Yom Sang-seop - Three Generations

“In other words, that young woman intends to take over this house.”

“I think so. The lady is pregnant, I hear. Besides, she is an adopted daughter of the madam at Maedang House, over in Anguk-dong. That madam is pretty tough — she’s taken matters into her own hands and pushes the master around. He doesn’t seem to know what to do.” In his excitement, Won-sam volunteered more information than she had asked for.

Gyeong-ae’s mother withdrew, saying, “I’ll be back tomorrow, but don’t warn your master.”

Sang-hun was not thrilled that Gyeong-ae was running Sanhaejin with Byeong-hwa’s help. He had agreed to buy the building after she had pleaded with him, but he had no intention of doing so as long as she was with Byeong-hwa, regardless of what their connection might be.

He heard that Deok-gi had been taken to the police station. Out in the street, he phoned Gyeong-ae and asked to see her. She responded coldly but, after some wrangling, gave in. “If it’s so urgent, I’ll stop by your house tomorrow morning,” she said and hung up. Gyeong-ae wanted to take a look at how he lived with Ui-gyeong, and Sang-hun didn’t try to discourage her.

Sang-hun imagined he might be able to separate Gyeong-ae and Byeong-hwa if he bought the store for her. He wanted to hear how she’d react before he set up house with Ui-gyeong someplace or let her live with him after forcing his wife to live with their son. He was reluctant to cut Gyeong-ae off, but he couldn’t just get rid of Ui-gyeong, who was pregnant. Ui-gyeong had left home, quit her job at the kindergarten, and made a new place for herself in his quarters, determined to let his wife’s nagging go in one ear and out the other. What was fortunate was that Sang-hun’s father had died in the meantime.

The old gentleman couldn’t have lived much longer. Maedang and her entourage had been advancing hungrily, like a swarm of ants toward a dead fly. Even Ui-gyeong was angling for an opportunity to get something from the Jo family. Maedang was the queen ant reigning over her colony.

“How much did you get, little sis?”

“Only two hundred bags of rice! And another fifty for Gwi-sun.”

“What can you do? Accept it for the time being.”

So went the conversation between Maedang and the Suwon woman during Maedang’s condolence visit after the funeral.

“My niece has stumbled into good fortune!” the Suwon woman said cynically.

“She certainly has! A son is a son, good or bad. No matter what they say, the old man couldn’t have left everything to Deok-gi.” Maedang’s mouth split into a greedy grin, as if her own husband had become a millionaire overnight.

The Suwon woman grimaced. “Do you think he’ll give you a penny even if he gets a thousand bags of rice a year? He only got three hundred bags! And he couldn’t have gotten more than two or three thousand won in cash.”

“What? Only three hundred bags?”

“You should look into the rice refinery. The old man, who was so thorough and precise about everything, didn’t mention it in his will. We didn’t think it was anything of exceptional value, but according to the old man’s account book, it is worth more than roughly twenty or thirty thousand won in cash, and there’s a house and a store connected to it, so it’s worth getting your hands on!” Maedang’s mouth watered; she seemed more heartened than the Suwon woman herself.

“What if the person in charge of the refinery takes over, now that the owner is gone?”

“Don’t worry. The account book is there for everyone to see. I just wish I knew why the old man forgot to include it.”

Maedang decided to involve herself more aggressively. To firm up Ui-gyeong’s status, Maedang took her to the outer quarters of the Hwagae-dong house and talked her into installing herself there. Actually, it was the Suwon woman who had given her the idea. “If you don’t hurry, Hong Gyeong-ae might take Ui-gyeong’s place.”

The Suwon woman didn’t like the idea of mourning for three years, which was accepted practice during the Confucian era. She intended to choose a new husband and insist on dividing the rice refinery in three parts. It would be difficult to engage in a fight while living in the same house with the family. However, if the Hwagae-dong house were turned upside down and Deok-gi’s mother came to live with her son, it would look like the Suwon woman was being forced out and her reputation would remain unsullied.

The stars seemed to align themselves in the Suwon woman’s favor. The day after Ui-gyeong’s arrival, Deok-gi’s mother ran to her son and complained to him, and the son listened with sympathy. The Suwon woman smiled inwardly and decided to bide her time. She was confident that her plan would work, and perhaps even earlier than expected. Ui-gyeong, after the first day, however, didn’t feel like returning to Sang-hun’s house. The Suwon woman and Maedang had to coax her and, in the end, sent her back to Hwagae-dong to turn up the pressure on Sang-hun’s wife. Though she had vowed to stay put for several days, Ui-gyeong had come back to Maedang on a whim.

“You can’t behave like this,” the Suwon woman scolded the pouting young woman. “Just consider it your house and don’t budge. Our plan won’t work if you scamper back the first moment something doesn’t go your way.”

The next morning, Sang-hun hoped to send Ui-gyeong away to Maedang’s house in order to avoid a confrontation with Gyeong-ae. Gyeong-ae arrived well before ten o’clock — given the short winter days, the sun hadn’t been up for very long. Although exhausted, she decided to pay him a visit. She would be careful not to give the impression that she was ready to break off ties with Sang-hun. If she did, she’d certainly come away with nothing and wouldn’t be able to save face. It would be wiser to make it seem that she had distanced herself because of Ui-gyeong.

Gyeong-ae went straight to the inner quarters. The face of the mistress flashed in the tiny windowpane of the main room. Won-sam’s wife, who was setting a breakfast tray in the kitchen, welcomed her. “What brings you here?”

Sang-hun’s wife bawled, “Mind your own business!” Still bilious, she refused to greet Gyeong-ae. To see this woman when her husband’s new mistress was at this very moment in the outer quarters added insult to injury. She didn’t want her daughter to lay eyes on either of them.

“I’m sorry to hear about the trouble you’re having. I happened to be in the neighborhood, so I stopped by to give your husband some advice.” Leaving her sympathetic words hanging in the air, Gyeong-ae breezed out to the veranda and tapped on the door. A hush fell, and Sang-hun came out. Standing before her, he was visibly embarrassed. With her back to the door, Ui-gyeong was parting her hair in front of a mirror, with a washbasin beside her. Sang-hun seemed groggy. Ui-gyeong’s startled expression shifted rapidly to one of feigned indifference. With a wooden smile on her lips, she continued to comb her hair.

“Are you enjoying your honeymoon? But what’s this? Bringing some good family’s precious daughter and making her live in a back room like this?” Gyeong-ae took a joking tone with him, and Sang-hun, without thinking, burst out laughing. Infected by the mood, Ui-gyeong turned around with a grin and nodded to Gyeong-ae.

Sang-hun was oddly taken aback that Gyeong-ae didn’t lash out at them. His wife’s incessant nagging was becoming unbearable, but Gyeong-ae’s glee, on the other hand, was evidence of her heartlessness.

“You shouldn’t have asked me to come until you had set up house properly. Or is it that you want to show off how much fun you’re having?” Gyeong-ae asked.

“Who says I’m going to set up house?” Sang-hun smiled sheepishly.