I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 231

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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 231
A silence fell over the room like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over everyone’s head.
Everyone held their breath, watching Min-guk and Steve Hurley intently.
I could hear whispers rippling through the crowd, but Min-guk paid them no mind, his gaze fixed firmly on Steve Hurley.
Why, you ask?
Because Min-guk’s English proficiency wasn’t nearly good enough to actually understand the whispered English around him!
It was Steve Hurley who found himself flustered by such boldness.
“What did you just say?”
“My older brother is Jeon Sung-guk.”
Min-guk answered with crisp, measured English.
Steve Hurley’s large eyes went wide, and he glanced at the employees who had come with him.
“What is that kid saying?”
“He’s saying he’s our boss’s younger brother, Steve.”
Sam spoke up from beside him.
“Yeah, I got that!”
Steve took out his frustration on the convenient target that was Sam.
Min-guk asked boldly in his broken English.
“Steve, you were insulting my older brother just now, weren’t you?”
“Ah, well… it’s not that I wanted to… The truth is, I’ve just had so much work since joining the company. So I’ve been a bit on edge.”
As Steve Hurley launched into a lengthy explanation, Min-guk found himself understanding less and less of what was being said.
Yet Min-guk stared at Steve Hurley with the same serious expression he’d perfected during his days as a child actor.
“Steve…”
He uttered only that single word, then sealed his lips shut.
Why?
Because he couldn’t speak English!
But this silence was making Steve Hurley sweat even more profusely.
‘Say something, anything… this little guy just keeps staring at me… what is he doing?’
Min-guk continued searching his mind for words, but nothing seemed to form a coherent sentence.
“Ugh.”
Click.
Just then, the conference room door opened and Sung-guk poked his head inside.
Min-guk, seeing Sung-guk for the first time since arriving in the United States, broke into a radiant smile, and only then did Steve Hurley realize that Sung-guk was looking directly at him.
* * *
I pushed open the conference room door and walked toward Steve Hurley.
Min-guk stood with both fists clenched tightly.
I deliberately asked Min-guk in Korean.
“Min-guk, I was watching from the conference room. What on earth happened?”
“That fat, bald Steve guy or whatever was talking trash about you behind your back, saying you’re all full of yourself!”
“Well, he’s not wrong. What can you do about being talented?”
“Hyung, now that I’ve seen him in person, I’m telling you his face isn’t even that handsome!”
“What?”
[How dare you insult this face that my parents passed down to me as their finest gift! I won’t stand for this!]
I stared at Min-guk with the utmost composure.
“Min-guk, from now on, you speak to me only in Korean. Your English weakness hasn’t been exposed, has it?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Then we’re good.”
I quickly turned to Steve Hurley with a smile.
“There’s a Korean saying: even the king gets cursed when he’s not around. So it’s only natural that people speak ill of me when I’m absent, right?”
“It’s not that… I just got frustrated without realizing it because the schedule is so tight. I don’t even remember what I said. Sung-guk.”
“Steve was the executive director at your previous company, correct?”
“Yes, Sung-guk.”
I scanned the five core developers who had come with Steve.
“As long as I’m the boss and until YouTube gets back on track, none of you will have titles.”
Steve was naturally the most shocked by this statement.
“In two days, after I review the reports, we’ll renegotiate your salaries. From now on, I expect everyone to share the work equally. Steve, I’ll see you in two days.”
[I’m going to make your life miserable.]
* * *
I handed a sandwich to Min-guk.
“Lunch. Lunch break is from 12:30 to 1:00.”
“Hyung, I think I need photosynthesis… Can’t you give me some time for a walk?”
“Are you a plant? Why would you need photosynthesis? Just sit by the window and study.”
“Hyung… I get sleepy after lunch.”
“That’s when you drink coffee.”
“I’m still growing! I’m at the age where I shouldn’t drink coffee!”
“Did you know that during the Industrial Revolution, kids your age worked in factories for twenty hours a day?”
“But it’s the twenty-first century now, hyung!”
Mark and Lim Mi-mi, watching us from the side, clicked their tongues.
“These brothers really don’t back down from each other.”
“Mi-mi, in all my life, I’ve never seen anyone talk back to Sung-guk like that.”
Min-guk took a bite of his sandwich and looked at me.
“Hyung, I’m compromising. Ten more minutes.”
“If you get sleepy after a ten-minute walk, those ten minutes get cut starting tomorrow. Okay?”
“Okay!”
I finally started eating my sandwich.
Mark pointed at me, then gestured toward Steve Hurley with his finger.
“Sung-guk, look over there.”
Steve Hurley and his employees were eating leisurely.
What stood out was that only Sam was working while eating his sandwich.
Mark leaned in beside me.
“What are the interns you planted saying?”
“It’s painfully obvious. They probably think Steve Hurley will protect them… but I have no mercy.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“That’s your strength, hyung—knowing yourself so well. You really don’t have a merciful bone in your body.”
Min-guk muttered in Korean.
“Jeon Min-guk, photosynthesis time deleted! Mercy only goes to those who deserve it.”
“Hyung!!!”
* * *
Two days later, Steve Hurley finally convened a meeting to review YouTube’s situation and discuss improvement strategies.
“Steve, are you ready?”
“Of course, Sung-guk.”
Steve Hurley spoke with confidence, then pushed Sam forward.
“Sam will present what he’s compiled.”
I quietly examined the materials Sam had sent. They were well-organized.
It was obvious he’d practically pulled all-nighters over these two days to compile everything.
I casually reviewed Sam’s materials as if I knew nothing, then began asking him questions.
“Sam, this volume looks like you’ve been organizing it for quite a while.”
“After hearing that the boss was changing, I just started organizing things on my own.”
Sam began speaking in a noticeably subdued tone.
“By yourself?”
“Ah, yes….”
Sam glanced nervously at Steve Hurley.
I looked at Steve Hurley.
“Didn’t you instruct him to do this?”
“Of course I did, boss. When the boss changes, it’s natural to prepare materials like this.”
“Then what were the other developers doing during this time?”
“They each did their own work.”
“Hmm….”
I quickly flipped through the materials and handed them back to Steve Hurley.
“Sung-guk, why are you giving this to me?”
“You’re the person in charge, Steve.”
“But two days ago you said we’re all equal… that you were removing titles, Sung-guk.”
“Then why don’t you take charge? If we’re all equal, why does it seem like only Sam knows about this report?”
“That’s not it—we were doing other work, and Sam is naturally good at this kind of thing, so we divided the tasks.”
I shrugged and produced the attendance records from the past two days.
“Sam has been at the company continuously for the past two days.”
“Sung-guk, just because Sam was at the company for two days doesn’t mean he was only working.”
“True. He could have been wasting our company’s water and electricity. So I’ll ask the other four developers directly. YouTube is still in the red—what do you think is the biggest problem?”
The developers all just exchanged nervous glances.
“No one’s speaking up. Steve, what do you think the problem is?”
“Maybe it’s a lack of content?”
“Why is there a shortage of content? That’s because there aren’t enough users, isn’t it? Isn’t there a way to attract more users?”
“Well, that’s….”
Steve Hurley naturally glanced toward Sam.
“Steve, why do you keep looking at Sam? Sam only handled organization, didn’t he?”
“Sung-guk, I’m not even in charge anymore. You should ask everyone equally. Why are you singling me out like this?”
“I’ll ask everyone fairly, and Steve, you’re just first. Steve, can’t you answer?”
I pressed Steve for a response.
Then Steve let out a hearty laugh.
“Sung-guk, I think it’s because YouTube isn’t famous yet. Now that we have a new boss and all, wouldn’t it be good to do some big advertising?”
“Hmm… advertising. Steve, did FaceNote get this far through advertising?”
“Sung-guk… that’s different from FaceNote.”
“What’s different, Steve? Isn’t it participatory services like YouTube and FaceNote where users spread word of mouth on their own? You can create an SNS with powerful capital and advertise too, but ultimately what survives is user loyalty. Can’t that be achieved through advertising?”
Steve’s face grew increasingly red.
“Why are you only coming at me like this, Sung-guk?”
“Because you’ve been the lead developer at YouTube all this time. But the things you’re saying are just ridiculous.”
“I’m not even the lead developer anymore!”
“Isn’t it even more of a problem if someone who isn’t the lead developer doesn’t work either?”
“Just say you want to fire me, Sung-guk!”
Steve bristled at my words.
[Incompetent and bad-tempered too….]
I stood up from my seat.
“Steve, you’re fired. I was promised absolute authority over personnel decisions when I came on as YouTube’s CEO.”
At those words, all the other employees stared at Steve Hurley with shocked eyes.
They all seemed to be waiting for Steve Hurley’s next move.
“Ha…”
Steve Hurley simply looked dumbfounded.
I looked at the other developers.
“Among the core developers who came here, Sam is the only one I want to renegotiate with. However, I’m giving everyone else except Steve one last chance. For the next month, return to intern status and work. If we don’t get satisfactory results during the internship period, you’ll naturally be fired. If these terms don’t suit you, I’d appreciate it if you’d pack your things and leave with Steve right now.”
Steve looked at the developers who had been following him.
“Let’s go together and find a company with better conditions. I’ve been in this field for years—I can’t stay here getting treated like this!”
I could see the developers hesitating.
I stood up and looked at Sam.
“Sam, come with me and let’s negotiate your salary.”
Then I looked around at the hesitating developers.
“By the way, remember this, everyone. When you first joined YouTube, you were probably full of enthusiasm. But as the person in charge took all the credit for themselves and fired anyone who resisted, you gradually became accustomed to this atmosphere. Your salaries stagnated every year, so you didn’t develop either. But from now on, things will be different. Your salaries will rise with your abilities.”
At my words, several developers stood up and patted Steve on the shoulder.
“Steve, take care.”
* * *
I carefully read through the report Sam had prepared and the directions for improvement.
I was particularly impressed by his insights as a developer regarding the current server problems and improvement strategies.
“Sam, you really understand YouTube’s problems well.”
“Ah, yes… I’ve learned a lot from working here. The internet infrastructure in the United States still isn’t that great, you know. So naturally, people are skeptical about video-sharing sites. It will improve in the future, but to capture that growing market first, I believe we need to actively upgrade our servers to handle that demand.”
“Sam, you’re the only full-time employee I’ve hired. Distribute the remaining work among the interns today, and take responsibility for improving this branch within a month. After that month, I’ll discuss with you about which interns to keep on staff.”
“Sung-guk….”
Sam’s bewilderment was plainly evident.
“Speak freely, Sam.”
“I don’t want to wield a knife against my colleagues. Sung-guk, they all have their circumstances.”
I gripped Sam’s shoulder firmly.
“Sam, if you want to remain a good person, you can leave right now. And… instead of worrying that they’ll be fired, wouldn’t it be better to show them how they can survive? Don’t you think, Sam?”
“Ah…. Yes….”
Sam finally nodded.
The world is inherently a cruel fairy tale.
There are no eternally good people, nor people capable of being good.
* * *
“Jeon Min-guk!!!”
I burst out shouting.
Before my eyes lay a third-year middle school mock exam paper.
I’d asked Secretary Park Sung-hee to obtain it through the Korean community—it hadn’t been easy.
“Hyung… don’t yell like that. It’s scary.”
“What have you been studying for two weeks! Seriously, there’s not a single subject over 50 points besides English! Have you even been studying?!”
“Hyung… ever since the Steve situation, whenever I try to study, I keep hearing people curse at you, and I can’t concentrate on studying. But hyung, in exchange, my ears are completely attuned to English now. I got a perfect score in English.”
Min-guk drew a victory sign.

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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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