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“Patriarch Zhao, there are guests from the Zhuge Clan.” “From the Zhuge Clan?” Upon receiving unexpected news of a visit from the Zhuge Clan, Father’s face turned pale as if drained of color. However, he quickly regained his composure and emerged with a gentle smile, reassuring Mom and alleviating her concerns. “They wouldn’t cause trouble in broad daylight at the marketplace. It’s actually quite fortunate for us. General Manager, please welcome the guests inside. The reception hall has many watchful eyes so bring them here.” “Understood, Patriarch Zhao.” With a respectful bow, the General Manager left the room, and our family hurried to prepare for the reception of the guests. A little while later, two individuals, following behind the General Manager who had previously gone outside, revealed themselves as the ones who came from the Zhuge Clan. One was a tall handsome man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties, and the other was a small girl about my age. “I am Zhuge Shin, the Branch Director of the Zhuge Clan.” “I am Zhao Ja-hun. I have heard much about the renowned reputation of Respected Shin.” “I apologize for coming unannounced, Patriarch Zhao.” With the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, the man extended a gesture of greeting. Although his initial impression seemed somewhat reserved, with a hint of cynicism, the words that flowed from his mouth were incredibly polite and courteous. It seemed as though he could sense the concerns that Father may have had upon receiving the Zhuge Clan’s response the previous day, as he added a few words. “The Patriarch sent me right after, saying that he hadn't taken Patriarch Zhao’s position into account.” “No. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to see your letter yesterday.” “Hmm, is that so?” “Ah, this is my wife and son.” Seeing Zhuge Shin’s penetrating gaze, Father appeared taken aback and tried to shift the conversation. Zhuge Shin, however, looked at me with a subtle smile. “You strongly resemble the Zhao Family couple, and your character is outstanding as well. How old are you this year...?” “He was born in the Year of the Rooster. Hui, what are you doing not offering greetings?” “Zhao Ga-Hui sends his greetings, sir.” “Here’s another child here who doesn’t have the gaze of a child.” With just a few words, he left me speechless. Then, he playfully patted the head of the girl he had brought along and chuckled. “She is my niece.” “Then you’re the daughter of the Patriarch…?” As Father turned his head in surprise, the girl who had attracted attention smiled brightly and lowered her head. “Zhuge Woo-Hui, born in the month of ‘Mu-in-wol*’ in the Year of ‘Gyeong-in*’, greets the Zhao Family.” TN: * See the footnotes for details Zhuge Woo-Hui’s adorable greeting instantly warmed the atmosphere in the room. The little girl with a doll-like appearance, speaking fluently and smoothly, was quite strange. Even if she were to be a reincarnated person, how could she speak so well? I wasn’t the only one who was mesmerized by the little girl’s cuteness, as Mother and Father also praised her with beaming smiles. “Dear, it would be nice to have a daughter too.” “A girl a year younger than Hui is not usually this clever.” However, unlike our family, who showered her with praises, Zhuge Shin’s expression as he looked at his niece was far from approving. “It’s not that she is clever, but rather cunning. She’s telling you not to look down on her because her birthday is only three months after yours.” What? I looked at Zhuge Woo-Hui with mixed feelings. However, unlike Zhuge Shin’s words, when our eyes met, her slightly crouched form hiding behind her uncle’s legs made her appear nothing more than a timid young girl meeting someone her own age. Hello~, I waved both of my hands unknowingly, and she, too, returned a look full of curiosity to me. Blink blink. So adorable, what’s so cunning about her? “Don't be deceived, she is not as innocent as she seems, young one.” I heard Zhuge Shin’s voice, a mix of laughter and warning, but I ignored it. At this moment, I was not 6-year-old Zhao Ga-Hui, but a 27-year-old doting father. As us two young children were exchanging glances, Father gave us a big smile and motioned for us to leave. “We have some grown-up business to discuss, so the two of you should go outside. Sir Shin, is that fine?” “Of course.” “Hui, will you guide the young lady around the manor?” “Yes, Mother, We’ll take our leave then.” I had just given my parents the exact recipe for the lye soap this morning. There was no need for me to stay here and draw attention from Zhuge Shin. I bowed my head to the three adults and then left the room, beckoning Zhuge Woo-Hui to follow me. About 30 minutes later, after giving Zhuge Woo-Hui a tour of the manor, we were about to head for the last remaining courtyard when Hang-ah, who had spotted us from a distance, approached us with a curious gaze. “Young Master~. Who is the young lady next to you?” “She is a guest from the Zhuge Clan. She is called Zhuge Woo-Hui, the daughter of the Patriarch.” “Ah... Zhuge... the Zhuge Clan?” In front of the name of Jegal Se-ga-ju's daughter, Hang-a, who usually talks a lot, seemed to be taken aback. She stood still for a moment, observing our reactions, and then quickly turned around to retrace her steps. “Then call me if you need anything?” Even Hang-ah, who was known for being nice, ran away from us, and we couldn’t find any maidservants approaching us anymore. As a result, I completely lost the chance to find out what a 5-year-old girl would like. Ugh, now that I've shown her everything, what should we do for fun? Should I search for something? Unbeknownst to Zhuge Woo-Hui, I closed one eye and opened YouTube and entered the words I wanted to find in the search bar.
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Five years old… Ugh. I only typed in five, but ‘playing with a five-year-old’ is already there. “How To Play With Your Child Without TV, 6 Playtime Activities Recommended by A Play Therapist…” As I was going through the search results one after another, something poked me in the side. “Hey.” “Huh? Me?” “Yeah, you.” Was what Zhuge Shin had said true, that it would be difficult for me to receive special treatment because of the three-month age difference? The little girl who had been silent throughout our tour of the manor now referred to me casually as ‘you’ and pointed at something with their finger. “What’s that?” “Huh? Oh!” I turned my head to follow Zhuge Woo-Hui’s finger and stopped when I saw a soap workbench in the backyard. I hadn’t expected a surprise visit from the Zhuge Clan, so I had left it unattended since my demonstration in front of my parents. I belatedly realized that negotiations with Jegal Shin were still ongoing, and I tensed up. However, I let out a sigh of relief, as I thought it was impossible to deduce anything from just a container filled with ashes and oil. Moreover, the other party was just a little child who had recently turned five. "That’s my Father’s. You’ll get in trouble if you touch them.” “Why are you nervous?” “W-What?” “Your hands are sweaty.” “Huh?” Taking advantage of my surprised state, Zhuge Woo-Hui quickly withdrew her hand and ran towards the soap workbench, laughing mischievously. “Hey, hey, don't touch that.” "So, it’s because of this that Uncle came? There wasn’t much to see elsewhere.” With that, I realized that she had other thoughts the entire time she was being shown around the manor. At the same time, I realized that she hadn’t heard anything from Zhuge Shin yet and that was why she had great interest in this matter. With a mysterious look in her eyes, she quickly scanned the workbench, then approached me with a bright smile as if nothing had happened. “Hui, what is this used for?” “What?” “I don’t really know much about these things. Can you tell me?” In that moment, witnessing such a mature change in her demeanor, it finally dawned on me the meaning behind Zhuge Shin’s words: “Don't be deceived, she is not as innocent as she seems.” Just a little while ago, I was surprised and made a mistake, and as an adult on the inside, I couldn’t fall for such an obvious trick twice. “I don't know where it's used either. Father never showed me.” “You know everything else, but not this?” “Hmph.” As I laughed out loud, Zhuge Woo-Hiu narrowed her eyes and spoke. “Then how about we make a bet? If I win, will you tell me?” “I really don’t know.” “Then let’s grant the other a wish. If you win, I’ll grant you a wish.” “A wish?” I couldn’t help but laugh at those words. Even if she is the young lady of the Zhuge Clan, a promise with a 5-year-old girl doesn’t seem to carry much significance. However, if I were to refuse even this, the girl might throw a tantrum. Reluctantly, thinking of avoiding a troublesome situation, I had no choice but to accept the bet. I couldn't deny that there was a certain level of confidence rooted in the belief that I wouldn’t lose to a 5-year-old child. However, Zhuge Woo-Hui was also confident in betting that she even gave me the right to decide what the bet would be. “Do I really get to decide?” “Yeah.” “Let’s play the Number Game.” “The Number Game?” I chose a game that often appears in college drinking parties as our bet. In this game, players can call out numbers up to a maximum of three at a time, and the person who calls out “31” first loses. In the case of a 1:1 match, there existed a winning strategy. I had used this strategy to great effect in a wish-granting bet with my ex-girlfriend. It didn’t take long to familiarize the clever Zhuge Woo-Hui with the rules. "Would you like to start?" "No." “Then, one, two.” “...Three, four, five?” “Six.” …… “Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty.” “Thirty...one.” From the moment I made the first move, the outcome was already determined. However, oblivious to this, Zhuge Woo-Hui kept shouting “one more time, one more time” and gradually fell into a deeper abyss... but she didn’t lose. “This time, let me go first.” After just three rounds, the game took a turn. Zhuge Woo-Hui, who requested to go first, quickly shouted “1, 2.” In disbelief, I continued the game, but as soon as she dryly said “14,” I admitted defeat. “I lost.” “Do you want to play again with different numbers?” “No.” Any further games would be meaningless anyway. Considering her proposal to change the numbers instead of simply playing “one more round,” it was clear that she had figured out the perfect formula for winning. The victory number and control number, these are the two key points of the game. First, the victory number. The statement that saying the last number leads to defeat is essentially the same as saying that saying the previous number leads to victory. Using the basic rule with an ending number of 31 as an example, the victory number in this case was 30. Next is the control number. The control number is the sum of the minimum and maximum values that a player can call. In the basic rule where numbers can be called from 1 to 3, the control number was 4. For example, if the opponent calls 1 number, I would call 3 numbers. If they call 2 numbers, I would call 2 numbers. And if they called 3 numbers, I would call 1 number. In this way, the numbers would always increase by 4. The final step was dividing the victory number by the control number. To call the victory number of 30 on your turn, you would need to have called 26 on the previous turn, and 22 before that. By going back in this way, the number 2 would be the last remaining. In other words, the player who first says the remainder of 30 divided by 4, which is 2, would win the game. And this strategy applied equally well in a game where the last digit and the maximum number were changed. I remember how proud I felt when I came up with this winning strategy during my high school days. Little did I know that it would spread like wildfire on platforms like YouTube and the internet. But today, within just 5 minutes of starting the game, the genius girl figured out all the principles and readily admitted her own defeat, despite being at an age where she could have boasted about it. “Ah, I lost.” Even in defeat, she smiled brightly. Little did I know that her eyes were burning with a competitive spirit. “Is it my turn now?” “Huh? What for?” “The next game. You decided on the previous one.” “You told me to pick…” “NEXT.” No matter how smart she was, she was still a child. She was clearly upset that she’d lost the numbers game, and without giving me a chance to say anything, she offered me the next game. And the next game was none other than: “Blindfolded Tag.” _______________________________________ Gyeong-in is the 27th year in the Sexaganary Cycle. The sexagenary cycle (육십갑자/六十甲子), based upon 10 Heavenly Stems (천간/天干) and 12 Earthly Branches (지지/地支), is a cycle of sixty terms used for reckoning time. If you want to know the full 60 cycles, here’s the link: Sexagenary cycle - KoreanLII The month of "무인월" (Mu-in-wol) or "戊寅月" (Wù Yín Yuè) typically falls between early March and early April in the Gregorian calendar, depending on the specific year. It is one of the 12 months in the traditional Korean lunar calendar, and each month is associated with specific seasonal and cultural characteristics.
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