Chapter 80
"He was a good man. He knew what romance was...."
"I see."
"If you'd been there back then... Hong Ju-hyeon wouldn't have died so pointlessly."
"It's a regrettable thing."
"Hmm..."
He let out a heavy sigh.
Then he tipped his glass again.
"By the way, what's your relationship with Hong Ju-hyeon's daughter?"
"For now, I'm her employer. And if things become more personal, I suppose you could call me her friend."
"There are no friendships between men and women, my boy."
"Elder, you don't have any female friends, do you?"
"....."
The sharp dose of reality that struck deep into me made him fall silent.
After hesitating, he downed his drink, then grumbled,
"Hah. Good grief. You don't lose a single exchange."
"Come on. I make my living with words. Could I afford to lose such a simple verbal sparring match? So, Elder, did you come to ask me for a reading? I'm always ready."
"I looked into it, and I hear that when you tell fortunes, you read a person's past and future."
"That's right."
"Then I'll pass. I have a past or two I'd rather keep hidden."
He was a man born in the turbulent 1950s who had lived a difficult life, and he wasn't simply righteous and good.
But he wasn't someone I would classify as a villain by my standards.
Of course, that was only my opinion.
If he didn't want to bring it up, respecting that was what a gentleman should do.
"Ah. There's one thing I'd like to ask you... Are you interested in treasure hunting?"
His eyes were sparkling.
He didn't seem to be joking...
"I go treasure hunting as a hobby. It's more fun than you'd think."
"Just how fun could it be...?"
"Take a look at this."
He held out his phone to me.
The phone shown by the man in the madman's cloth robes was a cutting-edge model that expanded to the size of a tablet when unfolded.
Its photo gallery contained pictures of several objects that appeared to be artifacts.
"I find treasures like these and donate them to the National Museum of Korea."
"You're like Indiana Jones."
"Oh. You know that masterpiece? You're impressive for a young man."
True masterpieces are timeless.
"This is an ancient document discovered on Geoje Island not long ago. It's about a merchant ship that traded with Japan during the old Baekje period."
The old document he showed me was covered in a jumble of illegible characters.
"There's a lot of complicated stuff in it, but the gist is that a ship carrying various Baekje treasures sank."
"Oh-ho."
"According to the records, it carried things like golden Buddha statues and incense burners. There were also numerous treasures made of gold or silver using Baekje craftsmanship."
"That sounds difficult."
"It's a hobby. Show it some respect."
"Ah. Yes."
He grinned and showed me the screen.
"What do you think? Interested? Isn't it romantic? Romance. A man ought to have a dream."
Honestly, it was romantic.
The problem was that even this old man would ultimately fail to find that treasure ship.
"Why? Do you think I'll fail too? But who takes on something like this with any certainty of success? I simply enjoy the treasure hunt itself."
Well, searching for a treasure ship...
It was certainly the kind of romantic proposition that could tempt any man.
"I'm not going to ask you to invest in it or find it for me, so don't worry. What matters is the pure passion and romance of searching for treasure.”
Surprisingly, he was sincere.
He was merely recommending a hobby.
He had casually invited several people of established standing to join him, but they had all turned him down.
The only ones who had shown any interest were opportunists trying to build connections with him, which had left him disappointed.
I smiled and nodded at him as he earnestly urged this newbie to try it just once.
I did have Dunsa as a fine hobby.
But wasn't treasure hunting truly the kind of romance that made a man's heart beat?
I decided to go with him sometime.
"Sure. Let's do that."
"Heh-heh. Really? Then at the next gathering... Hmm? Why is that man coming this way?"
The Chinese man who had been surrounded by people.
Mao Ziwen was approaching.
The sharp-featured middle-aged man in a black suit had his eyes fixed directly on me.
"Uh..."
He opened his mouth.
It was Chinese.
Chinese, to someone who couldn't even speak English properly.
"That's Mao Ziwen, the Party secretary of Chengdu, Sichuan."
Hong Si-yeon, who had naturally come up beside me, translated for me.
My wonderful translator!
"Nice to meet you. My name is Kang Noah."
As she had in America, Hong Si-yeon translated naturally for me.
He nodded, satisfied.
"I hear you're the best fortune-teller in Korea. Is that true?"
Hong Si-yeon lowered her voice as if she wanted to match even his tone.
It was so funny that I nearly laughed.
"Yes."
Having held it in with superhuman restraint, I answered firmly, and apparently he liked that.
He burst into a hearty laugh and asked,
"Then could you read my fortune? I've just been appointed to serve concurrently as a member of the Military Commission, you see, and quite a few people oppose it."
A position on the Military Commission.
"Let's start by turning this over."
I held out a card.
He stared at it for a moment, then said something to those around him.
Then he, Hong Si-yeon, and I entered a room inside.
"Very well. I'll turn it over."
His card was the Two of Spades.
Looking him straight in the eye, I said,
"If you take the position on the Military Commission, you'll have a lot of headaches."
His expression hardened when he heard Hong Si-yeon's translation.
"The deputy commander of the Western Theater Command and the Party secretary of Zigong City will target you."
If he joined the Military Commission, he would draw their suspicion.
He would also come into major conflict with them and suffer considerable damage in the process.
"So those bastards are getting in my way. Then what should I do?"
He must have had a rough idea already.
Perhaps that's why he grew even more serious.
"I'm not sure. I don't know much about politics. But if they're wary of you, that must mean your abilities are that impressive."
"....."
"Just as no one can save the Earth alone, wouldn't it be dangerous for you to act alone? Is there no one who is opposed to them?"
"....."
"Li Xiaolan, the military commander of Sichuan, right?"
"That's right."
"He doesn't like you either, and you don't like him."
"Correct. That soldier is too aggressive..."
"Even so, you'd be better off joining hands with him. I'm sure you can become friends. The two of you have some similarities."
"What could I possibly have in common with that bastard?!"
"You both like Sun Quan in Romance of the Three Kingdoms."
".....!!"
"And neither of you particularly likes spicy food."
"...Huh."
"You prefer cheap dishes to expensive ones, and cheap baijiu to expensive liquor. You also both like Sichuan Mahjong. It's installed on your computers, isn't it?"
"......"
His eyes widened to an almost absurd degree.
I had seen this in his future.
Mao Ziwen would ultimately be unable to withstand pressure from the other two and meet with Li Xiaolan.
As they fought against the same enemy, they would grow close.
In the process, they would discover that they shared a surprising number of interests, and eventually become inseparable friends.
"...He likes those things?"
"Yes."
"Hah... Hahaha. Teacher Kang, you truly are remarkable. Even setting Li Xiaolan aside, how do you know so much about me...?"
In that instant, the future changed.
In the original future, he would take quite a while to become close to Li Xiaolan and suffer considerable damage.
But after taking my advice, he would meet Li Xiaolan as soon as he returned.
After becoming close to him, he would take on the concurrent Military Commission position and avoid being attacked.
In the process, he would gain considerable power and help the underprivileged people of Sichuan.
He couldn't exactly be called a saint, but he had shown that he was a far better person than the other Communist Party members who were obsessed with wealth and power.
That was good enough, I supposed.
"And... you have something else you want to ask me, don't you?"
"....That's right."
He let out a heavy sigh.
"I want to find my family."
"I see."
"My older brother... Could you tell me where he is, or even whether he's still alive...?"
"Of course."
This, too, was something I had seen in his future.
He would find his brother.
In about ten years.
"Your brother is in Shanghai right now."
"...What? Wh-what do you mean...?"
"Would you like me to write down the address?"
He nodded hurriedly, his face flustered.
On a sheet of paper beside me, I wrote down the address of the shop where his brother would one day be working.
"A year after you left, your older brother decided that there was no future in remaining a poor farmer's son, so he left for the city."
Unlike him, who had studied like mad and risen to become a high-ranking Communist Party official, his brother had chosen stability.
After saving a modest amount of money, he entered the restaurant business and eventually managed to open a small shop in Shanghai.
"It's a small Sichuan restaurant. Apparently, the stir-fried bok choy is especially popular. It's the dish he used to make for you when you were young..."
"Th-that's right!! He made it for me!! After working in someone else's fields, he bought bok choy with the few coins he barely earned and made it for me when I cried that I was hungry!!"
Tears streamed down his face.
"Ah... Big brother... Why... Why didn't you wait... You should have waited for me...!!"
He cried.
He sobbed openly, without caring about appearances.
I could understand.
Five years after moving to the city.
He had sent money home every year, and when he finally returned after joining the Communist Party, his brother was gone.
His irresponsible father had said coldly,
Your brother left home too, just like you.
He had been miserable and furious.
He had hated his father with a maddening intensity for proudly claiming that his brother was safe at home whenever he sent money.
After that, he had always searched for his brother.
He made time for it even amid his crushing workload.
Even after rising high, he never forgot and continued trying to find his brother.
But how could he find a boy who had left home somewhere across that vast continent?
If the boy had even changed his name, it would be no different from searching for a needle in a haystack.
Even so, he never stopped.
He searched, and searched, and searched some more, until he finally found a trace.
By then, both he and his brother would be very old.
His brother would even be suffering from a serious illness brought on by hard labor and be unable to recognize him properly.
But not anymore.
Mao Ziwen's future was changing.
He would go to his brother's shop as soon as he returned.
I saw a future in which he embraced his brother, who stared blankly at him while holding a wok, and sobbed uncontrollably.