The day of the Harvest Festival arrived.
The City Center was more excited than usual. Even though it was a small Village festival, people from neighboring counties came to visit, so the crowd was quite bustling. Of course, the bustle was not comparable to Seoul. However, this place had something Seoul did not.
“Have some potatoes.”
“I boiled some corn; try one.”
“I steamed some rice cakes; take one each.”
The Elders, who had spread out mats and sat down, brought out food from their own homes. Even with just one item from each house, the food piled up high. The Elders shared the food and blossomed in conversation.
While they did that, what was I doing?
“Tae-seong, could you move this over there?”
“Oh, what about the ice?”
“Leave it in the back. After you move that, set up the jars containing the tea leaves.”
“Mr. Sanghyun, I wrote down the list of the Tea the Elders want.”
“Thanks, Naru. Let me see. Hmm, I can make this much right now.”
I checked the list Naru brought and immediately rolled up my sleeves. Even if it was small, a festival was still a festival. To process the many orders quickly, I couldn’t stop moving my hands. At times like this, Tae-seong and the children were a huge help.
Tae-seong moved the tea sets and materials used in the Chachip, while Naru moved between the Elders and wrote down the list of desired Tea. And as for Noran.
“Dis is delicious.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Mmm, try some.”
“Ho-ho-ho. How cute. Here, do you want to try this rice cake?”
“Wice cake?”
“The chewy ones are tasty.”
Before I knew it, Noran had taken a seat among the Elders and was receiving plenty of love. Seeing Noran like that, Naru put her hands on her waist and pouted.
“It would be nice if Noran helped out a bit too.”
“It’s okay. Isn’t Noran working hard to promote our store?”
The more important thing was elsewhere.
‘I should give the cookies’ effects to as many people as possible.’
The cookies Noran was handing out to the Elders were items I had put more effort into making than usual. The basic effects were skin whitening, blemish removal, and wrinkle improvement.
‘It’s perfect for the Elders who work in the Sun.’
How bad was the hot midday Sun for the skin? If you searched for research papers, you would probably find thousands. Even so, the Elders didn’t particularly care. It might be more accurate to say they “couldn’t” care.
There were many things more important than that. Those cookies were one of the small gifts meant for such Elders.
***
“Chansung, this is the last of it.”
“You worked hard.”
Tae-seong, who had put down the last load, wiped the sweat from his forehead. Although I had narrowed down the items to bring to the festival, it was still quite a lot. You could call it a disaster caused by my greed to provide Special Tea.
I picked out the necessary tea leaves from the mini-shelf Tae-seong had brought. Then, I quickly brewed the Tea with water boiled in an electric kettle.
“Udi.”
Tap, tap.
Udi moved carefully to avoid the eyes of the people around us and entered my hand. After letting the brewed Tea age once through the sensible Udi, I poured it into disposable cups. Naru and Tae-seong took the prepared Tea and served it to the Elders.
After doing that for a while, familiar faces approached.
“It’s been a while since came outside.”
“Mr. Sanghyun.”
Mr. Sanghyun approached while fanning himself. He drank a cool cup of lemon tea I had made earlier and nodded his head.
“I think the Tea you make is now more delicious than the Tea your Grandfather used to make.”
“Haha, I still have a long way to go.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course.”
Mr. Sanghyun grinned and looked around. Then, he discreetly handed me a small envelope. The white money envelope looked quite thick even at a glance.
“What is this?”
“Don’t you know about the fund we have at the county level?”
“There’s such a thing?”
“Haven’t the Hyeon Nammae told you yet?”
“No.”
Mr. Sanghyun expressed a small complaint toward the Hyeon Nammae and said, “Then you should know now. It’s a fund we have at the county level, more accurately like a Village fee. We use it to call in outside guests for festivals like this, pay for the Stage equipment, and things like that.”
“I see.”
“And this is your share.”
“Pardon? Why are you giving this to me…”
“What do you mean why? You aren’t taking money for the Tea you’re serving right now, are you?”
I shifted my eyes here and there at those words. I had brewed about 100 cups of Tea so far, but the income was zero gold. I considered it a day to return some of the kindness I had received from the people of the Ma-eul. I hadn’t set a price for the Tea.
When my answer was lacking, Mr. Sanghyun clicked his tongue.
“Dusik said you would do that. It was true.”
“…How did Mr. Dusik know?”
“I don’t know. But that guy nagged me until my ears hurt. He told me to give you a little cut.”
“I didn’t know he said such things.”
“He must have been quite concerned. Did you lend him money?”
I hadn’t lent him money, but I did give him help equivalent to that. As I wore an ambiguous smile, Mr. Sanghyun pushed the envelope toward my chest.
“I won’t ask further. And take this.”
“Oh my, how can I take this? It’s money the Elders worked hard to collect.”
“Hey, I’m not just giving this to you. By giving you this, I’ve bought Service. Do you understand?”
His words were a bit rough, but simply put, he meant he couldn’t stand to see me working without getting paid. It was always something to be grateful for when someone looked out for me.
“Then, I will accept it gratefully.”
“Yeah. Instead, if the Elders ask for Tea, even if it’s a bit annoying, serve it all. Got it?”
“I’m already doing that.”
“Well, I guess. That’s how you and Hyun-woong are different.”
Mr. Sanghyun said that and suddenly looked at Tae-seong standing next to me. Then he spoke quietly so Tae-seong couldn’t hear.
“Is he the one? The guy who’s singing today.”
“That’s right.”
“…Is his skill okay? You know the Elders have nasty tempers, right? If you bring a kid who can’t sing, Dusik and I will be pestered for quite a while.”
At those words, I glanced at Tae-seong. He looked distracted from helping me, but beneath that expression, I could see a small tension. And anxiety too.
‘He’s probably worried he might not be able to sing today.’
Tae-seong was someone who had pushed himself to the edge of a cliff to sing again. He lacked confidence in whether that effort would shine. Because if he couldn’t sing even in this situation, he would probably think he could never sing again.
Of course, I wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Don’t worry.”
Today, this place would become the first Stage where the Crown Prince of Trot, the son of the people, would be born. At my confident words, Mr. Sanghyun brushed away his last bit of worry.
“Understood. Hey, young man.”
“Ye-yes? Me… are you talking to me?”
“Yeah. Wow, you’re quite handsome. Please do well on the Stage later.”
“Ah, no. I’m the one who should ask for your favor.”
“There’s nothing to ask of me. Then, keep up the good work.”
“Yes. You too, sir.”
Mr. Sanghyun would also be busy preparing various things in the back. Wouldn’t he be as busy as I was serving Tea here? I watched the back of the departing Mr. Sanghyun and then began to move my hands again. Requests from the Elders continued to come in even now.
I took orders, made Tea, and served it. It took more than 2 hours and a half until I could finally breathe.
***
“I’m going to die.”
“Yeah.”
“Save me.”
“Seriously.”
Tae-seong and I sat back-to-back and caught our breath. I think I made more than 300 cups during those 3 hours. It was because the Elders kept ordering, saying the Tea was exceptionally sweet today.
“…Why does everyone like the Tea so much?”
“I guess the Tea today suited everyone’s taste. I’ll make you a separate cup later, so you try it too.”
“Uh, thanks.”
“Let’s stop talking now. I’m tired.”
I didn’t even have the Energy to open my mouth. Whether it was the same for Naru, she was right next to us with her eyes closed. And Noran was still playing with the Elders. She looked even more energetic than when she first arrived.
‘They say children’s stamina is infinite.’
Looking at Noran, that saying seemed accurate. As we were catching our breath, Hyun-woong approached.
“You’ve worked hard. Did you make a lot of Tea?”
“Yeah. I’m exhausted. It’s the first time I’ve sold this much since opening .”
“Isn’t this much basic in other places?”
“Those places are those places, and this place is this place. Why? Want a cup of Tea?”
“Later. For now…”
Hyun-woong’s eyes turned toward Tae-seong. Tae-seong must have read that look as he slowly exhaled and stood up.
“Is it time?”
“Yeah. The Stage is set; we just need to do the rehearsal. Tae-seong, are you ready?”
“Probably?”
The anxiety Tae-seong had earlier seemed to have grown a bit more. At this rate, it might grow even larger later. Before that.
“Hyun-woong.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you have about 5 minutes?”
“5 minutes… I think I can manage that.”
“Then wait just a second.”
I held the two of them back and immediately pulled out ingredients. I had prepared the necessary materials at dawn. I mixed the prepared ingredients in the correct Fusion and put them into a Tea Bag. And finally, the throat-soothing grass.
‘…I’m a little nervous.’
I crushed the throat-soothing grass and dropped a tiny amount of the liquid that came out into the Tea Bag. Just one drop. This one drop would be enough to produce a sufficient effect.
I pushed the mortar and pestle aside and poured in boiling water. I watched the Tea brew intensely and then fished out the Tea Bag. After letting it cool for a moment, I transferred it into Udi. Once Udi’s power of Purification detoxified the slight toxicity remaining in the Tea, it was complete.
“Here, take this.”
I transferred the completed Tea into a disposable cup and handed it to Tae-seong. Tae-seong looked at the Tea in the cup for a moment and asked, “Is this acacia flower tea?”
“Right. But I modified it a bit so the effects come out better.”
At my words, Tae-seong made a strange expression. It was a feeling of understanding yet not quite understanding. On the other hand, Hyun-woong seemed to vaguely know what I had done. After all, he had drunk so much of the Tea I brewed that he couldn’t help but know.
“Drink it before you go on the Stage. It will help.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“We’re going. See you later.”
Tae-seong and Hyun-woong immediately headed behind the Stage. I wondered if today’s performance would end well.
“Chansung, can I get a cup of Tea here?”
“Of course.”
Before that, I had to finish brewing the Tea.
***
Tae-seong switched the microphone from hand to hand every minute. He was so nervous that sweat kept flowing from his hands.
‘Can I do well?’
If he couldn’t sing even after pushing himself this far, there might be no hope. So, he had to sing today no matter what. The pressure felt like it was tightening around his breath.
“Are you okay?”
“Huh? Yeah.”
“You look like you’re going to collapse any second.”
At Hyun-woong’s words, Tae-seong waved his hand.
“I’m fine. Just nervous.”
“Why? Worried you won’t be able to sing?”
“Yeah. What if I disappoint everyone?”
“Don’t worry about stuff like that. Even if you can’t sing, it’ll be fun in its own way.”
“Is that so?”
“This neighborhood is small. How many households even live here? Failing once here doesn’t mean you’ll live as a failure for the rest of your life.”
At Hyun-woong’s self-deprecating words, Tae-seong couldn’t easily find a response. As an awkward silence flowed, Hyun-woong cleared his throat once and spoke.
“Still, if you’re really anxious, Chansung gave you Tea earlier, right?”
“Huh? Yeah.”
“Drink it. If you drink that, the song will probably burst out. Maybe you’ll even achieve a breakthrough.”
“…What’s the big deal about just one cup of Tea?”
“If you don’t believe it, there’s nothing I can do. But I believe it.”
Hyun-woong tapped Tae-seong’s shoulder and said, “Chansung said you’d be able to sing. Believe in that.”
“You really think highly of Chansung, don’t you?”
“That’s how it turned out. So don’t be too nervous. You’ll do great.”
Tae-seong nodded at Hyun-woong’s consolation.
“You’re going on the Stage in three minutes. Get ready.”
“Yeah.”
Tae-seong caught his breath and looked at the Tea Chansung had given him. He said it would work if he drank that Tea…
After hesitating, Tae-seong picked up the cup.
And then.
The curtain rose for the Main Dish Event.