(Written on May 27, 2021)
In an earlier entry, I recounted a trip to Yecheon with my father. Today, I share a different, equally memorable journey—one when my mother and I went to the Yecheon taffy shop to collect payment. This incident took place during my summer vacation in my freshman year of high school, and it revealed just how wise my mom truly was.
“Son, I’m going to the Yecheon taffy shop to collect our payment. Come along—there’s much to bring back.”
On that quiet day when the factory wasn’t in full operation, as I was enjoying a pause, my mom’s invitation set our plans in motion. We took the train to Yecheon and arrived around noon. My mom swiftly completed her business at the shop and then led me to the bustling marketplace. I had hoped for a treat or some good food, but instead she purchased an enormous heap of red chili peppers—about 53 lbs—bought fresh and not yet dried. It turned out that this hefty load was the very reason she wanted me to accompany her. We had to carry these peppers, sometimes sharing the burden with a hired porter, all while drawing curious stares from fellow passengers. Noticing my displeased expression, my mom addressed me kindly from inside the train:
“Yecheon is famed for its sun-dried chilies. Come kimchi season, everyone floods here to buy them, and the price doubles. Buying these fresh chilies now, even though they’re heavy and challenging to handle, is a bargain. Once dried, selling even half during the fall will cover our expenses, and the remainder will spice our kimchi.”
My initial reaction was one of skepticism.
“Why must I suffer such a cumbersome journey? Wouldn’t it be easier to pick them up during kimchi season at a local market?” I thought inwardly as I dreaded the labor ahead.
Eager for an adventure, I had secretly imagined a leisurely outing—perhaps even a drink with the taffy shop owner’s son. Instead, I ended up sweating under the summer sun, trudging along with a massive heap of chili peppers.
When we finally reached home, my mom spread the peppers under the sun to dry them. But as fate would have it, rain began to fall. Undeterred, she kindled a fire in our kitchen’s hearth and arranged the peppers on the warm floor to complete the drying process. My frustration grew even more.
“Must we really go through all this trouble—lighting a fire in this sweltering heat—just to dry some peppers? The spicy smell is overwhelming, and I can’t even sleep,” I grumbled silently.
In time, the peppers dried and their total weight shrank from 53 lbs to 27 lbs. When kimchi season arrived, my mom took 13 lbs of the dried peppers to the market in Gimcheon, and—as she had promised—the sales fetched more than the cost of the original 53 lbs of fresh peppers. With the remaining 14 lbs, she prepared a generous batch of kimchi for the autumn season, ensuring that we enjoyed a year’s supply of delicious, perfectly spiced kimchi. There was even an extra reserve that lasted well beyond the season. Beaming with pride as she returned from the market, my mom declared:
“See, my son? By selling just half, we’ve earned back our investment. This year’s kimchi didn’t even cost us a penny for chilies.”
This episode is a fine example of my mother’s ingenuity that went far beyond kimchi-making. Every time she traveled outside Gimcheon, she meticulously scouted local markets, seeking out better and more affordable goods than those available at home. She never returned empty-handed, always coming back with loads for the market and enough for our household. On one occasion, she even arranged for extra help to haul sacks of soybeans. I was initially puzzled until I learned that she had purchased twice the amount needed for that year’s soybean paste. Once again, she sold half and kept the rest for our use, making sure that the cost of such essential ingredients never weighed on our family.
As a child, I didn’t fully appreciate her resourcefulness. Now, as I’ve grown older, I understand just how wise she was. Whenever I remember those days, a verse from the Bible echoes in my mind:
"Who can find a virtuous woman? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her, so that he shall lack no profit; she does him good and not evil all her life." (Adapted from Proverbs 31:10–12)