How Much Were You Thinking?

Hnnng!

The spirits carefully harvested the crops and carried them over.

Even when the produce was far larger than their own bodies, they effortlessly lifted it and dropped it into the baskets.

The earth spirit, in particular, was exceptionally strong, and could even hoist a full basket and carry it to one place.

But every spirit, including the life spirit, which was the weakest physically, was pulling its own weight.

Even the ones who normally just rolled around on the floor were eagerly stepping up and putting their strength to work.

“Whew, that’s done. Good work, everyone.”

Oh Hyeonseong clapped his hands.

It was quite a lot to handle alone, but thanks to the spirits’ help with the harvest, everything was finished in only a few minutes.

After handing out snacks to the delighted spirits, he loaded the crops into his truck and moved them to the storage room in the house.

There were times when I was a little overwhelmed expanding the strawberry field, but the crops I planted before that have all settled in nicely.

Several days had passed since he first sowed all those different crops.

By now, Oh Hyeonseong’s field had become a remarkably proper-looking farm.

The newly planted crops were growing after the harvest, while other crops that had yet to be harvested stood lush and abundant, blending together into a scene that looked every bit like a real farm.

Even the apple trees, which had originally been mere saplings, had grown considerably. They had not yet borne fruit, but it looked like they would soon—perhaps within a few days.

Considering that normally one had to wait two or three years after planting a sapling before seeing fruit, their growth was astonishingly fast.

Seeing the empty, terribly rough land he had first cultivated with his own hands transformed into this was deeply satisfying.

It almost made his heart feel richer.

Of course, the spirits deserved most of the credit.

“Finally… the dinner time I’ve been waiting for.”

Oh Hyeonseong stepped into the kitchen for the first time in what felt like ages and began to do something he rarely did.

Cooking.

The first thing he started was the rice cooker.

He had harvested the rice he grew in his field and sent it out to be milled. Now the polished rice had finally been returned, and he took it out.

On top of that, he brought out his secret weapon.

Thump.

What he placed on the sink was none other than gochujang.

Over the past several days, he had made meju from the soybeans he harvested.

He had even gone through the trouble of procuring a special dryer for meju so that he could dry it as quickly as possible. It had been a tremendous amount of work, but he had been determined to make it himself somehow.

Fortunately, some seasonings, such as salt and sugar, had not deteriorated too badly compared to the past.

Humanity had also developed all sorts of strongly flavored sauces, so he could at least attempt to cover up the shortcomings of the raw ingredients.

But proper traditional jang was something they had never managed to reproduce.

I realized it this time. Just how important soybeans are to our country’s food.

Gochujang, doenjang, and ganjang.

They were nothing short of the foundation of Korean cuisine, and without them, it was nearly impossible to recreate Korean dishes with their original flavors.

That was why he had gone through countless trials and errors to make meju. And although the ingredients were far from perfect and the result was somewhat improvised, he had somehow managed to make gochujang as well.

With that, all the preparations were finally complete.

He took out potatoes, onions, chili peppers, garlic, and other ingredients and began cooking. Then, with great satisfaction, he set the completed meal down on the table.

…Finally.

A steaming bowl of pure white rice.

Even its appearance was completely different from the dull, factory-produced rice he had become accustomed to.

The glossy white grains gave off an aroma so rich it made his head spin.

Unable to resist any longer, Oh Hyeonseong picked up his spoon, scooped up a generous helping of rice, and shoved it into his mouth.

“Mmm…”

Oh Hyeonseong closed his eyes and savored the taste.

An indescribably deep sense of happiness spread through his mouth.

Yes… this is rice… Not that bizarre lump of clay. This is real steamed rice.

Rice made from freshly milled new-season grain.

The chewiness, the softness—everything was perfect.

But it didn’t end there.

When he turned his head slightly, he saw a pot of gochujang stew simmering away, boasting an intense red color.

One bite was spicy and warming, with a refreshing kick and even a subtle sweetness drawn from the onions.

He ate it with the rice, picked out the chunks of ingredients, and then dug into the stir-fried potatoes that had been served as a side dish.

Without even having time to think, he cleared the entire table in an instant.

“Huaaah…”

Only when his stomach had reached its limit did Oh Hyeonseong finally stop.

It had truly been a proper meal.

So good that it was almost unbelievable.

Just how long has it been since I’ve felt like this…? I could die right now without a single regret.

He genuinely felt that moving to the countryside had been the right decision.

If he had remained in the city, he would probably have spent the rest of his life shoving dull factory-made food into his mouth until he died.

And then, a powerful sense of motivation welled up inside him.

It wasn’t easy, but the result was a huge success. Even if I squeezed out the absolute maximum possible from the limited ingredients I have… I’ll keep expanding the menu from here.

He would have been perfectly happy even if someone told him he had to eat this exact meal for the rest of his life.

After all, there was no need to go as far as stews or stir-fries. Even a single bowl of this rice was a luxury that people of the current generation—including heads of state—could not enjoy.

But now that an opportunity had opened up, there was no reason not to reunite with the countless dishes from the past that were waiting for him.

Since moving to the countryside, he had found himself with his strongest goal yet.

But to do that, there are a few things I need to take care of.

His private land extended down from the house.

Unlike the completely concealed area above, this was a place with open plots of land that were not protected by the barrier.

Oh Hyeonseong planned to put up two buildings there.

The first was a storage building.

The storage room attached to the house was already packed just from storing seeds.

There was nowhere to put the harvested crops, and he also needed a space that could be used for various purposes in the future.

The meju dryer alone took up quite a bit of space. He was also planning to get a home-use rice mill, and as equipment like that continued to accumulate one by one, even this enormous house would eventually be unable to handle it all.

The other building was a farm for appearances.

He had already told the people around him that he was going to start farming, and now that he had even begun trading his produce, he couldn’t simply leave the empty land untouched.

To keep others from becoming suspicious, he planned to build an indoor farm where the interior could not be easily seen from outside.

The problem was that it would cost quite a lot of money.

Even excluding all the incidental expenses, simply constructing buildings on bare land would inevitably require a major expenditure.

Ring!

Just then, the cellphone in his pocket rang.

It turned out to be a call from Yoo Seungsu.

“Hyung! Hyung!”

“What’s wrong all of a sudden?”

“They said they’re going ahead with the ratio negotiations just as planned! The department store contacted me and said they’re letting this incident pass without any penalty!”

His voice was breathless with excitement.

“Haha, that’s great. What did I tell you? I said it would work out, didn’t I?”

“No way! They were being so firm that I thought it would absolutely never happen… Ah, right! You got the contact information for the person in charge last time. What on earth did you do?”

“I just happened to know someone at the department store, so I asked if they could reconsider because there was someone who had been treated unfairly.”

“You… you had connections at Hankyung Department Store?”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. It wasn’t some amazing connection, and it wasn’t because of what I said that they reversed the decision. All I did was ask them to reconsider. It was an unavoidable accident, and your farm has long-term value from the department store’s perspective, so they made that decision internally.”

“Hyung… I… I’m really grateful…”

Yoo Seungsu’s choked-up voice came intermittently through the phone.

Seeing how genuinely happy he was made Hyeonseong happy as well.

He had received no small amount of help from Yoo Seungsu with farming lately. The least he could do was return the favor.

“It just means your farm has earned their recognition, so cheer up.”

“Seriously, thank you… If you ever need anything from me, just say the word! I’ll drop everything and come running!”

“Don’t overdo it.”

Oh Hyeonseong hung up and let out a small chuckle.

Still, there was no way a department store would suddenly change its decision just because someone had asked them to save one person from an unfair situation.

When circumstances suddenly changed, there was always a reason.

“Looks like… the reaction is finally starting to come.”

There was a natural-produce section in the food hall of Hankyung Department Store.

It was a fairly unique differentiation strategy.

Even though advances in crop-breeding technology had created a decent amount of demand recently, natural produce could hardly be called mainstream in the premium market.

Compared to high-end synthetic crops, its share was pitifully small.

Natural crops had always been burdened by public prejudice and carried an image far removed from anything luxurious.

So the fact that Hankyung Department Store had established a separate natural-produce section in one corner of its food hall was a fairly bold plan.

Of course, even now that it had somewhat established itself, its size could hardly be called large.

It was simply a small section tucked away in the very corner of the food hall.

And of all the products in that section, the space Oh Hyeonseong had managed to break into consisted of just one item:

Strawberries.

Yet that single product had caused an enormous ripple.

Only a few days had passed since the strawberries from Ohhyeon Farm were put on display in the food hall.

The strawberries had become an enormous hit, flying off the shelves almost instantly.

Every morning, a fierce scramble broke out, with people lining up just to get their hands on them.

Compared to the real crops grown by Oh Hyeonseong, these were a downgraded version, inferior in flavor, aroma, and texture.

But even this downgraded version possessed a sense of life that had never been found in the existing market.

The flavor was still lacking, but people whose palates had been conditioned by factory-produced food reacted even to that imperfect flavor as though they had been struck by a sledgehammer.

“It’s truly remarkable. Honestly, even when you were first proposing the natural-produce section as a pilot project, I didn’t think it would work.”

The executive sitting across the desk nodded.

“I have to wonder what kind of foresight you had. Who could have imagined this kind of uproar from a single new strawberry product? Our department store’s name going up and down like this is already proving far more effective than running dozens of viral marketing agencies.”

Limited supply and exploding demand.

Reviews from those who had tasted the strawberries were heating up social media, and their buzz had already skyrocketed.

People who had smelled money began reselling the strawberries, and the term ‘strawberry craze’ started appearing in numerous online news articles.

Before long, the topic would even make its way onto the main evening news broadcasts.

Normally, even word of mouth took time to spread.

But there had never been a product like this in the history of the department store.

Of course, because the supply was limited, the actual sales revenue wasn’t particularly impressive.

Compared to the revenue of a massive department store, selling a few strawberries was practically child’s play.

But what mattered was the buzz.

The attention and publicity translated directly into customer traffic, to the point that sales throughout the store had risen overall.

Even the other natural products displayed beside the strawberries were selling out completely.

“If things continue like this, your promotion is practically guaranteed. And it should keep me safe for the next few years as well.”

“T-Thank you.”

“Now, though, I heard something rather strange. Apparently, there isn’t any stock prepared for the next shipment. Surely that’s not true?”

“Well… the contract only covered the first shipment. I’ve already contacted the farm owner dozens of times, but I can’t seem to reach him at all…”

Park Jeongtae broke into a cold sweat.

He hadn’t expected an issue on this scale either, and he had been completely overwhelmed trying to respond to the strawberry craze.

“Fine. So you’re telling me that a product that’s hit this hard is about to disappear simply because we haven’t secured the next shipment? And if Daeseong Department Store manages to snatch up the contract, all of this will just fall straight into their mouths?”

The executive’s expression twisted into something menacing.

“Go out there right now and get that contract by any means necessary!”

“Oh? You came all the way here, Manager.”

Oh Hyeonseong spoke as he saw Park Jeongtae standing outside his house.

Park Jeongtae was sweating profusely, as though he were incredibly nervous about something. After struggling for a moment, he finally managed to bring himself to speak.

“Um… I came to continue our conversation from last time…”

“You mean the strawberries? That’s good timing. I was just looking for somewhere to deliver the next shipment myself.”

“Th-Then please, sign the contract with us!”

“Of course. I wanted to keep supplying Hankyung Department Store as well. Naturally, that is, if the contract terms are right.”

Oh Hyeonseong gave him a sly smile.

“Oh, by the way, you do remember that the unit price starts in the six-digit range, right?”

“Yes… yes.”

Park Jeongtae could only nod gloomily.