I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 219

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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 219
Mark and Dennis were visibly tense, their anxiety written plainly across their faces.
The police officer tapped on the car window.
Dennis quickly rolled it down.
“Officer, what’s the matter?”
“Well… why are you weaving all over the road like that? Have you been using drugs or drinking?”
“Oh, no, it’s not that… I’m a new driver, and my friends came to visit, so I was showing them around Beverly Hills.”
“Either way, the driver needs to step out. Let me run a quick check.”
Dennis reluctantly climbed out of the driver’s seat.
Mark and I followed suit, watching as the officer conducted the sobriety test on Dennis.
The officer had Dennis speak and instructed him to walk in a straight line.
Dennis, who hadn’t touched a drop, appeared to pass without any issues.
Just then, a Black officer standing beside the one who’d pulled us over approached me.
What was this about?
The officer walking toward me stared at me with wide eyes and let out a low gasp.
“My goodness!”
[What do you mean, “my goodness”? What’s with this guy?]
The Black officer shouted to his partner.
“Ben! Our savior is right here!”
[What? When did I start some kind of cult?!]
The White officer who had been checking Dennis turned around.
“Jim, what are you talking about?”
“Ben, you know that guy who predicted the American economy was about to crash?”
“Sung-guk!”
“Yes! Right here! This is Sung-guk!”
The officer named Jim abandoned Dennis and rushed toward me.
“Unbelievable! How did I not recognize you earlier?”
Officer Jim kept slapping his own cheek in disbelief.
“Officer, please stop hitting yourself.”
“You’re really the person who said on FaceNote that the American economy would hit bottom, right?”
“Yes, I’m Jeon Sung-guk.”
I nodded as calmly as I could manage.
“My goodness! Who am I looking at right now!”
Officers Jim and Ben began making a fuss.
“Ben and I started investing in stocks last year because people kept pushing us to do it.”
His tone had become respectful.
“But we kept feeling anxious about it. We were hesitating whether to sell when we read your post, and we just sold everything immediately. Then the next week, Lehman Brothers collapsed and everything went crazy.”
Officer Jim’s voice nearly broke with emotion.
“That was money I’d scraped together with difficulty during my police career to invest. If I hadn’t listened to you, I’d be completely ruined by now and absolutely desperate.”
“Same here!”
Even a police officer named Ben joined in, and the two of them laid bare their experiences before me like they were testifying.
During a period that seemed to promise continued prosperity like last year, they watched others make money through real estate and stocks, so they belatedly jumped into investing.
But the upward trend had already peaked, and they found themselves staring at stock charts that swung up and down, draining their lifeblood.
Just as they were barely breaking even, they saw my post and both boldly liquidated their stocks. The following week, when Lehman Brothers collapsed and American stocks plummeted, they said their hearts nearly stopped.
“The decisive factor was that other FaceNote CEO who kept buying Nokia stocks. When we heard he sold his Nokia shares, we both made the bold decision too.”
Mark raised his hand timidly.
“That CEO is me.”
The two men looked at Mark as if they were witnessing another messiah.
“My goodness!”
“Jim, are we really looking at such an amazing person right now?”
“Ah, we shouldn’t be doing this. Your friend hasn’t been drinking. What brings you to Los Angeles?”
“I’m meeting with Daddy King.”
“Daddy King’s place is nearby.”
“Yes, we have an appointment tomorrow, but since this is our first time in Beverly Hills, we came early to look around.”
“Then let us escort you to Daddy King’s house today.”
At Ben’s suggestion, I waved my hand dismissively.
“There’s really no need for that.”
“No, we can’t not show kindness to such a distinguished person. And if anything urgent comes up while you’re in Los Angeles, please call us immediately. We’ll help with anything we can.”
As I tried to decline again, Dennis and Mark simultaneously stopped me.
“Thank you! Then please guide us to Daddy King’s mansion.”
“Of course, just follow our police car.”
We got back in the car.
Jim and Ben guided us to the front of Daddy King’s house and repeatedly urged us to call if anything came up during our stay in Los Angeles.
“Sung-guk, you saved our lives! Thank you!”
They left saying this, and as a result, I became the subject of ridicule from Mark and Dennis all the way to Dennis’s apartment.
“Sung-guk, shouldn’t you really be founding a nation?”
“No, Mark. Sung-guk should start a religion. Everything he predicts comes true perfectly.”
“That’s right, Sung-guk. Let’s add another job while we’re at it. I think if you started a religion with that handsome face and charismatic way of speaking, you’d attract tons of female followers.”
“Mark, Dennis. Stop it…. What I did was….”
“We know. We know. It’s analysis, not prophecy.”
Mark cut me off mid-sentence.
“Yeah, think whatever you want. At least be grateful we made a cop friend in Los Angeles because of you.”
* * *
Dennis’s apartment was, in a word, no different from a Harvard Dormitory.
It was studio-style with a slightly larger closet, and except for the attached restroom and kitchen.
A mattress was simply thrown on the floor, and next to it was a desk that doubled as a dining table.
“Dennis, where are we supposed to sleep? Do you have blankets?”
When I asked, Dennis scratched his head.
“Hmm… should we go to a nearby supermarket and buy some blankets? I meant to, but work ran late yesterday. Sorry.”
“You don’t even have blankets?”
Mark asked in surprise.
“If both of us became incredibly successful, we’d be shocked seeing a studio like this, but everyone our age lives like this anyway.”
“Hmm….”
I stroked my chin thoughtfully.
[I never lived like this in my twenties….]
In my previous life, I was the eldest son of a conglomerate family, and in this life, I hadn’t even turned twenty yet.
In any case, Dennis’s apartment was in dire condition.
“Dennis, how much is the rent here?”
“Seven hundred dollars a month. But for this size, it comes with a restroom and kitchen. There’s even a small terrace, you know? I really found a great place, didn’t I?”
Just then, a woman’s scream echoed from outside.
“Dennis, what was that sound?”
“Ah… The security in this neighborhood is a bit rough. But if you greet the neighbors well, it’s fine.”
“Hmm… Dennis, you’re not going to die here before you even become a film director, are you?”
“Sung-guk! How can you say such terrifying things so casually?”
“Isn’t it stranger that you just heard that woman scream and didn’t even flinch?”
Of course, moments later, police sirens wailed and flashing lights flooded through the apartment.
The apartment was right against the street, making it feel like we were living on the road itself.
Mark’s expression was also strained.
“Sung-guk, we’ve been living in paradise all this time.”
“We both make good money, so of course. Really, all ordinary twenty-year-olds live in places like this. I called some friends over for a party, and they praised how well I’d found the place.”
I quickly opened my laptop and looked up apartments in the Los Angeles area.
As Dennis said, finding an apartment this size for seven hundred dollars a month was close to a stroke of luck.
Dennis placed his hand on my shoulder.
“Sung-guk, you’re my friend, not my father. You don’t need to worry about our apartment.”
Dennis seemed to already know what I was about to do.
“And actually, I’m going back to Boston next month.”
“Why?”
“To go to graduate school. Working as a staff member here and struggling didn’t seem meaningful. I want to write more screenplays and study more while waiting for an opportunity.”
That was at least a relief.
I patted Dennis’s shoulder.
“Dennis, please be careful for the next month.”
“Really… Sung-guk, don’t forget that Mark and I are friends, not people you need to take care of.”
At that moment, Mark was dropping peanut butter from the refrigerator onto the floor.
I shook my head.
“Dennis, and he doesn’t need looking after?”
Mark suddenly shouted.
“Sung-guk, some tissues please. Peanut butter keeps dripping every time I move, so I can’t move at all.”
“Mark, just put the peanut butter down and move!”
I handed Mark some tissues.
It was truly a blessing that Lim Mi-mi was taking responsibility for this clumsy Mark.
* * *
We had slept on the floor, covered loosely with towels and Dennis’s winter clothes, and set out for Daddy King’s house in Dennis’s car early that morning.
Since we’d been here once before yesterday, Dennis navigated the route smoothly without getting lost this time.
And once again, we encountered Jim and Ben’s police car.
Jim and Ben rolled down their windows and greeted us cheerfully.
“Sung-guk! We’ll give you an escort again today!”
I wanted to say it wasn’t necessary, but Jim and Ben’s car was already pulling ahead of us.
Mark chuckled from the back seat.
“Sung-guk. Seriously, man, you should start a religion with this. I think it’d be hugely successful.”
“Mark, if you keep teasing me, I’m going to tell Jim and Ben to arrest you for insulting me.”
“Oh, how scary.”
Mark had really gotten a kick out of teasing me.
“Mark, stop it. You’re upsetting our Sung-guk.”
Dennis joined in on the teasing as well.
But I didn’t mind this atmosphere at all.
It felt as though I’d truly returned to my early twenties, carefree and unburdened.
Before long, we arrived at Daddy King’s house once more.
The grand Tuscan-style mansion came into view immediately.
Jim and Ben escorted us all the way to the front of the house and said their goodbyes.
“Sung-guk, good luck with your meeting with Daddy King!”
After they left, Mark and Dennis were too busy laughing to compose themselves.
[I really need to regain my composure….]
Ding dong.
I pressed the doorbell.
Soon the grand door opened, and Daddy King himself greeted us at the entrance.
“Sung-guk?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Come on in.”
“These are my Harvard classmates. Mark, as you know, is my partner running FaceNote with me. And this is Dennis—he’s an aspiring film director. If we do any filming, he’ll be the one directing it.”
“I barely finished high school, and here I am meeting Harvard graduates one after another.”
“Mark and I both dropped out of Harvard, so our education level is the same as yours—high school.”
“That’s impressive. Come on in, all of you. I’ve just finished preparing dinner.”
We all followed Daddy King’s guidance into the house.
Inside, we were greeted by Daddy King’s wife, who was twenty years his junior—a tall woman of striking beauty.
“Welcome. Daddy’s told me so much about you.”
[They really are together, aren’t they.]
I barely managed to suppress a joke that had nearly escaped my lips.
“Hello, I’m Jeon Sung-guk.”
I greeted her as formally as possible, and Mark and Dennis also bowed respectfully.
“Sean. Is dinner ready?”
“Yes, Daddy. Though I’m not sure if it’ll suit the tastes of younger people.”
Daddy King’s wife guided us to the dining room.
* * *
Over dinner with Daddy King, we discussed the interview.
“So… Sung-guk. You’re saying you’ll upload the interview I conduct with you directly onto YouTube?”
“Yes. Have you looked into YouTube?”
“I have. I’ve searched through several videos over the past few days, but I’m a bit concerned since there doesn’t seem to be much professional content yet.”
“In the future, people won’t be digging through blogs or social media for information—they’ll be watching videos on YouTube.”
“You mean an era where people watch YouTube instead of TV?”
“That’s what I believe. Unlike television, which requires you to watch at a set time, YouTube videos can be watched whenever and wherever you want, at your own pace.”
“Hmm… that may be true. But for that to happen, everyone would need to carry around smartphones or laptops. Do you think such a day will really come?”
“The world is developing faster than we think.”
Daddy King nodded.
“That’s true. The world has changed frighteningly even during the decades I’ve been doing talk shows.”
In a few years, Daddy King would likely retire from his SNN talk show due to old age.
But Daddy King didn’t openly express his willingness to do the interview with me.
“Daddy King, is something bothering you?”
“Hmm… if you were to appear on my talk show at SNN, I’d welcome it wholeheartedly. But honestly… YouTube… I’m just not confident about it.”
“Daddy King, you’re someone who’s walked a path no one else has dared to walk. Yet you’re afraid of this? That’s rather unexpected.”
I provoked Daddy King.
In that moment, a different light flickered in Daddy King’s eyes.

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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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