Whoosh.
Taesu and the medical staff all turned their gazes toward President Gu Seungheon at once.
With an unwavering expression, he nodded.
“We saved seeds from this harvest. Sangdu over there was injured because he went back into the house to get them.”
“Is that so?”
Whoosh!
This time, everyone’s eyes turned toward Mo Sangdu.
He averted his gaze with an embarrassed face and answered.
“I’d gotten them and was just stepping out the front gate when a mortar shell hit the house.”
“Eek?”
“I wasn’t hit by the shell. Brother Hyeoncheol knows that.”
Whoosh!
This time, their gazes shifted to Namgung Hyeoncheol.
It was because he had shared the same quarters and had been taking exclusive care of Mo Sangdu.
So Namgung Hyeoncheol could speak about Mo Sangdu’s condition.
“He suffered abrasions and burns, but once we settle down, medicinal herbs are something we can get as much as we need.”
“Among the medicine we received from the medic, there’s burn ointment too.”
Whoosh!
Their gazes focused on Taesu, who had offered an alternative.
With so many people present, their eyes had no choice but to dart back and forth.
Still, the matter of Mo Sangdu’s treatment could be considered settled for the moment.
President Gu Seungheon once again gave Raku his conclusion.
“For that reason, it will take time, but we can cultivate the tea fields again.”
“I see. Then how long do you think that will take?”
Whish-whish!
Everyone’s gazes returned to the two of them.
Unshaken by any of those looks, President Gu Seungheon answered calmly.
“We’ll have to grow them for at least three years before they can become tea leaves.”
“As for getting through those three years, if you add the payment I just gave you, that should be resolved to some extent.”
“That is money that does not exist. It is not our money.”
President Gu Seungheon drew the line firmly.
When Raku was about to speak, Factory Manager Na Duyoung stepped forward.
“Master. We may look foolish, but this promise cannot be delayed.”
“Hmm.”
“If there is a promise a man must keep even with a knife to his throat, even with his skull split open, then shouldn’t he keep it?”
Factory Manager Na Duyoung’s answer was utterly resolute.
And Factory Manager Go Jiyong and Mo Sangdu were also agreeing with the same look in their eyes.
Seeing that, Taesu gave up on trying to persuade them.
‘What inflexible people.’
And yet, he did not dislike them.
It was because they were proving with their own bodies just how important trust was.
Taesu was not the only one who thought so.
Jeong Minsu, Kim Hyeokgwon, Brad Kim, and even Namgung Hyeoncheol silently nodded.
It could be said that what had drawn them to these people, who had nothing to show, was precisely their firm resolve and faithfulness.
What President Gu Seungheon and his employees were trying to return was not merely overdue wages.
It was to keep a promise with the former factory workers who had waited for them for a long time.
That was their strength, but also their weakness.
Because they had not even considered the funds they would need to maintain a minimum standard of living.
No matter how many times they were told, there seemed to be no room at all for their resolve to change.
That was what made it difficult.
Raku seemed to be thinking the same thing.
“The regions I looked into are all deep in the mountains. They are completely undeveloped, so you would have to cultivate them one by one.”
“That is our specialty. We can even move boulders with our bare hands.”
“Even so, each place is lacking something. If the site is good, the water is bad. Or the terrain is rough, though the soil is good.”
“Toritina is rather demanding. Temperature, soil, water. If those three are not all in place, it is quite difficult.”
President Gu Seungheon’s only concern was Toritina.
Even if he were told to bring down a mountain with his bare hands, depending on the cultivation conditions, he seemed prepared to truly do it.
Raku seemed to feel the need to organize his thoughts again.
“Mm……”
A small groan of contemplation could be heard.
Then, shortly afterward, he looked at Taesu, Jeong Minsu, and Kim Hyeokgwon and said,
“Among the places I looked around, there is one with an environment most similar to what is needed to cultivate Toritina.”
“Then why are you looking at us?”
“Because it is a place the three of you must open the door to.”
At those words, Taesu and the other two froze.
And one more person, Brad Kim, who had been the first to visit that place, widened his eyes.
“Don’t tell me?”
“It is probably the place you are thinking of.”
At the same time Raku gave his confirmation,
Taesu spoke in a low voice with a serious face.
“To be honest, it’s not as if we haven’t thought of it. But you know the situation there.”
“I know it well. I went there not long ago.”
“And yet you’re telling us to take these people there? It might be better for them to live deep in the mountains, drinking from a spring.”
“That mountain has no owner.”
Raku offered a meaningful statement.
Still, Taesu shook his head.
“They will not welcome neighbors. These people might wither away from the stress.”
“Wait a moment. What on earth are you two talking about?”
Unable to contain his curiosity, President Gu Seungheon stepped in.
Taesu shook his head.
Jeong Minsu, Kim Hyeokgwon, and Brad Kim avoided his gaze.
In the end, Raku explained about the Korean village.
“The place I mentioned is……”
As the explanation continued, the expressions of President Gu Seungheon and his employees changed strangely.
A Korean village that hated Koreans.
It was because the situation was far too ironic.
Raku did not know the detailed circumstances behind it.
He had judged that it was better not to get too deeply involved.
Raku’s lengthy explanation soon came to an end.
“……and the ones who opened those people’s hearts were those three.”
“I see.”
“There are empty houses, and the soil is fertile. There is also plenty of manpower, and the water is good. It is certainly the optimal place.”
The moment Raku finished speaking,
Slide.
President Gu Seungheon’s gaze turned toward Taesu and the medical staff.
Taesu flinched, then immediately changed the subject.
“We have some money we’ve saved up. If we lend you that first somehow……”
“Doctor Choi.”
When President Gu Seungheon called him with tragic resolve, Taesu flinched.
“Yes? Yes…… Please speak.”
“Please open the door for us.”
“I don’t think you fully understood what Raku just said……”
“Just open the door for us. We will make the rest of the effort.”
President Gu Seungheon’s plea was desperately earnest.
Apparently Taesu was not the only one who felt it, because Factory Manager Na Duyoung also asked.
“They say you grant even the wishes of the dead, so let’s grant one wish of the living.”
“Doctor Choi. What is there that we can’t do right now?”
“We can’t let the madams stay in the mountains, soaked in cold dew. We’ll try to ingratiate ourselves somehow.”
Even Site Foreman Go Jiyong and Mo Sangdu pleaded.
Taesu found it hard to coldly reject their request.
As Raku had said, there was no doubt that it currently offered the best conditions for them.
But even if all the advantages were added together, there was an even greater disadvantage.
He could never take lightly that old anger and pain, higher than Everest.
After deep thought, Taesu’s eyes flashed.
He immediately turned his gaze and asked the medical staff for help.
Jeong Minsu, Kim Hyeokgwon, and Brad Kim.
This time, none of the three avoided his gaze.
They were seriously agonizing over it and thinking together.
However, it did not take long before they shook their heads.
Taesu, too, felt that it would be difficult.
“That is……”
“Just once. Please open the door just once. I will not ask you a second time.”
President Gu Seungheon pleaded sorrowfully.
At that moment, Namgung Hyeoncheol raised his hand slightly and asked,
“It’s not my place to interfere, but I’m curious. Why exactly do they hate Koreans?”
“That is not something I can tell you.”
“So there is a reason, then?”
“To them, there is a clear reason.”
That was as far as Taesu could say.
Beyond that, even those people kept silent, so he could not tell them.
Namgung Hyeoncheol did not pry any further.
Still, he did say one thing.
“If you already think it won’t work anyway, then there’s nothing more to agonize over, is there?”
“Do the wounds and emptiness these people will feel not matter?”
“They’re asking you just once. If they run into it and it doesn’t work, they can turn in another direction. Why are you worrying alone in advance, deciding whether it will work or not?”
Namgung Hyeoncheol grumbled bitterly.
Thinking about it, his words were not entirely wrong.
So Taesu proposed a compromise.
“There’s nothing to lose, so I’ll at least bring it up.”
“Really?”
“But if they refuse, there will be no other way.”
“If they say no, we will turn back without lingering regrets.”
“All right. Then let’s go tomorrow for now.”
In the end, Taesu gave his consent.
Knowing how desperate they were, he simply could not push them away.
And at Taesu’s consent, President Gu Seungheon and everyone else began to draw hope.
“We have nowhere left to retreat to anyway.”
“What can they do if we just lie down flat on our backs?”
“Yes. Let’s go with a ‘cut us open if you dare’ strategy.”
“And if we still get chased out, then that means it wasn’t meant to be.”
Everyone seemed to be thinking along similar lines.
Even while saying otherwise, the encouraging atmosphere was burning with fervor to obtain a good result.
It was then that Taesu was wearing a bitter smile.
Kim Hyeokgwon approached and quietly said,
“We’ve agreed that Doctor Choi will make the final decision.”
“Me again?”
“What else can we do? Someone has to take the bullet.”
“A team shares the same fate. Look at those people.”
“Then go join their side. We operate on the principle of swallowing what’s sweet and spitting out what’s bitter.”
Slide.
Kim Hyeokgwon said only what he had to say, then turned away.
Jeong Minsu and Brad Kim were already talking about something else.
“You saw Songhui back then, right? That kid is so adorable.”
“Really? I couldn’t even greet her properly then, but I’ll be able to this time.”
“Yes. And you remember Changgyu, right? That guy runs around like a fish in water now. And……”
“Cashmere sheep, pigs, cows, and even chickens? It must have changed a lot when we go this time.”
Brad Kim, who was only now revisiting after his first visit, seemed to have great expectations.
Taesu, now used to this sort of situation, did not even feel disappointed.
His only concern now was meeting the trio of old men tomorrow.
‘I’ll probably start by getting cursed out in buckets.’
It became even more bitter because it was likely to become reality, not imagination.
And so the meeting concluded with the decision to head to the Korean village.
After that, everyone headed to their lodgings for the rest they had not yet fully gotten.
They had slept for a while during the day, but the mental fatigue that had pushed them to the limit could not be relieved all at once.
However, Taesu was in another room.
Mo Sangdu was lying at an angle on the bed, and Taesu was treating him.
Most of the treatment was over, and they had entered the finishing stage.
As he protected the affected areas with gauze, he continued explaining the burns and abrasions he had treated.
Tap. Tap.
“They aren’t deep wounds, so after a few days, moving around shouldn’t be uncomfortable.”
“Because of me, you couldn’t even rest. Thank you so much.”
“If the wounds are like this, is rest really the issue? Sangdu, you did something so great.”
Taesu showered him with praise in a pleasant voice.
To President Gu Seungheon and everyone else, Toritina was not merely a cup of tea.
To them, it was life, the future, and hope.
The same was true for Mo Sangdu.
Even so, turning back in the midst of that war to retrieve the seeds was something that required extraordinary courage.
Because the wounds had been earned that way, Taesu did not spare any care.
Soon, Taesu organized the emergency medicines and said,
“You won’t be greatly inconvenienced.”
“Yes. It’s not uncomfortable at all.”
“Still, the wounds aren’t very shallow, so it would be best if you take care to keep them from getting wet as much as possible.”
“I’ll be sure to do that.”
“All right. Then I’ll be going now. Stay lying down. Don’t get up for no reason.”
Pat, pat.
Taesu lightly patted Mo Sangdu on the shoulder, preventing him from moving.
Perhaps because of that touch, Mo Sangdu, who had been about to put strength into his body, ended up only nodding.
“Rest well, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Little brother Sangdu. Not yet.”
Slide.
Namgung Hyeoncheol, who had been watching the whole time, suddenly stepped forward.