Goblin Library - Chapter 124

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 124.

“Try it.”
At the Restaurant Staff’s suggestion, Oh Mi-hee sprinkled a pinch of salt and placed it in her mouth.
Her eyes sparkled.
“It’s so tender and delicious.”
As Oh Mi-hee reached for another piece of meat, the Restaurant Staff smiled and spoke.
“It’s better to grill the meat in small batches rather than cooking a lot at once. Since it’s sliced thin, it cooks quickly, and if you overcook it, it becomes dry.”
“That makes sense.”
Oh Mi-hee agreed with the Restaurant Staff’s advice and placed the meat on the griddle.
Sizzle!
As the thinly sliced pork belly’s color changed instantly, the Restaurant Staff spoke.
“And to enjoy the meat properly…”
The Restaurant Staff gently moved the tongs holding the meat as if wiping the griddle.
“If you distribute the heat evenly across the griddle, the meat cooks faster and tastes better.”
“That’s quite a useful skill.”
“Not really a skill. Enjoy your meal.”
At the Restaurant Staff’s words, Oh Mi-hee looked at the griddle and turned off the heat. She decided to finish the Bean Sprout Pork Belly Stew first.

The staff of the Bean Sprout Pork Belly Stew Restaurant had come out to the dining area and were talking while watching Oh Mi-hee.
“Wow… how many servings is that right now?”
“Three servings of Bean Sprout Pork Belly Stew, five servings of thinly sliced pork belly… and even two squids…”
Squid wasn’t originally sold at the restaurant. When Oh Mi-hee mentioned that grilling squid on top of the pork belly’s oil would be absolutely delicious, the Restaurant Staff had brought it from a nearby Seafood Soup Restaurant.
If another customer had made such a request, they would have refused, calling them difficult. But watching her eat so heartily and savor every bite made them want to provide anything more.
Oh Mi-hee picked up scissors and cut the squid, then placed it on the griddle.
Sizzle!
As the squid cooked with a delicious aroma, Oh Mi-hee scooped up the oil pooling beside the griddle with a spoon and poured it over the squid.
Sizzle!
“You’re pouring pork fat?”
“That’s what makes it delicious.”
Oh Mi-hee answered with a smile, rubbing the squid back and forth to cook it evenly, then dipped it in salt and ate it.
“Delicious.”
The Restaurant Staff watched Oh Mi-hee’s bright smile with genuine affection.
The Company President standing nearby also smiled and spoke.
“Is it really that delicious?”
“Pork belly and squid grilled together—it’s delicious.”
“Pork belly with squid…”
The Company President paused in thought, then spoke.
“Is it truly delicious?”
“Yes, it’s really tasty.”
Oh Mi-hee then wrapped squid in thin-sliced pork belly, dipped it lightly in salt, and offered it.
“Please try this.”
“Ah… very well.”
The Company President smiled and accepted it with his chopsticks, placing it in his mouth.
Then he nodded approvingly.
“Delicious.”
“Right? And I think if you grill the squid too much, it won’t be as good. It’s much more tender when you eat it just as the color begins to change.”
“You’re right. Squid does become a bit tough when grilled too long.”
At that moment, Oh Mi-hee suddenly remembered something and spoke to the Company President.
“Many people love meat, but there are also those who prefer seafood. Squid especially.”
“That’s true.”
“I think customers would enjoy squid as a side dish too.”
At Oh Mi-hee’s suggestion, the Company President gazed at the squid for a moment, then stroked his chin.
“It does taste good, but…”
The Factory Employee chimed in with a smile, “Sir, wouldn’t adding squid as a side to the Bean Sprout Pork Belly Stew work too? You’d just need to add one squid to the steaming pot.”
The Company President tilted his head at the Factory Employee’s suggestion.
“Squid?”
“Seafood stew dishes have plenty of squid in them.”
At that remark, Oh Mi-hee looked at the steaming pot and shook her head.
“I don’t think that would work.”
“Huh? Why? You enjoyed the squid just fine.”
At the Restaurant Staff’s words, Oh Mi-hee laughed. She alternated between formal and casual speech.
Perhaps because she knew she should speak formally to a customer, but as she talked, she found herself thinking of him like a daughter—so endearing that she naturally dropped the formality.
Then, remembering he was a customer, she would raise her speech level again.
Of course, she seemed entirely unaware of this pattern.
Oh Mi-hee began explaining her reason for disagreeing with the Restaurant Staff.
“Squid has its own distinctive aroma.”
“That’s true.”
“If you steam it together with the pork belly in the pot, the flavors will blend. I think…”
Oh Mi-hee gazed at the empty steaming pot and spoke.
“The Bean Sprout Pork Belly Stew as it is now is perfect.”
Then she voiced her thought once more.
“I don’t think anything should be added to it or taken away from it.”
The Company President laughed loudly.
“Ha ha ha! In all my years, I’ve never heard such a thing.”
“Oh! I was far too presumptuous.”
“Not at all. Not at all.”
The Company President waved his hand dismissively.
“While I’m also a manager, first and foremost I’m someone who cooks. As a cook, I take pride in saying my food is the best….”
The Company President smiled as he looked at Oh Mi-hee.
“That’s the highest compliment and blessing I could receive.”
Oh Mi-hee smiled back, then quickly transferred the squid that was cooking on the griddle to a front plate.
“It got too cooked while we were talking.”
“Not at all. When it’s lightly cooked, it’s tender and soft with a delicate flavor. Cook it a bit more and it becomes chewy.”
After answering this way, Oh Mi-hee took a bite of the squid and smiled.
“It’s delicious.”
Seeing Oh Mi-hee’s expression, the Company President stood up.
“I’m going to pop over to the Seafood Soup Restaurant for a bit.”
“Isn’t it almost time for customers to arrive?”
“I want to ask how much they charge for squid and check the quality.”
“So you’ll add squid as a side dish?”
“I won’t put it in the stew, but I’ll add squid as a side to the pork belly. There’s no extra cooking involved—just trim and grill it, so it won’t require much labor. And if we price it reasonably, we’ll make a profit. Oh! And….”
The Company President looked at Oh Mi-hee.
“The shrimp sauce you eat with the stew is a really great idea.”
“It was delicious, wasn’t it?”
“Exactly.”
The Company President had watched Oh Mi-hee eat, then prepared a single serving for himself and the staff to try with shrimp sauce.
“We’re planning to serve shrimp sauce from now on too.”
“It’s just my personal taste, so it might be different from what others prefer.”
“Everyone’s taste is pretty much the same. If customers enjoy it, I enjoy it, and our staff enjoyed it, then most people will probably enjoy it too. Come back once more later. If lots of people are enjoying the food with shrimp sauce by then, I’ll give you some generous service.”
The Company President laughed and looked at Oh Mi-hee.
“And today I’ll give you a 20,000 won discount.”
“No, I need to pay the full price since I’m doing a food broadcast.”
“Haha! Alright then. Instead, ma’am, let me give you complimentary drinks.”
“I’ve already received two drinks.”
At the Company President’s words, Oh Mi-hee looked around the table and spoke. True to her words, there were already two cans—a Sprite and a Coke—on the table.
“Please, go ahead. Haha!”
The Company President laughed cheerfully as he spoke, then turned back to look at Oh Mi-hee before leaving.
“You’re a young person with a special talent.”
“A special talent?”
“The talent of making delicious food taste even more delicious.”
After the Company President left the restaurant, Oh Mi-hee reflected on his words and smiled.
The talent of making delicious food taste even more delicious….
It was truly a wonderful thing to hear. And truthfully, Oh Mi-hee wanted to savor food with many different flavors.
She wanted to discover the joy of eating—something she hadn’t known for over twenty years—even now.
As Oh Mi-hee smiled and wrapped the pork belly and squid to eat, the Restaurant Staff placed a Coke and a Sprite on the table.
“Enjoy your meal.”
“I will, thank you.”
The Factory Employee watching Oh Mi-hee eat suddenly asked a question.
“When eating squid and pork belly together, what’s the best thing to dip it in?”
Oh Mi-hee answered with a smile.
“That’s all about personal taste.”
“Then what do you like best?”
“Right now, just a light sprinkle of salt.”
Oh Mi-hee poured herself a cola and drank it refreshingly, then returned her chopsticks to the pork belly and squid.
And then….
The other customers in the restaurant kept glancing at Oh Mi-hee. The working staff had been proudly telling everyone how much she had eaten.
“That customer is a mukbang creator, and right now she’s eating….”
“She really eats so deliciously.”
The customers were truly amazed. Eight servings of meat fitting into such a small frame.
And that wasn’t all….
“Auntie, I’ll have one bowl of ramen please.”
“Ramen…. Uh… understood.”
As the Factory Employee, who had long since realized that questions like ‘She’s going to eat that too?’ were meaningless, placed the order in the kitchen, Oh Mi-hee spoke.
“Please make it nice and spicy with some hot peppers.”
“Of course.”
And shortly after, the Factory Employee brought out the ramen.
As the bowl was set before her, Oh Mi-hee inhaled the aroma and began eating deliciously with satisfied slurps.
In just a few bites, she finished the entire bowl, then smiled brightly and picked up her GoPro to film the empty space where her meal had been as she said.
“Thank you for the meal.”
The Restaurant Staff approached with a laugh at Oh Mi-hee’s manner.
“At first I wondered how you’d eat it all… I was worrying for nothing.”
At the staff member’s words, Oh Mi-hee smiled softly and began putting the seasonings and side dish containers she had brought into her burgundy bag.
After tidily gathering her belongings, Oh Mi-hee bowed to the staff.
“Thank you so much for the delicious meal.”
“When you say it like that, it really feels like we served you something delicious.”
At the staff member’s words, Oh Mi-hee lowered her head and went to the counter to pay.
After paying, Oh Mi-hee took one last look around the restaurant and filmed the storefront sign with her GoPro.
“The Bean Sprout Pork Belly Stew Restaurant is truly delicious. First of all, the quality of the sliced pork belly is excellent. The steamed version is great and the grilled version is great too. When you grill the pork belly and squid together, it tastes even better.”
Speaking her impressions as if recording her mukbang review, Oh Mi-hee turned off the GoPro and alternated her gaze between the device and the sign, then nodded.
“I’d like to share with people how to eat delicious food even more deliciously.”
Eating delicious food at a great restaurant was wonderful. But she thought it would be even better to share with people how to eat delicious food even more deliciously.
Just as she had discovered restaurants through mukbang YouTubers.
Lost in thought for a moment, she searched the area on her phone.
Following the map displayed on her phone, Oh Mi-hee found the Bookstore and entered.
She began selecting books while browsing the shelves filled with them.

Korean Dining Table
The Flavor of Ingredients
Eat Well and Stay Healthy

All three books contained stories about food. However, one of them—Eat Well and Stay Healthy—had a slight difference.
This book dealt with food as medicine among food-related topics; specifically, it covered foods that became remedies when consumed properly and the methods of eating them.

***

While reading, Yu Tae-poong glanced at the Dung Carrier Goblin.
“Are you familiar with the concept of food as medicine?”
“Of course. It’s the idea that eating well alone can cure ailments and bring good health.”
“What do you think about it?”
The Dung Carrier Goblin laughed at Yu Tae-poong’s question.
“The sky is high, and the earth is vast.”
“What do you mean by that all of a sudden?”
“It means it’s that obvious.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin closed the book and looked at Yu Tae-poong.
“Drinking a refreshing glass of water the moment you wake in the morning—that’s the first step of food as medicine.”
“Water?”
Seeing Yu Tae-poong’s puzzled expression, the Dung Carrier Goblin smiled.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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