1953 Bare-handed Tycoon - Chapter 345



Only Noblemtl

345 – The Roots of Mom and Dad

While Kijo was away in Korea, Seol-rim missed her husband and worried about Yeong-su, who was about to take the middle school entrance exam.

On the 14th, the Ministry of Education surprised students and their parents by announcing that it would be implementing a physical ability test for middle school entrance exams starting this year.

The Ministry of Education changed the college entrance examination system, saying that education had been biased toward intellectual education and that a balance should be achieved among intelligence, virtue, and physical education.

This was a change that occurred when the development of national physical strength was decided as the policy of the revolutionary government.

Since the physical fitness score is included in one-seventh of the total entrance exam score and becomes an important variable that determines success or failure, Youngsoo started exercising.

Although he will be a 6th grader next year, Youngsu is already preparing for middle school entrance exams.

Seo-gwang’s son, Yeong-bae, ran around the school playground and did horizontal bars, trying to get good scores.

When Young-soo finished exercising and returned home with Young-bae, Seol-rye made honey water and fed it to her son and Young-bae.

“Isn’t it hard…?”

Pilgrimage, worried that her son, who was far from being athletic, was suddenly exercising, asked.

“Yes, it’s okay. It’s fun to work out with Youngbae.”

When Youngsoo spoke, Youngbae smiled and said.

“Youngsu’s mother, I may not be able to go to a prestigious middle school like Youngsu, but I will take responsibility and help Youngsu pass the Gyeonggi Middle School entrance exam. Youngsu, thanks to this older brother, if you get a good score on the physical test,

“You must not forget kindness.”

Seol-mae couldn’t hold back her laughter at Yeong-su’s sad words.

Just looking at Youngbae makes me laugh because he is so kind and witty, just like his father, Kim Seo-kwang.

On the one hand, I wondered when these children grew up and became so respectable.

A child who used to run around the field with Yeongsu and have a runny nose in Eundae-ri was stepping forward to help his friend advance to higher education.

Pilgrimage went into the kitchen to boil eggs for the two children, but Yeong-eun and Yeong-jun followed her in and whined, saying they wanted to drink honey water too.

Looking at Young-eun, who is now 6 years old, and Young-jun, who is now 4 years old, I thought that these children will grow up quickly.

Pilgrimage took out a bowl of honey water and asked Youngsu for it.

“Will you watch over my little siblings so they don’t break the dishes? Mom will steam the eggs.”

“Yes, Mother! Don’t worry!”

The answer was given by Yeongbae.

Pilgrimage went back into the kitchen to steam eggs when she heard the children talking.

-Brother Youngbae, our father went to America.

It was Yeong-eun’s voice.

– Really? That sounds good. He’ll bring you a gift when he comes back from the US. Aren’t you all excited?

-Yeah, my dad will buy me something nice. My dad is rich.

Although it was Young-eun’s words that were still immature, Pilgrimage’s heart became slightly uncomfortable.

Pilgrimage was still awkward to hear people say that it was rich.

-Youngsu, what kind of gift do you want to receive?

-Me? I don’t want anything. I just want my father to come back safely.

―Hey, don’t be like that. I’d like an American pencil. The lead is so soft and doesn’t break easily. Oh! An American eraser would be nice too. American erasers are soft and smell like flowers.

-Hey, how can an eraser smell like flowers? It’s made of rubber, so it must smell like rubber.

– No. There’s a kid in our class who said he took charge of it himself. The United States, the world’s strongest country, can easily make something like that.

Listening to the conversation between Youngsoo and Youngbae, I thought, “Kids are kids.”

However, Pilgrimage thought that Young-soo, who had experienced poverty at least a little, and Young-eun and Young-jun, who had never experienced poverty, would be different.

Pilgrimage was done by putting the eggs in cold water to cool them after they were cooked, then peeling them by hand and serving them on a plate with salt.

She sat on the floor with him and fed a hot egg to Youngjun with her hands.

“Youngsu, tomorrow is Sunday, so let’s take a break from studying and exercising and go somewhere with mom.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Yeongsu followed Pilgrimage’s words obediently.

“Where are you going, Mom?”

Yeong-eun asked.

Youngjun, who is slow to speak, wiggled his butt in excitement at the news that he was going out.

“Let’s go to Deokjeong.”

“Where is Deokjeong?”

“The place where mom and dad lived.”

Yeong-eun was delighted, thinking that the place where her mom and dad lived was like a palace.

* * *

The next day, Sunday, November 19th.

Sunyoung drove the jeep herself and arrived in front of the pilgrimage house.

I had come yesterday at the request of a pilgrim who asked me to take him to Deokjeong.

Sunyoung got out of the car and went in through the front door wearing khaki military pants and a white shirt.

Sunyoung looked as confident as a female pilot.

“Everyone, come out. Let’s go and come back quickly.”

The children ran out calling for their aunt.

The children looked up to their aunt, who knew how to drive, holding the car keys.

“Are you good at driving?”

Pilgrimage asked as he came out of the room.

“Am I the best female driver in the country?”

Sunyoung said with a sly smile.

The family of five got into the jeep and set off for Deokjeong-myeon, Yangju-gun.

The family arrived at Deokjeong by driving on an unpaved road and then took a farm road that was even worse.

As soon as they arrived in front of the house where Kijo and Pilgrimage lived, Sunyoung sighed.

“No, what is it? It’s an abandoned house.”

Pilgrimage felt bad when he saw the old house that had become an abandoned building.

Yeong-eun, who had thought they were going on a picnic, cringed when she saw the abandoned house.

“Let’s get down.”

Pilgrimage dropped the children off at the car, then looked around the abandoned house and started cleaning.

I cleared away the dirt and dust that had accumulated on the floor, dumped the water in the broken jar outside into the yard, and pulled out the weeds that had grown wild in the yard.

Sunyoung helped her older sister, and Youngsoo helped his mother without being asked.

As everyone else started working, Young-eun and Young-jun followed suit.

After cleaning up the inside and outside of the house, the once dreary house regained its warmth.

A somewhat tired pilgrim sat on the floor and looked at the railroad tracks in the distance.

It was the railroad that Gijo had said was nice because, before he got married, he could tell the time because the trains passed on time even without a watch.

As the train passed by, the children jumped up and waved at the train.

Sunyoung asked Seol-ryeol quietly.

“Why did you ask me to come here? On a rare day off, Sunday… .”

“I wanted to show it to the kids.”

“What? The time when I lived in such a miserable state?”

“I wasn’t depressed. I was happy.”

“What is happiness, so you’re not happy now?”

“I’m not happy.”

Sunyoung shook her head, saying she didn’t understand Pilgrimage’s answer.

As the train passed, Pilgrimage said what he wanted to say.

“Youngsu, Youngeun, Youngjun. This is the house where Mom and Dad lived.”

Yeong-eun asked in disbelief at Pilgrimage’s words.

“Mom and Dad were this poor?”

“Then they were poor. Mom and Dad were very, very poor people. So you guys should never tease poor kids at school.”

“No, Mother.”

Yeongsu answered. Yeong-eun and Yeong-jun also said they wouldn’t do that.

“And, Mom and Dad escaped poverty not only because Dad worked hard, but also because people like Youngbae’s father helped us. Without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Always

“Thank you to them.”

“Yes, Mom.”

Yeong-eun answered.

“Never brag to others about how much money you have, and always be humble like your father. Respect people, and especially be understanding of those who are in need.”

Sunyoung, who was listening to the story of the pilgrimage, also seemed to understand why the pilgrimage had brought the children here.

Sunyoung also added a word.

“Guys, my uncle was also a very poor person. When my uncle and my father met, he really didn’t have a single coin. But my father bought them food and drinks and told them to work together if they had nothing to do.

going to be.”

“Your uncle too?”

Yeong-eun was surprised.

“Well, my uncle was a man who wandered alone without any money or family. How lonely and sad must he have been? It was my aunt who saved him.”

Pilgrimage stared at Sunyoung, who had said something rather odd.

But soon he laughed as he recalled the time when his younger sister made a fuss about marrying Ma-ryang.

At that time, I thought to myself, I don’t know why I tried to separate the two.

Again Pilgrimage spoke to the children.

“When Mom was pregnant with Youngsu, she lived here with Dad. At that time, there was nothing to eat, so Mom was just lying in the room. Dad came and tried to feed Mom, but when he found out there was nothing,

“He said he would go out for a moment and disappeared.”

“where?”

Yeong-eun asked.

“I don’t know either, and when I ask where she went at that time, she doesn’t really answer. But when she came back at night, she brought porridge in an empty bowl.”

“porridge?”

Sunyoung asked, as it was the first time she had heard of it.

“Yes, my father got a handful of rice from somewhere and waited in front of the Seolleongtang restaurant until the business was over. Then, when the owner was about to close the restaurant, he went over and put a handful of rice in the pot and asked me to boil it.

He said he corrected it. He asked me to boil rice in the remaining broth at the bottom of the Seolleongtang pot.”

Sunyoung looked at Pilgrimage with a serious face.

“The master looked at my father for a long time, then reached out and gave him a handful of rice. Then my father came home with rice porridge boiled in seolleongtang soup. I couldn’t even see well that night.

“You must have come very carefully, lest the rice might overflow.”

Pilgrimage paused for a moment, his heart aching as he thought back to that time.

“When my father left the house, he took an empty bowl with him, and my mother filled it with porridge to eat.”

“At that time, Mom was so hungry that she couldn’t even ask Dad to eat with her, and she just ate like crazy. At that time, all I could think about was worrying about what would happen to the baby in her stomach… … .”

The pilgrimage was still regrettable.

I felt sorry that I never once suggested that we eat that meal together.

Yeongsu lowered his head and shed tears.

When I think about the hardships my mom and dad went through when I was young, tears keep coming down my eyes.

Seeing her brother like that, Yeong-eun also started to sob.

Youngjun consoled his crying brother and sister, saying, “Don’t cry, don’t cry.”

“Don’t cry, Youngsoo, Youngeun. I just want you to know that Mom and Dad were able to survive with the help of others and that they want to share that with others. That’s what it means to be human.

“Dori, you too are your mother and father’s children, so you shouldn’t be cruel to people.”

-yes.

Youngsoo, Youngeun, and even Youngjun, who still didn’t know what was going on, answered together.

As the children’s tears subsided, Sunyoung asked.

“Sister, where did your brother-in-law get the rice?”

“I don’t know, he never says that.”

“okay…?”

Sunyoung made a regretful expression.

Pilgrimage stood up from his seat, thinking that the children would understand well if he just talked about it to this extent.

Sunyoung started the car, and Yeongeun greeted the collapsing thatched house.

“Take care. Mom and Dad are home. I’ll be back later.”

Seol-hae put Yeong-eun in the car and looked around her old house once more.

The times when I was poor were harsh and harsh, but they were also wonderful times that showed me what family was like and what kind of person my husband was.

Pilgrimage got into the car and checked on the children in the back seat.

Yeongsu, sitting in the middle, was holding Yeongeun and Yeongjun’s hands.

“Hold your little brothers’ hands tightly.”

To Pilgrimage’s words, Youngsu answered, “Yes.”

The car took off and went back the way it came and headed toward Seoul.

As they passed through Uijeongbu-eup, Sunyoung stopped the car and said.

“Sister, let’s eat at this house before we go. I’m hungry.”

The place where Sunyoung parked her car was in front of a seolleongtang restaurant.

The family of five got out of the car and ordered four bowls of seolleongtang to share.

“Eat slowly so you don’t burn your mouth.”

Sunyoung spoke to Seol-pil while taking care of the children.

“When you come back from America, find out where your brother-in-law got his rice. I’m so curious I can’t stand it.”

Seol-ryeol chuckled at Sun-young’s words.

And then I slowly scooped up some seolleongtang soup and brought it to my mouth.

During the pilgrimage, there was no seolleongtang that tasted as good as the cold seolleongtang my husband brought.

Even though I took her to a seolleongtang restaurant, saying it was delicious, and no matter how much meat was in the bowl and how warm the seolleongtang broth warmed her mouth, it wasn’t as delicious as the seolleongtang my husband brought her that time.

But this Seolleongtang restaurant was pretty good.

Seol-ryeol silently put the soup in her mouth, savoring the taste, and then looked around.

The gruff-looking owner was sitting at the counter.

Pilgrimage thought about this and that and said to Sunyoung.

“I think it was a good decision to eat here. It was delicious.”

“Right? Who am I? I can tell a good place just by looking at it.”

Sunyoung said with a hehe laugh.

“Okay, thank you, Sunyoung.”

Tears welled up in the smiling pilgrim’s eyes.

Pilgrimage feels thirsty as it tastes like the Seolleongtang that Gijo brought.