Cheonryong Pyoguk (Armed Escort Agency), which was built along the eastern side of the Hangzhou and the Kyunghyang Grand Canal, boasted land of as much as 100,000 pyeong.
Cheonryong Pyoguk, where the number of members was about 1,000 and dozens of carriages left and came back every day, was the richest agency and the strongest group in Zhejiang Province.
A few of the Moorim Group (martial art forces) held money and forces together. I was walking across the villa of Cheonryong Pyoguk.
People were busy sorting out goods, loading them in carriages, or taking care of horses. In the meantime, the people who found me began to chatter.
“He jumped into the West Lake, but he looks fine.”
“I heard he was in a one-sided love with a woman who would be the wife of his third brother.”
“He is thick-skinned. If I were him, I wouldn’t be able to come out for a month because I was ashamed.”
“He must be going to the gambling house again.”
“I am scared of gambling addiction.”
I stopped walking under the Bokryongdang sign. The people who had been gossiping excitedly a little while ago were startled and suddenly pretended to work hard.
‘It was supposed to be here on schedule.….’
I didn’t drop by accidentally. After joining Cheonryong Pyoguk, I was a member of Bokryongdang for a while. If there’s another me working here…….
I was already scared and nervous.
“Who’s in charge here?”
“Me.”
With two rows of scars on his face, a man loomed out of the warehouse.
His eyes showed that he was very obedient. His hands were in the middle with his waist bent down, and his eyes curled up.
I knew this guy very well.
“What’s your name?”
“I’m Ko Jung-tae.”
“What is your position?”
“Head of porters.”
Head of porters referred to the most experienced and skilled head among porters. I was stabbed to death by bandits while I was working as a porter in my previous lives.
“Anything I can do for you……?”
“I’m looking for a porter who came in about a year ago. His name is Jo Yeon-saeng, and he is about 20 years old. Characteristically, his left leg is slightly limp, and his face looks normal.”
“Hahaha.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“No, nothing.”
Ko Jung-tae looked back and asked the porters watching him.
“Do you know anyone here who’s a lame, named Jo Yeon-saeng?”
Everyone laughed without answering. Ko Jung-tae looked back at me again and said, “I don’t think that man is here.”
“If not, why are you all laughing?”
“I apologize if you are upset. I’m going to make sure I educate the brutes.”
“I mean, that’s not what I meant.….”
“Then……”
“……?”
“I don’t think you, young master, know much about the business of Pyoguk. Although the job of porters seems simple, it is common to walk for a few days to a month at the longest. There’s no way to scout limpers at all.”
“I’ve heard that exceptions are made to those with special talents. He knows a lot of writing, and it will be useful in many ways.”
“Even though he has studied a lot, a cripple is a cripple.”
“……!”
I realized once again how people looked at me in my previous life. They didn’t say any good things in front of my face, but they would say more insulting things about me like now.
I don’t think there’s another me anyway. That was enough. Ko Jung-tae’s attitude and porters were reprehensible, but since I was reborn as a new person, it’s better to forget about the past quickly.
“Did you lend him the stakes?”
Ko Jung-tae caught me trying to go back.
“Did he say he’s a porter for the Bokryongdang of Cheonryong Pyoguk? So you trusted him and lent it. Don’t be fooled next time. That’s the trick that crooks most commonly use.”
Here and there, the porters’ faces turned red as they were trying to hold back their laughter.
I was slightly dumbfounded. Did they think it was so easy to fool me with such mockery?
This is because Lee Eul-ryong, the leader of the Bokryongdang and master, ignored Lee Jeong-ryong a lot. I saw me from the dead Lee Jung-ryong.
“You bastards…….”
Unknowingly, the usual way of talking in the previous life of a 52-year-old porter head came out.
Suddenly blamed by a young man, the porters’ faces turned red. Ko Jung-tae’s eyes had visible blood vessels.
“What are you saying?”
“Yes?”
“You just told us…….”
“What?”
I feigned ignorance. Ko Jung-tae and the porters gnashed their teeth. What can they do when I say I did nothing?
At that time, five carriages preparing to leave caught my eyes. Suddenly, there was a memory that came to my mind.
“Where are they going?”
“Why are you asking that?”
“Why can’t I ask?”
“Nampyeong, Fujian Province.”
“What kind of goods?”
“You wouldn’t know if I told you.”
“Oh, you are talking a lot.”
This was not a mistake.
I did it on purpose.
If you don’t want to be humiliated in front of people, just answer me. Ko Jung-tae’s eyes trembled.
‘So why are you messing with someone who’s quiet?’
I often fought with rough porters for 30 years of my life. A rookie, Ko Jung-tae cannot even be a side dish for lunch.
“It’s fox skin.”
That’s right. That was good at that time. Cheonryong Pyoguk will lose a lot due to today’s delivery.
Even though it was 30 years ago, it came to mind as clear as if it had happened yesterday. I think it’s because I’ve actually returned to those days.
“Are you sure it’s fox skin?”
“I was raised here in Pyoguk. Don’t you know fox skin?”
“I think it’s fox fur.”
“Yes? Hahaha!”
He looked around people as if to seek sympathy and smiled back with an exaggerated gesture.
Then the other porters began to laugh together as if they had been lifted up.
“You misunderstood. Fox hair and fox skin are the same words. Of course, fox skin also includes fur.”
These bastards are messing with the master. Okay. I’m the real porter head with 30 years of experience. I’ll teach you a lesson today.
By then, the neighborhood was filled with about fifty people. This is because Sagongja stopped walking through the villa and suddenly stopped the delivery group and got into a quarrel, so people came here and there to watch it.
It was their first time in their life.
Among them, a fifty-year-old man came forward and politely greeted them by holding his two hands together.
“Sagongja, are you here?”
“Who are you……”
“It’s called Jeon Lib-sung, a Janggwe.”
Janggwe means a person who keeps the money box, and the title refers to the accounting officers who manage and record the overall activities of the tagging, such as identifying the value of the tag and setting the cost.
I almost burst into tears. Jeon Lib-sung was the one who hired me despite everyone’s opposition when I came here to become a porter.
I learned everything from him and was able to stand for 30 years.
Was I around forty? After a month of a lingering illness, Jeon Lib-sung died at the age of 70.
I was deeply moved to see him again, who had already died.
“You’re the Janggwe Jeon Lib-sung. I’ve heard a lot about your reputation. I’m sorry that I’m not even in the system of Pyoguk, and I suddenly appear like this and cause trouble.”
“Cheonryong Pyoguk belongs to the Lee family for generations, and you are the direct blood of the family. Even if you are not in the system of representation, I think you can point out any issue when you find any mistakes. Don’t worry too much.”
“That’s why I’ll talk to you at ease. I heard that it is the job of the Janggwe to check and inspect the goods of delivery. Have you checked all these goods, dear Janggwer Jeon?”
“The other new Janggwe has been confirmed, but he is also under my responsibility, so you can tell me.”
“Do you know what this good is?”
“Of course.”
“What is it?”
“It’s fox skin.”
“Is it fox skin? Is it fox fur?”
At that moment, Jeon Lib-seong looked a little surprised. It looked like how one knew that we should tell it separately.
But people around him who didn’t know the reason still ridiculed them.
“If you ask, it’s fox fur.”
The audience was surprised. There were only a couple of men who were in their mid-40s.
“How come?”
“The goods in the box (a box with goods) is the white fox’s armpit fur that arrived after three days from Yodong. The rich people in Gangnam like these clothes made of fur (fur suit), at the said price. So, during this chilly season, there are a lot of requests to ship this one.”
“It means the fur of a white fox. Why is it called the fur of a white fox which is different from other skins in Pyoguk?”
“This is because the fur of ordinary skins and furry white foxes are different in the way they are transported. For normal leather, only a moderate amount of dried straw should be put in, and then oil paper should be applied to prevent water, while a box of fur should be applied with oil cloth to keep the wind blowing. So, regular leather and white fox fur have different item numbers.”
“What happens if you don’t?”
“If the journey is long, there will be bugs in the fur roots, which will cause fur loss or odor. You have to be more careful when you’re going south in warm weather.”
“You mean a place like Fujian?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll ask you again. Did you complete a final check on the packaging of these goods?”
When I spoke up to here, the experienced Jeon Lib-seong seemed to have noticed the situation.
He quickly climbed onto the carriage and threw back the cover, which was done to prevent rain and sunlight temporarily.
Then a bunch of wooden boxes with oil paper appeared on them.
Jeon Lib-seong’s eyes were turned upside down. He went up all the other carriages, checked the table, and his face was indescribably distorted.
After he jumped off the wagon, Ko Jung-tae approached menacingly and asked, “When did you change the packaging?”
“Oh, it’s the first time today.”
“I’ll ask you one more time, so think carefully and answer. Your life depends on the answer. When did you change the packaging?”
Jeon Lib-seong had worked as a Janggwe for 30 years in Pyoguk. In his piercing eyes, Ko Jung-tae gave up and spilled the beans.
“About 15 days ago……it was done.”
“To which line are you connected?”
“Yes?”
“Exactly seventy-nine carriages of fur clothes were shipped from Bokryongdang to here for the last 15 days. I’m asking you how far you’re connected, and you can’t do it alone.”
The price difference between oil paper and oil cloth was about twentyfold. Of course, oil cloth was more expensive. It was easy to understand when you thought about the process of making paper and cloth.
But what if I put some oil paper where I need to apply oil cloth?
Someone in the middle did it. He might sell the expensive oil cloth somewhere else. He was not sure if Ko Jung-tae would have done this alone.
“That’s…”
It was then. A black shadow suddenly flew in from the audience and struck Ko Jung-tae’s face.
Puck! The shadow began to trample on the fallen Ko Jung-tae again.