I was sitting in the passenger seat with a sulky expression. I had insisted on going alone for no reason and ended up gaining nothing. I glanced at Maru’s reaction. It was her day off, and I wondered if she was working overtime because of me.
Back when I was a guy, I used to work part-time at a convenience store. I’d get really annoyed if my replacement didn’t show up on time. I wondered if she felt the same way.
“Hana, why didn’t you tell the staff and just came out alone?”
Maru asked me. I flinched, feeling like a criminal in an interrogation room. Is this how criminals feel after committing a crime? Of course, I hadn’t committed any crime.
“I didn’t want to bother anyone, so I came out alone…”
After hearing my words, Maru put on a serious expression and said, “You could’ve just said something! If there’s something Hana wants, you can always say it. That’s why I came to the office on the weekend to work.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
I thought I should be more careful from now on. As we chatted, we arrived at the research institute building. It had been a while. It hadn’t even been a month since I last came to the building, but I still missed it.
Maru’s car smoothly passed through security and headed to the parking lot. Maru originally worked at the research institute, but had she now moved to Starlight Food? I wasn’t sure, but I thought she was still part of the research institute.
Maru was someone I had hired. Now that I think about it, all the office staff from the Starlight Research Institute must have moved to the Starlight Food Building. But she didn’t give me the details. I thought I’d ask her later.
“Hana, why did you come to the research institute?”
Maru asked as she got out of the car. Come to think of it, I hadn’t told her yet. I said to Maru, “I came to check on the crops I planted!”
“Ah, I see.”
“Can’t Maru come with me?”
There was no reason for Maru to come with me. Just bringing me here was already a huge favor. I figured another employee would come to pick me up anyway, since Maru was now pulling out her phone to call someone.
I had my own selfishness too. Honestly, I wanted to hang out with people I was close to, and it was a bit tough to mingle with employees I wasn’t that close with. Whether she noticed my hesitant expression or had a change of heart, Maru smiled faintly and put her phone back in her pocket.
“Should I hang out with Hana today? I don’t have anything else to do anyway!”
“Yay!”
I ran around Maru, expressing my joy. Hanging out together was definitely better than being alone. Maru watched me fondly.
———————————————–
“Wow!”
I climbed up high to look at the greenhouse scenery. Nothing had changed. Of course, that was obvious. It wouldn’t make sense to destroy the farmland I had made. If even a little damage had been done, they would have faced my wrath.
This was a place I had cultivated with my own hands, so I had a lot of affection for it. Maru was also looking at the farmland behind me.
“It doesn’t seem that big… or is it big for Hana’s size?”
It wasn’t that big, as Maru said. The farmland itself was large, but most of the land was still unused. That was natural, of course. It was just a hobby farm. There was no reason to use all the land to grow crops like others did.
I went inside the greenhouse. It was cool inside, probably because of the automatic temperature control. It was worth wearing long sleeves and pants despite the hot weather for farming. In this weather, I should’ve worn short sleeves and shorts, but if I said I was farming in that, people would laugh.
Long pants and sleeves were essential for farming. They protected against scratches and were a must in strong sunlight like this. However, I felt an uneasy feeling behind me. Maru was standing behind me, speaking in a chilling voice.
“Hana, by the way, did you put on sunscreen?”
“Uh…”
Of course, I hadn’t. Cosmetics were a luxury. I only used lotion and didn’t touch any other cosmetics because they felt weird when applied. Hearing my voice, Maru pulled out sunscreen from somewhere. I immediately tried to run away.
“Ahh!”
But escaping Maru’s long legs was impossible. I was caught and mercilessly slathered with sunscreen.
————————————————-
“Mmm…”
“Whoa!”
There were cows on the grassland. It was because cows from all over the country were gathered and placed in the farm. They had built a few farms, but considering the cows that would come in the future, they thought they might need to expand even more.
They raised some cows through grazing, but considering Korea’s weather, they also had to keep them in barns during winter. After all, they couldn’t let them freeze to death in the cold.
They wanted to make the cows as comfortable as possible. They thought that cows raised freely might taste better than those crammed into barns.
Kim Sehee watched as the employees fed the cows. When an employee carried rice straw, the cows followed them around like they were enchanted. It was like the Pied Piper scene. The cows seemed to go crazy for rice straw more than regular feed. They didn’t prefer anything but rice straw made from Starlight Rice, but for now, it didn’t matter.
The cows seemed to know that Starlight Rice Straw was good for their bodies. And it seemed tasty enough too. Even now, the cows were happily munching on the rice straw handed out by the employees.
The cows that grew up eating this rice straw developed strong resistance to diseases. They also grew much faster. Cows that usually took a year to mature could now grow faster thanks to the rice straw.
“Mooooo!”
The cows that ate the rice straw lay down in a comfortable spot and started chewing their cud. They would spend some time just chewing away.
Kim Sehee watched the scene with satisfaction. With a cheat code like Hana, expanding and succeeding in business was as easy as swimming on land. In fact, failing with such a cheat code would be harder.
“Boss, someone from the government is here.”
At that moment, the secretary spoke. Kim Sehee thought, “It’s about time.” With the beef business expanding so rapidly, it was only a matter of time before the government stepped in. So far, the food products hadn’t affected the market much, but beef was a different story.
Kim Sehee looked around the farm a bit more before heading back to the office. After all, the ones feeling the heat were on the other side. Kim Sehee had nothing to worry about. She hadn’t done anything illegal, and there were no issues.
—
When running a business, you often clash with the government. Even as a chaebol, conflicts with the government were common. Chaebols didn’t find the government annoying for no reason. The newly established government had immense power. It wasn’t called the “Honeymoon Government” for nothing.
Even Starlight Group, the top chaebol in the country, had to tread carefully. If they got on the wrong side, they could be dragged into a hearing with the government.
Kim Sehee entered the office. Inside, an uninvited guest was sitting on the sofa. Kim Sehee sat across from the middle-aged man.
Kim Sehee had no prior connections with the Ministry of Agriculture. At most, running a factory only required dealing with lower-level civil servants. But now, things were different. As her business expanded, so did the level of interests involved.
A high-ranking civil servant in a neat suit greeted Kim Sehee.
He introduced himself as the head of the Livestock Policy Division at the Ministry of Agriculture. He was a fairly high-ranking official. Naturally, Kim Sehee responded politely.
“Hello, I’m Kim Sehee, the CEO of Starlight Food.”
After exchanging greetings, the division head cautiously looked at Kim Sehee. From the outside, Kim Sehee looked like she could be his daughter.
“I heard that Starlight Food is buying cows on a large scale. How many cows are you planning to raise?”
Kim Sehee wanted to say “unlimited,” but realistically, it wasn’t possible. There wasn’t enough land in Korea to raise that many cows.
“We’re planning to raise at least 500,000 cows.”
The division head’s vision went dark.
