A Chairman Who Has No Regrets - Chapter 104



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The Chairman Who Has No Regrets Episode 104 – Value (2)

The funeral of the illegitimate grandmother.

It was like any other funeral, nothing special, but if I had to point out one thing, it was that none of the people working were her family.

Most funerals in this era were family funerals. Family members gathered to prepare food and entertain visitors. If there were not enough hands, neighbors, acquaintances, friends of the deceased, or their daughters would help, but my grandmother’s funeral was not like that.

“I heard you don’t have enough electricity.”

“I’ll send it right away.”

“Oh no, we’ll take it.”

People were holding funerals like that, smiling brightly, making things for each other and making them themselves, as if the holidays were starting again.

“Grandma, aren’t you tired?”

“It’s okay – you’ll sleep longer when you’re dead.”

Unfortunately, Sangju was taken care of by Hyoryeong’s grandmother. Many people had their opinions about Hyoryeong’s grandmother and me, but it seems like they didn’t want to make a young me bear such a burden.

Of course, I thought it would be okay for me to carry that burden no matter how much I was, but in the end, it was not me but my grandmother’s other friend, Hyoryong’s grandmother, who took over.

“Oh my- Oh my- Oh my-”

Hyoryeong’s grandmother has been crying for hours now and has no more tears left, but she keeps wailing.

It may be difficult, but it doesn’t stop.

“Grandma, you must be having such a hard time.”

“It’s okay. There has to be crying at a funeral. What can I do if I feel sad without anyone to cry?”

It was a fake cry, but it didn’t feel exactly fake. Some adults even secretly wiped away their tears while working or drinking, as if the grandmother’s cry was effective.

I don’t know how many times I’ve shed tears. It was really sad that the sound of the crying was fake.

“I’ll be there at night, Grandma, you can rest.”

“It’s okay-”

“Yes, Mother. You should think about your health too.”

If Hyorong’s grandmother had been a little younger, if she hadn’t been so old, I might not have been able to be the chief mourner for my friend Seoja’s grandmother. Still, I’m glad she gave up her place to me at dawn.

At 2 or 3 o’clock, the funeral home always became deserted.

“Oh my! It was cheap!”

If it weren’t for the Go-Stop game played by some adults, it would have been too quiet. So I secretly wiped away my tears. It’s sad to think that this quiet night is the path she has lived.

Crying for half a day.

Will being sad last only half a day?

Sadness comes to me from time to time as if telling me not to forget, but it seems that I cannot be sad forever. Or maybe sadness has its own mannerisms. In the early morning when there are no visitors, I find myself unconsciously focusing on the adults playing with folk paintings.

“Business! Business, business!”

Does real estate agent Kang Noya originally like gambling, or is he performing a ritual because he got a lot of money? He is quite old, but like young men, he doesn’t leave the Hwatu table until dawn.

Still, these days.

I used to think he was a grumpy old man who never bothered with things that didn’t make money, but he doesn’t seem all that hateful because he keeps his job and even helps out.

There may be no such thing as mutual benefit in this world, but shouldn’t there be people who smile like that? As Hyoryong’s grandmother said, if there’s someone crying, there should be someone who smiles.

Of course, the laughter seems to be due to gambling, but isn’t a good thing a good thing?

“Let’s wrap things up here.”

As dawn breaks, the gambling tables are cleared away and in the pitch-black darkness, only the lanterns indicating the gambling sites twinkle.

In that quiet place, as if the world were asleep, I gazed blankly at the memorial portrait of my grandmother, who never knew how to smile.

For some reason, my grandmother’s face looks sad. Does she hate quiet funerals?

“If you do this, you’ll be fine. It’s usually darkest before dawn. There were people here just a moment ago. Well, please straighten up. Smile a little when you take pictures…”

I’m thinking back to when I last saw my grandmother smiling.

The first moment that came to mind was when my grandmother handed me the potatoes she had steamed herself.

When she read her husband’s letter alone, she seemed to have smiled faintly, but her face, bright as a flower, seemed to have been smiling for the first and last time when she was given potatoes. I wish she had smiled a little more. That’s a bit of a shame.

Clink, clank.

One by one, people who wake up early in the morning come to the funeral home and, without any warning, begin to clear away the tables of the mourners who left traces of the previous night.

“Oh my, this is hard.”

The backlight behind my mother, who appeared with the sun, is so strong that we cannot see her expression. I guess her face is similar to that in my grandmother’s memorial photo.

“Look at me – Grandma is also very worried about her health.”

Knock, knock, my mother pats me on the back and pushes me to get up.

“Go to grandma’s house and close your eyes. Mom and sisters will be here.”

I hesitated for a moment, but I didn’t get greedy. I’m very grateful to my mother who wholeheartedly helped with the funeral, but I don’t want to worry her.

“Yeah, Mom.”

“Get some rest now.”

“huh.”

I went into my grandmother’s house and closed my eyes, but sleep didn’t come easily.

The blanket that my grandmother would have been lying under. Is it just my mood that leaves me with so much regret and longing?

Flash.

When I opened my eyes at some point, I saw that the sun was already above the zenith. I guess I was mentally exhausted from the drug-like sleep.

When I went out to the funeral hall again.

I see people’s faces that are no different from yesterday.

“Tch! Tch!”

Do you really like gambling?

Real estate agent Kang Noya is still happily engrossed in playing Hwatu today.

“Are you here?”

The guy Taesu who was carrying the jeon and yukgaejang found me.

“uh.”

“Did you get some sleep?”

“Oh, I slept well.”

The guy who snickered went back to serving the adults as if it were his own business without saying anything else. I also followed him here and there at a brisk pace, carrying food and drinks.

Time to take a break.

“Is the funeral tomorrow?”

“Oh, I think the adults told us to do that.”

It was the decision of Hyoryeong’s grandmother, the eldest of the family, but the other adults did not strongly oppose it. I don’t think there would be many mourners at a funeral that the family did not take care of.

Sometimes, there are two-day markets instead of three-day markets, so I just accept that. Since it is a three-day market, I agree to some extent with the statement that it is not necessarily a three-day market.

Actually, I don’t really know much about funeral culture. I have no experience and I haven’t really attended anyone’s funeral.

No, almost none.

Attending the funeral of a U.S. President was the only funeral experience I’ve ever had, and that was in my entire life.

“Here, here – this is where you can see better.”

As evening approaches and the sun begins to set, the funeral home becomes busier.

The reason is none other than the day the documentary Sanggyedong was aired. There were some men at the funeral who said that it was rude, but everyone was quiet after hearing a warning from Hyoryong’s grandmother.

“If there’s someone you love in life, you can’t do anything. If you see this, you’ll be less sad.”

Since my grandmother wore the mourning hat.

Her word was soon law.

If the head of the household wants to do it, how can the mourners stop him? I didn’t want to strongly oppose it either. After all, all the mourners who came to the funeral were from Sanggye-dong.

“Were the ratings good?”

When I asked Director Baek about the difficulties he had in setting up a TV in a funeral hall like this electric ballroom, he smiled broadly and nodded.

“Thanks to the students of Jeon Gak.”

“It’s a shame I can’t laugh out loud.”

“It’s okay, I laughed before I came.”

“Is that so?”

“I heard the director has high expectations for this documentary as well. It’s also my first documentary debut.”

I nodded my head in agreement, and he whispered a joke in my ear.

“I’ll just smile a little since I gave all the money I got today as a condolence money.”

“You can laugh out loud, this isn’t a funeral.”

“Hey, where is Hosang? That’s rude again.”

He nodded with a smirk.

“Is it a trilogy?”

“Yes, story, beginning, end. It’s that simple.”

While nodding, the image of the Sanggye-dong shantytown appears through the TV screen.

The documentary began with narration by announcer Cha Tae-in, along with footage of the demolition of the Jungnangcheon slums that was obtained from somewhere.

“Oh my… why…”

“Sob sob.”

“Oh my, it’s strange, it’s strange.”

“Wormm- you rotten ones.”

“Thank you, Sherry.”

“Sniff.”

“Ugh.”

Anger and sadness are filling the funeral hall. They say that no one is without circumstances or stories, but the circumstances and stories of the people in this shantytown were truly diverse and heartbreaking.

Among those stories, there must have been some that were so strong that they were worthy of being broadcast, so people’s reactions weren’t strange.

“Chang-sik! You idiot! If something like that happened, why didn’t you tell me? Get up! Let’s go to the bank right now – I have some money saved up.”

“Okay, honey! The bank is already closed – it’s okay now, I have my own house.”

“Oh my – that annoying guy. Why would a guy like that buy so much during the holidays!”

Close yet far.

People who confirm their feelings for each other through the sad stories of acquaintances and neighbors.

It felt like one documentary was bringing the people of Sanggye-dong who gathered for this funeral closer together.

“I… am sorry.”

“No- You must have felt that way because you were having a hard time too… I feel more sorry.”

People who had been estranged from each other embrace each other again. The situation has made them sharp, but it seems that their natures are still not sharp.

The documentary began with anger and sadness, but as it neared its end, it became filled with joy and reconciliation.

“Oh my… Honey- where is my phone book?”

“It’s under the TV dance.”

“Really? I’ll wake up first.”

“Where are you going?”

“I need to call you after a long time.”

“I’m going too – there are a lot of people that come to mind.”

Just look at the reactions of the people in Sanggye-dong.

It seemed like I could predict the reactions of people watching this documentary.

I glanced at Director Baek and saw that he had a smile on his face.

“It will turn out well.”

Director Baek nods his head as if he understood what I said.

“I think I should go with documentary. I believe that if the students in the class have good ideas, they will help me a lot.”

Pick said with a smile.

“I checked the bonus money the director gave.”

“Oh my!”

He quickly pretends to take his wallet out of his pocket.

The documentary ends with a preview of the changes in the shantytown people with their unfortunate stories, and the night deepens at the funeral home.

When morning came again.

Unlike yesterday, today many people attended the funeral.

Because today was the funeral day.

As I stood in the hearse that had raced through the crack of dawn, my grandmother was loaded. The atmosphere inside the hearse, where each person took a separate vehicle and rushed to the toilet, was completely different from the bustling funeral home of yesterday.

Hururuk.

When Grandma enters the hot flames.

“Oh my- Oh my-”

Hyoryeong’s grandmother was banging on the wall and shedding tears, and everyone else was sobbing and feeling sad.

When my grandmother returned with the small urn weighing only a few kilograms, I felt bitter and empty.

Her whole life was so light that it weighed nothing but this much. With a thousand thoughts in her mind, she began to climb Mt. Bukam, holding the urn in her arms.

When we arrived at a suitable pine tree overlooking the shantytown.

Thud, thud.

The guys from Sanggye-dong dug the ground for me. After I put the urn in, the people who came up here with me sprinkled some dirt on top of the urn.

Most of the older adults or those with a lot of work to do did not come up, but Kang Noya insisted on handing me the last shovel.

I sprinkled the last of the dirt over the urn and cleaned it up.

“ruler.”

Suddenly, Kang Noya hands me a bundle of documents.

“What is it?”

“Read it, then you will understand.”

When I opened the envelope and took it out, there was a certificate of registration right there. Looking at the address and land register, I saw that it was my grandmother’s land and house.

And now the owner’s name had changed. All to my name.

Looking at the last page, there was another short letter from my grandmother.

[ Did I go out too late? Well… I’m glad the dick got it. Don’t give it to someone else. Okay? ]

why.

Why is it short?

Why are my grandmother’s letters, written with each and every letter pressed down, always short?

“It’s property left to the person who held the funeral, and you received it.”

Kang Noya said he would stay there every day, so did he confirm that? Did he find out who would conduct the funeral?

“Until the very end… those bastards never came.”

I think I understand what my grandmother meant when she said it was difficult to hand over the land and house to me.

I wonder if grandma knows.

I wonder what value Hodori, who is smiling brightly, will have in the future, and how valuable the legacy my grandmother left me will be.

“Yes, Grandma, I won’t give it to anyone.”

I pledge to do so.

I looked at Hodori, who was smiling brightly.

Now the shantytown was no longer a shantytown.

The gazes of the Sanggye-dong guys follow me to the shantytown that can be seen in the distance.

“wow!”

“What! Is that Hodori?”

“Hey-”

Soon, Grandma’s legacy will become a tourist attraction of immense value by the time the documentary ends.