Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Because Gang Gye knew the original plot, he could understand his mother's actions.

To outsiders, it would look as though the child a remarried woman had brought with her was stealing an opportunity from the family's biological descendants.

If he shared their blood, that would be one thing.

But in the end, he didn't.

For most people, that would be very difficult to accept.

And considering the Gang family's current circumstances, most of the money required to raise a scholar would have to come from the eldest and second branches.

So it was understandable that Jang Un-chu believed Gang Gye shouldn't be the one to take that opportunity.

They really couldn't think only about themselves.

Gang Gye thought for quite a while.

Then something suddenly came to mind, and his eyes lit up.

"Father, isn't there an academy in town that gives silver to students who do well on examinations?"

He vaguely remembered a few lines from the original novel mentioning such a place when the male protagonist was preparing for the Imperial Examination.

Gang Jo-hang paused.

"There is, but that academy..."

He frowned.

"It doesn't have a very good reputation. I won't send you there."

Gang Gye looked at him in confusion.

So Gang Jo-hang briefly explained the situation.

The headmaster of that academy had once studied at the Imperial Academy in the capital.

Back then, he had only been an ordinary teacher and hadn't seemed particularly remarkable.

Later, he made some kind of mistake and was forced to return to his hometown.

That hometown happened to be the same town where the Gang family lived.

The man had no other useful skills.

He only knew how to teach and study, so he opened a private school.

Unexpectedly, things went incredibly well.

A few years later, more than half of the dozen or so students he had taught became xiucai.

Four of them even went on to become juren.

Those results caused an immediate sensation.

Countless families wanted to send their children to study under him.

The teacher seized the opportunity.

With support from several wealthy families and officials, he established a full academy.

As one might expect, the academy flourished.

The sons of the county magistrate's family, the children of nearby magistrates, and younger descendants from prominent clans were all sent there.

Unfortunately, many of them were difficult young masters who weren't easy to teach or control.

To maintain the academy's reputation, the headmaster also accepted some children from commoner families.

As long as they were intelligent enough, they could study without paying tuition.

Students who performed especially well on examinations could even receive rewards.

Gang Jo-hang said,

"Not all the children of those officials are well-behaved. I've heard that students without influential backgrounds are often bullied there."

He sighed.

"Last year, a very talented boy from a farming family was beaten so badly that his hand was broken. I don't know how he's doing now."

Gang Gye's eyes widened.

What is this? Some kind of survival academy?

In this era, ordinary people couldn't afford to provoke the children of officials.

Gang Gye immediately began shaking his head.

"No. I don't want to go there. I'm not going."

He truly didn't have the courage to attend such a place.

His cheat was an Attendance System.

It wasn't some kind of combat-power enhancement system.

What if something suddenly happened to him at that academy?

He hadn't even lived very long yet.

So Gang Gye had no choice but to think of another route.

Unfortunately, he still hadn't come up with a reliable way to make money.

So he said,

"If nothing else works, I'll learn medicine first."

"If I study medicine for ten years and become a physician, I can treat people and earn money while continuing my studies."

"It's common for scholars to study for twenty years anyway."

"So if I divide it into ten years for medicine and ten years for the classics, I'll be just about ready for the Imperial Examination by then."

Gang Gye said it in such an optimistic tone that Gang Jo-hang seemed to be affected by it.

For a moment, everything no longer felt quite so serious.

That was true.

Even this tiny child understood that he shouldn't stubbornly cling to only one path.

He was actively looking for other ways forward.

Gang Jo-hang didn't need to obsess over this one matter either.

He rubbed Gang Gye's head and said gruffly,

"Enough. You're still young."

"Leave matters about studying to Father. This isn't something you need to worry so much about."

"For now, just focus on learning your characters."

Then he suddenly remembered something.

"Ah, right. I haven't taught you anything today yet."

"Go get your book."

Gang Gye smiled brightly.

"Then Father, you're not going to fight with Mother anymore, right?"

Gang Jo-hang pretended to glare at him.

"Go get the book."

"No."

Gang Gye immediately refused.

"Father should go get it. I don't want to move at all."

Jang Un-chu was inside the room.

If Gang Jo-hang went in to get the book, perhaps it would give the two of them a chance to reconcile.

Even though Gang Jo-hang stared at him, Gang Gye genuinely refused to budge.

In the end, Gang Jo-hang had no choice but to go himself.

Quite a while later, he finally returned with the book and began teaching Gang Gye.

But his expression was noticeably better than before.

Gang Jo-hang taught him a large number of characters.

Afterward, he had Gang Gye practice writing them by himself.

Madam Oh, his eldest aunt, gave Gang Gye the small desk Daejang had used when he was younger.

At Gang Gye's height, it would have been difficult for him to write properly at an ordinary table.

Gang Gye thanked Madam Oh sweetly.

Once he had settled his son in front of the desk, Gang Jo-hang left with the other adults to work.

Jang Un-chu also went with them.

Her eyes were still slightly red.

Everyone instinctively pretended not to notice.

They all knew what had happened at lunch.

If the couple hadn't argued afterward, that would have been stranger.

From Gang Gye's perspective, however, it seemed that his parents had more or less reconciled.

Still, the pressure weighing on his mother's heart couldn't possibly disappear all at once.

Gang Gye sighed inwardly.

I really need to think of a way to make money soon.

If he had enough money to study freely, his mother would no longer need to feel guilty toward him.

But the more urgently he tried to think of something, the harder it became to come up with an idea.

The next morning, Gang Gye woke up early.

His father was sleeping on his left.

His mother was sleeping on his right.

Last night, Gang Gye had slept together with his parents.

As soon as he moved, Gang Jo-hang, who was lying near the edge of the bed, woke up as well.

"Why are you awake so early? Sleep a little longer."

Gang Jo-hang's voice was still husky from sleep.

Low and deep, it sounded especially masculine.

Gang Gye burrowed deeper under the blanket.

"Then I'll lie down a little longer before getting up."

He still hadn't checked in today.

After receiving the leg-massage prescription as yesterday's reward, Gang Gye had been extremely excited.

He had taken it as a sign that perhaps his father's leg could eventually be healed.

If the system could give him something that miraculous, fixing one injured leg shouldn't be such an impossible task.

Gang Gye closed his eyes.

He concentrated desperately on his father's leg.

Then he checked in.

[Check-in successful. You have received Onions ×10.]

"...?"

What did onions have to do with his father's leg?

For that matter, what did onions have to do with the bed or his parents' room?

This wasn't the kitchen.

It wasn't even a vegetable garden.

Does this system just hand out random rewards sometimes?

Gang Gye immediately became depressed.

It felt as though all the strength had drained out of his body.

Then he suddenly heard someone beside him breathing rapidly.

He turned his head.

His mother's face was covered in sweat, and she looked like she was suffering.

Gang Gye was startled.

"Father! Father, hurry! Something's wrong with Mother!"

Gang Jo-hang quickly turned around and called to his wife.

"Un-chu. Un-chu, wake up."

"Mother!"

Gang Gye called out as well.

Jang Un-chu suddenly sat upright.

Her head was lowered as she gasped for breath.

Gang Gye asked anxiously,

"Mother, are you okay?"

After catching her breath for a moment, Jang Un-chu looked at her husband and son, who were both staring at her in concern.

Only then did she seem to realize where she was.

"It's nothing. I just had a nightmare."

Gang Jo-hang frowned.

"How about going to a medical hall in town?"

"Why have you been having so many nightmares lately?"

And her reactions were far too intense.

Normally, even a bad nightmare shouldn't leave someone suffering this badly.

Gang Jo-hang was worried there might actually be something wrong with her body.

Jang Un-chu shook her head.

"I'm fine."

"I think I've just been under too much stress lately."

Thinking about what she had experienced in her dreams, Jang Un-chu was certain this wasn't a physical illness.

Since she insisted, Gang Jo-hang had no choice but to give in.

"Still, if you feel unwell, you must tell me."

"Don't endure it just because you want to save silver."

"Yes, I know."

Jang Un-chu smiled.

Gang Gye finally relaxed.

Then he suddenly realized something.

Mother definitely dreamed about her previous life.

If so...

Where exactly had she hidden the heroine's letters?

Gang Gye's gaze moved around the room, but he couldn't find any obvious clue.

In the original novel, after repeatedly dreaming about her previous life, Jang Un-chu tested the heroine and discovered that she had been reborn.

Remembering the miserable life she had once suffered, Jang Un-chu became furious.

At first, she considered exposing the heroine's true identity immediately.

But then she realized that because the heroine had been reborn, she knew many things that should have been impossible for an ordinary person to know.

If Jang Un-chu tried to reveal the truth carelessly, people might think she was the strange one instead.

So if she wanted revenge, she needed another method.

For example, she could use what had happened between the heroine and the scumbag in the past.

After receiving another chance at life, the heroine had easily discarded the scumbag.

But in doing so, she had pushed Jang Un-chu into that bottomless pit in her place.

Once Jang Un-chu learned the truth, how could she possibly stand by and let the heroine escape untouched?

She had to drag her back down.

And there really was something between the heroine and that scumbag that could be used against her.

Jang Un-chu's former husband was a terrible person.

But there was one thing nobody could deny.

He was very handsome.

Otherwise, he would never have managed to seduce the heroine in the first place.

In this era, unmarried men and women couldn't openly spend time together.

On top of that, the scumbag already had a poor reputation.

He knew that if the Jang family discovered him meeting the heroine, they would become suspicious and interfere.

So in order to seduce her, he sent her many love letters.

Those letters weren't only a way to win her over.

They were also a way to gain leverage over her.

The heroine, young and intoxicated by love, frequently wrote back.

Neither of them was particularly restrained or proper.

As a result, their letters were quite explicit.

If those love letters ever became public, the consequences would be serious.

After being reborn, the heroine naturally remembered this problem.

When the Jang family negotiated with the scumbag, she demanded that all her love letters be returned.

But the scumbag wasn't stupid enough to surrender every piece of leverage he possessed.

He secretly hid several letters and never returned them.

The heroine's memories of that period had already become somewhat blurred.

After matching wits with him, she believed she had recovered everything.

But after Jang Un-chu married the scumbag, she discovered those hidden letters.

At the time, she felt uncomfortable about them.

Still, she reasoned that she herself had agreed to the marriage, so she decided to let the matter go.

Later, when she finally divorced the scumbag, she secretly took those letters with her.

Then, when she eventually began openly opposing the heroine, Jang Un-chu used the letters to confront her and said many harsh things.

But just as she was about to expose everything publicly...

The letters mysteriously disappeared.

Instead, Jang Un-chu was falsely accused of harboring feelings for the heroine's husband.

After all, according to the original arrangement, that man should actually have been engaged to Jang Un-chu, the supporting character.

When that engagement had first been arranged, the heroine hadn't even been born yet.

However, the Old Master of the Jang family who made the arrangement died early.

And because the heroine later became the most favored daughter in the family, everyone quietly began treating the engagement as if it naturally belonged to her.

The male protagonist's family also preferred to marry him to the heroine...