At that moment, Elder Wang’s face flushed crimson, as if his temper had shot straight up.
“You brat. Don’t even think about setting foot in the village.”
“You keep changing your mind.”
“What did you say?”
“Which tune am I supposed to dance to?”
“You, you rotten… I ought to!”
Tap, tap.
Elder Wang, choking with anger, felt around here and there with his hands.
It seemed he was looking for something to throw.
Elder Jeon, who was beside him, quickly handed him a tree branch.
“Hyungnim, here you go.”
“Right. You brat!”
Elder Wang swung the branch just like that.
Whoosh.
Taesu dodged lightly, looking perfectly at ease.
“Oh dear, your hand must have slipped.”
“Come here.”
“No, thank you.”
“I said come here.”
Thump, thump.
Elder Wang struck the wooden platform with his crutch as he pressed him.
“Eek.”
Jeong Minsu, startled, quickly stepped back.
Taesu had somehow already gotten down from the platform as well.
“We should go prepare to move.”
“There’s no house for you.”
“Then I’ll pitch a tent in your yard, Elder Wang.”
“How dare you talk back—I'll tear that mouth of yours right—”
When Elder Wang flared up, the other elders joined in with a fuss.
“Have you ever seen such an unruly fellow?”
“An elder is speaking, and that hefty one has already run off, has he?”
“All he does is grin, that silly fool.”
The elders were absolutely on Elder Wang’s side.
That said, it was not to the point that they would swarm over and make a scene like before.
Everyone was watching what was happening on the platform.
As the situation tilted toward Elder Wang’s complete defeat, they glanced around and chuckled.
“He’s the first person who can tease Elder Wang like that.”
“So that’s why Songhui’s mother came running, saying something terrible had happened, when they were arguing like that.”
“It looks like they’re having fun. Dr. Choi is something else, too.”
“Now we won’t have to worry even if the rain and wind come.”
“It weighed on my mind. It really made me uncomfortable.”
The villagers whispered softly among themselves.
They had not said it out loud all this time, but it seemed they had been worried about Taesu and his group.
That was how much their hearts had opened.
Meanwhile, Taesu and Jeong Minsu dashed like arrows toward Raku’s truck.
Good news was best delivered right away.
Tatadak.
They were just approaching the truck.
Suddenly, Kim Hyeokkwon’s agitated voice rang out in English.
“You’re saying this is all of it?”
“This was really hard to get as it is.”
“No, but still, this is…”
Just as Kim Hyeokkwon was unable to continue speaking.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu arrived in front of the truck bed.
The atmosphere between Kim Hyeokkwon and Raku, who were standing on the cargo bed, was far too grave.
The smiles that had filled Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s faces vanished in an instant.
Without needing to think, Taesu asked at once.
“What’s going on?”
“We only have about fifteen days’ worth of food.”
“What?”
“Don’t pretend you didn’t hear me after hearing it.”
Kim Hyeokkwon was as on edge as could be.
Taesu’s gaze turned to Raku.
“Raku, is that true?”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t procure much food.”
“Ah, damn.”
For a moment, he had nothing to say.
Jeong Minsu was no different.
“Can’t you let us breathe easy for once?”
It was not a complaint aimed at anyone in particular.
He had simply spat out the bitterness in his heart as another worry appeared.
But then.
Taesu quickly looked over the merchant caravan’s trucks.
And he showed his puzzlement.
“You’re saying all the food is here?”
“Yes.”
“Then one truck should be the goods we asked for. What are the trucks behind it?”
“There are caravan goods, and the last truck has…”
Before Raku could finish, Kim Hyeokkwon’s voice came quickly.
“They say it’s loaded with cashmere sheep.”
“What?”
Taesu stared blankly, dumbfounded.
With the same expression, Jeong Minsu muttered.
“What kind of sudden sheep-shift is this?”
It was absurd, as the atmosphere had literally become “suddenly sheep.”
At that moment, with exquisite timing, the cry of an actual sheep rang out.
Baa-aaa.
Whip.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu turned to look at the last truck at the same time.
They saw tufts of soft, fluffy wool sticking out.
It felt a little different from ordinary sheep.
And yet, for some reason, it was familiar.
In an instant, the cashmere sheep of Makut Village flashed through his mind.
“It’s real?”
“From where?”
Jeong Minsu asked in English without realizing it.
Perhaps having heard him, Raku answered.
“They are a gift from Karhaban.”
“Huh?”
Whip.
Once again, Taesu and Jeong Minsu moved their necks violently and simultaneously complained of pain.
“Ugh, aah.”
“Ugh. My neck just cracked.”
Jeong Minsu’s face went blank, as if the pain had made him dizzy.
On the other hand, Taesu, holding his neck, quickly continued the conversation.
“By Karhaban, you mean the landlord of Makut?”
“Yes.”
“Sarubia’s father?”
“That’s right.”
“You were there?”
When Taesu asked with wide eyes, Raku nodded.
“Yes. He happened to be there when I contacted Dr. Bread.”
“Ahh, and then?”
“Are you all right?”
Concern deepened on Raku’s face.
Holding his neck with one hand, Taesu waved the other hand and urged him on.
“I’ll hear the answer first.”
“Anyway, he asked what was going on, so I explained the situation here in broad strokes.”
“And after you explained?”
When Taesu pressed him, Raku gestured toward the last truck and answered.
“Then he loaded ten pairs of sheep like that.”
“As many as twenty?”
“Yes. He also wrote down the basic care methods and how to weave the fabric.”
Raku explained it plainly, but Taesu still could not believe it.
“No, Karhaban… Why?”
“Hoho. He said you would ask that, and you really did.”
“Then did he prepare an answer in advance, too?”
“Yes. He told me to answer by asking why Dr. Choi came to our village and helped us without asking for anything in return.”
“Because that’s my job.”
When Taesu answered sullenly, Raku thought for a moment and smiled.
“Mm. Fortunately, that’s part of the conversation he predicted.”
“What did he tell you to say next?”
“Then Karhaban said this was his own choice, too.”
Raku answered while looking at a notebook he had taken out at some point.
Taesu found that even more absurd.
He was simply amazed that the man had so clearly predicted what he would say.
In any case, since they could communicate, he continued asking questions.
“Still, sheep are a means of livelihood.”
“That… Mm. Sarubia’s words here would make the best answer.”
“Now this is going beyond absurd. Anyway, what did Sarubia say?”
“After Dr. Choi and everyone else visited, the village came back to life. That is something more joyful than a thousand sheep, she said.”
Raku’s answer came calmly.
At that moment, Sarubia’s bright smile came to Taesu’s mind.
Sseuk.
When he opened the front of his gown, the cashmere vest Sarubia had given him came into view.
He had been staying warm thanks to this one vest.
And if they made a cashmere sheep ranch here?
Everyone in the village would be able to feel this warmth.
Still, just in case, he thought it over from several angles.
There was only one conclusion.
Taesu let go of the thought of refusing.
“If you happen to go back to Makut, please tell them I’ll stop by once more before I return to Korea.”
“That will be the greeting they’ll be happiest to hear.”
“I’d like to see their faces myself.”
Taesu smiled softly.
The warm moment lasted only briefly.
Kim Hyeokkwon, whose temper was still fully raised, cut in.
“Hey, you people.”
“Yes.”
“Save the touching stuff for later and look at the reality in front of us first.”
“Ah, right. That’s important.”
“Sometimes I really want to open up that doctor’s head and see what he’s thinking.”
When Kim Hyeokkwon growled sharply, Taesu gave an awkward smile.
“Let’s leave my head quietly intact.”
“Let’s focus. I’m telling you, the food situation is serious.”
“Ahem. Should we slaughter a sheep?”
Taesu threw the words out first.
At that moment, Kim Hyeokkwon’s eyes gleamed fiercely.
Flash.
“Are you joking?”
“Ahem.”
“Dr. Choi said it himself, didn’t he? That would be cutting open the belly of the goose that lays golden eggs. Am I wrong?”
Kim Hyeokkwon pressed him hard.
Since there was nothing to be gained by provoking him, Taesu quickly agreed.
“You’re right.”
“How can you say that so easily when, in just a few years, it could change what everyone here wears?”
“I think I was wrong.”
Sseuk.
Taesu subtly avoided Kim Hyeokkwon’s angry eyes as he apologized.
“……”
Jeong Minsu was completely silent.
Having taken a hit, Taesu spoke with a sullen face.
“I don’t know if this will help the situation, but…”
“Phew, so what is it?”
Kim Hyeokkwon was the first to turn the question.
It seemed he intended to hear about Taesu’s side first and then continue with his own matter.
Taesu immediately answered with a bright smile.
“They told us to move into the village.”
“That really is good news.”
The irritation in Kim Hyeokkwon’s voice softened greatly.
It seemed he had been that surprised by the unexpected news.
Taesu, watching his mood, said casually.
“So we’re going to move.”
“Good. Let’s move first.”
“You said food was important.”
“It’s not as if we can get it today anyway. We can move first and talk after that.”
Kim Hyeokkwon made a bold decision.
Not only that, he explained it to Raku again.
Then Raku readily stepped forward as well.
“There’s a vehicle here, so is there any need to carry things by hand?”
“Raku, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
At Taesu’s thanks, Raku smiled gently.
And so, leaving all the problems aside, the move began first.
Once the move actually started, it proceeded in a flash.
That was thanks to the rumor spreading far and wide, bringing the villagers swarming over.
They said one hand could not keep up with ten.
He witnessed that clearly before his eyes.
Not only the adults but even the children helped as if it were their own task.
Raku’s truck moving the belongings all at once also played a major role in saving time.
The medical team received a total of two houses as gifts.
One was a house to be used as lodgings.
And the other was a clinic and operating room.
They were located halfway up the right side of the village.
But a move was still a move.
Moving the luggage itself was lightning-fast, but nothing was organized.
At least they could receive help with large items such as bedding and the generator.
All the remaining belongings had to pass through the hands of the medical team.
Staring at them would not make them organize themselves.
They chose instead to move energetically.
A couple of hours later.
A storage tent stood firmly behind the operating room.
Behind it, the tall antenna rising upward could also be seen.
Looking at the arrangement, only the surgical tent had changed into an operating room; everything else was exactly the same.
It was a sunny afternoon.
Because the screen had been raised, the inside of the storage tent was filled with sunlight.
Inside, Taesu and Kim Hyeokkwon had their backs to each other.