Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Gang Jo-hang turned sharply toward her.

His wife was speaking with a calm expression.

Jang Un-chu knew that Little Six was a good child and very talented.

But she also knew something else.

Gang Gye's biological father had once been exactly the same.

When he was young, he had also received endless praise.

Then he grew up.

He became a gambler who loved drinking and beat women.

Time could change everything.

Jang Un-chu couldn't gamble the future of the entire Gang family on the hope that Gang Gye would never change.

Everyone was shocked by what she had said.

Old Madam Gang had originally been about to scold the second branch.

It was one thing that Daejang, as the eldest grandson and the oldest child, had been chosen to study in the past.

But now that they were choosing another grandson, shouldn't they naturally compare who was more suitable?

The family wasn't pouring all its money into educating one child in the hope that he would study for decades and still fail the Imperial Examination.

This involved silver.

And because it involved a large amount of silver, Old Madam Gang couldn't tolerate someone's selfishness ruining the matter.

She was just about to speak when Jang Un-chu suddenly said they should let Munsaeng study instead.

Old Madam Gang's anger flared again.

Her chest felt as though it might burst.

In the end, she could only ask darkly,

"Then what about Little Six?"

She couldn't understand what this daughter-in-law was thinking.

Jang Un-chu remained calm, though her expression carried some concern.

"Little Six is only four years old, and his health isn't good. If he goes to study in town, he'll have to get up very early every morning. And it won't be long before the weather turns cold."

She continued,

"If Little Six gets sick, wouldn't that be much worse? I think... we should wait until he's a little older and stronger before discussing his studies again."

Gang Gye was indeed physically weak and prone to fever.

Illness caused by cold weather could be harmless in mild cases, but dangerous in severe ones.

Many children really did die from such sicknesses.

So Jang Un-chu's words weren't unreasonable.

Nothing was more important than the child's health.

The school wouldn't close just because winter came.

And their family didn't own a carriage that could shield a child from the wind.

Someone would have to walk him back and forth every day.

With such a long journey, problems really could happen.

Old Master Gang fell into deep thought.

Old Madam Gang also felt that Jang Un-chu had a point.

Madam Sun's eyes brightened, but she knew this wasn't the right time for her to speak.

Everyone seemed to think there was nothing wrong with Jang Un-chu's reasoning.

Only Gang Jo-hang stared at her for a long time.

In the end, however, he said nothing.

Old Master Gang thought for a while longer but still couldn't make a decision.

After finishing his meal, he put down his bowl and stood up.

"I'll think about this some more."

In truth, he was already leaning toward letting Gang Gye study.

Even if the boy was young now, couldn't they simply wait another two years?

A trace of disappointment flashed across the faces of the second son and his wife, but neither said anything.

After the meal ended, some of the adults stayed behind to clear the dishes while others returned to their rooms.

Among the children, however, there was no awkwardness.

So much had happened in the family today that they naturally wanted to gather and talk about it.

This time, even Daejang joined their little social circle.

Now that he no longer had to study, he seemed completely revitalized.

Whatever he did, he suddenly had endless energy.

The atmosphere among the adults at the dining table had been tense, but there was no resentment among the children.

Howa looked at Gang Gye curiously.

"Little Six, you were amazing. You memorized that many characters. Can you really remember everything after seeing it only once?"

Daejang nodded repeatedly.

He understood the suffering of studying better than anyone.

Whenever he looked at characters or listened to his teacher lecture, he immediately became dizzy and sleepy.

Gang Gye smiled.

"I just suddenly became like this."

Seeing that Daejang didn't seem bothered, Gang Gye casually added,

"When Brother Daejang was reading before, I listened twice and memorized everything."

Daejang immediately placed a hand on Gang Gye's shoulder.

With the solemn dignity of an older brother, he said,

"Then you have to study hard from now on. Someday, you need to bring honor to the family and not disappoint everyone's expectations."

Gang Gye almost laughed.

Still, since he genuinely intended to take the Imperial Examination, he nodded.

"Okay!"

Then Gang Gye turned the conversation toward Munsaeng.

"Brother Munsaeng, is studying fun? Where did you learn?"

Everything had happened so suddenly at the dining table.

Gang Gye hadn't known Daejang would stop studying today.

He certainly hadn't expected his grandfather to begin choosing the next child to educate during the same meal.

He had only been in this world for a few days.

He still hadn't figured out a way to help the whole family prosper.

So he hadn't been able to prevent the argument at the table.

But inwardly, he was already thinking.

I need to come up with a solution quickly.

Ideally, someday every child in the family should have the chance to study if they wanted to.

Munsaeng answered shyly,

"I'm learning the Thousand Character Classic. But I haven't gotten very far. I probably haven't memorized nearly as much as you."

The Thousand Character Classic was an educational text compiled during the Liang Dynasty from one thousand different Chinese characters, arranged into two hundred and fifty four-character lines.

It had long been used as a primer for children.

Munsaeng was deeply embarrassed.

He had secretly studied without telling the others.

Even if he won the opportunity to study, it didn't feel like a completely fair victory.

But his parents had told him to do it.

He couldn't disobey them.

Howa asked in confusion,

"When did you even start learning? Why didn't we know?"

Munsaeng answered,

"Mother told me to go to Uncle Yang every day to learn characters. I'd learn a few in the morning and a few more in the afternoon. If I forgot something, I'd go back and ask again..."

Uncle Yang was one of his mother's relatives and could read.

After learning from him, Munsaeng would return and quietly repeat everything while staying with the other children.

Because he had to hide what he was doing, studying like this was inefficient.

Even after several months, he had only learned a little.

"Oh."

Howa nodded.

Then he sounded somewhat dissatisfied.

"From now on, just go study openly. Don't hide it from us."

He didn't like the fact that one of his little companions had kept something from him.

Munsaeng's face turned bright red.

"Okay, Brother."

Gang Gye said,

"It's fine. Brother Munsaeng, if you forget anything from now on, ask me. We can study together. Brother Howa too. Sister Dohwa and Sister Haenghwa too. We can all learn together."

No one continued blaming Munsaeng.

Daejang and Howa had no interest in studying.

Dohwa and Haenghwa had never even seriously imagined that they could study.

And since Gang Gye, the one most directly affected by Munsaeng's secret lessons, didn't care, the others cared even less.

The children quickly became bored of staying at home.

Before long, they all went outside to play with the other children in the village.

But the situation among the adults of the Gang family was very different.

Today, Jang Un-chu was responsible for washing the dishes.

By the time she finished and returned to her room, Gang Jo-hang had already been waiting for quite some time.

As soon as she closed the door, he asked,

"What exactly did you mean by saying that today?"

Jang Un-chu replied,

"I didn't say anything wrong. You know Little Six is weak. What are you going to do once the weather gets colder?"

Gang Jo-hang wasn't going to let her avoid the real issue so easily.

He stared at her firmly without looking away.

"You know what I mean."

His voice was low and serious.

"This may be Little Six's only chance to study. Why are you trying to give it away?"

He knew her earlier words hadn't been that simple.

Jang Un-chu's body seemed to stiffen.

After a moment of silence, she met Gang Jo-hang's eyes calmly instead of avoiding them.

"You know why I said it."

Gang Gye wasn't a child of the Gang family by blood.

How could he compete with the Gang family's biological grandson for the only chance to study?

How could she let the Gang family suffer and work themselves to the bone to educate a child who carried another man's blood?

If they knew the truth and still agreed, that would be different.

But if they did all of that without knowing, only to discover the truth years later...

They might be so furious they could die from it.

Jang Un-chu couldn't bring herself to do something so shameless.

She was already deeply grateful just to have been allowed to marry into a family like this.

Gang Jo-hang suddenly shot to his feet and raised his voice.

"I told you long ago—"

Then he realized the people outside couldn't be allowed to hear.

He forcibly lowered his voice, though he looked as if he were about to explode.

"I already told you. Gang Gye is my biological son."

Other than the two of them, who knew that Gang Gye wasn't really his son?

He had waited carefully for the child's birth from the time Gang Gye was still in Jang Un-chu's belly.

He had raised the boy with his own hands.

Even if Gang Gye learned the truth someday, Gang Jo-hang believed the child would still think of him as his only father.

But Jang Un-chu stubbornly replied in a cold voice,

"No."

Gang Jo-hang almost laughed from sheer disbelief.

He let out a short, incredulous chuckle.

"Fine. He isn't."

Then what?

His voice turned sharper.

"Do you want him to spend his whole life in this village, driving cattle and farming from morning to night?"

"Do you think he'll even be able to marry if that's how he ends up?"

"Because of your precious sense of righteousness, a child born with talent will work himself to death in the fields. Is that what you want to see?"

Jang Un-chu bit her lip and held back tears.

Gang Gye was her son.

How could she not love him?

But everything had its rightful owner.

Being weak or unfortunate didn't make taking something that wasn't yours justified.

Gang Gye simply had no rightful claim to that place.

And there was another fear buried deepest in Jang Un-chu's heart.

She didn't have the courage to say it aloud.

Gang Gye was the child she had given birth to.

She loved and cherished him.

That was precisely why she couldn't bring herself to tell Gang Jo-hang how much the boy resembled his biological father.

Gang Jo-hang's heart also ached when he saw her like this.

Still, he withdrew the hand he had almost raised to comfort her.

He knew that ever since Jang Un-chu married into the family, she had always felt indebted to him.

Because of Gang Gye, she also felt unable to raise her head in front of the rest of the Gang family.

That was why she always rushed to take on more work and never complained.

Gang Jo-hang had tried telling her many times that she didn't need to do that.

But the burden in Jang Un-chu's heart was too heavy.

She never truly listened.

Later, he had simply decided to let it go.

There were several strong men in the household.

Jang Un-chu didn't need to do the hardest work.

If doing a little extra made her feel more at ease, then that was fine.

But Gang Jo-hang had never imagined that when it came to something this important, Jang Un-chu would cling to that same stubborn sense of guilt and try to sacrifice Little Six's future because of it.