The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel

Chapter 112: Bookstore (4)

Debt was also a capability.

During my college days, I was crushed under the burden of student loans, wondering, how could debt be a capability? “So is youth supposed to hurt?” I lamented back then. But after graduating and entering the workforce, I painfully understood the truth of those words.

The ability to enter into a rental lease close to the company with a loan. The ability to buy expensive electronics on a three-month interest-free installment plan. The ability to splurge on this month’s chance gacha and pass the buck to next month’s me.

Indeed, all of these were capabilities.

The bookstore inherited by Tang Hwarin was no different.

‘Such a bookstore wouldn’t be bought by a barbarian like Kang Yun-ho, nor even by the modern Kang Yun-ho.’

The provincial capital of Hubei Province is Wuhan, but Yichang was also big enough to be called the second city. The bookstore inherited by Tang Hwarin was located on a major street in Yichang.

I couldn’t even begin to guess how much it would cost to buy such a building.

This bookstore would definitely help greatly with debt repayment upon its sale. That’s why a bit of trickery was necessary.

I needed Tang Hwarin’s bookstore to lay the foundation for my fame in this world.

The bait of debt repayment.

To obtain the bookstore, prepare enticing bait to deceive them.

“Take half of the debt in exchange for the inherited bookstore? Why?”

The old man with a sharp expression looked at me suspiciously, wondering why I would want the seemingly small bookstore given the amount of remaining debt.

He had a point. Considering the amount of debt, the bookstore seems relatively small. A rational person would see no need to take such a loss.

That’s why the first logic must start with irrationality rather than rationality.

“It’s because that place is where Miss Tang Hwarin’s maternal grandfather started his first business.”

“Started his business there?”

“50 years ago, Miss Hwarin’s maternal grandfather started with a bookstore and gradually expanded his business. Now, her grandfather is no longer with us, and all that he achieved is about to scatter to the winds. Miss Tang Hwarin desires to continue her grandfather’s legacy, will, and responsibilities through the bookstore.”

“So, the friend back then did start from a bookstore…”

The old man looked into the air with a nostalgic expression for a moment. Perhaps he knew Tang Hwarin’s maternal grandfather. That would explain his somewhat cooperative attitude.

An irrational yet convincing logic. My argument caused the old and seemingly aged creditors to look at Tang Hwarin with a sympathetic gaze.

“Stop talking nonsense! That bookstore is in such a good location! You’re just trying to swallow it whole!”

“Taking over the remaining half of the debt and getting that bookstore would be profitable for you, wouldn’t it!”

A few creditors shouted, breaking the good atmosphere.

As expected, for them, debt was a more important issue than sympathetic or emotional motives.

Taking on such an irrational debt might lead one to suspect there must be a way to make money from the bookstore.

“Please, take a look at this.”

I had someone prepared to distribute small booklets to the creditors.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a summary of the bookstore’s accounts, showing the net profit over the past few years.”

“Who would disclose their business ledger? Isn’t this a fake ledger?”

“A few of the creditors here have already verified the real ledger, so you need not doubt it.”

I looked towards a few creditors who had previously seen the ledger, and they raised their hands, nodding to confirm that the records were indeed accurate.

“The net profit is that low?”

“It only makes this much?”

The creditors exchanged surprised looks after seeing the ledger.

“Compared to 50 years ago, competition with other bookstores has increased, and we’ve encountered issues with inventory and cost management, so the net profit isn’t high. Do you really think this bookstore can cover such a large debt?”

“It’s in a good location, though!”

“If you wish, I can list this bookstore for sale. That way, Miss Tang Hwarin’s debt burden would be lifted.”

“No, the debt needs to be taken care of…”

Whose decision was this?

“We have to take on the debt with this bookstore. What can we do with the money left after paying off the debt by selling the bookstore? With the remaining money, shall we have a bowl of rice soup with pork slices for everyone here? Ah! It might be better to buy alcohol instead. Since you’ll be upset over debts that could never be recovered, you might as well drink.”

“……”

“If we’re to repay even half of the debt, there must be a way to make money. Not yielding even a tiny store like this, there’s no reason for Miss Tang Hwarin to take on the moral responsibility of debt repayment.”

Packaging the bookstore as something insignificant compared to the debt. In an instant, a building that could host a coffee franchise or a hospital was reduced to a tiny store.

She intended to inherit this insignificant bookstore to continue her grandfather’s will.

Would you scorn her noble resolve to somehow manage the debt with the meager money that comes from that bookstore?

If not, then they could all live here. We’d leave.

“Cough, cough.”

“Yes. We should give some breathing room.”

My logic seemed to work, as the angry creditors coughed and averted their eyes.

Good. Hwarin, it’s your turn. As I glanced at Tang Hwarin and nodded, she stepped forward and opened her mouth.

“This bookstore is…”

People paid attention all at once to her voice, which could become the debtor’s.

“It’s a place filled with memories of playing with my maternal grandfather when I was young. If my maternal grandfather left the bookstore thinking of our memories, I believe, as his granddaughter, I should inherit that bookstore and pay off everyone’s debt.”

Tang Hwarin expressed her opinion on debt repayment with a determined voice.

“The young one’s consideration for her grandfather is commendable.”

“If we hadn’t come for this issue today, I would have liked to buy her a meal.”

“It’d be foolish for an old man like me to say this, but I’d be happy if my grandson were like that.”

Perhaps they found her admirable. The older creditors and those who seemed to have daughters whispered to each other with an unmistakable smile of satisfaction.

“Better to receive some money than none at all, right?”

“Right. There needs to be someone to repay, after all.”

“They might regret it later, but they’re not at an age to discern wisely.”

People who did not initially look at Tang Hwarin with a sympathetic gaze also started changing their opinion, suggesting it would be better to concede the bookstore to her while laughing at her.

Just as expected.

The assumption that because she was young, she lacked foresight and insight, thus making foolish decisions.

Laughing at the prospect of her being enslaved by debt for life, thinking of it as a youthful mistake, all the while unaware of the true situation.

“So what about the remaining half of the debt! Since you’re taking on some, might as well take on all of it!”

The man who had been mocking us threw the remaining debt at us, his expression unchanged.

The logic was sound, and the atmosphere was right.

Now, to bring out my last trump card and finish this.

“I know where Miss Tang Hwarin’s mother has disappeared to. The remaining debt can be collected by forming a pursuit team and retrieving it from her, the rightful heir.”

Tang Hwarin had informed me that her mother had fled to a large mansion in Shaanxi Province.

“What? You know where she went?”

“Where did that woman run off to!”

“That is…”

“That is?”

I took a document out of my pocket, shifting the curious gazes from me to the document, and opened my mouth.

“If all the creditors here stamp their seals on this acknowledgment, accepting the inheritance of the bookstore and the execution of half the debt, then I will tell you.”

Let’s wrap this up.

“I will stamp my seal!”

As I extended the document, only a few creditors stamped their seals, while the rest just looked at each other.

Hurry up. If you refuse to stamp, we’re not going to proceed with the debt repayment.

Contrary to my wishes, there was no vehement refusal from the creditors; they just looked at each other, showing no signs of getting up.

Then, the old man with a sharp expression, who had been examining the booklet handed out earlier, stood up.

“Hehehe. Interesting. Very interesting.”

The old man glanced at the few who had already stamped their seal, then approached me with the booklet I had created, shaking it as if to say he had seen through my little scheme, smiling as if he knew all along.

This was troubling. My instincts were telling me that this was not good.

“Will you stamp it?”

Let’s manage my expression. I calmly began to take out another document I had prepared.

“You’re quite amusing for your age, young friend.”

The old man whispered in a voice so low that no one else could hear.

Had he noticed?

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

I replied to the old man, pretending to be clueless.

“Hehehe. You know everything yet you remain calm, shameless indeed. Do you want this seal?”

“Of course. Your name and where you come from. Just stamp it here…”

“It doesn’t seem like the blood of the hundred families runs through you. Are you that child’s fiancé?”

The old man looked at Tang Hwarin, pretending to be distracted.

“Just a friend.”

“A friend, huh. To go through all this trouble just for a friend. Hehehe. Then, do you have any intention of becoming my grandson-in-law?”

“What?”

I was momentarily stunned by the shocking proposal.

“I have a granddaughter who rarely comes out of our house. She’s known as a beauty in Hubei Province. How about becoming my grandson-in-law and working under me?”

What was this about? Was I being headhunted, or was this a joke? It’s hard to tell with the old man smiling and his sharp expression.

Suddenly, I felt a presence beside me.

“Hey… Yun-ho.”

Tang Hwarin approached and tugged at the end of my sleeve with an anxious voice.

Why was she acting like this? She couldn’t possibly think I’d accept a scouting offer. Hey, if it was just about living comfortably, I wouldn’t have risked my life traveling with her.

I held Tang Hwarin’s anxious hand that was holding onto my sleeve. Hwarin. I said I’d help you. Don’t worry, I had no intention of going.

Tang Hwarin flinched when I held her hand, then lowered her head.

I bowed slightly to the old man before speaking.

“Thank you for thinking so highly of me, a black-haired barbarian. But how could a mere black dog presume to strut under a tiger that commands the world? I am content with my place.”

“A black dog, eh? In front of hungry predators, it’s not the dog that barks but the wolf.”

The old man stopped smiling and looked at me as if piercing through to something inside me.

“Just a mongrel wolf barking at the crisis of a friend. I’m grateful that you think highly of it.”

I bowed again, politely yet firmly declining his offer.

“Hehehe. If a young wolf does not wish to associate with an old tiger, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll stamp it.”

Fortunately, the old man smiled and willingly stamped the document.

“Gold Pavillion’s Jang No-ya has stamped it!”

“Gold Pavillion’s Jang No-ya? Why is someone who should be in the provincial capital here? Quick! Call the trading company’s master!”

“To think the notoriously strict Jang No-ya would step forward to stamp it!”

Gold Pavillion.

In martial arts fiction, anything prefixed with Gold denoted the wealthiest group in the Central Plains.

“Hehehe. I hope we see each other again.”

The old man, having stunned me, disappeared back to his seat.

Once Jang No-ya of the Gold Pavillion stamped the document, all the creditors quickly followed suit.

After everything was over, inside the room of the Baek Family’s head.

“Indifferent fellow. I thought he’d just accumulate wealth and die like me, but in the end, he generously performed good deeds. Baek Gaya. Did you wish to go to a better place?”

Jang No-ya looked at the spirit tablet of Tang Hwarin’s deceased maternal grandfather with a bitter expression and spoke.

“Jang No-ya. Your joke was too much.”

The head steward of the Baek family watched for a while before speaking.

Jang No-ya was an inseparable friend of Tang Hwarin’s maternal grandfather. He couldn’t attend the funeral of his close friend, which is why he came late today.

After silently offering incense to the spirit tablet of his deceased friend, Jang No-ya turned his head to look at the steward.

“I do not jest about my family.”

“Really?”

The steward asked again, his mouth agape, looking back at Jang No-ya.

“Every child of the Baek family turned out to be nothing special, but there was one who had the knack for finding a good man.”

Jang No-ya sat down, recalling the young man who had led the entire situation on the stage today.

“I was only planning to save Miss Baek’s person if necessary, but it seems that won’t be needed anymore. To think he could pull off such a trick.”

Jang No-ya chuckled softly as he thought of Kang Yun-ho.

He led the situation as he pleased, muddling the creditors’ minds with his eloquence to achieve his goal.

To think someone who looked barely past his youth could operate at such a level.

“Hahaha.”

The steward laughed awkwardly, realizing Jang No-ya had caught on to the entire scheme.

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of reprimanding you. But a mongrel wolf, huh… I’m curious to see how he’ll turn out once he gains some flesh and his claws sharpen.”

If there was something you desired, just take it. Yet, here was a young man who stepped up to clean up after an inseparable friend. Jang No-ya was someone who knew how to wait for the sake of a friend.

Jang No-ya swallowed his regret as he looked at the spirit tablet of his missed friend today.

“Haah. I’ve aged ten years. I didn’t expect him to notice.”

I sat down in the bookstore we barely managed to keep open, sighing deeply.

“Was it because of that person named Jang No-ya at the end?”

Tang Hwarin asked, mentioning Jang No-ya with a somewhat displeased expression.

“Yeah. Turns out he was a friend of your maternal grandfather. If not for him, things could have gone badly.”

“What did you do?”

Although Tang Hwarin was the subject of this matter, the steward and I took the lead, so there was quite a bit she wasn’t informed about.

Now that things had ended successfully, it was time to share the good news with her.

I smiled awkwardly and began to speak to her.

“Actually, I pulled some tricks. Want to hear about it?”