Return To The Building Owner [EN]: Chapter 454

Opening Day.

BEEP BEEP BEEP~~~

Click!

Hyun-sung turned off the alarm clock beside his head. Usually, he would turn it off as soon as it started ringing, but today, perhaps because he had drunk heavily until late last night, he didn’t turn it off until it had rung three times.

“Ugh!”

As soon as he turned off the alarm, Hyun-sung jumped out of bed.

5 a.m.

It was the wake-up time he had been keeping religiously since his discharge from the military. He desperately wanted to lie down a little longer because he had drunk heavily until late last night, but he couldn’t because of the special meaning that today held.

D-Day!

Today was the day he was finally opening his business after four years of preparation.

Of course, the guests were limited to invited students and village elders, but it was still the first day of business, so he was nervous.

Swish, swish!

Hyun-sung went outside and lightly warmed up his body. It was a preparation exercise for his morning run.

In his past life, he was weak and suffered until the end, but after his regression, thanks to the wild ginseng, he was in a state of health that couldn’t be compared to his past life.

Health should be protected when you have it.

Running.

It was the exercise method Hyun-sung chose because he thought exercise was essential to maintain a healthy body due to his suffering in his past life.

So, he gets up at 5 a.m. every day and runs.

“Okay, shall we run now?”

Hyun-sung took a vigorous step after finishing his warm-up exercises.

Hyun-sung’s steps, breaking through the darkness, seemed to have more strength than usual today. That was probably because of the special meaning that today held.

It was when he was running for about 10 minutes and just passing in front of the village hall.

“Mr. Kim!”

It was Lee Kang-seok, the village chief.

“Oh? Village Chief, what brings you here so early?”

“I was waiting for you.”

“Yes? You were waiting for me?”

“Yes, today is the opening, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. But is that why you were waiting for me so early in the morning?”

Lee Kang-seok nodded and took something out of his inside pocket. Then, he immediately held it out to Hyun-sung.

“Take this.”

“Oh? Isn’t this an envelope?”

It was still a dark dawn, but thanks to the streetlights installed last year with the village development fund created from the profits of the wholesale market, he could immediately tell that what Lee Kang-seok was handing him was an envelope of money.

But what was strange was that the thickness was considerable for a money envelope.

But Hyun-sung’s interest wasn’t in the thickness.

The reason.

Hyun-sung couldn’t understand why Lee Kang-seok was giving him this envelope. If it was a congratulatory gift, he had already received it from him at the dedication ceremony last year.

“No, Village Chief. Why are you giving this to me? You already gave me an envelope at the dedication ceremony last time, didn’t you? I’m grateful for that alone, but if you give me this again, I’ll feel sorry…”

“It’s not mine.”

Lee Kang-seok shook his hand before Hyun-sung could finish speaking. Then, he immediately continued.

“I’m just running an errand.”

“Yes? An errand?”

“Yes, the villagers collected it little by little. Section Chief Kim brought it last night. He said it was collected little by little by the villagers.”

Only then did Hyun-sung realize why the envelope was so thick when he received it a little while ago. The money in the envelope was not from one person, but from several villagers.

Of course, he didn’t know how much the amount was, but judging from the thickness, he thought the amount would be considerable.

Lee Kang-seok’s words continued.

“I wanted to give it to you directly, but I was embarrassed because the amount was small, so I asked him to deliver it for me instead. It’s less than 200,000 won [approximately $150 USD, a significant amount at the time], including the 1,000 won bills, but please accept it with a happy heart as it is the heart of the villagers.”

“200,000 won? That much?”

That’s right.

In that era, that amount was by no means a small amount.

And one more thing he could tell was the reason why the envelope was thick. There would be a considerable number of 1,000 won or 5,000 won bills in the envelope, as well as 10,000 won bills.

That meant that the value of 1,000 won bills was quite high back then.

Lee Kang-seok nodded and continued.

“Actually, I was surprised too. But what surprised me wasn’t the amount of money. It’s that this has never happened in our village before. No one has ever raised money collectively and voluntarily because someone is opening a restaurant. That’s what surprised me.”

Lee Kang-seok took a breath and then continued.

“Maybe Mr. Kim is still young and doesn’t know, but it’s never easy for people to donate money to celebrate someone, regardless of the amount. To do that, the heart here must move first.”

Lee Kang-seok lightly tapped his chest.

Hyun-sung had lived long enough to know that.

Lee Kang-seok’s words were true.

The amount wasn’t important, but even if it was just 1,000 won, it could never happen unless the heart moved first.

As Hyun-sung nodded slightly, Lee Kang-seok’s words continued.

“But that kind of thing happened for the first time in our village this time. What does this mean?”

“I’m just grateful.”

“No, we’re the ones who are grateful.”

“Yes?”

Hyun-sung looked up and stared at Lee Kang-seok. It meant that he didn’t know what it meant.

Then, Lee Kang-seok smiled and immediately continued.

“Don’t you know what it means?”

“No, I don’t…”

“It means that people have more peace of mind.”

“Peace of mind?”

“That’s right. To tell you the truth, the villagers were uneasy when Mr. Kim bought a considerable amount of land in our village four years ago.”

It was a somewhat expected part.

It wasn’t someone else, but young Hyun-sung suddenly started buying land, so the villagers must have been uneasy and, on the other hand, envious.

But at that time, it was an unavoidable situation for Hyun-sung. That didn’t mean that it was easy to explain the situation to them one by one.

He thought it would be better to show them the results later than to explain it in words from the beginning, even if they might misunderstand him for the time being.

Lee Kang-seok’s words continued.

“But people’s hearts started to change in April of last year when the cherry blossoms started to bloom.”

“Cherry blossoms?”

“Of course, cherry blossoms are just an excuse.”

“An excuse?”

“That’s right, honestly, what interest would people living in our rural area have in those cherry blossoms? Don’t you think so?”

Hyun-sung had no choice but to nod.

That was obvious.

From the perspective of farmers, they would have been unhappy with Hyun-sung for building roads and planting cherry trees on land that was used for farming.

Moreover, how could they have had those flowers in their eyes when even a single penny was precious?

“But the reason their thoughts changed was because of the wholesale market.”

“The wholesale market?”

“That’s right, Mr. Kim knows better, but didn’t you start operating the wholesale market when the cherry blossoms started to bloom last year? Of course, the result was a huge success. That’s when people started to change.”

That’s why he created the wholesale market from the beginning.

The income of the entire village was more important than Hyun-sung’s own income.

As the saying goes, generosity comes from a full barn.

When people are struggling financially, they can’t have peace of mind. In that case, it’s only natural that neighbors will fight over even trivial things and won’t have the heart to share even small things.

That’s an unchanging truth, regardless of East or West.

That’s why he started operating the wholesale market before opening the restaurant.

As Hyun-sung nodded, Lee Kang-seok continued.

“People’s hearts have become more relaxed because they are getting better off economically little by little. That’s why they have a heart to think about other people besides themselves.”

“So this time…”

“That’s right, even if they are rural people who don’t know anything, how can they not know? That their lives have improved thanks to Mr. Kim. That’s why that heart was expressed this time.”

It was definitely true that they had changed.

Most of all, what stood out was the expressions on people’s faces. He felt that people’s expressions had been changing for some time, and when he invited them to the dedication ceremony at the end of November last year, he could definitely feel that people’s expressions had changed.

The dark and wary expressions of the past could not be found.

As expected, people started to change as money started to circulate in the village.

The importance of money.

It was a reality that he had to admit, even if he didn’t want to.

Lee Kang-seok smiled this time and continued.

“And do you know what the most important thing is?”

“The most important thing?”

“Yes, it’s that people have started to have hope. It was something that couldn’t have been imagined even a year ago. To be honest, everyone knew that there was no answer to farming in the countryside. That’s why their expressions were naturally dark. Now that I think about it, even while farming…”

Lee Kang-seok’s words became longer.

The words were long, but the final conclusion was still the same. There was no hope in the countryside.

Lee Kang-seok stopped talking and glanced at Hyun-sung before continuing.

“But that’s no longer the case. Now, everyone, without exception, has found hope that we can live well if we work hard.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Of course, all of this is thanks to Mr. Kim.”

“I just created the conditions. The rest is up to the women’s association and the villagers…”

“That’s enough.”

Lee Kang-seok smiled this time and politely interrupted Hyun-sung’s words. Then, he immediately continued.

“Humility is excessive, it becomes arrogance. Of course, I’m not saying that Mr. Kim is like that, but anyway, it’s true that our village has been revived thanks to Mr. Kim. So please accept this envelope with a happy heart.”

“… Yes, I understand. Since you say so, I will gratefully accept it with a happy heart.”

Hyun-sung hesitated for a moment, but he decided that in this situation, it would be better for the villagers to accept the envelope willingly than to say anything else, so he accepted it with a good feeling.

It was an unexpected thing.

But what was important was that the villagers had hope and that they themselves had moved their hearts and became united on this occasion.

Unity.

Hyun-sung, who knew how difficult it was to unite people’s hearts, felt another possibility and was happier than anything else.

After a brief greeting with Lee Kang-seok, Hyun-sung started running again.

An hour later.

Hyun-sung, who had finished exercising and arrived at the wholesale market at the entrance of the village, was surprised.

It was dark just 30 minutes ago when he passed by here.

But now, the lights in the wholesale market were brightly lit, and there were quite a few people. Of course, those people were members of the women’s association.

The time was just past 6:10 a.m.

Even though it was March, the weather was still quite chilly as the area was the area. And usually, the wholesale market starts operating at 10 a.m. But what’s going on today…

“Mr. President, are you back from exercising?”

The person who appeared in front of Hyun-sung was Lee Soon-ok, the president of the women’s association.

“No, President. What’s going on? It’s just past 6 o’clock, what are you doing here?”

“We’re going to start today too.”

“Start?”

“Yes, today is the day Mr. President starts his business, so we’re going to start properly today too.”

Hyun-sung was in a situation that he couldn’t understand even if he thought about it. It was good to start, but the problem was the time. He couldn’t understand what they were going to start at 6 a.m.

Curious, Hyun-sung immediately asked.

“President, it’s only a little past 6 o’clock. But what are you talking about starting?”

“A big cleaning.”

“A big cleaning?”

“Yes, we decided to come out at 6 o’clock and start cleaning from today. We’ll finish cleaning for an hour, go home and have breakfast, and then come out again by 9 o’clock. People will start flocking in earnest from a month from now, so we’re going to start preparing from now on.”

Lee Soon-ok’s expression was brighter than ever. But it wasn’t just Lee Soon-ok whose expression was bright. None of the other members of the women’s association who were cleaning had dark expressions.

It was another change from a year ago.

A smile was spreading on Hyun-sung’s face as he confirmed that.

“It’s amazing.”

It was Lee Soon-ok’s words. Hyun-sung, who couldn’t not know what that meant.

“It’s really amazing. People change like this in just one year.”

“I know, right? When I look at the other members, I can really tell that they’ve changed. In fact, it wasn’t me who suggested that we come out at 6 o’clock and start cleaning from today, it was the members.”

“Really?”

“Yes, these days the older sisters are pushing me around.”

“Yes? Pushing you around?”

Hyun-sung looked at Lee Soon-ok at the word pushing around. But what was strange was her expression. She was smiling, not feeling bad at all, even though she was saying pushing around.

She immediately opened her mouth.

“Hehe, but I like that so much. In the past, they would reluctantly do anything if I told them to do it, but these days it’s the opposite.”

“The opposite?”

“Yes, the older sisters make things to do on their own first. So these days, I’m busy following the older sisters. Not only that…”

Lee Soon-ok’s words became longer.

Hyun-sung was smiling without realizing it as he listened to her words. He could fully understand how much the members of the women’s association had changed from Lee Soon-ok’s expression and words.

Lee Soon-ok, who had been talking for a while, finished her words and called Hyun-sung.

“Mr. President.”

“Yes.”

“I guess this is what hope is. Both I and all the members have changed so much that it can’t be compared to a year ago.”

“It looks like that to me too. You’ve worked hard.”

“Thank you, it’s all…”

“Wait a minute!”

Hyun-sung raised his hand and interrupted Lee Soon-ok’s words. Then, he immediately continued.

“It’s not just one person, it’s all of us who have done it. Got it? Both the president, me, and all our members. In that sense, let’s work even harder this year.”

“Hehe… Yes, I understand.”

Lee Soon-ok smiled brightly and nodded.

It was then.

Whether someone turned it on, a song started to flow powerfully from the speaker.

-The morning bell rang~~ A new morning has dawned~~ You and I get up and cultivate a new village~~-

The untimely New Village Movement song [Saemaul Undong song, a patriotic song from a rural development campaign in the 1970s] began to spread throughout the village, piercing the dawn air.