They Told Me to Build Good Karma by Selling Side Dishes - Chapter 57

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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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57. Kimchi-Making (2)

You’re being completely sincere, aren’t you?

“…In truth, these days it’s not particularly special for a place to make kimchi for kimchi-making season themselves, is it? I thought you only sold side dishes, and if I’d known you made kimchi for the season as well, I would have made a reservation in advance.”

…He’s serious. This man really is.

“Since you’re a regular customer anyway, Oh Jong-hee, I’ll set some aside for you. Come by and have fun with your family.”
“…Is that truly acceptable? Wouldn’t that be inconsiderate to my fellow regular customers?”
“Well, you’re a regular at my shop. If I set some aside for you, who’s going to say anything about it?”

Besides, the relationship between a shop owner and their regulars is built on mutual loyalty. In nicer terms, it’s called ‘affection.’

“To receive such treatment as a regular customer… it’s truly an honor.”

Oh Jong-hee’s face brightened with genuine emotion.

“I’ll stop by on Sunday.”
“Yes, take care. Have lots of fun!”

His footsteps as he walked toward the mart exit seemed remarkably cheerful. His steps were light and bouncy.

***

I pulled the cart piled high with kimchi-making ingredients toward the shop. The rattling wheels scraping against the unpaved road sounded oddly comforting.

“…This is exhausting, meow.”

Hae-tae, who had merely watched, seemed tired and kept nodding off as I dragged the cart along.

“You only watched, though?”
“Being dragged around is tiring too, meow….”

I let out a small laugh at the absurdity and was turning quietly down the path when—

I spotted Lee Hae-ra trudging along with her arms full of beer and soju bottles. What was all this alcohol for?

“Lee Hae-ra?”
“Oh! B-boss!”

I gripped the handle of my cart tightly and came to a stop.

“…Did you buy alcohol?”
“Yes, well… I just wanted to go home and drink tonight…”

Lee Hae-ra laughed awkwardly and rubbed her neck—like a patient who’d just seen the Doctor.

“Surely you have some side dishes to go with it?”
“O-of course I do!”

Well, if she’d bought that much alcohol, she’d better have something to eat with it. I sidled up beside Lee Hae-ra and asked what she’d been up to.

“I was wondering what was going on since you haven’t been to our shop.”
“I think I had a cold. After I got some good rest recently, I stopped having nightmares and my body feels so much lighter…!”
“That’s wonderful!”
“Yes! It’s wonderful!”

I casually pulled my cart along.

“Oh…? What are you doing at the shop?”
“Making kimchi!”
“M-making kimchi!?”

Lee Hae-ra shook the bottles she was holding in alarm.

“I thought you only made side dishes at the Side Dish Shop…?”
“Kimchi is a side dish, isn’t it?”
“Well, yes, but making kimchi looks so exhausting…!”
“Does it really? Do I look exhausted?”

Hmm?

‘She’s worried about me?’

So I deliberately put on a listless expression. I even felt like drawing dark circles under my eyes.

“Sigh… well, when you do it alone, that’s how it goes…. A person gets lonely… tears come…. I wonder if I have to do everything by myself….”

At my lament, Lee Hae-ra’s expression crumbled for a moment.

“Oh… oh no? Boss…. All by yourself….”

I stifled a laugh internally.

“I’m really a terrible person, meow.”

No matter what Hae-tae said from above.

I leaned my body against the cart handle as if exhausted and let out a deep sigh.

“Like this… there’s no one to look after the shop….”

Lee Hae-ra clutched the soju and fidgeted in confusion.

“Boss… are you really struggling that much? It’s just a few heads of kimchi…”
“About… 200 heads? There are lots of customers these days… and my back hurts….”
“You… you’ve been having such a hard time!?”

This was when I brought up the right thing to say.

“Then Lee Hae-ra… do you have time tomorrow?”
“To… tomorrow?”

Lee Hae-ra looked up at me with wide eyes.

“Yes. Would you like to try working a shift tomorrow? A change of pace? Some fresh air?”
“…Me?!”

Lee Hae-ra practically shrieked. The soju and beer she was holding clinked against each other.

“I can handle the kimchi preparation on my own. I was hoping you could help out with the shop instead… but honestly, it’s not particularly difficult work.”
“…Yes? Why me?”
“Why? You’ve worked part-time at our shop quite often before, haven’t you? I thought you’d be really good at it, Lee Hae-ra!”
“That was just… a temporary favor….”

Lee Hae-ra fell silent.

“What do you say? I’ll pay generous wages. While you’re working, you can have unlimited delicious side dishes…. I’ll even give you some of the kimchi I make. And boiled pork too….”
“Y-yes…? I, I…!”

Her voice was too quiet to hear.

“What did you say?”

Only then did Lee Hae-ra lift her head and answer in a ringing voice.

“I want to try it…!”

Perfect. She’d taken the bait beautifully. I grinned.

“You can do this, Lee Hae-ra!”
“Yes? Yes! I, I can do this well!”

I loaded the cart with kimchi ingredients and dragged it toward the shop. The sound of it scraping against the unpaved road felt oddly comforting.

I slowly grasped the cart again and began pulling it at an easy pace. Lee Hae-ra kept step with me, her expression clouded with worry.

“Boss… I… well… I’ve never worked a part-time job before… and I can’t even operate a register or anything…”

I stopped in my tracks on the hill where the unpaved road told me to slow down, and looked directly at Lee Hae-ra.

“Why worry about such things?”
“Yes, yes?”

She opened her eyes wide like a startled rabbit.

“It’s just… I was afraid I’d be a burden if I did something wrong….”
“It’s your first time. Of course you won’t know how.”

I placed one hand on the cart handle and tilted my head slightly.

“Who operates a register perfectly from day one? It’s natural not to know—what’s difficult is trying to do well.”

People who excel from the start are living their second life. Lee Hae-ra’s lips curved slowly into a smile.

“When you… say it like that… I feel a bit more at ease….”

I laughed playfully.

“Now hand your worries over to me, and just learn the job.”
“Then… what time should I come in tomorrow?”
“Eight in the morning!”

Like someone who’d made a firm decision, Lee Hae-ra clenched her fist. Soon the sign for Hyang-suk’s Side Dish Shop came into view.

“Yes, yes! I’ll come at eight in the morning tomorrow!”
“Get home safely! Sleep well! I’ll see you when you wake up.”

As Lee Hae-ra’s figure disappeared around the corner of the alley, a profound silence finally settled over the evening. Then a small voice came from above my head.

“Are you going into the Dimensional Space to salt the cabbage now?”

Hae-tae squirmed on top of my head as he spoke.

“Yeah. I need to go into the Dimensional Space and harvest the cabbage.”

I pulled the cart, closed the shop door, and headed toward the back door.

“Pulling two hundred heads of cabbage is going to be tough.”
“If it gets tough, I’ll just cough up some blood. No big deal.”

That’s how I’ve always lived!

“…This human knows no limits.”

I watched Hae-tae drop to the ground as I put on the apron and work gloves I’d prepared beforehand.

“Let’s go.”

As I pulled Gul-ma through the threshold of the Dimensional Space, that distinctive temperature and pressure enveloped my entire body. Then late autumn, preparing for winter, overwhelmed me with its landscape.

Through the cold expanse, cabbages revealed themselves in the Vegetable Garden. Beneath the settled autumn sunlight, the cabbages had ripened with substantial weight.

“Ooh… they’ve grown beautifully, haven’t they?”

Between the cabbage leaves, a chill settled as if touched by autumn frost. Hae-tae exhaled and spoke.

“If we take them now, they’ll be perfect for pickling!”
“Right! Let’s start immediately.”

I rolled up my sleeves and grasped one cabbage firmly with both hands. The cold vitality settled heavily in my palms. It felt like lifting the raw strength that nature had accumulated over time.

‘You’ve endured so much over this year.’

This cabbage had grown sturdy by receiving sunlight and wind on its own. In an empty Vegetable Garden, it must have grown even stronger in solitude.

“Hnngh!”

Strong roots snapped from the cabbage’s base, and moderately damp soil scattered away. My eyes widened at the fresh scent of something freshly harvested.

Ding!

[Cabbage Infused with Soil’s Essence (S)]

And an S-grade cabbage appeared.

“A premium cabbage?”
“A cabbage that grows well on its own is premium.”
“That’s right!”

I cradled the cabbage and carefully transferred it onto Gul-ma.

“Now one more….”

…I could manage about 200 more. Ha ha!

***

This is it. The last one.

[Napa Cabbage Infused with Earth’s Essence (S)]

I cut the base of the final cabbage, placed it on the cart, and collapsed right there in exhaustion.

“Haaaaaah….”

My arms trembled, my lower back ached, and dirt was caked between my work gloves. The sheer relief of having finished flooded through me from head to toe.

“This is exhausting, meow….”
“What did you even do to be tired….”
“Just watching is exhausting, meow….”
“Fair point….”

I braced my hands against the ground and gazed blankly up at the sky. It bore the essence of late autumn—crisp and luminous, with a clarity that seeped into the soul.

‘I never imagined it would be this grueling….’

Kimchi preparation is a battle of endurance from start to finish. The reality that I still had to salt, rinse, season, and do countless other tasks ahead made me laugh despite myself.

“Will I even make it back alive today?”
“You already look dead, meow!”
“…Is that so?”

Something about returning to my roots….

“It feels like back when I was making red chili powder….”
“This is twice as hard, meow.”
“That’s true.”

Still, looking at the cabbages I’d gathered, I felt a small sense of accomplishment. Each head I’d painstakingly pulled from the earth was now piled high on the cart.

“Now I need to wash the cabbages….”

I pushed myself up by my waist with a loud crack as my joints extended. Hae-tae rose as well, but stumbled slightly, as if strength had drained from his legs.

“…What’s wrong?”
“Feeling a bit dizzy, meow….”

Anyway.

“I did all the hard work.”
“Watching is exhausting too, you know.”

With that, I grasped the handle of the cart and pulled it from the Dimensional Space toward the Shop Backyard. For a moment, my head spun.

Several large rubber basins, the scent of peeled garlic, a damp floor, cutting boards, and more. Now I had to seriously begin washing the cabbages.

“Pheeew…!”

I positioned the cart in place.

“Get started, meow!”
“Got it!”

Encouraged by Hae-tae, I filled the rubber basin with water.

I peeled away the thick, sturdy outer leaves and extracted the inner head. Drawing out a knife, I sliced it in half with a swift motion, and the cross-section revealed pristine white striations spreading delicately.

“…This is absolutely perfect.”

Of course, finding quality cabbage required effort. There was no choice but to go to the market and painstakingly inspect each one myself.

‘One careless moment and I could end up with inferior cabbage.’

It had happened before.

I picked up the next cabbage. Cut it in half again, then halved it once more, and pushed it deep into the water.

The cold salt water seeped through the layers, and it sank heavily downward.

“Boss…!”
“Ji-gu!”

Two familiar voices overlapped. Still wearing rubber gloves, I poked my head out from the shop.

Grandmother Myeong-ja stood holding two shopping baskets in her hands, and beside her, the Twins were waving.

“Grandmother?”

I hurried to open the shop door and greeted the visitor.

“Ji-gu, were you planning to pickle the cabbage by yourself?”
“…How did you know that?”
“Word got around the neighborhood that you were washing cabbage.”
“What? People are talking about it? In the neighborhood…?”

Grandmother Myeong-ja laughed heartily, as she always did.

“Some girl loaded two bags of sea salt onto a cart and dragged it along by herself. Everyone’s saying Grandmother Hyang-suk’s granddaughter must be incredibly strong~”

I was at a loss for words.

‘News travels that fast in the neighborhood?’

Song Ae-rim raised her hand eagerly.

“Boss! We’re here for labor experience learning!”

Song Ae-hyuk raised his hand halfway, looking exhausted.

“…I was dragged here against my will.”

I didn’t even have a chance to say they didn’t need to help. Grandmother Myeong-ja had already assessed the situation and strode purposefully toward the backyard.

“W-Grandmother!”
“Ji-gu, you’re fearless. You were going to pickle all this by yourself?”

Grandmother’s eyes widened as she took in the basin half-filled with water and the mountain of cabbage piled high.

“…I thought it would be possible to do it alone. Pickling is…”

My voice became impossibly small. I’d handled similar amounts when making quick-pickled vegetables at the Restaurant before. It was possible, wasn’t it?

‘Looking at Grandmother’s expression… was it possible but something I shouldn’t have done alone?’

“Goodness, if you do all this alone, your back will give out! Ae-rim! Pour the water! Ae-hyuk! Bring the cabbage!”

Grandmother Myeong-ja barked orders at the Twins, then turned her final arrow toward me.

“And Ji-gu!”

I automatically straightened my posture.

“You move too!”

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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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