I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 150

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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 150
I handed Jeon Tae-guk the contract I’d written with Min-guk.
“Tae-guk, here it is.”
“Oh, this. I didn’t ask you to write this—Min-guk suggested it first.”
“I know. Let’s have it drafted as a formal contract and get it notarized by a lawyer.”
“You’re going that far?”
“Of course. It’s a contract.”
The contract had to be airtight so he couldn’t claim ignorance later.
Especially with Jeon Tae-guk—he was exactly the type to feign amnesia when it suited him.
“Well, okay….”
Jeon Tae-guk reluctantly nodded.
“Tae-guk, would it be alright if I add a few more detailed clauses to this?”
“Go ahead. I don’t know much about these things, but our Samjeon lawyers will check everything.”
“Then I’ll add a few more clauses and send it to your email.”
“Sure, do whatever you need to.”
Jeon Tae-guk, true to form as the company’s heir, showed no real concern.
A contract this important, and the owner of Samjeon Group thought so little of it… The future of Samjeon looked bleak.
I went back to my room and refined the contract language more carefully.
– Jeon Tae-guk, heir to Samjeon Group, hereby enters into the following Samjeon Electronics model contract with Jeon Min-guk.
1. The group to which Jeon Min-guk belongs shall be contracted as an exclusive model for Samjeon Electronics upon debut.
2. Industry-leading compensation is guaranteed, defined by industry standards at the time of contract.
3. Should this contract be breached, compensation of ten times the exclusive model contract fee at the time of Min-guk’s debut shall be paid.
[This should be sufficient.]
I sent the contract to Jeon Tae-guk’s email.
That kid Min-guk—I’d had him practicing on the floor since childhood, and now he could fend for himself pretty well.
Ding— My phone chimed with a message notification.
It was from Ma Yun.
– Sung-guk, I sent our contract. I’m just happy you recognized our company. We’ve already secured major investment from Japan, so I’m grateful for whatever you contribute. Let’s grab lunch soon!
Japan?
It was obviously Son Jung-hoon, the representative of Hardbank, investing.
So Son Jung-hoon was in the United States?
Another message came from Ma Yun.
Ma Yun was chatty in person, but even more verbose in messages.
– Sung-guk, I’ve told the Japanese investor a lot about you, and he wants to meet. How about it? The Japanese representative is a Korean-Japanese.
[Ma Yun, thank you!]
I quickly replied.
– Ma Yun, I’d love to meet too. I can make time whenever!
So the investor in Alibaba was indeed Son Jung-hoon from Hardbank.
Just then, I heard a voice calling me from outside.
“Hyung! Dinner’s ready!”
“Sung-guk, the pizza’s going to get cold!”
“Restaurant Owner, come out quickly. The seaweed is disappearing too.”
But I had something I needed to do.
To invest in Alibaba, I needed to sell some of my stocks.
The stocks I’d invested in Samjeon, Amazon, and Apple.
I boldly liquidated all my stocks.
Since I’d bought them after the IMF crisis, they’d already generated tens of times my initial investment, but there was no reason to hesitate.
No matter how much Samjeon, Amazon, and Apple rise, they won’t multiply by 3,000 times in ten years.
But Alibaba will generate exactly 3,000 times returns when it goes public in ten years.
Then my choice is clear—Alibaba!
* * *
Morning arrived.
I quickly grabbed Min-guk around the waist and shook him awake.
“Min-guk, wake up. It’s morning.”
“Ugh… five more minutes.”
“Min-guk, do you know how much the Language Academy costs per month?”
“Sigh… hyung… but you know, you look so much like Dad? You’re always going on about money, always peddling sob stories… truly like father, like son.”
“Jeon Min-guk, you have the same father as me!”
“I take after Mom.”
Min-guk headed to the restroom with a slightly defiant tone.
I quickly went to the kitchen and poured milk over cereal.
Mark and Lim Mi-mi emerged from their rooms almost simultaneously.
“Good morning, Sung-guk!”
“Good morning, Restaurant Owner.”
“Yes, good morning to you all.”
While exchanging morning greetings, Min-guk barely stumbled out with sleep still in his eyes.
“Ugh… morning.”
I pushed the cereal bowl toward Min-guk.
“Jeon Min-guk, you came here for language training, and I can’t take care of you forever. From now on, you need to wake up on your own and get your own breakfast. Understood?”
“Ugh.”
“What?”
“Ugh, are you really my brother?”
“Of course I am, which is why I’m raising you to be strong.”
“Sigh… a merciless world with a merciless hyung.”
At that, Lim Mi-mi burst into laughter. She then explained it to Mark in English.
Mark jabbed my ribs.
“Aren’t you being too hard on your brother?”
“Mark, sending Min-guk for language training was a really big decision for our family. If he just wastes time here, that won’t do. Oh, Mark. How’s the messenger development coming along?”
“You really won’t let me change the subject. Lim Mi-mi and I are working really hard on it.”
“I have an appointment this afternoon, so I’ll meet up and head back.”
“Who are you meeting with? A new investor?”
“It’s a place I’m going to invest in.”
I gulped down the cold milk.
* * *
Ma Yun had arranged to meet in San Francisco Chinatown.
San Francisco Chinatown was among the largest in the United States.
Ma Yun had chosen a restaurant that practically exuded the aura of a master chef.
As we stepped inside, a Restaurant Employee in traditional Chinese attire greeted us.
“I have a reservation to meet with Ma Yun.”
“Yes, he’s waiting for you.”
I followed the Restaurant Employee into the dining area.
The restaurant extended much deeper than I’d expected.
As the Restaurant Employee guided me, she glanced at me sideways and smiled softly.
“Are you perhaps an actor from Hong Kong or Taiwan?”
“I’m from Korea. I’m not an actor.”
“My goodness, you’re incredibly handsome. When actors from Hong Kong or Taiwan visit, they always come to our restaurant. I’ve seen many actors, and you really do look like one. Please wait in that room over there.”
When the Restaurant Employee opened the door, I saw Ma Yun and Son Jung-hoon sitting across from each other at a round table.
I quickly adjusted my hoodie and greeted them.
“Hello, I’m Jeon Sung-guk.”
Son Jung-hoon stood up and extended his hand.
“I’m Son Jung-hoon from Hardbank.”
His Korean was perfectly awkward. But he immediately continued in English.
“That’s all the Korean I can speak.”
“Still, your Korean pronunciation is quite good.”
“Thank you for the compliment. Ma Yun told me there was a genius from Korea, and I really wanted to meet you.”
“Sung-guk, I’ve been promoting FaceNote extensively to Representative Son Jung-hoon.”
Son Jung-hoon had already joined FaceNote and opened his laptop to show me his own FaceNote profile.
“Sung-guk, this really seems like something fun. With this, whether I’m in Japan or Ma Yun is in China, we can stay in touch regardless of where we are.”
“Yes, that’s exactly our goal. To become friends no matter where in the world you are.”
“Truly, it seems young people these days think differently.”
Son Jung-hoon expressed his admiration.
“Representative Son Jung-hoon’s eye for recognizing good enterprises is even more remarkable.”
“Look at this fellow. His way with words is impressive too.”
Representative Son Jung-hoon smiled warmly.
The meal that followed was unremarkable.
We exchanged conversations that helped us understand each other a little better.
Representative Son Jung-hoon spoke proudly about his fifty-year life plan that he had created at nineteen, saying he had accomplished everything so far.
Representative Son Jung-hoon’s fifty-year life plan was truly famous.
Make a name for himself in his twenties, secure at least 100 billion yen in his thirties, and stake everything on business in his forties.
Then complete a business with 1 trillion yen in annual revenue in his fifties, and pass the business to the next generation in his sixties.
In my previous life, I also made a fifty-year life plan like Son Jung-hoon, but I died of a heart attack at forty.
[Son, life doesn’t go the way you plan it… You said you’d retire at sixty, but you went back on your word and started working again anyway.]
I smiled bitterly.
Just then, Ma Yun laughed and excused himself to the restroom for a moment.
And without missing the opportunity, Son Jung-hoon turned to look at me.
“Sung-guk, do you have time after lunch?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Then, would you like to have a cup of coffee with me?”
“I’d be happy to.”
Son Jung-hoon was not someone who wasted a single second.
Eating lunch with Ma Yun, with whom he’d already signed a contract, was one thing, but calling me to that meeting meant he had something else to discuss.
Soon Ma Yun returned.
Ma Yun brought up the topic of my contract with a smile.
“Son, Sung-guk came to my investment presentation and said he wanted to invest in our company, even if just a little.”
Son Jung-hoon’s eyes narrowed.
“So I was so grateful that I told him to invest whatever he could.”
Son Jung-hoon looked at me with interest.
“Sung-guk, may I ask how much you’re planning to invest in Alibaba?”
[Of course.]
I paused for a moment before speaking.
“I’m planning to invest four million dollars in Alibaba.”
Four million dollars. That was roughly five billion won in Korean currency.
Both Ma Yun and Son Jung-hoon’s eyes widened at that figure. For a while, silence fell over the restaurant.
[Why are they all so shocked? I have that kind of money.]
Ma Yun quickly took a sip of tea and began to dissuade me.
“Sung-guk, where is that money coming from… no, more importantly, what if something goes wrong with investing that much money in Alibaba?”
Ma Yun was genuinely worried about me.
[Don’t worry, Ma Yun. I never participate in losing games. I’m Jeon Sung-guk.]
I scratched my head, trying to appear as humble as possible.
“I earned money as a child actor in Korea when I was young. I used that as seed money to invest in stocks, and as you know, Korea was struggling with the IMF crisis back then. The stocks I bought during that time have risen significantly now. This money has become dozens of times what I originally earned. If I had just put this money in a bank, it probably would have stayed the same as what I earned back then. But I invested it, and in less than ten years, that money has multiplied dozens of times over.”
I could see Son Jung-hoon nodding slightly.
“I saw the potential in Alibaba, and that’s why I want to trust and invest in it. And if I had put this money in a bank, I’ve set aside five hundred million won in Korean currency that would have remained unchanged. Even if Alibaba fails against all odds, I can always get back on my feet with that money.”
Both Ma Yun and Son Jung-hoon looked at me with admiring gazes.
[Hah, I’m looking pretty cool today.]
I forcibly suppressed my rising shoulders.
“Ma Yun, how about accepting this investment, setting aside the money that would have remained in the bank, and betting on you?”
“Hah, suddenly my shoulders feel heavy.”
Ma Yun paused for a moment, then nodded as if he’d made a decision.
“Sung-guk, thank you so much. I’ll do my very best to make sure your and Son’s investments don’t go to waste and grow Alibaba.”
[Work hard, Ma Yun! I’m an Alibaba investor now too.]
* * *
Son Jung-hoon handed me an ice cream cone.
“Do you know how shocked I was when I learned your age, Sung-guk?”
“Please, speak freely.”
“Younger than my own daughters… Next time we meet, I’ll be more casual with you.”
Son Jung-hoon paused for a moment, then continued.
“Sung-guk, did you come here hoping that Hardbank would invest in FaceNote?”
[Well, it’s not like I hadn’t considered it. Why do you ask, Representative Son?]
I stroked my chin thoughtfully.
Son Jung-hoon regarded me with an unreadable expression.
“Sung-guk, to be honest, I have no intention of investing in FaceNote.”
[That’s not quite what I expected…]
“I’ve seen the future in FaceNote.”
[Then why won’t you invest, Representative Son?]
“I want FaceNote to become a company that won’t be swayed by investors—a strong one. That’s why I’ve decided not to invest. I want you, Sung-guk, to remain FaceNote’s true owner until the very end.”
This was truly Son Jung-hoon.
A major shareholder possesses the power to remove a CEO in times of crisis—a power that would later influence Son Jung-hoon’s decisions across multiple companies.
I nodded in acknowledgment.
“Representative, I won’t let you down!”
Son Jung-hoon broke into a warm smile.
“Still, just in case—and I mean just in case. If things get difficult, tell me anytime. Hardbank is always ready to invest in FaceNote.”
[Representative Son, you’re trying to get your spoon in. But only my spoon belongs in this pot!]

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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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