The amount of food and temptation laid out in the hall almost convinced Sihon that they were not there for a meeting at all, but he managed to avoid the high-calorie dishes pressed on him. Soon afterwards the village chief officially opened the town meeting, which prompted one of the townsfolk to wonder aloud whether something had happened in the village.
Another man informed him that the meeting brief said a petty thief had been lurking in the village recently. He revealed that a neighbour's sweet potatoes had been stolen, and that someone had dug up herbs from the hill behind Sihon's place. The villagers were not happy to hear it, and it strengthened their resolve to catch the culprit as soon as possible.
They were worried, though, that the thief was cleverer than they were, and that it might not be easy to catch him. Jong suggested setting up regular patrols around the village to keep an eye out for the thief and to watch for wildfires as well. Satisfied with the idea, the village chief asked whether anyone had other suggestions or any objection to Jong's plan. Everyone agreed with it, so the village chief happily announced that they would all work together, taking turns on patrol to catch the thief red-handed.
Once the agenda had been hashed out, the villagers immediately picked up the feast where they had left off. Sihon was quite surprised at how quickly the so-called town meeting had finished. Then a middle-aged man approached him and asked whether he was the young fellow who had moved into the house near the mountain. Before Sihon could answer, the man introduced himself as Lee Dongbaek, secretary general of the sports council and sponsor of the town meeting.
After they had exchanged greetings, Dongbaek asked whether Sihon had brought the rice cakes served at the meeting. Flustered, Sihon shyly replied that he had felt he should bring something, since it was his first time meeting everybody. Dongbaek commended him for having such good manners and complimented the rice cakes for being delicious. Then he wondered aloud whether Sihon worked out, because he was built like a ssireum wrestler.
Unable to respond, Sihon simply chuckled nervously at the comparison. Luckily the village chief stepped in and told Dongbaek to go and recruit elsewhere, since Sihon had come to the countryside to recover after major surgery. Dongbaek expressed his disappointment that he could not recruit a man with the perfect physique for ssireum. The village chief promptly scolded him, telling him to stop meddling and focus on his own wrestlers, whose poor performances had been bringing shame on the town.
As the two of them bickered on, Sihon could only smile awkwardly, caught in the middle of the argument. Just then a dog ran up and started licking his fingers, startling him. As he wondered where it had come from, Dongbaek cheerfully explained that the dog was his and introduced him as Baduk. Everyone was surprised when the dog curled up in Sihon's lap, since he was infamous for being a mean dog, even towards his owner.
As usual, the village chief took the opportunity to trip Dongbaek up, remarking that animals always know a good person, a comment clearly aimed at calling Dongbaek a bad one. Feeling betrayed, Dongbaek could not believe that his own dog, who normally snapped at him, was acting cute with Sihon. Before he could even say anything, the dog growled at him simply for calling his name.
Amid the subtle bickering and the warmth of everyone there, Sihon's first town meeting came to an end.
A few days later he was filming again, and he explained to his viewers that he had been away because he had to visit the hospital for a check-up. Then he happily announced that he had finally been cleared of morbid obesity. He had lost about five kilograms and gone from a hundred and twenty-three down to a hundred and eighteen.
Thanks to that, his doctor had given him permission to eat whatever he wanted for one meal once a week. Sihon chose that day as his cheat day, and he decided to have grilled pork belly as his cheat meal. He told the audience that all the vegetables he would be pairing with it had been freshly picked from his own garden.
The spread included garlic, perilla leaves, lettuce and tomatoes. After positioning the camera, he eagerly prepared to dig into the feast, showing his viewers how to make the perfect wrap. He started by gently shaking the excess water off a lettuce leaf before laying a perilla leaf on top. Next he carefully added two slices of perfectly cooked pork belly, followed by a bit of garlic and a touch of spice.
Satisfied with the combination, he folded the wrap and popped it into his mouth. As soon as he bit down, a combination of tastes exploded in his mouth and made him feel warm and full, nourished by the energy of the earth. Every single one of the ingredients in that wrap had achieved perfect harmony.
Pleased with the combination, he decided to raise it further by adding the aged kimchi he had been given by the village chief. The elders had loaded him with side dishes to take home during the town meeting. He rolled some pork belly in the aged kimchi, and as soon as he tasted it, the way the sour kimchi harmonised with the pork belly sent him to cloud nine.
He carried on with his meal while recording, as though nothing existed at that moment but him and the food. After the feast he posted the video and relaxed to let everything settle. He admitted that he might have lost control while eating, because it had been a long time since he last ate that much.
Embarrassed at having pigged out, he decided to take his time and eat more slowly next time. Then a shrill ring echoed from his phone, startling the cat beside him. He checked the screen to see that it was a call from the village chief, which made him anxious. When he picked up, however, the village chief simply explained that she wanted to check on her dying orchid.
He was instantly relieved as he informed her that the orchid had been revived and that he had been planning to bring it over the next day. The village chief was pleased to hear it, so she decided to pay him for his services, but Sihon turned her down, explaining that he had not done it expecting anything in return. The village chief let him know that it was rude to refuse money offered by an elder.
She told him to consider it a little pocket money, which she would send directly to his account. Sihon had no choice but to agree reluctantly, after which they said goodbye and ended the call. Embarrassed by the whole exchange, he decided to accept her gift gratefully. A few seconds later the notification for the payment arrived, and it left him so utterly shocked that he lost the use of his nerves and dropped his phone.