While the children were chatting, they heard movement at the main gate.
The adults had returned from work.
Since the rain had stopped in the morning, all the adults had gone out to work in the afternoon.
When Gang Gye saw his parents returning, he happily ran over to greet them.
"Father! Mother!"
Gang Jo-hang put down what he was carrying and lifted his son into his arms.
"What did you play today? You didn't cry, did you?"
Children often argued with one another, and Howa was particularly competitive.
As a result, it wasn't unusual for one of the children to end up crying.
That was why Gang Jo-hang was always concerned about his son.
Gang Gye shook his head.
"I didn't cry. Brother Daejang brought back a meat bun today and shared it with us. It was really delicious!"
Holding his son in his arms, Gang Jo-hang walked forward with his usual limp.
"Next time Father goes to the market, I'll buy you some meat buns."
"Really?"
Gang Gye cheered excitedly.
"Father, you're the best!"
After a brief hesitation, he brought up something else.
"But Father, could you teach me how to read?"
The written characters used in this era were different from those of the modern world.
Although Gang Gye could memorize passages, the writing system was unfamiliar to him, so he would have to learn the characters again.
Fortunately, his father had learned quite a few characters while working as an armed escort in his younger days.
Teaching Gang Gye the basics shouldn't be a problem for him.
Gang Jo-hang stopped walking.
Jang Un-chu also turned to look at her son.
"Little Six, do you want to study?"
Gang Gye hesitated.
His stepfather genuinely treated him like his own biological son.
If Gang Gye said he wanted to study, his stepfather might try to find a way to make it possible.
However, when he thought about it carefully, there weren't many ways his father could earn enough money.
Although his stepfather had once been highly skilled in martial arts, he now had a limp.
What if he tried to earn more silver by going into the mountains to hunt and something happened to him?
Gang Gye didn't want to place such a heavy burden on his parents.
That was why he shook his head.
"No. I just want to learn some basic characters. Since I'm not very healthy, if I learn to read and write, I might be able to work as a bookkeeper in town when I grow up."
Gang Jo-hang and Jang Un-chu didn't say anything more.
Jang Un-chu thought about her son's frail body.
Naturally, she wanted him to live comfortably, and studying would certainly be an excellent choice for him.
However, she knew whose child he really was.
Because of that, she had no choice but to put the idea aside.
With only the money that she and her husband could earn, there was no way they could save enough silver to pay for their son's education.
Nevertheless, Gang Jo-hang didn't reject Gang Gye's request.
When he had some free time, he took Gang Gye to Daejang's room and spoke to Madam Oh.
"Sister-in-law, could Little Six borrow the books Daejang used when he first started studying?"
Madam Oh was startled.
Her expression became somewhat awkward as she asked,
"Does Little Six want to study, too?"
The Gang family didn't have enough money to educate two children.
If the third branch decided to send their child to school, the second branch would undoubtedly want to do the same.
Furthermore, the silver currently being spent on her son's education belonged to the entire family. Everyone had contributed to it.
In fact, apart from her parents-in-law's share, the third branch had contributed the most money to the family's common funds.
That money had all been earned through Gang Jo-hang's hard work when he was still an armed escort.
If the third branch suddenly announced that they wanted to educate Little Six, there was no telling what kind of commotion it might cause.
Gang Jo-hang answered calmly.
"I just want to teach him a few characters so he won't grow up illiterate."
Madam Oh was still somewhat doubtful, but she couldn't refuse.
After all, her son's books had been purchased with the family's common funds. Strictly speaking, they belonged to the entire household.
Now that the third branch had personally come to borrow them, she couldn't simply say no.
Madam Oh searched through Daejang's pile of books and found the one he had used when he first started studying.
She handed it over.
"Take it and read it at your leisure. Daejang has already finished studying this book, so there's no need to hurry to return it."
"Thank you, Sister-in-law."
Gang Jo-hang accepted the book and left the room with his son.
Everyone had already finished their work for the day and returned home. It was almost time for dinner.
However, the food wasn't ready yet, so they would have to wait a little longer.
Cooking was generally the women's responsibility, so there wasn't anything Gang Jo-hang needed to do in the kitchen.
He decided to use the time to teach Gang Gye some characters.
Since the house was rather dim, they decided to study in the courtyard.
Gang Jo-hang brought over the dining table, and the father and son sat side by side.
First, Gang Jo-hang would read a passage aloud, and Gang Gye would repeat it after him.
Then, he would point to each character one by one and explain what it meant.
Although Gang Jo-hang had never received a formal education, his teaching method was surprisingly good.
As Gang Gye listened to his father's explanations, he compared the characters written in the book with the ones he knew from the modern world.
At the same time, he memorized how each character was written.
After teaching him several passages, Gang Jo-hang decided not to go any further.
After all, this was his son's first day of learning to read.
He was worried that if he taught him too much at once, the boy wouldn't be able to remember everything.
Hoping that Gang Gye would at least remember what he had learned today, Gang Jo-hang pointed to a random character and asked,
"Do you remember how to read this character?"
"It's pronounced xun! It means 'to teach'!"
Gang Gye answered immediately.
Gang Jo-hang raised his eyebrows slightly.
"What about this one?"
"Gui! It means 'rule'!"
He pointed to two more characters, and Gang Gye read both of them correctly.
Gang Jo-hang was somewhat surprised.
"Can you try reading all the passages Father taught you today by yourself?"
Gang Gye read every passage without stumbling over a single word.
Then, he flashed an innocent smile.
"Father, I did well, didn't I?"
He certainly did!
Gang Jo-hang hadn't expected his son to remember absolutely everything.
He had taught him quite a bit that day, and it certainly wasn't an easy amount for someone who was learning to read for the first time.
Looking at his clever son, Gang Jo-hang asked with an amused expression,
"Are you sure this is your first time learning these characters? Did Daejang happen to teach you some of them before?"
It wasn't entirely impossible.
However, Gang Gye shook his head and answered with a hint of pride.
"No. I can remember everything if I just read it carefully twice. Earlier, I was listening to Brother Daejang reading in his room. After hearing him read it a few times, I memorized all of it. I'll recite it for you."
With that, Gang Gye began clearly reciting every passage Daejang had been reading earlier.
Gang Jo-hang couldn't understand the meaning of those difficult passages.
However, he could certainly tell whether his son was reciting proper text or simply babbling nonsense.
His son was actually a genius who could remember something after seeing it just once!
Meanwhile, after finishing his recitation, Gang Gye noticed the astonished expression on his father's face.
Only then did he realize what he had done.
He frowned slightly, feeling a little regretful.
I think I showed off a little too much.
Originally, Gang Gye had planned to learn a few basic characters first.
Once he had figured out a way to earn money, he would bring up the matter of studying again.
However, this was the first time he had truly experienced just how wonderful it was to possess such an extraordinary memory.
This ability felt like a genuine cheat.
How could he possibly keep himself from getting excited?
His heart was still racing with excitement, and he remained caught up in the thrill of discovering his new talent.
Moreover, when Gang Gye had crossed into this world, he had inherited all the emotions of his body's original owner.
As a result, he still felt a natural sense of dependence and affection toward his parents.
For a brief moment, he had simply wanted to show his father everything he could do and proudly boast about it.
He wanted his parents to know just how amazing he was.
But now he understood something.
Even if his father hadn't originally intended to send him to school, discovering that his son possessed such extraordinary talent would undoubtedly change his mind.
Oh, whatever.
Gang Gye muttered to himself.
So what if Father knows? It's not that big a deal.
All he had to do was make sure his father didn't try anything dangerous, such as going into the mountains to hunt despite his injured leg.
He also needed to come up with a way to earn money as soon as possible.
Gang Jo-hang was indeed overwhelmed with excitement.
His son was a born scholar.
With such an extraordinary talent, it would be an enormous waste if the boy didn't take the Imperial Examination.
Gang Jo-hang abruptly rose from his seat and hurried back to his room.
Because he was walking so quickly, his limp became even more noticeable than usual.
However, he couldn't have cared less about that right now.
As soon as he entered the room, he grabbed his wife Jang Un-chu's hands and exclaimed excitedly,
"Dear, do you know what I've just discovered? Our son... Our son is a genius! A real genius!"
Jang Un-chu stared at her husband in bewilderment.
"What happened? What do you mean, a genius?"
She couldn't understand what had gotten into him.
Gang Jo-hang licked his dry lips and tried to calm his racing heart before explaining.
"I was just teaching Little Six how to read. After teaching him a few passages, he memorized every single one! And he only heard Daejang reading in his room a couple of times, but he memorized all of that, too!"
An expression of astonishment gradually spread across Jang Un-chu's face.
Their child possessed the kind of talent that only appeared in legends?
"Is that really true?"
Gang Jo-hang answered without hesitation.
"It's true! Un-chu, our son is a born scholar. He must study! I'm certain he'll achieve great things in the future!"
He was so excited that he began pacing around the room.
It seemed impossible for him to calm down.
It was rare for Gang Jo-hang to display his emotions so openly. Normally, he went about his days with hardly any expression on his face.
Jang Un-chu watched him with a smile for quite some time.
After a while, however, she hesitantly spoke.
"But Daejang is already studying."
The Gang family didn't have the means to educate two children.
And it wouldn't be right to force Daejang to abandon his studies simply because of Gang Gye.
Hearing his wife's words, Gang Jo-hang suddenly stopped.
He had been so excited that he hadn't even considered that problem.
After thinking for a moment, he said,
"Unless something unexpected happens, I don't think Daejang will be able to continue studying for much longer. He's been caught skipping lessons and running away several times already. He isn't particularly good at studying or memorizing his lessons, either. Father went to town to meet his teacher recently, and ever since then, I think he's been considering pulling Daejang out of school."
The eldest branch was still making one last effort, but it was unlikely to produce much improvement.
However, they couldn't place all their hopes on Daejang giving up his education.
"Let's try to find a way to earn more money ourselves. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could afford to send Little Six to school with our own earnings?"
Ever since Gang Jo-hang had injured his leg, he had been living in a gloomy state.
For the past few years, he had felt deeply discouraged and had lost much of his motivation.
He simply did whatever work the family asked of him, without having any particular plans for the future.
But at this moment, it was as though a bright light had suddenly illuminated his mind.
He was filled with the desire to work hard and build a better future.
The ambition and determination he had possessed in his younger days seemed to have finally returned.
Jang Un-chu had no intention of discouraging him.
In fact, seeing him like this made her happy.
She smiled and said,
"All right. Let's work hard together. But there's no need to rush Little Six's education. He doesn't know anything yet, so we should at least teach him to recognize the basic characters at home first. Reputable teachers usually won't accept children who can't recognize a single character."
She had a point.
Teaching young children how to recognize characters was quite troublesome, and skilled teachers were generally reluctant to take on such work.
Some teachers even required prospective students to pass an entrance test before agreeing to accept them.
Gang Jo-hang nodded in agreement.
He was confident that teaching his son the basic characters wouldn't be a problem for him.
"All right. For the time being, I'll continue teaching Little Six myself."
Jang Un-chu smiled as she watched her husband leave the room.
However, the moment he disappeared from her sight, the smile on her face faded.
It wasn't that she didn't love her son.
Because of his frail health, she wanted him to receive an education even more.
But in the end, Gang Gye wasn't related to the Gang family by blood.
