Chapter 70
Deng Soso rummaged through her pockets and pulled out three gleaming rings.
They were rings made of blindingly white jade.
Hong-seol’s eyes went wide.
“Wow... they're beautiful!”
“Tch, leave it to a rich girl to have something so nice prepared.”
Yang Do-jin said that, but he looked embarrassed, having come empty-handed despite promising to visit a patient.
“Here.”
Do-jin, who had been grumbling with his hands laced behind his head, was startled.
Deng Soso had taken his grimy hand and slipped a ring onto his finger.
Dazed, Do-jin held up his hand to catch the sunlight.
“I brought these so the three of us could each wear one,” Soso said earnestly.
“These are friendship rings. Do-jin, don't you dare go selling these at the market.”
“Why would I sell them!”
“Because you're a beggar, and I was worried you might sell them to buy a meal.”
“Oh, please.”
Do-jin rolled his eyes as if he were dumbfounded and muttered, “Hmm, I don't think I'll be able to beg very well while wearing this.”
Even as a disciple of the Beggars' Clan, a beggar is still a beggar.
Begging was an unavoidable necessity if one wanted to gather information.
“That’s right!”
Hong-seol, having listened to Do-jin, clapped her hands.
“I have something for you guys, too!”
Hong-seol scurried off like a squirrel and whispered to the maid Maeran, who was standing guard nearby.
Maeran smiled and soon returned with a small box.
Inside were three blue silk bracelets that Hong-seol had made herself.
They were crafted by hand, with thin silk threads braided together in multiple layers.
Deng Soso’s eyes widened.
“Wow, these are pretty!”
“Do-jin, give me that ring for a second.”
Hong-seol threaded the jade ring onto the blue silk bracelet and tied it around his wrist.
Do-jin’s face turned bright red. Oblivious, Hong-seol even gave him a cheerful smile.
“There, how is it?”
“Well, it's not bad.”
Though his mouth was as sharp as ever, Do-jin couldn't seem to meet Hong-seol’s eyes.
“...I'm the only one who didn't prepare anything.”
Soso, ignoring Do-jin’s self-pity, shouted, “As long as we have these jade rings and silk bracelets, our friendship will last forever!”
“Hehe.”
Hong-seol giggled, then suddenly asked, “What do we do now?”
Soso replied immediately, “What do you mean? We have to listen to your troubles! That’s what friends do when they meet. Didn't you know?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Alright, Do-jin, you go first! Tell us what’s bothering you!”
“Wh-why me!”
“You look like you have the hardest life.”
“No, just because I'm a beggar doesn't mean my life is necessarily hard...”
“And you're the only one who didn't bring a gift! So, tell us what's on your mind instead.”
“Oh, I can't take this...”
Unable to withstand Soso’s pestering, Do-jin covered his eyes with his hands.
But Soso’s words had already piqued Hong-seol’s interest.
“That’s right! Tell us. We'll help you!”
Having made her first friends outside the Namgung Clan, Hong-seol clenched both her fists.
She seemed to be burning with the determination to help her friend.
“...Do I really have to say it? Really?”
“Of course!”
“Obviously!”
Hong-seol and Soso answered in unison.
Resigned, Do-jin opened his mouth.
“Fine. The truth is, there’s a gisaeng house I visit often.”
“What’s a gisaeng house?”
Unlike Hong-seol, who tilted her head in confusion, Soso’s face turned beet red.
“Y-you shouldn't be going to places like that yet!”
Hong-seol, not understanding the situation, interrupted, “What even is a gisaeng house?”
“It’s a place where you drink alcohol and meet pretty women.”
“Is it bad to drink alcohol and meet pretty women?”
It was a question from an innocent Hong-seol.
She couldn't understand.
She had seen Grandfather Namgung Ho and the Master of the Azure Sky Unit, Namgung Uigyeol, drink alcohol often.
Besides, hadn't Clan Lord Namgung On met the beautiful Head of the Medical Hall and married her?
So far, Hong-seol had never met a woman prettier than Bing Yuhwa.
“What’s wrong with that? Isn't that how people meet, drink, and get married?”
“Hong-seol, you're saying something dangerous. It's because they meet different women every time! They don't even get married. They just meet them.”
At those words, Hong-seol’s eyes grew as round as apricot seeds.
“Eek, that’s a bit mean. Do-jin, you’re in the wrong! That’s too much!”
As Hong-seol joined in the criticism, Yang Do-jin looked at Deng Soso as if he were speechless.
“I go to the gisaeng house to beg.”
“Oh?”
“Eek?”
Suddenly embarrassed, Hong-seol and Soso looked away.
“You live hard, Do-jin.”
“Yeah, you'll be rich.”
Do-jin sighed as if he couldn't win against the two of them.
“Anyway, that gisaeng house is famous. It’s known as a place that prominent martial artists visit whenever they come to Hefei. There’s a kind gisaeng there. Her name is Sister Mae Ok-ryeong, and she plays the pipa very well.”
“I-is she a pretty sister?”
“Do-jin, you like that sister, don't you?”
“What are you talking about! If you're going to keep interrupting, I'm done!”
“Oh, don't get so worked up, you beggar. Keep going.”
“She used to think of her younger siblings back home, so she was quite fond of me. Every time I went, she’d give me coins and pack me food...”
He said it had already been over a year since they had been seeing each other like that.
“But a while ago, one of her finger joints was severed.”
“What!”
“How!”
“There was a fight between martial artists at the gisaeng house, and it seems a dagger was accidentally thrown toward the youngest maid. She tried to block it, and that happened.”
Before they knew it, Hong-seol and Soso’s eyes were brimming with tears. Do-jin, not noticing, continued bitterly.
“And of all things, the joint that was cut was her index finger, which she used most often when playing the pipa.”
Because of that, Mae Ok-ryeong became unable to play the pipa ever again.
“She trusted her cooking skills and opened a shabby inn... but when I went by recently, it was completely empty.”
Do-jin, not having the courage to go in and ask how she was, had just turned around and left.
He had asked around, but the Eumyu Inn was a place with no answers.
“There are too many inns in Hefei, so the competition is fierce. It’s hard to get fresh ingredients, and since the Eumyu Inn doesn't have any special dishes, it’s going to go under soon!”
Do-jin finished his story with a gloomy look.
“Oh no!”
Unlike Soso, who sighed along with him, Hong-seol was lost in deep thought.
A moment later, Hong-seol raised her head.
“Hmm... maybe I can help solve Do-jin’s problem!”
Soso brightened.
“Hong-seol, do you have a clever plan?”
“W-well, if it goes well. It’s not certain yet.”
“Please, lend your wisdom! I beg you!”
Do-jin bowed his head.
“Sister Ok-ryeong is a truly good person. She said that if the inn goes under like this, her young siblings back in Jiangsu Province will have to go hungry.”
At those words, Hong-seol’s small heart ached again.
“Okay, I’ll make a plan! But for it to succeed, you guys have to help me, too.”
“You need our strength, too?”
Soso and Do-jin’s faces lit up. Soso thumped her chest vigorously.
“Anything!”
“Just tell us what to do!”
Hong-seol looked at Soso.
“First, Soso, you mentioned a fisherman before, right?”
“Ah! The one who uses acupoint striking to anesthetize fish!”
“Can you contact them and get us some fresh fish?”
“Hmm... I think so! My dad never refuses my requests.”
Deng Soso said, straightening her shoulders.
“But we’ll need a merchant guild to transport the fish consistently.”
“I know a merchant guild. I’m sure they’ll help.”
This time, Hong-seol spoke confidently, though she soon shrank back a little.
The face of Elder Namgung Muyeong, who rarely moved unless there was a profit, came to mind.
“Now that I think about it, I think I should at least send some fresh fish to the Merchant Guild Master during the holidays.”
Soso smiled.
“No problem!”
Besides that, Hong-seol whispered to the children about what she needed them to do.
“If it’s to help the sister... I’ll do whatever it takes.”
It was Do-jin, his resolve hardened. Soso said brightly, “Then, while we each prepare, let’s have Do-jin handle the communication! Since he’s the most free to move around.”
“...Thank you, guys!”
Do-jin looked genuinely moved.
“Don't mention it. If we couldn't even do this much, the name of our ‘Eight Faithful Friends’ would be put to shame.”
“Eight Faithful Friends?”
Hong-seol asked.
“It means eight-year-old trustworthy friends. Isn't that perfect for the three of us?”
Hong-seol, who traced the characters in the air, nodded.
‘Eight Faithful Friends... We're the Eight Faithful Friends, hehe.’
She felt happy to have a sense of belonging for the first time.
However, Do-jin looked a bit bitter. Soso asked immediately, “Do-jin, do you have something to say?”
“No, it's nothing...”
Do-jin, having missed his chance in the meantime, lost his opportunity to confess that he was actually ten years old and resigned himself to his fate.
Hong-seol shouted with a face full of determination.
“Alright! Then we’ll meet at the Eumyu Inn in one month!”
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