A Chairman Who Has No Regrets - Chapter 84



Only Krnovel

The Chairman Who Doesn’t Regret Episode 84 – Persuasion (4)

I escaped from my uncle’s house with him. Since he doesn’t have many days off, he said he would move quickly as if he was going to spread rumors throughout the neighborhood.

“Thank you for your hard work, sir.”

“Well then, since we’ve decided to work together in both material and spiritual aspects, we should work hard.”

His face is bright with energy, perhaps because he is glad to have something to do.

The old man smiled brightly and disappeared, leaving behind his back.

“You seem to be on good terms?”

I smiled and shook the empty lunch box wrapper I had brought from Changhyun’s house.

“Yes, it’s because my mother’s cooking is excellent.”

Director Baek, who had been laughing, nods his head.

Like the old man, we also walked busily.

There are a lot of houses to walk around in the shantytown today, so it’s better to save time while you can.

The second destination was, of course, Taesu’s house, which was a little easier. An empty lot appeared for a moment as I walked towards the guy’s house.

Today, too, Chang-Hyeon’s three siblings were drawing pictures with charcoal in the tent, blowing on their frozen hands.

“It’s Jangwon hyung!”

The children came running towards me as soon as they saw me.

Director Baek, who is looking at the sight with satisfaction, quickly gives instructions to his subordinate holding the camera.

“You took good care of the children, the pictures are nice.”

He looked at the children running towards him and said to Director Baek.

“Those guys are the children of the man who just signed the contract, the three siblings.”

“Ah- I see.”

Director Baek thinking about something.

“Brother! Brother! You came this morning, why are you here again?”

I burst out laughing at the blatant question he asked, his gaze fixed on the bundle in my hand.

“This is empty.”

“ah···”

Chang-Hyeon is so sorry.

Miyoung and Mikyung, who were poking Changhyun in the ribs, are also watching me closely. They could be a little more immature, but they are already watching me closely like ghosts. This lunch box I give them is definitely not free. Seriously, what should I say?

“Should I bring twice as much tomorrow so Chang-Hyeon doesn’t get hungry?”

“wow-”

Chang-Hyeon looks so excited.

I wish my sisters were like that.

I asked Mi-kyung and Mi-young, who were looking at Chang-hyun, who seemed very excited, shaking his head.

“Do you have enough charcoal?”

“I’m almost out of it, I share it with other kids these days…”

When Mi-kyung answered with a heavy heart, Mi-young quickly grabbed her sister’s hand, which was covered in soot, and said.

“Sister! Don’t worry! You can go up to Bul-am Mountain later!”

I smiled, bent down slightly, got to the children’s eye level, and spoke.

“From today onwards, you don’t have to cut wood, and you don’t even need charcoal, right?”

Miyoung blinks as if to ask what he is talking about.

“I saw you on my way here earlier, and your father was buying crayons at the stationery store.”

The children’s eyes open wide.

“Maybe you’ll give it to me today or tomorrow?”

“Wowaaaaaaaaa-”

Is crayons better than a lunch box? Changhyun shows a strong reaction.

“Great job, big sister! You always wanted to color!”

Mikyung has a nice but not good face.

It’s amazing that a young child can already make such an expression.

“It’s expensive···”

I quickly and mercilessly rubbed Mi-kyung’s hair and shook it off. I hoped that with those touches, all the worries that were out of character for her age would be washed away.

“Go and play quickly, kids need to play.”

Chang-Hyeon nodded his head vigorously and ran shouting.

“I have to draw a lot today since I can use up all the charcoal! That empty space is mine!”

“Hey- I’ll draw too!”

As Miyoung followed her, her heart must have gotten impatient. Mikyung quickly turned around and ran to the tent.

And when I see that kind of thing again, I realize that he is still a kid.

I turn my head and see Director Baek with a bitter expression on his face. And next to him, I see a broadcasting station employee diligently taking pictures of the children with a camera.

“You already know that crayons are expensive.”

Director Baek’s words are full of bitterness.

Poverty.

I know that I’m young.

Rather, it feels bigger because I am among young children.

Some people have a refrigerator in their house, some people don’t, some people have a TV in their house, some people don’t, some people have a sofa in their house, some people don’t have cushions.

It’s so common to brag about such trivial things and pass on the facts to other children.

‘Hey, they live in a guesthouse.’

‘I shouldn’t play with you, you have to make good friends.’

Words I’ve heard countless times.

‘You stink, go wash up and go.’

I scrubbed and washed my whole body until my skin peeled off, but the smell of poverty never went away.

Although my nose only smelled of soap, the children, like ghosts, would smell my poverty.

“Kids, do you think you can draw well?”

The cameraman nods to my question.

“Good, student?”

Pick smiled and stared at Director Baek.

“That’s right, Director?”

Director Baek looked at me with eyes that said, “What should I do?” and then nodded as if he understood what I meant.

“Children will also be paid a certain amount of appearance fee.”

I nodded with satisfaction, looked at Kang Noya, and said.

“Let’s go to the next house together, the broadcasting station team seems busy.”

**

The next day.

Lee Ho-young, the father of three siblings, was busy from the morning. He went to the district office with the owner of Samcheolli Real Estate and went around here and there, waving the notarized contract that proved that the contract with Jeon Kang was properly concluded.

Boom bang.

“Is Gwangsik inside?”

A small wooden door opens and a man comes out, rubbing his eyes.

“What brings you here this morning, hyung?”

“Do you see this?”

“Real estate sales contract?”

“I sold my house!”

“Yes? Your brother had a house?”

“Why didn’t I have a home? I have a house where my family of four lives just fine.”

A man named Gwangsik asks with surprised eyes.

“How is that your house? It’s a building that was built without the country’s knowledge.”

“Oh, listen, that’s what I mean···”

Lee Ho-young, who keeps pouring out long words.

A man named Gwangsik who is more surprising the more you listen to him.

“Is that true, brother?”

“Has this person been living a life of deception?”

Lee Ho-young takes out an envelope of money from his pocket and shows it to me.

“Look here, I even got money! Okay- and look at this document, this document! This document has my home address printed on it! It’s not my name anymore, but it has my address! The address!”

“No, really, a house that isn’t even on the map has an address.”

“Besides, the person who bought this house said that I could live there as long as I wanted?”

“I thought you had some alcohol yesterday···”

Lee Ho-young adds with a smile.

“What do you think? Are you interested?”

“You mean you don’t care if I live my whole life, and you’re giving me money?”

“Oh, that’s right. It’s written right here.”

“Brother, then can you introduce me to the landlord?”

“Of course, let’s talk about it with the whole neighborhood. Are we the only ones who need money? The whole neighborhood is like that.”

So the two of them went around the shantytown and gathered people to the empty lot where children were playing and drawing on tents. There was nothing they could do for families that had gone out to work or had only children at home, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that all the remaining adults in the neighborhood gathered.

“Okay, everyone! This is the document that says I sold my house-”

Lee Ho-young slowly repeats the same words he said to the man named Gwang-sik.

At first, people reacted as if it was nonsense here and there, but when a man named Gwangsik got angry and said that Lee Ho-young’s words were true, people started to show interest one by one.

“Hey, but even so, if you sell your house, you’ll end up living on the street for a few pennies, right? What are you going to do if you live on the street for the money you can only pay for one or two months’ rent for a rented room these days?”

I nodded and agreed with the words of the old woman who was complaining here and there.

Lee Ho-young said calmly.

“If the country kicks out all the illegal structures, won’t we get any money then? Isn’t it the same whether we die one way or the other?”

“Why are you pushing a perfectly good house?”

“Isn’t this a house that isn’t on the map? And there’s no address? Have you ever seen a post office deliver mail here?”

“That, that···”

“Why did I put up that screen? I did it so that I wouldn’t be noticed and people from the country would come out like they did when the old Jungnangcheon shantytown was demolished.”

Tyler tried to scare them, but some people still didn’t believe Lee Ho-young’s words.

“Okay, that’s enough. Those of you who want to talk to the landlord, come this way. Those of you who don’t, think carefully about what would be more beneficial to you. Okay?”

An empty lot where half remains and half disappears again.

“Ugh- That’s why you can’t trust them.”

Lee Ho-hyung clicked his tongue as if he felt sorry.

“Okay, let’s go to Samcheolli Real Estate over there. Let’s go-”

So large numbers of people started moving into real estate.

**

Hororop.

Today is just like yesterday.

I drank tea made with doraji greens at the grandmother’s house next door to my three siblings. I looked at the same mud wall as yesterday.

“Kehak- Do you come here every day?”

“Because the view is nice.”

“Ke-hack- the white sound is···”

Maybe it was my imagination or maybe it was because I was spending more time with my grandmother, but I seemed to hear her cough more often and more intensely.

“I think you should go to the hospital.”

“Okay, I’m old now so what?”

Should I call someone outside?

I wonder if there is a doctor who will follow me out into the countryside.

“I know my body well.”

Once you’ve nailed it down, it’s hard to bring up the subject further.

“I now have 12 houses in the shantytown. Isn’t that great?”

“Kehak- Hey, what are you going to do with those corners of the house that don’t even have money? Kehak- Chang-hyun’s father has been noisy since this morning. Isn’t he just blowing air?”

He shook his head.

“No, Grandma.”

“Kehak- What the heck, I saw a lot of people starving to death, did the government do anything for them? What is a young scholar doing? Kehak-”

Realistic and negative words.

I said with a nonchalant smile.

“Just watch for a moment, it will probably be different. Now that I have my home, I can change it however I want. I will make it incredibly pretty, incomparable to how it is now.”

“Keuk- the scholarship is really that much.”

“Because I’m not an ordinary student.”

“Kehak- Anyway, there’s a lot of white noise… tsk.”

The corners of Grandma’s mouth go up as she clicks her tongue.

To the people of Sanggye-dong.

To the guys from Sanggye-dong.

Just like she did to someone else who wasn’t my family, my grandmother must be seeping into me now, and there isn’t much time allowed. The time limit is only three years at most.

In the short term, it would be right after the Asian Games.

“Can I help you with some work on Grandma’s house too?”

“Cough, what are you doing with this perfectly good corner of the house?”

“As I change my surroundings, I become greedy here too.”

“Okay, that was pointless. Kehak-”

“So you’re selling me the house and the land?”

“Ke-hack-”

He just coughs and doesn’t answer.

I try to take a sip of tea like my grandmother, but I can’t feel the bittersweet taste on my tongue because I’ve already drunk it all.

“I’ll come again.”

“Kehak- It’s noisy inside, don’t come.”

“This is a great place for tea.”

The old woman shook her head repeatedly, snatched the teacup away from me, and then brought out a bundle and handed it to me.

“What is it, Grandma?”

“Kehak- It’s nothing, I’ll give it to your mother and tell her that she’s eating the doraji soup well.”

If you peek inside the bundle, you can see dried persimmons.

I felt it when she brought out the potatoes, but the strange look I see is not my grandmother’s true feelings. Why is she acting like this? Since the talk of land and houses came up, a cold wind has blown.

“It’s okay···”

“Kehak- Go quickly.”

I bow my head to the grandmother who chased me away and start my day again.

How many houses will I own today?

In a day or two, architect Kim Up-joong will bring the blueprints, and I am already excited. I wonder which house he will start working on first.

If you see the shantytown changing little by little, won’t your grandmother’s heart change too? I hope that before it’s too late, your grandmother’s cold wind will turn into a warm wind.

“let’s go-”

To do that, I need to work more diligently.

I put my hand into the bundle and took out a dried persimmon and chewed it. The natural sweetness made me smile, as if there were no artificial additives.

Now that I’ve filled up on sugar, I’ll have to try harder to persuade him.