Kofi thanks to: Dreaming V
The people of Cheonghwa Town ate fish without any worries about anything else. Since they could fish for themselves, the price of fish was cheap, but Cheongyeon liked squid more than fish. And what he liked more than squid was lobster.
Lobsters cost 200 hwan per kg, so it was a luxury food bought only on anniversaries. The first and last time Cheongyeon ate lobster was the year his nanny died. The nanny had bought lobsters for Cheongyeon’s birthday that year. The white, chewy flesh was so delicious that young Cheongyeon thought that he wanted to eat only lobsters every day. But he knew how expensive lobster was, so he lied to his nanny and said he didn’t like it very much. He hoped that the nanny, who had sacrificed herself for him, would eat a little more.
The nanny must have known, because she laughed as they shared a bite each.
“Are you going to buy it or not?”
Cheongyeon, holding the shopping cart, looked down at the lobster whose two front legs were tied with twine. The lobsters packed tightly into the wooden box all had thick bodies.
“1kg is too much for me to eat alone, right?”
“Why, people who eat well can eat 2 kg by themselves!”
Cheongyeon turned his eyes to the shrimp piled in another wooden crate. It wasn’t a situation where money was tight. Still, he kept wondering whether it was okay to buy lobster and eat it. The 20,000 hwan given by Tae Muwon had not even been spent. Even if the price of the snacks was expensive, it was nothing compared to 20,000 hwan.
However, he could not freely spend this generous amount of money, for it was not an amount that could be earned back simply by running an apothecary. He didn’t know what would happen in the future, so perhaps he should save the money. With that in mind, it wasn’t easy to open his pockets.
But the idea of ordering the Boksu flower from a merchant on the 1st Continent was already out the window. It seemed like he wouldn’t have to spend a lot of money for the time being.
“I would like 2kg of lobster, please.”
Cheongyeon was a little embarrassed. His voice shouting for lobster seemed too loud but it was true that he said it with such great intention.
The seafood vendor picked up a large lobster and placed it on the scale. The scale’s needle fluctuated up and down at 1kg, but soon pointed to 1.2kg. He then added another one and it weighed just over 2kg.
“How about it? I’ll only charge you the price of 2kg.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Jbeiv tf fja jii atja? Pa kjr rjlv atja qfbqif ktb fja kfii mjc fja eq ab 2xu, yea fnfc pera bcf ibyrafg kjr delaf ijguf.
“P atlcx akb lr abb wjcs.”
“Csf, atf abaji lr 400 tkjc, yea P’ii ulnf sbe jc jvvlalbcji 30 tkjc boo. Qtfgf mjc P ub jcv yes atfw ja atlr qglmf? P’w ulnlcu la ab sbe ja j ibk qglmf yfmjerf la’r ws klof’r ylgatvjs abvjs jcv kf’ii yf mibrlcu delmxis.”
There were many merchants in the fish market, but there are few stores that do business as honestly as this one. Since he always bought squid here, he had already become a regular.
“Here’s 370 hwan.”
After thinking for a while, Cheongyeon decided to buy the lobsters.
“Please tell auntie that I wish her a happy birthday.”
When he smiled softly and congratulated his wife on her birthday, the merchant said he was in a good mood and added five more shrimp.
“But what day is it today? Why are you buying this expensive thing?”
“A generous customer came to the store.”
Cheongyeon always said the same thing whenever he met someone who cared about his spending.
“Aren’t you buying squid?”
“…No.”
Unless the corpses of the sperm whale and giant squid were erased from his memory, he thought he would stay away from squid for a while.
The owner placed the shrimp along with the lobster on a thin wooden board and closed the lid. Meanwhile, Cheongyeon rolled up the shopping cart he had brought and put it in his jacket pocket.
While Cheongyeon placed his box on the back of his bicycle and secured it with his twine, the owner showed him how to steam the lobsters. Only after Cheongyeon finished saying thank you did he get on the saddle.
He knew Peira would be watching him from somewhere, but as he came and went, he didn’t see anyone suspicious. Wondering how they were so good at shadowing people, Cheongyeon clicked his tongue and headed to the apothecary as usual. The only thing that made him different from usual was that he bought expensive lobsters.
He was very upset that he had never even thought of buying lobster to eat. He should buy something delicious and eat it to his heart’s content. If that had been the case, the underlings watching him would have lost their appetites and would have been in a lot of pain. Starting today, he planned to eat a lot of expensive and delicious food. It was Cheongyeon’s own small revenge.
Before Cheongyeon even opened the door to his store, he deliberately opened the box he had placed in the backseat. Two large lobsters and plump shrimp glowed even in the dark thanks to the light coming from the inn.
Cheongyeon deliberately moved slowly to open the store door and take his bicycle inside. He usually ate in a room attached to the back of the store, but starting today, he planned to do it differently. As soon as he put the bike aside, he pushed the counter towards the window as hard as he could. Then, he turned the desk so that it was facing the direction the customer was coming in. From now on, this was the new cash register. It was also directly visible when looking out from the second floor of the inn.
Cheongyeon shook off his hand and entered his room. The seafood vendor had done a rough cleaning for her, so all he had to do was brush the lobster with an old toothbrush. After a long time, he took out a steamer, poured beer and water, and placed two lobsters side by side.
On one floor, there was the herbal decoction requested by Muwon. He took one sachet of the cooled decoction and divided it into small portions, which gave just 10 days’ worth. It was a bit laborious because he had to pour the decoction into each plastic wrapper and press and adhere them one by one with a sealer.
Cheongyeon neatly packed ten sachets of herbal medicine into a paper bag.
“If you spit in it, you’re dead.”
He wondered if Tae Muwon said that because he too had something to worry about.
Cheongyeon stared intently into the paper bag. Even if he spat while brewing the decoction, there was no way for him to know. If only he had known in advance that he was spying on him… Still, he wouldn’t spit. The medicinal herbs didn’t do any wrong.
After steaming it for about 20 minutes, as the seafood merchant said, a delicious smell filled the place. Cheongyeon turned off the light, took a nap, and put on his new work gloves. When he opened the lid of the steamer, steam poured into his face. The steam was so strong that water droplets formed on his eyelids. Perhaps it was the steam or anticipation, but his cheeks turned ruddy.
Cheongyeon took out two well-cooked lobsters, placed them on a tray, and headed straight to the store’s checkout counter. He put down the tray with a loud thud and cut open the body with the scissors he had brought. Then, the pinkish flesh of a lobster appeared. He grabbed the tail and ripped it open, and a chunk of steamy flesh came out. Cheongyeon deliberately turned his chair and sat facing out his window. He grabbed the lobster by its tail and shook it loudly, as if shaking off the steam.
“Thank you for the food.”
Hoo~ he puffed on it and took a bite. It was chewy and had a light taste, making his mouth water. Cheongyeon held the lobster with both his gloved hands and ate it. It would have tasted better if the nanny had been there… He focused on eating frantically, trying to drive away the longing that kept coming.
Then a brilliant idea struck him. Cheongyeon, who was in the middle of a meal, put down the lobster on his tray. Taking off his work gloves, he hurried into the room and opened the cupboard first. He took out one of the ramen piled up inside and poured water into the pot. He had to use both hands to hold the burner on top of the pot, so he stuffed the ramyeon bag into his mouth.
He opened the store, cooked lobster ramen, and planned to torment those who were watching him. The corner of his mouth was about to go up when he bit the bag of ramyeon, so he consciously pulled it down. That was when he came out of the room and looked towards where the inn was. Cheongyeon almost dropped his bag when his mouth relaxed for a moment. A large man wearing a suit jacket with blue flowers on it was standing in front of his apothecary store.
Cheongyeon didn’t know when he arrived, but Tae Muwon was watching Cheongyeon’s actions with his head tilted. His handsome face was half obscured by the smoke from his cigarette.
Cheongyeon deeply regretted moving his counter to the side of his door. Because in order to put down the burner, he had to close the distance between himself and Tae Muwon. He thought it was fortunate that there was only one glass window in between them, but Tae Muwon, who had finished his cigarette, opened the store door. The normal tinkling sound was ominous today.
“Did you come for the decoction?”
Cheongyeon turned his body to go back into his room.
“Dinner?”
Muwon gestured to the lobster still steaming on the tray.
“Yes.”
Since he didn’t say anything else, he took off his shoes, went into the room, and took the bag of decoction he had prepared in advance. When he came back to the store, he was looking around the store slowly, unlike before.
He opened and closed the drawers of the wooden display case fixed to the wall, and looked down at the medicine contained in the bag. It might not be possible, but he seemed like a customer who came to buy something.
“Here’s the medicine you mentioned.”
“Are you sure it only contains medicine?”
“Yes?”
“There’s no spit, is there?”
Pr: Sasa
Gosh cheongyeon is the cutest lil thanggg
Thanks for the chapter! I’m always wondering what will happen next!
Cheongyeon’s revenge is so cute 🥺 If there was a manhwa, I could see some of those specific parts drawn in chibi form
Thanks for the chapter!!
Thanks for the chapter. :))))
Now he made me hungry 🙁
And the only things I can cook without blowing up the kitchen are eggs :/