I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 223

—————

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

—————

Chapter 223
“Argh!”
Jeon Tae-guk’s scream pierced the air.
Followed by a thunderous crash—bang!
Every eye snapped toward Jeon Tae-guk.
What Jeon Tae-guk had struck wasn’t Donald Trumpet at all—it was the table he’d been sitting at. The force was so tremendous that the table split clean down the middle.
Yet Jeon Tae-guk, still visibly seething, pulled out his wallet and flung a credit card at Donald Trumpet.
“Use this to buy a new table, and shut that mouth of yours. Donald.”
Donald Trumpet’s bewildered expression contrasted sharply with the other cast members, who erupted in applause and cheers.
It was the moment Jeon Tae-guk completely dominated Donald Trumpet.
“Cut!”
Director Tim Burton shouted.
Satisfaction unmistakably colored his voice.
In that instant, Jeon Tae-guk glanced at me, then walked over.
Everyone else instinctively avoided his furious gaze.
Jeon Tae-guk approached me and spoke in an angry tone.
“Let’s talk for a moment, Sung-guk.”
“Sure.”
I complied readily, and we headed toward the waiting trailer on the film set.
* * *
The trailer where Jeon Tae-guk rested between takes was fully supported by Samjeon Group.
It was worlds apart from the waiting areas of other cast members—every appliance inside bore the Samjeon brand.
Samjeon Group had specially prepared it for promotional purposes.
Jeon Tae-guk entered the trailer, yanked open the refrigerator, pulled out a cola, and tossed it to me.
“Catch.”
I caught it smoothly and held it in one hand.
Jeon Tae-guk cracked open his cola, gulped it down, then winked at me with a grin.
“Sung-guk, I did well, didn’t I?”
“Well… it was passable. The acting coaching really paid off.”
“You’re stingy with praise, I’ll give you that.”
Jeon Tae-guk shook his head, and I sipped my cola leisurely.
Mark, worried about me, kept sending messages, but I didn’t respond to any of them.
In truth, only Jeon Tae-guk and I knew what was really happening.
The director and writers were completely in the dark.
I had told Jeon Tae-guk that I’d display the leaked nude photos on the main screen, and I’d proposed transforming this scandal from a dark chapter in his history into a moment of triumph.
“Honestly, when you first suggested to the head writer that we display my photos, I was furious. I thought you were setting me up to fail.”
[I can’t entirely deny that wasn’t part of my thinking.]
“But like you said—if I react with anger and smash Donald’s table after seeing those photos, it gives all those people watching TV who want to punch Donald in the face some vicarious satisfaction. And for me, it actually helps resolve the issue that’s already blown up.”
After accepting this proposal, Jeon Tae-guk even took acting lessons. That’s how a scene like today’s became possible.
“Hyung… try posting those photos on FaceNote. I bet they’ll go viral.”
“I think I need to ask the secretarial team to sharpen up my facial features a bit with some photo editing.”
Jeon Tae-guk gulped down his cola and glanced at me.
“Sung-guk, but… should we keep acting like we’re angry with each other?”
“Hmm… I’m thinking about what would be most advantageous for this show and you right now.”
A moment later, I grabbed the tissue box on the table and hurled it toward the window with all my strength.
A loud thwack echoed out, and I was certain the few crew members lingering near our trailer would mistake it for us fighting.
Seeing what I’d done, Jeon Tae-guk set down his empty cola can and stomped on it repeatedly with his foot.
I looked in the mirror and mussed up my hair a bit, while Jeon Tae-guk loosened his tie and tore open several buttons on his shirt.
* * *
The crew’s movements became frantic the moment we stepped out of the trailer.
The other cast members seemed to be watching us carefully too.
They all already knew that Jeon Tae-guk and I were acquainted—it was impossible not to, given how much we’d been exposed in the media.
There had been subtle suspicions that I might show favoritism to Jeon Tae-guk in this mission since we knew each other, but this incident seemed to have quieted those concerns somewhat.
Filming resumed.
Donald Trumpet sat at the cracked desk like it was a badge of honor and continued hosting, while I wrapped up the shoot by assigning missions to the cast members.
Starting tomorrow, we had the FaceNote office shoot scheduled.
* * *
Late in the evening, Mark came to find me with a worried expression.
“Mark, what’s wrong? At this hour?”
“Sung-guk. Something’s been bothering me. It’s kind of urgent.”
Dennis, who had been editing footage in the back, greeted Mark.
“Mark, I was just thinking I needed a drinking buddy. Let’s have a beer.”
“Sure.”
Mark answered listlessly as he came inside.
Dennis, oblivious to anything, pulled a beer from the refrigerator and handed it to Mark. Only then, seeing Mark’s serious expression, did he tilt his head in confusion.
“Mark, this seems like something serious…”
“Sigh…”
Mark let out a heavy sigh, nodded, and took a long swig of beer.
“Mark, what on earth is going on?”
“Sung-guk, while we were away filming, Mi-mi had lunch with some of the employees, and they kept prying into the company’s financial situation.”
“Our current financial status, you mean?”
“Yeah. And they asked if this month’s salaries would come through properly, whether they should start looking at other companies now, and they even asked Mi-mi—since she’s living with me—how she didn’t know about all this.”
“Hmm…”
I paused to think for a moment.
As my analysis about the U.S. economy collapsing proved correct, investors who had turned their backs on us sent countless messages trying to return, but I had rejected them all.
I was carefully selecting investors centered around Peter, but that would require at least two or three months.
In the meantime, I planned to sustain the company with the money from selling my stocks.
But rumors were already spreading?
“Plus, some employees even asked whether our appearance on The Intern and preparing a new headquarters was actually just a media play to attract investors.”
“Mark, it’s not entirely wrong, but do you know where that rumor started?”
“That’s… according to Mi-mi, there’s something like Blind Site that only people in the IT industry can access and use. Of course, people like you and me—CEOs—can’t see it…. It seems the rumors started spreading from there.”
“Mark, could you ask Lim Mi-mi if we can see the posts currently on there?”
“Just a moment….”
Mark called Lim Mi-mi, and she arrived at my home with her laptop in less than five minutes.
Then she showed us the posts from the Blind Site that Mark had mentioned.
According to current information from Wall Street in New York, FaceNote’s investors are fed up with CEO Sung-guk’s unilateral decisions and are all turning their backs on him. In fact, many investors have already pulled out.
And yet he goes on TV talking about acquiring a new headquarters?
That’s a classic tactic—polishing everything up on the surface to find blind investors to prey on.
FaceNote claims to be the world’s best SNS, but in reality, it’s losing ground to that simple little chirping app that requires just a few lines to use.
That so-called genius CEO cosplaying as a prodigy. He’s obviously inflating the company’s value to sell it to blind investors and live as a billionaire for life.
How can anyone trust someone who isn’t even an American citizen?
The only answer is to escape from a company like this as quickly as possible.
The author’s username was ‘Silicon Valley Engineer’.
I looked at Lim Mi-mi.
“Lim Mi-mi, could you use your old hacking skills to find out who this guy really is?”
“I was dying to get my fingers moving anyway. Let me give it a try.”
Mark quickly stopped me.
“Sung-guk, this could get us into serious trouble.”
“The worst that happens with someone spreading rumors is a lawsuit. We just need to find out if this guy is worth suing.”
“Sung-guk, but how do you even know about these internal details? Only Peter and we know about the investors pulling out.”
There were people spreading word through FaceNote that so-called experts were withdrawing as investors from our company.
“It’s not exactly classified information. I just want to know who this guy is. I have a feeling he’s someone we know.”
“Who?”
“People who are always eyeing our company. I think they’re the ones desperately spreading these rumors, hoping that once the company’s value hits rock bottom, they can swoop in and acquire us.”
“People? Sung-guk, are you saying it’s some kind of group or faction?”
Dennis asked.
“Haven’t the Winklevoss Brothers been awfully quiet lately?”
The moment I mentioned Winklevoss, Mark and Dennis’s eyes widened.
“No way… would they really resort to something this dirty? Those brothers?”
“Mark, you know better than anyone how shameless those guys are when money is involved.”
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
They were the type who would do anything for money.
Lim Mi-mi simply hacked into Blind Site and uncovered the identity of ‘Silicon Valley Engineer’.
“The IP is showing New York, boss!”
And my suspicion was proving correct.
I quickly made a request to Lim Mi-mi.
“Lim Mi-mi, you have an account on this site, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then, leave just one post on this site.”
“What should I write?”
“The company employees have all read this post and are preparing to resign. We don’t even have enough toilet paper in the restrooms. I honestly don’t know where those two representatives have their heads. The way the company is being run is a complete mess. It wouldn’t be surprising if we went under tomorrow.”
Mark stopped me in alarm.
“Sung-guk, what if all the employees actually quit like this! Then FaceNote would be paralyzed.”
“Mark, if those employees were just waiting for an opportunity to leave anyway, then them leaving now is actually good fortune for us. Lim Mi-mi, as soon as the employees most critical to FaceNote’s security operations arrive at work tomorrow, tell them it’s classified and immediately give them a raise. We can’t afford to lose the most important people.”
“Yes, sir.”
Mark still looked anxious.
“Sung-guk, but what if they leave anyway?”
“Once that higher salary hits their bank account, they won’t be thinking about leaving for a while. Mark, you also send me a list of the key people in your department. We’ll start salary negotiations right away.”
“Uh… okay. But Sung-guk, what are you planning to do? Exactly?”
I looked at Dennis.
“Dennis, when will the YouTube video editing be done?”
“I think it’ll take about three days.”
“Mark, just hold on for one week. Once that video drops and The Intern broadcast starts, everyone will see just how solid a company FaceNote really is.”
“Sir, then wouldn’t it be better not to post something like this?”
Lim Mi-mi asked with a puzzled expression.
“Lim Mi-mi, I believe those who spread such rumors deserve to face appropriate consequences.”
“Sung-guk, what exactly are you planning to do?”
“I’m going to use this opportunity to separate the wheat from the chaff in our company, and deliver a punch that’ll make the Winklevoss Brothers think twice before ever messing with FaceNote again. Just wait and see.”
* * *
The moment I arrived at the office, Mark came rushing in breathlessly.
“Sung-guk! Do you know who just contacted us?”
“The Winklevoss Brothers?”
“How did you know?”
“It’s too obvious.”
“They’re flying in and arriving in San Francisco this evening. They want to have dinner together… and they’ve already booked some incredibly expensive restaurant.”
“Mark, were we ever close enough to the Winklevoss Brothers to eat at a place like that?”
“Of course not.”
“Then what does that tell you?”
“Those bastards have ulterior motives!”
Mark had become sharp as a tack.
“Mark, let’s go feast this evening!”
“Okay!”
* * *
7 PM.
Mark and I stood in front of a Michelin Restaurant in San Francisco, dressed in hoodies and checkered shirts.
“Sung-guk, you’ve got everything planned out, right?”
“Mark…”
I called out to him quietly.
“Sung-guk, what?”
“Mark, I’m not that perfect of a person.”
“What? You don’t have a plan?”
“My plan is to get a decent meal at that Restaurant. After that, we can think about work.”

—————

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

—————