Episode 11
Woojin offered his uncle some roasted sweet potatoes that he had set aside earlier.
Having just gotten off work, his uncle, who happened to be feeling a bit peckish, readily consumed the sweet potatoes. “Wow, these are incredibly delicious,” he exclaimed after quickly devouring four sweet potatoes in under ten minutes.
Woojin couldn’t help but smile with pride as he watched his uncle enjoy the sweet potatoes that he had personally grown. “They taste good, don’t they?”
“They’re incredibly good. Woojin, do you have any more sweet potatoes?”
“Of course.”
“How many?”
“About eight boxes, each weighing 10kg?”
The uncle clasped Woojin’s hands with excitement. “Perfect! Let’s finish all these sweet potatoes between us.”
“Huh? Finish what?”
“The sweet potatoes! Man, with 10kg in eight boxes, even if we eat 20 a day, we’ll have plenty left over.”
With winter approaching, his uncle looked forward to enjoying seasonal delights like tangerines and sweet potatoes, which seemed to have particularly enticed him this time.
“I’ll give you one box of sweet potatoes. I plan to sell the rest.”
Woojin had never intended to give away all eight boxes. Seeing this, his uncle wore a look of disappointment. “…You’re going to sell these precious sweet potatoes?”
“Yes.”
“Woojin, do you need money? If so, sell them to me, your uncle.”
“Are you serious about buying them?”
“Absolutely! I was actually thinking about buying some sweet potatoes.”
“That’s okay. I have plenty, so I’ll give you some whenever you need.”
“Is that really true?”
His uncle beamed with joy. “Yes. Why would I do financial transactions with my uncle?”
“That’s my boy! You truly are the son I’ve raised with all my heart. Thank you!”
“Anyway, I need to use the computer now.”
“Sure thing! But, Woojin, can I take just six more sweet potatoes?”
“Sweet potatoes?”
“Yes. I want to brag to a friend about how my beloved nephew grew these incredibly tasty sweet potatoes.”
“Go ahead.”
Woojin retrieved a box of sweet potatoes from the sub-space, which was the portion he planned to give to his uncle.
“See you later!”
His uncle left the house, stuffing six sweet potatoes into a black plastic bag. Now, what about the remaining seven boxes? How much should I sell them for?
Woojin logged onto his blog. Despite having long sold out of potatoes, his blog still had a staggering 1,200 visitors just for that day—a number that seemed to suggest he was reaching the level of a power blogger. The comments on his posts easily surpassed 500.
“This might have more impact than I expected,” Woojin thought as he drafted a post to sell the sweet potatoes.
Each box weighed 10kg. “The price will be… yes, 300,000 won for 10kg.”
It was a significant increase—three times higher—compared to when he had sold 3kg of potatoes for 30,000 won, which was already considered a high price. “First come, first served, for seven lucky buyers.”
If it was too expensive, people wouldn’t buy—that was all there was to it. After thoroughly reviewing his post, Woojin published it.
The sweet potatoes were sold out in less than 10 minutes.
* * *
The place Uncle Baek Jin-hyeong visited was the home of his best friend for 40 years, Kim Ju-han. Ju-han had been pestering him after receiving a box of potatoes as a gift, incessantly asking for the source and causing no end of annoyance.
“What’s up? Did you come to bring me potatoes?” Ju-han’s eyes drifted towards the black plastic bag.
“You son of a gun, do potatoes spring to mind whenever you see me?”
“Why don’t you just tell me where you got them?”
“They’re grown by my nephew, I told you.”
“Yeah, since when did you have land?”
“Never mind that, let’s just enjoy some sweet potatoes.”
“Are these also grown by Woojin?”
“That’s right.”
“…Come on in.”
Ju-han ushered Baek Jin-hyeong into the house. The living room was sparse, but Ju-han’s personal room, outfitted with a computer, was brimming with beer, snacks, and dried nibbles.
“Where’s your wife?”
“Oh, she’s briefly visiting her parents.”
Ah, that explains why the room was so untidy.
“Really? By chance, do you have an air fryer?”
“In the kitchen. You seem in a hurry; are the sweet potatoes that good?”
“I dare say, they’re even better than the potatoes.”
“…Is that true?”
“If I’m lying, I may as well break my own hands.”
“What are we waiting for? Let’s bake them.”
“I brought the sweet potatoes, didn’t I?”
✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧ 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓈 ✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧
