Chapter 90: Park Ji-yeon’s “guide To Getting Rich”
In 2025, at the golf course practice area.
On the rest chair, Lin Xiuyuan idly watched Lee Ji-eun, who was seriously guiding Im Yoon Ah’s swing not far away.
He turned his head to pick up a bag of biscuits beside him, tore open the packaging with a “crunch,” casually popped one into his mouth, and chewed it with crisp sounds.
The clear chewing sounds quickly caught the attention of the two ladies.
Im Yoon Ah, who had been standing tall with a focused expression, instantly deflated and turned back with a smile to look at him. “Xiuyuan, you haven’t eaten anything today, right?”
Similarly, Lee Ji-eun looked at him. “Very hungry?”
“Just woke up, so yeah, a bit hungry. Why don’t you two keep playing? I’ll head to the restaurant, grab some food, and come back.”
Lin Xiuyuan didn’t stand on ceremony with them and straightforwardly shared his thought.
It was precisely this casual and frank attitude of his that made the two women across from him appreciate him a bit more.
So they both smiled and said.
“Let’s take a break. We’ve been playing for a while too. Let’s go rest.”
“Yeah, I also want to grab something to drink.”
After simply packing up, the three headed together to the club’s restaurant.
Afterward, besides Lin Xiuyuan ordering a main dish, the two ladies only ordered some exquisite cakes and desserts.
They ate and chatted, the atmosphere relaxed.
Im Yoon Ah held her coffee, glanced at Lin Xiuyuan beside her who was still eating like a whirlwind, and teased, “Xiuyuan, there are no outsiders here. Be honest with us—is your tavern closing down because you have no money for food?”
“Huh? No, I’m just too busy. I just woke up.”
Lin Xiuyuan, chewing beef, explained with a helpless laugh.
Hearing the reply, Im Yoon Ah pursed her lips and smiled. “I was worried that your tavern, where you can drink without spending money, had gone bankrupt. Then I’d lose a place to hang out.”
“Not that bad. A bit of alcoholic beverages won’t bankrupt it.”
Alcoholic beverages and such—Lin Xiuyuan didn’t even stock up, and he had no idea the prices were so low.
Even if he used genuine products, they weren’t very expensive.
Not to mention some unscrupulous bars that used tap water and chemical mixes—those were even cheaper than cheap could be.
At this point, Lee Ji-eun grew a bit curious too. “Xiuyuan, I’m actually curious as well. If your bar doesn’t open to the public and only receives members, and members get in for free, how do you make money?”
“Of course. I just don’t charge normally, but members still have to pay membership fees to join.”
Lin Xiuyuan took a sip of water, swallowed his beef, and satisfied the curiosity of the two women beside him.
But it sparked another question. “How much is the membership fee?”
Looking at Im Yoon Ah who asked, Lin Xiuyuan thought for a moment. “No fixed amount, but it definitely makes money. How much doesn’t matter.”
And indeed, the tavern was ‘donated,’ the two apartments over there were freebies, the car was free, and as for Big Dragon Cub and Little Ji-yeon, they had gotten personally involved.
If this wasn’t making money, what was?
“You’re really so laid-back.”
Im Yoon Ah shook her head with a smile.
She had picked up the term from China, and it felt perfect for the guy in front of her.
Casual, yet shrewd.
“At least I’m still working hard at my job, unlike the beauty next to me who wanders around eating all day. It makes me so envious.”
Lin Xiuyuan glanced at Lee Ji-eun across from him, who was scraping her cake.
“Hmm?” Lee Ji-eun raised an eyebrow. “You mean me?”
She then smiled faintly. “Aren’t you Ji-yeon’s fan? Haven’t you seen our ‘death schedule’ back in the day? We were so exhausted we could only catch sleep in the car. So being able to eat and shop leisurely now came from all that hardship.”
Im Yoon Ah smiled and added, “And unnie isn’t just eating and playing around now. She’s also making investments.”
“Mm.”
Lee Ji-eun nodded.
……
……
Meanwhile, far away in 2013 Los Angeles, someone was also talking about investments—another member of T-ara.
Park Ji-yeon, just finishing a day’s schedule, burst into the hotel room without even setting down her bag and shouted loudly.
“Unnie, I want to invest. I don’t want to keep doing this.”
This sudden declaration stunned Ham Eun-jung and Park Hyomin standing nearby, while the new little maknae trembled in the corner.
“Don’t want to do what?”
Looking at the bristling little one, Ham Eun-jung smiled, about to soothe her again.
But then she saw her looking at her seriously and saying, “I want to invest in food and beverage. I don’t want to stand in one place anymore, being stared at like a monkey by those people. When I get back to Seoul, I’ll talk to the company.”
Back in Seoul, even with nationwide antis, Park Ji-yeon hadn’t felt as uncomfortable as she did here in LA.
Those piercing gazes made her skin crawl all over.
It turned her lingering hesitation into a sprouting determination: being an idol couldn’t last forever. If she had to do it, she’d become capital.
Seeing Park Ji-yeon’s serious expression, Park Hyomin knew the kid wasn’t joking, so she quickly said, “Ji-yeon, why don’t you talk to Goo Ri unnie first?”
In the entire T-ara group, when it came to the best investment eye, it had to be Lee Ji-eun.
So while worrying about Park Ji-yeon, Park Hyomin suggested she discuss it with her first.
“Don’t worry, unnie. This isn’t an impulsive idea.”
Knowing Park Hyomin was concerned, Park Ji-yeon smiled at her, sat back at the foot of the bed, bit her manicured nails, and pondered.
Actually, she had discussed this idea with Lin Xiuyuan and others during a dinner party a few days ago, though back then she was thinking of real estate, not food and beverage.
But as soon as she mentioned it, Krystal shot it down.
The reason was simple: Seoul’s real estate wouldn’t be playable for much longer, though there was still some upward trend left to make money.
But she worried Park Ji-yeon couldn’t time it right and would get stuck.
So she thought buying some prime-location houses for preservation was fine, but for real investing, better switch channels.
At that moment, Lin Xiuyuan jumped in with a grin and pointed Park Ji-yeon to a bright path.
Namely, food and beverage.
He shared the routine of a certain domestic male artist surnamed Zeng’s hot pot shop, telling her she could learn from that model.
He used a domestic male artist surnamed Zeng’s hot pot shop as an example, detailing the “low-cost, high popularity, IP monetization” operation model.
Park Ji-yeon could use T-ara’s fame for advertisements, be the face herself, first attract traffic with popularity, then expand gradually and smoothly monetize and exit.
This leek-cutting model was way smarter than Jessica’s ‘little something’—anyway, the T-ara name was worth using day by day now.
As long as Park Ji-yeon was careful and didn’t get greedy or rush, she could basically exit unscathed.
Then use the earnings to invest in the 2025 script that Sulli “brought” back, fully transform, and turn into capital controlling resources.
That night, after getting this ‘wealth guide,’ Park Ji-yeon thought about it for a long time, until today when those ‘monkey-watching’ gazes stimulated her.
She finally couldn’t hold back and fully erupted.
At the same time, it was also spurred by the future trajectory of 2025.
If she didn’t become capital and make big money, Park Ji-yeon feared repeating the same mistakes later, and she’d really want to end it all.
So seizing this opportunity and momentum, she decided.
Back in Seoul, she’d confront the company. She wanted to invest, be the boss, but sharing profits was impossible.
She’d rather pay advertising fees than share—that was her bottom line.
She had to negotiate.
One more chapter, later. Work was really too busy today.
Begging for monthly tickets, rewards, everything.
Also, please trouble everyone to drop some pics in the comments. I really have no time to find images.
