Chapter 22

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Farming Season
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“Ah, over there. See where that power tiller is parked up ahead?”

The man gestured toward a rice field visible at the end of the farm road.

“Pull over there.”

Taeseo parked behind the power tiller, which had been pulled over close to the paddy ridge to clear the narrow road.

As he got out of the car, the roar of the power tiller's motor was deafening.

It was loud enough to make him want to cover his ears, but the restaurant owner's husband paid it no mind, shouting to a man standing in the middle of the field.

“Chief! Hey, Chief!”

A foreign worker was feeding the pesticide hose from the tiller’s cargo bed to keep it from tangling, while the village chief, with the hose strapped to his back, sprayed every corner of the vast paddy. Pesticide misted over the rice plants from the nozzle at the end of the hose.

“Hey, Chief! Chief!”

The village chief recognized the restaurant owner's husband's voice and waved in their direction. Seeing this, the restaurant owner's husband said.

“He saw us and acknowledged, so he'll come over after he's done spraying that section. Just wait a minute.”

His ears ringing from the noise, Taeseo simply nodded.

After about fifteen minutes, the village chief finished his work and walked toward the paddy ridge, gathering the long pesticide hose.

“Mr. Seo, what brings you here?”

The restaurant owner's husband approached the chief. Climbing onto the ridge, the chief loaded the hose into the tiller's cargo bed and looked at Taeseo and Hyunwoo, who were standing beside the man.

“These fellas are from Namgyeong Development. Regulars at my restaurant. Said they wanted to hear from the village residents about the development, so I brought them over.”

The chief looked at the two of them, a troubled expression on his face.

“Is that so? Well, what to do. I don't think I'll have time today, I've got to spray that paddy over there too. They're saying it'll rain next week, so I have to get all the fields done this week.”

At the chief's words, Hyunwoo rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.

“If that's the case, we can lend a hand.”

“Well now, that'd be a great help. It's already harder than plucking stars from the sky to find workers these days…”

Taeseo frowned as he watched the chief's face light up in welcome.

Of all things, now it's farm work…

“We just have to spray that one field, so if we work hard, we can finish in about three hours. If you help out, there's no reason I can't tell you about the village's situation. I'll make time and answer any questions you have.”

He could find out what he wanted just by following him around and asking. Or, if all else failed, he could just pay for the information. Did he really have to do manual labor?

“Thank you, Chief.”

Hyunwoo, oblivious to Taeseo's thoughts, seemed thrilled at the prospect of successfully handling the land compensation and returning to the Seoul headquarters.

Her husband, just as much of a meddler as the restaurant owner herself, said with even more excitement than Hyunwoo.

“Then I'll tell my youngest to bring over some makgeolli. You just wait.”

“Mr. Seo, it looks like you just came here excited for a drink.”

Taeseo thought the same as the chief, but the restaurant owner's husband put on an uncharacteristically serious face and said.

“Excited? What are you talking about? If the folks from Namgyeong Development can properly convey our position, it's a win-win for everyone, isn't it? A young man offers to help with the work, the least I can do is treat him to some makgeolli.”

“You'll get an earful from your wife for that. Didn't you get chewed out last time for wandering around instead of watching the restaurant?”

“What does a woman know about outside affairs?”

Taeseo couldn't help but laugh in disbelief at his words.

He might talk about women not knowing outside affairs, but from what Taeseo could see, the restaurant owner's husband was living off the money his wife earned.

“So, what should we do?”

If he had to help with country work anyway, it was better to at least pretend to work hard and earn their favor.

“We're moving to that field over there. You can help by managing the pesticide hose. That field's bigger than this one, so handling the hose is no easy task.”

After gathering the rest of the hose, the chief drove the power tiller toward the next field.

Taeseo also rolled up his sleeves and followed the tiller in his car.

* * *

With the extra hands, the work of spraying the paddy picked up speed. Contrary to the chief's prediction of three hours, the job was finished in just two.

It was the middle of a scorching summer, but as the sun's intensity waned, the heat became much more bearable.

Just as they finished spraying and were gathering the hose, the restaurant owner's son appeared on a scooter.

On the back of the scooter was a delivery box containing makgeolli and scallion pancakes. The restaurant owner's husband roared at his son.

“You little punk! How long ago did I tell you to bring the makgeolli? Why are you only showing up now!”

“Dad, I have a life too, you know. I'm not in a position to just come when you call and go when you tell me.”

“What 'life'? You're an unemployed bum who just hangs around the house.”

“You went out, so I had to do the food deliveries.”

Apparently, Seongwoo's Diner delivered food to the paddy ridges during the busy farming season.

Their work done, they spread out the food the son had brought on the paddy ridge and sat down on the dirt ground.

Taeseo had only held the pesticide hose for two hours, but his legs were trembling. He could work out at the gym for two hours without getting tired, but this work used different muscles, leaving him utterly exhausted.

Paper cups filled with makgeolli were passed around the circle of men. Taeseo was about to refuse, saying he couldn't drink because he had to drive, but Hyunwoo spoke up first, declining the cup and saying he couldn't drink the cloudy rice wine. Thanks to him, Taeseo could drink without worry.

Unexpectedly, the foreign worker drank the makgeolli with relish. The village chief tore off a large piece of the scallion pancake, placed it in a paper cup, and handed it to the foreign worker.

“Tuan, eat up.”

The chief's gaze was full of warmth as he handed the food to the foreign worker. Seeing a foreign worker in a rural village for the first time, Taeseo watched the two of them with curiosity.

“It's only thanks to foreign workers like Tuan that we can farm at all. It's hard to find young people to work these days.”

“Don't you have children? Besides, I hear farming is profitable these days.”

“The government buys our rice, so making a living isn't hard, but young people don't want to do difficult work.”

Hyunwoo, who was listening beside them, added.

“My parents are farmers, too. They told me not to take over the farm but to study and get a corporate job. That's why I came up to Seoul and got a job at Namgyeong.”

“That's right. Same for me. Around here, all we have is the land to live off of. So even the few young guys who are still around are turning into jobless loafers…”

Taeseo thought of An Yunho's friends, who gathered in front of the convenience store every day. The husband of the Seongwoo's Diner owner, sitting next to him, chimed in.

“It's not just the young guys who become loafers. Look at Yunho's dad.”

Yunho's dad was An Yuna's uncle. Hoping for more information about him, Taeseo perked up his ears, but the village chief cut the conversation short and stood up.

“You all keep drinking. I'm going to go check the coolant in the tiller.”

And with that, the conversation in the field came to an end.

With four men picking at it, the scallion pancake vanished, and the makgeolli bottle was soon empty.

In the meantime, the chief, having refilled the tiller's coolant, told them to follow him in their car and climbed aboard his machine.

Taeseo, needing more information about An Yuna's family, handed the car keys to Hyunwoo and silently followed the power tiller.

The power tiller moved slowly. It repeatedly had to pull over precariously onto the paddy ridge whenever a car came from the opposite direction on the narrow road, so it took a long time to reach the chief's house.

In front of the Western-style house was a square, concrete outdoor tap, where the chief, Hyunwoo, and Taeseo washed up with cold water.

Only after rinsing off the dirt and dust at the tap were the three men allowed inside.

The single-story house was old, but the faded curtains smelled of sunshine, and the leaves of the rubber tree inside were shiny and dust-free. It was a tidy household, clearly cared for with great diligence by the woman of the house.

As the chief entered and announced his presence, his wife peeked her head out from the kitchen, which was separated by a lattice door.

“You're back? Did you finish the spraying?”

“Yeah. Some people from Namgyeong Group are with me.”

“Namgyeong Group?”

“Yeah. They lent a hand with the spraying, so I was thinking of treating them to dinner. Did you make enough rice?”

“Rice isn't the problem. It's the side dishes.”

“Side dishes? The fields are full of them. Just pick something and cook it up.”

“If you don't mind a humble meal, then please, come in.”

Did country kitchens have some sort of magic pantry? Or was her claim of a humble meal a lie? The wife served a round table piled high with food.

He learned while eating that rural houses often had agricultural freezers the size of a master bedroom, where they stored all sorts of ingredients.

He had yet to meet a man in this town who didn't drink, and sure enough, the chief served alcohol with dinner.

In fact, drinking was practically Taeseo's specialty. In his tedious life, there was nothing quite like alcohol. When he drank and his spirits lifted a little, life felt less boring, so he had tried every kind of liquor without prejudice.

But one by one, types of alcohol that were new even to him began to appear on the table.

It started with common infused liquors like plum and ginseng, but later, he opened one made with mistletoe.

When the chief brought out *yagwanmun-ju*, Taeseo declined, saying he had no use for it. So the chief then produced a frog liquor, which he claimed was made with true frogs.