It's Really Just a Misunderstanding (2)
Anyway, after finishing my conversation with Grandfather, I headed back to Father's office.
On the way, Palgap called out to me.
"Young master."
"What is it?"
"Work is important, but why not take a short break first? I'm worried you'll ruin your health at this rate."
I shook my head firmly at Palgap's words.
"No can do. The harder I push, the more profit our merchant group makes. That's how we grow faster."
"I know that, sir."
Palgap then let out a long sigh.
"Sigh... When they heard you were coming, young master Geonhyeok and young lady Boyeon got all excited about giving you birthday presents... They'll be so disappointed now."
At those words, I unwittingly stopped in my tracks.
"What? What did you just say? Geonhyeok and Boyeon are waiting for me?"
Palgap nodded at my question.
"Yes. Earlier, on my way back after escorting the head and young lord of the Yun River Clan to their lodgings, I ran into the young master and young lady."
"...Have they grown a lot?"
"They're unrecognizable now, sir. Young master Geonhyeok takes after his mother, the first young master's wife, and young lady Boyeon looks just like the first young master."
Hearing that made me want to see them even more.
"Ugh..."
But... I had to get back to work right now.
That's when Seo-u Warrior spoke up.
"I believe one reason you work so hard, my lord, is for your family's happiness."
"Yes, exactly."
"But you are part of that family too, my lord. If something happened to you, your family wouldn't be happy."
"Uh..."
Seo-u Warrior's words hit me like a blow to the back of the head.
"You're right."
I let out a sigh.
"And as you said, I'm busting my ass so my family can live happily... but ironically, it means I have even less time with them."
Seo-u Warrior nodded in agreement.
"This is my first time mentioning it, but my father was a caravan leader too. When I was little, he'd look back at me over and over as he left for work."
He continued.
"Now that I'm a father myself, I finally understand that feeling. You have to earn money to support your family, but the more you do, the less time you spend with them... It's a real paradox."
Exactly.
A true paradox.
Listening to Seo-u Warrior brought back childhood memories of watching Father.
He was always so busy; we barely had time together.
I'd thought that once I grew up and could help with his work, we'd spend more time together.
But reality was the opposite—I saw even less of him now than back then.
"I wish someone could give a clear answer to this dilemma."
Palgap responded to my grumbling.
"Instead of complaining, you should hurry along, sir."
"Huh?"
"You're heading to Georyangdang, right? They're probably waiting for you right now. If you're late, they might say 'I hate little Uncle!' and hide from you—what then?"
Ah... Imagining Palgap's words made my heart sink.
"...Let's go."
Yeah, I needed a breather like this sometimes.
But spending lots of time with family? That was out of the question.
Still, I shouldn't overdo it.
As Seo-u Warrior said, if something happened to me, my family would be heartbroken.
How could I forget how worried they were during my frail days when I couldn't even walk without a cane?
Eun Seo-ho, you idiot!
Georyangdang was Jeong Ho's private annex.
As I entered, two little kids came toddling toward me excitedly.
"Uncle!"
"Little Uncle!"
The two who threw themselves into my arms were Geonhyeok and Boyeon.
As Palgap said, Geonhyeok looked just like his mother, and Boyeon took after Jeong Ho.
I hugged them and sat down in the courtyard.
"Whoa! You've both grown so much!"
"Yeah! I've grown a lot!"
"Boyeon grew a lot too!"
"Good, good—both of you have!"
I smiled and stroked their heads.
"We've missed you, Uncle."
Geonhyeok said it quite maturely.
"Didn't you miss us, Uncle?"
"Of course I did! You have no idea how much."
"But I understand. Mom says little Uncle does really big things. When I grow up, I'll do big things like you too."
"Yeah, you definitely will."
I nodded with a pleased expression. Then Boyeon piped up.
"Uncle! Is your famous title really Seonhyeopmirang?"
"Cough!"
Her question caught me off guard, and I choked.
Ha... I'd heard it more than once or twice, but from Boyeon too...?
Was it too late to fix this?
Why did tears well up?
Palgap chimed in excitedly from the side.
"That's right, young lady! Young master Eun Seo-ho's title is Seonhyeopmirang—countless people have received his grace, and the praise reaches the heavens!"
"Wow!"
Geonhyeok and Boyeon's eyes sparkled as they looked at me.
"I-I wanna be a hero like Uncle too!"
"Yeah, Boyeon will surely become a geonhyeop heroine."
Geonhyeop referred to women's hair ornaments, so a geonhyeop heroine meant a heroic woman.
"Actually, I wanted to marry a hero like Uncle, but Dad said there's no man like you in the whole empire, so I gave up."
Palgap nodded at that.
What... what did that mean? Why nod?
No, more importantly, Jeong Ho... what the hell did he tell Boyeon?
Should I block her marriage prospects now that I'm a father figure?
No way... did he do it on purpose?
Looking at his track record, I couldn't rule it out...
Then big sister-in-law appeared, laughing lightly.
"Kids these days say the wildest things."
"Ah, sister-in-law!"
"It's been ages."
I scratched my cheek awkwardly.
"Sorry for being away so long."
"No need. Everyone knows how busy you are."
Big sister-in-law said to the kids.
"Kids, time to give your present."
"Okay!"
The two dashed inside the annex.
I stood up, and Palgap quickly brushed the dirt off my clothes.
"The kids are so lively."
"Sigh, too lively—that's the problem."
I laughed at big sister-in-law's words.
"If they didn't run around, that'd be a problem too."
"True enough."
"By the way, I think their birthdays are around now...?"
"Yes, they're December babies."
Uh... no way...
"They turned six the day before yesterday."
"..."
Their birthdays were early December.
I'd missed them completely.
I'd been living in a total daze. Forgetting Geonhyeok and Boyeon's birthdays...
Time to reflect.
"I'm really sorry. I didn't even prepare birthday gifts."
"Just make it up big on their tenth birthdays."
"Got it."
In our Eunhae Merchant Group, we placed great importance on birthdays in years that were multiples of ten, like ten or twenty.
"Let me know ahead of time what they need. By the way, kids who just turned six seem awfully bright."
Big sister-in-law smiled bashfully at the praise.
Well, no one dislikes compliments about their own kids.
"They must take after their father."
"I heard from your father-in-law that you were bright even as a child."
"Oh, Father..."
Then Geonhyeok and Boyeon came out holding something.
Paper?
Each held a sheet.
"Here's your present."
"Mine too!"
I took them and unfolded them.
"Our writing teacher told us to compose a poem about someone we admire."
Poems already!
Of course, composing poetry was a big deal for anyone with even a bit of scholarly ink under their belt.
So once kids reached a certain level of literacy, they started poetry training.
That way, they wouldn't embarrass themselves if called upon later.
And they'd already mastered letters enough to write poems?
Not many six-year-olds could do that.
Poetry wasn't just about knowing letters.
Impressive!
"You've already learned to read and write?"
"Dad said if I wanna be like little Uncle, I have to study hard."
"So we're studying really hard."
"Impressive."
It felt a bit embarrassing, but...
Ah, damn you, Jeong Ho!
Instilling a love of learning was great, but what the hell did he tell them to hype me up like this!
I grumbled inwardly as I read the poems they'd given me.
They weren't perfect in rhyme or form yet, of course.
But the feelings for me in those lines made me smile unwittingly.
Leaving Georyangdang, I headed to Father.
"Thanks to you, I got a good rest. Appreciate it, Palgap. Thank you, Seo-u Warrior."
"No problem at all."
I said to Palgap,
"Didn't you once mutter that the world only remembered your good looks?"
"You remember that, sir?"
"I've got a good memory too."
"But yeah. Felt like I was the only sad one, so I gave up."
His expression as he looked up at the sky reminded me of a bear with droopy ears, and I couldn't help laughing.
"The kids are so precocious. Didn't even nag for birthday presents after the day passed."
I glanced back.
Big sister-in-law had asked me to make it up on their tenth, but I couldn't just let it slide.
Not after receiving these birthday gifts.
A little later,
I arrived at Father's office.
"I'm here."
"Knew you'd come back. To discuss the brewing, right?"
"Yeah."
"Figured it'd take time, so I didn't bring it up earlier."
I didn't answer, just grinned and sat at the desk.
Father stood, pulled out a few scrolls from beside him, and placed them on the desk.
"These are places ready to brew immediately; these need prep."
"Got it."
I reviewed the documents, organizing my thoughts.
"First, brew at the ready ones and load for the next trade voyage. Shame we don't have more ships..."
Father grinned then.
"No worries there."
"Huh?"
"Built two more in the meantime. Crew's training now."
"What?!"
I was stunned by Father's words.
"So we have four ships total now?"
Father nodded proudly.
Building ships wasn't cheap—you had to be cautious.
I was impressed anew by Father's boldness.
"Strike while the iron's hot, right?"
"Exactly. Haha."
I examined the documents Father prepared. As expected of him.
They laid out the situation crystal clear.
And my thoughts flowed better—probably because I'd rested a bit meeting the kids.
"Oh, it was Geonhyeok and Boyeon's birthdays recently, right?"
"Yeah."
Father nodded.
"Jeong Ho said he'd be back before, but he's later than expected."
"Tell me about it."
Nothing wrong, probably.
Why make me worry by being so late?
Steeling myself, I scanned the documents again when something nagged at me.
Hm, definitely something...
What was it?
No way it'd bug me for no reason.
I pored over the papers, racking my brain, then realized.
Some on this list lacked brewing qualifications.
I stood and said,
"Father, I'll inspect these places myself tomorrow."
"No need for you to go personally."
"His Majesty granted this specially. And our brew goes to distant foreign markets, shaping our Eunhae Merchant Group's reputation. How could I be negligent?"
"Hm, fair point."
"So I'll check personally for any shortcomings."
If I didn't weed them out now, trouble later.
It could tarnish our name, but worse—the Emperor might use it to squeeze me more.
No, he definitely would. Ugh...
Just thinking made sweat trickle.
This trade voyage laid the foundation for positive recognition.
Couldn't let that investment go to waste!
Father nodded slowly.
"Alright. I'll inform the brewmasters."
"No!"
I said firmly.
"If they know I'm coming, it's not a proper inspection. Keep my visit secret."
I continued.
"I'll inspect, but no one will know."