Im Beomhyeon continued boasting, "Speaking of Hwayang Village, I, Im Beomhyeon, am second only to Second Uncle! Even Second Uncle? Heh! I only let him be number one because he's old, and I was worried about his frail body. If I really fought him… Ouch!"
A piece of firewood flew over and struck Im Beomhyeon's leg with pinpoint accuracy, making him clutch his leg and yelp in pain.
Bok Taejin's mouth twitched.
He had seen it clearly—Second Uncle who is in the middle of cooking, had casually bent down, picked up the firewood from the ground, and tossed it over.
It was clear that while Second Uncle was old, his strength was still formidable!
It seemed like the villagers had a tradition of dining together, and Bok Taejin figured that everyone in the village must be here by now.
He observed the children—they all looked robust, and the older ones appeared even more vigorous.
Although Bok Taejin considered himself an average 14 year old in terms of physique, among this group, he looked malnourished.
Suddenly, a woman with a warm smile approached him.
She bore a resemblance to Seo Sowoo.
The moment she spoke, Bok Taejin's suspicions were confirmed.
She said, "Little brother, where are you staying tonight? Why don't you come to my house and share a bed with Sowoo?"
Im Beomhyeon leaned over in shock: "Aunt Seo, what are you saying? I carried him back, let him sleep at my place all afternoon, and now you're telling him to stay with you instead? Is my house not fit for people?"
The woman shot Im Beomhyeon a look. "You? If I hadn't helped you clean up, could anyone even live in that doghouse of yours?"
Im Beomhyeon sheepishly rubbed his nose and said nothing.
Bok Taejin hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided to stay with Im Beomhyeon.
Since arriving in this world, he had spent the most time with Im Beomhyeon and felt a little bit closer to him.
The woman didn't press the matter further.
Seeing that the others had finished preparing the meal, she simply called Bok Taejin and Im Beomhyeon over to eat.
Almost every dish on the table contained meat.
A large, steaming pot of broth, with big bones still inside, sat at the center of the table.
The other dishes included huge chunks of meat and large cuts of bone-in meat, and even the stir-fried vegetables had thick slices of meat mixed in—there was more meat than vegetables.
At first, Bok Taejin felt a little bit restrained, eating shyly.
However, when he saw the others moving their chopsticks with lightning speed—some people even grabbing the whole meat bones to gnaw on while using their other hand to scoop rice or reach for more food—he quickly let go of his reservations and started wolfing down his meal.
The rice had a rich, natural aroma.
In contrast, the quality of the dishes varied, but everyone ate with such enthusiasm that Bok Taejin couldn't help but follow suit.