Chapter 13 Facing the storm

I have been given a new mission.At the age of 22, I replaced my mother as the first lady of South Korea. Only six days after the funeral, I participated in the scheduled "First Lady Cup Volleyball Competition for Mothers" as the first lady with a white flower on my chest.I held back my tears in front of the sad and crying crowd, because on that occasion, I was no longer the Park Geun-hye I was before, but the Park Geun-hye who performed the duties of first lady "for the first time". The death of my mother has greatly changed the trajectory of my life. The dream of standing on the podium to teach after studying in France has left me. Perhaps this is the fate I cannot escape.When I was in college, I had a strange dream. I didn't think much about it at the time, and I didn't tell anyone, but the dream has always been fresh in my memory.

On the coast with strong wind and waves, because the waves were too big, all the people around me and I hid under the lighthouse.At that moment, the whole scene suddenly changed, and a flat road appeared under the bright sun.A dazzling sun rose from the hill at the end of the road, a beautiful and fiery sun. Not long after this dream, I had another strange dream.I was surrounded by a universe of brilliant blue light that moved closer to me as it turned, a radiance that was as beautiful as it was mysterious.I recorded this dream in my diary at the time, and it gave me an inexplicable sense of uneasiness, and I couldn't figure out why I felt that way.After graduation, I should step into the society and start a new life, but that dream made me feel that I was about to face a severe test.Although I can't prove the relationship between that dream and my life, whenever I think about my mother's death and the change in my life, I will unconsciously recall these two dreams.

I undertook all the work my mother had done during her lifetime.Check the hundreds of letters that reflect the sentiments of the people sent to Cheong Wa Dae, and confirm whether the responsible department is handling them seriously so that you can rest assured.My main work includes improving the backward environment, searching for small and medium-sized enterprises, visiting the forgotten poor, and performing public service.The things to do are piled up like a mountain, and I always feel that time flies too fast, especially when I am busy with work, I can't wait to fix the hands of the clock.I just felt that twenty-four hours a day was not enough, so I had to shorten it to only five hours of sleep a day, going to bed at twelve o'clock in the evening and getting up at five o'clock in the morning.If there are overseas VIPs visiting, in order to prepare in advance, even the only five hours of sleep left have no choice but to give up.My lips are always so tired that I get blisters, and my body often has a low-grade fever, so I don’t even have time to pay attention to being sick.

After waking up in the early morning and waiting for breakfast time, I will listen to the morning news first, then check the president’s itinerary for the day and then check my itinerary. Just checking the daily visit itinerary and processing important documents, the time is almost nine o’clock in the morning , that is, the time when the Blue House started operations. The loud greetings from the people who came to work made the quiet morning come alive.I always sit in the office and listen to these energetic footsteps, feeling the start of a new day. "The early bird gets the worm" is what my mother taught me.As the first lady, I have always demanded myself with the principle of "working harder than others", so that I can effectively accomplish more things in the shortest time.I believe that as long as one more public grievance is dealt with, the people's life will be better.Because of this, my assistants suffered a lot.

Mother is my best textbook.She hates the mother who sits at the desk and works, no matter how tired she is, she has to visit the people to deal with public grievances in person. Visiting the scene is the most important task for her. I still remember when I visited leprosy patients with my mother.When we arrived at the scene, women with children on their backs greeted us with joyful smiles. Their hands and faces were festered by leprosy, but their eyes were innocent and bright.The mother gently took the young woman's festering hands, and the entourage immediately stopped her when they saw her mother's behavior.

"Madame, please don't shake hands. It's contagious." "It doesn't matter, leprosy is not contagious. You can see that she can still smile so brightly in such misfortune. Don't you think that woman's smile is very sweet? In my eyes, I can only see her beauty." After visiting the villages of leprosy patients, my mother spent many days trying to find ways to help them. In the end, she came up with a good strategy of selecting 37 villages of leprosy patients across the country and distributing 470 breeding pigs for them. They laid the groundwork for self-reliance.

My mother has never neglected every letter sent by the people. This is my best example.The postcards or letters sent to the Cheong Wa Dae are indeed passed through the hands of the mother, because she specifically explained that the auxiliary officials must not hide or omit any documents related to public grievances. After I took over as first lady, it was no different from how my mother dealt with public grievances.Every day, I read hundreds of letters of public complaints one by one before going back to my room to sleep. Filling the vacancy of my mother is indeed a tedious and not easy task.That role was anything but easy, it was an infinite continuum of responsibilities.The mother also needs to provide advice to the father after dealing with public grievances, so she is even called "the opposition party in the Blue House" and "Shin Wengu in the Blue House".

For me, who originally only wanted to be a scholar, such a heavy task is a great pressure.However, my strong sense of mission and my mother's achievements have become the biggest strength to support me.This is already an inescapable task, let alone an inescapable task.For me, there is no so-called "escape port" anymore, only heavy responsibilities.If you want to be an excellent first lady, you can only work hard. Injecting new vitality into the Cheong Wa Dae, which has become deserted after losing my mother, and performing the due duties on behalf of the mother who was loved by the people, this was the fate that I had to accept at the age of 22.

I am determined to let go of the past and live fully as First Lady. The spring that was thought to be out of reach has finally come.It's been a bleak spring for the family who lost their mother.Green shoots and small flowers have grown on the side of the road where I once walked with my mother. Looking at this scene, I feel sore in my heart, and I can't even stand properly. Unknowingly, the garden of Cheong Wa Dae is full of white magnolias.One day I opened the window to enjoy the spring breeze and invited my father for tea.My father was especially silent that day. After about twenty minutes, he suddenly mentioned the matter of my mother to me.

"Magnolia is your mother's favorite flower. My heart hurts... I have talked with your mother about countless topics, but she has never mentioned such topics as hiding property to satisfy her own desires. The president's wife still lives like a poor soldier's wife. She always thinks that if I leave the presidency, she hopes to buy a small house on the hillside and plant some flowers and trees there to live an ordinary life. Just think of Even if such a small dream can’t be achieved for her, if she leaves by herself, I will feel extremely painful. Geunhye, if you’re not here, I’m afraid I won’t be able to live.” When the father said this, he couldn’t help but Tears were shed.

Whenever I see such a father, I feel so distressed that I am at a loss, so I must try my best to help my father and fill the huge vacancy.My mother's wish is to lift the Republic of Korea out of poverty, so that our citizens can eat well and dress warmly, and no one will have to worry about the next meal. The "6.25" war made my mother experience extreme poverty. For a mother, there is no more terrible enemy than poverty.War orphans who lost their parents and the endless ranks of refugees, post-war South Korea full of beggars... Mother rolled up her sleeves to help father in order to save the country.She has a very clear goal, which is to get everyone out of the horrible days of poverty.At that time, there was a food shortage in South Korea, and people's lives were extremely difficult. One day, Geunling, a third-year student at Gyeonggi Girls' High School, returned to Cheong Wa Dae on vacation. When he passed the overpass in front of the Gwanghwamun Education Center, he found a boy lying on the ground begging.Geunling, who sympathized with him, returned to Cheong Wa Dae and told his mother about it.My mother asked us to take the boy to Cheong Wa Dae. She helped the boy take off his worn-out clothes, took him to the bathroom, gave him a good bath, combed his hair, and carefully cut his hair. nail. The child was eating the dinner his mother had prepared for him with relish, and after a closer look, he found that he was younger than Zhiwan, his face looked pale and his lips were blue, and he knew he was sick at a glance.The eyes of the mother, who had been watching the child eating, began to turn red. She sat beside the child and carefully helped him pick up vegetables.The fear in the child's eyes disappeared, and he was like a cute bird, happily eating the dishes his mother picked up for him.The child whose stomach was full after eating said that his brother would come out to find him, so he had to go back quickly.After helping him put on new clothes, his mother asked the head of the secretary to accompany him home, and repeatedly told the head of the secretary that if he saw his brother, he must find a suitable job for him to support the family.That night, my mother worked in the office until the early hours of the morning before going back to her room to rest. I still can't forget the look in my mother's eyes that day, full of heartache, pity, and apology... Whenever I am tired from work, I will look at my mother's photo and speak out my heart just like talking with her face to face. At this time, I will be sure that my mother must be guarding me somewhere.