Farming In The Eastern Cultivation World-Chapter 52: A Nest and a Candle

Bok Taejin glanced at Im Beomhyeon, who was roasting meat with a group of burly men by the fire, and smacked his lips. "I can already imagine how much he used to eat."

Seo Sowoo kept laughing. "That’s not quite right. He only started eating more and more later on. When my mother and I first met him, his appetite wasn’t this big. Back then, we weren’t running from famine yet. But once we started fleeing, he gradually became a big eater along the way."

Bok Taejin was full of question marks.

Could that even happen?

Seo Sowoo paused for a moment and then asked, "Did Beomhyeon ever tell you about the myna bird?"

Bok Taejin’s instincts told him something was off.

"What about it?"

"Teaching the myna bird to talk, of course! Right after we first drove away the Hunting Vine, Brother Im took a look at it and said it could still be saved. He asked if I wanted to help him raise it and train it to talk like a person. Of course I refuse! There’s so much to learn in the kitchen already. I didn’t have time to raise a bird, let alone teach it to speak! Not happening!"

Seo Sowoo got more animated as he spoke, waving his hands around. "Taejin, you don’t even know! Working in the kitchen, I’ve learned so much!"

"Do you know how many different knife techniques there are for cutting vegetables? Do you know what flat cuts, diagonal cuts, straight cuts, and push cuts are? Do you even know the difference between horizontal slicing and vertical slicing? Do you know how adding salt at different times changes the taste of a dish? Do you know there are different types of salt?"

As he spoke, Seo Sowoo lit up completely.

His eyesight wasn’t the best, but his eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

It was clear that he truly loved everything about cooking.

Bok Taejin had initially been wondering if Im Beomhyeon had tricked him into some kind of scheme, but after seeing Seo Sowoo’s transformation, he completely forgot about the myna bird.

After all, the myna bird was at Im Beomhyeon’s house now.

Whether Im Beomhyeon was raising it or he was, the work wouldn’t escape him either way.

Suddenly, a chilling voice sounded beside Seo Sowoo.

"You talk too much. Tomorrow, come with me to Reed Bay to hunt the ducks."

It was Im Beomhyeon, walking over while biting into a roasted rabbit leg.

Seo Sowoo had been enthusiastically demonstrating knife techniques to Bok Taejin, trying to make him understand the terms through his hand motions in the air.

But as soon as he heard Im Beomhyeon’s words, he froze in shock, and the spark in his eyes dimmed.

Im Beomhyeon reached out, seemingly about to pat his head, but then caught sight of his own hand glistening with grease in the firelight.

He changed his action at the last moment and instead wiped his greasy fingers on the outer layer of Seo Sowoo’s robe, saying with disdain, "What’s with that face? You managed to catch three rabbits on the mountain today. Are you saying you won’t be able to catch the ducks at Reed Bay?"

Seo Sowoo looked miserable. "Brother, my dear brother, if you want to go hunting, can’t you leave me out of it?"

As he spoke, he quickly shoved Bok Taejin forward. novelbuddy.cσ๓

"Look, there’s another person now! If you need a sidekick, take Taejin! I’ll stay in the village and prepare delicious food for you, okay? I—I’ll secretly save some of the best dishes for you, okay?"

Bok Taejin had no idea, but Seo Sowoo and the rest of the hunting team certainly knew what was going on!

The only reason Seo Sowoo had managed to catch three rabbits today—enough to meet Im Beomhyeon’s standard for qualifying to eat at the table—was because the rest of the hunting team had helped him out!

Of course, as the strongest member of the team, Im Beomhyeon had undoubtedly noticed their little tricks.

He simply chose not to expose them and let them do as they pleased.

"Taejin is coming, and so are you," Im Beomhyeon said firmly. "I plan to hunt a lot of things tomorrow, so I need more people to help. Also, I’m borrowing a bow from Taehyeon for Taejin to use. I’ll be busy shooting ducks and geese, so I won’t have time to teach him how to shoot. That’s your job."

Seo Sowoo nodded blankly at first. "Oh, okay. I’ll teach Taejin archery. No problem."

Then he snapped out of it and leaped to his feet.

"What?! Beomhyeon! You’ve got to be kidding me! You’re sending Taejin straight to Reed Bay to practice archery? You’re really not afraid of him getting chased by Blackie and the wild geese?!"

His exclamation drew the attention of the other villagers.

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

But then, someone chuckled, and soon, the laughter spread through the crowd.

Nobody seemed to take his words seriously.

Seo Sowoo’s shoulders slumped.

"Fine, fine, I’ll go with you... I’ll teach Taejin archery... I’ll let you practice shooting in Reed Bay... Ahhh! Beomhyeon, you bastard!"

Im Beomhyeon tore off the last bit of meat from the rabbit leg, casually tossed the bone to a nearby puppy, and then wiped his hands on Seo Sowoo’s jacket again. "What’s the big deal? You’ll see tomorrow!"

Seo Sowoo sighed heavily, his enthusiasm for conversation completely drained.

Im Beomhyeon, meanwhile, went back to roasting more food.

Bok Taejin eyed the greasy stains on Seo Sowoo’s jacket and asked, "Was that all Boemhyeon did?"

Seo Sowoo picked at his jacket, pouted, and said, "What do you think? This thing was already covered in kitchen grease and smoke stains anyway. That’s why he used it to wipe his hands. Then he’ll act all generous later and give me a new one as ’compensation.’"

Amidst their conversation, Bok Taejin started digesting his food and began thinking about the myna bird at home.