“Brother, do you have enough wine bottles in stock?”
“There must be a problem in the production line since you’re worried about my stock.”
“Not at all, brother. I’m just planning to use the freighter for a different course this time. I’m going to be sending some Serbian refugees to Atyrau.”
“Refugees? To Kazakhstan? You don’t even have anything built there yet.”
Sergey was asking multiple questions at the same time at the surprising news.
“I’ll be taking in some refugees who lost their homes to earthquakes and floods.”
“It’s going to be fall and winter soon, how are you going to take care of them?”
“If I have enough materials, I can build detached houses within two months. If that’s not possible, I will just let them stay in yurts for the time being.”
“You always take difficult jobs. I’m worried about you, Youngho.”
“I have some reasons, but it’s going to be a long story if I explain it to you.”
“Okay, I’m sure you have reasons. I trust you.”
“I’m glad you understand me, is there anything I should help with?”
“Brother Sergey, sometimes I don’t know why I even worry when I have you.”
“Don’t thank me now. I need to report it to Boss before helping you.”
Sergey chuckled as he ended their conversation.
***
During the Korean War, the US Navy had saved refugees escaping North Korea with LST transport ship. As Youngho was passing the Volga-Don River, he thought about the Korean history, since using a ship was the best way to transport a lot of people at once, Youngho left the Port of Baku yesterday.
Including Niksic, about thirty Serbian descendants accompanied him on board. Fatima and Leon came along too because Niksic insisted that the Archduchess should come along to encourage the spirit of the refugees.
Youngho was glad that she and his son came along since he had not been spending time together recently. It would be a refreshing trip for the family.
“I was going to go on a trip together with Leon but this is nice too.”
“When did I say I wanted to go on a trip? You only felt guilty on your own and decided to do that. Anyway, it’s nice to be out away from the farm. I just want you to know that I won’t get upset because you are too busy for work, don’t worry about me.”
She glared at Youngho for a moment but she was beautiful. He wanted to kiss her if there were not too many people around.
The Volga-Don Canal in the mid-summer had a lot of traffic that it could use a water traffic police. Since the canal was acting as a lifeline of Southwestern Russia, ships waited in line at every lock gate. Youngho already bribed the officials at the lock gates so he could slip out easily without waiting in line. It was conventionally done by many people with authorities or money and Youngho had no reason to wait in line since his time was more valuable than money.
It was a new experience for Youngho to pass through the canal. He could not accelerate the speed of the ship but it was not boring since he could enjoy the view outside. Fatima and Leon were also outside as they passed through the thirteen lock gates. It seemed that everything was fun in child’s eyes, Leon kept screaming in excitement and it was finally hurting Youngho’s ears.
“Jongil, is your son Sungsoo also loud as Leon? Or is it just Leon who has a loud voice?”
“Man, you can’t compare the two. Sungsoo was too quiet that he did not even open his mouth whenever we went to new places. Well, it looks like he is just like his father. He’s only into reading these days. Nobody will be able to tell he’s only four.”
Youngho regretted asking to Jongil since all he did was to brag about his son.
Leon was as curious as for his mom and aunt, Zeynep. He did not miss a single view around the canal and watched them until he was falling asleep. It made Youngho wonder what he was looking at.
He looked at Leon’s eyes closely. The boy’s brown eyes were filled with Youngho’s image. Amused by his father’s attention, he touched Youngho’s face and blabbered out words that he could not understand.
***
After passing the Sea of Azov, the freighter could finally reach the Black Sea after two days since it set off from Baku. Now the freighter sped up to its maximum speed to get to Bulgaria.
After leaving the Sea of Azov, the vessel traveled 800 kilometers in half a day and arrived at the Port of Burgas. Its maximum speed was 18 knot. They were lucky since they did not meet any heavy current. If there was, the vessel would have taken two days in the Black Sea.
The Port of Burgas in the Black Sea was the biggest trade port of Bulgaria and its city was well-known for machinery and fibers. The city was the best resort city of the nation and cultural center of the Southeastern region. The port’s atmosphere was very different from the ports around the Caspian Sea.
Although it did not have many high skyscrapers like Baku’s downtown, there were still many travelers strolling on the streets.
At the port, Kim Ilkwon and the Serbian young lads who arrived earlier than Youngho’s group were waiting for them.
“Boss, you arrived earlier than I expected. I thought you’d take several days passing through the canal.”
“I paid the express charge at each lock gate since I’ll be meeting those officials on the way back to Baku.”
Thinking that he would meet them frequently, Youngho bribed them with a lot of money and gave them boxes of Zeynep wine. From now on, those officials would remember vessel named ‘The Arirang.’
“You guys went through such trouble coming here early and waiting for us. So, you can speak Russian to Bulgarians, right? Where are the immigrants?”
Youngho threw in multiple questions in a rush.
“We found them at the temporary asylum in the outskirt of the city. If we were late by a little bit, they would’ve all been deported to Serbia.”
In case of such problem happening, Youngho had sent an advance party ahead of him. Since more than a thousand Serbian refugees crowded in the city at once, the city government would have been startled by them.
As Kim Ilkwon, who arrived at the city just in time, showed the government the entry permit issued by the Kazakh government and promised that the refugees would be leaving in a week, the city authorities had agreed on letting them stay for another week.
Kim Chun in Atyrau had played a key role this time again for the Serbian refugees because he managed to get the Kazakh government’s agreement to the mass immigration of foreigners in the Arirang Farm. In fact, the Kazakh government welcomed new immigrants since the nation’s population was only about twenty million when the nation’s territory was about twelve times the size of the Korean Peninsula. Since the Zeynep Corporation was paying for all of their migration cost, there was no reason for the government to reject Kim Chun’s request.
Youngho did not forget to stop by at the city government’s buildings and bribe the related officials. It was because there would be more Serbian refugees in the future and he did not know how many times he would be coming back for them. He did not want the refugees to be treated unfairly.
Because Bulgaria was the only democratic country among the East-European bloc and the governors and officials had great pride in their country. However, since the country was still struggling, it was a piece of cake to handle its officials whose salaries were not much. There were not many officials who would reject Youngho’s request to be a little nice to the refugees when given a little pocket money.
Moreover, Youngho decided to have a surprising event to make a great impression to the city government officials.
***
The mayor of the city Burgas where a little more than 200,000 people resided was stunned by the recent appearance of Serbian refugees.
He had received the message from the border checkpoint but since they were legally remaining in the city, he did not know what to do. Later, he found out that they would be leaving soon, he was relieved and forgot about them in his mind. However, he suddenly received an invitation for a banquet. It was from the old Serbian Kingdom’s Archduchess and her husband inviting the city officials to appreciate their hard work for helping Serbian refugees.
“The Serbian Kingdom’s Archduchess and her husband had arrived. Please pay them your respect.”
Old Niksic was dressed in a decent gown and announced toward the audience.
As the couple stepped into the room, Youngho’s fingers cringed by the situation but Fatima was calm. He felt like he had come to a dynasty era.
The two greeted many high officials of Burgas that they invited. Since the Archduchess’ couple could speak in different languages like English, Turkish, Korean, Azerbaijani, and Russian, it truly impressed the audience.
The party was successful.
The mayor and high officials of the city were impressed by Fatima’s appearance. They received the honor to hold and kiss her hand. From now on, they surely would not be able to mistreat Serbian refugees anymore.
***
Youngho picked the day when the waves were mostly calm for the set-off day of the Serbian refugees. In three car ferry ships, 228 families of Serbian descendants which summed up to 1,152 people were on board. They were the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom, who had been residing in the mountainous town of Northeastern Serbia. It was admirable how they had been able to hold up until now since the current government of Serbia did not treat them equally as Serbian citizens. It was because they had not been cooperative with the current government, only thinking about the glory of the old kingdom.
Their hard-to-understand worldview made Youngho shake his head. However, they were absolutely royal and faithful to Fatima. On the day that the immigrants met Fatima for the first time, they were as fanatical as some cult organization.
Fatima held every immigrant’s hand. Seeing them even tearing up, Youngho felt a little thrill in his heart. He wondered what sustained their desire for their old kingdom’s restoration for the hundreds of years after the fall of the kingdom.
Youngho could see why old Niksic insisted Fatima’s accompany on this trip since her presence was the key to resolve any problem with the immigrants. Now that they gained new hope in desperate situations, the disorganized group of immigrants now worked in unity. Even Jongil was astonished by their movements, saying that even a military troop could not act in unison like them.
The belongings of the immigrants were not much, they had only packed essentially necessary things. Since their luggage was tied on the roof of their cars and old pieces of furniture were all loaded on trucks altogether, it was easy to move them to the ships.
It looked like ‘The Arirang’ freighter that Youngho’s group used to get to Burgas would be empty, so Youngho filled it with newly-bought daily necessities, equipment, machinery, parts, and steel materials to be used in the new farm construction. He could buy those materials and items in Burgas with the help of the immigrants since many of them had forcefully dragged to labor in machinery production factories during the communist during the time of Communist bloc.
