I Quit My Job and Run a Café - Chapter 62



Only Krnovel

Episode 62

“recipe?”

It was the identity of the note that had been roughly stuck in the crack of the door.

“Huh? Here’s the menu.”

“Menu?”

“yes.”

Hansong brought a small plate from the kitchen, as if she had found something there.

Although it was blurry, it definitely looked like it said menu.

“I guess it wasn’t just any house after all.”

“That’s right. I didn’t hear anything specifically from my grandfather. Um… … .”

“I guess I’ll have to ask the village chief. Oh, he’s not really curious, is he?”

“No. I’m curious! If you’re the village chief, you’re the representative of this village, right? Then can I ask you a question too? I’ll say hello.”

It wouldn’t work. Rather, the village chief might like it?

He is a strangely affectionate person.

Because you took care of a lot of things for me when I was settling down here.

“Oh, if the village chief gives you something… … you’d better be careful to accept it.”

“Yes? Why? Hey, is there a problem? Poison, a curse, something like that?”

“Huh? Ah.”

This person’s association mechanism is definitely different from that of ordinary people. Why is there poison and a curse here, when this isn’t a movie?

‘Well, something similar to that happens in real life.’

Anyway, that wasn’t it.

“No, it’s just that your hands are quite large. Basically, they’ll bring it to you in a box.”

“A box? Ah, that’s about it.”

“For things like fruits, there’s a yellow container that you use when harvesting them, right? How many boxes of that would you be able to fit in? Is that okay?”

“… … Is that so?”

“yes.”

Of course, I gave it to you because I run a cafe.

Anyway, it couldn’t have been bad to tell me in advance.

“It’s so great. This is a really nice place.”

Of course, Hansong’s reaction was different from what I expected.

Anyway, I’m glad that your first impression of the town was good.

“Then shall we look around a little more?”

“yes.”

First, I decided to look around the house more.

The problem is that it is a problem, and it does have its merits. First of all, the structure is interesting.

It definitely seemed like they were doing business, but it didn’t really feel like a full-fledged tiger shelter.

It feels a bit like a cross between a home and a cafe.

“Oh! There’s a normal one here.”

“It looks like it was made to be used while sitting.”

It was in a corner of a space that seemed to have been used alone.

It seemed as if they were trying to create an attic-like feeling, with three sides surrounded by walls and one wall had a small circular window that let in plenty of light, giving it a cozy feel instead of a gloomy one.

‘I wish there was a space like this in the tiger shelter.’

I think an introvert like Jo Dong-woo, who came a while ago, would like it.

If you can stretch your legs and lean back comfortably… … .

“Huh? There’s another building over there?”

I sat down on the bench and looked inside for a while, and Hansong-i called out to me as she discovered something else.

“Oh, this is… … .”

It was an inner annex.

It was located slightly away from the main building, almost like a backyard for a tiger shelter.

Come out and cross the short road and you’ll soon reach there.

“I guess you took care of your accommodation here.”

“Oh─!”

Unlike the main building, this one was well equipped with practical features.

Heating, insulation, and even waterproofing.

Although it was smaller than the main building, it was spacious enough for one person to live alone.

“You can unpack your luggage here.”

“Yes. I guess I can sleep right away. The bathroom is fine too.”

The condition was good, so it seemed like it would only need a simple cleaning. Of course, the water, gas, and electricity would need to be reconnected.

“I think I’ve seen it all now.”

“Yes, thank you. Thank you for helping me look at the house.”

“I had fun too. I like this kind of thing.”

“is it so?”

No, it was really fun.

It felt like it had been a long time since I had enjoyed a hobby.

It was something I always did when I was working, but the concept of work was big.

But this time it wasn’t like that.

There were some things that popped up like an occupational disease here and there, but I still watched it purely.

“Then that’s good. I hope we can continue to be good residents of the same town.”

“What can you ask of me? I haven’t been here for long. But since you are all nice people, if you need help, don’t be afraid to ask.”

We exchanged greetings as we went back to the main building from the annex and then outside.

I had to do this in advance because I had to go back again before it got dark.

however…….

“Huh? Why are you coming out of there?”

“Ah, village chief.”

I ran into the village chief as he was passing by. Was he coming back from the village hall?

That’s great. I was wondering something.

“I heard you’re a new person moving here. I was just giving you a brief tour.”

“Ah! I heard. I got a call anyway… … Oh, is that guy? Nice to meet you. I’m the village chief here.”

First, I introduced the village chief and Hansongi.

and,

“But, Chief. Was this place doing business?”

“Here? I did. This was a cafe too.”

“A cafe?”

“Well, that’s what it is these days. Back in the old days, it was like a tea house, a tea house.”

I see.

“But why now?”

“Is this how it happened? Well, I mean… It must have been quite a while. I don’t know the exact details, but I heard that the president at the time had a chronic illness. He was a very busy person, so it’s a shame that he ended up like this.”

“ah.”

“After that, I often took care of it. When a ruin comes to the village, it becomes a mess for no reason. Well, at best, I go there once in a while to clean it up or reinforce it with paint or something like that.”

Ah, the person who takes care of the management that Grandpa Hansong-i was talking about was the village chief.

Well, given the village chief’s personality, it would be understandable for him to do something like this.

There was a reason why the old, unused house was clean.

“Oh, yes. I just heard from my grandfather that there was a house here.”

“I see. Well, that could be true. But what are you, the new guy, planning to do here?”

The village chief didn’t ask any more about him, but instead showed interest in Han Song-i, the new neighbor in the neighborhood.

“Oh, I’m just going to use it as my home. I’ll use it as a studio too.”

“work?”

“I’m drawing a picture.”

“Oh! So you’re a painter.”

“Oh, I graduated from art school, but… … I’m not a painter. I’m just a cartoonist… … .”

“So the cartoonist was your teacher! Good. Good.”

The village chief was very pleased with Hansong’s words. Judging from his reaction, it seemed like Hansong would settle down without a hitch.

Of course, in the first place, the village chief was not the type of person to reject anyone or anything like that.

“Oh, right. I saw your daughter coming earlier. Did you see her too, Chief?”

“… … That Seon-ah? I saw you. You came in and immediately locked yourself in your room, so I kicked you out.”

Well, I guess I should cancel the idea I had earlier.

The village chief, who had been smiling while looking at Hansong, said with a hardened expression.

It looks like you’ve had a rough go of it. It seems like your daughter has it harder than an outsider.

‘I guess that’s why Lee Seon-ah was wandering around the village too.’

I wondered where he was going, but it turned out he just had nowhere to go.

I guess I’ll have to get them both to come to a cafe sometime soon. I’ll have to think about what I’ll give them then.

“Anyway, please take care of me. If you need anything, just let me know. If you ask around, everyone will tell you that my house is the one with the blue gate over there.”

“Yes! Please take good care of me too.”

“Haha! Okay, okay.”

The village chief smiled and said goodbye to Hansong again before leaving. We also said our goodbyes and finished the day.

* * *

The next day.

“I forgot and brought this with me.”

It wasn’t until I left for work at the cafe early in the morning that I realized I had brought a recipe book from Hansong’s house.

Hansong went back up to Seoul because of her luggage.

It would have been a somewhat embarrassing situation, but fortunately I received the contact information yesterday and there was no problem.

So I left a message today.

─If you need it, you can take it! Anyway, since we’re doing new construction this time, you won’t need it!

And I got a very simple answer.

“hmm.”

But when did I ever want this? I might have thought so because I kept holding it in my hand and looking around the house.

It wasn’t really like that, but hearing things like that made me a little curious.

At first glance, the recipe book’s contents seemed to be mostly related to confectionery and baking.

‘It’s in my grandfather’s recipe book, but the specialty was different.’

My grandfather left behind many drink recipes, but this one was a bit different.

And if you look at it, you also said that he was a very busy person.

According to the village chief, it was a famous bakery.

That’s why it was so popular.

Did you say that you heard that bone disease was like that too?

“Even if things go too well, it’s not easy.”

They eventually closed down due to overwork.

Swish.

Anyway, my eyes were drawn to the recipe. It was a recipe for something so delicious.

Honestly, I’m attracted to it.

But in the end I didn’t open it to look at it.

It’s not mine. It’s a recipe my grandfather gave me and he left it for me to see, so this is different.

It was a recipe book that was very well-worn.

It’s impossible to guess how many times the original owner opened this.

So if you want to use this, I think you should at least get permission from the owner to feel comfortable. Of course, I don’t know if I can meet the owner.

“Let’s leave this for now.”

I put it in the cabinet next to the counter along with my grandfather’s recipes.

Now I have to go back to being the manager of the tiger shelter and do my job.

‘Today… I was thinking of making the things I thought about yesterday.’

It was a menu for the village chief and Seon-ah Lee, but it was also just a menu to be added to the cafe.

It was a tart.

At first I thought about cake too.

Because it is one of the desserts that is easy to find at a cafe.

‘You said you missed dessert.’

That’s what Su-ah said every time she came.

Of course, he said that everything he made was delicious, but he was a bit disappointed with the dessert.

Not because of the taste, but because there aren’t many varieties.

So I asked her what she would like, and surprisingly, she said tart instead of cake.

To be honest, from my perspective, I think that’s the same thing, but he insisted that it was completely different.

Is it good because it has a lot of fruit on it? The raw material is also different.

“I guess it’s because I like taking pictures.”

Of course, cakes look pretty in photos, but shouldn’t we say that tarts are more visually appealing?

Since the natural color of the fruit is visible on the tart rather than covered in cream, the color is bound to stand out.

And that must have been even more appealing to Sua, who often takes pictures of menus and posts them on Stargram.

Of course, I didn’t think of making a tart just for that reason. I did take note of it, though.

Anyway, I already felt the need to increase new things, and this was just a good opportunity.

‘Make the tart first, then add cream inside and fruit on top.’

Tart cakes are similar to cookies.

Creams are used in many different ways.

Both are good for use in various places like bread dough, so there were enough reasons to choose them.

“First, the tart.”

I learned it when kneading bread, but this baking and pastry was very delicate.

Temperature, weight units, mixing order, etc.

It’s to the point where you’ll find yourself saying that it’s better to buy it than to make it yourself.

“But this time it’s different.”

Baking is a science experiment.

With that thought in mind, I looked into the condition of the materials.

105 grams of flour, 41 grams of sugar, 50 grams of butter, 1 gram of salt, 21 grams of eggs.

Use butter that is at room temperature.

First, I lightly melted the butter with my dexterity that had been raised to the next level through immersion.

Clink! Clink!

When it is slightly dissolved, add sugar and salt and stir again until the color becomes light.

As with the butter, mix the eggs at room temperature by stirring them so that they do not separate.

Sift the flour into a fine particle state and mix with a spatula… … .

‘I have to set the date again and mix it.’

That’s because the tart dough shouldn’t become rice cake. Anyway, once the dough that you’ve handled so carefully becomes a lump, it’s almost done.

‘It’s definitely better than before.’

It’s been a huge step forward since I first started making bread.

Of course, baking is something you can’t let your guard down until you see the results.

Roll out the finished dough to a thickness of 3 mm.

Then, let it rest in the refrigerator for a while until it becomes firm.

Finally, slightly melt the hardened dough, put it into the mold, press it tightly between the edges, and then give it a final rest. The tart is ready.

Now I have to make the cream… … .

Ding, ding, ding

A familiar guest has arrived.

“You’re here early?”

“… … You told me to come.”

───────────────