"The manager said that Koreans don’t need a whip."
That's right.
The farm managers carry whips, but they don’t use them.
Why?
Because they don’t need to.
"The words are like whips, and Koreans have strong pride."
How did I tell the Korean men this?
I told them the manager said that Koreans work better than anyone else.
Since that day, the Korean men worked even harder.
"Peter"
Why did I choose the American name Peter?
To become Peter Pan.
Peter Pan from Neverland is cursed to never grow up. But in my view, Peter Pan is neither absolute good nor absolute evil.
And neither am I.
I decided that I could be absolute good to some people and absolute evil to others, which is why I chose the name Peter.
"Yes, Mark"
"Next week, the banana saplings will arrive here."
At the farm owner Mark’s words, I couldn’t help but smile. "You told me to talk about something that will bring money right away"
"Do you have something?"
"Do you have a trump card?"
"A trump card?"
"How about baccarat?"
"Baccarat? What’s that?"
Baccarat wasn’t a popular game yet.
"It's the devil's game."
"The devil's game?"
One of baccarat’s sayings is to teach your enemies how to play baccarat.
"To Koreans, the Japanese and the Chinese are the same kind of devil. You and I are Christians, so we’re like crusaders. Now it’s time to pick the pockets of the devils."
As usual, when I speak, Mark finds me a fascinating guy.
"So, what’s the plan?"
"Chinese people especially love gambling. We’ll set up a casino in the Chinese neighborhood"
Here’s the important part, Chinese people are really good at deceiving and exploiting other Chinese people. Even in modern times, the people who exploit the most overseas Chinese are other Chinese people.
"Will the Chinese come?"
"The Chinese don’t know Trump cards. But they are obsessed with Mahjong and dice games. We’ll use those as bait, and then lead them to the devil’s game to empty their pockets."
"Will it work?"
I made up my mind when we reached the port. I was going to become the devil.
'Being a regular person like Elon doesn’t get you anywhere' So, you have to be extraordinary. And bad things make money faster and easier.
"The choice is Mark’s, and the decision is his too."
"And the responsibility will be mine, right?"
"Of course. Don’t you miss the mainland? You’re tired of Hawaii, aren’t you?"
Mark chuckled at my words.
'A figurehead'
A big sugarcane farm owner would never live in Hawaii. I’m sure Mark is just a figurehead employed by the real owner.
"I miss Chicago"
In Hawaii, the sugarcane farm owner is almost a king. But i miss Chicago.
So, he’s definitely just a figurehead.
"Alright, how should we do this? Hahaha!"
"Before that, I have a favor to ask."
"What is it?"
o0o
Two days later, at the sugarcane fields.
That damn local manager always carries a whip, but never uses it. I’ve come to realize that there are two types of managers at this sugarcane farm.
The ones who came from the mainland with Mark.
And the ones hired locally.
"What did you just say?"
"You fire, go home!"
The farm manager’s expression stiffened, and he looked at Mark beside him. This guy had mocked the Koreans, calling them monkeys, just last time.
"Am I really being fired?"
He still couldn’t believe it.
"Yeah, you're fired."
"Why?"
"You’re asking why?"
"So why?"
"Because he’s more profitable to me than you."
"Are you crazy?"
At that moment, the eyes of the managers from the mainland, along with Mark, completely changed.
'Loyalty in capitalism is never real.'
It’s just fascinating to see.
Anyway, the fired manager was dragged away by the other managers, and the Korean workers, who had gathered to watch dispersed. I walked toward the direction where the other managers went.
'I won’t just let it go.'
What’s been done must be paid back.
If you don’t have a venomous spirit when there’s nothing else, you’ll just be trampled.
'Instead of enduring like a weed.'
I’ll become a poisonous plant that kills others.
o0o
I walked around the area for about 10 minutes when I suddenly heard someone scream in the distance.
I quieted my footsteps, broke a nearby branch sharply, and slowly approached. The scream was from the fired manager.
And blood was dripping from his right hand.
'One of his fingers is missing.'
It was clearly cut off.
"You, you damn bastard!"
The fired manager screamed when he saw me.
I charged like the wind, flying like a butterfly.
I struck his head with my right elbow.
Thud!
"Akhh!"
When he screamed, I landed and immediately stabbed the sharp branch I was holding into his foot.
Thud!
"Akhh!"
Everything happened in an instant!
'It’s really working.'
When I lived in modern times, I learned self-defense and combat skills, and that’s when I realized I had a natural talent for fighting.
"You bastard!"
Now, blood was flowing from his hand, and the sharp branch was stuck in his foot.
His speed was definitely slowing down.
"You’re dead today."
"Come at me, come on!"
The bastard screamed like a madman, and I mocked him, picking up a stone that had fallen on the ground.
"Coward."
Are there any rules in a fight?
None.
I threw the stone as hard as I could at his head.
Whoosh!
Thud!
"Arghhh!"
The stone I threw hit his head squarely.
'This is how David beat Goliath.'
That’s why fights aren’t won by size. Now, he was staggering. Blood was dripping from his head, and the blood would likely block his vision.
I quickly grabbed another stone from the ground.
"What, what, what is this?"
The terrified man screamed, and I threw the stone again.
The second stone hit his chest, and I charged straight at him.
Brugh!
"Ugh!"
Thak!
The man instinctively bent over after being hit in the chest, and since I was already charging, my knee slammed into his chin.
Brukk!
He collapsed.
I walked slowly toward the fallen man, who was now almost unconscious.
'If I act a little harsher!'
I could poke out one of his eyes with the stick and make him a one-eyed man, but if I do that, I’d better just kill him.
If he becomes disabled, he’ll only think about revenge. So I won’t take it that far.
"No need to spread rumors that you were beaten by a kid."
After mocking him with a smile, I slowly stepped back and left.
From now on, my life will not be one of enduring like a weed. It will be a life of being a poisonous plant that kills my enemies.
o0o
One hour later, in Mark’s mansion reception room.
“Is that what happened?”
In front of Mark stood one of the managers, who was speaking respectfully.
“It was incredible”
“You slowed him down with a piece of wood?”
“Yes, and I threw stones to block his vision. It was amazing.”
“A perfectly calculated attack, huh? You’re a fun one, haha!”
The plantation owner, Mark, was becoming more interested in the young Korean boy, Peter.
o0o
One month later, in Mark’s mansion reception room.
“Did the Korean workers leave a lot of sugarcane unharvested at the bottom?”
Mark became curious at the manager’s report.
“Yes, they cut it about ankle height”
“And?”
“I visited other plantations, and the Korean workers actually harvested more”
“So, you just let it go?”
“Yes, but I thought I should report it.”
“What about Peter?”
“Excuse me?”
“What do the Koreans think of Peter?”
“Oh, they’ve all gathered around Peter. When he tells them to work through the night, they don’t hesitate. They light torches and keep working. He may be young, but he’s become their boss.”
“Sounds like someone who’s not to be underestimated”
Mark chuckled as he thought about Peter, the young Korean.
“And Peter asked me to get some cow bones for him last time. I managed to get some.”
“Cow bones?”
“Yes, they’re practically thrown away at the slaughterhouse, so I got them for almost nothing.”
“Throwaway bones? What would they do with that?”
Americans don’t boil cow bones to eat, but Koreans are different. They have a traditional dish called gomtang (beef bone soup).
So, Peter had asked the plantation manager to get cow bones, and he distributed them among the Korean workers.
Since there was quite a bit of meat left on the bones, the Koreans in the settlement ate gomtang every day to restore their strength.
They also bought cheap flour, which was cheaper than rice, and made dumplings (sujebis) in the gomtang.
“They boil it and eat it?”
“Yes, though they’re just leftover bones, there’s a lot of meat left on them, so they eat it well.”
“Grass, huh?”
“Excuse me?”
“Koreans are like weeds. They can take root anywhere. They’re strong like that.”
“Yes, their work ethic is amazing. Normally, workers would be exhausted by now, but the Koreans are full of energy. They even turned a vacant lot into a farm and started selling vegetables in the market.”
“The women?”
“Yes, the Korean women work together with the native Hawaiians around their settlement to sell the vegetables.”
“Must be Peter’s idea.”
“Yes, Peter is involved in everything that happens in the Korean workers’ settlement.”
“He’s a real character.”
o0o
In front of Mark’s mansion.
“So now you’re pretending to be an inventor?”
Mark always watched me with curiosity.
“I thought it could be useful”
I had created a juice extractor based on the millstone method.
“The sugarcane’s next to it.”
It was obvious, it was sugarcane that had been cut short, leaving the leftovers.
“I’m going to squeeze the juice”
“Are you planning to sell it in the market?”
“Yes, with your permission, I also want to make sugar from the leftover juice.”
“That's cheating.”
“Excuse me?”
“If you boil the juice of sugarcane in a cauldron, it turns into brown sugar. Then you can refine it into regular sugar.”
“You mean I can’t make sugar?”
“Exactly”
Mark chuckled at my response.
“Using the leftover juice for something like that isn’t too bad. But turning it into sugar is a different issue. That being said, you keep coming up with ideas.”
“I just want to prove myself.”
“To who?”
“To myself”
“To yourself?”
“Yes, I’ve completed the juicer. Would you like to try it?”
“What's that next to it?”
“That’s an ice crusher.”
“Ice crusher?”
“Yes, it’s a machine that shreds ice like snow.”
Getting ice in Hawaii was harder than making the ice crusher itself, but when a frozen ship passed through Hawaii with a broken engine, I managed to get some ice.
‘The refrigerator hasn’t been invented yet.’
Once the ship was repaired, it would be harder to get ice. So, I had the Koreans dig a hole that was over 30 meters deep, which successfully lowered the temperature of the underground cavity to -2°C.
“That’s also your work?”
“Of course”
I was planning to make shaved ice for the first time in Hawaii and sell it in the market. Although I couldn't get red beans yet, I would sell the shaved ice and sugarcane juice.
“Would you like to try it?”
“Let’s try it” Mark answered, and I immediately used my juicer to extract the sugarcane juice. Then, I used the ice crusher to crush the ice into fine snowflakes. I poured the sugarcane juice over the snow and handed it to Mark.
“It should be quite sweet”
When Mark tasted it, his expression immediately changed to one of surprise.
“Wow!”
“What do you think? This should sell well, right? Haha!”
“Peter, you really keep proving that you’re something else, haha!”
It seemed that Mark was really fond of me. In the end, the sugarcane slush I invented became a success in the market. It was going to become a representative drink of Hawaii in the future.
o0o
Korean settlement in Hawaii.
I was in charge of the garden plots that Mark, the plantation owner, had allowed us to use for free. I made sure to distribute them fairly to each house. However, some households cultivated their plots, while others simply left them abandoned.
“Mr. Kim.”
“Yes?”
Most of the Korean workers were friendly toward me and often looked to me for guidance, but some didn’t like the idea of a young boy acting like the leader.
“Your garden plot is full of weeds”
“I go to the sugarcane field before sunrise and return after sunset. When would I have time to plant something in the garden?”
“But the other houses have planted things.”
“That’s their business. My body aches, and I can’t do what they do.”
“Are you planning to live your whole life in poverty?”
“Do you really think that planting vegetables in this tiny garden will make me rich? I came to Hawaii to make a fortune, not to become a vegetable farmer. Don’t worry about it.”
“Do you want to live your whole life like this?”
“You’re a young kid, but you don’t hesitate to speak like an adult. How rude!”
“If you don’t want to work your garden, I’ll take it back”
“You think because you’re the overseer under a foreign landlord that you’re the boss now? You fool”
Some people were like this, while others were different.
“Yes, time is fair to everyone, but it seems like you’re going to be poorer than me.”
“Yujin.”
At that moment, my father called me.
“Yes, father”
“You can drag a horse to the river, but you can’t force it to drink. Think of it like that”
“But it’s really a shame. This isn’t Joseon. If you work hard here, you won’t have to worry about corrupt officials stealing your gains. I don’t understand why you don’t want to become rich.”
“You’re not like everyone else”
Anyway, I took back Mr. Kim’s garden plot and gave it to another Korean woman who said she would cultivate it.
‘Education is the key’
I realized that education was urgently needed to change people’s ways.
‘I’ll have to build a school’
That way, people would be enlightened.
In any case, I gained control over most of the Korean workers. After that, no one could accuse me of being possessed by demons anymore.
o0o
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