chapter 26
26. Hanon Hana
I heard the news of Kim Il-sung’s death this summer.
It is said that a person’s name is determined by heaven.
Does such a fate really exist?
It is a question that comes back to me from my past life and I always wonder.
Everything in the world is proceeding the same as in the past life.
1994.
Kim Il-sung died, Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa, and the World Series was canceled in the United States.
Everything is going the same way, as if it was decided by fate.
So, the fate of man… .
In particular, I often wonder if the fate associated with death has already been decided.
Youngmi’s house.
When I finished my explanation, Youngmi said.
“Wow… ! Jungho, I think you’re really smart. If you listen carefully to what you are saying, do you know a lot of secrets?”
I laughed out loud at Yeong-mi’s compliment.
“haha–! is it?”
“Every time I ask a question I don’t know, he explains it so clearly… It’s amazing.”
“Interesting? what?”
“I think you will do well in your studies just by looking at it, so why do you get only 80 points every day when you take exams?”
“What? what! How did you know my score?”
Youngmi smiled and said.
“You can know everything. Anyway, this time, study hard and try to improve your grades.”
“Yes. Is that so?”
Youngmi smiled broadly at my words.
When Young-mi smiles, her half-moon eyes close slightly, and the way she smiles like that is very pretty.
What is ‘maybe’? If you want to improve your grades, are you going to raise them as you please?”
“ah… ! Did I say that? haha–. This time, I’m going to study hard, right?”
Youngmi said with a sad expression.
“Jungho, if you studied well, you could go to the competition together… .”
“Competition? What competition?”
“There is a science contest in Daejeon. Did you not hear me?”
I shook my head.
“I also heard from the homeroom teacher yesterday. He told me to prepare well for the midterm exam. The number of participants will be selected based on the results of the midterm exam.”
“Do you know how many people go to the competition?”
“A deal with 10 people in our grade.”
We were studying in the living room with Yeong-mi, but Yeong-mi’s father came out of the bedroom and said to us.
“Aren’t these guys too attached? There is a saying that ‘seven men and women live together’, right?”
ah… ! Don’t get me wrong… .
Since Yeongmi and I are sitting with a large table in the middle right now, we are at least a meter apart.
“Dad! It’s embarrassing and you keep doing that!”
Youngmi called her mother.
“Mom! Dad, how are you doing? I can’t study because of my dad!”
Young-mi’s father smiled and moved to the kitchen at Yeong-mi’s mother.
In fact, Young-mi’s father is checking us now, going back and forth between the bedroom and the kitchen every 10 minutes.
You’re actually watching me.
Youngmi is not only pretty, but she is also tall, has a cool personality, loves sports, and studies really well.
In short, he is a child with no place to fall.
With such a pretty daughter sitting at the same table as a boy and studying, there is no father in the world who wouldn’t mind.
I fully understand the heart of Anglo-American father.
After Youngmi’s mother said that lunch was ready, I sat around the table with Youngmi’s family.
I purposely took a seat opposite Young-Mi’s father… This was to take a closer look at Young-Mi’s father’s complexion.
Yes, that’s right.
As much as my father was watching over me,
I was also closely observing Young-mi’s father.
past life.
Young-mi’s father died of acute pneumonia at the detention center, and the date was the very next week, November 2nd.
In this life, the true culprit of the embezzlement case was corrected, and Young-mi’s father was spared from being imprisoned in the detention center, but as I have the memories of my past life… Yeong-mi’s father’s death date had no choice but to be concerned.
Fortunately, Yeong-mi’s father looks good, and he eats well.
Above all, from what I observed… Young-mi’s father never coughed today.
It seems that there is no need to worry about pneumonia.
I’m happy, I’m really happy.
It gave me the confidence that I could directly change someone’s fate.
I remembered the accident my mother passed away last life.
The location, date and time of the accident… I once again imprinted it in my mind.
Although it is still in the distant future, it is information that should never be forgotten.
After studying with Youngmi, it was late in the afternoon and I returned home.
My mother was preparing dinner in the kitchen, and I entered the room and sat down at the computer desk.
On the computer desk were three coffee cups and a large plate with original Chinese documents.
It is clear that your mother has been working on the translation all day.
When I pressed the computer’s keyboard, the screen on the monitor turned on, and I checked the translated documents.
Of the 28 pages of the original document, up to 14 pages were completed.
That means you’ve been translating six pages all day.
The deadline is Tuesday morning… Translation speed is too slow.
Contrary to expectations, it was clear that it was too much of a burden because it was his first time doing it.
Then I heard my mother’s voice from the kitchen.
“Jeong-ho, can you bring me a cup of coffee and a plate from the computer desk? Now I have to wash the dishes together.”
“Yes, Mom.”
I went to the kitchen and put the coffee cup and plate in the sink, and I took the rubber glove from my mother’s hand and said,
“Mom, I’ll do the dishes.”
My mother said with a bright expression on my words.
“Can you please? Mom is a little busy right now… .”
“Absolutely!”
“Thank you, son! The rice is set on the table, so eat it yourself.”
My mother went straight into my room.
You don’t show it to me, but my mother will be very upset.
I finished washing the dishes and checked my watch.
8:45 p.m.
Instead of going to my room, I sat on the sofa in the living room and read a book.
It was because I felt like I was going to disturb my mother when I entered the room.
I read the book and checked the time.
10:30 p.m.
You have translated up to 14 of the 28 pages, so half of the 14 pages remain.
Tomorrow is Monday, so my mother has to go to school.
And the deadline is two days later, Tuesday morning.
Perhaps your mother stays up all night to translate.
I sat on the sofa in the living room and waited another 30 minutes, and at 11 o’clock I got up from the sofa and headed to my room.
I was thinking of sleeping in the bedroom with my pillow.
I opened the door carefully so as not to interfere with my mother’s work.
A mother’s work seen through an open door.
ah… ! Only now did I know
Why was my mother’s translation work so slow?
My mother was using the keyboard for the eagle stroke, but in fact, it wasn’t just a problem with the eagle stroke.
Typing without checking the monitor almost always made typos, and when there was one typo, he pressed the backspace key to erase all the places where there was a typo and typed again.
Because of this, he said that he had written and erased the same sentence over and over again.
This… Totally my fault.
I should have told you this in advance… .
“I… Mom.”
How focused… My mother was so startled that my whole body shook at my words.
“Oh my goodness! Is Jung-ho here?”
The mother then spoke with a perplexed expression on her face.
“ah… ! The time has already come Have you been waiting in the living room all this time?”
“no. I was reading a book.”
A good idea suddenly came to mind.
“Mom, wait a minute.”
I went to the kitchen and returned to my room with a table chair.
I put my chair in front of the computer desk and told my mother.
“Mom, please sit here.”
“No, he… ? Why are you sitting next to me?”
“Hurry up.”
At my urging, my mother moved to the dining table chair, and I sat on the computer desk where she was sitting, put my hand on the keyboard, and said to my mother.
“Mom, please tell me what to translate next.”
“What?”
“Tell me what to type now.”
I know my mother’s ability to learn languages better than anyone.
He knew that he would get a score close to perfect on the TOEIC test, and he knew how to master Chinese quickly.
And I knew that I would pass the translator’s license at once.
By the way, even when my mother is studying English… .
Even when studying Chinese… .
Do not use a dictionary or jade.
Out of curiosity, I asked my mother, and her answer at that time was overwhelming.
He said it was annoying to constantly look up the dictionary, so he took three days to memorize the whole dictionary.
Although there is some jargon, I didn’t think it would take this long to translate the only 28 page warranty.
So, for the past few days, I have been paying close attention to the translation work that my mother is doing.
My mother, who realized my intentions, said.
“uh… Would it? Then I’ll start. As shown in Figure 3, the tensile strength test revealed that the yield stress averaged 562.7 kilograms. This value is more than 100 kilograms higher than the 450 kilograms suggested by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and all 45 parts used in the test showed higher strength than the standard value of 450 kilograms… … .”
Also, as expected.
Her mother’s words were translated without hesitation.
Because it was about the speed of reading a book a little slowly.
How frustrating it must have been since you were typing this with difficulty.
As I was typing for a while, my mother said:
“Jeong-ho, it’s too late. Tomorrow is Monday, so I have to go to school.
“a—! It wasn’t even half past twelve yet.”
The mother shook her head with a determined expression.
I said in a silly voice.
“Mom—-! I like it.”
“what?”
“I like working with my mom like this. it’s fun.”
It was sincere.
I really liked the fact that I was sitting next to my mother and working.
As for any thoughts… .
Don’t tell my mother how to type on the keyboard, and every time a translation request came in, I even thought that I had to type.
Mother said with a smirk.
“What’s funny about this?”
“Mom, it’s been a while. Isn’t it page 23 now?”
“That’s right… But… .”
“At the current pace, do you think it will be over in 40 minutes?”
Mother let out a short sigh and said.
“Then let’s finish it as soon as possible. I’m sorry that I couldn’t even sleep for you because of your mom.”
* * *
the next evening.
My mother and I were sitting in the living room watching the news after dinner.
Mother watching the news opened her mouth with a worried expression.
“It’s been a few days since the Seongsu Bridge collapsed… Are you worried about going to the subway?”
It was a news report accusing the structural safety of the Dangsan Railway Bridge.
Severe cracks were found in the iron beam, which raised serious concerns about the safety of the bridge.
After the news… .
Suddenly, I remembered what Incheol had said a few days ago.
‘How would it have been better if the Seongsu Bridge accident never happened? Is not it?’