God-Given Business Genius - Chapter 189

"Hello, Owner! Please take a seat over here~"

Im Hye-eun greeted Lee Hyo-soon with a friendly smile. Next to her, Do-kyung also stood up and bowed politely.

"Oh my, oh my. I know you. You were the MC on that TV show I used to watch before? That health program that airs every Tuesday night~!"

"Yes, that's me. Oh my~ How kind of you to recognize me."

"Of course I know! Goodness, you're much prettier in person than on TV! Oh? I should have told Song Woo-yeon-ssi earlier that he looks much better in person than on TV too."

As Lee Hyo-soon seemed about to dash out, Im Hye-eun quickly held her back.

"Ahaha, I'll pass along your message later. For now, please come this way."

As Lee Hyo-soon walked forward, her eyes met Do-kyung's, and she raised her voice again.

"My goodness~ Who's this handsome young man next to you? I'm sorry. I don't recognize you."

"I-I'm Do-kyung."

"Oh, I see."

However, upon hearing an unfamiliar name, her interest seemed to wane immediately as she brushed past him. Despite being a relatively famous idol, Do-kyung had to sit back down awkwardly due to her cold response.

"Now then, let's connect the screen. I'm looking forward to hearing CEO Song's tasting review."

Im Hye-eun quickly continued the proceedings. If they weren't careful, they might miss the live tasting review.

Song Woo-yeon's face appeared on the screen connected to the restaurant.

The pork kimchi stew, rolled omelette, and kimchi pancake placed in front of her were also visible.

"Ah~ You ordered side dishes too? Wow. It looks delicious. There's nothing quite like that rolled omelette as a drinking snack."

"Right? We make it extra large compared to the price. Our regular customers ask for it a lot."

Do-kyung half-listened to their conversation while focusing on Song Woo-yeon on the screen.

'Something's strange.'

By now, she should have taken a bite and shared her impressions. But Song Woo-yeon was sitting quietly in front of the food as if performing a ritual.

It was unlike her usual behavior.

'Normally, she would have taken a bite first, saying the food tastes best before it gets cold, even before speaking.'

Do-kyung had learned a lot about how passionate Song Woo-yeon was about food while working on the program together.

Hadn't she also learned through Song Woo-yeon how impressive the attitude of someone passionate about a field can be?

'Is there some problem?'

As this puzzlement grew, Im Hye-eun and Lee Hyo-soon also seemed to sense that something was amiss.

"It's not a frozen image, is there? Is there a problem with the video transmission....... Oh, no?"

Im Hye-eun even went so far as to ask the staff if something was wrong.

It was then that Song Woo-yeon moved.

Clank.

She put down the spoon she had picked up and even pushed the chopsticks aside. Then, pushing the table forward, she said:

-I can't eat this.

"......!"

Do-kyung momentarily doubted his ears. But even after waiting for a while, no further words followed.

Im Hye-eun asked, a beat late:

"Ah. I-If I didn't mishear just now. It seems CEO Song...... has refused to taste for the first time. CEO Song, is that correct?"

-Yes, that's correct.

Song Woo-yeon nodded once more and said.

-I usually eat almost anything. I've even tried chocolate army base stew. But, I can't eat this.

"CEO Song. For what reason exactly......."

-The reason?

Song Woo-yeon smirked as she stood up. The camera shook momentarily as the cameraman followed.

-The reason will become clear if we inspect the kitchen. Owner, I'm going to take a look at the kitchen first.

Then she strode towards the kitchen.

Everyone was startled by this sudden, unexpected action. Song Woo-yeon had never skipped giving her food review before.

'What should we do?'

Do-kyung and Im Hye-eun's eyes met simultaneously. But the deliberation was brief.

'We'll proceed for now.'

Because it was Song Woo-yeon.

They judged that he must have some other idea in mind. The production team also seemed perplexed, but thinking this could be good content in its own way, they didn't stop Song Woo-yeon.

Swish.

The place he entered after opening the door was a somewhat cramped-looking kitchen.

'It doesn't seem particularly special.'

Of course, Do-kyung was a layman when it came to kitchen matters. At least from what he could see through the screen, there didn't seem to be any major issues with the kitchen.

On the surface, that is.

-Owner.

"Yes?"

-Do you do closing cleanup every day?

Lee Hyo-soon flinched at Song Woo-yeon's sharp question. From this point on, even Do-kyung could clearly tell.

'There must be a hygiene issue.'

That's why she didn't eat.

This realization was brief, as Lee Hyo-soon stammered out an excuse.

"Y-yes, of course. We clean every day."

-You clean every day, you say?

Song Woo-yeon laughed incredulously. Then she ran her hand over the duct near the stove.

A sticky black liquid could be seen smearing onto her hand.

-You clean every day, but there's this much built-up grime here?

Do-kyung's eyes widened. The visible areas had certainly looked clean.

-Please film this. Inside here. This is where grease builds up the most.

The cameraman moved in close to where Song Woo-yeon was pointing. The screen filled with the black grime caked inside the duct.

"Ugh."

Do-kyung unconsciously made a sound of disgust. Glancing at Lee Hyo-soon, he saw her frozen with a pale face.

-You said you do closing cleanup every day, but you didn't check here?

"Ah....... I didn't manage to look that far."

-You didn't manage to look? Owner. This isn't a problem that can be resolved by saying that. This isn't something that built up in just a day or two. This is a serious problem.

Although Song Woo-yeon warned with a rather serious face, Lee Hyo-soon's expression had somehow become strangely nonchalant.

"Come on. Why are you acting like this when you've run a business before? Honestly, how many places clean those nooks and crannies perfectly......"

-Excuse me?

Oh no. Do-kyung felt he could tell without seeing. How fierce a glare Song Woo-yeon must be giving right now.

-Owner. You can't run a business with that kind of thinking. Are you saying, 'Since everyone else is dirty, I'll be dirty too'? People who think like this are really going to be in trouble if they run a business.

Song Woo-yeon's rebuke poured out.

-This all goes into the food customers eat, don't you think about that? Do you want to kill someone?

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

Lee Hyo-soon reluctantly offered words of apology.

But Song Woo-yeon didn't back down there. She began to rummage through various parts of the kitchen more relentlessly.

Especially when she opened the freezer, various ingredients were stacked in layers, creating quite a sight.

-Huh. What's this.

Song Woo-yeon chuckled sardonically as she pointed to one side of the freezer.

-Look at these icicles. You need to clear these away during daily cleaning.

Long icicles hanging from the edge of the freezer. And layers of ice built up behind the food, way in the back.

It was a telling sign of how long the freezer had been neglected.

-You say you do closing cleanup every day? I don't know what kind of cleaning you're doing, but it's completely wrong. You need to learn from the beginning again. How can a freezer that's cleaned daily be in this state?

Song Woo-yeon frowned as she began taking out items from the freezer one by one.

-There's quite a lot of pork here. Do you have enough turnover to use all this? Owner, when did you receive this meat?

"I received it yesterday."

-Yesterday, you say?

Song Woo-yeon unwrapped one of them and examined the meat's condition. After sniffing it, he spoke with a confident voice.

-This isn't meat that came in yesterday.

"It is from yesterday. Yesterday, our regular meat supplier brought it."

-This isn't fresh meat. I can assure you. Pork slaughtered yesterday or the day before wouldn't smell like this.

Song Woo-yeon's anger continued to grow.

-I mean, how can a restaurant whose main dish is pork kimchi stew use frozen pork? And meat that even the Owner doesn't know exactly when it was slaughtered?

"......."

-It would be more surprising if it didn't have a gamey smell at this point.

Lee Hyo-soon's smile disappeared at Song Woo-yeon's scathing criticism. She had been quite talkative when she first came in, but suddenly she fell silent.

-If the freezer is in this state, I'm almost afraid to see the refrigerator.

Song Woo-yeon closed the freezer door and headed to the refrigerator. The refrigerator she opened with a troubled face was, literally, disastrous.

-Isn't this kimchi? Why is it in a regular refrigerator instead of a kimchi refrigerator......

Song Woo-yeon couldn't continue after opening the kimchi lid. Green mold had bloomed and hardened on it.

-Oh no, Owner. There's mold on the kimchi? Have you been using this continuously?

Im Hye-eun asked in a horrified tone. This was because there were traces of the kimchi being half-used.

Lee Hyo-soon hastily replied.

"No. It might look like that on the outside, but the inside is fine~! Don't misunderstand. You can still eat kimchi even if it has a bit of mold."

-You shouldn't eat this.

Song Woo-yeon rebutted as soon as Lee Hyo-soon finished speaking.

-Usually, the white particles that form on kimchi aren't mold but something called 'golmaji', and it's okay to remove that and eat it. But this is green, isn't it?

Song Woo-yeon held the kimchi container close to the camera.

The strangely viscous kimchi juice and the suspiciously mushy state of the cabbage were clearly visible.

-This is rotten.

Do-kyung felt somewhat nauseous.

The pork kimchi stew that had looked appetizing until just moments ago now felt like a completely different dish.