They Told Me to Build Good Karma by Selling Side Dishes - Chapter 96

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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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96. Seasoned Burdock Root Greens (1)

“Ptooey! Ptooey?! Ptooey?!”
“Ptoooey ptoooey ptoooey meow!”

Hae-tae stuck out her tongue as if she’d swallowed something inedible, scrubbing it frantically with her front paws. The way her eyes narrowed fiercely told me this was no jest.

“Hae-tae! Is it really that unpalatable!?”
“It doesn’t taste like spring greens at all! How can spring greens skewers taste like nothing but seasoning—does such a dish even exist in this world, meow!”
“Is the seasoning not to your liking?”
“It’s not, meow!”
“Really? Your tastes are that particular?”

I’d been trying to construct it similarly to how one would prepare tteokbokki skewers with a seasoning sauce.

“But you’re fine with it plain?”
“I think humans might have different tastes, meow.”
“Still, that spitting was excessive!”
“It was my first time tasting that seasoning, meow!”
“Your… first time?”
“I’ve never eaten a seasoning like that before, meow.”
“I thought you ate everything.”
“Even I have my firsts, meow!”

I’d assumed she’d tried most Korean seasonings by now.

“Have you ever eaten truffle?”
“I know about truffle, meow!”
“You do? What about this?”
“I know it was used in fine dining at luxury hotels back in the day, meow.”

She even knew that much.

‘A cat with refined taste.’

“Then what about salsa, chimichurri, marinara and things like that?”
“What’s that, meow?”
“I’ll make you lots of delicious dishes.”
“Someone who just talks without doing it is a bad person, meow.”
“What happens if I become a bad person?”
“I won’t let you use the Vegetable Garden, meow.”
“Ah, that won’t do.”

The Vegetable Garden was important. Hae-tae’s eyes sparkled with unusual brightness. She seemed delighted at the prospect of eating not just Korean cuisine, but international dishes as well.

“Besides, when I run the Side Dish Shop, we’ll be together anyway, right?”
“Meow?”
“What, you don’t think so?”

Hae-tae hesitated for a moment, then nodded. I popped a spring vegetable tempura into my mouth and sat down in the chair.

“Maybe I should rest a bit….”

I sat in the chair, surveying the chaotic Kitchen, and pulled out my smartphone.

“What are you trying to look at, meow?”
“My hobby these days.”
“A hobby, meow?”

After those guys left, clicking through YouTube channels one by one had become my hobby.

“The videos are funny.”
“Funny, meow?”
“Look.”

[Galbi Jjim Grilled That You Keep Picking At!]
[Side Dishes I Only Just Realized! #Seasoned Fatsia Shoots]
[With This, You Don’t Need Separate Side Dishes. #Dureum Jeon]

Over the past few days, laughter bubbled up as I watched the variety of side dishes uploaded from the Simple Cooking Chef channel.

‘They’ve uploaded every single side dish that appears in our shop.’

The timing was too subtle to dismiss as coincidence. Ever since they visited our shop, the types of side dishes being uploaded one after another were undeniably blatant.

“A few of them borrowed from my recipes.”
“How did you know that?”
“Well, they copied the recipes I wrote in the captions word for word. So how could I not notice?”

Hae-tae tilted his head adorably.

“Look here.”
“Meow?”

I showed him the caption on the short video that read “fragrant on the outside, crispy on the inside.”

“I wrote that backwards in my original recipe, and they used it exactly as is.”
“Meow?”
“It means they didn’t even proofread.”

Hae-tae let out a scoff.

“So that’s what happens when you rush.”

Hae-tae stared intently at the screen, then swished his tail.

“How will you prove these are your recipes then?”
“I won’t bother.”
“You won’t prove it?”
“It’s destined to fail anyway.”

I let out a scoff of my own.

The whole structure was designed with the Spring Festival in mind—side dishes hastily created just to show off to someone.

‘Their memory is impressive, at least.’

They’d quickly recreated the vegetable side dishes from our shop and structured them into short videos, as if preemptively displaying their own recipes.

I scrolled down to check the comments section.

– I love the seasoned vegetable side dishes~^^
– I’ll definitely go eat them at the Spring Festival~~~~!!
– Why is the editing so poor;;
– That’s a nice idea.
Here, they say all the recipes are fake lol

“Someone’s in quite a hurry, it seems.”

Those who rushed always showed it. Hae-tae slowly swished his tail and furrowed his brow.

“Tsk tsk, meow.”
“Maybe I should prepare a broth this time.”

Now I needed to find a broth that would complement the spring vegetable skewers. After eating the greasy fried skewers, a refreshing broth would settle the stomach perfectly.

I tightened my loosely hanging apron and headed toward the Refrigerator.

The moment I opened the door.

‘Hmm?’

A single white feather slowly drifted down from inside the Refrigerator. I reached out my hand but froze in place.

“What are you doing, meow?”
“Huh? A white feather suddenly appeared.”
“A white feather, meow?”
“Yeah. A white feather.”

Shin Yeop-baek’s warning had come. Hae-tae, who had descended from the table, looked at the Refrigerator and then glanced up at me.

“There’s nothing there now, meow.”
“Nothing?”

When I looked at the Refrigerator again, the white feather was gone.

‘That’s strange?’

Hae-tae looked at me and asked.

“Be careful today, meow.”
“Why?”
“That’s what the signs tell me, meow.”

Perhaps today’s fortune was unfavorable. I suspected it would be a day of struggle.

***

The sun had completely sunk below the horizon. Yet its light seemed reluctant to reach my side. While I hadn’t achieved a perfect broth, I had at least extracted a decent one.

‘I’ll feed this to Hae-tae tomorrow.’

Since I’d fed him so much spring vegetable tempura at lunch, he hadn’t shown up for dinner. I was afraid to give him more—worried he’d become even more of a glutton.

‘This greedy creature.’

His preferences were certainly decisive.

“Phew…!”

I tidied the shop, lowering the shutter and switching off the lights one by one.

That was all for today!

I stretched with a yawn, removed my apron, and grabbed my padded jacket. I hurried up the stairs.

“I left the light on.”

The Second Floor was lit. It happened occasionally—I must have left it on this morning when I came down.

Such trivial matters. On exhausting days, my mind wasn’t fully present, so it wasn’t unusual to leave lights on.

‘I really am careless.’

I yawned and grasped the doorknob. The metal felt unusually warm against my palm. Leaving that question unanswered, I gripped it firmly and turned.

That was when it happened.

“Ji-gu, you’re home?”

A voice I had truly longed to hear reached my ears. It was a voice I had tried not to dwell on, yet one I had hoped to encounter again, even just once.

“….”

My breath caught, and no sound emerged from my throat.

“Ji-gu?”

I slowly lifted my head to face the being who had called my name. Whether it was a jest or not. Whether it was real or merely a phantom. The one I had longed to see was….

“Grandmother Hyang-suk?”
“Ji-gu?”
“…Grandmother Hyang-suk?”

It was my grandmother. At least in appearance.

“Ji-gu? What are you doing?”
“…I can’t seem to move my feet.”

I paused for a moment to think.

‘Is this a dream? Or is it reality?’

Was I seeing things that weren’t there? Or was an Evil Spirit playing tricks on me again, mimicking a human form?

I knew the answer well enough.

‘It’s the latter.’

“How was business at your shop, Ji-gu?”
“We didn’t have many customers today.”
“How was business at your shop, Ji-gu?”
“I’m not sure.”

I smiled and placed my padded jacket on the sofa.

“I should put it in my room instead.”

And the figure approaching me casually tapped my arm.

“Ji-gu, you should leave it in your room.”

I repeated the same words.

“Okay.”

I lowered my gaze and examined the back of Grandmother Hyang-suk’s hand—the one that had struck my arm.

“Ji-gu, get ready.”
“Okay. No, wait.”

My voice came out calmer than expected.

“Ji-gu, get ready.”

The Grandmother Hyang-suk in my memories didn’t have hands like these. She had burn scars from gripping hot pots long ago.

A faint scar in the center of the back of her hand—a mark that became more pronounced every winter.

‘That mark isn’t there.’

It was a fake. Then the Evil Spirit was playing tricks. This was the “caution” that Hae-tae had warned me about.

“What’s for dinner tonight?”

I kept my smile in place.

“Ji-gu, it’s steamed egg.”
“I liked steamed egg?”
“Ji-gu, of course you did.”

The fake Grandmother Hyang-suk went to the Kitchen and returned with the steamed egg, placing it on the table. Steam rose gently from the dish, and the corners of my mouth lifted.

“You made it well?”
“Ji-gu, try it.”
“Okay. It looks delicious.”

I had never once said I liked steamed egg.

“Ji-gu, try some.”
“Okay. Later.”

I sat down without picking up my chopsticks.

“Grandmother should eat first.”
“Ji-gu, why?”
“You had a hard time waiting for me.”

The fake grandmother looked at me.

“Grandmother is fine.”

Then came the familiar grandmother’s smile. The imitation was perfect. Only… she didn’t know which foods I disliked.

“Ji-gu, are you struggling?”
“Grandmother.”
“Ji-gu, are you struggling?”

If it were the real grandmother, she would have fed me steamed egg with a spoon.

“Ji-gu, are you struggling?”

The same words repeating on loop. It seemed like she’d keep saying it unless I ate the steamed egg.

“Do I have to eat this to move on?”
“Ji-gu, are you struggling?”
“I’ll eat it. Just a little.”

I picked up a spoon and gently scooped the edge of the steamed egg. Steam scattered inside the bowl.

“But do you remember what grandmother said when I told her I didn’t like steamed egg?”

The fake grandmother didn’t answer.

“Never mind.”

What would a fake know? I put the steamed egg in my mouth and chewed.

“Hmm.”

It tasted bland.

“Does it taste good, Ji-gu?”
“Yes.”
“Does it taste good, Ji-gu?”

I scooped another spoonful of steamed egg and deliberately brought it to my mouth to show her.

“How is it? See?”

I set the spoon down again and spoke.

“I’ll eat more later.”
“Ji-gu should finish it all.”
“Right. I can finish it all.”

The fake Grandmother Hyang-suk’s expression grew sullen.

“Now that I think about it, Grandmother, do you remember when you used to sprinkle red chili powder on my steamed egg when I was little?”
“Ji-gu remembers.”

Wrong.

“You always ate it well back then, remember? You remember how much Ji-gu loved it.”

Wrong again. Only then did I lift my head. I met the fake Grandmother Hyang-suk’s gaze.

“Do you really remember?”

She seemed to realize where she had gone wrong. A smile played at the corners of my lips.

“Never mind.”
“….”
“It’s ancient history anyway. My tastes have changed since then, so it tastes good now.”

The fake Grandmother Hyang-suk nodded at last. It was a lifeless, doll-like movement.

‘Truly….’

If I’m going to act, I might as well do it properly.

“Grandmother Hyang-suk, go rest in your room. I’ll rest on the sofa.”
“Ji-gu, why?”
“Why do you think?”

I offered no further explanation and shifted my body toward the sofa. I pulled a cushion into my embrace and leaned back deeply against it.

“It’s comfortable here. You know that.”
“Ji-gu, you’ve always rested here often.”
“Yes. Today I just want to rest without thinking about anything.”
“Ji-gu, you’ve always rested here often.”
“Yes. So you should rest too, Grandmother Hyang-suk.”

The false grandmother rose from her chair and entered the room. The sound of the door closing… was unnaturally crisp. Only then did I lie down on the sofa, resting my head against the cushion.

‘What is this feeling.’

…Even the false grandmother weighed on my mind as a grandmother. No matter how much I tried not to think about it. I was gazing quietly up at the darkened ceiling.

Poke.

A strange pressure touched my cheek. As I opened my eyes at the slight pressing sensation, Hae-tae was right before my face.

“Hae-tae?”
“Shh, meow.”

The soft paw of Hae-tae brushed against my lips. A sign to stay silent.

“She can’t hear what I say, meow.”
“….”
“If you speak, the Evil Spirit will come out of the room again, meow.”

I nodded in understanding.

“At least she’s not being bothersome, meow.”
“Hmm?”

I echoed her question with a questioning sound. Hae-tae withdrew her front paws and settled onto my belly, leaning against me. She was rather heavy.

“That one from earlier, meow.”
“…?”
“The Evil Spirit, meow.”

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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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