Ch.330330. Daughters Take After Their Mothers

“Uhee…?”

“……”

She clearly knew I was calling her, Han Uhee, and not someone else. Yet, Uhee avoided my gaze as if she hadn’t heard me and hugged the cat Nabi sitting on her lap tightly.

I had my doubts, but it seems Hwa Nabi was telling the truth. Uhee was really trying to adopt another cat using me as an excuse…!

Honestly, I’m a bit surprised and flustered, but more than that, I’m curious. Why does Uhee want to raise another cat? I gently stroked her head and spoke softly.

“Uhee.”

“……”

“I’m not going to scold you. Daddy’s just curious about something, so will you look at me?”

After my gentle coaxing, she slowly raised her head. Uhee’s eyes were moist. It seemed like she would burst into tears the moment I said anything.

I never intended to scold her, but seeing her like this made me certain I shouldn’t raise my voice. Let’s keep this as light and pleasant as possible.

“Uhee, why do you want another cat?”

“You… want to know the reason?”

“Yes, if you have a reason, would you tell Daddy? After hearing it, if I think our Uhee’s reasoning makes sense, I might consider getting another cat. Ah, by ‘makes sense’ I mean…”

“Oh, no. I know what it means. It means there’s some truth to what I’m saying, right?”

“Oh, impressive! Our Uhee even knows what ‘makes sense’ means?”

This surprised me in a different way. I thought a four-year-old might not know that yet, but she explained it more clearly than I could have!

Feeling proud, I patted her head, and Uhee looked up at me with moist eyes. It seems she has something more she wants to say.

Being family, we make eye contact often, but it feels like it’s been a very long time since I’ve held eye contact with Uhee like this. I smiled at her, indicating she could speak if she wanted to.

“Um… Daddy.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“About why I want another cat, could I maybe tell you later?”

“Hmm… why do you want to wait? Is there a reason you can’t tell me now?”

“No, it’s not that… I want to organize my thoughts better before I tell you. If I tell you now, I think you’ll say no.”

“……”

She wants to fill in the gaps in her logic before trying to persuade me again, right? I silently asked Hwa Nabi with my eyes, and she nodded as if she had the same impression.

Wow, is she really just a four-year-old kindergartener? I stared at Uhee in silent amazement. She knows that if she speaks now, it might look like she’s just throwing a tantrum, so she wants to take time to reconsider.

Avoiding unfavorable situations and then coming back with plausible reasons to push your argument is quite an advanced conversation technique. I never expected Uhee to know and use that. Where did she learn this? Do kindergartens these days teach persuasion techniques?

I was genuinely curious and about to ask, but I stopped when I saw Hwa Nabi giving me a look. She was urging me to respond to Uhee.

“Mmm, okay. Let’s talk about it later then. When would you like to? This weekend? Or next week?”

“I’d like to talk when I’m ready, if that’s okay?”

She wants to choose the time and place herself? It’s kind of cute seeing how determined she is to persuade me. Well, it’s not difficult to hear her out. I nodded in agreement.

‘Husband, are you serious?’

‘Huh?’

‘About getting another cat if Uhee persuades you. Are you genuinely considering it, or are you just trying to make her give up?’

‘Oh, I’m being sincere.’

‘What if you actually get persuaded?’

‘Come on, how could I possibly be persuaded? She’s just a little kid.’

I waved my hand dismissively, but Hwa Nabi looked at me with an amused smile. It was as if she was saying, ‘Husband, you still don’t know our Uhee very well.’

Her gaze was so meaningful that it made me uneasy. Just as I was about to ask for details, Uhee gently tugged at my sleeve.

“Daddy, I have a question.”

“Ah, yes. What is it?”

“Your company is a big corporation, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. The company is very large, so it’s definitely a big corporation.”

“Then, where does Daddy’s company rank in Korea?”

“Well… let me think. It’s number one in its industry, but if we look at the overall group value, it’s a bit complicated to calculate…”

I was about to explain but stopped. Uhee was looking at me with her big round eyes.

Ah, I made a mistake. Talk of industries and corporate values isn’t something a four-year-old would understand. I should simplify my explanation.

“Uhee, there are several classes at your kindergarten, right? How many are there?”

“There are five.”

“And in each of those five classes, there are the smartest kids, right?”

“Um… yes, there are.”

“Then, who’s the smartest among all of them?”

“…I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

She hung her head and hugged the cat, seemingly upset that she couldn’t answer my question. I stroked her head and said:

“Right, it’s hard to tell, isn’t it? It’s the same for Daddy. My company is the smartest in its class, but when you try to rank everyone from all classes, it gets difficult to compare.”

If we calculated the total market cap of all affiliates, I could confidently say we’re among the top in the business world, but looking at Hanwi Construction alone makes the calculation a bit ambiguous.

While Hanwi Construction is number one in the construction industry, that’s not the case in other fields. We could simply calculate Hanwi Construction’s market cap and compare it with other companies, but that wouldn’t be a proper comparison, so it’s better to explain it vaguely like this.

“You might not understand all that. Just think of it this way: Daddy’s company is number one in the construction industry in Korea.”

“Oh, Daddy’s company is number one?”

“That’s right, Daddy’s company is number one.”

“…I see, Daddy’s company is number one.”

Number one, number one. Daddy’s company is number one. Uhee muttered as if reciting a spell with her head down, then suddenly looked up.

“Mommy, where’s my notebook?”

“Your notebook? It should be in your bag.”

“Okay. Daddy, please wait a moment!”

Uhee quickly handed over the cat Nabi that was sitting on her lap, jumped up, and ran off somewhere.

I watched her retreating figure for a moment, then asked Hwa Nabi:

“Where is Uhee going?”

“Judging by her looking for her notebook, she’s probably going to her room.”

“What does she need the notebook for?”

“Who knows, maybe she has her own ideas about something?”

That makes sense. As Hwa Nabi said, Uhee probably has her own plans.

After waiting for a moment, Uhee came back to the living room from her room with a notebook in hand.

“Daddy, I have something to tell you.”

“Yes, what is it?”

Uhee handed me the notebook with both hands. When I took it, I saw it was labeled “Notice Book.” It seems to be her kindergarten notice book.

What’s this, does she want me to check something? Not understanding why she gave it to me, I looked at Hwa Nabi, who silently mouthed “page ten.” I flipped to that page as instructed.

[April 7th – Parent Observation Day]

“Oh, next Friday is parent observation day?”

“Yes, there’s a handout on the next page too.”

Ah, so that’s why she showed me the notice book. I turned the page and indeed found a handout.

The content was as mentioned in the notice: Parent Observation Day is scheduled for April 7th, and parents who can attend are encouraged to participate.

“Daddy, can you come with Mommy next Friday? Our class is preparing a lot of things. We’ll do presentations, and there are activities for parents to learn together, and they say it’ll be really fun if you come.”

As a parent, I naturally want to attend, but next Friday is a weekday, so I’d need to take a day off.

Taking Friday off would be really awkward at work… what should I do? I hesitated for a moment, and Uhee seemed to sense something was wrong.

“Daddy, can’t you come…?”

Her cute eyebrows drooped, and she stared at me with eyes that anyone could see were trying hard not to cry.

That snapped me back to reality, and I quickly hugged her to comfort her.

“No, I can come. Next Friday, right? Don’t worry, I can come, okay?”

“Really? Daddy, can you really come?”

“Yes, I’ll definitely come. No matter what happens, I promise I’ll be there.”

Wow, how can even her dejected expression be so similar to her mother’s? She looked so sad and miserable that for a moment I felt like I’d committed some terrible crime. As I reassured her and hugged her, Uhee grabbed my sleeve and hugged me back tightly.

“…hic, Daddy. I love you!”