AGFJE 4

Chapter 4

“Welcome! Welcome to Insaeng Tavern!”

“Huh?”

The peddlers looked at one another with confused expressions at the enthusiastic welcome.

At an ordinary tavern, they would usually be asked bluntly,

“Lodging? Food?”

And that was all.

But Hayun greeted them with a bright smile from the entrance.

“Come this way. It’s cool and pleasant here because the wind comes in well.”

“Uh, yeah. Alright.”

“You must be tired, right? Please give me your luggage. I’ll keep your bundles inside.”

“Even our luggage?”

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

Hayun almost took the peddler’s bundle away by force.

This was a carefully calculated action to make sure the peddlers would not turn around and leave.

“Th-Thank you.”

The peddlers stared at Hayun with puzzled expressions.

They had never received this kind of treatment before.

They almost felt as if they were noblemen.

“Ugh, it’s a little heavy.”

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

“No, Mr. Moon! Please help me carry this over there!”

“Alright! Oh my! It’s heavy!”

Hayun and Munsik began carrying the bundles with great effort. The peddlers watched them with curious eyes.

“Hehe, goodness. I’ve seen all kinds of things in my life.”

“That’s right. This is the first time I’ve ever received treatment like this.”

“That young lady is really friendly.”

“Is she only friendly? She has such a pretty face too. She’s practically a fairy!”

Even through the eyes of people from the Joseon era, Hayun was considered a very beautiful woman.

Her clear, spotless skin and large, bright eyes.

Although she had short hair that did not suit this era, even taking that into consideration, Hayun’s beauty was outstanding. 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.

“So beautiful…”

“I think it was a good decision to come here…”

“Ha, if I had known this would happen, I should have come here sooner.”

In fact, this was also one of Hayun’s highly calculated strategies.

‘There’s a statistic that says using pretty employees can increase sales by 30%.’

It was an open secret that sales increased when pretty or handsome employees were hired.

That was why, at least for employees who directly dealt with customers, many businesses often hired them based on their appearance.

In the service industry, appearance was practically a weapon.

So, under the name of investment, Hayun had bought new clothes and new shoes and dressed herself up.

‘Hehe, here, I’m practically celebrity-level.’

Hayun had not been particularly interested in dressing herself up because she had been so focused on work.

But now that she had fallen into Joseon, she had to make use of everything she had.

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

“Ahem. Since we’re hungry, shall we order food first?”

“Ah, look at me. Let’s hurry and order.”

“Then, eight bowls of gukbap…”

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

“Wait!”

Bang!

Hayun hurried over and placed a wooden board on the table.

“What is this?”

“It’s our tavern’s menu. Take your time and choose what you want.”

“Menu?”

The peddlers, who were seeing a menu for the first time in their lives, opened their eyes wide.

“Wh-What is this?”

At the very top of the menu, set menus had now been added as well.

[Assorted Set]

(For 2 people) 2 bowls of Insaeng Gukbap + 1 Dongtae Jeon / 12◎

[Gukbap]

Gukbap / 4◎

Insaeng Gukbap / 5◎

[Jeon]

Pepper Jeon / 2◎

Potato Jeon / 3◎

Dongtae Jeon / 5◎

[Seasoned Dishes]

Seasoned Bean Sprouts / 2◎

Seasoned Wild Garlic Leaves / 4◎

[Alcohol]

Makgeolli / 3◎

Dongdongju / 3◎

Insaengju / 5◎

The peddlers were quite shocked when they saw all the different foods and the prices written beside them.

“I didn’t know a tavern had this much food…!”

“No, more importantly, all the prices are written here?”

“This is the first place I’ve ever seen that honestly shows its prices!”

The peddlers looked over the menu with fascination.

In this era, there was no concept of fixed prices, so the price was usually decided by whatever amount the owner called out.

Because of that, travelers from outside the area usually ordered gukbap, whose price was generally consistent wherever they went across the country, so they would not be overcharged.

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

They could order other foods without worrying.

On top of that, choosing the food themselves was enjoyable.

The peddlers became absorbed in choosing their food and stared at the menu for quite a while.

“Since all the food is written here, I want to try a little of everything.”

“Then gukbap and… a bowl of makgeolli too. Ah, should we order Dongtae Jeon as well?”

“Order it. Order it. Let’s eat well today.”

“Insaeng Gukbap…? What is this?”

Hayun, who had been listening to their conversation nearby, answered the peddler’s question.

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

“You only sell it here?”

“Yes. It’s gukbap made by adding our tavern’s secret seasoning to the 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 to lean toward Insaeng Gukbap, even though it was slightly more expensive. After all, the price difference was not that large.

“Hmm, then let’s try it. I’ll have Insaeng Gukbap.”

“I’ll have Insaeng Gukbap too.”

“After receiving such good treatment, how could we not try it? Let’s all have Insaeng Gukbap.”

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

“Wait.”

Someone noticed that there was an assorted set menu and shouted.

“If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to order the two-person assorted set? If we order that, the Dongtae Jeon only costs two jeon.”

“Oh! What?”

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

After discovering that they could eat Dongtae Jeon for only two jeon when ordering the assorted gukbap set, they began leaning toward the assorted set instead.

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

This was also one of Hayun’s carefully designed strategies.

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

“Yes. Understood.”

After taking the order, Hayun turned around with a smile in her heart.

‘Just as planned.’

These people would normally have ordered only one bowl of gukbap, but after looking at the menu, they added the assorted gukbap set and Dongdongju.

They would normally have earned 32 jeon, but instead, they earned 54 jeon.

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

A little later,

Okbun came out carrying bowls of steaming gukbap. Plenty of meat and green onions were piled on top of the milky-white broth.

“Here are eight bowls of Insaeng Gukbap!”

Tap, tap, tap.

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

“Wow, that looks incredible.”

“Shall we try it?”

Just then—

“Wait.”

Hayun suddenly approached carrying a small plate.

On the plate was a piece of fish grilled until golden brown.

The peddlers looked puzzled.

“We didn’t order this.”

“Is this not ours?”

“This is a service.”

Hayun said that while winking with one eye.

“Service? What’s that?”

“Ah, it means an extra. It’s free.”

“Free?”

“It’s a gift to celebrate you being our first customers today.”

Hayun lowered her voice playfully and whispered.

“By the way, I’m giving this to you without the tavern owner knowing, so eat it quickly. It’ll be a big problem if the tavern owner finds out.”

“Hahaha! Goodness, what a hardworking young lady! We’ll enjoy it. Thank you.”

“We really don’t know how to repay you for treating us this well.”

The peddlers burst into wide smiles at Hayun’s small service.

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

But the effect it created was enormous.

After Hayun had already treated them like kings, the taste of the gukbap was no longer the most important thing.

Just her service alone had already made Insaeng Tavern worth visiting.

“Ahh, this is amazing!”

“Wow, the gukbap here is incredible!”

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

Caught up in their good mood, the peddlers quickly emptied their bowls of gukbap. Their faces were filled with satisfied smiles.

“This is the best gukbap I’ve had recently!”

“The name Insaeng Tavern wasn’t given for no reason!”

The peddlers happily finished their meal and began settling the bill.

“So, we have to pay now, right?”

“54 jeon… It is a little more than I expected.”

“But it was delicious, so who cares? If not now, when will we ever get to eat something like this again?”

“That’s right. If only we had more time, I’d want to come again tomorrow.”

The peddlers counted out their brass coins one by one and handed them over. The cheerful sound of jingling coins rang out.

“Here. 54 jeon.”

“Thank you. And please take this too.”

Hayun said that as she handed them a piece of paper.

“What is this?”

“This is called a coupon.”

“A coupon?”

“Ah, let’s just call it an exchange ticket.”

Hayun said that as she stamped the paper.

The stamped paper contained the following words:

[5 Stamps / One Potato Jeon]

[10 Stamps / One Bowl of Insaeng Gukbap]

“You get one stamp for each bowl of gukbap. Depending on how many stamps you collect, we’ll give you the items written there for free. It’s a benefit we give only to regular customers of Insaeng Tavern.”

“All of that is free? Good heavens!”

“This is the first tavern I’ve ever seen like this!”

With one service after another, the peddlers were almost dizzy.

They carefully kept the exchange tickets in their clothes as if they had received treasures.

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

“Then thank you for the meal.”

“Yes. Please come again.”

As the first customers, the peddlers, left the tavern, Okbun hurried out of the kitchen.

“Did they leave? Are they gone?”

“Yes. They all left.”

“So, how much did we make?”

Instead of answering, Hayun opened the pouch containing the brass coins.

Inside were more coins than Okbun had ever seen in her life.

“Gasp! This much…!”

But that excitement lasted only a moment.

The tavern owner asked worriedly,

“But if we keep giving things away like this, will there be anything left for us?”

“What do you mean?”

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

“Auntie. Don’t worry. Selling like this is definitely profitable.”

“How?”

Hayun kindly began explaining to the puzzled Okbun.

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

“About… 30 minutes?”

“Yes. That’s right. Only 30 minutes.”

The advantage of gukbap was its fast turnover.

All they had to do was add meat and green onions to the prepared broth and serve it. The food came out quickly, and because people mixed the rice into the soup and ate it, the meal did not take very long.

“But in those 30 minutes, we earned 54 jeon. What do you think would happen if more customers like them came?”

“Our sales would increase even more than they are now?”

“Then earning two nyang per hour would be nothing. We could make nearly 20 nyang a day.”

“20 nyang!”

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

For an ordinary tavern that struggled to earn even one nyang a day, it was an unimaginable amount of money.

“And those people will come back because of these exchange tickets.”

“They’ll come back?”

Hayun confidently continued explaining.

“And they’ll spread the word too. The value of that cannot even be measured in money. They’re promoting us on their own without us spending a single coin on advertising. This is called viral marketing.”

“I-Is that so…?”

At some point, the tavern owner could no longer understand what Hayun was saying and simply nodded.

“Just wait and see. Soon, we’ll be so busy that there won’t even be room to put your feet down.”

Hayun looked meaningfully at the group of peddlers disappearing into the distance.