I Became the Eldest Daughter of a Fallen Family - Chapter 58

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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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Chapter 58. The Red Brick House (1)
So Jin returned as the sun tilted toward the western horizon.
Exhilarated by a hunt he hadn’t enjoyed in some time, he’d ventured deep into the forest and caught three foxes and three badgers, returning home in high spirits with his prize.
But the moment he spotted the ruined fence and the state of the courtyard from a distance, he sensed something was amiss and quickened his pace like the wind.
“What on earth has happened? Did someone come by while I was away?”
Before So Yeon-hui could gather her thoughts to explain anything to her father’s anxious tone—
So Yeon-u, loose-tongued as a magpie, couldn’t hold back and spilled everything that had occurred that morning.
So Jin’s face hardened.
Without a word, he set down the beasts he’d caught at the edge of the courtyard, then turned toward the village with an expression like a demon.
“Father! There’s no need for that! Village Chief Wang won’t dare show his face here for a while. Everyone saw the magistrate herself come in person!”
“Whether he comes or not is irrelevant. I cannot overlook someone who dares enter my home and wreak such havoc.”
At the sight of her father’s demeanor—grim as a demon itself—So Yeon-u, who had been eagerly recounting the events, flinched and took a step back.
Only then did So Jin, seeing her reaction, dampen the killing intent that radiated from him and speak to his daughter.
“Moreover, how could I forgive someone who dared raise a cudgel against you?”
His children were dearer to him than his own eyes. What? The man tried to beat them to death?
If he could hear such news and do nothing, how could he call himself a father? So Jin resolved that even if he faced execution for murder, he would put Wang Chun-bae to death.
At this, So Yeon-hui hurriedly clung to her father’s waist, then cried out with her eyes squeezed shut.
“I already cracked that bastard’s skull!”
“…What?”
“Well, he did swing the cudgel, but he was so scrawny and weak that I just pushed him back with my body. And then that son of a bitch’s back of the head just…”
Of course, it wasn’t just a gentle push but a hard shove. Yet what were the odds that a rock would be lodged exactly where he fell?
Blood poured from the back of his head as if a hole had opened there, and later she’d grown frightened at the sight.
Fortunately, Wi Jung had applied first aid so well that when she and Ju Ha-yun finished talking and left, there was no trace of it.
At her daughter’s lament that had his help not been there, she herself would have become a murderer, not he, So Jin felt his resolve crumble.
“I don’t know whether to be pleased or worried. Still, I’m grateful you came away without injury.”
“Hehe. I suppose I inherited Father’s Reflexive Instinct along with his good genes.”
Thanks to it, she’d protected the family and earned a whopping 80 Good Deed Points—a complete windfall.
So Yeon-hui beamed as she boasted of her resilience, but So Jin’s expression darkened again within moments.
He gazed at the ruined courtyard and the children still trying to calm their startled hearts, then let out a sigh.
“It was my leaving that caused this.”
“How can you say such a thing? It’s not your fault, Father.”
“That’s right! Village Chief Wang is the one at fault—why do you blame yourself?”
So Yeon-u immediately followed up on So Yeon-hui’s rebuttal.
Even So Yeon-u, usually given to simple thinking and simpler speech, this time poured out a rare torrent of rapid-fire objections.
“That’s right! This is entirely Village Chief Wang’s doing, so it’s absolutely his fault. Just like my sister said, we should demand compensation and squeeze everything out of him!”
Moved by how earnestly his children sought to comfort him, So Jin gazed at them silently for a moment, then slowly lowered his eyes.
‘I may never be a good father, but I didn’t want to be an untrustworthy one. Yet my own failings have made it so my children cannot even be children.’
His throat tightened, and for a moment he clenched his teeth.
“You’ve come home?”
His wife Jang, who had been unable to leave the inner room while calming his startled mother-in-law, finally emerged from the chambers to greet him.
“My, foxes and badgers? With your hunting, we needn’t worry about the cold this winter. Just making vests for everyone would keep the whole family warm.”
Though she praised the game he’d brought back as if nothing were amiss, how deeply corrupted must her gentle heart be with worry? So Jin felt grateful for his wife’s consideration, yet always sorry.
Did she sense his inner thoughts?
Jang exchanged a subtle glance with So Yeon-hui, then smoothly changed the subject.
“Yeon-hui, there’s something…”
“Yes, Mother?”
“That Wang fellow left having suffered such shame. I worry the villagers might hate our So Family even more because of today.”
“There’s no need to worry about that, Mother. From the start, they didn’t seem to hold any ill will toward us—they came only because they couldn’t resist Village Chief Wang’s coercion. Since most everyone here does tenant farming under his hand, they’ll hate us even if they don’t want to. They’ll merely pretend to dislike us.”
He understood what his daughter and wife were getting at. Yet the magistrate was distant, and the villains targeting the So Family were near at hand.
So Jin asked, still worried.
“But what if the villagers are swayed by Village Chief Wang’s manipulation again…”
“They absolutely won’t be swayed again, I promise you?”
So Yeon-hui laughed lightly.
“I’ll make sure of it.”
At her confident—indeed, shameless—declaration, So Jin looked at his daughter and gave a short laugh.
The guilt pressing on his chest seemed to lighten a little in that glance.
* * *
A few days later, So Yeon-hui set out early in the morning, leading a donkey cart toward the well.
She’d never before brought the donkey cart into the village proper for fear of arousing jealousy, but today was different—today she needed to show the So Family’s true strength.
She deliberately chose cleaner clothes and even hung bells on the donkey’s body to make their procession more conspicuous.
The moment she arrived at the well, every eye turned toward her.
A woman drawing water stopped mid-turn, and an old man smoking behind the fence quickly withdrew his head.
‘They say she’s of criminal stock, yet she has connections to the magistrate herself?’
‘Could she actually be someone of high station, banished to our village due to some circumstance?’
‘But then, how could that lady break Village Chief Wang—that obnoxious brute—across the head? How could a gently raised noble daughter do such a thing?’
‘Well, I suppose that’s true, but…’
Each person cast speculation and suspicion upon her, yet So Yeon-hui paid no mind.
Instead, she smiled brightly and greeted those who’d come to draw morning water first.
“Good morning, everyone. What a lovely day.”
“Ah, ah yes. A lovely day indeed.”
A woman hesitated, then answered quietly.
Her expression wavered in a complex way—mingled shame and relief so obvious that even a casual kindness seemed likely to be met with renewed silence.
So So Yeon-hui abandoned her planned small talk and moved directly to business with the villagers.
“The reason I came to the village today is that our home needs some repair. We need a new gate, we need to raise the fence, we need to expand the kitchen, and since we have no connections in the area, it’s difficult to find workers. We’ll pay you fairly, so please help us.”
At So Yeon-hui’s words, everyone in Mangok Village stiffened.
For they suddenly realized that though the So Family’s fence and courtyard had been in ruin for three days now, no one had stepped forward to help.
‘Oh… even so, we were rather terrible.’
‘That’s true. They may live outside the village boundary, but they’re still neighbors.’
In Cheongyang County, it was customary for neighbors to help repair each other’s homes. In this borderland village, if people didn’t help one another in such times, how would they survive if bandits or foreign raiders attacked?
Guilt spread through the well, and the place fell silent at once.
Yet the other party was a household at odds with the Wang family. Since everyone did tenant farming under them, no one dared step forward easily.
Then, hesitantly, a man opened his mouth.
“What would the daily wage be?”
“Ten coins per person per day. I plan to provide lunch—rice and meat broth.”
What? Rice and meat broth? And ten coins a day as daily wage?
A stir erupted at once. This time a young man quickly raised his hand and asked.
“How many workers are you looking to hire? How many days of work would there be?”
“I’d say three or four people would suffice, and the work would take about ten to fifteen days. It could stretch longer if there’s more to do.”
People looked at one another.
The Wang family wasn’t the issue anymore.
Ten coins a day for ten to fifteen days meant at least fifty coins! That was a measure of rice in daily wages alone—only a fool would turn this down!
“I, I’ll do it! I’ve done carpentry work before, so I’m sure I’ll be useful!”

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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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