I Became the Eldest Daughter of a Fallen Family - Chapter 33

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 33. A Father’s True Heart
‘It would be a sin not to use the answer when it’s right in front of me.’
So Yeon-hui promptly pulled out a handful of coins and bought beans in considerable quantity.
One bushel of beans would yield roughly seven blocks of tofu, which meant she’d have enough for two or three sales by volume.
Still, she hadn’t touched the three taels she’d received as an Advance Payment—that was the last shred of her conscience.
Yet buying beans in such abundance was hardly a decision ordinary people would find easy to understand.
Song stared at her with wide eyes and asked.
“Surely you don’t mean to buy that much, no matter how cheap it is? Why so many of something that tastes so bland?”
“I’m thinking of creating a new dish with these. Beans are rich in nutrition—they’re even called the meat of the fields.”
So Yeon-hui said this as she accepted the sack of beans.
She was brimming with confidence, and the Market Grain Shop owner’s mouth had stretched nearly from ear to ear, but Song still wore an expression of disbelief.
Song tilted her head and opened her mouth as if to speak.
Yet in the end she held her tongue, likely out of consideration for So Yeon-hui.
Or perhaps she was being careful not to seem covetous of a precious cooking technique.
‘She’s got surprising depth to her,’ So Yeon-hui thought.
You could tell her character simply by watching her children play freely with So Yeon-su and So Yeon-u without hesitation.
Children from other families all hastily kept their distance, dismissing the So Household as a criminal clan—yet the Shim Household alone harbored no such prejudice, letting the children mingle freely.
That’s why So Yeon-hui was truly grateful to Song.
She was always kind and warm-hearted, yet careful to restrain her actions if she worried she might overstep.
The two households had built the waterworks together against the village headman Wang—they could have asked more detailed questions—yet she never crossed the line.
‘As they say, the closer you are, the more careful you must be with propriety?’
So Yeon-hui was moved by such thoughtfulness that she inwardly resolved to share tofu with the Shim Household as soon as it was ready.
Just as she was turning to leave after finishing this rather impulsive extravagance—
“……What is all of that?”
So Yeon-hui turned at the familiar voice.
There stood a man with a face she could never quite grow accustomed to, arms crossed.
‘Ju Ha-yun, was it? Skilled at intimidating people, this one is.’
Unlike his cousin Wi Jeong, who was glaringly handsome in a showy way, Ju Ha-yun possessed a cool, refined air—always as precisely measured as if drawn by a ruler, commanding and overwhelming in his presence.
Look at him now: meeting by chance in front of the Market Grain Shop, yet not a single strand of hair, not a single wrinkle in his clothing was out of place.
As a result, So Yeon-hui and Song, who had just finished their business and were dressed rather unkemptly, quickly checked their own appearance.
Whether or not he noticed her inner thoughts, his gaze swept thoroughly over So Yeon-hui’s carrying frame and the sacks.
“I told you not to use meat, yet your pack is full of Meat and Offal. And furthermore……beans?”
He furrowed his brows and pointed at the sack of beans with his chin.
“Rice gruel is soft, so that much makes sense, but beans are hard—why would you buy so many for a banquet?”
His sharp criticism brought a flush to So Yeon-hui’s cheeks.
But soon the rebellious streak peculiar to So Clan blood surged up within her.
‘So what if I spend my own money on what I want? I haven’t even started developing the recipe yet.’
Besides, she hadn’t touched the three taels he’d given her as an Advance Payment, had she?
So Yeon-hui narrowed her brows and gave him a distinctly irritated look, then spoke to him in an openly curt tone.
“The Meat and Offal are for the base sauce, and the rice is for our household’s meals.”
“Then the beans?”
So Yeon-hui adjusted her grip on the sack and spoke clearly.
“The beans are a secret ingredient for the banquet dish, but there’s no need for you to worry. I know how to cook them until soft.”
The man’s expression turned cold. Plainly, he didn’t believe her at all.
But So Yeon-hui paid no mind and continued.
“If you truly cannot believe me, come by our house tomorrow afternoon. By then you’ll see exactly what I mean.”
Tofu and bean porridge were dishes as far apart as heaven and earth.
So those who’d never tasted them could hardly dare imagine the flavor—but as they say, seeing is believing.
Once he tasted it himself, all his doubt would surely dissolve. At least, that’s what So Yeon-hui believed.
And before that confident declaration, Ju Ha-yun opened his mouth once, then quietly withdrew without a word.
Song watched his retreating figure, then huddled close to So Yeon-hui and whispered in a small voice.
“You really can make it?”
“Of course. I don’t lie.”
So Yeon-hui smiled with confidence, and though Song looked worried, she offered her support nonetheless.
* * *
When she arrived home, her family was just coming in from finishing their work in the fields.
So Yeon-hui set down her basket and laid out what she’d bought that day.
Her mother Jang, delighted, rummaged through the basket, and at the sight of the rice, her eyes curved like crescents.
“Goodness, how long has it been since we’ve had rice? Thanks to you, our whole family will finally get to eat our fill!”
Her father So Jin also inspected the Meat and Offal in the pack, and with a pleased expression, quietly rolled up his sleeves.
“You’re planning to make the base sauce? I’ll handle the meat preparation.”
“You just came back from working the fields—you must be tired. Shouldn’t you rest instead?”
“I’m fine. This new Hand Hoe makes the fieldwork so manageable. Look at this—I still have strength to spare.”
He smiled and flexed his forearm lightly to demonstrate his vigor, as if to say her concern was unnecessary.
‘Truly a Human Weapon. Not even tired after tilling those rough fields with such a crude tool.’
So Jin was quite pleased, saying the Hand Hoe was sturdy from the binding to the blade without a single weak point, but to So Yeon-hui it was just a hand hoe.
Even with a tractor, people grow weary from all the work involved—yet he tilled those rough fields entirely by hand and still had strength left over?
It was a capacity that transcended ordinary humanity, yet So Yeon-hui found herself reassured by it.
Since she’d doubled the delivery quota, she obviously wouldn’t have enough hands to manage it alone.
She’d been worried about how to handle it all by herself, but her father stepping forward first was something she could only be grateful for.
* * *
“Having Father help really does make things so much easier!”
To make ten pounds of base sauce, you needed roughly eleven-and-a-half pounds of meat.
She’d worried about when she’d find time to slice and grind all that meat, but with her Human Weapon father working alongside her, everything finished far faster than expected.
No, when sheer strength was different, even the speed of turning the Meat Grinder handle was different.
As the meat ground well, So Yeon-hui and her younger siblings poured the pre-mixed seasonings over it and stirred.
Perhaps because the clay-like texture felt pleasant? The children laughed brightly the entire time they mixed the seasonings—a pleasant bonus.
Even her father So Jin, deftly fitting the casing onto the Meat Grinder nozzle, couldn’t help but smile quietly.
“I haven’t seen you laugh like that in so long. You seem brighter than you were in the Capital City.”
“Well, unlike the Capital City, we don’t have to study and can just play!”
“That’s right! And we get to spend time with you and Mother, which is really wonderful!”
At the children’s innocent cries, So Jin’s eyes grew a little misty.
Watching him, So Yeon-hui offered a rather mischievous comment.
“Yeon-su and Yeon-u are right. You know what? These days I’m actually grateful to that bastard Ju Ha-jin? Thanks to him framing Father, you don’t have to roam the Dangerous Battlefields anymore and can stay home with us.”
What good were riches and fame compared to being with family?
So Yeon-hui simply hoped that from now on, her father would always remain at their side.
Yet to that thoughtless and innocent sentiment, So Jin said nothing for a long while.
At last he opened his mouth in a low, quiet voice.
“I served the nation with all my heart, yet I wronged my family. Late though it is, I ask your forgiveness.”
But So Yeon-u shook his head firmly.
“I was always so proud of Father! Everyone envied that I was your son!”
So Yeon-su also nodded earnestly and added.
“Me too! Of course, being together like this is even better. But it was good then too.”
With the younger siblings speaking thus, how could So Yeon-hui remain silent?
She too smiled gently and continued.
“Thanks to the young masters, I’ve come to understand just how remarkable Father is. It’s almost unfair to the common people that our family has exclusive access to such a talent……but as your daughter, I’d like us to stay together as long as possible.”
Perhaps this was how the descendants of independence fighters felt.
Living with immense pride in their parents’ heroic deeds, yet being human—harboring selfish desires all the while.
So Jin found his children both deeply endearing and pitiable, and he smiled warmly.
Then he readily stroked each child’s head and spoke.
“I too was like you when I was young. I always wanted to be with Father and my older brother. Thinking back now, I should have whined more. Loyalty is good, but I should have asked to spend more time caring for my family.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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