Taking Over the Butcher Shop (1)
"When are you leaving?"
Sima Jian asked as he took a bite of a peach.
Sima Xian, who had been quietly watching Sima Jin busily prepare the meal, turned his head and answered.
"The day after tomorrow."
"Where to?"
"Wuxi."
"Wuxi is quite a ways north, even from Hangzhou."
"That's true. Still, if nothing special comes up, I should be able to make the trip in about half a month."
After a brief pause at Sima Xian's answer, Sima Jian carefully opened his mouth.
"Hyeona."
"What?"
"I've wanted to say this for a while."
"What is it?"
Sima Xian asked, resting his chin on his hand. Unlike the hesitant Sima Jian, Sima Xian seemed to already know what question was coming.
"Are you planning to keep working as a porter?"
As if on cue, Cheol-woo and Sima Ho, who had been joking with each other, turned their gazes toward Sama Xian. Even Sama Jin stopped what she was doing and pricked up her ears.
"Well, I suppose I should keep going."
"It's too dangerous. I did that job and only managed to return to my family after twelve years. And you too—"
Sima Xian cut him off with a gesture.
"I started at seventeen, and it's already been five years. There's no guarantee dangerous things won't happen again, but if you're afraid of things that haven't even happened yet, what can you do at all? Besides, compared to other escort agencies, the treatment is good."
"I've saved up some money. With that, you wouldn't have to keep doing that kind of work."
"Didn't you say you spent it all? Or not? I clearly heard you spent everything buying Gongcheong Stone Oil."
Sima Jian's head snapped sharply toward Cheol-woo.
"Well, that's because this guy kept asking so many questions."
Unable to withstand Sima Jian's fierce glare, Cheol-woo slowly turned his head away.
"Why are you taking it out on Brother Cheol-woo? Were you trying to hide it, then?"
Sima Xian defended Cheol-woo and continued,
"And even if there were money left, there's nothing in particular to do, is there?"
"Buying fields and farmland—"
Sima Jian tried his best to change Sima Xian's mind.
"Have you ever farmed before?"
At Sima Xian's question, Sima Jian was left speechless.
"You don't even remember, right? Same for me. I did some day labor when I was young, but it was nothing more than menial work."
"Then maybe business—"
"Business? That's even harder than farming. If you don't have a knack for it, it's the fastest way to ruin yourself."
At his blunt words, Sima Jian could say nothing.
"Of course, that's just my case. I don't really know exactly what you or Brother Cheol-woo have been doing all this time. But what's the rush? You haven't been back that long. We also need to see how the youngest one's treatment goes. Instead of deciding so hastily, why not look around slowly? And if you're that worried, why not work with me? It'd be nice to have you brothers watching my back. If the Guild Master sees Brother Cheol-woo's build, he'll come running to welcome us."
At Sima Xian's joke, Cheol-woo burst into laughter.
"A porter, my foot. If anything, I'd rather be an escort."
"I vote for business. If you want, I could even get you a spot in a good location."
Sima Ho chimed in.
"With what power? Ah, the Dongshim Association? You think that'll work?"
At Cheol-woo's remark, Sima Ho bristled and shouted,
"I may not look it, but I've got that much influence!"
"Oh really? The last time I saw— never mind."
Seeing Sima Ho snort in frustration, Cheol-woo quietly turned his head away.
"Alright. I rushed things too much. I'll think it over slowly for now. I'll seriously consider what I should do. But you think it over too. I won't tell you to quit right away, but I want you to take it seriously as well."
As Sima Jian spoke earnestly, wiping the smile from his face, Sima Xian nodded just as solemnly.
"Okay. I'll think about it seriously, like you said."
"That's enough for me."
At Sima Jian's bright smile, Sima Jin—who had been watching with a slightly worried look in case an argument broke out—finally let out a sigh of relief.
"This is hard—really hard."
Cheol-woo shook his head as he rolled a candied fruit he had bought at the market around in his mouth.
He was a man who never felt tired even after fighting all day, yet today, in less than half a day, he was so exhausted that his whole body felt limp.
"Boss, let's take a break."
With a look that said he couldn't move another step, Cheol-woo plopped down on a chair at a dumpling shop.
"Two plates of meat dumplings. Got any liquor?"
Cheol-woo shouted before the owner could even take the order.
"I'm sorry, but we don't sell alcohol."
The owner replied with a kindly face.
Though he was smiling, his eyes wavered as if worried the customers might leave—perhaps because of Cheol-woo's intimidating appearance.
"Then just the dumplings."
The owner hurried into the kitchen and returned in no time with steaming dumplings.
With hands as big as pot lids, Cheol-woo grabbed a dumpling and took a huge bite.
"Oh! These are pretty good."
Finding an unexpectedly good taste in a place he hadn't expected, Cheol-woo devoured the dumplings in no time.
"They're definitely good. Much better than the dumplings we had yesterday. Especially the filling—this is really nice. Is this pork?"
Sima Jian asked, showing the filling.
"Yes. It's ground pork."
The owner, who had been making dumplings, turned his head to answer.
"Hm, does that other shop use low-quality meat? It's the same pork, but there's a big difference."
"There must be some special secret. Maybe the seasoning's different."
"Is that so?"
As Sima Jian tilted his head and put the rest of the dumpling into his mouth, the owner, who had come closer, spoke with pride.
"I don't know where you had dumplings before, but there's no place that uses pork as high-quality as ours."
"Isn't pork just pork?"
"Maybe they use different cuts?"
Cheol-woo laughed, tapping his chest and limbs.
"No. It's not so much the cut as it is the person who slaughtered the pig."
"Oh, so there's a special way to slaughter them?"
Sima Jian nodded as if he understood, but the owner lightly shook his head.
"The method is the same everywhere. It's just that the skill of the butcher is different."
"I don't quite understand—"
Sima Jian's words trailed off.
From somewhere, a large pig suddenly came charging in, throwing the marketplace into chaos.
Bleeding heavily from its head, the pig crashed into a fabric shop and collapsed, while five men ran around in a panic trying to tie it up.
"How pathetic. How many times has this been already?"
The owner clicked his tongue as he watched the men struggle to restrain and drag the pig away.
"Do you know them?"
"No. Judging by the looks of them, they must be newcomers. I wonder how many days they'll last this time."
Following the owner's disdainful gaze, Sima Jian and Cheol-woo naturally watched the men's backs as well.
The place they dragged the pig to was a butcher shop located a little away from the end of the market street.
Perhaps because it doubled as a slaughterhouse, there were hardly any other shops nearby, and few people passed through.
Cheol-woo, who had followed them, looked around and said,
"Guess because it's a butcher shop—it's tucked away in a remote spot."
At his sudden voice, everyone gathered at the slaughterhouse turned their eyes toward Sima Jian and Cheol-woo, their looks filled with wariness and suspicion toward the unfamiliar visitors.
"What business do you have here?"
One of the men, who had just been scolded by an old man in the center, strode over and asked.
"We didn't come for any particular reason. We were in the market and followed the pig that was causing a disturbance, and somehow ended up here."
Sima Jian spoke as politely as he could, but at the word "disturbance," the man's face twisted.
"If you're not here to buy meat, then leave."
Waving his hand as if shooing away a fly, the man turned around.
A cold aura settled over Cheol-woo's face.
"This—"
As Cheol-woo moved to chase the man in anger, Sima Jian grabbed his arm.
When Cheol-woo tried to flare up, Sima Jian placed a finger to his lips and shook his head slightly.
"It looks like you're about to slaughter it. Since we're already here, may we watch for a bit?"
At Sima Jian's call, the men bristled, but the old man—who had been closely watching Cheol-woo's fierce presence and Sima Jian restraining him—stopped them and asked,
"What is there to see? It's not exactly a pleasant sight."
"It's not something you get to see often, either."
"Do as you please."
Granting permission, the old man turned and pointed at the pig that had been caught after causing a disturbance in the market. Perhaps because it had lost so much blood, the pig was no longer moving.
"Why do you think the slaughter failed?"
The old man asked, his anger now calmed.
"The position of the awl wasn't correct. It should have aimed for the exact center of the head."
"The hammer that struck the awl missed its mark."
"We rushed too much. Because of that, there wasn't enough strength in the hand holding the chisel or in the hand swinging the hammer."
The men chattered among themselves, each offering their own analysis of the failure.
After listening for quite a while, the old man nodded.
"You're all right. But the mistake was made from the very beginning."
At the confused reactions of the men, the old man continued calmly.
"I told you clearly. When slaughtering cattle or pigs, the most important thing is to make sure the animal doesn't realize what's happening."
Only then did the men recall the old man's warning. Even so, they still didn't take his words seriously.
"Come on, how would those things know?"
"You're not saying we should communicate with them, are you?"
"Animals get frightened the moment a human hand touches them. That's instinct."
The men refused to accept the old man's words. Some even went so far as to doubt the skill of the man reputed to be the finest butcher in the surrounding region.
Without saying a word, the old man picked up a thin switch and entered the pigpen, then drove out a large pig.
Guiding the pig at will with nothing but a slender switch was impressive enough to draw admiration.
Once out of the pen, the pig buried its head in a feed trough full of delicious food and ate like mad.
The old man gently stroked the pig's head.
"Well? How does it compare to the pig you dragged over earlier?"
"It went berserk at first, but when it started eating, it looked just like this."
"That's right. It was eating like there was no tomorrow."
At their rebuttal, the old man picked up a one-chi-long chisel and a hammer.
"Oh? Then how about this?"
The old man placed the chisel against the crown of the pig's head.
The men swallowed hard.
They remembered the pig from earlier, thrashing wildly the instant the chisel touched its head.
After breaking into a sweat trying to calm it down several times, they had no choice but to bind the frenzied pig and attempt the slaughter. Even then it hadn't gone properly, leading to that whole mess.
They assumed this time would be the same.
Contrary to their expectations, even with the sharp chisel resting on its crown, the pig showed no reaction and remained absorbed in eating.
"Wow! That's impossible!"
"How can this be?"
The men stared back and forth between the pig and the old man, disbelief written all over their faces.
"Because it doesn't sense any killing intent from me."
"Pardon?"
"Killing intent?"
"There's nothing more sensitive to killing intent than animals. Even the faintest trace makes them feel threatened immediately. For example—like this."
When the old man fixed his gaze on the pig, the pig instantly lifted its head from the trough. But when he once again stroked its head, it soon buried its head back down.
The men, who had felt no killing intent at all from the old man, could only marvel at the pig's reaction.
"Who is that old man? He's no joke."
Cheol-woo, who had sensed the killing intent appear and vanish in an instant, stared at the old man with a dazed expression.
"Boss, could that old man be a master?"
"No. There's no sign he's practiced martial arts. But he really is something."
Sima-Jian also could not hide his astonishment at the old man's ability.
"Only when you can avoid exposing even a pig to your killing intent can you say you're truly prepared."
After waiting long enough for the pig to fully enjoy its final meal, the old man slowly raised the chisel and the hammer.