The Sichuan Full Course
What did guanxi truly mean in the Central Plains? It was nothing short of a life-or-death bond, a brotherhood where one was willing to offer up their very liver and gallbladder.
To be invited into someone's home meant they had accepted you as one of their own. Calling her xiongdi before they entered the restaurant had been no empty platitude. Refusing such hospitality was out of the question. If Rihwa had declined by claiming she had already booked a hotel, Riah would have taken it as a grave insult. The sheer weight of this concept—so fundamentally different from an ordinary friendship or basic loyalty back in Korea—left Rihwa's head spinning.
"So… are your parents actually home right now?"
"They should be. I told them to stay put because I was bringing a friend over today."
That only amplified the pressure. They had schedules of their own, yet they were waiting at home purely because of her. Ordering around the heads of a corporate chaebol conglomerate was beyond bold—it was downright unhinged.
"Don't look so stressed," Riah said. "Just think of it as meeting a regular friend's parents."
"That's like telling someone sweating through a heatwave to just imagine it's winter. Complete mind control failure."
Riah snickered at the complaint. "Well, if you're that worked up, you'll just have to see for yourself once we get there."
Though it was nearing six in the evening, the sun still hung high in the sky. The lingering daylight made it clear that summer had arrived in full force.
"There really are an insane number of lovebugs out here."
"Tell me about it."
People said the bugs swarmed toward vehicle exhaust. While they were common enough on ordinary sidewalks, they felt far more prominent while cruising down the asphalt. Rihwa tried to lose herself in idle chatter, hoping to shake off the anxiety of visiting a mega-wealthy dynasty. It didn't work in the slightest; her leg kept bouncing nervously the entire drive.
Before long, the car turned into a quiet neighborhood. Rihwa's rundown apartment in Sinseong-gu was technically in a residential district as well, but calling both places by the same name felt like a personal insult to this neighborhood. The luxury was on another plane entirely.
"I'm shaking," Rihwa muttered.
"You'll be fine, you'll be fine. We're sworn sisters now, which basically makes them your parents, too."
"I'm pretty sure your parents have no idea they just gained another daughter."
"Then we'll just have to let them know."
Riah brushed it off as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The numbing, fiery Sichuan cuisine they had eaten earlier was nothing compared to this. The true mala spice was Dang Riah's personality.
The car pulled up before an imposing estate. The gate swung open automatically, and a man in a crisp business suit wearing an earpiece bowed low.
"Welcome home, Young Lady."
"Hey. Good evening. Are my parents inside?"
"Yes. They are waiting in the parlor."
"Great. Park the car for me, will you?"
"Right away, miss."
Rihwa hesitated, then stepped out of the passenger side after Riah. As the valet drove the green Mini Cooper toward the garage, Riah caught Rihwa by the hand and led her forward.
"The garden is gorgeous," Rihwa murmured.
For a fleeting second, the sheer beauty of the Tang Clan's courtyard managed to push her anxiety aside. A vibrant tapestry of exotic flora and lush greenery stretched out in every direction, dazzling the eyes.
"About half of what you're looking at is deadly poison."
"…What?"
"Though they're used as medicine too, of course," Riah added casually. "Every medicine is a poison in the end. It's just a matter of dosage."
Right. This was the Sichuan Tang Clan, famed throughout the world for their mastery over poisons and pharmaceuticals. Had she walked into this place far too naively? Were they planning to turn her into a human test subject? She was an orphan; if she vanished into thin air, no one would ever come looking for her.
A sudden wave of dirt-poor paranoia and mistrust flared in her mind, but she snapped out of it the moment they reached the magnificent front entrance. Harboring such impoverished thoughts felt absurdly out of place in a venue so detached from poverty. The pristine surroundings seemed to wash away the gloom. Perhaps living in a fine house in a prosperous neighborhood truly did wonders for a person's mental health. Growing up in a wretched slum like Sinseong-gu had clearly warped her worldview.
"Come on in."
The heavy front doors swung outward from within. A live-in housekeeper smiled warmly at them.
"You've arrived, Young Lady."
"Good evening, ma'am."
Following Riah's lead, Rihwa offered a polite bow from behind.
"My, what a well-mannered friend you've brought home."
"Have you ever seen me hang out with bad people?"
"Now that you mention it, no. Hoho."
The two seemed to share an easy, affectionate bond. Riah slipped off her shoes and aligned them neatly by the entryway. Rihwa, who usually kicked her shoes off carelessly the moment she stepped inside her own place, demurely followed suit and lined hers up with utmost care.
"Phew."
Trailing behind Riah, Rihwa let out a long, quiet breath. Unsurprisingly, the residence was staggering in its grandeur. Even without comparing it to her cramped, single-room shoebox back home, the estate felt like a modern palace. Then again, across all the wuxia novels she had ever read, not a single one ever skipped the Sichuan Tang Clan whenever the plot moved to Sichuan. In that sense, dropping by their family estate truly was the proper full course.
"I'm home!" Riah called out.
"Dang Riah. Bedeuro told me you left without making your bed this morning."
"Wait, what?"
The moment they stepped into the parlor, an elegant noblewoman with her hair pinned up into a graceful updo chided Riah. Rihwa's eyes darted rapidly across the room, taking in the scene.
Seated at the head of the central dining table was a middle-aged gentleman—the Lord of the Tang Clan. The noblewoman scolding Riah was the matriarch, and the young man in his early twenties wearing a lopsided, petty smirk was almost certainly Riah's brother, Tang Bedeuro.
"Ugh, did Bedeuro snoop through my room again? Are you insane?!"
"Watch your tongue when speaking to your older brother," the matriarch rebuked instantly.
The shockingly ordinary sibling squabbling left Rihwa dumbfounded. She had half-expected chaebol dynasties to spend their family dinners debating national macroeconomic policies in fluent Latin. The grand illusion shattered in a matter of seconds.
"Must you disgrace yourselves like this when we have a guest?"
The man at the head of the table spoke in a low, resonant baritone, eyes closed as he sipped his tea. At the very least, the Clan Head matched Rihwa's mental image of a corporate titan. He commanded the room with effortless charisma, without raising his voice or uttering a single harsh word. In an instant, the matriarch, Riah, and Bedeuro snapped their mouths shut.
"I apologize, Father. This is my friend, So Rihwa. She traveled all the way from Shaanxi to visit."
Riah quickly introduced her, and Rihwa bowed deeply the second her friend finished speaking.
"Hello. I'm So Rihwa, visiting from Shaanxi. Thank you so much for having me."
"Ah, I see. It is a pleasure. I am Tang Munhyeon, the head of the Tang family and Riah's father."
"Welcome, dear. I'm Riah's mother, Eon Yehyang."
"Yes, hello! It's an honor to meet you!"
The greeting was far milder than she had anticipated. She had braced herself for an interrogation worthy of an elite clan: probing into what her parents did for a living, what neighborhood she resided in, the exact square footage and market value of her apartment, whether it was owned or rented, her current profession, her net assets, and whether her vehicle ran on diesel, gasoline, or electric batteries.
"Bedeuro. Introduce yourself," the mother prompted.
Come to think of it, Tang Bedeuro had yet to utter a word. When Rihwa turned to look at him, the young man stared blankly at her face before letting out a sharp gasp and averting his gaze in panic.
"…?"
"I-I am Dang Bedeuro, Leah's older brother. Welcome to the Tang Clan, Young Lady So."
Bedeuro bowed at a rigid ninety-degree angle, displaying a degree of deference that bordered on reverence. Yet the fact that he refused to meet her eyes made him seem thoroughly peculiar. Was he one of those types who acted tough only around family while turning into a timid mess around strangers? It certainly seemed that way.
"What's with 'Young Lady So'?" Riah scoffed. "Is this your corporate office or something?"
"Shut your… Would you please be quiet, dear sister?"
Bedeuro flared up in indignation before clamping his lips together and awkwardly correcting his phrasing. It seemed he was attempting to sanitize his language out of courtesy for their guest. Despite sporting a face that looked slightly like a street delinquent, he was remarkably polite. You truly couldn't judge a book by its cover.
"Please, make yourself comfortable," Eon Yehyang said warmly. "I'll prepare some tea. What kind do you prefer? We have almost every variety you could ask for."
As a seasoned martial arts connoisseur, Rihwa possessed a decent working knowledge of China's most renowned teas. Huangshan Maofeng from Anhui, Junshan Yinzhen from Hunan, West Lake Longjing from Zhejiang… In a grand estate like this, surely she was supposed to name something refined.
"If possible, I think I would like some Baihao Yinzhen from Fujian."
"Oh, goodness. I'm afraid we don't have that. My apologies, dear. Let me tell you what we do have: green tea, black tea, hibiscus, rooibos, peppermint, chamomile…"
"……Chamomile, please. Thank you."
Damn it all.
Have you still not awoken from your silly chaebol daydream, you fool of the So Clan? An ethereal voice seemed to echo directly into her mind, as though an immortal from the heavens were chastising her via Sound Transmission.
Soon enough, Eon Yehyang served tea to everyone and set a modest dish of mixed nuts in the center of the table, flanked by a napkin dispenser.
Rihwa sat beside Riah, her spine ramrod straight like a freshly deployed army recruit. Oddly, even though everyone had taken their seats, no one touched their tea or snacks. Naturally, Rihwa didn't dare reach for hers either.
A bizarre, heavy silence descended upon the parlor. The one who finally broke it was Clan Head Tang Munhyeon from the head of the table.
"Let us pray."
Ah. Right. This family is devoutly Christian.
Tang Munhyeon's dignified, solemn voice resonated throughout the parlor.
"Lord, we thank You for bestowing Your abundant grace upon us once again today. As we share these refreshments together, grant that we may experience the love and joy You have gifted us. May our hearts grow warmer through this gathering, and may this time be one where we become a source of strength to one another. In Jesus Christ's name we pray, Amen."
"Amen."
"Amen."
"Amen."
Rihwa hurriedly chimed in, echoing an "Amen" of her own. For the record, she had been staunchly secular from her past life straight through to the present. Yet in an atmosphere like this, she suspected that even if Gautama Buddha himself were reincarnated in her place, he too would have folded his hands and shouted "Amen."
The first stop of the Sichuan full course: the Sichuan Tang Clan. Right from the very first course, this was shaping up to be quite an ordeal.