Chapter 150

People often say that money is a good thing. However, one must spend money frequently to truly know whether it is good or not.

One thing was clear, judging from the current experience: everything prepared for people with a lot of money boasted an incredible price.

“The jjamppong is 38,000 won.”

I wore an impressed expression after checking the menu.

I did not know what one could possibly do to jjamppong to think of attaching a price of 38,000 won to it. To speak my honest impression, I thought selling jjamppong at that price was a crime.

This cabana Han Sang-ah mentioned was certainly enormous. Inside the cabana, there was an air conditioner, a large waterproof bed, a Dolby Surround sound system, and a large TV.

There was even a separate swimming pool right in front of the cabana that only people who reserved the cabana could use. The pool water had a faint fragrance, as if they had added something extra to it.

“Ugh, my head is spinning. Thinking about the price makes me feel like I’ll get a hole in my stomach.”

I nodded at Jung Oh-hoon’s words. Of course, Han Sang-ah, who proposed using this cabana, approached the refrigerator composedly while wearing a rash guard.

“There is a reason for spending a lot of money. Do you think people will leave us alone if they see us at the main pool?”

Han Sang-ah, who took out a beer, filled a glass to the brim. She was not wrong. I could guarantee that from that moment until we left the pool, we would not be able to rest for even a second.

“It seemed your grandfather went back to Seoul.”

“He is busy after all.”

Han Sang-cheol returned to Seoul. Lee Se-eun also returned immediately to the Jannabi headquarters because she had to participate in meetings due to the Gonsalok related contact sent by the government.

“How is the taste.”

Han Sang-ah answered after eating some lobster from the food placed on the table.

“It does not live up to its value compared to the money paid. Red pepper tuna and white rice have better efficiency.”

“Hey, how can you even compare it to canned tuna.”

Han Sang-ah shook her head at Jung Oh-hoon’s words.

“Of course this tastes better. But the price is different. One tends to expect more from expensive food.”

After watching the two of them for a moment, I threw a question to Jung Oh-hoon.

“By the way, usually people who went through what you did become a wreck due to guilt.”

Jung Oh-hoon answered simply to my words.

“What I want is my ex-wife’s happiness, not my own misery. There is no reason for me to live a painful life on purpose while thinking I must be punished.”

“How about visiting her once to talk.”

Jung Oh-hoon shook his head at my suggestion.

“My ex-wife is happy now. She met a good person and decided to spend her life with him, and her life is comfortable.”

Jung Oh-hoon, who filled his glass with beer, downed the contents and then wiped the foam from his mouth with his hand.

“Showing my face to my ex-wife in the current situation would be doing a terrible thing because of my own lingering regret. Now, let us stop talking about that.”

Jung Oh-hoon picked up a shashlik from the plate, ate the meat, and then held out a glass full of golden beer to me.

I clinked glasses with Jung Oh-hoon.

“What is she doing.”

Han Sang-ah, who had sat down on the floor, was rummaging through something. Was it a tube? Han Sang-ah immediately brought her mouth to the air inlet of the deflated tube.

“You are going to blow into that large tube with your mouth to fill it with air?”

However, perhaps due to a hunter’s enormous lung capacity, the tube inflated in an instant.

“… A shark?”

Han Sang-ah, who was looking at the large shark-shaped tube filled with air, tossed it into the pool.

Then she returned inside the cabana and watched the shark-shaped tube floating and bobbing on the water.

“Why on earth did you put air in the tube?”

“To watch it.”

Han Sang-ah watched the floating shark-shaped tube while drinking beer. It was as if that shark tube was some kind of side dish for her drink.

“I am thinking of opening a shop after I retire later, so give me some help.”

Jung Oh-hoon said those words to Han Sang-ah. Han Sang-ah answered immediately.

“I don't think there is anything I can give help with.”

“Why? You said you received successor training for the Geumyang Group too.”

Han Sang-ah continued after nodding.

“That won’t be helpful. If you suddenly became the chairman of the Geumyang Group right now, you would not know how to do anything.”

“I suppose so.”

Han Sang-ah continued speaking while picking up some food.

“Even I cannot do anything if I try to run a small shop instead of a large-scale organization like the Geumyang Group. I have never learned that, and I have no experience.”

It felt like the difference between Zhuge Liang and Lu Bu. Fighting well and commanding well were different domains.

Afterward, we spent quite a bit of time sharing all sorts of useless stories.

Then, we put on some music and, without anyone saying it first, we sprawled out like soaked laundry.

What we needed was not a pleasant vacation spent having some new experience.

We needed time to do nothing.

Han Sang-ah, who had been sitting on the edge of the cabana bed solving a Rubik's cube for a while, picked up the phone in the cabana and ordered something.

I, who was lying on the bed dozing off, saw that and asked.

“What did you do?”

“I asked them to change the pool water to hot spring water.”

Jung Oh-hoon and I blinked at those words.

“To hot spring water?”

“It seems they are bringing the hot spring water directly from the Gero Onsen in Nagoya.”

It seemed they put the hot spring water from Japan into specially made tanks to prevent sediment, transported it to Hongcheon, and then supplied it after going through a reheating process.

No matter how I thought about it, it seemed crazy. Importing things like cosmetics made from hot spring water might be one thing, but fetching the hot spring water itself.

“A lot of money must be going down the drain.”

Han Sang-ah answered my words.

“Right.”

Han Sang-ah answered like that and then pulled the shark tube floating on the water out.

“Why are you taking that out.”

“A shark does not suit a hot spring.”

After waiting for a while, the pool water was emptied, and water filled up again. It was hot water with steam rising.

“Now.”

Han Sang-ah muttered that and took a large ice box out of the cupboard, filled it with ice, and shoved plenty of beer inside the box.

Then, she brought a large, hollow bowl, placed a plate on it, and put food on top.

“Get in.”

Han Sang-ah floated the bowl containing food and the ice box containing beer in the hot spring.

Watching that sight, Jung Oh-hoon marveled quietly.

“As expected, people who were originally rich know how to play well even in these situations.”

I turned on the music via the remote control and then entered the hot spring.

I soaked my body in the hot spring water at the outdoor bath while drinking cold beer.

“Ah, this is killer.”

I felt like I could cry. It was a bit late for this now, but Earth was indeed a good place.

Even while it was going to ruin, being able to eat beer and food while having a sauna in a hot spring. Of course, there was the restriction that one must have a lot of money….

“One would have had to be at least a king to have an experience like this.”

I was thinking of that other world. No matter how much money one had, one more condition was needed to have this kind of experience in that other world.

Rank. Because food, clothing, and shelter were all restricted through rank.

Shall I take a commoner as an example? Except for designated days, they could not eat dairy products like butter or cheese, let alone milk. The reason was that the calves had to be fed.

Pork, which consumed grain as feed, was also prohibited. For chicken, only completely old, spent hens were allowed.

Similarly, for lamb, they could only eat mutton from old sheep that could no longer be shorn of wool. Beef was, well, out of the question.

While I was thinking about those old days, I asked Han Sang-ah a question.

“Ah, come to think of it, I don't know much about the head of the current Chinese provisional government.”

I wondered if Han Sang-ah knew something.

“The leader of the Chinese provisional government is Li O-jun. My grandfather's evaluation of that man was simple.”

If it was an evaluation from Han Sang-cheol, it was quite reliable. I became curious about what kind of story he told.

“He said that if you want to refute how funny the sentence 'What can just one person do?' is, you can look at Li O-jun.”

“… Was it a compliment?”

Han Sang-ah shook her head.

“I don't think so. From what I see, China had several chances to soar again. But Li O-jun ruined them all.”

It meant that just one person completely ran a massive country, which occupied 9,597,000 square kilometers of land, into the ground.

Certainly, it could be said to be a great refutation of the words, 'What can just one person do?'. Because it meant a single person could cause an incident of that magnitude.

Jung Oh-hoon, who was listening to the story beside us, spoke up.

“According to what an acquaintance said, he is living like a king at the base. Recently, I heard he selected 15 women.”

“Women?”

According to Jung Oh-hoon, the selection criteria were under 25 years old, and they were chosen according to set physical standards.

“I heard they even did things like virginity tests.”

Good grief. Hearing what he was doing, it seemed the current state of China could just be seen as a large North Korea.

“How old is Li O-jun?”

“He is 68.”

I stuck out my tongue at Han Sang-ah’s words. What was he doing at an age where he should be worried about whether his spine could stand straight.

Beyond whether he had ability or not, it was just the feeling that the person was a bit hideous. Jung Oh-hoon, who was listening to the story, said a word in a playful tone.

“There is also the saying that heroes are fond of women.”

“Nonsense. What does being fond of women have to do with being a hero?”

Two completely unrelated words were simply attached to each other. There was no need to grant any great meaning to such words.

Afterward, I got to hear all sorts of rumors about Li O-jun from Jung Oh-hoon and Han Sang-ah.

From Han Sang-ah, I could mainly hear stories about his aspect as a leader leading a nation, and from Jung Oh-hoon, I could hear various rumors about Li O-jun.

“Anyway, I roughly get a sense of what kind of person Li O-jun is.”

Korea right next door is a thug, but the leader of the Chinese provisional government looks very lacking.

To use an analogy, it was like the president of the old Korean Provisional Government being Yi Wan-yong. My goodness, how terrible.

“It has reached the point where China looks a bit pitiable.”

The country is already ruined, and the person who took power is like that, so it is a hopeless combination.

“Still, will the situation in China not get a bit better once we remove Gonsalok?”

At Jung Oh-hoon’s words, Han Sang-ah and I looked at him at the same time. Jung Oh-hoon ate a thick piece of bacon from the tray and then shrugged.

“Can I not even make a joke.”

Once Gonsalok is smashed, Korea will be desperate to strip the Chinese land bare. And China, sadly, is in a situation where they don't have an outstanding leader enough to stop that.

There was no way the situation in China would get better.

I had not talked with President Jo Wonhoon for a long time, but if it was Jo Wonhoon, he was the kind of man who would strip China down to its very shell and roast it whole.