I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 166

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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 166
I sipped my milk while composing a rejection email to Jerry Chang.
– Yahoo and FaceNote appear to be companies with fundamentally incompatible values, making collaboration difficult.
Of course, embedded within those differing values was the work schedule Mark had advocated for.
But refusing to retain Lim Mi-mi—our first employee and the person who had built FaceNote into what it is today alongside Mark—contradicted my own principles.
It was the same when I worked at Samjeon Group.
The most important thing is people, my late grandfather Jeon Ju-shin used to say.
Yet he was also ironically the one who trusted people the least.
That’s why I’d established rigorous contractual safeguards to prevent Mark from betraying me, and I’d built trust with Lim Mi-mi by helping her parents defect from North Korea.
And now they’re dating?
Wasn’t it I who took them to Disneyland, that magical kingdom of dreams and love?
My shoulders straightened with pride.
Mark glanced at me again and shook his head.
“Sung-guk, what are you daydreaming about now?”
“Mark, thanks to you, I’m now wondering where I’m supposed to secure our next round of investment.”
“Sung-guk, thanks to me, we protected FaceNote the way you wanted. I figured out long ago that you had no intention of selling FaceNote to Yahoo.”
“I suppose so.”
[Mark, don’t start complaining now. I know this is all because of Lim Mi-mi.]
I sent the email to Jerry Chang and rose from my seat, feeling lighter.
“If anyone’s free this evening, let’s all head to my place for dinner.”
“That sounds wonderful, sir!”
Lim Mi-mi was delighted, and Mark naturally agreed!
“I really love your father’s bossam, Sung-guk. Why doesn’t he open a branch in the United States?”
“I’ll ask him.”
I simply smiled.
I had a feeling watching these two navigate their romance would be quite entertaining.
* * *
[How long has it been since I’ve had jjajangmyeon….]
My entire body was already responding.
My hands fumbled for chopsticks, and saliva pooled involuntarily at the corners of my mouth.
“Sung-guk, it won’t taste like the jjajangmyeon from Samjeon Hotel, but your father did his best.”
“Father, I’m grateful for this meal!”
At my words, everyone bowed respectfully to my father.
Mark and Lim Mi-mi. Plus Jeon Tae-guk and Young Secretary Yang.
Why were these people always at our dinner table?
“Sung-guk, eat up.”
“Yes, Father.”
I quickly began mixing the noodles and sauce together, then slurped up the first bite eagerly.
[This is the taste….]
“Father, this is really delicious.”
“Better than Samjeon Hotel’s jjajangmyeon?”
“Yep! Much tastier.”
I gave him a thumbs up.
[Dad, honestly it’s a bit lacking, but your sincerity deserves five extra points.]
Just then, I noticed Lim Mi-mi helping Mark, who was clumsy with chopsticks.
[Those two really aren’t hiding it well at all….]
I shook my head in disbelief.
At that moment, Min-guk, who had jjajangmyeon smeared all around his mouth, looked at Mark and Lim Mi-mi before suddenly asking a question.
“Mi-mi noona, are you dating Mark hyung?”
“Huh?”
Lim Mi-mi was so startled that her eyes just blinked repeatedly.
“Min-guk, you’re only noticing now? I figured it out ages ago….”
Jeon Tae-guk spoke casually, and Lim Mi-mi quickly waved her hands in denial.
“We haven’t been dating that long!”
Jeon Tae-guk grinned widely.
“Min-guk, she says they haven’t been dating long.”
“That makes sense…. Mark hyung watched that boring princess parade at Disneyland all the way through….”
As we spoke in Korean, only Mark looked bewildered, glancing around at everyone.
Lim Mi-mi sat with a deeply flushed face, unable to say anything.
“Sung-guk, what is everyone saying? Why do I feel like an idiot?”
“Mark, it’s nothing. Everyone’s just saying they already knew you and Lim Mi-mi were dating.”
“What?!”
Mark was so shocked he even dropped his chopsticks.
Mother quickly stood up and handed him a fresh pair.
“Sung-guk, tell Mark it’s fine. I also thought the two of you made a very good couple.”
“Did you notice too, Restaurant Owner’s mother?”
Lim Mi-mi asked in surprise.
“Our Ji-hee mentioned it. She said Mark oppa and Mi-mi noona seemed to be dating.”
This was surprising even to me.
“Ji-hee, how did you know Mark and Lim Mi-mi were dating?”
“I saw them holding hands at Disneyland when there were lots of people around.”
[Tsk tsk tsk, they really left evidence everywhere. Everywhere.]
After hearing Ji-hee’s words, Mark’s face turned as red as a sweet potato, and he scratched his frizzy hair awkwardly.
“We really haven’t been dating that long. So please, everyone, don’t make such a big deal out of it.”
“Mark, congratulations anyway. Your first relationship in the land of free love, America!”
Jeon Tae-guk laughed the loudest at my congratulations.
“What, Mark was a total loner?!”
[Jeon Tae-guk, you’re not one to talk….]
The one who laughed the loudest was always the most suspicious.
Father stood up from his seat and looked at us.
“Who wants more jjajangmyeon?”
“Me!”
I was the first to jump up with my bowl.
I couldn’t lose this to anyone.
* * *
Late that night, Jerry Chang stared at Sung-guk’s email with a grave expression, reading it over and over.
“Different values?”
It was absolutely ridiculous.
A tiny company made up of teenagers and twenty-somethings dared to judge Yahoo?
Yahoo had already established itself as a search portal not just across the United States, but worldwide.
Jerry Chang’s pride was wounded.
‘A company with only three employees is rejecting Yahoo’s offer?’
Jerry Chang immediately sent out an internal company-wide memo.
– Effective immediately, any Yahoo employee found using ‘FaceNote’ will be terminated without exception.
At the same time, Jerry Chang called his business partner David Filo.
David Filo answered in a drowsy voice.
– Jerry, do you know what time it is? It’s 1 AM….
“FaceNote rejected our offer.”
– They turned down a billion dollars? That’s impressive. What was their reason?
“They said they can’t allow the acquisition because we have fundamentally different values.”
– Jerry, calm down.
Even David could hear the agitation in Jerry’s voice.
“David, I can’t stand losing to a company like FaceNote.”
– Jerry, that just means you really wanted to acquire FaceNote. Honestly, I thought a billion dollars was too much anyway.
“David, I will never forgive this!”
Jerry grew increasingly furious.
Within Yahoo, many believed it made no sense to acquire such a young company for a billion dollars.
It was Jerry who had silenced all those objections and proposed the billion-dollar figure.
And now it had failed….
– Jerry, let’s meet tomorrow morning and talk about this. Please calm down and get some sleep. It’s past 1 AM.
“Fine. David, see you tomorrow.”
The moment Jerry hung up, he called a broadcaster he was acquainted with.
The broadcaster answered shortly.
“Sam, it’s Jerry.”
– What’s going on at this hour?
“I have some really good information for you.”
– That’s always welcome. What is it?
“You know that SNS company called FaceNote?”
– Of course. It’s been really hot lately. There were rumors that Yahoo was interested, right?
“I did some digging, and their security seems pretty loose. There’s a real possibility of personal data leaks.”
– Really?
“This is something I investigated personally, so I can’t guarantee its accuracy.”
– Got it. I’ll dig a little deeper into it.
Jerry hung up the phone with a satisfied expression.
If a startup just beginning operations got caught up in an issue like this, it would certainly become a massive problem.
FaceNote’s value could become worthless instead of a billion dollars.
* * *
Tomorrow, my entire family would return to Korea.
The week I spent with my family felt like a dream.
Coming home after a grueling day’s work and being greeted by my family—it was a joy I’d taken for granted until now.
I woke up early in the morning and started my day with a glass of milk.
Min-guk and Ji-hee, who used to wake up earlier than anyone else when we went to Disneyland, were both still in dreamland.
Father emerged, having woken up early.
“Sung-guk, you’re already up?”
“I need to get to the company a bit early.”
It was time to resume meetings with investors that I’d been putting off.
Since I’d rejected Yahoo’s investment, I now needed to schedule meetings with other investors.
“I’ll boil some warm scorched rice for you right away. Don’t drink cold milk—eat this instead. You have time for scorched rice, don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
Father made good on his word, quickly preparing scorched rice and setting out a full spread with kimchi.
“Sung-guk, eat up.”
“Thank you for the meal!”
I took a spoonful of the scorched rice Father had prepared. Watching me, he quickly added some kimchi on top.
“Father, eat with me.”
“No, I’ll eat after I send you off. Go ahead and eat.”
“Okay.”
The warm scorched rice seemed to soothe my stomach completely.
“Sung-guk, I’ll prepare some scorched rice before I leave, so eat it like this. Understood?”
“Father, you don’t need to prepare it.”
“Koreans run on rice. Can you really get by drinking only cold milk every day?”
Father quickly added more kimchi.
“Is there anything else you’d like to eat? I’ll go shopping today and prepare everything before I leave.”
“It’s fine. If I want something, I’ll just buy it.”
“Sung-guk, make sure you eat breakfast,”
“Okay.”
“And don’t skip meals.”
“I understand.”
Father gazed at me intently.
“Sung-guk, you’ll come back to Korea in winter, right?”
“We’ll see… if work gets too busy, I might not be able to. Can’t Mother, Min-guk, and Ji-hee all come again instead?”
“Even your father can’t guarantee anything once he starts the franchise business.”
[Father had that bossam restaurant franchise venture, after all….]
The thought that I might not see my family during winter break weighed heavily on my heart.
“Sung-guk, don’t worry ahead of time. I’ll make sure to find time then.”
“Okay.”
Father rose from his seat again.
“Father, what are you doing?”
“I’ll peel an apple for you. Have some dessert before you go.”
“No, Father….”
But an apple slice was already in my mouth.
[So I have to wait another six months for this?]
A lump formed in my throat.
Just as my eyes began to glisten, a message arrived.
It was from Bill Gates.
What was happening so early in the morning?
I quickly checked the message.
– Sung-guk, Jerry Chang, the CEO of Yahoo, sent a company-wide notice banning all Yahoo employees from using FaceNote. At the same time, he tipped off a reporter about suspicions of personal information leaks from FaceNote. I’m heading over there this afternoon.
My eyes, which had been glistening with emotion, now burned with fury.
[Jerry Chang, you’re such a despicable human being!]
Father looked at me with concern.
“Sung-guk, are you alright? Is something wrong at the company?”
“Oh, Father. It’s nothing.”
[Father, I don’t want to worry the family.]
I pressed my lips together and forced a smile.
“Sung-guk, I may not understand much, but talk to me. I’ll worry too much if you don’t.”
“Father… a small problem came up at the company, but I think it’ll be resolved today… though I might be late. So don’t worry too much, and since I have a flight tomorrow, let’s go to bed early.”
“Sung-guk, will you be very late?”
“I’ll know once I get to the company, Father.”
Father patted my shoulder.
“Sung-guk, remember that your family is always here when things get difficult. Even if you quit everything and come back to Korea, we’ll always welcome you, understand?”
“Yes… Father.”
[Father, I’ll never disappoint you.]
I made a firm resolve in my heart and left home.
I would never disappoint my family.
And I would repay everything I’ve received in full.
And I will repay exactly what I received.

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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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