Don't Jump!! (4)
"I can't just keep receiving, so I'll teach you something in return, sir."
"What kind of teaching?"
"Swimming. I'm confident when it comes to swimming, at least."
"Hmm… Call!"
"Call? What's a call?"
"It means I agree. So shall we head to the beach starting tomorrow?"
"Yes. I'll teach you before I go diving, and you can practice while I work."
"Understood. Ah, for the record—"
"…?"
"Don't be too surprised if your student improves by leaps and bounds. All right?"
"…Pfft. If you don't want to drown and end up in the Dragon Palace, you'd better stay sharp."
Hearing Cheong-i mention the Dragon Palace left me with a strangely mixed feeling.
That night, I opened a blank book at once and set it before her.
"…There's not a single character in it. Is this even a book?"
"That is the practice notebook you'll be using from now on, for a long time to come. You'll write down what you've studied to review it, or practice your handwriting over and over."
"You mean…"
"This is a gift from me to you, Cheong-i."
Originally, it had been one of the blank books I'd brought along as a kind of journal—something to fill with the various bits of information I picked up while preparing for the civil service exam. But right now, giving it to Cheong-i felt like the better choice.
Given her family's situation, even a single book would be a strain.
However lacking her sense of economics might be, she still had a rough idea of a book's value. If she didn't, her eyes wouldn't be trembling the way they were now.
"Something this precious…"
"If you study hard and start selling your seafood for what it's actually worth, you'll be able to buy one yourself before long. Think of this as something to use until then."
"…Thank you."
"The best repayment for my gift would be filling that book."
And so I began teaching Cheong-i economics.
There was no need to drag in difficult concepts. What she needed right now was simply the ability to grasp the market prices and values around her—the kind of lesson even an elementary schooler could follow.
Hey, kiddo, you want a game console? You get five thousand won a week in allowance—can you go two years without taking any? Then I'll buy it for you!
That sort of feeling.
"The abalone you bring in can be classified as high-priced seafood. And if abalone is expensive, can common folk buy it often?"
"Hmm… Probably not."
"Exactly. But that doesn't mean I recommend selling directly to the government office. The unscrupulous ones among them will buy it for even less than that merchant earlier."
"Then what should I do? Is there no way?"
"Under the current circumstances, getting full value is difficult. Because to a merchant or an official, you're a woman—and a woman with no backing at that."
"Ah…"
Pointing out the harsh reality darkened Cheong-i's expression. But it wasn't as though there was no solution at all.
"That doesn't mean there's no way forward. You appoint a proxy."
"A proxy… you say? Ah—a man…!"
"That's right. So if you wish, I'll serve as your proxy until I leave. If you can strike a deal with a merchant who has decent instincts, things should improve."
Indeed, even that crooked merchant from earlier had folded the moment I bluffed that I was her husband. What had been especially effective was the white robe and black scholar's hat I was wearing—I looked every bit the classical scholar.
"But once you leave, sir, won't it just go back to the way it was?"
"You have your father, don't you?"
"…!"
"A proxy is only a proxy. And unless something major goes wrong, even the first contract can last a long time. If you like, right before I leave, I'll tell them I want future business conducted in writing. Then you can install your father as the proxy while handling the actual work yourself."
"Ah…"
"But for that to work, you'll have to study with everything you've got, won't you?"
"I will…!"
Once I laid out a realistic alternative, Cheong-i focused even harder, fire in her eyes. Kongji had been the same—Cheong-i, too, seemed to enjoy studying more than I'd expected.
Like a working-class gal who only ever did part-time jobs suddenly discovering the joy of studying.
Of course, Cheong-i's appearance was hard to call "gal" by any stretch.
I also suggested expanding the kinds of goods she sold.
"Right now, you're treating all your seafood as fresh catch."
"That's… true?"
"If you can manage it, try drying some of it or curing it with salt. That'll extend the shelf life, so even if you take a lower price, you'll be able to sell far more steadily and over a longer term."
Every time I taught her something, Cheong-i either nodded with complete seriousness or fired questions right back at me. She had such focus that I, too, ended up teaching her well past the time I'd planned.
"…We should stop here for today."
"What? Already?"
"Look outside. Don't you leave at dawn?"
"Ah… It's gotten this late already."
We closed the book and spread out the bedding. Since I'd bought an extra blanket at the market, there was no need to share one the way we had the night before.
"…What is it?"
"It's nothing."
For a moment, I caught a look of lingering regret in Cheong-i's eyes as she glanced at my blanket. What on earth was that about…
Aha.
I figured it out right away. At this rate, people might start calling me sharp.
"Oof. After teaching so intensely today, I feel like I bought too thick a blanket for nothing."
"Pardon? What do you mean by that?"
"Shall we switch?"
"Switch what?"
"The blankets."
"…Excuse me?"
Those regretful eyes—they were clearly coveting the new blanket. Being a generous and considerate scholar, I readily handed mine over to Cheong-i.
But for some reason, she didn't react the way I'd expected. I'd thought she'd look caught out—instead, she stared at me with a mix of bewilderment and confusion.
"Uh… I'm fine, but… thank you…?"
"Well, a woman ought to sleep even warmer, shouldn't she?"
She was clearly flustered by the unexpected turn. We pulled up our blankets and snuffed out the candle. Feeling the breeze that slipped through the paper window, the room soon held nothing but the sound of our breathing.
"…Sir, are you asleep?"
"I just lay down. You think I would be?"
"Th-that's true."
"What is it?"
"Well… there's something I'm curious about."
"Ask me anything."
"Earlier today, when you rescued me from that merchant… why did you call me your wife?"
"Hm?"
I'd assumed her eagerness to ask a question meant she was full of scholarly passion. What came out of Cheong-i's mouth, though, was about the afternoon.
Was she unhappy about being called my wife?
Well, turning an unmarried woman into a married one in a single breath—it wouldn't be strange if she were angry.
"I was wondering… what sort of feelings you had when you said that about me…"
Something about the question sounded odd, so I lifted my head slightly and looked her way. But by then, Cheong-i had already turned her back to me. Unable to read her expression, I lay back down and replayed the earlier incident.
What feelings had I had when I called Cheong-i my wife?
"…I suppose the honest answer is that I wanted to save you. Yes, that was it."
"Wanted to save me…"
"And on the other hand, I needed to make sure that merchant took my words seriously. If I'd said you were my little sister, or that I was just some scholar passing by, I might have missed the chance."
"…"
"Does that answer your question?"
"…"
"Cheong?"
When I lifted my head again, she seemed to have already drifted off. Only the quiet sound of her breathing filled the room. Given how early she usually fell asleep, she must not have been able to fight off the drowsiness.
The slight look of regret on her face… was probably just my imagination.
"…Well, I can't claim there was no selfishness in it at all."
If not a moment like that, when else would I get to play the husband? And to someone as beautiful as Cheong-i, no less.
Preparing for the civil service exam had taken far longer than expected, and I'd turned twenty-three—practically an old bachelor by Joseon standards. But even if I wanted to marry right now, the conditions weren't there, so marriage still felt like something years away at the earliest.
And you need someone to marry before you can get married.
It wasn't as though I had anyone back home who could be called a lover. Well—there was someone waiting, but the landlord's daughter was hard to classify as a lover. Mistress of the house? Little sister? Childhood friend? Some hazy mix of all three, more or less.
For all I knew, by the time this journey ended and I went home, she might already be married.
"…I should sleep too."
I had swimming lessons first thing in the morning. Letting my thoughts run deep wouldn't help. Pulling the blanket all the way over my head against the dawn wind, I slowly drifted off.
"…Sir. Please wake up."
"Ugh."
I bolted upright in a panic, and found a startled Cheong-i standing in front of me.
"Hm? Ah… right. Swimming."
"Yes. …Did you have a nightmare? Why did you jump up like that…"
"It's not that. Sometimes when I sleep outdoors on the road, things poke at me in the night."
"What things?"
"Tigers, bears—that sort of thing."
"…Pfft!"
"Huh?"
"Come on—if that were true, you wouldn't be alive, sir. You do make good jokes."
No, it was true. But Cheong-i clearly had no intention of believing me. There was no point getting heated over it, so I simply followed her to the beach.
Once we arrived, she pushed me into the shallows and said:
"All right, sir. First, let's figure out whether you can swim at all."
Fair enough—every process starts with assessing the current state of things.
"Try not to be too shocked by what you see."
Even if I'd never properly learned to swim, moving around on the water was perfectly doable.
"Heh. If you manage to surprise me, I'll grant you a wish!"
"Don't forget that promise. I'll float around for a good five minutes or more."
"…Just don't overdo it, all right?"
"Overdo? That's the word that suits me least! Hah!"
I leapt into the sea with full confidence.
"…What is that ridiculous posture…? It looks just like… a dog paddling…"
"Ridiculous? Hah, hah. This is a perfectly useful swimming technique!"
I'd demonstrated my special dog paddle, but Cheong-i just looked at me as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Then she forcibly stopped my swimming, came up in front of me, and said:
"First, let's start with moving your legs. There's nothing nearby to hold onto, so… here."
"Hm?"
"…T-take my hands and kick hard. Quickly."
Cheong-i averted her gaze as she held out her hands, and I took both of them without a second thought, kicking the water vigorously. Relying on the warmth of her hands, I kept at the swimming practice for a while.
"Whew. I'll rest a bit now and wait for you."
"Y-you go first."
"Hm?"
"I'm planning to work a long time today, so go on ahead!"
The moment the lesson ended, Cheong-i fretted over her own hands for a second, then plunged into the sea with a splash. Teaching me must have left her whole body aching.
I accepted the eviction order without complaint and headed back to the village. Crossing the market on my way home, I ran into a lavish procession I'd never seen before, winding through the streets.
"Merchants have arrived."
At last, the merchant party that would try to drive Cheong-i to her death had reached the village.