Golden Spoon Investment Portfolio - Chapter 186

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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186. Well, whose son are you anyway.

Seok-won left the office a bit earlier than usual on the day his father was returning home, and made his way back to the house.
As he stepped through the entrance, Jo Deok-rye, who had been sitting on the sofa in her house dress, elegantly sipping tea while reading a fashion magazine, lifted her head.

“You’re home?”
“Yes. Where’s Father?”

Jo Deok-rye then set down her teacup and spoke.

“He’s in the Study Room, so go greet him first.”
“Understood.”

Seok-won nodded and placed the briefcase he’d been holding onto the empty sofa.

“You haven’t eaten dinner yet?”
“I came straight from the office, so not yet.”
“The Gunsan Housekeeper made loach soup today—your father’s favorite—so you should eat some too.”
“Really? I was actually craving something with a sharp, savory broth. Perfect timing.”

Seok-won said he would greet his father first and headed toward the Study Room.
After a light knock, he opened the thick solid wood door and found Park Tae-hong sitting on the sofa in comfortable clothes.

“Father. I’m home.”

Park Tae-hong then straightened his posture and removed his reading glasses as he responded.

“You’re back early.”
“Today’s the day you’re returning from your business trip.”
“Hmph. It’s not like I’m gone for months on end. What’s so special about it?”

Yet the faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth suggested he didn’t entirely dislike this kind of attention.
Seok-won, knowing this well, simply let the gruff response slide off him, unbuttoned his jacket, and sat on the empty sofa to the right.
Then, watching Park Tae-hong lean back, he asked.

“Did you wrap things up well in China?”
“I showed my face at the manufacturing plant expansion ceremony, cut the ribbon, and that was it. There’s nothing more to wrap up.”

Seok-won smiled at his indifferent tone and responded.

“Just by having Father, the chairman, attend, we can demonstrate that our Park Group values and cares about the Shenyang Manufacturing Plant. That way, building good relationships with local Chinese officials and securing their cooperation will be much easier.”

Though no one had explained it to him, Seok-won had grasped precisely the purpose of his business trip to Shenyang.

‘That boy. He’s quite capable.’

Chairman Park Tae-hong, inwardly pleased by this insight, suddenly remembered something and his expression turned stern.

“Setting that aside—what on earth is this about a private jet as a gift?”
“Exactly as you said, Father. It’s a gift.”

Seok-won shrugged his shoulders casually.
The way he carried himself as nonchalantly as if he’d brought a bottle of brandy for a birthday—it left Chairman Park Tae-hong utterly flabbergasted.

“Who in this world gives away a real private jet worth hundreds of billions of won? It’s not like you brought a toy airplane.”
“Well, I’m right here.”

At his glib response, Chairman Park Tae-hong deliberately furrowed his brows.

“Don’t joke around.”

Seok-won, still smiling, spoke calmly and matter-of-factly.

“You heard from Manager Gil that I made quite substantial returns from venture capital investments recently, didn’t you?”
“You mean that company—Netscape or whatever—where you invested and then sold your stake?”
“Yes. Fortunately, the investment performed quite well, so I decided to give Father a gift.”

Chairman Park Tae-hong straightened his posture as if things were falling into place.

“I see. Since you’ve brought it up, I have to ask—you made a billion dollars by selling your stake?”
“To be precise, it was 1.08 billion dollars.”
“Hmm….”

I couldn’t help but exhale sharply at the news.
A billion dollars alone was an astronomical sum, yet he’d earned even more than that from a single investment.

‘To earn such a fortune from one investment. It’s truly astounding.’

Though I felt a twinge of deflation, my pride and satisfaction in my son’s extraordinary talent for investment far outweighed it.
Then a memory suddenly surfaced—when I’d told Seok-won to return home after graduating from Harvard University and learn the business, he’d resisted and we’d argued bitterly.

‘What if I hadn’t forced him to come back then and had simply let him stay in the United States to run an investment firm as he wished….’

And yet here was Seok-won, handling Securities Company operations flawlessly while simultaneously generating such massive investment returns.
Had I allowed him to fully exercise his talents, he might have achieved far greater success.
As my thoughts spiraled down that path, deep regret washed over me.

‘Perhaps I failed to recognize my son’s true potential and kept him confined within my embrace, preventing him from spreading his wings properly.’

I swallowed the belated wave of remorse and let out a deliberate cough.

“I appreciate your thoughtfulness, but there are limits to gifts. A private jet is too much.”
“But you found the private jet comfortable, didn’t you?”
“It was as comfortable and pleasant as home itself… ahem.”

I nearly fell for Seok-won’s leading interrogation and widened my eyes.

“In any case, business class on a commercial airline is sufficient. Return it.”
“It was custom-made to your specifications, so it can’t be returned.”
“Then sell it elsewhere.”
“You know how appliances become secondhand the moment you plug them in, right? If we dispose of it as used, we’d be lucky to recover half the original purchase price. That would be such a waste.”

Faced with his relentless, point-by-point counterarguments, I felt a slight irritation rising.

“Why didn’t you ask me first before buying something like that? The fuel costs alone, plus all the other expenses—you’ll drain my entire fortune maintaining it. You rascal!”

The fuel costs for each flight, crew salaries, maintenance and inspection fees, plus airport and parking lot usage fees—maintaining a private jet required substantial expenditure.
Of course, as the owner of a major conglomerate ranking in the top fifty of the business world, I could certainly afford such maintenance costs.
Though I wasn’t the type, I could technically employ accounting tricks to maintain the jet using company funds with some justification.
In reality, among domestic business owners—whether from large or small enterprises—many failed to distinguish between company and personal funds, spending them indiscriminately.

‘Moreover, this is before the International Monetary Fund crisis strikes, and with the founding generation still largely alive and active in management, such tendencies are particularly pronounced in this era.’

If it were a private company, that would be one thing, but the moment a company goes public and lists its stock on the securities market.
The company belongs to the shareholders, not the founder—yet domestic entrepreneurs still tend to view it as their personal possession and family asset.

‘Well, that mindset doesn’t really change much even as time passes.’

Most of the power-abuse scandals that occur within conglomerate families stem from precisely this kind of distorted thinking.
The nut rage incident was the most notorious example.
Seok-won suddenly recalled the face of Go Ah-hyun, the eldest daughter of the Hojin Group, whom he’d met through an arranged meeting—not quite an arranged meeting—introduced by his mother Jo Deok-rye, and found himself trembling involuntarily.

“What’s wrong all of a sudden? Are you feeling unwell?”
“Oh, no.”

Seok-won quickly replied and forced a reassuring expression.

“Please don’t worry about maintenance costs. I wouldn’t have simply gifted you a private jet without thinking about the aftermath, would I?”
“What do you mean by that?”

Chairman Park Tae-hong furrowed his brow and asked.

“I’ve established a company dedicated to managing and operating the private jet.”
“…!”
“I’ve also leased a dedicated hangar at Gimpo Airport, so you can simply enjoy flying without any additional concerns.”

Chairman Park Tae-hong, who hadn’t anticipated that a separate management company would be established, wore a dumbfounded expression.
In the next moment, words began pouring from Park Tae-hong’s mouth like a dam bursting.

“You rascal! You established a company just to fly around in one private jet?”
“It’s not one—it’s two.”
“What? What are you talking about now?”
“While ordering your private jet, I purchased one for myself as well.”

At his calm tone, Chairman Park Tae-hong’s eyes widened twofold.
The order of events was slightly reversed, but it wasn’t particularly important, so he glossed over it subtly.

“So… you’re saying there are two private jets?”
“Yes.”

Watching him nod, Park Tae-hong pressed his palm against his forehead.
It wasn’t a car—it was two hundred-billion-won private jets, and he’d purchased two of them simultaneously without batting an eye. It was absolutely astounding.
Whether it was audacious confidence or fearlessness born from earning vast sums at such a young age, I couldn’t fathom which.
As Park Tae-hong wore a complicated expression, Seok-won smiled faintly.

“You don’t think Netscape is my only investment, do you?”
“Then there are others?”
“It’s difficult to detail everything, but I’m investing in various ventures. The capital I’m managing is far greater than you might imagine.”

Park Tae-hong then asked with a skeptical expression.

“Is that truly the case?”
“Yes.”

Seok-won answered with a bright smile, then spoke as if he’d just remembered something.

“By the way, I acquired Gucci not long ago.”
“…Gucci?”

The only Gucci I know is the luxury brand Gucci—could there be another?
My thoughts must have been transparent on my face, as Seok-won nodded in confirmation.

“Yes. It’s the Gucci you’re thinking of.”

Then a realization struck me like lightning.

“Don’t tell me your recent trip to Europe was….”
“I went to Florence and met with Gucci’s executives.”
“Goodness!”

Park Tae-hong’s jaw dropped in astonishment.
At this point, I simply couldn’t keep pace with the scale of my son’s ambitions.

“So please use the private jet without hesitation. It’s not a gift I can’t afford, and since I’ve given it to you, I’d like you to use it comfortably.”

Even flying first class could never match the comfort of a private jet.
These days, Jo Deok-rye had been diligently managing Park Tae-hong’s health with ginseng and herbal tonics, and I hoped this might help in some small way.

“Yes, all right.”

Having heard far too many shocking revelations, Park Tae-hong sat in a daze, staring blankly at Seok-won before responding.

“If there’s nothing more you wish to say, I’ll take my leave.”
“Mm, yes.”

Seok-won rose from his seat, offered a respectful bow, and departed from the Study Room.
As the door closed, Park Tae-hong remained visibly shaken, leaning back against the sofa with diminished energy.

“Hah. I thought he was merely an immature dragon, but now I see—he’s a dragon ascending to heaven.”

Not only had he invested in American venture companies and reaped enormous profits, but his second son had apparently acquired Gucci—a luxury brand that even Midopa Department Store had struggled to secure. The shock was undeniable.

“When my second son was born, my wife had a prophetic dream of a dragon ascending to heaven….”

Indeed, those destined for greatness show their promise from the very beginning—and his son’s auspicious dream had been no ordinary omen.

‘Of course. Whose son is he, after all?’

Park Tae-hong nodded repeatedly, murmuring to himself.
As his initial shock subsided, he found himself chuckling aloud.
His second son was accomplishing feats that far surpassed even his own imagination—feats that transcended what any parent could achieve. I felt immensely proud and delighted by him.
The eldest son, destined to inherit the Park Group, and the second son, charting his own extraordinary path.
What reassuring and trustworthy sons I have.

“I had intended to transfer the securities company and venture capital firm to my second son, but now it seems even that wouldn’t constitute a proper inheritance gift.”

Park Tae-hong shook his head in disbelief.
I never imagined I’d find myself thinking this way, yet despite the bewilderment, I felt no displeasure—quite the opposite.
I was so delighted that laughter escaped me unbidden.

“I feel as though I’ve wrongly withdrawn the funds I entrusted to him. Perhaps I should reinvest them now.”

Park Tae-hong smacked his lips, his expression tinged with regret.
However, the money Seok-won had returned had been entirely committed to acquiring the former Sampoong Department Store Site, making it impossible to withdraw for the foreseeable future.
Park Tae-hong stroked his chin, deliberating at length before reaching a decision.

“Though it may be somewhat belated, I must now remove the shackles that have constrained my son, allowing him to fully unleash his talents without further obstruction.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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