I Got the Almighty Tongue - Chapter 184



Only Noblemtl

184 Wait there

Eden hesitated for a long time before coming here.

All he could think of was that he was resentful of having to say such regretful things to such a young man.

After the shocking encounter that day, Eden returned to the restaurant and carefully reviewed the real estate sales contract. And he confirmed that there was not a single lie in what he said.

Clauses that I had never paid much attention to because I had never faced this situation before are now strangling me.

How much damage would you suffer if your restaurant failed?

The contract period is a whopping five years.

Not only was his money tied up for a long time, but Eden, who had never run a restaurant for a long time, had no choice but to change the operating policy he had maintained.

What’s the point of creating pretty financial statements if you can’t sell them?

But he was in a corner because the restaurant was originally planned as a hit-and-run strategy, and that strategy had failed.

Sales were lower than expected and the return rate was not even high.

‘Should I collect the recipes that have been well-received and put them out? No, but wouldn’t that blur the identity of Italian dining and cause customers to drop out?’

The number of sleepless nights due to various thoughts increased, and the dark circles under his eyes expanded.

‘This can’t go on like this.’

The restaurant could only recover if the owner himself set a clear direction. He decided to endure the humiliation and meet Chef Shin Je-hee.

‘What on earth is this man’s true identity?’

I thought he would have some money since he was a famous chef. But I never imagined he would be rich enough to buy a building worth over ten million dollars without much thought.

When I went back and found out later, I found out that the building where Segreto was doing business was also owned by him. It was a wealth that could never be acquired by just cooking.

As I was walking, lost in thought, I suddenly arrived at my destination. Looking at my watch, I saw that it was still too early for business to close. Eden sat on a bench and stared blankly at the restaurant.

The interior is clearly visible through the large glass windows. The customers are smiling and chatting happily. When the server brings the food, the customers’ faces light up.

He sat for a while and then went into the restaurant after all the customers had left. When he told the manager what he wanted, he was guided to the office.

dripping.

“Come in.”

Crunch.

“You’re here earlier than I expected, Mr. Lucas.”

The mischievous face greets him with a smile, as if it had known he would come.

“Ahem. I came here because I have some questions as a tenant.”

“Of course. You are always welcome. Just wait a moment.”

He hums as he pours coffee. I didn’t notice it before because I was absent-minded, but the aroma is unusual.

Bam.

“This coffee is made from Geisha beans from Panama. It tastes good.”

Eden looked around the office, holding his mug.

I missed it because I was out of my mind that day, but the office furniture looks unusual.

The mahogany desk, the obviously authentic paintings, the soft and supple leather sofa – everything tells you that he is a wealthy businessman.

“There were a lot of mistakes in the past.”

“It’s okay. Everyone makes mistakes in life.”

“I went back and thought about it a lot. I was really embarrassed. It was a situation I had never thought about.”

“I understand.”

“Isn’t it possible to change the contract? I think a one-year or two-year contract would be good. I wouldn’t have any major problems paying the rent, and I’ll be able to move out as soon as the contract ends.”

Eden apologized to him in the most polite way possible.

“Were contracts really that light in our society? Someone who knows what they are doing is being unreasonable.”

His grumbling attitude made the blood vessels in Eden’s temples stand out.

“I want to talk about something that is mutually beneficial.

To put it simply, our restaurant is currently not in a good state of management. If this continues for a long time, it will not be easy to pay the monthly rent. Of course, there is a deposit, but that is only insurance for emergencies.”

Eden’s face turns red with humiliation.

“So the proposal you just made is for our mutual benefit?”

“Yes.”

“Since when have you been so considerate of your prey? It’s embarrassing for me to hear that.”

“Since the situation has changed, our response must also change. I was rude because I did not notice. How about you give me a way out?”

“Hahahaha. How funny. What kind of idiot opens the enemy’s retreat route in a war they’ve already won?”

“What do you want? I am willing to pay any amount of compensation as long as it is not excessive.”

“The terms of termination will be clearly stated in the contract, right?”

“Listen! I’m being serious here.”

No matter how much I wanted to cancel the contract, I couldn’t afford to pay a penalty of millions of dollars. The building would also have to be restored to its original condition, so the damage was too much to bear.

Bam.

“Let me take a look.”

He tosses a pile of papers to her absentmindedly. Eden picks them up, feeling an unpleasant sense of deja vu.

“You closed down six restaurants in total. None of the owners who were affected were wealthy.

“It was a restaurant that was running very well before you came in and decided to close down because it didn’t have enough money to begin with.”

“What does that mean? Are you a defender of justice? In the first place, I have never done anything illegal. I have only conducted business in a legal manner permitted by this society.”

“I didn’t commit any crime either. So why on earth did you come here?”

Yeah.

Eden puts his hand on his forehead and closes his eyes as if he has a headache.

“This is ridiculous. For an expert in the food service industry like me to make such a mistake. I guess I should consider this a lesson from not getting to know the other person properly.”

Jehee chuckles at his words, which are spoken like a monologue.

“Expert? Is that what you think of yourself?”

“Are you now trying to deny the past 20 years of my life?”

Anger creeps into Eden’s voice.

“Why are there always victims in your business? You are a person who cannot make money without shedding blood. And yet you call yourself an expert. You may be an expert in the field of family breakdown.”

“… … .”

Eden glares at Jehee without saying a word.

“You don’t know anything about the restaurant business. You asked for a shorter contract? One year? Or two years?

When ordinary chefs open a restaurant, they desperately want to work there for more than 10 years. Naturally, they try to prepare a menu and service that matches that.

Compared to him, how about you? You are someone who is only good at pumping up sales by focusing on promotions in a short period of time. And you do it with someone else’s recipe.”

“Have you said everything you wanted to say? This is the first time in my life that I’ve been insulted like this. Are you saying that it doesn’t matter if I don’t get my rent?”

“Don’t worry. I’m confident I can get every penny you owe me.

Wouldn’t it be more productive for Mr. Eden to think about the same concerns as others at a time like this? For example, ‘What should I sell and how should I sell it to survive for five years?’”

Eden’s breathing becomes ragged with anger and shame.

He ran through all the possibilities in his head, but there was nothing he could do.

“You enjoyed your coffee.”

As he said, what was most urgent was not pride.

* * *

“Mayonnaise is sold here.”

While Soyoung is eating at a restaurant, she takes out a notebook and writes something down.

Although it was a long-awaited long vacation, Soyoung did not return to Korea and remained in New York.

It’s not that I didn’t miss Korea, but I didn’t have anything to do there, and the round-trip flight time of more than a day was burdensome. Above all, I was struck by the many restaurants in New York that I had not yet been to.

The place I am currently at is Osteria, a Michelin 1-star casual dining restaurant in Queens. I planned to analyze the food based on my portion of appetizers, but I was disappointed from the first dish. It was a subpar salad.

“Mayonnaise with olive oil, the sweetness is like honey… .”

The server looks at Soyoung with a strange look as she takes notes while thinking deeply while eating.

“Excuse me, Miss. Could you please come over here for a moment?”

“Huh? What’s going on?”

A middle-aged man wearing a chef’s uniform speaks to Soyoung. Soyoung’s gaze turns to his name tag.

[Sous-chef Thomas]

“There are other guests here, so I’ll take you inside for a moment. Please.”

“all right.”

Although she couldn’t tell what was going on, Soyoung’s body cringed at the sight of their serious expressions.

Outside the hall, a small office appeared.

Crunch.

Soyoung is startled by the sound of the door closing and turns around.

“Excuse me, may I see the notes you were writing earlier?”

A server stands at the door like a police officer guarding a criminal, and the sous chef questions Soyoung as if interrogating her.

“That’s my personal cooking notebook. There’s no reason for me to show it to you, right?”

Maybe because she was flustered, her English didn’t come out properly. When Soyoung stuttered, they snickered.

“This is not a request. I may report you to the police for obstruction of business. Show me when you say it nicely.”

He said as he took a step closer. Soyoung felt an indescribable fear. She tried to step back, but the space was too narrow.

“How did I interfere with business?”

“Wouldn’t you know better? What on earth is the grudge you have against our restaurant?”

There seems to be something going on. But outside the kitchen, Soyoung’s English is not perfect. Thomas seems to be certain of something when he sees her unable to properly defend herself, and he snatches the note away.

“Whoa!”

He opens the note he snatched up and begins to read.

“Bingo! This guy is right. Store-bought mayonnaise, olive oil, pepper, honey… He really knew the recipe. You say it’s substandard?”

“Give it back to me. What are you doing?”

“You better be prepared. Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused us? That’s a crime!”

“What are you talking about! I’m a chef. I just go to restaurants and try different dishes. These are my cooking notes. Give them back!”

“No. This is evidence. Wait here. I’ll ask the head chef and come back.”

bang.

He roughly closes the door and leaves.

Soyoung felt dizzy for a moment. Her head was spinning. However, it was easy to predict that if she stayed still, a big problem would arise.

Tiring ringing ringing.

“Please take it.”

I called Je-hee, but there was no answer even after the signal was all the way through. So-young’s face turned pale with panic.

Tiring ringing ringing.

“Please… please… .”

-Hello? Oh no. You finished the call.

“Sam! Can you come here right now? It’s the Osteria in Queens. They’re calling the police because I did something wrong, and I have no idea what’s going on.”

-What? What’s going on?

“I don’t know. I was eating… and I wrote something… that…”

My heart felt like it was going to burst. I felt suffocated and the blood rushed to my face, so I couldn’t speak properly.

-Don’t go anywhere and just wait there. Okay?

Stop.

After some time, Thomas returned.

“Miss, I’m sorry, but could you show me your cell phone?

Just show us your TripAdvisor and Reddit accounts. We have a user who is terrorizing our restaurant with their ratings, and it is very systematic and consistent. In one month, our rating went down 1.5.

“There has been a recent increase in malicious posts about our restaurant on Reddit. We are certain that this is the work of the same person or group.”

Soyoung doubted her ears. What on earth was this person saying in such a polite tone?

“You forcibly took my notes, and now you want to see my phone? Are you the FBI?”

Soyoung glares at him and says.

“It’s not something to be so emotional about. I’ll send it to you as soon as the suspicions are cleared up.”

It’s getting noisy outside.

-What the hell are you guys? You clearly said you were here, but where did you lock them up?

-Stop it!

Crazy.

Crunch.

The door opens and Sam’s heavy body appears. Soyoung runs to him without realizing it and hugs him.

“Eww!”

Sam is flustered when he sees Soyoung suddenly crying sadly in his arms. However, he soon calms her down by patting her on the back.

“It’s okay. I’m here.”

Sam looks around. There are about a dozen staff members gathered here, perhaps because of the commotion.

“Here… sniffle… while eating… sniffle…”

Soyoung slowly explains to Sam what happened. As he listens to her story, Sam’s face becomes more and more serious and eventually turns into that of an evil spirit. Then he pushes Soyoung away and approaches Thomas.

He hesitates and steps back as Sam’s force reminds him of an NFL player.

“You fu*king racist!”

Sam’s elbow straightens as he twists his body, and his fist flies in a cool, spinning motion. Then, with a cracking sound, he hits Thomas squarely in the jaw.

The faces of the gathered staff are distorted in shock.