A Chairman Who Has No Regrets - Chapter 149



Only Krnovel

Episode 149 – Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter (5)

Ugh.

I stand up from the bathtub chair and my bones scream here and there.

“Ouch-”

I let out a spontaneous exclamation and shook my body back and forth, feeling refreshed and yet bittersweet.

My sisters and mother must be living with this kind of neuralgia every day. Restaurant work is not an ordinary job. No matter where you go, physical work is always difficult.

“Oh my- you worked hard, son-”

My mother hands me some cool shikhye, which I don’t know where she got it from.

“Why Sikhye?”

“Didn’t my son say that last time? He said it would be good to start with something like sujeonggwa or shikhye for dessert.”

“ah.”

It may have been an idea that just popped up randomly, but my mother listened to it carefully and put it into practice.

“The guests are going crazy saying that our shikhye is delicious. How did my son come up with such an idea?”

When I was working in Seoul.

Whenever I went to a restaurant called Hambajib, they would always serve me sikhye, sungnyung, sujeonggwa, etc. It was just that the memory of that time suddenly popped out.

“I heard that the shikhye from Jeongwoo’s mill is of very good quality?”

It seems that they also made shikhye at the mill.

It helps Jungwoo’s family and our family as well. You could say it’s killing two birds with one stone.

Thanks to that, our business is doing better, but these days, the one-time business is more active than the regular business. This is all because the tourism in Hodori Village is revitalized due to the aftereffects of the broadcast.

“That’s what I’m saying, Mom.”

Just as I was about to start paying, my mother ran up to the counter and started counting the cash, one by one, using the abacus.

“One, two, sit, four···”

chin.

My little sister put her arm around my shoulder.

“Hey, when Mom counts money, no one can stop her.”

“Oh, it looks like that.”

“Let’s eat.”

For some reason, I nodded at my older sister’s words as she spoke the truth, and then I hastily filled my plate with the remaining rice and side dishes.

“There is little loss.”

The younger sister asks about the words that came out unconsciously.

“Ross? What is Ross? Do you eat it?”

“Not roast, but loss.”

“Lost, lost?”

“uh.”

“What is this, out of the blue?”

My little sister, who was probably a Seoul National University student, immediately explained the meaning when I told her how to spell it. Her application skills seemed to be lacking due to her Korean education, so she couldn’t even interpret the meaning.

The trays that used to be full of side dishes were almost empty. There was just enough left for our family to have a late dinner.

The fact that we have almost no leftover food means that our restaurant has an excellent turnover rate.

“It also means loss.”

“Ah- So you’re saying there’s no loss?”

“uh.”

The little sister nods her head as if she understands and puts side dishes on the plate.

“Mom’s food has to be delicious. She gives just enough for the guests to eat, and almost no one leaves any leftovers. Most of the guests ask if they can eat more.”

“okay?”

“huh.”

It certainly looks like business is going well.

I saw the line with my own eyes, and seeing as my mother’s spending has increased a bit these days, it must be true.

Of course, the problem is that the money isn’t focused on your own extravagance, but on breakfast.

My younger sister and my older sister both seem to have gained a lot of weight. Maybe that’s natural, since they eat protein-rich meat side dishes and fried eggs every day.

My skin is also very oily, unlike before.

“Hehehe, since there’s not much loss, business is going really well, right?”

“Oh, right.”

“Thank goodness hehe.”

My little sister is always smiling happily, wondering what’s good.

“What do you like so much?”

“My seniors say that it will cost a lot of money soon, so what are you going to do with the internship?”

Of course, it makes sense since it’s a medical school.

“I also help out at the restaurant all the time, so I should ask my mom for some part-time job wages-”

Well, I wonder if my mother would give it to me easily.

After I finished eating and sat down at the table, I glanced at my mother. She glanced around and slipped a ten-thousand-won bill into the front pocket of her apron.

‘what.’

Why do you take the money while keeping an eye on others? If you do whatever you want, no one will say anything.

Knock knock.

The door opens and the eldest sister opens her mouth with a reddened face.

“Ugh, ugh, is it over?”

My older sister was out of breath, probably because she came running right after school ended.

“Oh my- what are you running for again- I have my son with me today.”

Mother quickly hands over some shikhye and pats her older sister’s back.

“Phew- I’m a little late, I’m on duty today.”

“So what if I’m a little late? I prepared your food! Did you make it?”

“Was it so?”

As soon as the older sister came in, she put her bag down where she was going to sit and went to the counter.

“Are you done calculating, Mom?”

“Yeah, well- the mother did it because the daughter was late.”

“Hurry up and eat, Mom. I’ll go check.”

“Oh my gosh- Mom said she did everything?”

The older sister sits at the counter blankly, looking at her mother who refuses to give up her chair.

“Ahem··· I finished it all···”

Mother gives up her seat quietly with a cough.

As soon as the older sister sat down, she quickly started calculating on the abacus.

“Hey-”

I couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

Because I saw a professional in my older sister calculating on an abacus. Unlike how my mother used to calculate, she did it at a much faster speed.

“uh?”

The older sister opens her eyes wide and looks at the abacus, money, and ledger in turn.

“Oh my! That’s right- I put the chili powder-”

As my mother hurriedly turned to the kitchen, my older sister suddenly grabbed my mother’s arm.

“mom.”

“Uh, yeah?”

A very embarrassed mother.

“I have ten thousand won.”

“Eh, eh- that, that can’t be?”

“No, it’s empty.”

“Well, I don’t know, Mom-”

Crackle crackle.

I shook my head without realizing it.

My older sister.

Later, when the investigation is conducted, it seems that the sounds of economic criminals dying can be heard from here.

The older sister thought about something for a moment, then raised the corners of her lips.

“Mom- My apron is so dirty, I have to wash it.”

“No! You can wear it for one more day!”

“Uh, no.”

Then, she smiles bashfully and reaches out to her mother’s apron.

“Hey- why is he like this-”

Mother desperately guards her apron.

“Hye-ri-”

The older sister calls the younger sister softly.

“Yeah! Sister!”

The little sister ran quickly like lightning and grabbed her mother’s hand.

“These guys are so funny that they know nothing about mommy! Hey! Son-”

My mother asks me for help.

I also got up and reached out to my little sister to stop her.

“Puppy.”

My older sister calls me softly.

“huh.”

“Get your hands off me.”

“Uh… is that so?”

It was a face with a gentle smile, but why didn’t it look like that? I tried to avoid my mother’s earnest gaze and lowered my hand that was trying to stop my little sister.

“Oh my – they say raising children is useless!”

Eventually, the mother’s apron falls into the hands of the eldest sister, who takes out a neatly folded ten thousand won bill from the apron pocket.

“Oh my- why is it coming out of there-”

The older sister raises the corners of her lips in laughter at her mother’s nonsense.

“I know.”

“Ho, ho, hoho.”

Mother smiles and slowly walks into the kitchen.

“Mom, you didn’t calculate it even once today! I saw it!”

As the little sister drove the wedge in, the mother’s hand struck the little sister’s mouth as quickly as the teeth of a comb.

“Yo-yo! Snout! Snout!”

“Ahhh- Sister- Save me-”

The older sister paid no attention to the younger sister and finished calculating the amount again, then nodded her head in satisfaction.

“Sister?”

The younger sister, who was being held in her mother’s hand and had her lips kissed, called out to her older sister with eyes filled with betrayal.

“Oh, I’m hungry.”

The older sister gets up from her seat and walks to the table.

A blank face.

Mother held her little sister tightly with a proud look on her face.

“You know, Mom, it’s so funny! Huh?”

“Oh, no, Mom, that is···”

“Okay! So that’s why you’re a daughter, and what? You’re a son!”

“Hey! Jeon Kang! Mom, stop me!”

“Oh, I’m hungry.”

I naturally sat across from my older sister.

“Whoa- these traitors!”

The older sister elegantly uses her chopsticks to bring the stir-fried pork to her mouth.

“Hmm, the meat is good today. I think it’s because they use good quality meat these days.”

“Yes, sis. It’s delicious.”

“Whoa- Save me-”

My mother and my younger sister came back from a long day of playing. My younger sister is absentmindedly playing with her spoon with her hair disheveled.

“Ahem.”

My mother opens the bottle of soju with a clear cough.

“mom.”

The mother flinched at the sound of her older sister’s call.

“Why, why?”

“What are you going to do with ten thousand won?”

“No- Who is to blame for our store’s success- My son, huh? He might need something to study, and a man needs a thick wallet to feel strong, huh? So···”

“Is the river going to give you some pocket money?”

“Yeah.”

The older sister nodded, opened the ledger, took out a yellow envelope, and gave me ten thousand won and the younger sister twenty thousand won.

“Hey-, 20,000 won or so?”

My mother licked her lips again and nodded.

The little sister quickly accepts the allowance and opens her mouth to say, “Huh?”

“I’m fine.”

At my words, my little sister’s twin hearts turn towards me.

“Hey! Then what would I become!”

My older sister said with a bashful smile.

“It’s okay, go eat something delicious with your friends.”

It’s really okay.

Even if I give you some pocket money, it won’t be easy.

But soon he smiled and put the money away. Only then did the younger sister breathe a sigh of relief, put the money away in her bosom, and pour some soju into her mother’s glass as if she was so happy about something.

“The girl will buy you a drink, please.”

“Yes, I won’t forget what happened today.”

“Girl, I was just following the rules.”

“Oh, really? Are you sure you want to strike a chord today?”

“I am sorry.”

I chuckled at the two of you’re jokes and then I started laughing.

“mom.”

“Huh? Son, why?”

“Our store’s business is going really well now, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, right? If this continues, won’t Mom become super rich? Hohohoho.”

“So that’s what I’m saying.”

“huh.”

“Shouldn’t we hire more employees now?”

“employee?”

The mother’s reaction is ambiguous.

It wasn’t very appealing.

“No, Mom. I think it’s time for you sisters to focus on your studies too.”

“Oh my, it’s really hard to find like-minded employees.”

The younger and older sisters nodded their heads as if they agreed with their mother’s words.

No, why are you sitting there agreeing with me too!

“That’s right, Mom. I saw the news the other day that while the owner was working in the kitchen, the waitress ran off with all the money on the register because of her husband’s gambling debts.”

“Oh my! That happened?”

Where did you come across such strange news?

“Oh my- how hard must it have been for that person, he must have suddenly become blind because of gambling debt-”

“That’s right, Mom. Anyway, the store owner didn’t report it, so he decided to think of it as severance pay and did nothing…”

“Then, where else can you trust more than your family?”

My sisters and my mother too.

It doesn’t seem like they have any intention of hiring any staff at all.

Poverty forces us to choose poverty.

It wasn’t because they were stupid or foolish. It was just because they had no choice. That’s what I thought.

With this money, I can buy my family jajangmyeon. With this money, I can make my family smile for a day.

Such thoughts prevent us from saving money and making money work. I wonder if the saying that money attracts money may have started from such a place.

Save up, invest, and roll over the investment profits.

In the process, it is obvious that the current poverty will not be resolved in 10, 20, maybe 30, 40 years.

If you endure and live like that, you will eventually see the light, but the poverty made it difficult to endure and persevere.

‘Anyway, I guess I did it wrong.’

Then it seems that another method is needed to convince my mother and sisters to keep this store running.

My mother and sisters.

Those people who have a lot of affection.

“affection?”

My sisters and mother tilted their heads at my sudden remark.

“Hey, son, do you want some Choco Pies?”

A pretty good idea occurred to me.