Healing in the Country Side with a Baby Dragon - CHAPTER 14 (What is Happiness?)

A morning like any other began with me tending the backyard garden alongside Seol-ah.

*Buzz, buzz.*

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out to find a series of text messages from Kim Sang-do.

|‘The site has officially launched, Jin-sol! Please take a look and check the layout.’|

|‘It looks great, Uncle! Thank you so much for putting this together.’|

|‘Haha, my pleasure! I have a feeling the customers are going to start flocking in very soon. Let’s do our absolute best for the Happiness Growing Farm!'|

I closed the messaging app and tapped the link to my newly minted digital storefront. The front banner immediately caught my eye—the portrait of Seol-ah and me that we had taken yesterday hung proudly at the top of the homepage, with the words ‘A Farm Where Happiness Grows’ neatly inscribed right underneath.

“Seol-ah, look. It’s the picture we took yesterday.” I said, turning the screen so she could see.

“Byebye—”

“Do you like how it turned out?”

“Yes!” Seol-ah chirped, a brilliant smile spreading across her face as she clapped her hands in approval.

“The Great Master has completely forsaken us!”

“The abandoned earth fairies are drowning in a sea of sorrow! Mud, mud, mud...”

On the other hand, the earth fairies were throwing an absolute fit at my feet. A chorus of high-pitched wails erupted as they realized they hadn't been included in the official store banner. Honestly, I had initially considered letting them pose with us, but I had no idea how ordinary humans would react if a bunch of mythical, spherical furballs accidentally ended up in a promotional photo.

Who could have predicted that they would literally roll around on the dirt in such dramatic despair?

“The Great Master clearly doesn't value our unparalleled contributions! Mud, mud, mud!”

“This is a tragedy of cosmic proportions! To properly heal our broken hearts, we strictly require a much larger garden plot!”

I narrowed my eyes. These little freeloaders were shamelessly using a emotional guilt trip to aggressively promote their own expansionist agenda. I stared down at them for a moment, completely dumbfounded by their audacity.

“Everyone, stop right there!” 

I commanded, adopting my most stern, authoritative tone. 

“All of you, gather around!”

The moment I raised my voice, the earth fairies froze mid-wail, instantly snapping their mouths shut as they stole cautious glances up at me. It was incredibly difficult to maintain a straight face when a dozen round, fluffy balls of dirt were crowded around my boots, nervously rolling their tiny eyes, but I forced myself to maintain a severe expression.

“Byebye...”

Sensing the shift in the atmosphere, Seol-ah waddled over and tightly hugged my left leg, looking up at me with wide, pleading eyes. Her expression explicitly begged me not to be angry at her little friends.

Of course, I wasn't actually angry. I gave her a subtle, reassuring wink, but Seol-ah simply tilted her head in utter confusion. 

‘Ah, I suppose she’s still a bit too young to decode secret winks,’ 

I realized with a mental sigh.

Left with no other choice, I cleared my throat, leaned down, and lowered my voice to a grave, conspiratorial whisper.

“Listen closely, earth fairies. There is a deep, classified truth that I haven't revealed to you until today.”

“...!”

The earth fairies collectively gasped, their tiny faces twisting into expressions of profound shock. 

‘Wait, I haven't even delivered the punchline yet. Why are you guys reacting like I just dropped a massive plot twist about my hidden lineage?’

“Huh?” Even Seol-ah looked completely stunned, her mouth forming a perfect little 'O'.

Realizing that if I let the dramatic tension build any further, the entire garden would dissolve into actual tears, I quickly pushed ahead with the most shameless, straight-faced lie I could muster.

“The truth is... you are the absolute secret weapons and elite tactical agents of this entire farm.”

“...!”

“You are legendary operatives who have been entrusted with the highly classified, sacred mission of guarding this sanctuary from the shadows and forcing these crops to grow at miraculous speeds.”

“Earth...!”

The earth fairies' jaws dropped as they processed this completely fabricated piece of information. To ensure the lie stuck, I doubled down with absolute, unwavering confidence.

“Elite secret agents are strictly forbidden from revealing their identities to the public. True greatness lies in executing your mission flawlessly from the deepest, darkest shadows, without ever leaving a trace on a human website.”

When you’re telling a complete bluff, absolute shamelessness is the key to persuasion.

“A tactical secret agent...”

“The farm’s ultimate secret weapon...?”

The earth fairies began to tremble, their tiny eyes wide with a sudden, overwhelming surge of adrenaline. For a second, I worried that I might have accidentally caused a deeper existential crisis.

“Thump, thump, thump—”

Suddenly, a series of dark, low giggles erupted from the grass. The fairies began exchanging incredibly meaningful, self-important nods.

“So that was the Great Master’s grand design all along!”

“The earth fairies were never omitted; we were deliberately classified!”

“A secret weapon must never be exposed to the civilian internet!”

*‘Wow, they actually love it.’ 

It turned out the titles 'secret weapon' and 'covert operative' appealed perfectly to their overactive imaginations.

“From this moment forward, the earth fairies shall proudly devote themselves to the prosperity of the farm from the deep darkness of the shadows!”

“Thump, thump, thump! Absolutely! We are the 'Secret Underground Fairies Group'!”

“We are fundamentally here to protect the peace of the world!”

I rubbed my temples. 

‘I definitely never asked you guys to protect global security, but whatever floats your boat.’

“Byebye—!”

Seol-ah’s eyes sparkled like diamonds the moment she heard the phrase 'secret weapon.' She began flapping her arms wildly, thoroughly captivated by the concept.

“Thump, thump! Does the Little Master also believe that our covert operations unit is incredibly cool?” one of the fairies squeaked proudly.

“If you possess the necessary resolve, we can officially induct you into our elite intelligence agency.”

“But be warned! Joining the 'Secret Underground Fairies Group' means embarking on a path filled with immense peril and grueling trials!”

“Bam!” Seol-ah cheered, instantly accepting the terms of enlistment.

With their newfound organizational identity fully established, the earlier sorrow was completely obliterated. The ecstatic earth fairies and their newly recruited Little Master immediately sprinted off to initiate their first covert operation: aggressively and secretly tending to the tomato rows.

‘Well, things definitely didn't go according to plan,’ I thought, watching them enthusiastically whisper to the plants. 

‘But I suppose it doesn't matter.’

Seeing how much fun they were having pretending to be a top-secret agricultural syndicate, I completely lost the will to ruin their immersion by telling them it was a joke. As long as they were happy, that was all that mattered.

With the store finally active, I figured it was time to start utilizing the promotional blog Sang-do had set up. Building momentum in agriculture is a slow process; you can't expect to reap a massive harvest overnight. I decided to take it one step at a time, planning to mainly upload high-quality photos of my home-cooked meals and the pristine garden crops.

Right as I was brainstorming my first blog post—

*Whirrrr, whirrrr! Whirrrr, whirrrr!*

The smartphone in my pocket began vibrating uncontrollably, emitting a relentless stream of notification chimes. I pulled it out, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head as I read the screen.

“Wait... what on earth is this?”

Within a span of literally two minutes, the system had registered over ten separate orders for our golden bell tomatoes. The store had opened less than an hour ago. How was this even statistically possible?

Before I could even process the shock, the screen lit up again.

*Whirrrr! Whirrrr!*

The orders were actively piling up by the second.

The sudden, unprecedented influx of business trace directly back to the moment Park Ji-soo had published her detailed post on the medical forum.

The community was packed with mothers who were deeply invested in finding a cure for their children. Atopic dermatitis is a notoriously stubborn condition that rarely yields to standard treatments, and So-yoon’s specific case had been infamous within the community for its sheer severity. Because Ji-soo had frequently documented her family's desperate decision to relocate to the countryside as a last resort, practically every regular member of the forum knew exactly who So-yoon was.

To hear that a child with such a catastrophic case had been completely, flawlessly cured within a matter of weeks was stunning enough. But the claim that her recovery was triggered entirely by eating cherry tomatoes? That was where the skepticism rolled in.

>'Cured entirely by tomatoes? Is that even biologically possible?'

>'Honestly, saying a severe chronic skin condition was cured by a piece of fruit sounds like a massive exaggeration.'

Naturally, a faction of users remained highly critical. If severe atopic dermatitis could be wiped out that easily, no family on earth would have to suffer through it. A disease that the nation’s top dermatologists, traditional medicine clinics, and specialized hospitals couldn't even dent was supposedly cured by a casual snack? It sounded entirely too good to be true.

>'Look at the price point, guys. 100,000 won for a single kilogram? This is clearly a viral marketing scam.'

>'Come on, So-yoon’s mom has been a highly active, trusted member of this community for years. I don't think she'd sell out to run a scam.'

Accusations of a coordinated marketing ploy began to clash with defensive arguments from long-time users. Yet, despite the underlying suspicion, the vast majority of mothers couldn't help but ask for the link.

>'Where is this farm located? Please, someone send me the link.'

>'My youngest son is scratching his skin raw every single night. I am begging you, please help us.'

That was the true, unfiltered heart of a parent who had spent years watching their child suffer. They had tried everything—from sterile modern hospitals to bizarre, expensive folk remedies. Practically every member of that forum had wasted thousands of dollars on various health foods that promised a miracle cure but delivered absolutely nothing.

And yet, despite the countless disappointments, they allowed themselves to hope just one more time. That was simply what a parent did for their child.

“100,000 won for a 1kg box? That's an absurd price tag,” one mother muttered to herself as she stared at the screen. However, her eyes were instantly locked onto a specific phrase in the product description: ‘Gate Crop.’ The listing noted that this was a limited, introductory discount period to celebrate the launch of the farm.

If these tomatoes truly carried the properties of an authentic gate crop, then a price of even ten thousand won per individual tomato would technically be a steal. Half-convinced that she was probably setting herself up to be scammed yet again, she placed an order anyway, fueled entirely by the desperate prayer that this might finally be the answer to her child's torment.

A couple of days later, a neatly insulated, beautifully packaged box arrived at her doorstep, filled with pristine cherry tomatoes. The moment she opened it, she froze; the tomatoes emitted a distinct, radiant golden glow that immediately set them apart from any ordinary produce.

She quickly rinsed them under the tap and popped one into her mouth to test it. Her very first thought was immediate shock.

‘Wow... why on earth is this so delicious?’

It was an explosion of flavor that made her wonder if a tomato was even allowed to taste that incredible. With a flavor profile of that caliber, she realized she wouldn't even be angry if the therapeutic claims turned out to be a bust. Even her child, who normally wailed and threw tantrums at the mere sight of raw vegetables, eagerly swallowed one and begged for more with a bright, happy smile. Seeing that pure smile alone made the 100,000 won investment feel completely worth it.

That night, she went to bed, comforting herself with that thought. The next morning, she walked over to check on her child’s skin, deliberately keeping her expectations low.

“Oh my... oh my goodness!”

A sharp gasp escaped her lips. The angry, pus-filled blemishes and raw patches that had coated her child's arms for months had visibly subsided overnight. Trembling, she took a quick photo on her phone and compared it directly to a picture from two days ago. The difference was staggering.

She eagerly fed her child the remaining tomatoes throughout the day. By the following morning, she was completely hysterical.

“Honey! Oh my god, honey! Come look at the baby's skin right now!”

The angry, crimson welts that usually flared up every single night from constant scratching had almost entirely vanished. It defied all medical logic.

“Get the computer! Those tomatoes—we need to order as many boxes as they have right this second!”

Her husband frantically sprinted to the living room, booted up the computer, and pulled up the Happiness Growing Farm homepage. The moment the site loaded, their jaws dropped.

[OUT OF STOCK]

A short notice was pinned to the main page: ‘Due to an overwhelming volume of orders, our current inventory has been completely depleted. We are temporarily suspending sales and will reopen the storefront the moment the next harvest matures. We deeply apologize for the inconvenience.’

Though they were crushed by the realization that they couldn't secure another batch immediately, the couple’s faces actually brightened with a profound sense of relief.

“This means... it worked for other families too!” the husband breathed.

“Exactly.” the mother smiled, tears of relief welling in her eyes. 

She had been secretly terrified that the miraculous recovery was just a temporary fluke, but the fact that the entire store had been wiped clean meant that every single parent who bought a box was witnessing the exact same miracle.

When she logged back into the medical forum, the entire community had erupted into absolute chaos.

>'The Golden Bell tomatoes are the real deal. I’m uploading proof photos of my daughter's arms right now.'

>'Oh my sweet lord... the atopic dermatitis that has tortured my son for five straight years is completely gone!'

Real-time reviews and photographic evidence were flooding the boards by the dozens. The posts vividly detailed the step-by-step transformation of raw, irritated skin turning smooth and healthy, accompanied by pictures of children whose tired, depressed expressions had been replaced by radiant smiles.

Reading through the posts, the mother felt a warm tear slide down her cheek. Looking at the screen, she realized a gentle smile had settled onto her own face. Every single mother and father on this forum wanted nothing more than to see their children live a healthy, painless life—and against all odds, that prayer was finally being answered.

“There are way too many orders!” I groaned, burying my face in my hands. 

“This is completely counterproductive to my peaceful, healing life!”

I had mistakenly assumed that the first day’s surge was a temporary fluke, but reality had completely derailed my expectations. The demand hadn't slowed down; it had aggressively multiplied. It quickly reached a point where I literally couldn't handle the physical logistics of harvesting, packing, and shipping everything on my own.

Ultimately, I had been forced to throw up a hard 'Sold Out' banner and temporarily freeze all e-commerce operations just to catch my breath.

“Curses! Absolute curses! Our elite covert operations have been completely compromised by corporate supply chain issues!” the earth fairies grumbled, pacing around the terrace with deep looks of disappointment on their fuzzy faces. They had been having the absolute time of their lives forcing the golden bell tomatoes to mature at breakneck speeds, and they were thoroughly insulted by the sudden forced retirement.

But packing, labeling, and coordinating courier trucks was a grueling, full-time labor, and as a solo parent, I simply didn't have the bandwidth.

“Jin-sol... we are so, so incredibly sorry. We had no idea things would escalate to this extent.” Ji-soo said, walking onto our porch alongside her husband to deliver a formal apology.

I had been thoroughly bewildered by the sudden viral explosion, but the mystery was instantly solved the moment they showed me the real-time review threads on the medical forum. Sitting on the steps with Seol-ah cradled securely in my lap, I quietly scrolled through dozens of posts filled with emotional messages and photos of smiling, healthy children.

A strange, unfamiliar warmth began to tickle the inside of my chest.

Complete strangers were finding salvation and happiness entirely through the crops that I had cultivated with my own two hands. Just like little So-yoon who was currently giggling in the yard, countless other children and their exhausted parents were finally experiencing peace.

‘Maybe... a healing life isn't just about isolating myself and resting.' I realized, a soft smile breaking through my fatigue.

 ‘Maybe true healing can also come from being the source of someone else's happiness.’

Seol-ah looked up, her large blue eyes locking directly onto mine as if she could sense the sudden shift in my emotions. A pure, childlike joy vibrated through our bond.

“Hee-hee—” she giggled, her bright, radiant smile perfectly mirroring the warmth in my heart.

Seeing her reaction, my mind was instantly made up. I turned back to the guilty-looking couple standing before me. “If you truly feel sorry about the chaos, Uncle, Auntie... how about we handle this together?”

“Pardon?” Sang-do blinked.

“I clearly can't manage the logistics and distribution on my own, so I'd love it if you guys could partner with me to handle the packaging, administration, and sales. Looking at the photos of these kids... there's absolutely no way I can just turn my back on them and keep the store closed.”

Let's try to put in a little more effort.

“Of course! We will absolutely do everything in our power to help you, Jin-sol!” Ji-soo exclaimed, her face lighting up with immense gratitude.

“Leave the packaging, order fulfillment, and digital logistics completely to us!” Sang-do chimed in, slamming his fist down with absolute determination.

Having endured years of agonizing heartbreak watching So-yoon suffer, they sympathized with the desperate cries of those forum parents more than anyone else on earth. Ji-soo had been carrying a heavy weight of guilt, fearing that her well-intentioned post had accidentally brought an unmanageable burden to my doorstep, so my invitation to form a partnership was an immense relief.

As the three of us gathered around the table, scrolling through the forum and discussing the various stories of the families we were going to help, a profound wave of joy and purpose filled the terrace.

“Byebye—”

Holding onto my hand, Seol-ah felt a deep, warm resonance tickle her soul. Enveloped by the overwhelming atmosphere of happiness radiating from the adults, an intense, subconscious desire to ensure her father remained happy forever began to bloom within her.

That single, pure wish instantly triggered the ancient, slumbering authority of the Primordial Dragon. A strange, iridescent blue light suddenly manifested within her large eyes.

Silently, a far corner of our garden began to ripple with pure, concentrated magic.