Chapter 206 - Chapter 25, Episode 4: Repay Favors Ten Fold, Vengeance A Hundred Fold
Chapter 206 – Chapter 25, Episode 4: Repay Favors Ten Fold, Vengeance A Hundred Fold
Four young women rushed out. There was Yeon Soon and Gye Soon, who became university students, Mal Soon who attended high school, and Do Soon, who was in middle school. The four girls became chaotic as they clung on to him while rubbing, biting, and kissing him. Mu Ssang raised both of his hands.
“Stop, stoooop!”
Cold sweats started forming when their heavy breasts came attacking from all sides.
“Kid, you’ve suffered a lot out there. Look at you. You’ve become one fierce man. Deok Sun’s just told me that you came by recently.”
Ha Dong was someone empathetic and shed a lot of tears. She didn’t know how to let go of Mu Ssang’s sleeve. How could she feel anything less than pitiful longing for Mu Ssang, who she regarded as her son despite not being blood-related?
“I didn’t suffer, I ate well and enjoyed myself overseas. Did anything happen while I was gone?”
“It’s the same as always. Let’s head in.”
The four girls grabbed Mu Ssang and rushed into the house. A bright smile spread across Jin Soon’s face. That was her oppa’s charm. Oppa’s existence itself brought happiness to others.
Oppa was still the Mu Ssang oppa of the bridge village. That was proof of the amazing person he was.
“You’re hungry, aren’t you? My big kid said you didn’t even get to eat lunch. Mal Soon, why don’t you get some eggs? Yeon Soon, you can get the water started and catch a chicken. Gye Soon, you get the steamer on. Ou Soon, get the water boiling.”
Ha Dong instructed her daughters. Even his captain, who went running around the Sahel, was incomparable to her as a conductor.
Mal Soon ran immediately and grabbed two eggs from the bird’s nest. She handed both eggs to him with a smile. Her smile was as warm as the eggs in his palm. That was family.
He poked the top and bottom of the eggs and sipped it down. A healthy combination of sweetness and sourness swept across his mouth. Not even caviar of truffles could measure up to this.
The order of the Ha Dong family’s kitchen was truly amazing, with six women inside. A meal was created in an instant—white rice, soybean paste soup, steamed tofu, acorn paste, and proper homemade dishes. Suddenly, something got caught in his throat. When had he been served such a meal?
It was of a different tier compared to the French dishes served at a restaurant. That was it. There wasn’t any love. As expected, the bridge village was full of things he had shared.
Jin Soon brought out a large, full pot. It was filled with white chicken soup. His hunger got the better of him at the sweet smell. The pheasant he had eaten during lunch had long been digested.
The four siblings settled around the head seat and questioned him endlessly. They asked him all types of social questions before questioning him about his pay and how he kept his skin smooth and firm.
Jin Soon’s siblings were smart-mouthed. His brain started to shut down from the double-sided attacks. He couldn’t tell whether the food was entering his mouth or his nose.
“You brats aren’t letting your oppa eat! Mouth, mouth, mouth!”
When Ha Dong lectured with her unique posture, the house turned quiet immediately. It was the kind of aura that he couldn’t mimic, the type that was usually present in families. He automatically smiled in satisfaction.
[Black Mamba, start a family. Where a weary, damaged soul rests is not the body of a woman they love but the warmth of a family’s embrace.]
That was what Chartres had said before his death.
Chartres, you were right.
He suddenly missed his mentor, Chartres.
I wonder if that b*stard’s enjoying himself? He better not spend all his money on that nurse.
He worried about Emil.
Ha Dong knew of Mu Ssang’s appetite. There was a big pot of chicken soup mixed with rice and another big pot of rice with hops.
“Ssang, eat slowly. You’re going to get a stomachache!” Ha Dong scolded Mu Ssang, who was stuffing the food into his mouth.
“Oppa, you’re a pig.”
“Ehehehe, Do Soon, you said the same thing 10 years ago.”
“Hmph, Oppa, you’re a stupid pig. I told you my name is Ou Soon, 10 years ago.”
“You, you rude little brat, you don’t get to talk like that just because your oppa tolerates it. Since when do you talk that way? Yeon Soon, where’s the broom handle?” Ha Dong shouted, her face turning blue.
The girls were acting rude, not knowing who was older or younger since Mu Ssang took their disrespect as cuteness.
“Hehe, oppa, it’s fine, isn’t it? Oppa eats more than a pig after all,” Ou Soon muttered as she hid behind Mu Ssang’s back.
“Do Soon’s right.”
“Ugh, oppa, it’s Ou Soon!”
“Oppa knows, Do Soon.”
“Aaaagh! You’re unfair!”
Ou Soon couldn’t do anything to Mu Ssang since she hadn’t grown into her full height yet. The dining room was as loud as the mercenaries’ cafeteria.
“Ajumma, you remember the time you sent me that white chicken soup when my ribs broke because of that bulldog?”
“What’s the point of remembering that horrible incident? I still tremble whenever I think of those b*stards.”
Ha Dong Daek clicked her tongue. That had been a difficult time. She couldn’t give Mu Ssang pocket money because of her husband’s sudden death. He got kicked around by the head teacher and had three of his ribs broken because of that.
Those horrible humans hadn’t even given their cousin any money to attend school, yet they had ordered him around like a slave. The thought of them made her shiver.
“There’s a similar white chicken soup in France, you see, called the coq au vin. It’s made of chicken, onions, garlic, ham, and mushrooms broiled in wine. However, it’s worth over 30,000 won here.”
“How is a single dish 30,000 won?” Ha Dong Daek asked in surprise.
“France is a well-off country, so their food is expensive. I remembered the chicken soup you sent me every time I ate the coq au vin.”
“What else could I do! You nearly died trying to live under those stuffy people. You should be relaxing after all the sufferings, not running around with a rifle in your hands! It’s making me angry.”
Ha Dong raised the end of her clothes and wiped away her tears. Even Jin Soon, who had been tearing the chicken fat for him, started to tear up. She didn’t know what her young siblings were thinking, but she found her oppa’s difficult life very pitiful and unfortunate.
“Ajumma, did you know that the deed to my father’s old house was changed back to my name?”
“Really? How did that happen? I don’t know anything about that. Your uncle sold that land a long time ago to buy his bus, after all. Was he possessed by a ghost or something?”
Ha Dong Daek’s eyes widened. Mu Ssang clicked his tongue. If Ha Dong didn’t know, it meant that his uncle had changed ownership without her knowledge. It was a mystery.
Mu Ssang was only released after two hours of interrogation by the four siblings.
“I couldn’t prepare a gift for you ahead of time because I didn’t plan to come here. I’ll give you pocket money instead.”
“Kyaaah, oppa, you’re the best!”
Mal Soon and Ou Soon were all smiles after receiving 100,000 won each.
“Yeon Soon and Gye Soon need date fees and makeup, right?”
“Of course, oppa!”
“We need a lot. A lot.”
Yeon Soon and Gye Soon lifted their chins. Jin Soon smiled, and Ha Dong Daek shook her head in annoyance.
“Here. Buy some clothes and makeup.”
He pulled out some new checks and distributed it between the two.
“Yeaaaah!”
The screams of two young ladies echoed across the front yard.
“Jeez, kid, what’s the point of giving those girls so much money? What can they even do with it?”
300,000 won was two month’s worth of pay for an employee in a large company. Ha Dong Daek had the right to be surprised.
“I earned it to use it, right? If my siblings don’t live well-off lives, I’ll be a horrible oppa.”
The siblings, who gained a large amount of pocket money, ran around laughing.
“It’s the money that your oppa worked his bones for, so save it, you brats.” Ha Dong Daek stood and rapped on their heads.
Mu Ssang brushed off his clothes and stood up.
“I should be going. I have a service to perform in the evening.”
“Of course. Don’t be late, okay?”
Mu Ssang handed Ha Dong Daek, who had accompanied him to the door, a bank book.
“What is this?”
“Ajumma, this is the university registration fees for those five brats. It’s about 400,000 won for a year of lessons in a private college, isn’t it? So, that totals up to 2,000,000 won. Use it for my sisters’ university fees, and go buy and raise some cows.”
Ha Dong Daek shrieked in surprise.
“My God, why should I accept this huge sum? No. It’s the money you have earned with your blood. It’s impossible. My deceased brother-in-law will curse me to hell!”
Mu Ssang shoved the bank book in Ha Dong Daek’s trembling hands. Unlike his pretty face, his hands were as rough as a hog’s feet.
“Father will like it. I couldn’t attend university because I did all those dirty things, right? I realize humans only act like humans when they learn and expose themselves to society. Educate those brats. It’s a world where your daughters have to learn something, at least.”
“No, I know how hard you worked overseas to earn this money. I can feed them enough with the money I get from the aid. It’s enough to send them to university and more. I can’t take this money no matter what, it’s embarrassing!”
Ha Dong Daek led a humble life. As an adult, she couldn’t receive a sum of money that was unjustified.
“Ajumma, I earn a lot of money. What’s the value of money between two people who’re more than friends? The food that Mal Soon has served me is worth more than these few pieces of paper. Money has to be used by the people who need them.”
When Ha Dong persistently refused, Jin Soon took it.
“Mother, make oppa feel comfortable.”
“I don’t know. You guys repay him after completing your studies. Can’t you sleepover tonight? Will the monk say something?”
“My rear’s going to shatter if I miss a day of service.”
“Why’s the monk so scary? Soon, you send your brother off, okay?”
Mu Ssang hugged Ha Dong Daek tightly.
“Ajumma, you need to live healthily for a long time, okay? There should at least be one person to greet my mother when she comes back.”
“Of course, of course. Someone has to give my sister a good warm meal, after all. That old monk will scold you if you’re late. Hurry along.”
A smile came naturally to Ha Dong Daek’s face as she watched Mu Ssang’s tall, broad frame walking away. He suited her thin, tall daughter very well.
“Sister, I’m fine with them liking each other. Ssang grew up so well, so which part of the sky are you under?”
Ha Dong Daek turned around and wiped away her tears.
He immediately took his driving test after finishing a month’s worth of soul-refining prayers. He had to earn a separate small-vehicle license in order to ride a BMW bike. Those that worked under 125cc could use a normal driver’s license, but the northern snakehead was 1,200cc.
The French auto license could easily convert into a country’s driver’s license. It was easily solved with a notary on the translated license, a photo submission, and a fee payment. He had earned the license, but his northern snakehead was nowhere in sight.
Frustrated, he bought a local car. He needed a car to take his teacher around. Teacher was healthy, but he was reaching his 90s. His teacher couldn’t do anything about his aging body even if he attained mystical abilities. A hardware aging on a body without basic reconstruction couldn’t be fixed.
After buying a secondhand Hyundai Pony, Mu Ssang nearly jumped out of his skin at the unexpected gift. Hamilton had sent him a Fiat Panda as a gift. It was the latest 850cc panda made by Fiat in 1982.
Surprised, Mu Ssang immediately called minister Hamilton. Hamilton laughed.
“I thought a Panda would be the perfect car for climbing up and down the mountain. It’s expensive, but it’s not worth half of the Walther PPK you had gifted me. Monk, this transaction, no, this gift exchange can’t be canceled, got it?”
Hamilton spoke with determination and ended the call.
Mu Ssang laughed. The flag he’d taken from the enemy’s command post turned into a silver gun, and now, it had turned into a famous car. Maybe the car would change into an armored vehicle later. He laughed at the proceedings, much like Anderson’s fairy tales.
Mu Ssang said this in reply to Hamilton’s speech:
“Thank you. Goods are proportionally valued to a person’s usage, after all. I can’t cancel this exchange either.”
A seven-shot revolver, which could be used as a gun for suicide, was worth nothing to him. A gun’s value depended on how well it could kill. Its external appearance, historical value, and antique value were not factors that he needed to consider.
The light green Fiat Panda made him happy as it came from someone who shared the same values. It was the car that would become his teacher’s feet. It had good fuel storage and sleek appearance. He also liked the fact that the rear seats could be folded, turning it into a bed or carrier. Productivity wise, it was incomparable to the Pony.
On the second day, Mu Ssang’s mouth was left agape. When he returned from harvesting herbs and mushrooms, the snakehead he’d been waiting for finally appeared right in the middle of the temple’s front yard. It was as though Murphy’s law and Sally’s law had been mixed up. He’d received a Fiat Panda after a week of owning the Hyundai’s Pony. In a few days, he had received the snakehead.
It had been a month and a fortnight since his return. The delivery address was sent from the French Foreign Consulate. There was even an apology letter attached to the address note.
They explained how they had to change some parts, which were damaged by the weather, and the time it took for them to fix the damage. Now that he re-examined it, it was shining new. They hadn’t fixed it, the thing itself was new.
He didn’t care about the apology letter. He was satisfied with the fact that France had taken care of its repair fees.