The Famous Millionaire

Hyunwoo’s eyes opened wider at that.

He guessed the call had been about the senior center but he never thought that the seniors had made such a request.

What was more strange was that they had no reason to do so. For he had never caused any inconvenience to them since the senior center was opened there. He was well-liked by the seniors because he sometimes visited with a bag of snacks for them.

“Because of Ani & Funny? What’s the reason?”

“They are saying they want to move the senior center so Ani & Funny can use the space and accept the students who want to study animation there.”

Hyunwoo was speechless for a moment.

He never expected they would make such a request, and he was deeply touched.

On the other hand, he became curious.

How did they come to know about the situation involving the students?

They may have seen the students coming to the office in droves, but it was impossible to infer from that what was going on exactly.

I wonder if any of our staff members asked the seniors to do so.

If that was the case, Hyunwoo would have to express apologies because it was like ordering them to vacate the senior center.

The city official said, “We have a problem here. We have not allotted any money in the budget for moving the senior center to another place this year.”

In Hyunwoos’ mind, it was not a matter of money because he could afford to pay for their move. Under any circumstances, he could not force them to move out.

“Let me go and check out what’s going on. Please allow me to get back to you in several days.”

“Sure.”

As soon as he left the city hall, he headed straight to the office and asked the staff about it.

All of them said they were unaware of it, saying they didn’t know at all such a request was filed with the city hall. Some of them even welcomed the request.

“Can we use the first floor from now on?”

“We didn’t know the seniors downstairs had such consideration for us. I wish I visited them sometimes to say hello.”

Hyunwoo tilted his head and said, “Are you really sure any of you has never requested the seniors to vacate the first floor? I’m going to see them right now, so I hope you won’t betray me…”

They all shook their heads, denying it.

Still, Hyunwoo wanted to confirm it. He went downstairs to find a dozen seniors there. They welcomed him, and Mrs. Paenamu and Heejung’s grandmother, in particular, greeted him gladly.

“Welcome, Hyunwoo!”

“Come on in. I guess you’re in trouble because of the office space.”

At that moment, Hyunwoo’s eyes popped up because Heejung’s grandmother mentioned the matter of office space.

Hyunwoo cautiously asked, “How did you know about that?”

“Well, I heard even if you wanted to accept all the students coming here to learn, you couldn’t because of the small office space.”

“Don’t worry, Hyunwoo. We already made a petition to the city hall.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about it in advance? If Heejung’s grandmother had not told us, we would have been kept in the dark forever.”

Now, Hyunwoo could figure out how all this happened.

He asked cautiously, “Did Heejung ask you to vacate the first floor?”

“No. I just heard what the students said. Heejung just said you could accept all the students if you had a bigger office space, so we seniors here exchanged opinions about it and made the decision to appeal to city hall.”

Fortunately, they wanted to move out voluntarily, but he still felt heavy because they had to move to an old building if they did.

“You don’t have to move. I’m looking for a new bigger office right now. You can stay here.”

“No, no. We don’t want to stand in the way of the students’ future.”

“In fact, the senior center here is too large for us.”

All of the seniors made the case for their moving out.

Deeply moved by their sincerity, Hyunwoo said, “Thanks so much. In return, I would like to find you a beautiful senior center.”

And then he called the social service department of the city hall.

“Ani & Funny would like to pay for the cost of the senior center’s relocation. Is it okay with you?”

“How wonderful! We would really appreciate it if you can, but our department alone can’t settle the matter of Ani & Funny using the first floor. We’ll discuss with the relevant department here and let you know.”

***

When the weekend came, Hyunwoo found out that his life had changed a lot, compared with the past.

The biggest difference was in the number of his hiking outings to the mountains with the seniors. In the past, he hiked in the mountains with the seniors at least two or three times per month no matter how busy he was. But now, he did so only a couple of times this year.

Let me go hiking this weekend, by all means, he decided, but he had to change his plans because of important appointments on Thursday and Friday.

He kept delaying hiking as a result, and he felt worse by the day.

His parents and the seniors who used to hike with him complained when he canceled hiking.

Fortunately, he had no appointments this weekend as Suji had an important appointment she was supposed to travel to Seoul during the weekend.

As soon as he mentioned hiking, the seniors shouted for joy.

Hyunmin volunteered to drive the minivan.

Thanks to Hyunmin, Hyunwoo got to sit in the back with his mother.

She was seen drawing something on her computer.

“Mom, do you have anything to worry about?”

“No worries, son. I think I have to expand the factory because so many orders are coming in now. And I have some other business plans, too. You don’t have to worry.”

Hyunwoo was aware of the rapid growth of ‘Hyunwoo’s Mom’ sales.

The factory was receiving breakfast orders from factories not only in Ansan and Hwasung but also as far away as Suwon and Inchon. Actually, it was expanded recently, but the explosive growth in breakfast orders meant she needed to expand the facilities again.

And now she was thinking of another business.

“What kind of business?”

“Well, I’m thinking of franchises of ‘Hyunwoo’s Mom’ or starting a new side dish business. I’m also interested in farming grasshoppers and marsh snails.”

Hearing her explanation, Hyunwoo learned she was interested in various businesses.

And what she was most interested in was to open the branches of Hyunwoo’s Mom in other areas. Her first franchise was to be opened in Seoul.

“Who is going to be the chief of the Seoul branch then?”

“I’m thinking of assigning Hyunmin to that post,” said Jisook, looking at Hyunmin proudly.

In fact, Hyunwoo also felt Hyunmin was dependable in every aspect. Though he was not sure of Hyunmin’s business skills, he would not tarnish the image of Hyunwoo’s Mom.

Jisook planned to choose the manager of each franchise among those who proved their character and ability while working with her.

“By the way, are you also opening a side dish shop? I think that business needs lots of helpers without making any profits, right?”

“Well, I am going to take orders on a small number of side dishes such as grasshoppers or marsh snails.”

Suddenly, he thought of the grasshopper side dishes he enjoyed recently. As it was roasted in edible oil with salt, it tasted great like shrimp. And she was planning to directly farm grasshoppers as she believed that the freshness of the food was the most important in preparing side dishes.

As for farming grasshoppers, she had a lot to talk about. She didn’t make the decision to use grasshoppers for side dishes just to make money.

“In fact, I know farming cattle or pigs causes great environmental damage. They eat the grains that feed human beings, but grasshoppers or marsh snails don’t. I think we can revive the environment by farming them.”

In other words, she expressed her wishes to contribute to the farming of insects, often called the food of the future.

Of course, the profits coming from insect farming will be extra benefits for her.

“Why don’t you start it immediately? What do you need?” asked Hyunwoo.

“Well, I think I need a large lot if I decide to farm grasshoppers, for example. As you know, the current factory of Hyunwoo’s Mom needs to be expanded, too.”

Hyunwoo smiled naturally to hear that because he remembered what the realtor had told him the other day.

He called the realtor immediately.

“Brother, did the farmland lot you mentioned the other day get sold?

“You mean the state-owned lot I talked about back then? No, not yet.”

“Oh, let me buy it. Please try to get a good bargain. Let me pay you a good commission in return. Hahaha.”

“Don’t worry! As you know, I’m good at bargaining. Haha.”

When he was done with the call, his parents gave him a curious expression.

“What lot are you going to buy?”

Hyunwoo briefed them about the farmland lot, which was owned by the government for the purpose of rural development with 3,000-pyong in size (2.4 acres), along with 2,000-pyong of forest land but was recently listed for sale.

“A farmland lot of 3,000 pyong? For what purpose?”

“Well, even if I buy that lot, I can still build facilities related to animal husbandry or the processing facilities of animals. Accordingly, I can build a facility-relatedo grasshopper farming there. Also, there is 2,000 pyong of forest land, where you can build a side dish factory or breakfast box factory.”

Jisook nodded with a sigh of relief, but Duyoung Jang and Kuroda hardened their faces for some reason.

Hyunwoo asked, “What’s the matter with you? Would you want to do something else in that lot?”

Then Duyoung opened his mouth, “Well, you know I’m teaching middle school boys at Dreaming School, right?”