Chapter 6

Chapter 6

After returning home, the three women tied the wild chicken securely and put it in the pen before bustling around the kitchen.

Gang Gye was still a child, so there wasn't much for him to do.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to go find his cousins.

He wanted to tell them the good news that they would be eating chicken for lunch.

"Wow!"

The children couldn't hide their excitement when they heard the news.

Dohwa asked,

"Little Six, did you really catch a wild chicken?"

Howa swallowed his saliva and said happily,

"Then let's all go into the mountains and catch wild chickens and rabbits! If we do that, we can eat meat every day."

Munsaeng and Haenghwa also looked eager.

Gang Gye thought about it and realized it might actually be possible.

Whether it was game obtained through his check-in rewards or animals that naturally lived in the mountains, there was no way to know whether they could catch them unless they tried.

Gang Gye said,

"We could also make traps. Let's ask my father when we get back."

They couldn't go deep into the mountains because it was dangerous, but the lower slopes where the villagers often went should be safe enough.

Of course, the children couldn't go there by themselves.

They would have to follow the adults whenever they went to gather firewood.

"Let's do that."

Howa nodded firmly.

"Third Uncle used to hunt in the mountains a lot. He'll definitely know what to do. And let's learn archery too. If we know how to shoot a bow, we could hit prey with a single arrow."

By the time he finished speaking, Howa was already excitedly looking around for wood to make a bow.

Unfortunately, he had no idea what kind of wood he needed.

The bowstring probably couldn't be made with an ordinary piece of rope either.

If he made it carelessly, the bow probably wouldn't even shoot an arrow.

Frustrated, he gave up.

But only for a moment.

Then he changed his mind.

"Making a bow is too difficult. Let's make slingshots first. We can still hit animals with stones."

Bows and arrows were difficult to make, but slingshots were much simpler.

Some children in the village had played with slingshots before, and Howa had once owned one himself.

He had been obsessed with it for a while, but now he couldn't even remember where he had put it.

Even if he searched for it, he probably wouldn't be able to find it.

The children were curious about the chicken, but they had no intention of returning home early.

Even if they went back now, they would only have to wait until lunch was ready. They wouldn't get to eat the chicken any sooner.

So they focused all their attention on the important task of making slingshots.

Dohwa and Munsaeng immediately began pestering Howa.

"Me too! I want one too. Second Brother, make one for me!"

Although Gang Gye was physically weak, he was gradually beginning to behave more and more like an actual child.

The thought of getting a toy made him excited as well.

He joined in.

"I want one too!"

Haenghwa whispered,

"Me too."

Howa puffed himself up with the dignity of an older brother.

"Fine. I'll make one for everyone. But next time I call you, you all have to come without complaining, got it?"

Howa had a strong personality and always liked ordering his younger siblings around.

His biological younger sister Dohwa had a mind of her own and hated being bossed around by him.

Munsaeng also ignored him from time to time.

Because of that, Howa had been feeling rather frustrated lately.

This was the perfect chance to bribe his younger siblings.

Dohwa gave him a vague answer, but Munsaeng and Haenghwa were relatively obedient and happily agreed without much resistance.

To make a slingshot, they needed a branch shaped like a fork, with two smaller branches extending from either side.

Howa disliked looking after the ox, so he handed the rope to Haenghwa and told her not to let the animal eat any crops from the fields.

Then he led the other children away to search for suitable branches.

Gang Gye looked around and said,

"I'll stay here with Sister Haenghwa and watch the ox. Second Brother, find a branch for me too."

He felt bad leaving Haenghwa alone to watch the ox while everyone else went off to play.

Even Dohwa, who usually stayed with Haenghwa, was planning to join the others.

Still, Gang Gye was too young to control the ox properly, so he couldn't completely replace Haenghwa.

Howa didn't object.

He simply found taking care of the ox annoying, so as long as he didn't have to do it, he was happy.

The other children eventually found suitable branches and cut them down.

By the time they returned and gathered together to slowly trim them into shape, the ox had nearly eaten its fill.

Old Madam Gang made the children take the ox out to graze every day.

Once the hollow areas along the upper sides of its belly became rounded and full, that meant the ox had eaten enough.

When its stomach was full, the children could return home.

They had finished making the wooden frames for the slingshots, but they still needed cords and small pouches.

They didn't have anything suitable with them, so they would have to ask the adults after returning home.

Rubber didn't exist in this era yet.

However, according to Gang Gye's memories, there were materials with properties somewhat similar to rubber.

He didn't know how they were made, but there should be something they could use instead of rubber bands.

The children cheerfully led the ox back home.

The Gang family enjoyed an unusually rich and delicious lunch.

Half of the chicken was stir-fried in a large wok, while the other half was simmered into soup.

Both dishes were extremely delicious.

Gang Gye ate until his stomach felt like it might burst.

He was so full that he didn't even want to move.

The rest of the Gang family also ate their fill, looking thoroughly satisfied.

Later, Gang Gye sat in his father's arms beneath the warm sunlight and continued learning characters.

Today, he studied more than he had the day before.

In a way, Gang Gye had increased the difficulty on his own.

Now that his memory was so good, he wanted to give himself more work.

But there was a problem.

Gang Gye could memorize everything after reading it only twice, yet his father didn't understand the deeper meaning of everything in the book.

Even when Gang Gye wanted to think more deeply about what he had learned, he had no real way to do so.

And given the family's current financial situation, it still wasn't appropriate for him to attend school.

So Gang Gye decided to take another approach.

"Father, I want to learn how to write too."

Gang Gye continued,

"I think I should learn writing while I'm learning characters. Brother Daejang learned that way when he first started too."

Gang Gye was still very young, so he had almost nothing to do all day.

Since he could memorize the contents of a book almost instantly, rereading the same material over and over wasn't particularly interesting.

But if he stopped looking at books altogether, then he would spend far too little time studying.

Gang Gye felt that wasn't a good idea.

Practicing writing seemed like the perfect solution.

He didn't know how to use a brush.

And this young body was so small that his hands lacked strength.

If he wanted to write neatly with a brush, he would clearly need a great deal of practice over a long period.

It seemed like a good way to use his time before he eventually entered a proper school.

Gang Jo-hang thought about it and realized his son had a point.

However, books could be borrowed from Daejang.

Paper and brushes could not.

Everything related to studying was expensive, and Daejang himself didn't own very much.

Moreover, Little Six had only just begun learning to read.

If Gang Jo-hang started borrowing writing supplies too, Madam Oh might misunderstand his intentions.

"I'll go to town tomorrow and buy some for you."

Gang Jo-hang had saved a little silver of his own.

In the Gang household, most of the money earned by the family was considered common property.

However, if one of the daughters-in-law earned a little money by secretly taking sewing work or doing something similar, Old Madam Gang generally didn't interfere as long as it didn't affect household duties.

They were allowed to keep such money themselves.

As for the three Gang brothers, any silver they earned from outside work each year was supposed to be handed over to Old Master Gang and Old Madam Gang.

Still, the brothers often kept a little for themselves instead of handing over absolutely everything.

As long as they didn't go too far, Old Madam Gang usually pretended not to notice.

Every member of the Gang family had their own private calculations.

Otherwise, the eldest son wouldn't have been able to take out his own money yesterday to buy meat buns for Daejang.

Gang Jo-hang had once worked as an armed escort and had contributed more money to the family funds than either of his brothers.

However, he had also kept some money for himself.

Now it was exactly the right time to use it for his son.

When Gang Gye heard that, his eyes lit up.

He grabbed his father's arm and began pleading.

"Father, take me with you tomorrow too, please? I want to see the town."

Gang Gye's memories contained almost nothing about the town.

He wanted to go there and observe the situation for himself.

Perhaps he could find a way for the Gang family to increase its wealth.

If he wanted to improve the family's circumstances, understanding the outside world was important.

But he was only four years old and knew far too little.

Gang Jo-hang hesitated for a moment.

"The town is quite far away. Can you really walk that far?"

Before injuring his leg, carrying a small child all the way to town and back would have been easy for him.

But now he had to walk with a limp.

Gang Jo-hang also didn't want his son traveling beside him and receiving strange looks from other people because of his disability.

Gang Gye didn't think about any of that.

He simply wanted to visit the town.

"It's okay. I won't cry or throw a tantrum. I'll walk by myself. We can walk slowly and rest along the way. It'll be fine."

Since his father's leg was injured, they wouldn't be able to walk very quickly anyway.

Seeing how eager his son was, Gang Jo-hang eventually gave in.

He also thought Little Six should see more of the world.

It wasn't good for the boy to remain inside the village all the time without meeting outsiders.

Gang Gye cheered.

Hearing the commotion, Jang Un-chu came outside.

"What happened? Why are you so happy?"

Gang Gye immediately answered,

"Father said he's taking me to town tomorrow!"

Before Jang Un-chu could respond, the other children began pouting.

Howa started whining.

"Mother, I want to go to town too."

To children, the town was an exciting and prosperous place.

There was delicious food there.

There were also all sorts of interesting things.

And whenever adults brought children to town, they usually bought them something.

It was only natural that the children became excited.

Dohwa immediately followed her brother's lead.

"Mother, I want to go too."

Munsaeng and Haenghwa were shy and quiet, so they didn't say anything.

Even so, they clearly wanted to go as well.

Madam Oh, the wife of the eldest son, responded sharply to Howa and Dohwa.

"Go where? You're never this enthusiastic when it's time to work. Your father and I are both busy. Where would we find the time to take you into town?"

Howa complained loudly.

"I'm not asking you to take me. I can just go with Uncle."

"No."

Madam Oh rejected the idea immediately.

"Your uncle is already taking Little Six. How is he supposed to look after all of you by himself? What if a kidnapper grabs one of you and runs away? Your uncle wouldn't even be able to chase after them."

Howa still looked unconvinced.

He was already seven years old.

How could someone simply pick him up and carry him away so easily...?

Howa continued protesting loudly.

Unfortunately for him, Madam Oh eventually lost patience and picked up a switch.

Howa immediately fled.

Gang Gye watched the scene from the side and burst into laughter.

Gang Jo-hang also struggled not to laugh before offering the children some consolation.

"It's all right. Tell Uncle what you want to eat. I'll buy something for you tomorrow."

Madam Oh quickly said,

"Don't spoil them. Don't buy them anything."

With the adults speaking like that, the children no longer dared to argue.

Gang Jo-hang didn't respond.

However, he had already decided that he would buy the children something delicious tomorrow.

Over the past few years, whenever food was brought home for the children, it was always divided fairly among them.

The children were already used to that.

Since their uncle had said he would bring something back, they were confident he would.

What he bought didn't really matter.

They rarely got to eat anything from town.

Whatever he brought back would surely taste delicious.

After all that commotion, Jang Un-chu found it difficult to tell Gang Gye that he couldn't go.

And so, the matter was settled.

Early the next morning, Gang Gye woke up much earlier than usual.

The instant he opened his eyes, the thought of going to town made him fully alert.

However, as soon as he stepped outside, he ran into his mother and immediately noticed that something was wrong.

"Mother, did you not sleep well last night?"

Jang Un-chu looked exhausted.

There were dark circles beneath her eyes.

"I kept dreaming all night, so I didn't sleep very well."

Dreaming?

Gang Gye suddenly realized something.

The day when his mother and the heroine would completely turn against each other was approaching.