69. Seon Forty-seven
mother’s birthday party.
Originally, only Yeong-mi, Young-mi’s mother, and Major’s sister would come to our house, but Yoon-seok’s parents also attended the party.
Yoon Seok-yi’s father was a hotel chef, and it is said that he ran a famous restaurant in Seoul before he lost Eun-seong.
Hearing that we are having a small party for our mother’s birthday this time, Yoon Seok-yi’s parents prepared food they cooked by hand, and at the strong request of their mother to eat together, up to two people attended the party.
So the seven of us sat down at my mother’s birthday party.
The birthday party was full of fancy food prepared by Yoon Seok’s older brother’s father, whereas the BBQ stir-fried pork I prepared was shabby.
Soon, the meal started, and the mother said to Yun Seok-yi’s brother and father.
“How did you cook the seaweed soup? I know there is a little bit of mae saenggi in it, but this is the first time I’ve had seaweed soup that tastes so refreshing.”
What my mother said was right.
There was no fishy smell peculiar to seaweed and there was no smell of beef.
At the mother’s words, Yun Seok-yi’s older brother’s father opened his mouth.
“haha! That put a little bit of trousers in it.”
“But you can’t see the pants at all?”
“If you put clams in a barrel, the smell of clams mixes with seaweed, and the fishy taste becomes stronger. That’s why I made the soup first with the separately cleaned clams.”
It wasn’t just seaweed countries.
Both the beef bulgogi and the pork bulgogi brought by my uncle were heavenly.
It is said that we can taste seven flavors: sweet, salty, sour, spicy, umami, fatty, and bitter.
It was a bit disappointing, but the pork BBQ stir-fry I prepared was not popular with anyone, and even when I tried it, it was insufficient compared to my uncle’s dish.
Compared to the pork bulgogi that my uncle brought, the meat was tough, had too much sauce and had a strong salty taste, and, crucially, the flavor of the BBQ sauce was not suitable as a side dish for rice.
All of a sudden, I too was enjoying Uncle’s cooking, and my BBQ pork chop was left in the corner of the table.
Only my mother occasionally ate BBQ stir-fry, but I felt sorry for my mother who couldn’t enjoy her delicious dishes properly, and it made me feel embarrassed that I was shivering in the kitchen all day while doing BBQ stir-fry.
ah… ! It’s frustrating.
Because of the praises of Yeong-mi that poured out every time I prepared food in my past life,
I think I overestimated my cooking skills.
While I was thinking about something like this for a while, a story flower was blooming on the table.
Major older sister pointed to the table and seemed to be whispering something to Youngmi, and Yoon Seok-yi’s mother sitting opposite the table opened her mouth.
“Our Eunseong went to the 100-day market as the school’s representative, and they said that among the students in Chungcheong and Daejeon, they ran a manor.”
“Wow! I think Eunseong is very good at writing!”
At Yeong-mi’s mother’s words, Yoon Seok-yi’s mother said with an excited expression.
“I read the article about the manor, and it felt like I was on a trip. Ho Ho!”
At the words of Yoon Seok-yi’s older brother’s mother, the major older sister said.
“What the heck was it, how did you feel?”
“It was a story about going to a beach in Busan in the summer to play and writing down what happened there calmly like an essay, and I was immersed in the story without realizing it. Ho ho ho!”
“I don’t think Eunseong’s writing talent is normal. Hmm–! Can I get some writing lessons from Eun-seong?”
At the compliment of the major older sister, Yoon Seok-yi’s mother smiled and said:
“a! What kind of tutoring does the professor take from a high school student?”
“no. If you look at the professors who are doing well, all of them have excellent writing skills. Whether it’s a research proposal or a thesis, there is nothing a professor does other than writing.”
This time, Yeong-mi’s mother told Yoon Seok-yi’s mother.
“By the way, what major does Eun-seong want to go to college?”
“Eunseong says that he wants to go to the journalism department and become a reporter later, but honestly, I wish I was a writer rather than a reporter. Ho Ho!”
Yoon Seok-yi’s older brother’s father poked his aunt’s side and said in a low voice.
“honey! Stop it now. What kind of pride are you talking about?”
The old woman looked at the uncle and said.
“I really wanted to show off something like this. When our Yoon-seok entered Korea University, Eun-seong, who was lost, was trampled on by his eyes, so he couldn’t say a word of pride, but now I’m going to live my life proud of my son. Yoon-seok is proud of being the president of a venture company, and when Eun-seok goes to college, he will make rice cakes in the neighborhood.”
At the words of the aunt, the atmosphere became a little somber.
After a moment of silence, Youngmi’s voice was heard.
“I’m sorry… .”
Youngmi continued talking to my mother.
“It’s so delicious, but can you give me a little more of this?”
The BBQ stir-fry that had remained on the plate until a little while ago had completely disappeared.
Oh my! The dishes I made were so popular!
At Yeong-mi’s words, her mother brought more BBQ stir-fry from the kitchen, and Yoon Seok-yi’s father, who was tasting a piece of meat, said with a slightly surprised expression.
“Jung-ho’s mother, how did you cook this? Is this really your first taste? haha!”
“Yes? The seasoning is a little salty, but I think it has a fun flavor.”
fun taste.
Last life When I went to a County Line restaurant with my mother, she said the same thing.
My mother, who took a bite of Baby Back Ribs, said:
They say that the taste is fun, and that it goes perfectly well with cold dongchimi.
The mother continued talking to Yoon Seok-yi’s brother’s father.
“But don’t you think it would be better if you eat this with dongchimi?”
At his mother’s words, the uncle savored one more piece of meat and said:
“ah… ! It really is. Dongchimi also captures the greasy taste, and I think the two go well together. But how did you make this BBQ sauce?”
My mother patted my shoulder and said.
“This is what my son made. How much noise did you make from cooking this from this morning? haha!”
After a while.
I brought him a bottle of BBQ sauce, and he opened the bottle and checked the flavor and flavor of the sauce.
“Ketchup, tomato sauce, vinegar, chili sauce, hmm… It’s not sugar, it’s not honey… what? ah… ! Is it maple syrup? A little whole pepper was added, and it seemed to smell a little Japanese-style soy sauce… … .”
After a while, Uncle pointed to the BBQ sauce bottle and said to me.
“Jungho, can I take this and study the recipe? These days, I am preparing a whole barbecue restaurant business targeting people in their 20s and 30s, and I think this BBQ sauce would be really good.”
I said, pointing to the major sister.
“sure. If you need more, ask the Major, and she will send you more from America.”
When the meal was over, I prepared coffee and tea in the kitchen, and my sister-in-law cut a whipped cream cake and put it on a plate.
I said to my sister.
“Noona, what happened to Incheol’s file?”
“I think it worked out well.”
“Really?
“yes. It was solved just as Incheol explained at first. I got an email from the school lawyer last night, saying that the thesis could be republished.”
“Wow! Good for you. I am so glad!”
“Jeong-ho, thanks to you and In-cheol. But I have to go to America the day after tomorrow.”
“Didn’t you originally say that you were leaving on the 17th?”
“Yeah, this has been resolved, and I have some other work to do, so I moved up the plane ticket a little bit.”
January 17th is Martin Luther King Jr. Day (MLK Day), a national holiday in the United States.
For reference, American universities have MLK Day, the end of winter vacation and the beginning of spring semester, so now is the second most difficult time to get plane tickets after Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays.
“But how did you get your plane ticket?”
At my question, my sister smiled and said,
“That’s right, the government agency gave me an 8-digit code, so a seat that wasn’t there was just created?”
“ah… ! Yes? Is that possible? But if it’s a government institution, is it a research institute in a school?”
My sister laughed and said.
“It’s not a research lab, I’ll tell you the details later.”
After speaking, the older sister took the prepared cake plate and went to the living room, and I also took the coffee and tea I had prepared and headed to the living room.
When I gave people coffee and tea and sat down at my seat, Yeong-mi held out a plate of her piece of cake to me and said:
“Jungho, would you like to eat this cake too? I’m so full I can’t eat any more.”
“really? I like it, this cake is really good, are you okay?”
Youngmi smiled at my question.
“Yeah, I ate a lot of better food.”
* * *
two days ago.
FBI Cyber Crime Division
“(This is a report that came in yesterday early in the morning, but I think the team leader should check it.)”
The team leader (Supervisory Special Agent), who opened the file and checked the data, said with a grin.
“(Isn’t this a joke report?)”
“(I thought it was a joke at first too. However, after receiving the thesis data and email data from the university, it doesn’t seem to be a joke report.)”
“(okay?)”
“(I also checked the malware embedded in the McLean MathTech program, and it matches the reported content.)”
“(The victim?)”
“(Yoon, a professor of Korean nationality, has confirmed that he is currently in Seoul on vacation.)”
The team leader-level agent pointed to the file and said.
“(So you mean that the criminal sent all the hacking data to the FBI saying, ‘I hacked Yoon’s computer and committed this and that crime’?)”
“(….)”
“(I’m not crazy, I can’t do this.)”
“(I looked at McLean’s records, and he said he was a graduate student in mathematics, and was eliminated from the doctoral defense two years ago. I think the emotional shock he received at that time must have been great.)”
“(Ah…! Yes? Were you a graduate student?)”
“(Maybe he surrendered before he was found out, or maybe he surrendered in advance in consideration of plea bargaining?)”
The team leader-level agent nodded and opened his mouth.
“(Then call the local police and ask for a recruit.)”
“(all right.)”
“(and only McLean’s self-made material?)”
“(Yes, that’s right.)”
“(In order to formally prosecute, you will need to obtain evidence of the victim. It would be better to contact the victim named Yoon to return home as soon as possible.)”
“(all right.)”