You can’t leave anyone outside in the middle of the night, so I brought her into my house first.
“Didn’t you say… you were going to the hotel?”
Then, sitting in front of the living room table, Li Meiling was silent and opened her mouth.
“…I lost my wallet.”
“How are you?”
“Probably spilled while getting out of the taxi.”
“Hey, be careful.”
So, did you come all the way here?
“Fortunately, my passport and cell phone were unharmed, but I didn’t have any cash…”
As Li Meiling said that, he rubbed his shoulders and looked at me.
“Can’t you just let me sleep for a few days?”
“Goodbye.”
I immediately grabbed the handle of her suitcase that was next to her.
Then Li Meiling stretches out her hand in amazement.
“Wait! Wait! If you let me sleep for just a few days, I will repay you enough!”
I paused for a moment at the word “reciprocation”.
“How?”
“That… I applied for a reissuance with the credit card company earlier, so I will probably be able to receive it within a few days. I received the prize money a while ago, and I have plenty of money, so I will cover the cost of accommodation.”
“It’s tempting, but it seems like it’s going to be hard anyway.”
Even though her circumstances were pitiful, she did something to tell her to go to sleep just looking at her money.
First of all, it was because the number of rooms in our house was too short.
Right now, even me, exercise equipment takes up most of the space in the room, so I sleep on a blanket in the living room, who would put me to sleep?
But maybe she was desperate in her own way, clinging to me, he said.
“Please, I’m begging you! I don’t know anyone in Japan, so if I keep going like this, I’ll be homeless!”
“Wait a minute! Take off your pants!”
I quarreled as I grabbed the sweatpants that were constantly trying to slide down because of her wretched hand.
That was then.
Tickle!
“Son~ Mom and Dad are here~”
“ah.”
At an amazing time, my parents opened the front door and came in.
And what the two saw was a Chinese wife who came to lunch today, hanging on the legs of her only son and begging.
After a long silence, Ms. Mija managed to get her luck whether the situation had been understood or not.
“That… son? No matter how urgent it is, doing it at home….”
“Oh must!”
I was genuinely embarrassed.
***
“So, you mean that this Chinese wife lost her wallet on the way to the hotel?”
“Yep.”
In the end, my parents, I, and Lee Meiling got together in front of the living room table to have a three-way face-to-face.
In fact, the owner of the house was not me, but my parents, so the person she really had to get permission from was also her parents.
And after listening to all the circumstances, Ms. Mija came to a conclusion after much deliberation.
“I can’t help it. There’s a saying that it’s a bond even if you just rub your collar, so just stay for a few days and go.”
Then, Li Meiling expressed great regret and bowed to his parents.
“谢谢!谢谢!”
What she said was a line I heard a lot in Chinese movies as a child.
The local pronunciation is also different.
Li Meiling raised her head in time, and said with a thrilled expression.
“thank you.”
Although it is a slurred pronunciation peculiar to a foreigner, the meaning was clearly conveyed, and the normally blunt father spoke in a gentle voice.
“I’ve warmed up the bath water, so let’s go in first and wash. Have you eaten dinner?”
Then Li Meiling blushed and shook her head passively.
“no.”
“Then I’ll prepare a simple meal for you.”
“Thank you! Daein! I will never forget this grace!”
Saying that, Li Meiling takes a supremacy posture.
If I left it alone, I would have hit my head on the floor, so I couldn’t help but be startled by her sudden action.
Either way, Ms. Mija asked with a calm face.
“Yoosung, please guide me to the bathroom.”
“…yes.”
Without decision-making power, I decided to obey my parents’ orders.
***
I led her directly to the bathroom.
“Do you have any clothes to change into?”
Then, Li Meiling shrugged her shoulders and answered in a low voice, wondering where her confident attitude had gone.
“There is only…”
“Yes? What did you just say?”
When I asked again, she said blushing.
“Only underwear.”
Oh, I see. Yes.
“I’ll bring you the clothes I wore in the past. It might be a little big, but is it okay?”
“…If you lend it to me, I’ll be grateful to wear it.”
After I said yes, I opened the bathroom door.
A bathtub already filled with water comes into view.
Unlike Korea, where people usually shower at home, in Japan, they often take a bath with water in the bathtub at home.
It may be because my parents lived in Japan for a long time, but they enjoyed taking a bath at home.
When taking a bath, I was usually the last person in the house, but in her case, my father gave up his order because I was the guest.
I squatted down and explained to her step by step.
“This is shampoo, this is conditioner, and this is body wash. I’ve already released the bath agent, so I just need to get into the bathtub. I’ll put my change of clothes in front of the bathroom.”
“Thank you for explaining.”
“It’s not a big deal, well. Then wash up and come out.”
After saying that, I shrugged and closed the bathroom door.
***
After Kim Yoo-sung, who had fought with her today, closed the bathroom door and left, Li Meiling breathed a belated sigh of relief.
“ha….”
It was terrifying to imagine what would have happened if he and his parents had not been kind enough to help.
‘I’ve probably lost my wallet.’
Unlike China, which has developed an electronic money culture, Japan is a cash-only culture.
It’s not that they don’t accept credit cards at all, but even large hotels and franchise stores, most of which only accept cash.
When I realized that I had suddenly lost my wallet in such a country, my eyes literally went dark, not an exaggeration.
Because there was no way to raise money right away.
She untied the string that had tied her long hair, took off the clothes she was wearing, and put it in the basket.
In an instant, you are not wearing anything except your underwear.
She stood in front of the mirror, staring at her hardened body.
It is a body with large and small small scars left on its lumpy muscular body.
It was like a medal for her because it was a sign of all kinds of harsh training since childhood, but there were times when she admired the body of an ordinary girl.
It’s no use now, though.
She took off her plain sports bra and panties, put it in a basket, and went into the bathroom as she was born.
Hot steam rises from the bathtub.
In her mind, she wanted to go right in and soak her tired body, but when she remembered that it must have been dusty after walking all day today, she decided to squat down and take a simple shower.
Shoot!
A cool stream of water pouring over your head.
Feeling the fatigue washed away, she lathered up the body wash and applied it all over her body.
I don’t know what the smell was, but anyway, after washing my body clean with the fragrant foam, I carefully immersed myself in the bathtub.
“Whoa-“
A sigh of satisfaction that comes out naturally.
She closed her eyes as if meditating, and began to count, as she had done as a child.
***
It was about 30 minutes later that Li Meiling, who had gone into the bathroom, came out.
“Wash well.”
She came out wearing the black T-shirt and shorts I had brought her, with a towel around her neck, looking at me sitting in the living room and said so.
“It’s fast.”
“…because I can’t stay in hot water for a long time.”
If that’s the case for sure, there’s nothing you can do about it.
I told my father, who was busy preparing food in the kitchen.
“Father! The bathroom is empty!”
Then my father said yes, and went into the bedroom.
It was probably just to get a change of clothes.
She looked at the futon in the living room and asked.
“Can I sleep here?”
“No, I’ll sleep here, and you can go to that room and sleep.”
As I said that, I pointed to my room, where I hadtily cleaned out what was inside.
It would still be too much for a large country, but if she is small compared to me, I have secured enough space to sleep.
She nodded and sat down in front of me.
In the process, a T-shirt that was large compared to her body was opened and she could barely see her white skin, but it disappeared from view.
From https://noblemtl.com
Maybe it was because it wasn’t the clothes she was wearing, so she was relatively defenseless and looked at me with a serious expression and said.
“Kim Yu-seong, you and your parents have been greatly blessed. So, is there anything you would like to ask me by any chance?”
“Yes? Please?”
“In China, there is a saying that you should pay back the favors you receive from others threefold. I’ve already paid for the accommodation, but no matter how much I think about it, it’s not worth it. So I’ll grant you a favor.”
From my point of view, it was a bit of an outrageous proposal.
I couldn’t think of anything to ask for.
So I was contemplating how to turn down her offer, and I said something that came to mind.
“Can you teach me the technique called the Tiger Guanchang that I showed you in Dalian?”
Then, when Li Meiling heard my request, she looked surprised for a moment, but then smiled and nodded her head.
“Of course.”