“Meow!”
“Nabi!”
Nabi vomited on the floor. Is she sick? I hurriedly went outside. I told Maru that Nabi seemed off. Maru immediately ran to the room with me.
“Oh my!”
Nabi, who had just vomited, was now lying on the cat tower, seemingly fine. But the traces of vomit were clear. I looked at Maru and said,
“I think we need to go to the vet!”
“Yeah, we should.”
Maru quickly brought the carrier. Nabi seemed to sense something and tried to run away. But I tightly held onto her because I was sure something was wrong with her.
————————————
“She ate too much.”
“Huh?”
“There’s nothing wrong with Nabi. Kittens often don’t know how much to eat, so they end up vomiting after eating too much.”
According to the vet, Nabi vomited because she ate more than usual. I glared at Nabi. She was grooming herself, avoiding my gaze.
Unbelievable… I felt like a fool for rushing over thinking Nabi was sick. I decided not to give Nabi too much food anymore. No wonder she kept scratching my leg every day, begging for food.
“Just reduce the amount of food and snacks. By the way, is this kitten really less than a year old? She’s huge.”
Even the vet was surprised by her growth rate. I also thought Nabi didn’t look like a kitten anymore. It hadn’t been long since I found her, but Nabi had already grown to the size of an adult cat. It was like she was on a growth hormone, growing at an incredible speed.
Nabi just sat there, not sure if she knew she was in the wrong. Normally, she would be freaking out at the vet.
————————————–
“Jiyu! Yumi!”
“Hana!”
Today was the long-awaited winter vacation. Everyone was excited for the closing ceremony. Of course, I was also really looking forward to it. Just like summer vacation, I always felt happy when vacation came around. There probably isn’t an elementary school student who doesn’t like vacation. Everyone must love it.
There probably isn’t an elementary school student who dislikes vacation. If there is, that student must be a ghost. It just doesn’t make sense.
“The closing ceremony is in the classroom!”
“Really?”
Back in my day, no matter how cold it was, we had it in the auditorium, but now elementary schools seem different. Since it’s so cold, they probably hold the closing ceremony in the warm classroom to prevent the kids from catching a cold. From my perspective, it’s something to cheer for. It’s better to have the closing ceremony in a warm and comfortable classroom than in the auditorium.
And so, the closing ceremony ended with a broadcast from the principal. Unfortunately, Boss Kim Sehee was too busy to come. It was a hectic time. Maybe because of the recent flour incident, she was busy with various things and often wasn’t even in her office. I sometimes sneak in to surprise her.
And just like that, the vacation was declared. It’s not as long as a university break, but it’s still about 40 days. I’m not sure what I’ll do during this time, but the fact that I don’t have to go to school makes me really happy. Now I can sleep in without anyone scolding me. I even wondered if anyone would wake me up since I don’t have to go to school.
Though Bora might wake me up.
“Woo-hoo!”
“It’s vacation!”
The students were bustling as they headed outside. Of course, there weren’t that many people. Back in my day, there were thousands of elementary students, but now there are only a few hundred. Do these kids even know? That there was a term called “elementarylings.”
These elementary students probably have no idea. Some of them might not even know about StarCraft, which was once a national game. To kids born in the 2000s, it’s just an ancient game.
No one plays it anymore.
“Hana, let’s go!”
“Yeah…”
I walked out of the classroom with Jiyu and Yumi, feeling nostalgic. The long-awaited winter vacation had finally begun.
—————————————————————————–
The atmosphere at the stores that received flour from the supplier, not the flour import company itself, was different.
“Starlight Food is selling flour?”
“That’s what I heard.”
“Then hurry and buy stocks…”
“Idiot, the director said…”
“You don’t get it? The stock has already fallen enough to drop, and you’re still thinking of buying?”
“Ugh.”
“By the way, how much should we sell the flour for? Won’t it be cheaper than the flour import companies currently distributing flour?”
“I hope so. The abnormal weather lately has driven up flour prices, making it tough to run the stores…”
“But since a competitor has appeared, won’t they lower the prices? If Starlight Food has any sense, they’ll sell at a price lower than the current flour prices.”
“If it’s Starlight Food, they might do that. Whether it’s SPC or other companies, it’s annoying how they dominate the market with just flour.”
If Starlight Food enters the flour market, flour prices will drop. Most companies that use flour held onto that hope. So, they had no interest in the despair of flour import companies.
Did the flour import companies share the pain when their stores were suffering due to flour prices? Not at all. They just raised prices even more. Now, they have no intention of empathizing with the cries of the flour import companies.
—
Director Jeong Jinsu was steadily progressing in the direction he wanted. Most companies using imported flour welcomed Starlight Food’s entry into the flour market. The existing flour import companies were in chaos, with fires at their feet.
The public didn’t have any particular thoughts either. As long as flour prices didn’t rise, it was fine. They held onto the expectation that Starlight Food’s entry into the flour market would bring down the high flour prices.
In the midst of this, out of nowhere, the Agricultural Cooperatives reached out. It was about time they stepped in regarding agriculture.
“Did the flour import companies bribe someone?”
Jeong Jinsu greeted the executive from the Agricultural Cooperatives. Of course, his attitude wasn’t exactly welcoming. There was no reason to be hospitable.
“Why would the Agricultural Cooperatives interfere with our entry into the flour market?”
“Director Jeong Jinsu, please reconsider. If Starlight Food enters the flour market, the flour import companies will go bankrupt one after another.”
“What does that have to do with our company? In a democratic society, if you can’t compete on price, it’s natural to be pushed out.”
“Could you perhaps show some mercy? There’s a way for Starlight Food to distribute flour without directly entering the market…”
The Agricultural Cooperatives executive pleaded desperately with Director Jeong Jinsu. It was simple. Instead of Starlight Food directly distributing flour in the market, they could supply flour directly to the import companies.
That way, they wouldn’t need to import flour from overseas anymore. The shortage could be filled with flour grown by Starlight Food. In a way, it would reduce transportation costs for importing flour from distant countries, which would actually be a boon for the import companies. They could regain price competitiveness.
Starlight Food would also benefit from using the domestic distribution network built by the flour import companies over half a century. Starting from scratch now would take too much time. If the import companies resisted and caused disruptions, Starlight Food would have to endure a long, tedious battle for at least 10 years to dominate the flour market.
Even with the power of the Starlight Group, breaking through the strong walls built by the flour import companies since the Korean War would be tough. Of course, over time, they would break through, but that time was too precious. Starlight Food wasn’t content with just the domestic flour market.
Even now, large buildings were being erected in areas where flour was cultivated. They aimed to dominate not only the domestic flour market but also the global flour market.
“Hmm…”
Director Jeong Jinsu had anticipated this much. Cooperation was also an option within his choices.
