I Became the Eldest Daughter of a Fallen Family - Chapter 63

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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 63. The Beginning of Change (1)
Does age really matter when it comes to romance?
While a group of children with an average age of nine were busy creating a sweetly romantic atmosphere, So Yeon-hui’s expression hardened for a different reason altogether.
As it is written in the Analects, if one were to express in a single character what a virtuous person should practice throughout their life, it would be mercy—the heart that understands and sympathizes with others.
“Do not do unto others what you would not have done unto yourself”—in other words, do not inflict upon others what you yourself do not desire.
Even adults find such words difficult to understand if they do not keep close to books; for a mere ten-year-old child to recite them so perfectly was truly remarkable.
Yet So Yeon-u did not stop at merely reciting the words—he demonstrated them through his very actions.
He forgave the grandson of Wang, a man who might have been considered as mortal an enemy as one could imagine.
Watching this unfold in silence, So Yeon-hui was moved by profound emotion. Yet the words of pride that had risen to her throat she barely managed to swallow.
She found herself doubting whether she had the right to say such a thing to him.
‘When I think about it, I have always lived selfishly.’
When her father had suddenly passed away and her mother took on the burden of managing the household, So Yeon-hui could have helped care for the family alongside her.
Yet consumed by her desire to continue her studies, she turned a blind eye to her mother’s suffering—and that choice came back to haunt her in the form of her mother’s illness.
‘Even after leaving university, I was such a worthless daughter, such a worthless sister.’
With her mother bedridden and her underage siblings still to be cared for, abandoning her studies had become an inescapable necessity.
Having already paid the price once for making the wrong choice, she could not afford to repeat the same mistake. So Yeon-hui clung even more desperately to the single task of earning money, ignoring her mother’s pleas.
But what had come of that? In the end, her mother had passed away, and all her efforts had been for nothing.
It was around that time that she had begun to resent her siblings even as she cherished them—and to fear them as well.
“Sister, please don’t work so hard all by yourself. We’re old enough to do part-time jobs now.”
“That’s right, Older Sister. Just sign this consent form, and I promise I’ll never bother you about it again.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Students should study, not suddenly start working. Do you think I work day and night shifts at the factory for my health? I do it so you don’t have to.”
She did not want them to walk the same path she had.
To abandon your dreams, to earn money while feeling your body waste away—she would never let that happen to them.
They were still so young. If they overextended themselves trying to balance work and study and ended up sick like their mother, what then?
So she had only grown more forceful in her control, keeping the children sheltered within the home.
But when she truly thought about it, were her siblings’ hearts really so different from her own?
Their father had died suddenly, their grandmother had collapsed, and their mother—struggling alone—had fallen ill.
In such circumstances, how could anyone not worry if their sister worked herself ragged in the factory until dawn? How could anyone not want to help?
“…I shouldn’t have dismissed it as merely childish talk.”
“Pardon?”
“Oh, it’s nothing!”
So Yeon-hui brushed off Jang’s question with a carefree laugh and turned her attention back to serving the guests with a bright face.
‘Well, I can still change from here on. That’s what matters.’
She had even brought her family back from the brink of death—surely she could manage something like this.
Watching the two children happily distribute Du-hwa, So Yeon-hui’s expression became ever so slightly more at ease than before.
* * *
Two days after the hectic beam-raising ceremony had finally ended.
So Yeon-hui drove her donkey cart toward the Five-Day Market before the sun had even risen.
No matter how busy the construction kept her, she could not simply abandon her cosmetics deliveries; she had made an arrangement to meet and deliver cosmetics at the market once every five days.
“Here’s the payment for the cosmetics—120 cash. By the way, I heard you held a beam-raising ceremony yesterday. You look absolutely exhausted.”
“Don’t even mention it. The dishes were endless. My hands were so raw I thought they’d fall off.”
Though she could pile dried side dishes carelessly onto wide plates, broths required their own serving vessels.
And while stir-fried dishes and pancakes could share a plate, the Du-hwa dessert had to go on its own dish. With at least three bowls per guest, the quantity was staggering.
On top of that, she’d had to use three different types of pots, each one requiring scrubbing.
So Yeon-hui complained at length about how, had they not connected water pipes all the way to the Courtyard, she would have nearly worked through the entire day just running back and forth to the Well.
“Then why didn’t you just serve a reasonable amount? A couple of stir-fried dishes would have earned you the reputation of being generous.”
“But how could I do that? Since they came all this way, I had to be generous. The more you give, the more blessings come back to you.”
Indeed, she had received a genuinely generous amount of Good Deed Points.
The more varieties of food she distributed, the more Points per person—that was how the system worked.
As a result, a single beam-raising ceremony had earned her 160 Points.
‘After I spent nearly all my savings buying 1,000 bricks last time, this is truly a godsend.’
The construction required a total of 2,700 bricks, and with the bare minimum equipment included, she’d need roughly 530 Points in all.
‘So I just need to earn 7 more Points.’
And that much would come together naturally as she helped build the walls.
It was only natural that So Yeon-hui hummed contentedly.
After delivering the cosmetics to Jang’s household and buying some vegetables on the way back.
She’d filled the remaining 7 Points by giving a ride to some elderly folks who appeared to be laden with baggage, and now, sitting atop the cart, she opened Jijang Market and began shopping.
‘1,000 bricks and two Trowels.’
She’d wondered how long it would take to spend so many Points, but the moment she’d made up her mind to purchase, they were gone in an instant.
Beyond the sheer cost, she realized that the sheer quantity would be difficult to fit all at once on the cart, and she clicked her tongue in dismay.
‘I’ll buy it directly in the Courtyard. I’ll need to unload everything from the cart anyway for the construction.’
Fortunately, this morning’s schedule was to go up the mountain to gather materials for San-ja.
So Yeon-hui urged the donkey on a bit faster than usual, hurrying the journey home.
* * *
“You sweet little thing. You worked hard today too!”
So Yeon-hui fed a carrot to the donkey tied up in the temporary Stable, then dusted off her hands and stepped out into the Courtyard.
She asked her siblings to keep watch of the surroundings for a moment, then quickly opened Jijang Market and pressed the purchase button.
And then—
Thud!
In an instant, accompanied by a heavy sound, an enormous quantity of materials appeared without warning in one corner of the Courtyard.
The stack of bricks, arranged neatly in rows and columns, was almost artful in its precision.
‘I’m so grateful I don’t have to unpack each bulky item from individual boxes.’
If all these materials had arrived in separate delivery boxes—
Goodness, how would she have managed the aftermath?
So Yeon-hui gave a thumbs up toward Jijang Market’s thoughtfully designed delivery system.
And just as she was carefully unloading from the cart the bags of Quicklime she had purchased in advance for this very moment—
“Sister! Father’s coming down the road!”
At So Yeon-u’s warning, voices began to sound from the direction of the gate.
Father So Jin was returning, having gathered a large pile of wood and leading the Shim Family members and laborers back.
“Father! Welcome home.”
At So Yeon-hui’s cry, So Jin—carrying bundles of wood across his shoulders—stepped into the Courtyard, and his eyes came to rest on the newly stacked pile of materials.
“You went to the market, and now you’ve bought more materials?”
“Yes. It’s better to get things early so there’s less trouble later.”
So Jin set down the bundles of wood and spoke.
“Next time you unload from the cart, call your father. There’s no need for you to suffer alone.”
Jung stepped in to help as well.
“That’s right. Why would you and the children move all those heavy things by yourselves? What if you hurt your back? Leave the heavy work to us adults.”
At Jung’s concern, which had grown warmer over the past few days of work, So Yeon-hui laughed with some embarrassment.
The misunderstanding that she was a girl blessed with her father’s strength was not entirely wrong, so there was nothing truly problematic about it.
‘Getting everything delivered with a click, and now receiving sympathy for it—that’s a bit awkward, though.’
Her conscience pricked her uncomfortably.

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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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