I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 106

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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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Chapter 106
I packed the dormitory refrigerator to the brim with thirty oranges and thirty hot dogs.
I took a photo and posted it on my Face Paper along with the story.
– One dollar a day. Living on thirty dollars for a month, starting now.
But unexpected comments began pouring in.
– Sung-guk, it’s Jamie. I’ll buy you lunch tomorrow.
– Sung-guk, come to our dormitory party this weekend. Dinner will be taken care of.
Comments offering to buy me lunch and dinner flooded in, followed by a cascade of party invitations.
Dennis looked at the comments with a bewildered expression and laughed.
“Sung-guk, I think you bought those hot dogs and oranges for nothing… There’s literally a line of people offering to buy you food for free.”
“I didn’t expect this either. But if this keeps up, I won’t really be living on thirty dollars for thirty days….”
I posted another message on Face Paper.
– I will decline all kindness for the next thirty days.
[Now let me try eating a hot dog.]
I pulled a hot dog from the refrigerator.
“Sung-guk, when you heat up your hot dog, could you do one for me too?”
“Dennis, I’m sorry, but I have to decline. I really need to make this work.”
“Got it. Just kidding.”
I quickly grabbed a hot dog and put it in the microwave.
Friends from other rooms in the dormitory had seen my Face Paper and offered their encouragement.
“Sung-guk, you’ve got this!”
“If there’s any leftover food, I’ll quietly leave it outside your door.”
“Thanks.”
I took a bite of the hot dog.
[This is just living like this for a month, that’s all.]
* * *
Peter Brenton circulated Face Paper materials to his team.
“It’s an SNS created by two students, Sung-guk and Mark, who were my classmates at Phillips Academy and just entered Harvard. I’ve already joined, so everyone should sign up too.”
“Peter, are you looking at this as a potential investment target?”
“There are many interesting aspects. The way students are reacting here is fascinating too….”
At that moment, one employee saw Sung-guk’s Face Paper post and smiled knowingly.
“This guy is really entertaining. He said he’d live on thirty dollars for a month with one dollar a day, and he took a photo of himself buying a ton of oranges and hot dogs for twenty bucks at a nearby mart and stuffing them in the refrigerator.”
“I told him that investors would hesitate because Sung-guk and Mark are so young, so he said he’d demonstrate his determination.”
“That’s impressive. In the comments, everyone’s saying they’ll buy him meals, invite him to parties… it’s chaos. But he’s going to decline all that kindness for the next month.”
Peter felt a smile naturally spread across his face.
A genius. And whenever he saw someone with such remarkable determination, he always felt proud.
At that moment, a young female employee made a meaningful observation.
“Peter, this is really fascinating. Exchanging messages on a phone requires you to specify exactly who you’re talking to. But with this, you just post something on the internet, and all your friends see it and give you feedback. The shift from a one-to-one relationship to a one-to-many dynamic is incredibly interesting.”
“And you can easily leave comments even if you’re not that close, which is also intriguing.”
From the young employees’ reactions, Peter caught enough potential to recognize the opportunity.
‘So that’s what he meant by showing the potential of Face Paper through this challenge.’
Young people certainly had a keen interest in building broad social networks.
“Miranda, book plane tickets and hotel reservations for these friends to come to New York next month on the weekend. Oh, there are three of them.”
“Didn’t you say there were two earlier?”
“My dormitory roommate—he discovered Face Paper after starting college, so he’d be the perfect monitor for feedback. I want to hear diverse perspectives too. And make sure to book them all first class.”
“Yes.”
Peter Brenton had already made up his mind to invest in Face Paper, but he hadn’t contacted Sung-guk.
Sung-guk’s thirty-day challenge was far too intriguing to interrupt.
* * *
– Day 7 of the challenge.
I was so hungry yesterday that I ate two hot dogs, which means today I might have to survive on just one orange.
I’m debating whether to buy more hot dogs with my remaining ten dollars.
Comments flooded in on my post again.
– Sung-guk, there’s a sale at the nearby supermarket right now—five frozen pizzas for ten dollars. Couldn’t you survive two or three days on one pizza?
– Sung-guk, oranges are on sale here—twenty for three dollars.
– Found a one-dollar burger place! Sung-guk, I’ll leave you the address.
– Sung-guk, there’s a restaurant opening this week with a one-dollar dinner buffet. It’s just for one day though.
Everyone’s comments were genuinely trying to help with my challenge.
[Ugh, I’m starving… I should just study.]
Dennis looked at me with worried eyes.
“Sung-guk, you’re at such a critical age for growth… aren’t you going to lose too much weight doing this?”
“Oh! That’s the answer.”
“What?”
“Protein shake. Why didn’t I think of that?”
I quickly searched through Amazon for the cheapest, most generous protein shake available.
Shipping included for $9.99!
I immediately took a screenshot and posted it on Face Paper.
– Protein shake purchased for ten dollars. With shipping at $9.99, my heart swells at such a magnificent price.
The comments praised it as a wise choice, though many warned me to be careful since I might throw it up.
Dennis shook his head.
“Sung-guk, there’s really no stopping you.”
“Dennis, how’s your screenplay coming along these days?”
“Classes, assignments, parties… I’m so busy I haven’t made any progress at all. I wonder if going to New York next month will spark some inspiration.”
“Dennis, just wait a bit. Peter will definitely invite us to New York in a month.”
“Sung-guk, how are you always so confident about everything?”
[How? I used to be a tycoon. I know the minds of investors better than anyone.]
I simply smiled.
“Dennis, I’ll talk less until the protein shake arrives. Talking makes me hungrier.”
“Got it.”
Just then, a call came in from an unknown number.
[Should I take it, or not? I’m hungry anyway….]
After deliberating, I answered the call.
“Hello?”
– Are you the Harvard student currently running the “living on $30 for a month” project on Face Paper?
“Yes, that’s me. Who is this?”
– I’m a writer for the Ellen Winfrey Show. I’ve been following your Face Paper posts… Would you be available for an interview?
The Ellen Winfrey Show?
I jumped up from my seat.
The Ellen Winfrey Show was the nation’s most-watched talk show broadcast across the entire United States.
I naturally exclaimed.
“Of course!”
* * *
Mark paced back and forth across our dormitory room, his face flushed with excitement.
“Sung-guk, you’re really going on the Ellen Winfrey Show?”
“It’s a small segment introducing this week’s issues, and they’re coming directly to Harvard to interview me.”
“Wow, that’s incredible. My parents love watching that show. Can I hang around in the background?”
“Mark and Dennis should prepare too. When I asked if I could bring friends, they said it would be better if I had friends to testify, so I recommended you two.”
Mark and Dennis high-fived.
“Mark, let’s go buy some clothes.”
“Absolutely.”
“Sung-guk, what are you going to wear?”
“I spent all my money on protein shakes, so I don’t have any left. I’ll just wear what I’ve been wearing.”
For the record, I’d already mentally decided what I’d wear.
Jeans, a gray hoodie, and sneakers.
If Charlie Jobs had his black turtleneck, I would have my hoodie.
“Mark, should we go to a salon and get our hair done?”
“I should ask Face Paper. Where’s a good and cheap salon around here?”
Mark quickly posted on Face Paper.
Comments poured in immediately, and Mark and Dennis laughed as they left the dormitory room to get their hair done.
I mixed a few spoonfuls of protein powder into water and shook it.
Then I drank it eagerly.
[Honestly, this taste… it’s like dishwater. Ugh-.]
* * *
“Hi, I’m Michelle Jonah. I’m the writer handling this week’s issues for the Ellen Winfrey Show.”
“Hello.”
I deliberately bowed slightly in the Korean manner as a greeting.
“Oh, are you Korean?”
“How did you know?”
“My mother is Korean. She taught me that greeting style since I was little—you wouldn’t believe how much.”
“Thank you for recognizing it.”
Michelle Jonah possessed a cheerful disposition.
A pre-interview was conducted before turning on the camera for the actual interview.
Michelle Jonah asked me a question.
“What people are most curious about is why you started this project. One dollar a day, thirty dollars a month—everyone’s wondering why a Harvard student would take on such a project.”
“I’m planning to start a business soon. Graduating from Harvard and landing a good job would be nice, but I want to take on as many challenges as possible while I’m young.”
“My goodness, but you really did enter Harvard at twelve years old, right?”
“Yes.”
Michelle Jonah knew quite a bit about me.
“If you’re planning to start a business, why go through the trouble of this thirty-dollar, thirty-day living project?”
“Starting a business is incredibly risky. I imagined a scenario where my startup failed, I lost everything, and everyone turned their backs on me. I wondered how I’d endure that. Thinking about it, I decided to live like this for a month.”
“So you imagined the worst-case scenario?”
“Yes.”
“By the way, you keep posting this process on Face Paper. Is there a particular reason?”
“First, the fact that people are watching my project itself is incredibly encouraging for completing it. Since Harvard students know I’m doing this project, they all become witnesses to it.”
“And you have friends who are witnesses for you, right?”
“Yes, this is Dennis Chazelle, my roommate. And this is Mark Zuckerberg. We created Face Paper together.”
I introduced Mark to Michelle Jonah.
Michelle Jonah asked Mark and Dennis whether my project was going well.
“So far, so good. We’re really managing with hot dogs, oranges, and the protein shake he bought recently.”
Dennis testified faithfully.
“Sung-guk, so you’re planning to start a business with Face Paper?”
“Yes, Mark and I are preparing for it now.”
I answered confidently.
* * *
Mark, Dennis, and I all gathered in the dormitory room, waiting for the Ellen Winfrey Show to begin.
We even skipped classes because of it.
“Sung-guk, do you think we came across well?”
“Let’s see, Dennis.”
Mark looked at me with an intentionally serious expression.
“Sung-guk, but I’m really curious… you’re going on the broadcast just to expose Face Paper, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Peter Brenton is already interested, so did we really need to go on broadcast?”
“Mark, Peter Brenton is certainly a legendary investor, but if our popularity rises, we can secure investment on much more favorable terms.”
“Is Warren Buffett really living inside you?”
“Maybe….”
I shrugged my shoulders.
[You little brats, you have no idea who I really am.]
Soon the broadcast began.
The Hot Issue of the Week segment was a short corner that aired during a break in the talk show being conducted in the studio.
Ellen Winfrey had been conducting interviews with a famous actor appearing today, and now she introduced the Hot Issue of the Week segment as a brief respite.
“Today, we met Jeon Sung-guk, a Harvard student who is running a living-on-one-dollar-a-day, thirty-dollars-a-month project on Face Paper, an SNS primarily used by Harvard students. What’s even more surprising is that Jeon Sung-guk is reportedly a genius who enrolled at Harvard at just twelve years old.”
At the same time, the interview footage I had recorded aired.
“Sung-guk, I got caught standing behind you! Dennis, I think we really did get a great haircut.”
Mark started chattering excitedly.
The interview aired without significant distortion, and simultaneously, Face Paper’s servers crashed from the overwhelming surge of visitors.

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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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