God-Given Business Genius - Chapter 165

After a brief standoff, the son, who had been sitting in a corner of the empty restaurant using his phone, abruptly stood up.

"Ah, hello!"

It seemed they had no idea we were coming. There won't be any self-made controversy.

Still, they should have known filming would happen sometime this month. He's dressed like he's going to the convenience store in front of his house, without even an apron.

He's wearing a transparent mask, but it's hanging loosely by one ear as if he was taking a break thinking there were no customers. It's meaningless to wear it like that.

Sensing my gaze scanning him up and down, the son shrank back and awkwardly avoided eye contact.

"Did a customer come? ...Oh my!"

Belatedly, the mother, who could be considered the owner of the restaurant, walked out from the kitchen. She looked surprised when she casually glanced at the hall and saw the filming crew and me.

"Oh dear. You really came without any notice!"

"Haha. Were you surprised?"

Since they had the courage to try and change their store, I smiled amiably and spoke first.

How could everything meet my expectations? If that were the case, there would have been no need to come here in the first place.

'It's natural to have shortcomings.'

What's important is whether there's a willingness to improve going forward.

Not doing something because you don't know is unavoidable, but not doing it despite knowing is indeed one's own problem.

So there should be an opportunity to learn and improve.

"My, you have a much better impression in person than on TV."

"Is that so?"

"Of course~! Hey, Jun-beom. What are you doing, not guiding them quickly?"

At his mother's urging, the son hurriedly put on his mask and started moving.

"Th-this way, please sit here."

He guided us awkwardly, pointing to a seat. He still seemed unsure if this was a dream or reality.

While the son was setting up the basic side dishes and butane gas burner, I read the menu written in large letters on the wall.

'As it's an army stew specialty restaurant, it's basically just army stew with various add-ins.'

The menu composition was nothing special. But this is better than clumsily adding other menu items.

I placed my order with the son who was setting down the water glasses.

"One small army stew, please, with an extra serving of ramen noodles and a bowl of rice."

"Yes. One small army stew, one extra ramen noodle, and one rice."

As the son hurried to the kitchen to relay the order, I could hear the busy sounds of the kitchen.

As the son stood awkwardly beside me, not knowing what to do, I asked a question I'd been curious about since entering.

"Is your mother from Uijeongbu? Or did you both originally live in Uijeongbu?"

The son looked flustered at my question. He answered with a voice clearly full of tension.

"No, it's not like that."

"It's not? You didn't live there?"

"No..."

"Then did you learn to cook there? Or perhaps buy a recipe?"

"No, that's not it. My mother developed all the recipes herself."

As the conversation continued, I understood less and less. I asked directly.

"Then why does your store sign say 'Uijeongbu'?"

"Because Uijeongbu is famous for army stew..."

"I know that. But I'm asking why you put that in your store name when neither you nor your mother has any connection to Uijeongbu."

"......"

He closed his mouth tightly like a clam. Even without him saying, I could roughly guess.

'They just arbitrarily attached it.'

Really, what do they think a store name is?

I advised with a rather serious face.

"This isn't right. Change your store name. People will come thinking that you learned army stew in Uijeongbu, or that Uijeongbu is your hometown. That's the same as lying and fraud."

"Yes......"

"How can people trust and come to eat at a place where even the store name is a lie? Trust is vital in the food industry. Can you guarantee that someone who puts up a fake sign isn't lying about the origin of ingredients?"

"W-we've never done that."

"Even if you haven't, do you think consumers will believe that?"

"......I'm sorry."

After repeated scolding, the son bowed his head with a deflated expression.

"You must change the sign, if nothing else."

"Yes, ma’am."

I thought he would understand after saying this much. Soon after, the ordered army stew came out.

"Here's your small army stew~"

As the mother called, the son quickly ran to receive it.

He placed the large army stew pot on the burner and lit the flame.

The additional ramen noodles were set aside separately.

"Please wait a bit and add the ramen noodles when it starts boiling."

"Yes, I understand. You two can follow the production staff's guidance to the situation room."

"Yes."

"Yes!"

As the two hurriedly left the store, only I and the army stew remained.

First, I stirred the army stew with the ladle. It was to examine what ingredients were used.

'The most basic ham, onions, green onions, and baked beans.......'

The composition itself was ordinary. In other words, it was unremarkable.

'Army stew is fine as a drinking snack. And since there aren't any proper bars around here, there's no reason the neighborhood business shouldn't work?'

Thinking it strange, I scooped a little of the broth onto my plate and tasted it with a spoon.

"Ah."

......I found it.

The reason.

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"Yes, so we have the two owners of the <Mother and Son Army Stew> restaurant here! I'm Im Hye-eun, the MC."

"I'm Do-kyung from <Black Out>!"

"It's nice to meet you~"

As Im Hye-eun led the conversation, the mother and son, who had been stiffly staring straight ahead, began to greet awkwardly.

"I'm Choi Mi-seon, the owner, mother, and chef at Uijeong... I mean, <Mother and Son Army Stew> restaurant."

"I'm Park Jun-beom, the son and hall server."

After they finished bowing, Im Hye-eun engaged in some light small talk to ease the tension.

"First, I'd like to thank you for graciously allowing us to film for our <Alley Secrets>. As this is our first broadcast, I'm sure you had a lot to consider. Could you tell us how you decided to appear?"

"Well, this alley is quite narrow, so we all know each other. We're close."

The mother, Choi Mi-seon, spoke first.

"But the owner next door received an offer to film here, and suggested we try it together. Since Song Woo-yeon-ssi would come and provide consulting directly, we thought it would be good."

"Ah, did you decide to appear because of CEO Song?"

"Yes, that's right. We see her often on TV, and my son really likes her too."

"Is your son also a fan of CEO Song?"

As attention suddenly turned to him, Park Jun-beom hesitated for a moment but soon answered with an awkward smile.

"Yes. I was a devoted viewer of <Survival Law of the Jungle>."

"Ah~! So you had that connection. How does it feel to meet her up close?"

"I'm so nervous....... It doesn't feel real yet."

"Hahaha. That's understandable. Since we prioritize reality, you probably had no idea we were coming today."

As they conversed, the monitor in front suddenly lit up. On the screen was none other than Song Woo-yeon, sitting in front of a bubbling army stew.

"Oh, it looks like CEO Song is about to taste it now. I'm very curious how she'll evaluate the taste!"

-Slurp.

Song Woo-yeon first tasted a spoonful of the broth.

-......?

Then she made a puzzled expression and tasted it again. Her head-tilting gesture clearly didn't give the impression of 'delicious'.

"Ah~ It seems she's questioning the broth taste a bit. May I ask what went into the army stew broth?"

"Nothing special. Minced garlic, sugar, soy sauce, kimchi, and fine red pepper powder......"

"Hearing this, it sounds like a combination that couldn't be bad! I think we should hear why CEO Song tilted her head."

With perfect timing, Song Woo-yeon, who had been pondering with her arms crossed, finally spoke.

-The broth is too sweet. How much sugar did you add?

Choi Mi-seon immediately answered the question directed at the camera.

"We do put some sugar in the broth, but at most two spoonfuls......"

"Yes, that's what she says. I'll relay that to you."

The sound of staff relaying the information to the hall could be heard. Soon after, it seemed to reach Song Woo-yeon on the screen as she tilted her head again.

-Slurp.

-No matter how much I taste it, this isn't the flavor of just one or two spoonfuls of sugar....... I think there must be other sweet ingredients. Owner, do you use any commercial sauces or powders for flavoring the army stew?

"Oh my, that's right!"

Choi Mi-seon exclaimed in surprise.

"We use that for the basic flavor and then I add a bit more to suit my taste."

"I see~ So that's how it is."

A moment later, Song Woo-yeon nodded and continued.

-That's it, right? Commercial army stew sauces also contain a lot of sugar.

"Wow. CEO Song is truly amazing."

While Im Hye-eun sincerely marveled, Song Woo-yeon added one more thing.

-Moreover, this gets sweeter as it boils.

"Pardon?"

-I tasted it once before it started boiling, and it wasn't this sweet then. Not that it was delicious even then. So what does this mean? It means that the ingredients here are releasing more sweetness than necessary.

Song Woo-yeon stirred the army stew with the ladle as she spoke.

-These onions here. Onions also release a subtle sweetness as they boil, so that's contributed too. And looking at the kimchi used here. This seems to be underfermented kimchi. That releases the sweetness from the cabbage too.

"Ah~ Commercial sauce, onions, and kimchi too. So that's why it felt even sweeter."

As Im Hye-eun chimed in, Choi Mi-seon flinched and blurted out an excuse.

"No, I know Song Woo-yeon-ssi likes sweet tastes so much. I thought it would suit your taste, so I added more sugar and such."

"Pardon?"

Im Hye-eun couldn't help but ask again. Her mind was filled with doubt, wondering if she had heard correctly.