Chapter 2. Yehwa Village

Yehwa Village was famous for its beautiful pear blossoms.

It was a small village on the border between Chungcheong Province and Gyeonggi Province, but it had been known for one thing since the Joseon Dynasty.

It was renowned for its fine liquor said to be made from the heavenly pear blossoms.

Cheondo Ihwaju.

There was even a legend that immortals descended to the human realm to drink it, and its flavor was so exquisite that they refused to return to the heavens.

Another story passed down like a folktale said that a king on a secret excursion fell in love with the liquor, named the village Yehwa Village, and awarded the sixty-year-old brewer with the honorary title of Master Brewer and ninety bolts of silk.

From that time on, the entire village transformed into a traditional brewing community. The main ingredients, rice and pears, were grown only within Yehwa Village itself.

It was no exaggeration to say that the entire village revolved around brewing alcohol.

But even the king of that era probably didn’t know this.

The person who brewed the liquor was none other than a woman.

* * *

The early morning light had yet to fade.

A faint mist lingered in the dim dawn, and a soft white smoke rose from over the low walls of Ihwado-ga, the heart of Yehwa Village.

True to its identity as a traditional brewery, Ihwado-ga preserved its old-fashioned exterior. The harmony of red clay, wood, roof tiles, and rice straw felt like something from centuries past rather than the 21st century.

The entire expansive compound of Ihwado-ga was the same.

In the outdoor furnace yard of the western annex, seven huge steam cauldrons sat lined up, each occupying its own spot.

Between the thick streams of rising steam, two women moved busily.

They were steaming glutinous rice, the main ingredient for the alcohol.

“Mrs. Jeong-ja. I’ll take this out, so could you bring the barley nuruk from the nuruk room? It should be in a straw basket.”

“That should’ve been ready already, shouldn’t it?”

“Yes. It’s donggok, remember? The nuruk we made in winter. It’s been fermenting since last winter, so it’s at the perfect stage now.”

“I just hope it turns out alright. This is your first time combining barley nuruk with dandelion, isn’t it, Do-ah?”

“You can’t make progress without trying new things.”

Do-ah replied casually without pausing her hands in response to Jeong-ja’s worried tone.

“If the flavor doesn’t come out right, we can just replace it with something else next time. We need to experiment.”

“Well, I guess there’s no way something made by your hands would taste bad anyway, Do-ah. I was worrying for nothing.”

Jeong-ja laughed awkwardly and left for the annex.

Left alone, Do-ah checked the fire in the furnace and glanced at the time.

She didn’t take her eyes off the seven cauldrons for even a moment.

Beep beep beep.

As the alarm went off, Do-ah began opening the lids of the steamers.

She had done this countless times before, but the sheer heat made her frown reflexively.

The hot rice needed to be cooled and then mixed with nuruk, so she quickly scooped the glutinous rice onto the bamboo mats spread out on the wooden floor.

“Mmm, smells good in here.”

The village chief entered the annex through the thick steam.

He removed his hat and sat down on the floor.

Do-ah, who had been evenly spreading the rice over the bamboo mats, lifted her head.

Her face was as pale and flawless as the full moon, but her expression was cold and unreadable.

She brushed aside a few loose strands of hair and bowed politely.

“Good morning.”

As if it were a daily routine, the chief smiled and picked up a handful of the freshly steamed rice to taste.

His casual action didn’t faze Do-ah in the slightest; she was used to it.

Chewing the hot rice, the chief asked through the mouthful.

“Do-ah, where’s the Master right now?”

“She’s in the inner yard.”

“Ah! What was I thinking. Of course, today’s the day.”

Today marked the beginning of preparations for brewing Cheondo Ihwaju.

The inner yard of Ihwado-ga was the strictly controlled space used for making Cheondo Ihwaju.

It was the only place in the old-fashioned Ihwado-ga equipped with modern security devices.

Only the successor and the two assistants she personally approved were allowed inside.

The techniques for brewing this fine liquor were passed down exclusively through the maternal line, making them a top secret of the entire village.

Many people coveted the brewing method of this rare liquor, which was why, when the brewing season began, the inner yard of Ihwado-ga was sealed off around the clock.

Even other residents of Yehwa Village were forbidden to enter.

It was an unspoken rule to protect Ihwado-ga, the backbone of the village, from outsiders.

“Well, since I can’t get in there, you’ll have to go, Do-ah.”

“I don’t have permission to enter yet either.”

“What. Not even the successor? The Master is way too strict, honestly.”

“What am I too strict about?”

A composed, low voice suddenly cut in.

A short elderly woman with snow-white hair appeared, leaning on an oak cane.

It was Choi Eun-ja, the 25th head of Ihwado-ga and its Master Brewer.

“Speak.”

Even in her eighties, she exuded an extraordinary presence.

Her expressionless face and sharp eyes could freeze anyone standing in front of her.

She was like the white tiger of a snowy mountain.

In fact, that was the village’s nickname for her.

“Ah, Master. No, that’s not what I meant.”

The village chief, pale as a sheet, waved his hands frantically as he stood up.

Eun-ja ignored him, picking up a handful of rice from the bamboo mat.

“What brings you here so early?”

She popped a bit of rice into her mouth, testing its stickiness, then gave a faint nod.

It meant the rice was well steamed.

Coming from the stern and frugal Eun-ja, this was the highest form of praise.

A subtle warmth flickered across Do-ah’s previously emotionless face.

“I think we need to hire more people, Master. Myung-su and his wife who manage the storage probably won’t be coming back…”

“Why.”

“It seems the cancer treatment didn’t go well for his wife. So they’re moving her to a different hospital this time. But we can’t just wait forever, so Myung-su suggested we find someone new before things get busier.”

The chief clasped his hands together and watched Eun-ja nervously.

She was particularly sensitive about hiring and letting people go, and he knew it well.

Eun-ja closed her eyes slowly, deep in thought.

“Should I look into it?”

The chief asked cautiously, but there was no reply.

Eun-ja opened her eyes again, let out a small sigh, and waved her hand.

“Leave it. Someone’s already coming.”

* * *

The drive to Yehwa Village took a little over two and a half hours.

For a place that lay only on the border between Gyeonggi and Chungcheong, the trip felt unnecessarily long.

For Gwon-ha, who usually traveled such distances by air, the journey in a car was exhausting.

But right now, he was too troubled to care about the inconvenience.

He had been this way for days.

This can’t be real…

Kang Gwon-ha…

The head of the marketing planning division, effectively the TF team of Daeseong Brewing…

I got blindsided.

By none other than Chairman Kang, my own grandfather.

“Damn, that stings.”

Leaning back against the headrest, Gwon-ha let out a hollow laugh.

He never imagined his grandfather would stab him in the back like this.

While his parents had abandoned the family business to live abroad, it was Chairman Kang who had raised him.

The only son of the eldest son, the family’s most precious heir.

And not just any son. The wandering eldest son had finally settled down with a woman, fathered a single grandson, and then disappeared again.

They occasionally sent news, but it was only natural that the grandfather grew especially attached to the grandson left behind.

Gwon-ha resembled Chairman Kang Ho from head to toe, which only deepened that attachment.

Thirty years of carefully balanced attention, discipline, encouragement, and pressure.

It had been like a one-on-one business apprenticeship under his grandfather’s care.

And now this was the condition he was given?

“Unbelievable. Really unbelievable.”

Starting with its liquor business, Daeseong Brewing had expanded into a major conglomerate with ten affiliates.

From food and beverage to distribution and biotech, it had made its name across multiple industries.

But the most prominent and recognizable branch was Daeseong Brewing.

It was no exaggeration to say that Korean liquor essentially meant Daeseong Brewing.

As K-culture gained popularity worldwide, interest in Korean traditional liquor grew as well, and Daeseong Brewing had ridden that wave to success.

And at the center of it all was Kang Gwon-ha.

And now they want me to go where? Yehwa Village? For Cheondo Ihwaju?

“This is insane.”

A hollow laugh kept escaping him.

The sound echoed emptily through the dry interior of the car.

“Director, we’ve arrived.”

While he had been laughing and cursing to himself, the car had already reached the entrance of Yehwa Village.

The stern gaze of Jihaeojang-gun, the guardian general statue standing at the village gate, met his eyes.

The massive wooden female warrior seemed to be glaring at him in warning.

“Hah, look at those eyes.”

It was as if she were telling him to brace himself for the rough days ahead.