Peninsula: I run a bed and breakfast on Jeju Island

The clam lunch was pretty good.

Clams stir-fried with garlic sprouts have a more pungent and intense flavor, making them more appetizing. The scallions are mainly used to remove any fishy smell and bring out the natural sweetness of the clams.

Judging from the result, the stir-fried clams with garlic sprouts tasted pretty good; at least there wasn't much left on the plate.

Li Ran continued to clean up the mess.

Choi Jin-ri still didn't return to her room.

She just watched him quietly, which put a lot of pressure on Li Ran.

"No, why are you staring at me like that?" He pulled out a tissue to wipe his hands and then said.

"Can't I?" Choi Jin-ri blinked.

"It's not that I can't. It's just that you staring at me like that is kind of stressful." He scratched his brow. "If you're really bored, how about you scroll through your phone?"

"Or perhaps we could go out for a walk?"

"Great! Can you come with me?" Her eyes lit up.

"Uh..." Li Ran was clearly taken aback.

"I can pay more," she suddenly said, looking at him in a cautious tone.

Seeing her pitiful appearance, Li Ran's lips twitched.

"I'm not a chat companion; I don't offer that service."

Choi Jin-ri's eyes darkened.

He pursed his lips, his tone softening, "Besides, given your reputation on the peninsula, we'd be surrounded by mobs no sooner than we left, wouldn't we?"

"How about we take a look around the guesthouse first?" Choi Jin-ri tilted her head and looked at him.

"I haven't even properly looked at the guesthouse's environment yet!" she added.

"Okay then." Li Ran smacked her lips, unable to refuse any longer.

"What do you want to see?"

For a moment, he really didn't know where to take Choi Jin-ri.

"Why don't you take me to see the vegetable garden outside? I've never really planted anything before!" She pointed outside.

"Okay." He nodded.

He led Choi Jin-ri to the tomato seedlings. "I didn't plant many vegetables in the garden. Planting too many would be too tiring to take care of, so I just planted some leafy greens and tomatoes."

Choi Jin-ri's gaze swept over the tomato seedlings.

"Because I really like tomatoes, I grow a lot of them. I grow both large and small tomatoes."

"When the big tomatoes ripen, I'll make you some tomato salad with sugar or tomato and egg noodles. The cherry tomatoes are in the living room; you can have a bite if you get hungry."

"I don't know much about these things. How long do they usually take to show results?" Choi Jin-ri asked curiously.

"Uh," Li Ran scratched her brow, "I'm not a professional either. I checked online before, and it seems like it'll be around the end of May."

"The end of May?" She blinked, looking at him with a slight smile. "You're not reminding me to renew my lease, are you?"

Choi Jin-ri booked a room for a month, and counting from her check-in on March 14th, she would leave no later than April 15th.

As a result, these tomatoes won't bear fruit until the end of May.

"You're not thinking of saying, 'Choi Jinri, you'd better renew your lease, or you'll never get to eat these super delicious tomatoes again!'" She put her hands on her hips and pretended to be serious, mimicking the "threat" she thought Lee Ran would say.

"No way!" Li Ran rolled her eyes.

He just wasn't thinking straight and blurted out a polite remark without thinking.

Who would have thought she'd bring this up?

"Hehe." She chuckled.

"Renewing the lease isn't out of the question. Let me know when the tomatoes ripen, and I'll fly over immediately."

"That's an exaggeration," Li Ran said, pursing her lips.

"I'm telling the truth! You don't believe me?" Choi Jin-ri tilted her head and looked at him.

He gently shook his head.

"Give it to me." She held out her hand.

"Huh?" Li Ran was slightly taken aback.

"Give me your phone, don't worry, I won't steal your money," she said with a smile.

"Say that..." He pursed his lips, took out his phone from his pocket, and handed it to her.

Choi Jin-ri took the phone, opened the caller ID, and entered a number.

"It always catches my eye..."

"That fair face..."

As the phone rang, Choi Jin-ri's phone screen lit up.

The tone of this ringtone sounds familiar; it seems to be the "Ji-eun" that Choi Jin-ri mentioned before.

She held up her phone and waved it in front of Li Ran.

"See this? This is my number."

"Just call me when the tomatoes bear fruit."

"Uh..." Li Ran took her phone back from Cui Zhenli with some surprise.

This doesn't make sense, does it?

"You just gave me your phone number like that?" He pursed his lips and asked anyway.

"Isn't a phone number just for contacting people?" she smiled.

"We need to make contact now, why can't we?"

"This is... a work number?" he asked tentatively.

Choi Jin-ri shook her head and said seriously, "Private number."

"Aren't you afraid I'll leak your number?" he couldn't help but ask.

She looked into his eyes. "I believe you. You won't."

"It really gives one a sense of profound trust," Li Ran muttered.

Seeing his expression, Choi Jin-ri's lips curled up slightly.

"Please continue telling me about tomatoes! Where were we?"

Li Ran silently saved the number as "Choi Jinri" in her contact information, then put her phone away.

"You've made me forget about it too."

He stared at the tomato seedlings, paused for a moment, and then said, "Well, let me tell you about the tomato seedlings I bought back then."

"At first, I bought a few bags of tomato seeds. But due to my lack of experience, I killed quite a few of them. Later, to save trouble, I just bought seedlings directly."

"I remember I bought something like Provence or Busan 88."

"Busan?" Choi Jin-ri looked up at him.

"Oh, it's that little tomato plant over there. What's wrong?"

"Then it seems to be from my hometown! I'm from Busan." She smiled.

"That's quite a coincidence." Li Ran blinked.

He just bought them randomly. The vendor selling tomato seedlings recommended several varieties, and he just picked a few at random.

"Then I'll have to take a good look at my fellow villager." She moved closer to the direction Li Ran had pointed.

Li Ran also came to her side.

The tender green seedlings are only knee-high, unlike the big tomato seedlings next door that are struggling to grow taller.

Choi Jin-ri squatted down and stared intently at the clusters of emerald green flower buds.

"You look quite energetic. No wonder you're from Busan," she said with a smile.

"How do you usually take care of it?" she asked curiously.

"Just water it, loosen the soil with a small shovel, and then when it grows, fix the branches in place."

"Would you like to try?" He picked up a small shovel from the side and handed her the handle.

Choi Jin-ri took the small shovel, her face showing an eager expression.

"What should I do?"

"Just dig gently about five centimeters from the root. Don't dig too deep, about two or three centimeters is enough. Otherwise, you'll damage the root."

She nodded and, following Li Ran's instructions, loosened the soil with a shovel.

"Is Li Ran here?"

Just as Choi Jin-ri dusted off her hands and was about to stand up, a voice came from not far away.