I Quit My Job and Run a Café - Chapter 223



Only Krnovel

Episode 223

The day after the farewell party.

Kang Do-yoon went up to Seoul and Su-ah started school. So, somehow, the village feels quiet.

But even if Su-ah had gone to the city during summer vacation, it wouldn’t have been this quiet… … Is it because it’s fall?

It might be because the sound of cicadas has gotten quieter now.

The sky seemed to have gotten higher, and somehow the emptiness seemed to have grown.

But in fact, fall was only just beginning.

There are various sensitivities, but the season of full-blown paralysis has just begun… … .

‘But why do they seem to have already absorbed all the time of that season?’

Dull! Dull!

From Sujeong to Miho, and even the brownies that are popular these days.

Not only the cheeks, but the entire body was very plump.

Just looking at them made the autumn feeling I had earlier disappear.

Just because it’s funny.

“What did you eat so much?”

─Hehehe!

I ended up laughing too, seeing Soo-Jung just laughing at my words.

I didn’t think their health would suffer if they gained weight.

Rather, it just becomes cuter to look at.

Just in case.

“Are you okay?”

─Huh? Your mother?

“No, is it okay for your body to change like that?”

─Yeah! It’s okay! Can you still fly like this?

Sujeong Lee personally demonstrated.

The water filling the ball and the boat was rippling, but it still flew well.

Okay then.

“Are you going to keep carrying that around?”

─Yeah! That way, it will grow quickly.

The Aura Fruit that the guest named Udo-cheol had given her was still in Soo-jeong’s hands.

If you look closely, you can see that Soo-Jung is occasionally watering and taking care of the plant, but there hasn’t been much change yet. I wonder what’s about to open.

‘But is this the first time that the flower of talent has borne fruit?’

I think so.

More precisely, it should be said that this is the first time that the flower of talent has borne fruit and produced a harvest.

What’s a little odd is that the fruit that comes from the flower of talent doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the level of talent.

In Mr. Heo Jeong’s case, it was a higher 5-star talent. However, it was still in the early stages of his talent.

That too is a flower of talent in full bloom.

‘I still don’t understand this mechanism well.’

If you think about it, the same goes for the flowers of talent. Some are still buds, while others have withered.

It had nothing to do with talent level.

When I didn’t know, I thought it was something that happened depending on the level of talent, or the ability of the talent…

‘Is that not it? Or is it because I have changed?’

I somehow had a feeling it would be the latter.

It wasn’t just the seasons that had changed, but so had I and the tiger shelter.

That means… … .

“Now you can even harvest it.”

If it means that Tiger Shelter and I have grown to that extent, that would be really great.

Of course, that’s what my heart says, but I still don’t know for sure. Now that I think about it, it’s changed a lot, just like the seasons.

“The leaves are turning red.”

The scenery of the vacant lot was the same.

The empty lot seen through the wide window was dressed in colorful autumn clothes.

The grass was still green, but it felt different from the lush summer.

I poured myself a cup of coffee, sat by the window for a while, and stared blankly at it.

It was a nice morning with a moderately warm cup of coffee.

Come to think of it, the sun that rises in the morning is now noticeably late.

It was usually completely buoyant by the time I left for work, but today I saw it and it seemed to be rising up like a baby who overslept.

Even these small changes are amazing.

Being able to tell the passage of time without having to look at a calendar.

Maybe a long time ago, everyone knew that fall was coming?

Not a number on a calendar.

Come to think of it, there was something that showed that in the garden too.

“The squash fruit has also fully ripened.”

I think it’s time to start harvesting.

There were more berries than before, and two more types of berries.

What kind of taste and aroma will it have this time?

I was looking forward to it.

Of course, I need to recharge my energy before that.

I thought about the cake left over from yesterday. It was quite big, but everyone still took a lot of it, so there was just enough left for me to eat.

I took it out because it goes well with coffee.

Cake and coffee in the morning.

It’s luxurious.

I even took out the cake and came to the window, so I don’t know if I’m the owner or a customer.

Well, it wasn’t important.

“hmm.”

I took a big bite of the cake.

The fruit jam, bread, and a single green grape inside were chewed with a pop!

‘It’s delicious.’

Is it inevitable?

Because we really put in a lot of ingredients.

Wouldn’t a single piece of this sell for at least a hundred thousand won at a hotel?

Considering the effects that went into it, it wouldn’t be strange to receive more.

I’m the only one who knows, though.

Now that I think about it, it wasn’t just the cake that I made yesterday…

“Su-ah took all the night’s Manju and I couldn’t even taste it properly.”

I took all the rice cakes with me.

I told him to do so because he said he was going to share it with his friends. I didn’t feel bad about it since I could just make it again.

Yesterday, the village chief heard our story and immediately asked us to make a no-trespassing sign.

And he told me I could come up and take the night as much as I wanted… … .

‘I guess I’ll have to go up there again.’

Since Hansong-i and Su-ah are having a hard time, I plan to just go and come back alone.

Anyway, I plan to use the things I’m bringing this time at the cafe.

Hmm. Am I buying and creating work?

There’s still a lot to do.

“I guess it’ll work out if we do them one by one.”

As if the vacant lot were slowly changing its clothes for the seasons.

huh?

‘When did I finish eating this?’

While I was thinking about this and that, I suddenly realized that I had eaten cake.

Is this why the spirits are fat too?

It’s going so smoothly… … I need to be careful?

“I feel like my appetite has strangely increased.”

It’s the season of paralysis of the heavens.

I put the empty plates away and came out into the open space.

I was thinking of picking up the fallen leaves in the vacant lot to lightly digest them.

The embroidery on the grass is pretty, but I should clean it up now so that it doesn’t get in the way later.

This is similar to fat. It’s not hard to manage when you first gain a little weight, but it gets harder as it builds up over time.

─Turju! Look at this~

The crystal that went into the pile of fallen leaves that I had cleared to one side.

The funny thing was what happened next.

The sight of Sujeong flying around with fallen leaves stuck to her body… was real.

─Hehehe! Isn’t it amazing?

“Okay. That works.”

And if someone saw it, they would think there was a ghost among the fallen leaves.

As I watched that sight in wonder, Miho and Brownie also walked around, getting covered in fallen leaves.

When I see them, they look cute to me… … I wonder what other people think when they see them.

It would seem like the fallen leaves are flying and jumping around on their own, right?

“Guys, come here for a moment.”

I quickly gathered the spirits.

And he explained.

He warned me that I should only do this when I tell him to do it, and that I shouldn’t do it when I’m not around or when someone else is around.

─Yeah! Don’t worry!

Sujeong answered as a representative.

They are playful guys, but they also listen well, so this much is okay.

“Okay, then let’s play again.”

Since there was no one else around right now, he told me to play with the fallen leaves.

And I regretted it a little.

‘… … I’ve sorted it all out.’

Simple leaf picking suddenly turned into hard mode leaf picking.

I gave up on picking up the fallen leaves that were flying everywhere. Instead.

“Do I have to gather them all here after playing?”

─Yeah!

Instead, he spoke to the spirits.

All the innocent guys nodded.

Then I leave the fallen leaves to the kids and go inside… … .

“President Chun! Are you at work?”

I quickly went down, wondering what had happened, as I could clearly hear the village chief’s voice from down the path.

“What’s going on…? Huh?”

“I just picked some things up, so I thought you might need them, so I brought some.”

“Uh… … A little?”

A huge box of fruit was placed in front of the path.

No, at this point, shouldn’t it be in a mart or department store instead of here?

“This is too much.”

“Hey, I’ll use this up in no time.”

“No, I can’t. I’ll ask for more later if I need it. I’ll accept this much.”

“Really? This is my first feeling this year?”

The village chief said with a look of regret.

Well, that’s a bit harsh… … but still, this was too much.

Especially, I don’t know what to make with the persimmon.

“Yes. If you can’t use everything in the cafe, you have to throw it away, and that would be a waste.”

“Um… … That’s true. That’s too bad. Well, I guess there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ll have to take it back… … Ah! Then how about this?”

“which?”

“It’s almost Chuseok. I was thinking about giving some gifts anyway, but is there anything I can make with these? I only send fruits every year, so I want to send something different this year.”

“As a gift… … I guess that’s okay.”

“Really? Then please.”

“Huh? Chief! We haven’t told you what we’re going to make yet!?”

“You figure it out!”

Perhaps because he knew he didn’t have to take it back, the village chief quickly drove away in his truck.

With some somewhat reckless words.

“… … Ugh.”

I guess I’ll have to move this by myself.

You’re not in a hurry because of this, are you?

… … Hey, considering the chief’s muscles, that couldn’t be happening.

It’s a shame that we couldn’t move together even if we had Yoon.

There’s nothing I can do.

… … Let’s move.

* * *

The village chief gave us four kinds of fruit.

Persimmons, pears, apples, and pomegranates.

Maybe it’s because they’re fruits grown in the fall, but they had true colors that resembled fall.

“For now, I think apples can be made into syrup or jam.”

Since persimmons, pears, and pomegranates are ingredients I’m working with for the first time, I’ll have to look up a recipe.

Since it’s come to this, should we try something other than apples, jam, or something else?

Actually, I think it would be best to just let all these fruits go as they are. They seem delicious even if you eat them like this.

But it doesn’t seem to be the case for those sending gifts.

I guess I was bothered by sending the same thing every year.

And one more thing.

It seemed like the village chief was also planning to increase the cafe’s sales.

It’s been like that since I was volunteering, but this time, when I was working as a fire extinguisher, I really liked it and kept trying to give him something.

I declined most of them because they were burdensome, but this time I had no choice but to accept them.

‘If you don’t take this, I don’t know what else I’ll give you.’

And since I had already received it, there was nothing more to say about it.

What would be better than that… … When I pick and choose, the most suitable menu would be pies or cookies, something like that.

“Well, you can try both.”

I decided to try it out and choose the one that seemed better.

It was an unexpected turn of events, but it wasn’t bad.

I was thinking about sending a gift anyway.

Teacher Heo Jeong and grandfather Bae Hong-seok as well.

I also planned to send it to someone I could contact, like Go Na-eun, among the guests I met here.

‘It would be nice to take it with me if I go to Mr. Woo Do-cheol’s studio.’

To do that, I had to make it taste good. I was confident about that.

“Hmm. It’s sweet.”

First of all, all the materials are ready.

I peeled a persimmon and tasted it, and it was very sweet.

The unique texture of persimmons was also good.

Hongsi, bansi, and dried persimmons are good, but these are also good now.

Since persimmons don’t taste that good even when they become dried persimmons, I decided to use them as is.

You could say that this is a characteristic of autumn fruits.

The scent wasn’t very strong.

In the summer, there were a lot of fruits with a lot of flavor, sweetness, and moisture, such as grapes, watermelons, and peaches. Compared to those, this one could be said to be bland.

But it had the rich, creamy taste typical of fall fruits that made me want to keep eating it.

‘So you gain weight?’

Unlike summer fruits that are strong and quickly wither away, it keeps on going.

Of course, it was different when autumn fruits were condensed.

Since I couldn’t use the raw material as is for making pies and cookies, I decided to condense it.

‘It’s persimmon syrup. This is good.’

My grandfather’s recipe calls it jochung, but it’s not much different from jam. Instead, he doesn’t add sugar.

First, I decided to start by making this… … .

I realized that fall had already seeped into the kitchen.