Chapter 246
If you are reading from a pirate or aggregator site, please read from the translator’s site: yado-inn (dot) com I have to put the link like this or else the bots will remove it, sorry
“I’m sorry . I think that’d be difficult . ”
Minjoon’s reply was quick, which confused Alex . He thought Minjoon would throw a lot of questions to him . After all, this was actually a pretty tremendous business opportunity .
He hadn’t even thought of Minjoon refusing him like that . Anyone would be curious about becoming a model to earn money, after all . Alex replied with a confused look in his eyes .
“Wait . Perhaps you’d change your mind after a bit more…”
“No . There’s no need . I wouldn’t have revealed my recipe if I wanted to earn money out of it in the first place . If I start getting involved with making money out of this at this point… I think I’d be corrupting my original purpose . I apologize . ”
“Ah…”
Alex couldn’t help but shut his mouth . No need for money? He’s heard rich stars say that plenty of times in the past, sure . But people like Minjoon? Now that was a surprise .
‘How can you say you don’t need money?’
Alex couldn’t even begin to understand it . His head just went blank . Minjoon seemed to have noticed Alex’s confusion, and responded softly .
“I’m fine with you using my recipe . I just think it’d be difficult for myself to promote it . Please do my recipe justice . I’d be happy if you made your customers walk away happy and satisfied . ”
“…Is that really all you want?”
“Yes . It is . ”
“Alright . I’ll have to contact my boss about this . Ah, and chef . ”
Alex picked up his bag with a smile .
“I have much respect for your decision . Thank you for the meal . I enjoyed it . ”
“Thank you . Your happiness means the world to me . ”
“I’ll see you next time . ”
“Yes . Thank you again . ”
Alex walked away pretty easily . But he couldn’t take care of everyone just like that . Minjoon smiled bitterly as he walked into the parking lot with Anderson .
“You’re trying too hard, Ms . Terry . ”
“Sorry, chef . ”
Terry was staring back apologetically . Anderson turned to Minjoon with an annoyed look .
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“How long will this take?”
“Don’t know, what do you think, Ms . Terry?”
“I have no idea . Just about as much time you could afford to tolerate me, I suppose . ”
“Hm . How difficult . ”
Minjoon started thinking a little to himself . Anderson jabbed him on the side, motioning him to move, but Minjoon couldn’t leave the girl like that .
“There aren’t any buses at this hour either . If we talk for a bit, would you mind driving me back home?”
“Of course I wouldn’t mind! I could even take you back to Korea . ”
“That’s a bit too far… Sorry, Anderson . ”
“Kaya might get mad at you, you know . ”
“It’s fine . You’ll have to deal with her, not me . ”
Anderson’s face turned incredibly bitter right then . Minjoon laughed as he put a hand over Anderson’s shoulder .
“I’m joking, man . You can do it . I believe in you . ”
“… I can’t do much, you know . Come back quick, anyhow . She’s going to be furious if you’re late . ”
“Fine, fine . I’ll be there . ”
Minjoon nodded calmly . Anderson looked at Terry annoyedly before stomping over to his car . Terry fiddled with her hair nervously . The way the night light reflected off her blonde hair made her look unnecessarily cool . Was it because she normally looked quite rich? Minjoon felt a weird sense of alienation from her as a result .
“You know, don’t you?”
“Know what?”
“That there’s no way I’d work with Delia . ”
“…I had my hopes up a tiny bit, but yeah . It really does look like it . Are you just tolerating me out of respect right now?”
“Pretty much . You should know yourself that Delia isn’t actually looking for a chef . ”
Terry lifted her foot without saying a word . Every time her high heels touched the asphalt floor underneath, it sounded like a woodpecker pecking against a tree . Terry began with a quiet voice .
“Yes . I know that very well . I’d tell you to take advantage of her if you were a little more ambitious, but… I didn’t think you’d take that well . ”
“If you really want me to work with Delia, you should focus on trying to change her instead . You two are friends, right?”
“Yes… . At least, I think . Delia probably thinks she’s my friend as well . Though the definition of that might be a little different . ”
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“You should seriously talk with her if you really want to recruit me . I know it’s hard for people to change, but you can’t keep wasting time like that . ”
Terry smiled weakly as she looked down at the floor .
“You’re strong . I’ve always told Delia that some things can’t be bought with money, but you’re the first to actually prove that . That’s why I’ve been hoping in the back of my head that you’d refuse . But that does make me curious . How do you stay so detached from money?”
“I like money, too . I mean, I’ve lost sleep over rent more times than I can count . The reason why I’ve been riding Anderson’s car is because I’m a cheapskate as well .
“Ah, that was what it was?”
“That is what it is, yes . ”
“So why did you refuse Delia’s offer, then? Your life would’ve changed . ”
“It would’ve . But it wouldn’t have really gotten better . ”
Minjoon didn’t tell anyone this, but he’s wondered more than once about what would’ve happened if he really did accept the money . About the things he could’ve bought, eaten, but…
“I would’ve gotten a car, my furniture would’ve risen in quality, and I might’ve even gotten myself a house . My rooms would get bigger, and my TV would’ve gotten better as well . Of course I’d feel happy about things like those . But I’m at my happiest when I cook . Especially when I cook good food . ”
“Like Jo Reggiano, for example?”
“Yes . Kaya’s sad that I’m losing potential money over this, but… I feel like the world is in my hands right now . ”
Minjoon grinned happily . Terry couldn’t help but believe Minjoon at that moment . The smile was just so sincere . Terry looked down at her high heels for a second . Her feet, encased in expensive material… Never looked more weak to her than now .
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The next morning, Minjoon took off to a cafe with Kaya and Anderson . The three of them were trying the Jo Reggiano from the store .
“Looks like they used the right cheeses for this . ”
“They have a lot of people . They can probably take it . ”
“I mean, a single chunk of cheese lasts quite a long time, after all . Most cafes probably make do with just a single type of cheese . ”
“Why can’t they just sell smaller amounts of cheese?”
“Why would they? Portioning is annoying . You should know how hard parmesan gets . It’s not like you could just dunk it in a factory either . ”
“In any case, seeing my dish in a place like this is great . ”
Minjoon smiled delightedly . Anderson just sighed to himself .
“I’m making something like this next time, I swear . ”
“Can I name it? Why not use something like stupid cake?”
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“…I’m not making cake . ”
Anderson growled angrily, to which Minjoon responded with a smile . It was great seeing Anderson a little more energetic than before . Seeing the man be down like that reminded him of how he felt when Kaya and Anderson became level 8 at cooking .
‘I suppose that’s what makes us friends . ’
As well as rivals . Right then, Minjoon noticed a grandmother with her child at a table near them . The girl seemed to be around Ella’s age . A few minutes later, they were served a single Jo Reggiano .
‘Are they sharing?’
That wasn’t the case at all . The girl was the only one eating . The grandmother was just watching with a smile on her face .
Looking at it made Minjoon want to cry for some reason . The grandmother might’ve just been lactose intolerant . She might’ve just not wanted to eat the dish .
But seeing them reminded him that there were still people out there who couldn’t afford the dish . After all, Jo Regianno was 20 dollars at the very least, due to the recipe’s difficulty . It was not at all a dish that a poor person could afford .
“Feeling bothered?”
Kaya asked . She knew how much Minjoon cared about food . She could understand a little about what he was feeling .
“You told me before that you wanted poor people to learn what it was like to try good food, right?”
“Might’ve . ”
“I can relate to that feeling sometimes . But I don’t really want to embark on that path either . Making cheap food makes it inevitable to use cheap ingredients, which would set me back a lot . ”
“…Yeah, I know . I’ve been thinking about the same thing a lot . ”
“If only we could get good food for cheap . ”
Kaya sighed with Minjoon in agreement . Anderson just watched the two with a bored look .
“You know there’s a way, right?”
“…What?”
Kaya frowned in disbelief .
“I said, there’s a way . ”
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“Ah, Minjoon!”
Alex waved with a grin on his face .
“Did you wait long?”
“No, I didn’t . But I was surprised . I really didn’t expect any answers back . ”
“I ended up changing my mind . Sorry about that . ”
Alex looked a little confused, but Minjoon decided to continue on .
“I have a few big requirements . As long as you follow them, I’ll decide to model for you . ”
“Yes . We’ll do anything . Please go on . ”
“First, you have to follow the recipe perfectly . ”
“Speaking of which, why not start producing pre-made mixes? It’d lower the price as well . ”
“But the result of the dish would depend greatly on the cook’s skill . This isn’t like pancake or instant noodles after all . I want to make something accessible and cheap . ”
Alex nodded .
“That’s not that big of a request, actually . Making food cheap is a goal of any consumer goods company, after all . What’s your second request?”
“I’d like to check the factories whenever I want . I want the production methods to be up to my satisfaction . ”
“That’s not that difficult either . Quality is important, after all . ”
“Finally, the price . ”
Minjoon’s eyes turned serious . Alex thought for a second that Minjoon was going to talk about the modeling fee . But that wasn’t the case at all .
“I want the price of the dish to be accessible . It’s an expensive dish to be sure, but I want everyone to be able to afford it . The only reason why I decided to become a model is because I think a factory can lower its production cost . You can get my advice about production at any time . ”
“Yes . I understand . But Minjoon, what about your commission fee?”
“Ah, yes, that . ”
Minjoon looked bored right then . Was the man really not interested in money, or was he just pretending? He got the answer to that sooner than he imagined .
“Just make it cheap and delicious . Delicious enough to impress a critic . I want all my customers to smile . ”
“…Minjoon, what about your fee?”
Minjoon smiled the best smile Alex had ever seen in his life right then .
“The people’s happiness is my fee . ”
If you are reading from a pirate or aggregator site, please read from the translator’s site: yado-inn (dot) com I have to put the link like this or else the bots will remove it, sorry