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Wise Chef Life - Chapter 12

Published at 24th of January 2024 05:48:37 AM


Chapter 12

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Whole Wheat Bread (4)

 

 

***

 

Hae-jun took a step closer to observe the strange animal.

 

With white fur covering its entire body, cute droopy ears, and a strange beard on its chin, it was clear that this creature was a goat.

 

Although there was no description of the animal in his father's notebook, Hae-jun recalled seeing a variety of show programs where celebrities raised goats and milked them.

 

"It's a goat."

 

"A goat? It's cute. But isn't it pregnant?"

 

Chloe commented, looking at the goat's bulging belly.

 

The mother goat was diligently walking around the fence, grazing on grass.

 

The two cautiously approached the goat. The animal paid no attention to them, leisurely munching on grass.

 

"It's going to give birth soon."

 

"Then we need a pen."

 

"Can you make one?"

 

"Of course. I built the chicken coop over there."

 

"You're quite handy, Hae-jun. I guess it's no surprise, considering you built this nice farm."

 

"Let's talk about that later. Anyway, just wait here while I look after the goat."

 

Hae-jun ran towards the warehouse.

 

He erected four pillars at suitable locations inside the fence and built a roof with planks. He laid straw on the floor and generously spread out leaves and grass for food.

 

"Wow, you're skilled."

 

"For a military man, this is a piece of cake."

 

"Military man? Cake?..."

 

Chloe tilted her head at the unfamiliar words.

 

Unable to explain in detail, Hae-jun shrugged with a strange smile and brought over some cabbage to gently tempt the goat. The goat, which had been grazing on grass, naturally entered the pen while eating the cabbage that Hae-jun offered.

 

'It's just like the notebook says. Cabbage is a goat's food...'

 

Hae-jun took out the notebook and added more information about goats.

 

Meanwhile, Chloe squatted in front of the goat pen, staring at it with eyes that seemed to say she could die from cuteness.

 

"Do you like it?"

 

As Chloe asked, the goat bleated and licked the back of her hand.

 

"I think she likes it here too."

 

"I guess so."

 

Now that there was a place to rest, it was fortunate for both the mother goat and the soon-to-be-born kid.

 

However,

 

"But what are we going to do?"

 

"What?"

 

"Chloe doesn't have a proper place to stay."

 

Once his work was done, Hae-jun could return to the real world.

 

However, Chloe had to stay here, so she needed a place to avoid the night dew.

 

"Where do you sleep?"

 

"I can't tell you the details because of my situation, but I don't live here. I just manage the farm."

 

"Can't I go with you there?"

 

Chloe nodded as if she understood when Hae-jun replied in the affirmative.

 

She was already grateful to Hae-jun for saving her life and bringing her to this farm, so she didn't pry any further into the secrets that he found difficult to talk about.

 

Chloe thought that 'Hae-jun' must be someone special, considering that he wasn't a spirit master but traveled with a spirit and was alone in a place where people couldn't easily enter.

 

"Oh, I can stay there."

 

"Where?"

 

"The bakery. There's a small room there."

 

Next to the space with the oven and the counter, there was another small room.

 

It was presumed to be a storage space for ingredients, but if they cleaned it up a bit, it seemed like it would be enough for the time being.

 

While Chloe cleaned up the room, Hae-jun made a makeshift bed by piling straw on a wooden box.

 

"It's not comfortable, but stay here for now."

 

"This is fine. If it weren't for you, I would have been sleeping rough in the forest."

 

"Haha. Really?"

 

"Yeah."

 

The awkward laughter stopped, and there was a brief silence.

 

At that moment, an embarrassing sound came from both of their stomachs at the same time.

 

Gulp-

 

Gurgle-

 

"I'm hungry."

 

"Me too."

 

[Me too!]

 

"We only have the bread left."

 

When Hae-jun took out the hard bread, Pote and Chloe desperately avoided eye contact.

 

"..."

 

[···.]

 

It was a gentle refusal, indicating that they absolutely couldn't eat it.

 

Hae-jun understood their reaction.

 

"I guess this is impossible, huh?"

 

[There are other things too. There are eggs, cabbage, cucumbers, potatoes...]

 

'Ugh, a potato-shaped spirit wants to eat a potato!'

 

"That sounds good. Potatoes."

 

'Chloe too? Am I the only one who thinks Pote is a potato?'

 

[Let's boil them!]

 

"They're also good roasted."

 

'How cruel.'

 

After some discussion, the dinner menu was decided: boiled potatoes, fried eggs, and a salad made with cabbage and cucumbers.

 

Hae-jun lit a fire in the oven.

 

Chloe, who had been watching, rolled up her sleeves.

 

"I'll help too."

 

"Then can you wash the potatoes?"

 

"Sure."

 

The preparations were done, and all that remained was the cooking.

 

He placed a pot on one side of the oven and a frying pan on the other.

 

"If only we had some salt. It would be good to add it to the boiling potatoes and the fried eggs."

 

Since there was no salt available here, it was the umpteenth consecutive meal with forced low-sodium content.

 

He had also been sweating a lot, so his body craved salt.

 

"By the way, isn't that bag heavy?"

 

Hae-jun asked, glancing at the crossbody bag that Chloe had been carrying since he found her.

 

"Ah!..."

 

Chloe seemed to have noticed the existence of the bag thanks to Hae-jun's comment.

 

"Is there something important in it?"

 

"No... um, I don't know."

 

"You don't know?"

 

"Yeah."

 

Considering that she had amnesia and only remembered her name, it was natural that she didn't know what she was carrying.

 

Curious, Chloe opened the bag.

 

It was full of small bottles of unknown substances.

 

"What is this?"

 

"What could it be?"

 

[What is it?]

 

The transparent glass bottles contained various powders.

 

'Haha. Surely Chloe isn't a drug dealer?'

 

Sweat trickled down Hae-jun's cheek.

 

The powders weren't labeled, but he could tell that they were either very fine or had a rough surface.

 

Hae-jun opened the lid of one of the glass bottles, sniffed it, and carefully observed the contents on his palm.

 

"What on earth is this?"

 

"I wonder."

 

"Maybe we'll find out if we taste it?"

 

"What if it's poison?"

 

"Would you really be carrying poison?"

 

"I don't know. Maybe I got involved in something dangerous, got my hands on something dangerous while trying to escape, and lost my memory."

 

[That's a valid theory.]

 

Chloe and Pote stopped Hae-jun.

 

However, Hae-jun thought differently.

 

Somehow, the unidentified powder didn't feel dangerous.

 

"I'm going to try it."

 

With those short words, he cautiously stuck out his tongue.

 

Lick-

 

!!??···

 

A strong, tangy sensation spread throughout his body from the tip of his tongue.

 

'Is it really poison?··· No, it's not. It's salty. Salty.'

 

"Salty... This is salt."

 

"Salt?"

 

"Yeah. It's salty. Hmm, it's delicious."

 

The reason it tasted tangy when he first tasted it was because he had consumed salt after sweating all day and eating a low-sodium diet.

 

Wanting to feel the intense stimulation again, Hae-jun took another small pinch of salt and ate it.

 

"It's definitely salt."

 

"Why do I have salt?"

 

"Well, then are the others condiments too?"

 

"Maybe."

 

After tasting them one by one, he was able to distinguish between salt and sugar.

 

The remaining powders were still unidentified.

 

"I don't know what they are, but I guess it's a seasoning bag."

 

[I'm sure of it.]

 

"A girl who lost her memory and collapsed while preciously carrying a seasoning bag... What on earth happened?"

 

Hae-jun stroked his chin and narrowed his eyes.

 

Just like Sherlock Holmes.

 

Gulp-

 

"Let's eat and think about it."

 

"Yeah."

 

[Yes!]

 

He opened the lid of the pot and sprinkled a pinch of salt on the boiling potatoes. He also sprinkled salt on the fried eggs.

 

Even though he had only added salt, the aroma somehow felt different.

 

'I can't wait.'

 

They arranged the hearty(?) dishes and sat down together.

 

The thought of eating a proper meal made them all feel much better.

 

"It looks delicious."

 

"It smells good."

 

[Slurp-]

 

"I'll eat well."

 

He picked up a hot potato, blew on it to cool it down, peeled off the skin, and put it in his mouth.

 

"Ha

 

"Hah... It's hot."

 

"Yummy, yummy, delicious."

 

[It's absolutely scrumptious!]

 

As soon as he took a bite, the fluffy potato burst open with a pop.

 

It was salty and sweet. It was so hot that it burned his tongue, but the ecstatic taste made it impossible to stop moving his jaw.

 

The fried eggs were also made even richer by the salt, and the salad, which had been bland without any sauce, came to life with the addition of salt, bringing out its unique sweet and sour flavor.

 

Munch munch-

 

Chomp chomp-

 

The two humans and the spirit dug in, forgetting all about exclamations.

 

That evening, Hae-jun realized that even simple food could become a great meal if it was made properly.

 

***

 

Hae-jun, who had crossed over to the real world, sat at his desk and opened the search bar on his mobile phone.

 

He was filled with anticipation because if Chloe had sugar and salt, he would be able to make bread according to his father's recipe once he got yeast.

 

"What exactly is yeast?"

 

He had heard the word many times, but he wondered why yeast was necessary for making bread.

 

Hae-jun typed 'yeast' into the green window.

 

Yeast: A fungus belonging to the Ascomycota division. It is a unicellular organism that lacks chlorophyll and has a round shape...

 

"Hmm... In simple terms, it's a processed product made from yeast fungi."

 

Yeast (a type of fungus) is a processed fungus used to make bread rise. In the end, it means that even if all the other ingredients are available, it's impossible to achieve the characteristic shape, texture, or taste of bread without yeast.

 

After searching the internet, he found various methods for making yeast easily.

 

He found a method for making it simply with flour instead of using grapes or alcohol, since alcohol wasn't available on the farm.

 

Hae-jun jotted down how to make yeast in his notebook.

 

The method was simple. It just took a long time.

 

*

 

[How to Make Yeast]

 

-Ingredients: 50g flour, 50ml water, 5g sugar

 

-Instructions:

 

1. Mix the ingredients in a bowl and leave at room temperature for 24 hours.

 

2. On the second day, add the same amount of ingredients and mix, then ferment again for 24 hours.

 

3. On the third day, add 600g flour and 600ml water and ferment at room temperature for 12 hours and in a cool place for 12 hours to complete.

 

*

 

"Whew...!"

 

Hae-jun stretched after finishing studying the recipe.

 

Even though his physical strength wasn't depleted, traveling between different dimensions took its toll on him. Still, he felt a sense of accomplishment and a little bit of satisfaction because it was fun in its own way.

 

It was a different feeling from when he was sitting in a study room in a gosiwon, studying without seeing any results.

 

"I'll take a short break and quickly go back to make some yeast."

 

He couldn't just leave the crops he had harvested with so much effort piled up in the warehouse.

 

He wanted to keep creating something new.

 

As he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes for a moment, a text message notification sounded.

 

[Oppa. Can I start painting the mural tomorrow?]

 

It was Min-ju.

 

Hae-jun sent a message telling her to do so, and then he fell fast asleep.

 

***

 

"Chloe. Are you awake?"

 

Hae-jun, who had returned to the farm, looked for Chloe first.

 

"You're back?"

 

"Nothing happened, right?"

 

"Nope."

 

"How was your sleep?"

 

"Thanks to you, I slept very comfortably."

 

"That's good."

 

After briefly checking on Chloe, Hae-jun headed to the bakery.

 

The crops that had grown overnight were waiting to be harvested, but he had something else to do first.

 

"Why here? Surely you're not going to bake that tasteless bread again?"

 

"I'm going to bake it."

 

Chloe frowned at Hae-jun's words.

 

Even though he was her savior, she couldn't understand why he would make such tasteless bread.

 

"Just give the wheat to the chickens and let's eat like we did yesterday. It was delicious enough."

 

"Are you worried?"

 

"A little."

 

"You can look forward to it this time."

 

With a confident expression, he opened his father's notebook, poured the ingredients into a bowl according to the recipe, and covered it with a cloth.

 

"Huh? That's it?"

 

"It takes a while."

 

"How long?"

 

"Three days."

 

"What are you making?"

 

"A magic dough that will make the bread soft and delicious."

 

He headed to the field, praying for the successful fermentation of the yeast.

 

He diligently used the sickle to harvest the wheat, cabbage, cucumbers, and potatoes, and then planted new crops.

 

Chloe also helped diligently.

 

Thanks to her, the work was finished more easily than usual.

 

"I'm thirsty."

 

"Drink some water."

 

Hae-jun wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel and drank some water.

 

'Hmm?!...'

 

The water tasted strange.

 

Unlike usual, it had a sour taste.

 

"Why does the water taste like this?"

 

"It's lemonade. I made it because the lemons grew so well. Is it weird?"

 

"No, it's delicious."

 

"It's good for your health too. It aids digestion and is also excellent for preventing aging."

 

"How do you know all that?"

 

"Well... I guess I just knew it."

 

Chloe might have worked in a field related to cooking before she lost her memory.

 

Could his father also be somewhere unfamiliar, just like Chloe, having lost his memory?

 

Hae-jun thought that he should expand the farm even more diligently.

 

That way, he might be able to find his father once the fog cleared.

 

"What are you going to do now?"

 

"I'm going to make the field a little bigger. The crops keep increasing, but I think there's not enough land to plant them."

 

"I'll help you."

 

Just as they were about to take a well-deserved break and get back to work,

 

[Hae-jun! Hae-jun~!]

 

Pote flew over to Hae-jun in a hurry.

 

[Hae-jun! Something big happened, something big!]

 

"What? What is it?"

 

[Something's wrong with the goat.]

 

"The goat?"

 

[Judging from its bleating, I think it's going to give birth soon.]

 

Hae-jun put down the farm tools and headed towards the goat pen.

 

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