A Chairman Who Has No Regrets - Chapter 111



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The Chairman Who Has No Regrets Episode 111 – Faith, Hope, Love and Despair (5)

Hodori Village, a few days later.

Today, as always, Grandmother Seoja’s youngest son was wearing a band around his head and talking loudly.

Mid 80’s.

Maybe it was because there were only a few TV channels at the time, or maybe it was because the documentary had high viewership ratings. Now that person has become famous for what he does, people are starting to join him in cheering him on or expressing sympathy.

“Get out! Get out!”

If someone saw me, they would think I was a dictator. I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurd sight.

“Tsk tsk tsk, you losers.”

Kang Noya clicked his tongue and shook his head. I nodded my head in agreement with what he said.

“You guys stopped there last time, right?”

“Who is it?”

“Why, there are people in the shantytown who asked us to back out of our contracts because the land prices were skyrocketing.”

“ah.”

“Those damn guys are all around here. They probably want to pick up some beans and eat them too.”

It has been said that humans are forgetful animals.

Even though I was in danger of being kicked out last time, I kept making the same choices again. People who only know what’s in front of them. I don’t want to curse them, but I can’t help but feel disgusted.

“It’s good that we’re changing the water now.”

“Idiots… tsk.”

“Go your way.”

“Okay.”

As I was about to set off with Kang Noya, my grandmother’s youngest son noticed me and started screaming loudly.

“There is the devil! There is the devil who took our home, who took our land, you people-”

People around him spit out curses at me because of his swearing.

“Give it back! Give it back!”

I slowly looked at the faces of the people who were swearing at me with my eyes wide open. People are said to be forgetful creatures, but I am not as forgetful as you might think, so I deeply engraved each and every one of their images into my mind.

Flash, flash.

The falling beans must have looked quite sweet, and there were even a few reporters who came from some unknown place. It seems that this incident is definitely swaying public opinion. Judging from the fact that even reporters are here to cover the story.

“Student Jeon Gang! Please speak for a moment!”

“Hey, student! Let’s do an interview!”

“I heard that this is a case involving corruption by the district mayor. Is that true?”

“Is it true that civil servants were involved in this?”

Are they people who are wondering how to grow a pie, or are they just incredulous that I, a high school student, could handle this on my own?

They are even trying to involve corruption that cannot be solved.

Woof woof.

As I try to ignore him and continue on my way, some reporters and some shantytown residents block my way.

“Give me my house! Give me my land!”

“Can you please tell me where your funding came from?”

“You took our land!”

“I have the right to my own home too!”

“Is it true that civil servants also cooperated in this matter?”

Among the people pointing their fingers at me, I see the youngest son of my grandmother, with the corners of his lips raised.

Is this funny?

Are you feeling good?

It seemed as if the thoughts that filled his head were visible. He must be drooling and already calculating how much the land and house in Hodori Village, which had become such an issue, would be worth.

“Don’t do that to my brother!”

Amidst the great greed and desires of adults, the pure voice of a child can be heard.

Chang-hyeon, who came running, Mi-gyeong and Mi-yeong, who followed him and closed the distance to avoid being missed, and the children of the shantytown.

“My brother is not a bad person!”

“That’s right! Don’t say anything to my brother! He’s a good person!”

Clang, clang.

Reporters busy taking pictures of the scene where children gathered in a circle and surrounded Kang Noya. And a camera capturing them from afar.

He glanced at the camera in the distance, then lowered his head and spoke to Chang-Hyeon.

“Did you come to a dangerous place like this?”

“People keep badmouthing you, hyung… Why are you just sitting there? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Did you see it that way?

Not at all.

I looked at each of the children who surrounded me, smiling brightly. The kids who had never spoken to me before were starting to look at me quite favorably.

I knew that Changhyun, Miyoung, and Mikyung originally liked me, but this was the first time I realized that the other kids liked me too.

“It’s not like I’m just sitting still.”

Chang-Hyeon whispered softly so that only he could hear.

“sure?”

“I’m putting in firewood.”

“Firewood? Are you going to make charcoal for us?”

“Hahaha, that’s right. It’s the kind of firewood that can make strong and long-lasting charcoal.”

“wow-”

As she strokes the boy’s head and straightens his back, the grandmother’s youngest son shouts.

“That wicked man! He’s manipulating children with his tongue! Can we give our proud Hodori Village to a man like that?”

“No!”

“Let’s all fight! For justice! For what we have lost!”

If you look closely, those people.

It’s just like the Japanese who insist that Dokdo is their land. They raise their voices and insist that it’s their land.

If I think about it, my current situation is no different from that of the Republic of Korea, which owns Dokdo. I am staying quiet and not raising my voice.

But one thing is different, I just took a step back for a moment to prepare for a solid counterattack, and as for South Korea, well, I have no choice but to believe that they are working hard.

“let’s go-”

I grabbed the shoulders of the children around me and slowly moved forward.

Even the adults and reporters who were harassing the children obediently gave way to them, perhaps because they felt burdened by the children.

“Look at the way they run away like that! Everyone- Just a little bit, just a little bit more! Then we can get back our lost land and homes!”

The youngest son, who laughs with a twinkling hope in his eyes, as if he wants to make it his own achievement.

Yeah, smile like that.

The more you laugh, the more I laugh.

Of course, I laugh more now because of the kids. How can I give awards to these wonderful guys?

“Elder.”

“why.”

Kang Noya answers with a very pouty face. It seems that he feels wronged for being treated so unilaterally without being able to spit out even a single curse word.

“I guess you’re very upset.”

“I’ve stopped going to real estate. I’m telling you, there’s no such thing as a traitor. What a fucking disease…”

Not everyone believes that I took the initiative. I’m a high school student. Because of that, there are a few people who are in trouble, and among them is Kang Noya.

“Please bear with it for a moment.”

“Oh my – are you sure about that?”

“sure.”

“Yeah, well… I’ve seen how to handle your work. Why did you call me?”

“I have a place to stop by first.”

I glance at the children and see Kang Noya nodding his head with a smirk.

“That’s because they are special people.”

“yes.”

He looked at the children and shouted.

“Okay- let’s go-”

“Brother, brother.”

“huh.”

“Where are you going?”

“Don’t you have time to draw these days?”

The children nodded their heads with sullen faces. Many of the walls in Hodori Village were already covered with high-quality paintings by art students, and the villagers were on guard to prevent people from scribbling on them.

The situation where drawing, one of the natural pastimes of children, was blocked must have been very disappointing for the children.

“Don’t you want to start drawing hard?”

Just imagining the children widening their eyes at my words makes them happy, and they answer loudly and smile brightly all the time.

“yes!”

“Draw a picture and send it!”

I smiled and shouted out loud, remembering my childhood.

“If you want to draw, come here- here- and stick around-”

The kids rush over to grab my thumb, lifting their toes and stretching out their arms.

The neighborhood has become cleaner and better, but many children still have dirt on their hands. Their fingernails are black and their clothes are torn.

“It will get better soon.”

“yes?”

“Okay- let’s go-”

The place we arrived at, leading the children like a man playing the flute.

“Huh? Changhyun!”

The father of the three siblings, who was working hard, discovers the boys and greets them happily.

“Father!”

The three siblings run in a rush, shouting loudly. Behind them, the other children also run in a hurry to see if their fathers are there.

“Oh my- these guys are dirty-”

Children do not hesitate to hug and peck the cheeks of the dust-covered laborers.

A tough construction site.

The faces of the men who were catching their breath while sweating profusely are filled with smiles.

“Has the river come?”

“Yes, sir. How are you?”

“Then- I’ll check once, twice, three times. Whose house is this?”

“Haha, thank you.”

“What, I should be more grateful. By the way, why here?”

The question was why his children and the children from the shantytown came in a group.

He said this while looking at the large single-family home that was almost finished.

“I’m going to give them a reward because they’re so special.”

“Haha, was it a reward to let you see your father?”

Surely you didn’t say it was that much of a reward?

It’s an award I can receive without having to do it. A man can’t be petty.

“Come to think of it, I guess it’s a reward for the gentlemen too?”

“Hmm?”

The laborers look at me with curious faces.

I said, pointing with my finger to the wide wall of the detached house that would now become my home.

“Guys – there’s a drawing paper over there.”

The children follow my finger and look at the gray-white wall, their eyes wide.

Chang-Hyeon’s father stops me with surprised eyes.

“Oh my – the house is being built so it should have pretty pictures in it!”

The other workers also shook their heads in dissuasion.

“Hey kids, are you good at drawing? Are you bad at drawing?”

“We draw well!”

“It’s not that I draw well, it’s that I just draw.”

“No! My sister is good at drawing caps!”

The grumbling Chang-Hyeon stroked the boy’s head as if pressing it and spoke.

“Okay, art unit, mobilize!”

The children tilt their heads and look at me.

“Hyung, Hyung. Are we in the art troop?”

“Then! Wasn’t it?”

“Hehehe, that’s right!”

“Go, art squad!”

“Yaaaaaa-”

The children run around and draw in their own unique places, each expressing their own individuality.

“oh my…”

Chang-Hyeon’s father sighs in regret and looks at me.

“Are you okay?”

“sure.”

“It’ll ruin the appearance…”

“I think it makes me laugh every time I look at it. Isn’t that what a good painting is?”

“Is that so?”

I nodded.

I felt that children’s drawings contained pure hearts and their own cute wishes.

If you look at Mi-kyung’s picture, there are younger siblings running around in a field of sunflowers, not sunflowers.

When I look at Chang-Hyeon’s picture, instead of the sun looking down at me with a smile in the bright sky, there was his mother.

Who dares say that the painting is not a proper painting?

“Isn’t this a painting filled with the souls of the artists?”

“Huh? Writers?”

“Aren’t those guys going to be writers in the future, sir?”

“Hahaha, is that so?”

“It seems like Mi-kyung’s drawing skills are improving. She really could become a painter.”

“Really? Our daughter takes after her mother and is quite handy. Hmm.”

I guess all parents are like that.

“How many days will it take you guys to fill this wide wall?”

At my words, some of the laborers raise the corners of their lips.

“Oh my, I guess I’ll be commuting to and from work with my kids.”

“I can’t just be a jerk because Dohyun is watching me!”

He quickly turned his head and spoke to the laborer he had just spoken to.

“Huh? Sir, have you been slacking off until now? If you keep doing this, I won’t be able to pay you properly.”

“No! Who would slacken off? Look, I’m working right now.”

“Hahahahaha.”

The old men smile brightly.

Among the people who went back to work, I quietly called out to Mr. Chang-Hyeon.

“mister.”

“okay.”

“No problem?”

As if he knew what I was worried about, Chang-Hyeon’s uncle raised the corners of his mouth.

“Don’t worry, the people here aren’t like that. We all know that they built Hodori Village with their own hands.”

“thank god.”

I nodded and watched the children’s wishes being drawn on the wall that would become our home.

How good it would feel to see those wishes on every road we take.

Among them, Chang-Hyeon sees something strange when looking at the guy’s picture. The thing below looks like fire, but I don’t know what the thing above is.

“What are you drawing, Changhyun?”

“This is meat, meat!”

Miyoung speaks teasingly.

“It’s not just meat! It’s dried meat!”

“Hehehe, did you just draw it because it’s a dried fish?”

Chang-Hyeon is pouting at his older sister’s teasing. It seems he doesn’t know what Makgogi looks like.

“Hey! I’m in the mood! Today is a meat party!”

There must be a lot of meat left at my mother’s store, so instead of making stew, it might not be a bad idea to grill it over a wood fire.