s permission, so eat it quickly. It’ll be trouble if she finds out.”

“Hahaha! You’re quite the clever young lady! We’ll gladly eat it.”

“We really don’t know how to repay you for this treatment.”

The peddlers burst into broad smiles at Ha-yoon’s small gesture.

In truth, one piece of fish did not cost much.

But the effect it created was enormous.

After being treated like kings by Ha-yoon, the actual taste of the gukbap hardly mattered anymore.

The service alone had already made Insaeng Jumak worth visiting.

“Ahh! That’s incredible!”

“Wow, this gukbap is amazing!”

“This is the best gukbap I’ve ever had in my life!”

High on the pleasant atmosphere, the peddlers quickly emptied their bowls.

Satisfied smiles spread across their faces.

“This is the best gukbap I’ve had in a long time!”

“There’s a reason this place is called Insaeng Jumak!”

After happily finishing their meal, the peddlers began settling the bill.

“Well, I suppose we should pay now.”

“54 jeon… That’s more than I expected.”

“But we ate well, didn’t we? When else are we going to get a chance to eat something like this?”

“Exactly. If we had more time, I’d want to come back again tomorrow.”

The peddlers counted their coins one by one and handed them over.

Jingle, jingle.

The sound of the coins rang pleasantly through the air.

“Here. 54 jeon.”

“Thank you. And please take this too.”

Ha-yoon held out a piece of paper.

“What is this now?”

“This is a coupon.”

“A coupon?”

“Ah, let’s call it a voucher.”

Ha-yoon stamped the paper and showed it to them.

The stamped paper contained the following:

[5 Stamps / 1 Potato Pancake]

[10 Stamps / 1 Bowl of Insaeng Gukbap]

“You get one stamp for every bowl of gukbap. Once you’ve collected enough stamps, we’ll give you the item written there for free. It’s a special benefit for regular customers of Insaeng Jumak.”

“All of that is free? Good heavens!”

“I’ve never seen a tavern like this before!”

With one service after another, the peddlers were practically dizzy from the generosity.

They carefully tucked the vouchers into their clothes as if they had received precious treasures.

“Insaeng Jumak… I’ll remember this place.”

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Yes. Please come again.”

After the first customers, the peddlers, left, Ok-bun hurried out of the kitchen.

“Did they leave? They’re gone?”

“Yes. They all left.”

“So, how much did we make?”

Instead of answering, Ha-yoon opened the pouch filled with coins and showed it to her.

Inside was a number of coins that Ok-bun had never seen gathered in one place before.

“Gasp! This much…!”

But her excitement did not last long.

The tavern owner asked worriedly,

“But if we keep giving things away like this, will we actually have anything left?”

“What do you mean?”

“We lowered the price, gave them free fish, and now we’ll have to give them free gukbap later. Won’t we end up losing money?”

“Auntie, don’t worry. Selling it this way will definitely make us more money.”

“How?”

Ha-yoon kindly began explaining to the puzzled Ok-bun.

“How long do you think those people were sitting here?”

“About… thirty minutes?”

“Yes. Exactly. Only thirty minutes.”

The greatest advantage of gukbap was its fast turnover.

All they had to do was add meat and green onions to the prepared broth, so the food could be served quickly. And because customers simply mixed the rice into the broth and ate, the meal itself did not take very long.

“And in those thirty minutes, we made 54 jeon. What do you think would happen if more customers like them came?”

“Then our sales would be even higher than they are now?”

“At that point, two nyang an hour would be nothing. We’d be making nearly twenty nyang a day.”

“Twenty nyang!”

Twenty nyang was roughly equivalent to 1.4 million won in modern currency.

For the old tavern, which had struggled to make even one nyang a day, that was an almost unimaginable amount of money.

“And those people will come back because of the vouchers.”

“They’ll come back?”

Ha-yoon continued confidently.

“On top of that, they’ll spread the word. You can’t even put a price on that. They’re promoting us for free without us spending a single coin on advertising. That’s what you call viral marketing.”

“I-Is that so…?”

At some point, Ok-bun stopped understanding what Ha-yoon was saying and simply nodded.

“Just wait and see. Before long, we’ll be so busy that there won’t even be room to set foot inside.”

Ha-yoon looked meaningfully at the group of peddlers disappearing into the distance.