They Told Me to Build Good Karma by Selling Side Dishes - Chapter 20

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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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20. Seasoned Fatsia Shoots (1)

“Take a look at this!”

I opened the paper bag Grandfather had given me and examined its contents. Inside lay the remaining seasoned fatsia shoots.

‘Does he want a refund?’

“Was the seasoned fatsia shoots you had yesterday not to your liking?”
“It’s not that it was bad~!”

Grandfather raised his voice slightly as he continued.

“It’s just a bit different from how Grandmother Hyang-suk used to make it!”

…I needed to understand specifically how my grandmother’s version differed from mine.

“Would it be alright if I tasted it myself?”
“Yes, of course you may.”

I quickly retrieved chopsticks and took a bite of the remaining seasoned fatsia shoots.

The nutty richness of perilla oil mingled with the salty tang of soy sauce, harmonizing with the fresh, verdant aroma of the fatsia shoots themselves—a symphony of umami that filled my mouth.

Even though I had made it.

‘It tastes similar to Grandmother’s.’

This vegetable had graced my plate so often throughout childhood that its flavor remained vivid on my palate.

This was the taste I remembered from my grandmother. Yet if there was a difference….

Grandmother had preserved the fresh, verdant essence of the fatsia shoots while prioritizing the harmony between flavor and the vegetables’ natural character above all else.

‘That must be it.’

But I couldn’t explain something like that directly in front of a customer.

“There is a difference, I suppose.”

Acknowledging it was also part of doing business.

At my words, Grandfather nodded with quiet dignity.

“I heard recently that the shop had reopened, so I made a point of coming by.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“But the taste is different from before….”

I didn’t need to hear the rest. Honestly, if a shop I’d loved had changed its head chef, I would’ve been upset too.

‘I probably wouldn’t have come back at all.’

“Then, did you find the seasoned aralia shoots I made to your liking?”

When I asked in a measured tone, Grandfather seemed to suppress a hint of irritation.

“Well, I haven’t actually tasted it, so I wouldn’t know.”
“You… haven’t?”

…He hadn’t eaten it? Watching Grandfather’s stern demeanor, doubt began to creep into my mind. Something was off. The conversation’s focus seemed strangely misaligned.

‘He keeps saying only that the taste is different.’

Each word felt like it was catching on something. On the surface, the conversation continued smoothly, but inside it felt hollow and empty—as though he hadn’t intended to eat it himself in the first place.

That was the moment.

Above Grandfather’s head, turned apologetically to the side, a semi-transparent window materialized with startling clarity.

‘Was he a previous customer?’

I hastily checked [More Details].

[Customer Status – View More]
Name: Yeom Sim-hun
Recommendation: Food his wife enjoys
Status: Wishes to feed his wife food she enjoys. (?-?)
Reward: Good Karma ‘1’ Point

‘Ah. So his wife was the one who ate it.’

That explained why his wife noticed the taste had changed. That’s why he’d returned to the shop.

Every mystery unraveled cleanly.

“Excuse me, but was there someone else who ate it? From the beginning, it sounded like you weren’t the one who actually tried it.”

Grandfather nodded silently.

“My wife. She was quite fond of the side dishes from Hyang-suk’s Side Dish Shop.”

Grandfather Yeom Sim-hun’s voice grew noticeably softer. He continued speaking with a proud smile gracing his lips.

“We used to live in Ji-gu’s Neighborhood. But when we moved away and left this area, I couldn’t come to this side dish shop anymore.”
“If you moved far away, it must have been difficult to visit here.”
“Indeed. But it seems the effort was worthwhile.”

I met Grandfather’s gaze directly and spoke.

“Grandfather, would you be able to come again tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow… come again?”

Grandfather’s eyes widened in confusion.

“Yes. If the taste is different, I can simply match it to be the same, right?”
“That’s true.”
“Right now, I can’t just make seasoned fatsia shoots.”

I swept my gaze across the shop and smiled. Only then did Grandfather seem to come to his senses, his eyes closing tightly.

“I’ll prepare the perfected seasoned fatsia shoots tomorrow for you to try. Please come again tomorrow without fail!”

I gazed at the seasoned fatsia shoots arranged on the counter and dismissed my concerns lightly.

‘I can always make it again and experiment.’

If something was different, there had to be a reason.

Grandfather pondered my words in silence for a moment, then parted his lips.

“Well…”

His voice was too faint for me to hear clearly, so I tilted my head questioningly.

“Grandfather, what did you say?”
“I seem to have been a bit temperamental earlier, and I apologize. Of course, when the owner changes, the taste can naturally differ.”

Grandfather offered an awkward smile and continued.

“Then, would it be alright if my wife and I came by early tomorrow morning?”
“Of course! Absolutely.”

With those words, Grandfather Yeom Sim-hun pulled his fedora down and stepped out of the shop. I watched his retreating figure, then unconsciously furrowed my brow.

An unsolved mystery remained.

‘Why exactly was the taste different?’

It wasn’t merely that the seasoned fatsia shoots tasted different. There was clearly something more to it.

In fact, I felt as though I’d obtained a meaningful clue. After all, there were always side dishes that fell short of Grandmother’s recipes, no matter how faithfully I followed them.

‘…What could be different?’

Memory was inherently imprecise. That made it all the more frustrating.

Without a hint like a dish order form…

“I’ll have to make it and compare.”

Whether I reduced the seasoning or adjusted the flavors incrementally, I had to trace through that process to overcome this challenge.

“For now.”

Let me finish the remaining work in the Kitchen first, then I’ll think about it.

***

I flipped the sign on the Side Dish Shop, removed my apron and mask, then dashed into the Pocket Dimension Garden.

As the evening sun tilted toward the horizon, a shimmering glow spread across each leaf of the vegetables. With every gentle breeze, the crops swayed softly, exhaling their delicate breath.

“Is Hae-tae still….”

In stone form?

Ever since Hae-tae had confronted the Pungsu Divine Being, he had been spending long stretches transformed into a stone statue.

“Hae-tae? Hae-tae!”

As I approached the statue and called out, stone-like eyes blinked slowly. Then a flash of light streaked across, and the rigid stone form shattered and scattered. The familiar Cheese Cat tumbled down and appeared before me.

“What’s the matter, meow.”
“I just wanted to see you, so I called.”

At my words, Hae-tae’s tail wagged rapidly back and forth.

“Hmph, meow. You suddenly call me out and that’s all, meow?”
“Of course I wouldn’t have come if there wasn’t something to do, right?”
“Well, that makes sense, meow.”

His voice was grumbling, but the tip of his tail kept perking upward.

“Is it exhausting to transform into stone?”
“Of course, meow. Have you forgotten how much power I used peeling all those potato skins, meow?”
“Sorry, sorry.”

Now that I thought about it, he had peeled several boxes of potatoes for the tasting corner all by himself. Just remembering it made me feel drained.

‘Even humans accumulate fatigue for days after working all day….’

Even an animal could sense it. Hae-tae stretched languidly, then fixed those crimson eyes upon me with an unwavering gaze.

“Something troubles you, it seems?”
“How did you know?”
“Your eyes lack their usual light.”
“A regular customer from Grandmother Hyang-suk’s time came by. That’s why I came to gather fatsia shoots.”

Hae-tae lifted his head and studied me carefully.

“You appear exhausted.”

At those words, a laugh escaped me unbidden.

“Yeah. It was exhausting.”
“Why was it exhausting?”
“Because when that regular customer came, they said my seasoned fatsia shoots didn’t taste the same as before. I didn’t know what to do about it, so it was difficult.”

Hae-tae descended to the ground and tapped the grass with his front paws. The small impressions left by his paws stood out distinctly against the verdant lawn.

“Sit down.”

I slowly settled onto the grass, cradling the woven basket in my arms.

“How did you truly feel? Were you hurt?”

Hae-tae’s crimson eyes pierced straight through me. As the breeze stirred, his whiskers trembled gently.

“Well…”
“Answer me honestly.”
“That honestly…”

I mumbled before forcing a smile and speaking.

“It was uncomfortable. Being compared to Grandmother Hyang-suk—how much that stung.”
“Is that so?”
“But… it also felt good. It meant there are still people who miss Grandmother Hyang-suk.”

Hae-tae’s ears twitched slightly. A long, weary sound escaped, followed by a low but steady voice.

“It’s fine,” Cheese Cat said.
“What is?”

I followed Hae-tae’s gaze and asked cautiously.

“Grandmother Hyang-suk is Grandmother Hyang-suk, and you are you,” Cheese Cat said.
“…!”
“I’ve felt it watching you for the past few weeks. You’re completely different from Grandmother Hyang-suk,” Cheese Cat said.

At those words, the stone that had been lodged deep within my chest suddenly crumbled and fell away. It felt as though something that had weighed me down for so long was shattering into fragments and scattering into the wind.

“Just as that’s true, the side dishes Grandmother Hyang-suk makes and the ones you make are bound to be different,” Cheese Cat said.
“….”
“Don’t try to blindly follow in her footsteps,” Cheese Cat said.

Hae-tae gazed quietly ahead. The grass rippled like waves in the breeze, and his tail swayed gently in rhythm with the motion. That soft, undulating curve seemed strangely comforting.

“Thank you.”
“That’s better than having ‘struggling’ written all over your face,” Cheese Cat said.

I let out a short laugh and tightened my grip on the basket I’d been holding.

“So there’s no method? Should I just adjust everything to match people’s tastes?”
“Just taste the fatsia shoots,” Cheese Cat said.

Taste them?

“Let’s go,” Cheese Cat said.

Following Hae-tae, the fatsia shoots growing in the center of the Vegetable Garden filled my entire field of vision.

“Pick them one by one and taste them,” Cheese Cat said.

I plucked a fatsia shoot with my fingertips, its leaf veins still vibrant with life.

[Fatsia Shoots of Life Connecting the Earth’s Veins (S)]

“Lucky!”

My eyes snapped open. An S-grade ingredient appearing so brazenly.

‘Just as I thought—when you endure hardship, good fortune follows.’

Without hesitation, I popped the unwashed fatsia shoot into my mouth. The moment the leaf touched my tongue, earthy soil notes mingled with a crisp, fresh herbal aroma. With each chew, a pleasantly bitter-sweet taste glided smoothly down my throat.

But then.

“It’s sweet.”

Could fatsia shoots really taste different from one another?

“Try the others too, meow.”

I hastily tore off more fatsia shoots.

[Fatsia Shoot with Distinctive Aroma (A)]
[Ordinary Fatsia Shoot (B)]

I immediately tasted both the A-grade and B-grade varieties.

“The A-grade is sweeter, and the B-grade has no sweetness at all.”

Suddenly, Hae-tae snatched the fatsia shoot I’d torn off and put it in his mouth.

“Neither the A-grade nor the B-grade tastes sweet to me, meow. Though they used to.”
“Huh?”

Wait. Isn’t it natural for one’s palate to change as you age?

‘How could I have forgotten that?’

“Have you realized now, meow?”
“…I completely blanked on it.”

It was common enough—children who loved sweetness often grew into adults who found it cloying, preferring subtle, delicate flavors instead.

Then perhaps that wife of his had developed a different palate as well.

“Grandmother deliberately seasoned the dishes to preserve that B-grade, tangy flavor whenever she received orders from your wife!”

Hae-tae chuckled at my words.

“That’s right, meow.”

My task was simple: I just needed to match that customer’s palate.

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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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