God-Given Business Genius - Chapter 216

I felt the Confucian girl within me coming alive. Although my physical body was young, my mental age was far beyond that.

How dare this person with barely dry ink behind their ears address me so casually?

For a moment, I felt a surge of anger and glared at the person who had muttered those words. They seemed to have spoken without thinking and now looked sheepish, carefully gauging my reaction.

'Well, if it's a mistake, it can happen.'

Everyone makes mistakes, after all.

If it wasn't intentional and there was no malice behind it, it was certainly something that could be overlooked.

Until now, people I've met had been calling me 'Song Woo-yeon-ssi' or 'CEO Song', so I hadn't really noticed. It's not uncommon for celebrities to be addressed without honorifics, is it?

Not that I'm a celebrity, but still. When people see someone appearing on TV, it's natural for them to develop a sense of familiarity.

It wasn't something incomprehensible.

'But one mistake is enough.'

Thinking that if it happened again, I'd have to scold them severely, I looked around once more.

"Hello, I'm Song Woo-yeon."

"Wow...!"

*Clap clap clap*

For reasons I couldn't quite understand, the people surrounding me burst into applause.

I smiled, greeted them, and then got straight to the point.

"I must have surprised you by showing up so suddenly, right?"

"Yes!"

"Very much so!"

"We had to film actual business operations, so we ended up coming without notice. I hope you understand."

As I bowed slightly, excitement spread across everyone's faces. It seems the reality of the actual filming was finally sinking in.

"Shall we start here today, then?"

I smiled gently, looking at the person who had spoken to me casually earlier.

As our eyes met, the man quietly averted his gaze.

"Everyone else can carry on as usual. Owner, please bring the menu."

As I took a seat nearby, the others glanced around nervously before shuffling back to their positions.

The man I had just singled out approached with a tense expression and handed me the menu.

A large name tag hung on his apron.

Jumeokbap Shop, Kim Jun-seo.

The menu he handed over also had "Jumeokbap Shop" written in a cute font.

"Here it is."

"What sells the best?"

"Um... the tuna mayo is our best-seller. The others also sell reasonably well across the board."

The menu was ordinary. It listed all the typical items you'd expect in a rice ball shop.

Tuna mayo, spam mayo, gochujang bulgogi, and kimchi cheese rice balls...

While these were items that wouldn't polarize customers, they also lacked any distinct character.

"Then I'll order the tuna mayo, gochujang bulgogi, and... cheese dakgalbi rice balls. These three, please."

"Yes, order received~"

Kim Jun-seo hurried back to the food truck and began working busily. Meanwhile, I examined the exterior of the food truck.

'Is that a rice ball character? It's quite cute. Did they attempt some branding?'

The signboard featured a dancing rice ball character. It had a fairly adorable design.

As my gaze naturally lowered, I could see Kim Jun-seo diligently shaping the rice balls.

'The gloves...'

They weren't nitrile gloves, but transparent plastic ones.

While it was commendable that he wasn't using bare hands, the loose plastic gloves diminished the professional impression.

'The younger you are, the more you need to try to look professional.'

He must have faced similar struggles, yet there was no sign that he had considered solutions.

The apron, too, looked like a cheap one bought online.

'It's not that inexpensive aprons are bad, but if you have the disadvantage of being young, shouldn't you at least try to look more professional?'

He showed many signs of being a novice in cooking.

Kim Jun-seo mixed tuna and mayonnaise to make rice balls, and clumsily stir-fried the gochujang bulgogi.

Then he tore sliced cheese into the pre-fried kimchi, microwaved it, and started shaping the rice balls.

'...That's quite simple.'

Soon, three rice balls were lined up.

"Your order is ready."

Kim Jun-seo said as he set down the plate.

"You can go up to the control room now, Owner."

"Yes!"

After Kim Jun-seo left, I examined the rice balls more closely.

"The size is alright. Those with big appetites could eat two and be full. For a light meal, one would suffice."

They were about the size of an adult male's fist. It was an appropriate portion for a simple meal.

The price wasn't bad either.

"Honestly, it's hard to call this cooking. Even a college student living alone could make something like this."

So if you're going to pay money to eat out, it should either be very cheap or extremely delicious. Maybe even both.

"Well, let's taste it first. Hmm... is this the tuna mayo?"

It was hard to distinguish them by appearance.

They all looked like white rice balls coated with black seaweed flakes. It seemed difficult to tell the flavors apart just by looking at them lined up.

'The fillings are all different, but they look exactly the same? That's a point deduction right there.'

This could lead to confusion when orders pile up, and from a customer's perspective, similar-looking items aren't very appealing.

I picked up the one on the far left and took a bite.

Fortunately, this seemed to be the tuna mayo. A familiar taste filled my mouth.

"Hmm."

The more I chewed, the more I could taste each ingredient distinctly. It was a menu item that didn't require much technique, so each flavor came through in its most basic form.

'Tuna mayo, the rice is slightly seasoned. Is that flavored salt and sesame oil? There's a bit of sesame sprinkled too. And this that I'm occasionally chewing on must be perilla leaves.'

Just one bite, and I could imagine how it was made. It was a somewhat predictable taste that anyone could make at home.

'Still, it's hard for tuna mayo to taste bad.'

I suppose customers don't expect extraordinary flavors when ordering this either.

Nodding, I moved on to the next rice ball.

"This must be the gochujang bulgogi? I'll try it now."

I took a big bite, but...

"?"

My mouth was full of just white rice.

'The rice layer is too thick.'

Even though the rice was seasoned, chewing only rice made my throat feel dry. I took a sip of water before speaking.

"With the previous one, I got to the filling right away with one bite. But not this time."

What does that mean?

It means the thickness of the rice isn't uniform.

"This could be due to two factors. One is that the cook is inexperienced and couldn't achieve a consistent taste. The other is that it might have been intentionally made this way because of the seasoning. I'll need another bite to get a better idea."

I took another large bite.

Alright. Now it's clear.

"I think it's because of the seasoning. The gochujang bulgogi is quite salty."

To be precise, it was extremely salty.

"This is too salty to finish, isn't it? No matter how thick the rice layer is, it can't balance out the saltiness of the bulgogi..."

Rice balls inevitably reach a point where you end up eating mostly the filling, but with the filling seasoned like this...

I immediately put down the gochujang bulgogi rice ball.

"The gochujang bulgogi is too salty, and the rice is too bland. I understand the attempt to balance the flavors, but the balance is completely off."

Eating more rice made it tasteless, while eating more gochujang bulgogi made it too strong.

"To be honest, it would be better to buy a triangle kimbap from a convenience store. Really."

Triangle kimbap is much more accessible.

It's convenient to eat, and the seasoning is better balanced than this. After all, it's the optimal taste researched by top experts.

"Lastly, I'll try the cheese dakgalbi."

I naturally picked up the last remaining rice ball.

But as soon as I picked it up with my plastic-gloved hands, the rice ball crumbled apart.

"Oh?"

It's strange that it would fall apart so easily after just a short time. Something was clearly wrong here.

"You didn't shape the rice properly. And unlike the gochujang bulgogi, the cheese dakgalbi has more moisture, which makes it harder to maintain its shape."

Even so, this was too much. Looking at the rice ball that had turned halfway to powder, I lost my appetite.

"I'll still try to eat it."

I scooped up an appropriate amount of rice and cheese dakgalbi and popped it into my mouth.

"...It's bland."

While the gochujang bulgogi was salty, this one was extremely bland. The seasoning was completely inconsistent.

How can items sold at the same place have such varying levels of seasoning?

"It's not just about the taste, there's no sense of consideration in the menu at all."

All the menu items were intuitive, with no evidence of effort to ensure customer satisfaction.

"Owner, how long did you spend on menu development? You must have been constantly thinking about it while preparing to start business here."

After asking through the radio, a response came shortly.

-Well... actually, I had to finish all preparations in two months.

"Two months? You only spent two months on menu development?"

-No, that's not it. I mean all preparations combined.

"...You mean you did everything from deciding on the shop name, registering the business, all of this within two months?"

-Yes.

"Why on earth would you do that?"

-I didn't know I would be accepted into this food truck zone, but suddenly I got a call saying I was accepted. I originally planned to prepare more thoroughly, but as I rushed to open the store, I think the preparation was a bit inadequate.

"......"

I was momentarily at a loss for words.

"Alright. Let's say, for argument's sake, that you had such difficulties. Then why didn't you prepare more slowly and open the shop later? Why did you insist on this location?"

Did he see some potential in the food truck zone?

-Other places had exorbitant key money or monthly rent...

So he came here because it was cheap, that's what it comes down to.

I understand it might have been an unavoidable choice for young people lacking substantial funds. But still, the location conditions here are terrible. Did he consider all these factors before deciding to come here?

'This isn't something to be taken lightly.'

How lightly must he have viewed the food business to start like this without proper consideration? It was exasperating.

Even if he had spent just two months on menu development, it would be cause for a sigh. But to have rushed into the business so hastily, as if pushed from behind.

"Owner, please come down again."

This was an issue that needed to be seriously discussed.

If a wrong choice was made, shouldn't it be corrected?

"If you're going to run your business like this, you shouldn't continue, Owner. It's really going to be a disaster."

He needed to either properly commit to the business or quit.

He had to choose one of the two.