Money Grows Even When You Spend It - 20
I quickly peered into the water bucket.
“Phew, what a relief.”
The monster catch that Jeong Hyeoncheol and Seo Jinwoo had hauled in was not the koi that Moritake's side had gifted us. It was a fairly big fish, and judging by the fishing line poking out of its mouth, it had swallowed the bait whole.
“What's this one?”
“Looks like a largemouth bass to me.”
Lee Hoyoung, who apparently went fishing with his grandfather, declared with total confidence that it was a bass. Watching him, Jeong Hyeoncheol broke into a grin, impressed that he could identify a bass on sight.
“That's right. We caught some catfish and snakehead too, but I sorted them separately. I figured the bass might go after them.”
Jeong Hyeoncheol set down the other bucket he'd been carrying on his shoulder. Inside were fish considerably smaller than the bass — one with whiskers, one with a long, slender body.
So those must be the catfish and the snakehead.
Largemouth bass are classified as a harmful invasive species here — once you catch one, you're not supposed to release it. They're carnivores, and they devour native creatures indiscriminately. So when you catch a bass, you either eat it or kill it and toss it in a garbage bag.
Jeong Hyeoncheol spoke up. “Bass is pretty decent if you skin it and fry it. Chai asked for fried fish anyway, so bass tempura should work. And I can make fish stew with the catfish and snakehead.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
When I'd sent them off fishing, I hadn't expected them to bring back this much. All we had left in the house were rice, kimchi, and a few vegetables — not nearly enough for lunch, which was why I'd been about to rush out to the township center. But with this many fish, we had more than enough for a meal.
“Oh, and this here is...”
I introduced Lee Hoyoung to Jeong Hyeoncheol and Seo Jinwoo. Lee Hoyoung deployed his trademark social skills, greeting them while glancing back and forth between the two men. Jeong Hyeoncheol took it from there, steering the conversation along smoothly with a smile, and Seo Jinwoo chimed in from time to time as well.
What is this? Why is everyone getting so chummy so fast?
A detective, an actor, an undocumented foreign worker, and the son of a real estate mogul became friends in the blink of an eye. In any case, feeding all of them was going to require a truly enormous pot of fish stew.
For the first time in a while, I lit a fire under the backyard stove. No. 1's kittens had claimed the front room, so I had to carry the ingredients in through the front door — but nothing beats a big iron cauldron when it comes to boiling fish stew.
Once the cleaned catfish and snakehead went into the cauldron and started to boil, a milky broth rose to the surface. I ladled the woodsmoke-scented fish broth out with a handled pot and strained it through a sieve. After rinsing the cauldron once with clean water, I poured the strained broth back in and set it to boil again.
“I'm going to the earth cellar to fetch the soybean paste and chili paste. Could you chop up some vegetables?”
Jeong Hyeoncheol, being a trained martial artist, was quick on his feet and handled a knife like a professional. “Yes, I'll have the vegetables finely diced.”
“Jinwoo, you're on garlic duty.”
“Ah, yes, of course.”
Watching Seo Jinwoo peel garlic, I half wondered whether someone had secretly installed a camera somewhere. It was like watching the three-meals-four-fountains cooking shows I used to see on TV.
“What should I do?”
Lee Hoyoung, sitting dumbfounded on the wooden platform with no idea what he was supposed to be doing, finally asked me. “Hoyoung, go ask Chai for the flour dough he's been working. We're putting hand-torn noodle dumplings in the stew instead of regular noodles.”
“Chai? Ah, the Thai guy who was going to fry up the bass?”
“That's the one.”
“On it.”
Before long, I flung the paste I'd brought back from the earth cellar into the cauldron. Two heaping spoonfuls of soybean paste and four of chili paste to chase away the fishy smell. I seasoned it with chili flakes and salt, then threw in the vegetables — onion, scallion, perilla leaves, cheongyang peppers, and the garlic Seo Jinwoo had peeled, crushed under the flat of a knife.
Once the broth came to a rolling boil, I tore off pieces of the flour dough Lee Hoyoung had brought and dropped them in to cook alongside it. When the dough floated to the top, bobbing merrily, they were done — I gave the pot a stir and ladled everything into bowls.
“Chai's back with the fried fish.”
Meanwhile, Chai emerged carrying the bass he'd cleaned and fried up into crispy fish cutlets. The weather was warm enough that we'd decided to eat outside at the wooden platform today. Chai set the fried fish down on the table set in the center of the platform.
“Try it. It's really good.”
“Honestly, when I saw the bass I figured there was no way it'd be edible, but looking at it like this, it doesn't seem half bad.”
I picked up a piece with my chopsticks and gave it a sniff. Not a trace of fishiness or any off-putting odor.
“It tastes even better than it smells. Chai seasoned it before frying.”
The moment I bit into the fried fish, a crisp crunch gave way to a mild, clean flavor that filled my mouth. It tasted almost exactly like the fish cutlets from a Western-style restaurant.
Wait. Was every fish cutlet I've ever eaten actually fried bass?
As for the stew, the spicy, rich broth was simply superb, and the chewy hand-torn noodles grew nuttier with every bite.
“Ah, this is delicious.”
Lee Hoyoung burst out in admiration, then lifted his bowl and slurped down the broth, blowing on it to cool it. “With the snakehead in there I expected it to be heavy and oily, but it's so refreshing!”
“Hot broth is refreshing?”
At Chai's puzzled question, I smiled. “When Koreans say a broth is delicious, we call it refreshing.”
“Ohh, I see. Then the bass is delicious, so it's refreshing too!”
“Hahaha. That's, uh, not really how you use that word — but sure, why not? Chai. Whatever makes you happy.”
Chai grinned from ear to ear. Slurp, slurp. Everyone dug into the fish stew and fried bass with gusto, sweat beading on their foreheads.
Funny how people really do go quiet the moment food hits the table.
After the meal, I pounded the coffee beans I'd roasted in a mortar and brewed up some fresh bean coffee. Sipping his hand-dripped cup, Lee Hoyoung spoke up. “I think I'm finally starting to understand you, Sunbae-nim.”
“Me?”
“Yes. For the first time, I actually felt in my gut why you chose to stay here instead of going up to Seoul.”
Lee Hoyoung took a sip of his coffee, closed his eyes slowly, and opened them again. “You've figured out an absolutely stunning way to live, full of charm and style. Honestly, I'd like to give it a shot myself in about ten years.”
I hadn't moved out to the remote countryside to live stylishly, mind you. But it did feel like, somewhere along the way, I'd found the color that suited me. When the breeze stirred, the coffee aroma warmed the tips of my fingers before drifting off toward the far end of the yard, and the breath of spring riding the wind made my heart beat a little faster.
“It's worth trying at least once, I'll say that. When you put distance between yourself and other people, you can really focus on yourself. Though, look at me now — somehow my surroundings have filled right back up with people.”
I burst out laughing and lifted my head toward the mountain behind the house. When the trees put on their full cloak of leaves, the mountain itself seems to grow. I don't move an inch, yet it feels as though the mountain is coming closer to me — a privilege reserved only for those who live near the mountains. Because it feels as if the mountain is moving for my sake.
I took a long, deep breath and said, “If you ever do decide to settle down in a place like this, Director Lee, I'll be happy to give you some pointers. All the trial and error I'm going through now will eventually pile up into know-how.”
“Thank you. I'd genuinely love to experience it someday.”
“And I'm planning to come down here often myself. I don't think I can just leave my father's house repairs to you alone, Yunho.”
At Jeong Hyeoncheol's words, Lee Hoyoung leaned in. “I take it your family home is around here, Detective Jeong?”
“Yes — I only found out recently myself.”
Jeong Hyeoncheol, who had been lost in thought for a moment, turned to face him. “You're a famous gallery director and your father's a real estate mogul, so I imagine you'd know a fair bit about real estate litigation.”
It turned out Jeong Hyeoncheol knew nothing at all about civil litigation. “Of course I do. Why, do you have a case coming up?”
“Ah — yes. The truth is...”
Jeong Hyeoncheol laid out his situation. His half-brothers had swiped their father's entire inheritance.
“Among the building owners around Geumho-dong and Sindang-dong, there are people who know a Jeong Hyeonsu — a few degrees removed, but still. Is he one of your older brothers by any chance?”
“He is. The eldest, as far as I know.”
“Small world, isn't it?”
Lee Hoyoung explained that Jeong Hyeonsu was running regional housing redevelopment schemes, collecting money from both the construction companies and the homeowner associations. He'd even run into him at a gathering not long ago and advised him to behave himself.
“Regional housing redevelopment is such an ant-trap hell that people say you shouldn't wish it on your worst enemy. These projects collapse easily, and when they do, the association members lose their entire life savings and end up buried in debt on top of it.”
“If he's deliberately running a scam, then this wouldn't be a civil matter — it'd be a criminal case, wouldn't it?”
“You're the detective — investigate it. I'd bet there's embezzlement worth tens of billions of won going on.”
Thanks to the information Lee Hoyoung provided, Jeong Hyeoncheol would not only be able to reclaim the rights that had been stolen from him, but he might also rescue the local housing association members from falling victim to the fraud.
“Well, then. I suppose I need to head up to Seoul right away.”
At that, Lee Hoyoung stepped forward. “Take my car. It's less boring having someone beside you than driving up alone, and I can fill you in on more of what I know along the way.”
“Thank you.”
And just like that, two of my houseguests were leaving. “I should head back to Seoul as well. I'd love to stay longer, but I can't keep putting off the drama shoot. However thorough the pre-production is, my conscience won't sit easy.”
So now Seo Jinwoo was heading to Seoul too. That made three houseguests gone. I sprang to my feet with a bright smile. “Finish up the dishes and get on the road. I'll see you all off.”
Watching people with such different charms fill my house to bursting had been a strange, wonderful experience in its own right... but why am I so happy that everyone's leaving?
Unable to hide my delight, I waved at Lee Hoyoung's car as it pulled away toward Seoul.
Spring arrived in a hurry. I rented a backhoe and hauled the leaf mold piled up on Grandpa Hosik's land over to Mak-sun Halmeoni's field. Her soil had been drained of its vitality over the years, so it needed a solid feeding of organic matter before any crops could go in.
Once that job was done, I rented a tractor and turned the soil over, mixing it all together. Last time I'd borrowed the Village Head's tiller to work the field; this time I dug deeper, folding the layers into one another. By the time I finished, the spring rain had begun to fall.
Everything was in place — perfect conditions for planting.
I mounted a seed hopper onto the tractor and fitted the agricultural plastic film. That way, when the tractor rolled forward, the film would lay itself down over the rows and plant the soybeans automatically.
Bless you, agricultural technology center researchers!
Without bending my back even once, I could plant soybeans across both fields in under two hours. The plan was to grow summer soybeans on Grandpa Hosik's land, harvest them, then plant garlic there in October. Mak-sun Halmeoni's field would be split between soybeans and sweet potatoes.
Since the soybeans were destined for the jang fermenting jars, I didn't need to hunt down buyers for them. The sweet potatoes could be sold through the agricultural technology center.
Word came in, one classmate at a time, that my fellow farming school students had started planting their crops too. And how thrilled they all were to get Seo Jinwoo's autograph. Hwang Yu-hyeon in particular had become remarkably deferential toward me after getting his. Who knew being close to a celebrity counted as power?
Then it rained again — a fairly heavy rain. Worried the soil mounded over the soybeans might wash away, I kept trudging out to check the fields.
And then.
Good heavens. What is this?
Tiny, adorable sprouts were pushing their way up through the wet earth. The soybeans had finally germinated and broken through.
“Aren't you pretty.”
I was gazing at the little soybean sprouts, heart fluttering, when I spotted it — a line of vehicles racing toward my house along the village road.
“About time. The film crew's here.”
It looked like Segok-ri Reservoir, starring Seo Jinwoo, was finally about to begin shooting.