3
# Chapter 3
The notebook contained an enormous variety of teas.
From common ones like Earl Grey and lemongrass tea,
to unusual teas like Jinkamgyul Tea and Hibiscus Tea, as well as Lily Tea.
And then there were teas I'd never even heard of, such as Reverse Tear and Spirit of Greenery.
“How fascinating.”
Those alone were fascinating enough, but what surprised me even more were the photographs.
“What on earth is the principle behind this?”
The photographs in the notebook moved as if they were alive.
They looked just like those moving pictures from Harry Potter.
It made no sense.
But since my grandfather had prepared them, somehow it did.
I was slowly scanning through the recipes when—
Jingle.
“Mister!”
Noran came running through the door.
She scampered over and plopped herself down at the bar table.
She moved so naturally that it was as if the seat belonged to her.
“Hello, Noran.”
“Hehe, hi, mister! The shop is clean!”
“Pretty amazing, right?”
“So cool! Hehe.”
I thought so too.
Come to think of it, she'd said yesterday that the honey water I'd made wasn't as good as my grandfather's.
“Noran, want me to make you some honey water?”
This was the rematch.
“Yay! Honey! Water! Honey! Water! Sweet honey and water!”
Noran was so excited that she immediately made up a song about honey water.
And that wasn't enough.
She suddenly stood up and started shaking her body to the rhythm.
It was the sort of dance that, if she'd performed it at a children's recital, would have brought out huge gummy smiles from every adult watching.
If she was that excited about it, I had to live up to her expectations.
“Wait a moment.”
I flipped through the recipe book and found the honey water recipe.
I'd wondered if something so simple would even be included, but there it was.
And above it were three yellow stars.
Then I saw it.
<Special Menu for Noran>
There was even a note written neatly in my grandfather's handwriting.
My grandfather must have really adored Noran.
As I carefully examined the recipe, I learned something else about my grandfather.
My grandfather had really been serious about tea.
The recipe specified the exact amount of honey, the temperature of the water, and even the temperature of the teapot.
Finally, a few tea leaves were to be added.
“That's pretty particular.”
Each individual step didn't seem like much, but together, it was surprisingly delicate work.
I'd get used to it after doing it a few times, right?
Following the recipe carefully, I made the honey water and set it down in front of Noran.
“All right, here's some delicious honey water.”
“Wow! Honey water!”
After dancing to her heart's content, Noran came over and sat down.
She took one sip, then closed her eyes and trembled slightly.
“This is it. This tastes like Grandpa.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! It's yummy!”
Noran held the cup with both hands and began sipping.
She'd take a sip, then grin happily.
She really was adorable.
While Noran drank her honey water, I carefully examined the recipe book.
Looking closely, I found several more special menus like Noran's.
“Snowflower Tea is the tea for Nuni. Is this Nuni the Nuni you were talking about?”
“Hmm? Oh! Yeah! That's the tea Nuni likes!”
“Really? This is really bitter, though.”
“Nuni has an adult palate. She likes bitter things that smell strange. I don't like them.”
“Is that so?”
Snowflower Tea made me curious too.
But there was a warning written in red.
<Absolutely forbidden for anyone except Nuni.>
I'd never seen a warning like that before.
My grandfather must have had a reason for writing it that way.
I'd have to ask Nuni when I met her someday.
Looking through the recipe book, I found several other names besides Noran and Nuni.
Had there really been this many children in the neighborhood?
“Noran, do you know all the kids around here?”
“Hmm... Nooo. But I know lots of them.”
“Did the other kids come to the shop often?”
“Sometimes?”
“So they didn't come that often.”
I suppose I should be glad they weren't coming right away.
Even making honey water required this much attention. There was no way I could immediately serve things like Flower Lantern Tea or Jinkamgyul Tea with my current skills.
Once word got around that the teahouse had reopened, they'd come anyway.
It was a small neighborhood, after all.
Before that happened, I needed to organize and memorize all the teas here and get my hands accustomed to making them.
I couldn't exactly pull out the recipe book every time a customer came in.
I was worried about whether I could reproduce my grandfather's flavors, but that was all right.
I had an excellent assistant right here.
“Noran, will you help me?”
“Okay. I don't like hard things.”
“If you don't help me, I won't make you honey water anymore.”
“Noooo! Okaaay.”
Noran puffed out her cheeks and grumbled.
She put down the honey water she was drinking and scampered over to my side.
“What are we gonna do?”
“Well, I'm going to make your grandfather's teas from now on. You just have to taste them and tell me whether they taste similar.”
“I don't like bitter ones.”
“That's okay. I won't make anything really bitter.”
I had her helping me, but I had no intention of making her drink something she disliked.
I could always get someone else to help me with the bitter teas later.
“Should we start with milk tea?”
Fortunately, all the ingredients were already available in the teahouse's storage room.
Yesterday, I'd been worried about violating the Food Sanitation Act.
But today was different.
All the leaves and flowers in the storage room were incredibly fresh.
As if they'd been delivered yesterday.
It was a little unsettling.
But I decided I wasn't going to be surprised by things like this anymore.
At first, even finding the tea utensils and boiling the water had been difficult, but after making one cup, then another, the process gradually became familiar to my hands.
“Mister, you're good.”
“Really? I used to run a café.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
I used to tell people at the upper management level how to run things, how to develop menus, how to deal with customers, and so on.
I had been in a position where a single word from me could change the operating policies of stores nationwide.
How much effort had I put in to reach that position?
Learning how to make beverages had been part of that effort.
“How does it taste?”
“This is yummy! It's sweet.”
“That's a relief.”
Starting with milk tea, I went on to make various drinks, including green tea and multigrain latte.
As I did, I was reminded of several drinks I'd developed myself.
Black Sugar Latte, for example.
“Wow, it's sweet!”
“Doesn't your tongue feel all sticky?”
“Sticky. But I like it!”
The black sugar latte I'd made without using coffee was practically a mass of sugar.
Even for someone like me who liked sweet things, it was intense enough that I'd ordered development to be halted.
Surprisingly, though, the internal response had been quite positive.
I trusted the results and ordered development to continue.
And what happened?
It became a huge hit.
Even now, thinking about that time left me stunned, but also happy.
A menu I'd created had become a trend across the world.
For a workaholic, there was hardly anything more satisfying.
“Mister.”
“Hmm?”
“My tummy's full....”
“You've hardly had any—actually, that's not true.”
I'd gotten excited and kept making one drink after another.
I'd made more than ten cups.
Noran only needed to taste them, but she had sipped down every drink I'd made for her.
Thanks to that, the little girl's tiny belly had become slightly round.
“Hmm... I still want to make more.”
“I don't wanna drink anymore!”
“All right, all right. I won't make you do anything you don't want to.”
“Really?”
“Oh, right. Noran, did you know that if you drink too much tea, a ghost comes to visit you at night and goes 'shoo-shoo'?”
“A ghost! I don't like ghosts!”
Noran hurried away and crouched down in the corner of the teahouse.
She squeezed her eyes shut and curled herself into a ball.
Apparently, that was how you escaped from ghosts.
I didn't know who had taught her that, but I could tell they had absolutely intended to tease her.
Since it was amusing to watch, I'd just say they'd done a great job.
“Noraaan, where are you going?”
“Aaaah! I don't want to!”
Noran dashed out of the teahouse so quickly that I could almost hear the rapid patter of her footsteps.
I hoped she wouldn't trip while running like that.
I considered following her, but decided to leave her alone.
I needed to watch the shop, and Noran would probably come back later anyway.
I watched the doorway with an amused smile before looking at the empty teacup on the bar table.
I'm grateful that Noran drank everything to help me.
Next time, I should prepare something to eat with her honey water.
“Desserts, huh....”
My grandfather had never served desserts separately at the teahouse.
The reason was simple.
He wasn't good at making them.
If I were to carry on my grandfather's legacy, perhaps I shouldn't bother with desserts.
But—
If I told him that, I was pretty sure my grandfather would yell at me from heaven.
“He did say, 'If you're thinking about yourself, do whatever you want.'”
My grandfather had hated the idea of me giving something up because of him.
I could almost hear his gentle voice in my ear.
“Then I'll do whatever I want, just as you wished, Grandfather.”
If he complained when I eventually met him on the road to the afterlife, I'd listen to him as much as he wanted then.
After everything he'd done for me, I could at least do that much for him.
As soon as I made up my mind, I immediately listed all the teas I could make.
I separated the ones I could make right away from those that would take time to learn, then categorized their flavors and overall impressions.
I thought of desserts that would pair well with them and wrote down all the information I could.
Fortunately, I'd previously planned seasonal menus and written up sales strategies for them, so this process wasn't difficult.
They say everything you learn eventually comes in handy.
This was proof of that.
“Cookies should be a safe choice for now.”
If I added a little more variety, rusks and biscuits would work too.
Thinking about actually making them myself made me feel a little pressured, but everything was difficult at first.
I'd get used to it with practice.
“I should get an oven and a dough mixer, and another refrigerator for storing ingredients.”
It would be nice if the shop could simply produce whatever I wanted, but that would be taking the easy way out.
I couldn't become so dependent on it that I'd be unable to do anything myself later.
I listed all the equipment I needed, then sorted and categorized the items according to efficiency.
By the time I finished everything so that I could simply place the orders, the entire day had passed.
“I wonder if Noran made it home safely.”
Noran hadn't come back after running away at the mention of ghosts.
I figured she'd probably gone somewhere else to play, like any child would, but I still felt a little disappointed and worried.
I hoped nothing had happened to her.
I was surprised by how attached I'd become to Noran in just one day.
With that thought, I closed the shop.
---
“Wow.”
The next morning, I arrived at the shop earlier than the day before.
I'd already thought about where everything should go, but I wanted to check the available space one more time.
But when I arrived in the morning, the oven and dough mixer were already sitting exactly where I'd envisioned them.
And they were the exact models I'd had in mind.
“This isn't even some 'We can provide anything' kind of place.”
It wasn't merely amazing anymore.
It was astonishing.
What kind of magic had my grandfather put on this place?
As I touched the oven and looked it over, I became greedy again.
If I'd known this would happen, I should have imagined one model higher.
No, several levels higher.
They say human greed has no end, and that saying was absolutely true.
“Thank you, Grandfather.”
Instead of giving in to my greed, I thanked my grandfather and left the shop.
Now that I had an oven, I could make the products I'd thought of today and work on balancing them with the teas.
And I'd also prepare some delicious desserts for Noran, partly to make up for yesterday.
After organizing my thoughts, I leisurely walked into town.
Taking a car would have been more convenient, but I didn't have the money for one right now.
Once I made a decent amount of money from stocks, I could get one then.
“It's been a long time since I've been here too.”
The town hadn't changed at all despite the years since my last visit.
It was the countryside, but it had a small movie theater, a fast-food restaurant, and even one fairly large supermarket.
It had everything you could need.
Still, since it was a small rural community....
“Hey, isn't that Lee Chan-seong?”
“What are you talking about? Why would he be here?”
“No, look at that face. That's that rude bastard, Lee Chan-seong!”
You quickly ran into people you knew.
That was both the advantage and disadvantage of living in the countryside.
Everyone knew everyone else through one connection or another, and there were all those familiar faces you'd seen endlessly throughout your school years.
A farmer driving a Porter truck suddenly hit the brakes and got out.
He strode toward me with a grin.
I smiled back at him.
“It's been a long time, Hyeon-ung. And Hyeon-seo.”
“It's really Lee Chan-seong? What are you doing here? Didn't you go to Seoul?”
Seo Hyeon-ung and Seo Hyeon-seo.
The twin siblings had nearly identical faces, differing only in gender, and the moment they saw me, they greeted me warmly.
They looked exactly alike except for their hairstyles, and even their reactions were remarkably similar.
“Hey, can't you tell just by looking at him? He must've come to see his grandfather. But isn't his grandfather's death anniversary around now?”
“You idiot. Grandpa's death anniversary is in winter. It's still a long way off.”
“What are you calling your own brother an idiot for? You boar-headed moron.”
“Want me to ram you with a boar's head? You wanna get shoved into a fertilizer bin? Huh?”
These siblings were always at each other's throats.
I stepped between the two growling siblings and pulled them apart.
“You two haven't changed at all, even after getting older. You're exactly the same as when you were in elementary school.”
“People who change too easily are the ones who die. More importantly, tell us. Why are you here?”
“Yeah, what's going on? Do you need help?”
It was the first time I'd seen the two of them since graduation, yet they immediately asked whether I needed help.
All it took was one sentence to fill their curious faces with astonishment.
“I'm living here now.”