Chapter 6: Silver Oak Farm (2)
TL: Hanguk
I wasn’t the only one who worked after school instead of studying. I wasn’t the only immigrant laborer attending school.
“Armando!”
Armando Cortes, who had illegally crossed over from Mexico when he was young, was one of the few non-Asian friends I had at school. Honestly, I didn’t even remember him until he talked to me first.
“What?”
He was the kind of guy who cared about nothing but girls, so he was probably still thinking only about how to hit on Christina in our class.
Of course, objectively speaking, it wasn’t going to work at all.
“Can you do me a favor?”
“A favor? What? I heard you became a farm owner’s son now, but you’re not trying to use me as a worker on your farm, right?”
“......”
"9 dollars an hour. Even if it's you, I have to give at least that much."
“It’s not our farm, it’s Silver Oak Farm.”
Armando tilted his head.
“Why there?”
“The thing is, the owner of that farm came to ours yesterday and picked a fight for no reason. He had that look like he was after our farm. I’m sure there’s some kind of plot...”
I didn’t bother beating around the bush with this guy. If I did, he probably wouldn’t understand anyway, and since he was heavily influenced by Japanese manga, his behavior was pretty cartoonish.
“What? How evil!”
As expected, he clenched his fist dramatically. I lowered my head quickly when I saw the large figure of Cayden Harper walking past the classroom, then continued.
“I want you to go check the farm’s situation and the atmosphere.”
“But are they hiring workers?”
“The harvest season isn’t over yet, so you should be able to get in.”
“Alright! I’ll expose the schemes of those wicked guys.”
“...... Yeah, I’ll trust you.”
But Armando was the kind of guy who gave one thing and took one thing.
“Wait, but you have to do me a favor too.”
“What is it?”
Armando leaned his upper body toward me and lowered his voice so no one else could hear.
“Come to the party with me tomorrow.”
“Party? What party?”
“It’s Christina’s birthday tomorrow.”
He looked genuinely surprised that I didn’t know.
‘Why on earth would I need to know that?’
“What do you want me to do there?”
“Help me out.”
“So you can hit on Christina?”
“Yeah.”
“...... Can you actually do it if I help you?”
“Absolutely! This time I’ll definitely win her over. Tomorrow will be a historic day in my life.”
“...... Well, fine.”
It was ridiculous and absurd seeing him dream an impossible dream, but it wasn’t that hard for me, so we even shared a handshake I’d forgotten about as we made our deal.
Since a specialist would come to repair and clean the wine equipment, it would take at least three days to up to a week, so I didn’t have that much to do. In the meantime, my parents were working hard harvesting the grapes, and the workers were doing pest control, so even more so.
After class ended, I headed to the Agriscience Club classroom, which I’d joined for college admissions.
Click...
When I opened the door and walked in, half the kids were familiar faces and the other half were not.
“Brian! Welcome. You probably know some people already, but starting today Brian will be studying, doing activities, and volunteer work with us here in the Agriscience Club. Come here.”
Mr. Miller called me to the front, and despite the awkwardness, I walked up.
“Introduce yourself.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Brian. My family started running a Vineyard, so I joined this club.”
While some were surprised, there were also those who openly frowned.
Since it was a theory class today, once I took my seat, the guy sitting next to me sneered.
“If you start learning farming now, you might be able to help your parents before you turn thirty. You’d better work hard.”
Seeing his face, tall enough to reach 190 centimeters with a big build and strong features, I tilted my head thinking I’d seen him somewhere. But maybe he thought I was ignoring him, because his face twisted.
“Are you deaf or something?”
The moment he looked like he was about to throw a punch, I suddenly recalled his past. He used to play school football but, lacking talent, had switched to agriculture.
“Ah, Jacob?”
“What? Are you saying you forgot my name?”
“Wait… but haven’t you only been learning farming for like three years? Then maybe you’ll also be able to help your parents when you’re around thirty?”
“..... Want me to smash that mouth and see if you can still talk like that?”
His raised voice must have drawn attention, because Mr. Miller noticed.
“Hey, what’s going on there? Jacob?”
“...... Nothing.”
“Focus on your studies. As far as I know, you’re at a very important stage right now, aren’t you?”
“...... I’m sorry.”
Mr. Miller glared at Jacob, then asked,
“Alright. If you’re confident enough to pick a fight during class, you must have been preparing well, right? Let’s try a quiz. Today we’re going to talk about rice cultivation, one of California’s representative crops. Soil management is especially important. Can you explain the most problematic micronutrient deficiency found in paddy soils in Northern California, and the most effective way to solve it?”
Tensing up, Jacob flinched and looked around with a panicked expression.
“Uh… well, micronutrient deficiency… nitrogen deficiency?”
“Jacob? As far as I know, your family farm grows rice. Am I mistaken?”
“No, sir.”
“Then even if I hadn’t taught you this yet, you should at least be able to answer this much, shouldn’t you?”
“.....”
“Anyone who can answer?”
The teacher’s eyes scanned the classroom with some expectation, but perhaps because he hadn’t lectured on this topic yet, no one raised their hand. Mr. Miller was just about to begin explaining when I raised mine.
Jacob and Mr. Miller both looked surprised.
“Brian, do you know the answer?”
I gave Jacob a smirking smile and replied,
“The micronutrient commonly deficient in Northern California paddy soils is zinc (Zn). Zinc deficiency causes the leaves to turn yellow, and the most effective solutions are adding zinc sulfate to the soil or applying zinc formulations through foliar spraying.”
The classroom instantly went silent and everyone’s gaze landed on me. Mr. Miller nodded with a pleased smile.
“Correct, Brian. Your foundational knowledge is excellent.”
Mr. Miller, looking at me with fresh eyes, surely imprinted this moment in his mind.
‘Good! That’s one more line added to the recommendation letter for UC Davis!’
Unlike in Korea, in the United States you shouldn’t hide your abilities. You have to step forward constantly, show your skills, and get recognized if you want to get closer to success, whether it’s college admission or employment. I realized this only much later.
Humility is not a virtue in America.
I spoke quietly to the red-faced Jacob, who was fuming after getting hit with a verbal blow.
“How long are you going to rely on your fists? If your rice grows poorly, are you going to punch it too? If you want to keep your rice alive, use your head, not your fists.”
When I tapped my head as I advised him, the giant-like Jacob stared at me with a baffled expression. He probably thought, ‘No one’s ever talked to me like this before.’
If he were just another thick-headed guy like Cayden Harper, I would have kept my mouth shut. But since he was attending this club with the intention of learning farming, I figured he was different from that idiot, so I spoke firmly.
But someone had been watching this scene.
After the roughly hour-long class ended, I walked out and Jacob brushed past my shoulder. It wasn’t enough to call it a shoulder bump; he just wanted to show he was in a bad mood. I chuckled and kept walking, when someone poked my shoulder.
“Hm?”
I turned my head and saw a white girl with beautifully tanned skin standing there.
“Chloe?”
“You know me?”
“Of course. You’re famous. Your boyfriend too.”
Chloe Harris, called the queen of the school, stood there with her mid-160s height, model-like slender figure, and pretty face. She was so well known that the moment I saw her, I immediately recognized who she was. And of course, her boyfriend, the football player...
“Is that so?”
“But why? Do you have something to say to me?”
She looked at me with a curious expression and asked.
“No, it’s just… it was the first time I saw someone talk to Jacob like that.”
“I thought so…”
I gave a small laugh and was about to leave when she asked,
“If there’s something I don’t know, could you teach me?”
“Hm? Teaching you isn’t a problem, but does your family run a farm?”
“My family has a cherry farm.”
“Ah… right. Ah!”
I turned to leave again, but something occurred to me, so I looked at her and quietly said,
“Then could you help me with one thing?”
“What is it?”
“Are you planning to go to Christina’s birthday party?”
“Hmm… probably?”
“Good. Then I’ll ask you for a favor there. Just help me out.”
“...What kind of favor?”
"There's something. Like that."
Leaving her curious, I left the school and rode my Bicycle straight to the farm. But something felt off.
“Woo-Seok!”
My mom’s irritated voice.
“What is it, Mom?”
“Well, see…”
Before my mom, who looked very distressed, could say anything, Dad stepped in.
“None of the workers showed up today.”
“What? Why?”
“They all went to Silveroak Hills.”
“Really?”
Now I was sure. Elowen was determined to devour our farm no matter what…
“Isn’t that person really awful? We can’t just let this go. He purposely took the people who came to work at our farm!”
I spoke casually to my angry mom.
“It’s fine. And it can’t be helped. It’s harvest season, so who’s going to complain if someone pays more to hire more workers?”
“I’m just upset.”
“We have pleeenty of time. Let’s do the powdery mildew control first and harvest the grapes slowly. The money will come from those grapes piled up in the storage over there. Dad, did the wine equipment cleaning company come?”
“Yes. The equipment isn’t badly damaged, and the cleaning will take about two days. I asked them to clean it thoroughly.”
“Good job. Once the cleaning is done, I’ll start vinegar production right away.”
“But… will it turn out well?”
“Just trust your son… In half a year, I’ll make sure our vinegar is being sold at South Coast Plaza.”
Saying that, I lovingly looked at the low-quality grapes stored in the box.
‘Aw, these cute little ones…’
What will it feel like the day vinegar with the Redwood Farm label is sold at South Coast Plaza, where the finest luxury brands in California are located?
*****
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