Ep.64

 Ep.64

The governor’s tent was located right at the front of the plaza in front of the county office. By the time the two arrived, the area before the tent was already bustling with people. Sihyeon and Hosu took their spots behind the village chief and Old Man Jeong.

In truth, Gayang County was a large region consisting of as many as fifteen townships. Its population was small, but its land area was nothing to scoff at. That didn't mean everyone was eyeing the local food contest, though. The competition was only exceptionally fierce between Dongun Township and Seoun Township; most of the other townships were content with just participating for the sake of it.

"Honestly, it’s not like they give you prize money or anything. It's just for the honor," Hosu muttered.

Sihyeon chuckled and retorted, "I don't think that's something a person who sold out terrariums two days in a row should say. I saw you hawking them pretty aggressively earlier this afternoon."

"Sihyeon, I told you. Our family is a family that survives by selling things. If we have the honor, we can use it as an advertisement next time and sell even more."

"Haha."

The village chief patted Hosu on the arm.

"As expected of our Hosu. That's my girl."

Suppressing a laugh, Sihyeon looked toward where the county governor was standing. He was looking over a thick stack of papers with people who appeared to be public officials.

"Oh, by the way. Sihyeon, did you check your sales records? A little while ago, one of Hosu's employees wrote down and turned in today's sales."

"Oh? No. I had to go somewhere for a bit, so I didn't see it."

"Really? We need to verify it, though."

"The ledger is right here. Just a moment."

*Getting hit on the head must have made me lose my train of thought.*

Sihyeon began checking his notebook, retracing his memories. Card sales were calculated automatically, but due to the nature of a marketplace, there was a lot of cash, many donations, and plenty of credit tabs from local villagers.

"Could the representatives please come over to where the governor is?"

The village chief stood up with a serious expression.

"Sihyeon. If there's an error in the ledger, you need to come to me quickly, okay?"

"Yes. I'll look through it fast."

Even after the village chief walked over to the governor's tent, Sihyeon remained focused on the ledger. Fortunately, nothing was incorrect.

"Our Sejeong is meticulous, so she must have recorded it well."

"Yeah. It looks correct."

Just then, Old Man Jeong muttered, "The village chief's expression doesn't look good."

"Ah. That's the face my aunt makes when she's in a bad mood."

Hosu's leg bounced anxiously.

Watching the governor wave the papers around, Sihyeon felt like he was missing something.

"…Oh. Wait a minute."

Sihyeon flipped through the ledger once more.

It wasn't there!

"What's wrong?"

"Something is missing."

"Hey. Go over there quickly!"

Sihyeon dashed over to the village chief in a single breath.

The tent was packed with elderly folks.

The village chief's face was flushed red.

Sihyeon approached her, gently pulling her arm as he whispered, "Chief. Something was left out of the ledger."

"What! How much??"

"Twenty-one cups of iced arrowroot tea."

"Aha, perfect."

The village chief let out a loud cough, then had Sihyeon stand right beside her.

"Something was omitted from Dongun Township's sales!"

Everyone's eyes locked onto them.

Sihyeon pulled the corners of his mouth into a smile. *Haha...*

The governor questioned them. "There are no issues with the ledger, so where exactly is this omission?"

"Exactly! What are you talking about at this stage? Are you doing this because you think you're going to lose? Are you planning to manipulate the ledger now??"

The village chief of Jodae-ri, Seoun Township, raised his voice.

"What? Manipulating the ledger? What did you just say right now?!"

"I'm saying it because there's no issue with the ledger! Did I say anything wrong?"

The atmosphere instantly turned hostile. Sihyeon wanted to end this situation before a real fight broke out.

"Excuse me, but it really isn't written in the ledger."

"What? Then how are we supposed to believe that??"

The Jodae-ri chief was practically jumping mad. The village chief frowned slightly, but asked Sihyeon with a forced, calm expression, "Child. Explain what happened clearly so everyone can hear."

Sihyeon looked at the governor and said, "I didn't write it down because it was a trustworthy person. They said they would pay right away."

"Who is it! Who?? What kind of person buys on credit at a charity event?" the Jodae-ri chief sneered.

Sihyeon replied, "The county governor."

"!"

"Yesterday around 11:30 AM, he came with his wife and child. He drank one cup of iced arrowroot tea on the spot and ordered twenty more cups. His aide took them and said they would settle the payment later. I think he simply forgot."

"Where do you get off trying to scam us! You young punk!" the Jodae-ri chief shrieked.

Sihyeon shrugged. The governor's expression was peculiar.

It was a face he had seen many times before. Sihyeon knew the exact meaning behind that expression. The governor likely had no intention of paying after saying those words. He was probably surrounded only by people who constantly offered him things to get on his good side. However, the fact remained that he hadn't paid. And since he said he would pay, it was technically a tab. He just hadn't expected to actually be asked for the money.

The governor pretended to ask his aide something, then readily nodded his head.

He soon smiled brightly and asked the village chief for her understanding.

"Oh, dear. It seems my secretary forgot about it. Sister."

"That can happen, Governor."

The village chief smirked, raising only one corner of her mouth.

Sensing the shift in the air, the Jodae-ri chief wiped the sweat pouring down his forehead.

"Wait. Then how much is that?"

"It's 100,000 won."

The village chief crossed her arms and tilted her head up slightly.

The Jodae-ri chief jumped. "3,000 won! We still sold 3,000 won more than you!"

"What!"

Sihyeon raised his hand. "It's twenty-one cups, not twenty. 105,000 won."

"Oh my. I misspoke. 105,000 won. It turns out we sold 2,000 won more than you—."

"That can't be!"

"Didn't you say the ledger is accurate?"

*Wow, the pettiness.* She had definitely misstated the number on purpose.

When they returned to their seats, Hosu slapped her hands together with his in a high-five.

"Great job! You're the best!"

"Sihyeon, you'll be getting free meals from the village chief for at least another year."

Old Man Jeong chuckled softly.

*Sweet.*

 *    *      * With the number 39 calf raised by Old Man Jeong winning the Pretty Calf Contest, the 14th Gayang County Mushroom Festival drew to a close.

Sihyeon tore open a bag of freeze-dried mushroom snacks he had received as a participation gift.

*Crunch.*

*Crunch.*

Crispy and savory, it was exactly the kind of flavor Sihyeon liked. It was a snack made by a factory in Seoun Township, and he found it fascinating that they could make snacks that retained the exact shape of the raw ingredient.

"I wish that bad guy would rot in jail forever, but that'll be difficult..."

Heemang had woken up safely, and there was nothing wrong with her body. Sihyeon heard expressions of gratitude from Saetbyeol about a hundred times. Lee Sumin hugged Sihyeon and didn't let go for a long time. The child didn't remember anything, other than feeling sleepy.

The "Poisonous Mushroom" was arrested at the scene and immediately placed under a warrant for detention. As it turned out, the guy wasn't a resident of Gayang County; he had intended to use an acquaintance's empty house as a crime scene. He was a petty criminal from Seoul with eight prior convictions.

Most of his crimes had been attempted offenses. He used his meager manual dexterity to shoplift until he got caught, robbed a convenience store in the middle of the night until he got caught, or followed a stranger home to threaten her until he was apprehended. Looking at his record, it was clear he had grown progressively holder while cycling in and out of detention centers. It was only because they were mostly attempts.

Perhaps because of that, this kidnapping was qualitatively different from his past offenses. He had practiced face painting, applied to volunteer for the mushroom drawing, used another child to lure her away, and pre-meditated drugging her with sleeping pills. A calculated, planned crime had come to light. When he gets out of prison next time, he might commit an even greater crime.

*If this were West Forest, he would have already been minced into animal feed.*

Thinking about the gnats he had manipulated because of that guy made his stomach churn with regret. He felt sorry for them, and it felt like a waste. *What a piece of trash, worse than an insect.*

*Rustle.*

"Huh?"

When did I eat it all?

He shook the mushroom snack bag, but only crumbs fell out.

 *    *      * That evening, at the village chief's house.

"You've got some nerve."

Sihyeon's eyes went wide.

The village chief looked at Sihyeon with a mischievous face. Sihyeon realized from her expression that it wasn't a serious matter, but he couldn't figure out what she was trying to say.

"??"

"Demanding a credit payment from the governor in front of all those people?"

Sihyeon said, scrunching the bridge of his nose, "Ah, that? I just thought the governor forgot."

"He's a man who has made a habit of eating and drinking for free, so how could he forget? And look at you. Normal people would have just blamed the secretary vaguely, but who else would point a finger right at the governor and ask for money?"

"He brought his son along, too. Whether he's a governor or a mayor, you have to collect what you're owed."

The village chief handed a bundle of utensils to Sihyeon. Sihyeon systematically matched the spoons and chopsticks, setting them on the table pair by pair. The village chief spoke in a quiet, low voice.

"If a governor sets his mind to be malicious, it makes life very difficult in the countryside."

"……."

"Principles are fine and good, but next time, don't just dive headfirst into it. Use a little tact. Understand?"

"Yes~."

"……Though it didn't matter this time because I was there."

He roughly understood what she was worried about. Since Sihyeon also had his own experience dealing with people in power, he didn't intend to stubbornly push half-baked principles.

More than that, there was definitely a part of him that wanted to see the village chief and Old Man Jeong happy.

And on the other hand, his mood had been soured because of the Poisonous Mushroom incident. That little brat. Even though Heemang was in danger, he had craftily lied. Parents are a mirror to their children. He planned to wait and see how they would act moving forward.

If they didn't apologize properly, well.

Who knows who the swarm of insects would attack next time.

"You're going to Seoul tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"Seoul? Why?" Hosu asked as she walked down from the second floor.

"My word, what sharp ears. Hurry over and help set the side dishes."

"Auntie, do we have spicy marinated octopus?"

"We do. It's in the second compartment of the kimchi refrigerator."

"Yay. You're the best, Auntie."

Hosu laughed as she opened the refrigerator door.

"Why are you going to Seoul?"

"A concert."

"Huh?"

Hosu showed a surprised expression.

"I thought you'd be going to Panda World, but a concert?"

"I have to go to a Tracker concert."

"Aren't they a boy idol group? I think they were models for Atlantic Cosmetics last year."

Hosu pulled a mountain of side dishes out of the refrigerator, most of which were salty and spicy foods. Just looking at them made his tongue sting.

"I didn't know your music taste was like that. I figured you'd like solo vocalists with incredible singing power, like Kim-Na-Park-Lee."

"I don't really discriminate with music. If it sounds good, I listen to it."

"Going all the way to a concert means you must like them a lot, right? Idol concerts are expensive."

Sihyeon hesitated for a moment before answering.

*Well, it should be fine.*

"My younger brother is in Tracker."

"What?"

Hosu was shocked.

"Hold on. Let me look this up."

"If you look at recent group photos, there's a tall guy with green hair."

"Oh my god. This kid is that little toddler? Siwoo?"

The village chief peered into Hosu's phone with her.

"Let's see, who here is Sihyeon's brother?"

"Right here. The one with green hair."

The two of them spent a long time alternating their gazes between Siwoo and Sihyeon.

"They do look alike, in a way."

"Siwoo has tiger-like eyes, while he has puppy-like eyes, but they do look similar."

"The brothers are both exceptionally tall and handsome. Is he a successful singer?"

"We don't look exactly the same. And Tracker is a very successful group, yes."

Hosu spoke too frankly and got pinched by the village chief.

"Ouch! That hurts! Seeing him like this when I only remember him from when he was little is so fascinating."

"He's an adult now."

"Why didn't you say anything? If even I know who they are, they're really famous. You should be bragging about it to the whole town."

Sihyeon thought it over.

He hadn't hidden it on purpose, so why did it become a secret?

"Nobody asked. When we filmed *Animal Farm*, the Tracker members even posted verifications on social media, but none of the villagers asked me about it. Then I just forgot."

"The older folks don't watch stuff like that. Even if they watch reruns a hundred times."

"Exactly."

The village chief spoke as she set a large pot down in the middle of the table. She said that Bureau Chief Lee Dong-bok and the younger crowd probably already knew. Since Sihyeon didn't make a big deal out of it, they likely just didn't bring it up out of courtesy.

Sihyeon nodded.

"That might be true. No wonder they kept starting to say something and then stopping."

"When you go to Seoul, make sure to bring back a few autographs."

"Yes. I'll do that."

The village chief lifted the lid of the pot.

As the thick steam cleared, plump octopus with a subtle purple hue, hard clam shells, and a milky white broth revealed themselves.

"Wow. It smells amazing."

"This is insane. Look at how big the octopus is."

The village chief snipped the octopus into pieces with scissors.

Sihyeon filled his soup bowl to the brim with broth and octopus.

"Please eat first."

The village chief took a sip of the hot broth and gasped in admiration.

"Ah, this is perfect. Eat up, quickly."

"Auntie, should we have just one drink?"

"You absolute lush of a girl."

Hosu pulled a green bottle from the refrigerator and shook it.

"Wow."

Sihyeon kept marveling as he felt the hot broth flow down his esophagus. The chewy octopus and hard clams were on another level entirely.

Hosu raised her glass.

"Good work, everyone!"

"You worked hard~!"

"Thank you for the meal!!"