Chapter 93: First Winter (2)

Winter is cold. It's a climate where crops struggle to grow, and vegetable prices double.

Which means:

"Alright, kids. It's time to eat."

"...Father. There are no vegetables again today."

There aren't enough vegetables for Choryeon to eat.

"I'm grateful for the side dishes you prepared with care. But I don't eat meat, Father."

Choryeon picked up the plate of meat side dishes and put it in front of Mangmung. Mangmung munched on the octopus sausages deliciously.

"Woof woof-!!"

"That's right, eat well, Mangmung."

Bang-!

At this sight, Hwaryeon slammed the table and stood up.

"Eat well!! If you weren't going to eat it, you should have given it to me!! Why are you giving the delicious sausages to him?!"

Growl-!

Hwaryeon glared at Mangmung, who was burying his head in the plate, and said.

"I'll eat Mangmung who ate the sausages! Come here, Mangmung!"

"W-Woof-!"

Mangmung, who was enjoying the sausages, started being chased by Hwaryeon.

'Sigh, Hwaryeon is bullying Mangmung again.'

I stopped Hwaryeon, who was running around the room while we were eating.

"Lee Hwaryeon, what are you doing in the middle of a meal? Sit down quickly."

"Dad! Mangmung ate my sausages!"

"Stop bothering Mangmung and sit down quickly."

"Tch, no way!"

Huff-!

Hwaryeon turned around as if sulking and sat back down to eat. I approached Choryeon, who was insisting on eating only white rice. Choryeon was silently eating white rice without any side dishes.

"..."

"Choryeon."

"..."

"Look at Dad, Choryeon. Are you that upset because there are no vegetables in the side dishes?"

"...Yes."

Choryeon nodded slightly with her mouth full of white rice. I felt the urge to poke her puffed-up cheeks, but I decided to hold back as much as possible.

"Then, Dad will prepare side dishes you can eat tomorrow."

"...Really?"

"Yes, I promise."

I held out my pinky finger to Choryeon. Choryeon chewed her white rice and stared at my pinky finger. Then, she quietly hooked her finger with mine.

"...Is it a promise, Father? Even though I'm your daughter, I'm a dragon. I never forget promises. I still remember. You must absolutely keep your promises."

Of course, promises should be kept. It doesn't matter if both parties forget the promise later, but if one side remembers, the promise must be kept no matter what.

I answered Choryeon, who was particularly obsessed with promises.

"Okay. I'll keep the promise, Choryeon. Of course."

"Really? I believe in you, Father! Make me believe in you until the end!?"

"Of course, of course."

Did she want to be vegetarian that badly?

I smiled seeing Choryeon's happy face. However, Suryeon didn't seem to like this sight.

"Sigh. Dad's an idiot."

Shake, shake-

She looked at me like I was an idiot and shook her head. I scolded Suryeon sternly.

"Lee Suryeon! Why are you looking at me like that!"

"Because Dad's doing something stupid. You still don't understand dragons that much. I feel bad because it seems like you don't know me."

Suryeon said this and focused on her elegant meal again. I snorted at Suryeon's behavior.

'How cute. Is she jealous because I played with Choryeon for a bit?'

She's cute because she's not honest with her emotions.

I dismissed Suryeon's words as insignificant, not knowing what would happen to me later.

***

Currently, my cooking skills have hit a plateau. The reason is that the category of dishes I can make is limited.

"In spring, summer, and autumn, we could produce our own vegetables. So Choryeon didn't have to complain about side dishes."

In cold weather, temperatures drop to -30°C, weather where normal crops can't grow.

In the end, we have to buy vegetables cultivated with cutting-edge technology by companies. Of course, they're disgustingly expensive, so I can't afford them.

"It's no wonder vegans are among the types that die in winter."

Anyway. In a situation where I can't directly supply vegetables, what's the best I can do? That's using tofu in dishes.

"My cooking skills will improve a level today."

I took out the tofu I bought from the mart from the bag. Then, I opened the package and lightly sliced the tofu.

"After cutting it like this..."

I glanced at the smartphone screen. I decided to take out another cooking utensil.

"Lee Hwaryeon!"

"Huh?"

"Come here!"

Pitter-patter-

Hwaryeon approached me with an expectant face. I held out a large frying pan to Hwaryeon.

"Hwaryeon, breathe fire on this."

"..."

Hwaryeon looked at me without saying anything.

'...Hwaryeon not saying anything is a bit scary.'

Ahem-

I quickly assessed the situation and handed her a snack from on top of the refrigerator.

"I almost forgot your pay. Eat these potato chips, but only a little since we'll be eating soon."

"Hmph, you should have given me the chips earlier!"

Hwaryeon snatched the potato chips and breathed fire towards the frying pan.

"Raaah!!"

The frying pan heated up quickly. I sprinkled cooking oil on it and placed the sliced tofu.

Sizzle-

The tofu pieces started to dance on the frying pan, browning nicely. Hwaryeon sniffed while breathing fire.

"Smells good, doesn't it, Hwaryeon?"

"Aah-!"

Hwaryeon answered while breathing fire. She almost nodded by mistake, but I managed to save her by holding her head still with my hand.

"We almost had a house fire."

That was close. We nearly got kicked out of the house we just got.

Hwaryeon's firepower is good, but it's dangerous as it could accidentally set the house on fire.

'...I need to thoroughly educate Hwaryeon to prevent the house from catching fire.'

Her firepower is gradually getting stronger too.

Thinking this, I flipped the browned tofu. And at this point, I thought Hwaryeon's help was enough.

"Hwaryeon, go watch TV with your potato chips now!"

"Hmph, I'll do what I want! Don't order me around!"

Pitter-patter-!

Hwaryeon said this and sat in front of the TV with her potato chips. I wonder if it wouldn't have been better if she just answered "okay".

'Well, not listening to me is what makes Hwaryeon Hwaryeon.'

If Hwaryeon suddenly started listening to me, that wouldn't be Hwaryeon, but a different dragon. Still, I do like Hwaryeon's personality like this.

"Now the tofu is done... Next, I should make the sauce."

I let the browned tofu cool on a plate for a moment. Then, I started combining the sauces I had placed on the table one by one.

"First soy sauce... sugar... sesame oil... sugar... pepper... Ugh, there's so many ingredients."

I didn't know making braised tofu would be this difficult. Have all housewives been cooking through this process?

Feeling amazed, I looked at my smartphone again and mixed the sauce.

As a result,

Taste-

"Hmm, the seasoning is good enough."

I managed to make a decent sauce. I put the tofu back in the frying pan and poured the sauce. And then,

"Lee Hwaryeon!"

"Huh?"

"Help Dad one more time!"

"Ugh, so annoying really!"

I called Hwaryeon again to braise the tofu with the sauce poured on it. The sweet and savory sauce seeped into the white flesh of the tofu. After continuing to heat the tofu for a while,

"It's finally done."

A vegetarian side dish for Choryeon. The soy sauce braised tofu was complete.

Feeling a strange satisfaction, I called Choryeon who was playing with Mangmung in the living room.

"Choryeon! Dinner's ready! Come and eat!"

"Today's a day with vegetable side dishes! I'm coming, Father!"

Choryeon quickly ran to the table and sat down. Her face was the happiest I'd seen at the dinner table since winter started. Unable to hold back my smile seeing Choryeon like this, I put the soy sauce braised tofu on the table.

"Here, braised tofu. Did Dad keep his promise?"

"Hehe, Father is the best indeed!"

Choryeon gave me a thumbs up. Then Suryeon came over, tugged at my collar, and said.

"That's not just for Choryeon, right?"

"Of course not. You go eat too, Suryeon."

"...Make food I want to eat next time too."

"Okay. Just tell me. Dad will make anything for you."

I'm a bit scared because her taste is quite refined, but by making foods the kids want to eat one by one, I guess I'll gradually grow as a dad too.

Thinking this, I watched contentedly as the kids ate their meal.

Choryeon, who had been gloomy without vegetable side dishes, was eating with a bright smile.

"This is food made from beans! Hehe, it's delicious! Thank you for keeping your promise, Father!"

"Dad always keeps his promises, you know."

"You'll keep other promises too, right?! I believe in you, Father!"

Other promises.

"Hmm..."

I avoided Choryeon's gaze and said.

"Everyone, enjoy your meal."

"You said you'd keep all your promises! Father!"

"..."

They'll forget the promises later anyway. I don't think it matters much.

'They'll forget when they enter middle school... right...?'

I felt somewhat uneasy, but I decided to deliberately ignore the kids' gazes.

'They should forget...'

I have a bad feeling about this.