I Quit My Job and Run a Café - Chapter 144



Only Krnovel

Episode 144

“Oh, that guy who was fishing upstream over there seems to have used something like a car battery.”

“fishhook?”

“Yeah. I guess someone in the village saw it. Since the elder was watching, he noticed it and immediately left the place and didn’t report it.”

“ah.”

There are cases like that, right? If you’re going to fish, just do it lightly.

But one thing that was fortunate was that the water quality didn’t suddenly get worse or anything like that.

It’s just fish that have been temporarily stunned or dead by electricity floating down the shore.

“My dad is talking to the police about that right now.”

“Really? Not once or twice, I guess?”

“I guess there are people like that often. The water here is clean and there are a lot of fish, so people come here to fish.”

Well, it was a good place for fishing.

No, actually, I guess it’s not just a good place for fishing, but also a good place to just relax?

Didn’t we also play near the water?

“It was summer, so they caught a lot of fish, but there were a few times when the ones they couldn’t catch would float down the river and it smelled.”

“Oh, so that’s why the village chief is angry.”

“huh.”

Well, it might be a little frustrating to let it pass as just one or two incidents.

It may be uncomfortable for the townspeople and also offend those passing by.

I also run a cafe nearby, so it wasn’t a good situation for me.

So, I’m glad that the village chief is coming forward.

“Tell the village chief that if there’s anything he can help with, he should feel free to talk to me.”

“Yeah. Oh, no.”

“… … Huh? No?”

“If you help me, I have to help you too.”

Was that the problem? He spoke strangely again, whether it was because he was flustered or because of his mood swings.

Anyway, he was a funny guy.

“Then I will tell you.”

“Ugh… … .”

Lee Sun-ah was trembling, but what could she do about it?

I smiled at the sight of the guy and decided to make him a drink.

“What should I give you?”

“… …something sweet and cool, and peaches.”

The peach ghost still ate the peach.

I don’t know why you eat here too, when you probably eat a lot at home.

Actually, I also received it from the village chief.

“I remember the scones with peach jam that I had before, they were delicious.”

“Ah. Okay. What about Doyoon?”

I received an order from Lee Seon-ah and another order from Kang Do-yoon.

Kang Do-yoon said that just cold coffee would be fine.

I decided to quickly make a menu for those two poor souls.

Kang Do-yoon’s iced coffee made with honey, which is good for recovering from fatigue.

And I made a cool and sweet fruit mojito for Lee Sun-ah.

“Okay. Drink this first. The scones will be baked soon, so I’ll give them to you when they’re ready.”

Lee Seon-ah and Kang Do-yoon went with drinks.

* * *

After the two people took a short break and left, the guests arrived.

However, many people came who seemed a little different from the usual guests.

‘What? Most of them are family units.’

There were also guests who came in three generations: a child, a mother, a father, or a grandmother, a grandfather, a mother, a father, and a child.

Is it because it’s summer and vacation season?

‘Ah. Maybe playing in the water?’

There was a stream nearby where children could play, and further upstream there was a valley with a decent amount of water and depth.

Perhaps he stopped by a cafe while he was there.

‘It’s a good place to come and play with your family.’

It seems like it would be difficult to travel to famous tourist destinations with children and elderly parents.

There will be a lot to pack.

Of course, even if that were true, there would be a lot of people who would come to that place.

That’s why some people come to such a quiet place.

It’s just the beginning of the summer vacation season, so there are still many places that aren’t crowded.

This is exactly what happened here.

“I want some watermelon juice!”

“I’ll give you some watermelon juice~ Okay. Take this coupon and give it to Mom and Dad. If you stamp five cat paws here, you can get a free drink.”

“Free? What do you mean free??”

Phew!

I found myself laughing at the question from the child who came to order.

The way he tilted his head as if he really didn’t know was incredibly innocent.

“Just give me another glass of something delicious.”

“Ah! Yeah! Mom!”

A child who can talk but doesn’t yet know all the finer words is always cute.

He seemed younger than Hajun, the son of Song Junhyeok and Oh Hye-ryeong, who work at the town health center, but strangely, he spoke better.

Of course, both of them seemed very curious.

I happily watched the back of the child running away after hearing what I said.

Even though he doesn’t know much, he seems to know how to drink one more glass.

“Narae! Don’t run!”

“Mom, Mom! This is Baba. Here~ Kkonya, stomp your foot five times~”

“Oh my~ The coupon is so cute and pretty.”

“Yeah yeah! Konyaie~ Konyaie~ Put your feet here, put your feet here~”

“Narae. That’s not the foot.”

Despite her mother’s warning, the child continued to explain about the coupons and soon found Rangi.

Then he followed Rangi around as if trying to stamp his soles.

I almost burst out laughing at that sight, but luckily I held it in.

As I watched the people who appeared to be the parents following the child around, I quickly entered the kitchen.

Fortunately, the other guests were all families, so they seemed understanding even though the child was a little restless.

And no one said anything because my parents tried to stop me.

‘This is an atmosphere I’ve never felt before.’

Usually, the guests are office workers, but this was the first time a family like this came.

Maybe that’s why the tiger shelter also seemed to have entered a vacation mode.

There was laughter both inside and outside the cafe.

Why~

“Why? Can’t you adapt?”

Langi came inside because she was having trouble adjusting to it.

Or maybe that kid followed me here earlier.

Even though the parents caught the child before he went to Rangi, the attention itself can be burdensome.

“Just hold on a little longer. It will pass soon.”

After this season, another quiet time would come.

By then, the weather will be nice for Rangi to roll around in, so all we can do is wait.

Meanwhile, there was a guy who was excited because there were so many people. That guy was Miho.

‘Is she some kind of fox?’

Of course, people couldn’t see Miho. However, the auras that people gave off while resting here were different.

I approach each person’s aura and work hard to hit them.

While there were auras that welcomed Miho, there were also auras that seemed a little scared.

Miho was the one who kept her distance from those auras.

‘Brownie, don’t you want to play together?’

Kuru~

I know that each aura has a different personality, but it’s always fascinating to see them like this.

I went out to the garden with Brownie following me around and picked some ingredients.

And then I started creating menus.

In the past, I would have lamented, “Why am I working while those people are enjoying their vacation?”

I don’t really think about that right now.

It seemed like it was because I had already enjoyed a short summer vacation and was enjoying what I was doing.

And I also got a new feeling through new guests.

“The menu you ordered has arrived~”

“Narae. Let’s go. The watermelon juice that Narae likes is ready~”

When the menu came out, the child from before came holding his parents’ hands in both hands.

But for some reason, he has a slightly pouty expression.

Why are you upset?

“Ugh. My little feet hurt.”

Aha. So that’s because of the stamp on the coupon.

“Did you say Narae? I ordered three drinks and two desserts… … Okay! I got five cat paw prints?”

“oh!?”

“Can I have one more drink? What would you like?”

“Konyai feet… … hehe.”

The child’s expression changed when he saw the coupon with five foot stamps.

But I guess you have no intention of ordering using a coupon.

I only saw the coupon because the cat paw stamp was cute.

This is true.

“Excuse me, but can we just take this instead and order a drink?”

“Yes, that’s okay. I’ll give you a new coupon, you know.”

Since it has already been stamped, it cannot be recycled.

So, the drink was something I could just order, but the kid’s father said it was okay.

It’s not a place I come to often, and my child is noisy, so I’m grateful that they understand.

I said I understood because it was strange that I had to order more of it.

Even the noisy family guests took a short break from their long journey and went outside.

It seemed like they were probably going to go play in the water or go to a nearby lodging they had reserved.

“I think we’re about the same age.”

There may be a little more, but I don’t think it will be that much.

But seeing them build a family like that gave me a strange feeling.

Come to think of it, I often heard news that my classmates and friends got married and had children.

I don’t really have any close friends, so I just hear news from here and there.

When I was working at the company, I was busy living my life anyway, so I didn’t have time to worry about it.

“I’m a little curious now.”

I wonder how everyone is doing.

Old connections suddenly came to mind.

Is it because the slightly noisy customers left and the cafe strangely felt more quiet?

Of course, such thoughts quickly passed away.

Instead, one concern arose.

Come to think of it, if people come to play around here like this… … .

‘There might be some trash.’

The best thing is that the person who brought the trash cleans it up before leaving, but how can that be done at will?

People who throw it away on purpose, people who forget and leave it behind, people who drop it, etc.

Once you start throwing things away like this, people’s psychology makes it easier to throw things away the next time.

“Should we have service meetings a little more often?”

While I was taking a walk in the morning, I kept seeing trash and picking it up.

But since most people walk along similar paths, there are hardly any now.

The same applies to target detection.

‘Are you worrying too much about something that hasn’t even happened yet?’

There is nothing that won’t happen if I worry about it right now, so I stopped worrying for now.

I’ll take a look later when I get off work.

* * *

A few days later.

Should I be relieved that what I was worried about has happened? Or should I lament?

As I was leaving work, I looked down at the stream below the bridge.

At first glance, there seemed to be no particular problem.

But if you look closely, you can often see trash.

Sometimes people come here to enjoy a vacation like camping, but they leave it behind.

But since it is a place where people pass by, there isn’t much trash…

“I guess they lit a fire over there! See?”

Suah said, pointing to the charred floor.

I was on my way home from work with Sua who had just returned from school.

He came out of work early saying he had something to show me, and this is what happened.

“This is a bit too far out of line.”

As for the other things, it really feels like I just threw one or two away.

I also felt like I forgot something while cleaning up the trash.

Of course it might not be, but in any case it wasn’t like what you see now.

This one felt a little bit intentional.

As I crossed the bridge, the townspeople also came out and watched.

Of course, there were also cafe regulars there.

Han Song-i, Lee Seon-ah, Kang Do-yoon, and even the village chief.

“Huh! These are real.”

Even the village chief, who usually just laughs it off, seemed a little angry at this, and his already angry muscles twitched as if they were even angrier.

“… …Should we clean it up first?”

“Us?”

“I can’t just leave it alone. The person who left it there won’t come back to clean it up.”

“That’s true, but… … .”

Suah also grumbled, but nodded to what I said.

It will be difficult to catch the culprit right away.

Even if I catch it, I wonder if I’ll get a fine. But I can’t keep seeing that thing I don’t like, so I decided to get rid of it for now.

Of course, it wasn’t like I didn’t get excited either.

Until recently, we used to play here and clean up the place.

Doing something like this in a place like that… I can’t help but be a little angry.

‘How do I do this?’

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