Chapter 3 The first child who lived in a house with a large garden

I still remember the day when I moved to Cheong Wa Dae from the Speaker’s Mansion on the top of the hill opposite Jangchung Gymnasium, it was very cold.My mother has been busy packing medals, helmets, old military boots, maps and other items full of my father's memories since a few days ago, as well as some things that the family has used easily.After the house was completely emptied and cleaned, my mother asked someone to buy some rice and coal to fill up the rice tank and coal storage. "You are going to move away, why do you still buy these?" asked someone else. The mother replied: "These are reserved for the people who will live in next."

Since my father became the speaker of the National Reconstruction Supreme Council, my mother was busy all day while living in the speaker's mansion.There are always many guests visiting the official residence. Although the lives of my younger siblings and I have not changed much from when we lived in Sindang-dong, my mother is busy from morning to night every day, never free for a moment. When we were young, we used to cry because we were deprived of time with my mother, but as far as I can remember, my mother never seemed tired or impatient with anyone.Thinking back now, when we moved from Xindangdong to the speaker’s mansion, our lives have undergone great changes. In addition, my mother has to take care of our three children. She should be in a state of physical and mental exhaustion, but she can. Always smiling and welcoming.

On the day of the move, the weather was so cold that our feet were numb and we couldn't stand up straight, but it didn't affect the excitement of the three Musketeers Jin Ling and Zhi Wan and me to move into the Blue House. "What kind of house will it be?" "Will there be many guests there, too?" We chattered non-stop and let our imaginations run wild.The moment we arrived at Cheong Wa Dae, the three of us were overwhelmed by the huge courtyard.Seeing such a wide courtyard, Zhiwan immediately performed kicking moves excitedly.

"Wow! You can bring your friends to race here!" After getting off the car, the younger brother and younger sister rushed into the house quickly, looking around. "Wow, it's so big, it's really big. It's perfect for playing hide and seek!" Seeing them running up and down, even I couldn't help but ran to the second floor excitedly. However, not long after, Geun Ling and I were sent back to my grandmother's house in Sindang-dong because of the problem of going to school.At that time, I was studying in Jangchung Elementary School, which was too far from the Blue House. If I went to school, I had to drive to pick me up.

At that time, cars were not so popular, and my mother was worried that children would learn to gossip in cars, and worried that we would have a sense of privilege from now on.Parents always want us to grow up healthy and ordinary, not to become high-profile special beings. At that time, there were few buses. Without suitable means of transportation, my mother decided to send Jinling and me to my grandmother's house after careful consideration.Zhiwan cried and begged not to be separated from her sisters, but she still couldn't change her parents' decision.So until I went to middle school, Jin Ling and I were separated from our parents and lived in my grandmother's house.

In the year I entered Sacred Heart Girls' High School, Jinling transferred to Qingyun Primary School for the fourth grade.Zhiwan, who had no friends at Cheong Wa Dae and complained all day about being bored, also enrolled in a nearby kindergarten.Therefore, our family can finally be reunited again. I'm one of those people who is very sensitive to sound while sleeping.I still remember when I was a child, I would hear my mother calling my younger siblings to get up every morning.After waking them, my mother would cautiously poke her head into my room. "Gunhye is awake already? Freshen up and go to the dining room for dinner."

When the door is opened and closed, the sound of the morning news can be heard in the quiet room.Listening to the morning news and current affairs programs every morning is a long-standing habit of my mother. Even after moving into the Blue House, she still starts the day by turning on the transistor radio. In fact, the life at Cheong Wa Dae is not much different from the past. The biggest difference is that there are so many rooms in Cheong Wa Dae, so we can all have our own rooms, and our parents also have their offices. After climbing up the steps to the second floor through the porch and corridor, there is first the living room, which is usually the place where the father eats or the family gathers.On the left side of the living room is the mother's office, on the right side is the study room where the father used to write or read, and further inside is the room of our three siblings.

Although each room has an exclusive room name such as "living room", "office" or "children's room", it seems gorgeous, but in fact the items we use are simple and practical, just like the simple character of our mother. Ornate and expensive furnishings. Cheong Wa Dae is a boring place for our children.At that time, I was past the age to go to the comic book store with my peers to read comics, but Jinling and Zhiwan were at the age where they liked to play in the alleys until the sun went down, so they would always clamor to play with their friends.