“Alright. But make something delicious when we’re done.”
“I’ll make something really tasty. You can look forward to it.”
“Then I’ll help!”
Khan ran off to the potato field.
“Why are you going to the potato field?”
“Aren’t we digging up potatoes?”
“We’ll dig up potatoes later. We’re going to dig up sweet potatoes now.”
“Sweet potatoes?”
“Yes. I’ll show you how to dig them up, so could you bring me an empty box?”
Woojin used a hoe to remove as much soil as possible.
Once a certain amount of soil was removed, he used his hands to dig out the sweet potatoes.
This was to avoid damaging the sweet potatoes by recklessly using the hoe.
The sweet potatoes revealed themselves, hanging in clusters on the vine.
“Wow… they’re huge.”
There were some the size of potatoes, and some so large they were hard to hold with one hand. The sizes varied greatly.
“Khan, I’ll dig up the sweet potatoes, so you just need to put them in the box.”
“Got it!”
Woojin began to dig up the sweet potatoes with his hoe.
As he dug up the sweet potatoes and handed them to Khan, they were neatly stacked in the empty box.
As time passed, four boxes of sweet potatoes were filled.
Woojin decided to make an additional proposal, thinking Khan might be tired.
“Let’s hang in there a little longer. If you help me finish up, I’ll give you something nice.”
“Something nice?”
“Yes. Something very precious that you can’t usually see.”
At Woojin’s words, color returned to Khan’s face.
“You promise!”
“Yes, I promise.”
Only after making a pinky promise did Khan start digging up sweet potatoes again.
Half a day passed like this, and the first harvest ended after filling eight boxes with 10kg of sweet potatoes.
“Give me what you promised!”
Khan, covered in dust, extended his right hand with an expectant expression.
“Alright.”
Woojin took out his wallet and placed a bill with a portrait of Shin Saimdang in Khan’s hand.
“What’s this?”
Khan, who had no knowledge of Korean currency, tilted his head.
“With that, you can buy whatever you want.”
Of course, within the limit of 50,000 won.
Woojin deliberately didn’t say that out loud.
“Wow! So it’s like a treasure? That’s awesome!”
Khan returned with a triumphant look and dug a hole in the ground a little distance away.
Then he buried the money in the ground.
“Why are you burying it?”
“Of course, because it’s a treasure! I’ll dig it up when I need it!”
He seemed to think of the bill as a treasure like gold and silver.
* * *
Woojin brought the dry firewood from the warehouse to the open space.
“What are you going to do with that?”
Khan asked with a curious face.
“I told you earlier. I’m going to make something delicious. I’m going to roast the sweet potatoes.”
“These?”
“Yes. Bring some potatoes too. Let’s roast and eat them.”
“Got it.”
Woojin washed the five potatoes and ten sweet potatoes that Khan brought with clean water.
Then he wrapped them in foil.
Feeling insecure with just one layer, he wrapped them in two layers.
He set up a spot a little distance from the field and the truck.
He brought a camping stove and put the firewood in it.
“Khan, it’s dangerous, so stay a little away.”
Woojin had Uyu sit in the passenger seat in case she jumped in.
“Got it.”
Khan also moved a little away from Woojin.
Woojin prepared the oil left over from frying and some paper.
He soaked the paper in oil and placed it between the firewood.
Then he connected the butane gas and the gas torch and lit the firewood.
Normally, it would take quite a while to light a fire, but the paper soaked in oil burned brightly, making it easier to light the firewood.
“You can come now.”
At Woojin’s permission, Khan came closer and blankly watched the firewood burning.
He also brought Uyu, who was in the passenger seat, in his arms.
We enjoyed the fire.
When the firewood was almost burned out, he put in the prepared potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Then he used tongs to cover them with charcoal.
“It’s amazing. I didn’t know you could roast and eat them like this.”
Khan didn’t take his eyes off until the firewood was completely extinguished.
“It must be cooked by now.”
Woojin used tongs to stir the charcoal and took out the potatoes and sweet potatoes wrapped in foil.
“Can we eat now?”
“It’s hot if you touch it directly.”
Woojin put on oven mitts and slowly peeled the foil off the potatoes and sweet potatoes.
The steam rising from them looked really delicious.
He set aside four sweet potatoes to give to his uncle first, and peeled half of the remaining sweet potato.
He wrapped the rest in a kitchen towel and handed it to Khan.
Khan, whose eyes were sparkling, put the sweet potato in his mouth as soon as he received it.
He laughed at the sight of him eating hastily without even checking if it was hot.
“This is really delicious! What’s so sweet?”
“Meow.”
Seeing Khan eating deliciously, Uyu also seemed to want to eat, drooling and crying while looking at the sweet potato.
It should be okay to give her a little, right?
Woojin tore off a small piece of sweet potato, cooled it by blowing on it, and gave it to Uyu.
Uyu ate the sweet potato deliciously.
He smiled at the sight of her eating well.
“Then shall I try it too?”
When he took a bite of the sweet potato, his eyes widened slightly.
As Khan said, the sweetness of the sweet potato was tremendous.
It was much sweeter than potatoes, and even quite moist, so it went down the throat easily.
“It’s really… incredibly delicious……”
The taste of the sweet potato was incomparable to any sweet potato he had ever eaten.
