Chapter 7

Chapter 7

In the novel, the female supporting character, Gang Gye's mother, had been deeply jealous of the heroine ever since childhood.

The difference in how the two of them were treated by their family had always been far too obvious.

However, the real reason she later became completely hostile toward the heroine, repeatedly suffering losses yet still continuing to oppose her, was because she discovered that the heroine had known exactly what kind of man her former husband was.

The heroine had known what would happen if the female supporting character married him.

Even so, she had simply watched as her older cousin suffered through endless hardships.

On top of that, the female supporting character eventually learned what kind of life she should originally have lived.

She, too, awakened fragments of memories from her previous life.

At first, she merely dreamed about that former life.

Since those dreams seemed too detached from reality, she didn't pay much attention to them.

She simply assumed that her obsession with the past had become too strong.

After all, if the heroine hadn't suddenly changed her mind back then, perhaps her current life would really have resembled what she saw in those dreams.

And perhaps she wouldn't have suffered so much.

However, after dreaming the same things for several nights in a row, even she began to grow suspicious.

The female supporting character remembered that the heroine had once vaguely mentioned that her former husband might not actually be such a good person.

At the time, when she asked what the heroine meant, the heroine hadn't explained in detail.

She had merely said that the man seemed somewhat frivolous.

As for exactly how he was frivolous, she claimed she couldn't explain it clearly.

Back then, the female supporting character hadn't taken that conversation seriously.

Even if she had, it probably wouldn't have changed anything.

The elders of the family had already agreed to the marriage.

And if they hadn't sent her to that scumbag, he wouldn't have agreed to let the heroine go.

When the heroine was reborn, she had already become engaged to him.

Breaking an engagement was no simple matter.

If word spread outside the family, it would look as though the heroine had privately promised herself to a man, become entangled with him, and then tried to back out.

Her reputation would suffer badly.

And the female supporting character, who had grown up alongside her like an older sister, would inevitably be dragged into the scandal as well.

Moreover, that scumbag had secretly accepted compensation from the Gang family before turning around and courting the female supporting character.

He was eloquent, handsome, and extremely good at presenting himself.

Under such circumstances, it was only natural that the female supporting character had been deceived by him.

She hadn't noticed anything was wrong at the time.

But after repeatedly having those dreams and looking back on the past, she remembered something else.

Back then, the heroine had often looked at her with pity and sympathy.

At times, there had even been guilt in her eyes.

Yes.

It was the exact same look the heroine often wore now whenever she visited Jang Un-chu and brought her gifts.

That was why, in the original novel, the female supporting character eventually deceived the heroine into revealing the truth.

Unexpectedly, the naive heroine really did confess everything.

After that, the two women began a bitter struggle that neither side was willing to abandon until one of them died.

As for the current situation, there was nothing Gang Gye could do about it.

He couldn't stop his mother from dreaming.

Besides, perhaps his mother deserved to know what had happened in her previous life.

Otherwise, she would have been used as someone else's tool without even knowing it, suffering through endless misery.

Just thinking about it was enough to make one's blood run cold.

So Gang Gye could only say,

"Mother, if you didn't sleep well, tell Grandma and get some more rest."

As long as there was a reasonable excuse, Old Madam Gang wasn't actually that unreasonable.

Jang Un-chu stroked her son's head.

"You don't need to worry about Mother. I can take care of myself. Your father's leg isn't good, so don't cause him trouble when you go to town. Understand?"

"Mhm, I understand."

Gang Gye nodded.

"I'm a very well-behaved child, you know."

Jang Un-chu couldn't help laughing softly.

"Yes, yes. Our Little Six is the best-behaved child of all."

After breakfast, Gang Gye and Gang Jo-hang set off for town.

Gang Jo-hang carried a large wicker basket on his back.

Inside it was the wild chicken they had tied up securely.

The distance from the village to town wasn't short.

For a tiny four-year-old like Gang Gye, no matter how hard he tried, there was a limit to how far he could walk.

On top of that, Gang Gye had always been physically weak.

It didn't take long before he became tired and started breathing heavily.

Gang Jo-hang teased him,

"Town is still quite far away. Can you really keep walking?"

What kind of father teases his own son at a time like this?

Gang Gye puffed out his cheeks unhappily.

"I can!"

Gang Gye walked for a while, rested, then walked again.

Gang Jo-hang didn't hurry him.

After they had gone quite a bit farther, Gang Gye's little face had turned red from exhaustion, and tiny beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Gang Jo-hang stopped walking.

"Father will carry you."

"I'm fine."

Gang Gye firmly refused.

Then he took Gang Jo-hang's hand and led him toward the roadside.

"Father, let's rest for a little while."

With his physical condition, he couldn't afford to push himself too hard.

If he exhausted himself and collapsed, that would be a real problem.

He had to be careful.

The father and son sat down on a clean patch of grass by the roadside.

Gang Gye leaned against his father's body.

Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.

What kind of reward would I get if I checked in here?

He was exhausted right now.

Could the system perhaps give him some kind of medicinal pill?

They had eaten chicken yesterday, so even if he received another wild animal today, they probably wouldn't be able to eat it right away.

As for books, he could now officially borrow them from Daejang with his father's permission, so he didn't need to worry about that for the time being.

His father was already planning to buy him a brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone.

And now that his father cared so much about his studies, Gang Gye couldn't afford to waste money on unnecessary things.

In that case, even if today's check-in opportunity went to waste, it wouldn't matter too much.

Gang Gye activated the check-in.

A moment later, his eyes widened.

The reward was unexpectedly a prescription.

More precisely, it was a set of massage instructions.

When he looked at the described effects, it seemed like they might be useful for his father's leg.

Could Father's leg... actually be treated?

To be honest, Gang Gye had never even considered that possibility.

He knew nothing about medicine, and this was an ancient era.

His father's leg had been injured several years ago.

Gang Gye had assumed there was no way to heal it.

The injury might involve damaged nerves, or perhaps fragments of broken bone remained in the leg.

And surgery wasn't exactly possible here.

On top of that, the system had only given him very ordinary, practical items over the past few days.

That was why he had never thought in this direction at all.

Gang Gye became so excited that his breathing grew heavy again.

"What's wrong?"

Gang Jo-hang gently patted his son's back.

"You must be tired from walking too much. Father will carry you later."

He lifted Gang Gye's legs onto his own lap and lightly massaged them.

"I'm okay. I can walk."

Gang Gye looked up at Gang Jo-hang.

His bright eyes were practically shining with happiness.

Gang Jo-hang paused for a moment before chuckling.

Are all children like this?

They could become this happy for no reason at all.

Still, seeing his son so cheerful naturally put Gang Jo-hang in a very good mood as well.

The father and son rested for a while before continuing on their way.

As they walked, Gang Jo-hang told Gang Gye stories about the things he had experienced and heard back when he worked as an armed escort.

Walking slowly like that, they finally arrived in town.

The town was fairly large and bustling with people.

They had a task to take care of first.

They needed to sell the wild chicken they had caught yesterday.

Gang Jo-hang was very experienced in this kind of thing.

Before injuring his leg, he had often brought hunted animals into town to sell.

And because he had once worked for an escort agency, he was also very familiar with the local area.

He skillfully led his son to the back gate of a wealthy household.

After exchanging a few words with a steward who came outside, he sold the wild chicken immediately.

According to current market prices, a rooster sold for around thirty copper coins and a hen for around fifty.

The exact price varied somewhat depending on the bird's weight and size.

Their wild chicken was plump and heavy, so they managed to sell it for ninety copper coins.

That definitely wasn't cheap.

Only after they had walked some distance away from the back gate did Gang Gye ask curiously,

"Father, do you know that household's steward?"

Gang Jo-hang answered,

"I used to bring hunted animals here to sell. If you sell wild game directly on the street, it's hard to get a good price. But if you bring it straight to a wealthy household, you can usually earn ten or twenty more copper coins."

He continued explaining,

"Wealthy people like eating rare things, and they spend money freely. So it's usually easy to make a sale."

After answering his son's question, Gang Jo-hang led him toward a bookstore.

"Shopkeeper, what kind of brush, ink, paper, and inkstone do students usually use these days?"

The prices of the Four Treasures of the Study varied greatly depending on quality.

The differences could be enormous.

Items that were too cheap were often unpleasant to use.

For example, the ink might sit unevenly on the paper and bleed easily.

Or the tools might wear out quickly and need replacing.

Children from wealthy families could simply buy expensive supplies without worrying.

But ordinary families like theirs had to choose carefully.

Although Gang Jo-hang had learned to read when he was younger, he knew nothing about how to select writing supplies.

That was why he could only ask the shopkeeper for advice.

The shopkeeper seemed very familiar with customers like them.

He immediately gestured.

"Come this way."

He led the father and son toward a shelf on one side of the bookstore and began explaining.

"These are what most students use nowadays. This is high-grade pine-soot ink. The quality is very good. It costs two hundred copper coins per jin."

Then he pointed toward an inkstone.

"For the inkstone, how about this one? It's from Cao County and has become very popular over the past few years. One costs one hundred copper coins."

He continued,

"These are all well-known products. Most students in town buy these, and they're also among the items our shop keeps the largest stock of."

Gang Jo-hang looked around.

The bookstore really did have a large quantity of the items the shopkeeper had recommended.

Other customers who entered also went straight to those same products.

Thinking back, the things Daejang used at home seemed to look similar as well.

The shopkeeper studied the father and son for a moment before asking,

"Are you buying these for the child?"

"Yes."

Gang Jo-hang nodded.

"He has only just started studying. I want him to practice writing."

The shopkeeper nodded and continued with his recommendations.

"Then use this paper. It costs seven copper coins per sheet. The paper is fine and durable, so it's suitable for a child."

He picked up another item.

"And as for brushes..."

In one smooth explanation, the shopkeeper selected suitable options for the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

"You can decide how much you need. If you buy a complete set, the bookstore can give you a small discount."