I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 159

—————

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

—————

Chapter 159
Jeon Tae-guk’s face, with faint creases forming between his brows, was genuinely serious.
Father looked slightly taken aback and asked again.
“Tae-guk, what do you mean by that?”
“With this level of taste, I think it would succeed even as a franchise. I was asking if you’d be interested in a franchise business, sir.”
Did Jeon Tae-guk have this side to him? I found it rather surprising.
[Even if he’s a global pushover, he must have developed some discerning eye from his training as the heir to Samjeon Group, hasn’t he?]
I observed Jeon Tae-guk calmly.
Father wouldn’t accept his proposal right now, but I was curious how seriously Jeon Tae-guk was considering this venture.
Father looked at me with a slightly awkward expression.
[But Dad, why are you looking at me?]
“Actually… I had something to discuss with Sung-guk anyway… The truth is, Hyojin Food has been bringing up the idea of franchising Won Uncle’s Bossam… Tae-guk, I’m sorry. Since I’m continuing to work with Hyojin Food and developing convenient store meals as well, I’m afraid your proposal won’t be possible….”
Upon hearing Father’s words, Jeon Tae-guk smiled faintly and then put another piece of bossam into his mouth along with some kimchi.
“Well… Samjeon Group doesn’t have a food business division right now anyway. If we had a food business division, I would’ve launched the bossam franchise immediately, but it’s unfortunate and can’t be helped. Besides, a small business like food franchise doesn’t really suit Samjeon Group, does it?”
Jeon Tae-guk shrugged his shoulders.
His pretentious gesture somehow looked pitiful.
[So Jeon Tae-guk’s best choice ends like this….]
I quietly calmed my startled heart.
Father pushed more bossam meat toward Jeon Tae-guk.
“Tae-guk, thank you for the kind words. That just means our bossam is that delicious, doesn’t it?”
“I have a feeling I’ll think of it often. When you send bossam to my secretary team’s restaurant, you’ll need to pay special attention to it.”
“Of course. I’ll make sure to give your bossam special care.”
Jeon Tae-guk stuffed his mouth full of bossam with a satisfied expression.
Just then, bossam suddenly entered my mouth.
Mother wrapped up a piece of bossam beside me and pushed it into my mouth.
“Sung-guk, why aren’t you eating properly? I told you not to get distracted while eating. You just sit there blankly during meals… that’s why you’re losing weight. What good is it if you just keep growing taller?”
“Mom, I’ll eat.”
I spoke while chewing the bossam filling my mouth.
“You said you’d eat, but you’ve barely had a few bites.”
I chewed the bossam Mother had wrapped for me diligently. But it was so large that it was difficult to even speak.
Mother, sitting beside me, kept wrapping bossam and placing it on my plate.
“Dear, Sung-guk has grown even taller while we weren’t looking, but his body is nothing but skin and bones.”
“Sung-guk, are you eating your meals properly?”
Father asked with concern.
“Dad, hyung barely eats and just works all day! He only eats one fried egg. I eat two!”
Min-guk chattered away beside me.
Seeing Min-guk chattering, Mother tilted her head.
“Min-guk, did you eat your meals properly during the break?”
“Mom, my cheeks have hollowed out too, haven’t they?”
Min-guk looked up at Mother with a pitiful expression.
“What are you talking about? Min-guk, your cheeks have gotten so round since you came to the United States.”
At those words, Jeon Tae-guk, who had been putting bossam in his mouth, burst out laughing.
“Haha. Min-guk, you used to eat a slice of pizza with us every evening, and you’ve definitely gained weight.”
“That’s probably why I lost the popularity vote! It’s all Mark’s fault! He’s always ordering pizza….”
Min-guk blamed Mark, who couldn’t understand Korean anyway.
“Min-guk, why is that Mark’s fault?”
“Hyung, it’s because Mark only eats American-style fattening food. It’s always hamburgers or pizza. Since he does that, I gain weight too.”
“Min-guk, there’s something you don’t understand… Mark is American. Of course he eats American-style.”
“Ah… I guess so.”
At my words, Min-guk scratched the back of his neck, pretending not to understand.
Father quickly settled the situation.
“Alright, everyone stop chattering and eat more.”
Mother put another piece of bossam into my mouth.
I was too busy accepting the bossam from Mother to say anything.
“M-Mom, slowly.”
“While I’m here, I need to make sure you eat well and gain some weight. Ah, this is really frustrating.”
Then I noticed one person who was unusually quiet today. It was Lim Mi-mi.
* * *
After Father’s various dishes came out, alcohol was served as well, and the house became lively and cheerful.
Min-guk and Ji-hee had fallen asleep, and I headed to the terrace with a glass of milk.
Summer was fading away now.
A cool breeze blew quite strongly at night.
Click.
The door opened and Lim Mi-mi came out, holding a beer bottle in one hand.
“Boss, what are you doing out here alone?”
“And what are you doing, Lim Mi-mi?”
“Seeing your warm parents made me think of mine.”
There was a reason Lim Mi-mi was unusually quiet today.
Lim Mi-mi, who had been a hacker in North Korea, had barely escaped to the United States and had tried every part-time job imaginable to rescue her parents from the Political Prison Camp.
Through Peter, I had investigated the officials and brokers of the Political Prison Camp who had been holding Lim Mi-mi’s parents hostage all this time. And I had received contact recently.
“Lim Mi-mi, you received the broker’s contact, didn’t you?”
“Boss… why aren’t you asking me to sign a contract?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re someone who makes sure everything is fair and balanced. Shouldn’t I be signing some kind of slave contract to work for you at FaceNote for the rest of my life in exchange for freeing my parents?”
I took a sip of milk and swirled it in my mouth like whiskey before swallowing.
“Lim Mi-mi, I don’t make deals with people’s lives.”
“Boss….”
Lim Mi-mi’s voice carried a note of genuine surprise.
[Why are you looking at me like that? Aren’t I cool, Lim Mi-mi?]
I shook my head slightly, intoxicated by my own words.
In that instant, Lim Mi-mi struck my back with her palm. Smack! Then she threw her head back and burst into laughter.
“Haha! Boss, that’s so funny!”
“Lim Mi-mi, what’s so funny?”
[Wasn’t that a pretty cool line?]
“Boss, do you watch movies or dramas these days? That line is so cringey. Haha.”
But Lim Mi-mi quickly suppressed her laughter and looked at me seriously.
“Boss, I’m so grateful… but I’m such a stoic North Korean person, you know? I didn’t know how to express my thanks, so I just laughed. Thanks to you, I think my parents will be able to leave North Korea next month.”
“That’s really wonderful.”
“Boss, I’m truly grateful. Even though we didn’t sign any slave contract, I’ll be loyal to FaceNote for the rest of my life!”
“I’ll remember those words forever, Lim Mi-mi.”
Lim Mi-mi turned to go back inside, then suddenly looked back.
“Boss, about that line, though. It really was cringey. Don’t use it anywhere else.”
Click.
Lim Mi-mi quickly closed the terrace door and went inside.
I stood alone, sipping my milk with a melancholy air.
[Hmm… I’m really not some unscrupulous employer who traffics in human lives!]
* * *
Everyone had left, and the night grew dark.
Mother, exhausted from the long flight, had fallen asleep beside Min-guk and Ji-hee.
Clink. Clink. The sound of dishes being washed echoed from the kitchen.
I looked into the kitchen and saw Father washing dishes alone.
I quickly went to Father’s side and rolled up my sleeves.
“Father, let me handle the dishes. You’ve worked hard enough with all the cooking.”
“You must be busy with company work all day. You should rest in the living room.”
“No, Father….”
I quickly pulled on rubber gloves and began wiping the dishes.
In my previous life, I’d never gotten a drop of water on my hands, but in this life—between dormitory living and working at the restaurant—my hands were never dry.
“Sung-guk, you do a lot of dishes?”
“We have a dishwasher, and since we mostly eat out, I just wash the simple stuff right away.”
“My son has been through so much.”
“What hardship? You work harder than anyone, running the restaurant.”
Father smiled warmly.
“Our Sung-guk thinks of his father too… When you were just born, all the other kids your age would say ‘daddy, daddy,’ but you were the only one who wouldn’t call me dad. I felt hurt about that many times.”
[That was when I couldn’t adapt to this life yet… Honestly, I lived my whole life as a chaebol heir, and when I opened my eyes, I was an orphan in a tiny room with adoptive parents… How could I suddenly call you mom and dad, Father?]
I washed the dishes without saying anything.
“By the way, Father. What’s this about Hyojin Food wanting to do a franchise?”
“Ah… that… Actually, I came here taking a week off from summer vacation because I wanted to discuss that with you too. If we do a franchise, we’d need to start by quantifying the recipes more and making them more mainstream, then work on all sorts of packages—approaching it with the mindset of starting a restaurant from scratch. Before that, we need time to think it over… and to recharge.”
I nodded.
And I sensed that Father’s heart was already leaning toward the franchise business.
“Father, you want to do the franchise, don’t you?”
“That’s… yeah. Since it’s in front of our son, I might as well be honest. Truth is, Dad really wants to give it a try.”
Father was more serious than ever.
“I discussed it with the Suyu Restaurant Owner, and he’s a bit nervous about it. If the franchise business goes wrong, it could damage the image of the original restaurant too. In the worst case, the restaurant he’s built his whole life for could collapse. Still, he said if I’m determined to do it, he’ll give it a shot with me. He said even if we fail, at least we’ll fail together and won’t feel so alone.”
In truth, Father’s restaurant was doing better than ever.
As single-person households increased and the convenience store snack market grew, the ready-made meals developed in collaboration with Hyojin Group had become a popular menu item in convenience stores.
And the two restaurants located in Suyu and Jamsil were always bustling with customers.
I understood perfectly what Father wanted.
Born an orphan, he chose cooking instead of studying. I understood Father’s desire to succeed through cooking better than anyone else.
[After all, Dad was a man too!]
“Dad, I really hope you take this chance and challenge yourself.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I didn’t even want to come study abroad in the United States at first.”
I’d already completed my studies abroad in my previous life, and in this life, I initially had no intention of leaving my family to study overseas.
“But… because I came to study here, I met Mark and found a new path. Dad had me at such a young age and worked without rest, without even time to sleep, just to support the family. I want Dad to find his dream now, while he still can.”
“Sung-guk…”
Father’s eyes reddened and his voice trembled with emotion.
[Seriously. Dad gets moved so easily.]
“Dad, I’m going to earn a lot of money now! I’ll help you do everything you want!”
At that moment, Father flicked my forehead with his finger.
“You brat, that’s what I’m supposed to say. Not you!”
“What does it matter who says it? You’re something else, Dad.”
But Father’s face was filled with joy.
“Sung-guk, Dad’s really going to give this his all. So I can ease your worries and your siblings’ worries.”
[Dad, you knew I worry so much about the family?]
My heart swelled.
My chest trembled again.
[I guess I inherited Dad’s tendency to get emotional easily…]
I clenched my teeth and buried my face, focusing on washing the dishes.
“Dad, let me finish this and then I’ll go to bed. You go shower first.”
“Okay, I’m exhausted. Sung-guk, I’ll finish tidying up after I shower, so just do the dishes. Got it?”
“Yeah, Dad.”
I heard Father heading into the bathroom.
A smile naturally spread across my face.
Father had taken me in at just twenty years old and spent his entire life running without a moment’s rest for the sake of our family—and now it seemed he’d finally found his dream.
I glanced toward the bathroom.
[Dad, hang in there! Sung-guk’s got your back!]

—————

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

—————