“It’s delicious, so delicious!”
I patted my stomach with a satisfied expression. Today’s school lunch was incredibly tasty and excellent. I could confidently say that such delicious school lunches didn’t exist in any other elementary school in Seoul. It was all thanks to the boss.
“Hana, are you okay even after eating more?”
“Right? Did Hana always eat this much?”
I went back for seconds because I ran out of Jajangmyeon noodles. Since the cafeteria system changed, allowing each grade to eat at different times, by the time I finished my meal, there was no line left. Normally, it would be packed, but not today. So, I took my bowl and asked for more noodles.
Of course, they granted my request. Our school no longer had to worry about food shortages. Earlier, the teacher mentioned that the cost of ingredients for the meals had increased 2-3 times. Back then, the budget per student was only about 5,000 won, but now it’s nearly 15,000 won.
For the boss, this was pocket change. With less than 600 students, even if the meal costs tripled, it wouldn’t amount to much. I heard that for the boss, a few billion won is like money you forget in your pocket.
The boss said that Starlight Food makes tens of trillions a year, and it’s still growing. So, I could accept the boss’s generosity without guilt. Besides, the boss said that without me, the company wouldn’t have grown this big, so I proudly accepted the gift.
“The Jajangmyeon was so good!”
I said, looking at my empty bowl.
“Really?”
“Yeah!”
“Hana, you’ve got Jajang sauce on your mouth!”
Yumi pulled out a compact mirror and showed me. I saw my reflection with Jajang sauce smeared around my mouth. My face turned bright red. I looked like a little kid who couldn’t eat properly. Even kids these days eat without making a mess…
“Ahh!”
I grabbed a tissue and wiped my mouth. Stupid Jajang sauce! Jiyu and Yumi were laughing at me. This was no way to maintain an adult’s dignity. I thought they saw me as mature, but of course, Jiyu and Yumi never thought of me as mature in the first place.
—
“Hana, wanna hang out today? There’s a new coin karaoke place in our neighborhood!”
Now I could hang out with Jiyu and Yumi. Before, Maru’s schedule made it hard to stay out long, but after moving buildings, I could stay out until evening. Plus, if Maru couldn’t pick me up, another employee could, making my outings much more comfortable.
“Sorry! I have plans with the boss today, so I can’t! Let’s hang out tomorrow!”
But today, I had plans with the boss, so I couldn’t hang out with Jiyu and Yumi. It wasn’t every day that I got to spend time with the boss. The boss was busy, so while we often exchanged greetings, setting aside time like this was rare.
The boss runs one of the most promising companies in the country, after all.
“Really? Aww…”
“We wanted to hang out with Hana!”
Jiyu and Yumi didn’t push too hard. They knew my situation. I waved goodbye to them, and they waved back before disappearing from sight. I headed back to my hometown—well, the building.
Now that it was close, I could just walk. Before, I had to take a car to the Starlight Research Institute building, but after moving, that wasn’t necessary. Living near the school had its perks.
—
“Boss!”
“Hana! Did you like today’s lunch?”
“I really loved it, Boss!”
I hugged the boss and rambled on about my day. The boss listened intently, smiling as I talked with a happy grin.
And the boss had prepared an amazing gift.
“Ta-da!”
“Wow!”
I circled around the gift the boss had prepared. The boss…
He gave me a huge gift. It was a dinosaur plush that exuded majesty just by looking at it. It was the perfect size for me. I hugged the dinosaur plush and thanked the boss.
The boss seemed to like it too, as he took out his camera and snapped a photo of me hugging the dinosaur plush. I struck a pose to make it easier for him to take the picture.
Later, I found out that the photo of me and the dinosaur plush became the boss’s mobile phone wallpaper.
—
Kim Sehee diligently searched for land suitable for a farm, but nothing really caught her eye. South Korea is just too small. The land in Gyeonggi Province and nearby areas was too cramped for livestock farming.
So, Kim Sehee had no choice but to pick land in Gangwon Province. Gangwon has a lot of mountains, but there are also some flat areas, and most importantly, it was easier to buy land there.
However, she couldn’t plan to raise all the cows in one place. No matter how much she looked, there was no land in South Korea big enough to raise tens of thousands of cows at once.
Reluctantly, Kim Sehee decided to set up multiple farms. It would cost more, but there was no other option. She comforted herself by thinking that the expensive land prices in Gyeonggi could be replaced with the cheaper ones in Gangwon. After all, there was plenty of unused land in Gangwon.
There weren’t many people around either. Kim Sehee decided to see it as a positive. The cows raised in Gangwon, breathing in the fresh air and drinking clean water, would surely taste better. And if they ate rice straw from Starlight Rice, the meat would be even more delicious.
Still, setting up multiple farms felt a bit disappointing. She had heard that in Australia, there are farms larger than South Korea itself. Just the size of their cattle farms was bigger than our entire country. Hearing about it, she couldn’t even imagine how vast that must be. She couldn’t help but envy Australia for using such a huge area just for farming.
If Kim Sehee had that much land, she could probably single-handedly supply all of South Korea’s beef demand.
A land the size of South Korea could easily raise millions of cows. Sure, she’d have to drive a car to round them up, but that wasn’t a big deal. She had even heard that in Australia, some cows die of old age before they’re even caught because the farms are so massive.
They raise the cows free-range, so they only slaughter them when beef is needed.
Australia’s landmass is on a continental scale, while South Korea’s is just too small.
But what could she do? She was already born in South Korea. And Kim Sehee was the descendant of a chaebol family that everyone envied. There were truckloads of people who looked at her and wished they were in her shoes.
Anyway, the farms were being set up quickly. Since she was setting up multiple farms in Gangwon, the local civil servants rolled up their sleeves to help. Considering the scale of the farms, they would create a floating population of nearly 10,000 people in Gangwon.
Just the number of people staying on the farms would likely be in the thousands. And if you added the workers helping to build the farms and those handling transportation, it might not reach 10,000, but that many people would definitely be coming and going in Gangwon.
It would breathe new life into Gangwon’s economy, which had been relying mostly on military personnel. Though, considering that the prices at Gangwon’s stores were a bit steep, it might not have much effect, but the fact that more people would be around was undeniable.
After confirming the progress of the farm construction, Kim Sehee walked around to check the status. In her heart, she wanted to buy the entire Jeju Island, kick everyone out, and raise cows there, but unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.
Jeju Island was land she couldn’t have. She didn’t have the money, and realistically, she couldn’t just kick out the residents living there.
