Escaping the Mystery Hotel - Chapter 425
Only Krnovel
EP.425 Episode 425 – A Family with a Backbone (1)
Episode 425 – A Family with a Backbone (1)
– Han Ga-in
“It’s a story from my childhood that I can barely remember now.
At that time, not only my grandfather but also my great-grandfather was alive, and his name was ‘Han Jin-seong.’
My great-grandfather was a man of great wealth, and it is said that he sold off the vast farmland he had inherited from his ancestors before its value depreciated.
He even bought land in Gangnam, Seoul with that money before its value rose, showing that he was talented at real estate investment.
Anyway, it is said that in his later years, people who wanted his inheritance swarmed like bees.
“Our house was no different.”
…Who is thinking of this ‘knowledge’ now?
*
— Shhhhh!
As a soft breeze caressed my cheek, I could hear the leaves rustling in the nearby bamboo forest.
For a moment, I smelled the tickling smell of the earth, and the little boy in front of me grabbed a wriggling bug with his hand –
“Eight!”
“Huh? Go, go away… .”
“Minseok, I told you not to touch the bugs.”
Cousins, or was it third cousins?
Anyway, when Min-seok tried to stop himself from swallowing the bug, this time Min-ah behind him started a fuss.
“Eww!”
“Why, why are you crying?”
“Ahhhh! Aaaaarakkaraak!”
“Please, make some human noise!”
He fell down on the dirt floor by himself and his knees started bleeding, causing a fuss.
As I was roughly wiping it off with a cloth, I suddenly heard a joyful voice next to me.
“It’s a mess, it’s a mess!”
My heart skipped a beat as soon as I heard it.
Radish? Fish?
Are you saying that the kid went into the water alone?
I was startled and checked behind me, and saw that Cheol-min had entered the valley without even rolling up his pants.
It’s not a particularly dangerous place because it’s shallow and the current is weak, but children this age can have accidents even on the bed.
“Oh! Are you really not listening to me? I told you to stay still!”
After barely getting my cousins back on land and catching my breath, my younger sister started causing trouble.
“Oppa… my leg hurts.”
“…”
“I want to go home! I’m going home!”
Actually, if you just listen to this, there is no big problem.
Heegang, you’re just a kid, so it might not be fun to play with your cousins and younger siblings you don’t even know in a shallow valley like this.
The problem is that the adults send their children out to me because something ‘educationally unsound’ is happening at their country home.
“Let’s wait 30 minutes and then go.”
“… huh.”
For the past three days, the adults have been fighting day and night.
I guess they didn’t want to show this to their children.
*
Around lunchtime, I returned to the country house with my younger siblings.
As I opened the old-fashioned gate, a spacious yard appeared.
Here and there stood well-kept pine trees, and a pure white stone wall surrounded the area.
Luxurious windows designed to allow for good ventilation and lighting, a large wooden floor with a sharp contrast of white and black, expensive folding screens made of soft Korean paper and delicate paintings engraved on them.
It is a luxurious Hanok that would elicit admiration even if it appeared in a drama.
However, I and the children around me could not concentrate on the lonely appearance of the Hanok.
Because the adults, me and the children’s parents were still fighting loudly.
“Jeong-ho, you! You never set foot in your grandfather’s house -”
“What’s different about my uncle? Anyone who sees him would think he’s a great filial son!”
“Why does this kid talk like this? Minseung has made a mess of his children’s farming!”
“Hey~! Brother, take good care of that little brat!”
“This son of a bitch -”
“No, my brother and I came from the same boat, so if I’m a bastard, what about you -”
— Crazy!
“Eww! Ah, Father, please calm down!”
“Why are you old gentlemen suddenly acting like this!”
A huge noise was heard from the Hanok, and the children and I all froze like stones.
“Ahem! Hey, guys. Do you want to go play in the back mountain with your brother this time?”
“… huh.”
What on earth was my great-grandfather’s legacy that caused all this fuss?
“What is it? It’s an enormous amount of money that an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to save even 1% of in their entire life.”
“…”
“brother?”
“Oh, bread?”
“Hee-gang-ah. Didn’t you hear anything strange just now?”
“huh?”
“no.”
It took quite a while for the adults to calm down.
*
It may be funny for me to say this as his son, but I think my father, Han Min-seok, is a great person who is also humane.
When his great-grandfather, who was a great man, was about to pass away, he brought his young children to the countryside to at least get his seal of approval.
This is clearly a desire for inheritance and a human side of Dad.
There is also a silver lining.
At least Dad was more of a bystander than a participant in the ugly fight going on in the country house.
Even so, the events of the past few days seemed to have worn away at my father’s patience considerably.
“Gain. You too have had a hard time.”
“…”
“The kids don’t listen well?”
“no.”
“What do you mean, it’s not? Since adults are so greedy, it’s only the children who suffer… .”
“…”
“Jeong-ho, you’re Mr. Jeong-ho, right? Today is the first time I realized that kid is so greedy.”
“I don’t think that’s something you should say to a middle school first-year boy.”
“Ha… Grandfather, you’re really too much. How could you say something like that to us -”
“…”
“Seok-Hyeon is like that too, if you think about it -”
“…”
“Ahem!”
As my father was gossiping about his relatives in front of me, my mother, who was listening, coughed slightly.
At first I thought he was warning his father that he had a young son, but I was wrong.
“Ah! Let me say something. Honestly, do you know who the real problem is?”
“…”
“Your uncle? Your cousin? No, no. I told you there’s another real problem.”
“…”
“That old lady!”
“Hey, honey!”
“Your grandfather is the real problem. He’s over 90 years old and hasn’t even made a proper will. And what the heck? I’ll give all of your assets to the most qualified person among you.”
“Phew… .”
“If someone who has saved over 100 billion won says something like that, do you think people won’t fight and give up?”
Even though I’m still a middle school student, my mother’s words sounded convincing.
They say it is up to the owner to decide how to handle his property….
An old tycoon who has amassed hundreds of billions of won gathers his descendants and says something like, ‘I will give all my wealth to the most qualified among you!’
Of course, there was bound to be chaos.
I don’t know what my great-grandfather was thinking.
“Wouldn’t it have been better to hire a lawyer and write a neat will that doesn’t deviate too much from the legal inheritance share?
“If you had taken care of those who had helped you while you were alive in advance, there wouldn’t have been any conflict.”
*
The next day was chaos from morning.
“Ha, Grandpa! What on earth are you talking about!? A, a donation all of a sudden!”
“Junsuk… When you make so much noise, my ears start to sting.”
“Grandpa!”
“Jeongho. Look at this tree.”
“Look, I’m watching.”
“Isn’t the tree stump crunchy?”
“I will take care of it!”
Soon, my half-bald cousin, Mr. Jeong-ho, came over with a pair of garden shears and started working.
The old man who was watching the scene suddenly laughed.
“Slow~! Slow! What great things can you do with such slow actions? Jeong-ho, you’re no good.”
“Grandpa! Oh, no! I called someone and -”
“Call someone? If that’s the case, I should have called you. Why would you order me around? Oh my… Oh my… .”
It was obvious even to the eyes of a young observer.
That old man, my great-grandfather, Han Jin-seong, was holding the inheritance hostage and playing with his descendants like toys.
One day, he suddenly scares everyone by saying he will donate his wealth, and another day, he suddenly asks everyone to do dirty work and uses that as an excuse to question whether or not they are qualified.
Since the intention was obvious and there was no attempt to hide it, many adults blushed and blushed.
So what to do?
He is worth 100 billion, has not much time left, and has long declared that he will distribute his wealth as he sees fit.
Everyone was forced to fall prey to the tyrannical behavior of that old rascal.
“Was your great-grandfather like this? I don’t remember anything about it… Did you forget because it happened when you were young?”
“I can’t stand seeing those lazy bastards! Bring me some tea right now!”
“Oh, Father! Why are you suddenly teasing me… All of the kids are city people. Even if you say that -”
“You damn fool! What would a city person do? I worked hard to get my waist to the bone when I was young, but you can’t do that, you know?”
“That’s not what I meant -”
“Can’t you calculate it at 10 million won per 1kg?”
10 million won per kilogram of tea leaves.
At that moment, everyone’s eyes widened as if they were wondering if this made sense, my great-grandfather suddenly called over the lawyer who had been serving him for a long time and started writing something on a piece of paper.
Eventually, after less than ten minutes, the adults burst into laughter and set off to pick tea leaves.
— Boohoo!
Whatever the reason, once the adults were gone, silence fell upon the country house.
“Hah! Hah! Hahahahaha!”
“…”
“Hey guys. Did you see it? Did you see it?”
An old-fashioned Hanok that looks like a drama set.
The remaining people are the butlers who manage the house and the children who were left behind due to public opinion that ‘it’s not right to take the children with you’.
And the crazy old man.
“grandfather….”
“Gain, did you see that? That kid Changsik trying to puncture your father’s car tire?”
Of course I saw it.
Han Chang-sik, my father’s cousin, is the director of a fairly large English academy in Seoul.
I’m sure you’ve been living a decent life in Seoul, hearing people call you “Director~ Director~”.
One such person even got beaten by his angry father when he tried to puncture his father’s car tire with a wire to prevent him from starting the car.
…
His great-grandfather’s legacy of over 100 billion is what made the man so ugly.
so….
I couldn’t stand it anymore and asked.
“Grandfather. Great-grandfather.”
“Huh? Do you have any questions?”
“Why on earth are you doing this?”
“Did I do something weird? You’re offering to give me the money. What’s the problem?”
“…”
I’m angry.
No matter how rich or old your ancestors are, this is not the case.
It was a legacy and I just wanted to throw it away coolly.
“Hiya… Look at these little eyes.”
“…”
“Are you upset?”
“…”
“This, should I hit it?”
“…”
“Haha! Looking at your cute eyes, this is also fun. Baby, follow me.”
Han Jin-seong chuckled and took me into the warehouse of the country house.
“It’s strange. If my great-grandfather was such a unique person, I wouldn’t have forgotten him. I don’t remember him at all.”
*
Great-grandfather’s country house shed.
My father told me before that this warehouse is filled with all kinds of expensive art pieces that my great-grandfather had collected since he was young.
Maybe that’s why I was afraid of touching anything carelessly, so I just stayed quiet.
“What are you doing?”
“…”
“Come here. Do you know what this is?”
The object Han Jin-seong was pointing at looked like a sharp dagger, but had a strange pattern engraved on the handle.
“I don’t know.”
“It’s worth 3 billion.”
Suddenly? In a country house storage room? A dagger worth 3 billion won?
Just as I was about to stagger in surprise, I heard a giggling sound from above.
“That’s a lie.”
“…”
“Think about it. How could you put 3 billion won in a place like this?”
Finally, I couldn’t hold it in any longer and blurted out a word.
“If you’re in your right mind, you can’t do it, but Grandpa can do it.”
“This old man is of his mind, so he can do it, right?”
“sure.”
Let’s get this straight.
My great-grandfather was a bit of a crazy person.
“Huh! Huh! Oh my~ As expected, kids are honest.”
“…”
“Gain, will your grandfather tell you a funny story?”
“What is it?”
“Do you know what your grandfather did when he was young?”
“I heard. You inherited some farmland in the countryside -”
“That’s all a lie.”
“yes?”
“That’s all a setup. Who gave you the farmland? What about the Gangnam land… It’s all made up.”
What the heck is this? Is this a joke again?
“Cain.”
“yes?”
“Have you ever heard of the ‘Management Bureau’?”
The moment that word came out, my breath was caught in my throat.