I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 283

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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 283
Kim Yeo-na had finally become the model for FaceNote!
I was overjoyed, practically bouncing with excitement.
Defeating Jack Dorsey and Twitter felt more satisfying than ever.
I quickly approached Kim Yeo-na to express my gratitude.
“Kim Yeo-na, thank you so much!”
“What are you thanking me for? I’m the one who’s thrilled! I get to introduce FaceNote to everyone. Most of the friends I met at the Vancouver Olympics are already using FaceNote. And…”
Kim Yeo-na smiled brightly.
“I’m just so proud that a South Korean is the founder of such a globally renowned SNS platform.”
“Kim Yeo-na, that’s what I should be saying to you as a South Korean. Thanks to you, people who used to say there was nothing to watch at the Winter Olympics except short-track speed skating now eagerly follow figure skating. And thanks to you, many young athletes will dream of becoming figure skaters.”
“Then I couldn’t ask for anything more. It broke my heart to see so many of my teammates who shared those dreams with me have to quit figure skating for various reasons. I just hope our juniors can enjoy figure skating happily with their friends.”
I nodded in agreement.
Now came the most important part.
“Kim Yeo-na, we should sign the contract now.”
“Of course. Oh, by the way, Sung-guk. I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
“My father tried the bossam you brought yesterday and said it was delicious. I’d like to try it too. How about we sign the contract and then go eat there?”
“Kim Yeo-na, don’t you need to watch your diet?”
“The World Championships are over, so I’m planning to eat whatever I want for a while. If it’s okay with you, should we sign the contract soon and then go eat right away?”
“Well… actually, I’m leaving Korea tomorrow evening on a flight. We’ll need time to coordinate the contract details anyway.”
At that moment, Kim Yeo-na looked at me with a playful expression.
“My contract condition is that you personally manage this contract from beginning to end. What do you say?”
What do I say?
Of course I have to see this through to the end!
“Then I’ll need to stay in Korea until I finish wrapping up the contract. Besides, I should begin preparing FaceNote’s full entry into the Korean market. Kim Yeo-na, I look forward to working with you.”
“I’m delighted to become FaceNote’s Korean model. I look forward to it too.”
We shook hands.
* * *
When I went down to the Hotel Lobby, Secretary Park Sung-hee was waiting.
Secretary Park Sung-hee greeted both me and Jeon Tae-guk respectfully.
“Did the business conclude well, Sung-guk?”
“Yes, Kim Yeo-na has agreed to sign with FaceNote.”
“Congratulations. By the way, young master, your mother asked you to come to Hannam-dong for dinner today.”
“Me?”
Jeon Tae-guk asked as if something impossible had happened.
“You’re the only successor to the Samjeon Group, sir.”
“Wait, my mother is in Hannam-dong? She usually spends half the year in France and the other half in Hawaii.”
“It must be one of those rare occasions when you’re also in Korea, sir.”
Jeon Tae-guk let out a deep sigh.
“My luck has been good until now…”
Jeon Tae-guk looked at me with sorrowful eyes.
“Then I’ll head to Hannam-dong. Sung-guk, when are you leaving the country?”
“I need to finalize the contract with Kim Yeo-na and resolve the Korean FaceNote branch issues while I’m at it. I think I’ll leave in about a week.”
“I see….”
Jeon Tae-guk turned away listlessly.
“Brother, go to the United States first.”
Hearing my words, Jeon Tae-guk looked back.
“Sung-guk, I won’t go anywhere without you. Remember that.”
[Sigh… truly a village dog learning the classics….]
Jeon Tae-guk hurried off with Secretary Park Sung-hee, and I walked toward the hotel entrance to catch a taxi.
As I was about to leave the hotel, someone called out to me.
“Sung-guk.”
A very familiar voice.
And one I’d rather not entangle myself with anymore.
But I had no choice but to turn around.
There stood Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung.
“Sung-guk, how about a drink with me? I heard from Tae-guk that your father taught you how to drink?”
After all, today’s gathering with Kim Yeo-na was also arranged by Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung. I had no reason to refuse.
“Of course, let’s have a drink. Chairman.”
We headed to the Sky Lounge at Samjeon Hotel.
* * *
The Sky Lounge of Samjeon Hotel, with Namsan visible in the distance.
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung and I sat in silence for a moment.
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung poured the wine.
[Quite the connoisseur, it seems.]
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung’s love of wine was legendary.
In my previous life, I’d even followed his lead and operated a winery separately.
“Sung-guk, I still can’t believe it. That you’ve grown so much….”
[I sometimes can’t believe I’m twenty either, Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung.]
It felt strange to hear similar words from both my father in the previous life and my father in this life.
I took a sip of wine.
“Sung-guk, today’s gathering is entirely without ulterior motive. I simply wanted to have a drink with you, seeing how well you’ve grown.”
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung savored his wine.
In any case, the Samjeon advertisement had changed my life, born in a tiny room.
“I’ve gained and learned so much thanks to you, Chairman.”
“I’m grateful to hear that. Actually… you’ve grown far beyond what I ever imagined.”
[Of course. I’m Jeon Sung-guk, after all.]
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung simply drank his wine and gazed at me pensively several times.
Perhaps the regret of not securing talent like me.
The resentment of why someone like me was born into a poor family instead of as his own son.
It was a gaze that contained all of that.
And we had a brief conversation about wine.
I concealed my wine knowledge as much as possible, while Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung watched me with eyes that seemed to appreciate my growth.
* * *
After parting ways with Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung, I stopped in front of Father’s restaurant.
Father’s Bossam Restaurant opened at 11 in the morning and closed at 10 at night, just like other Bossam restaurants.
But Father would leave at dawn to boil the meat for that day’s sales and prepare the ingredients.
He always arrived before his employees and left later than them unless something special came up.
It was past 9 at night.
The restaurant was still bustling with customers finishing their last drinks.
I quietly pushed open the restaurant door and stepped inside.
The employees who had worked here for a long time recognized me immediately.
“Sung-guk!”
“How have you been, sir?”
“Same as always. The boss said you were coming and left early these past few days. How long will you be in Korea?”
“Something came up. I think I’ll be here for about another week.”
“Sung-guk, you just get more handsome the older you get. Your face is really bright. Are you dating anyone?”
“Not yet.”
“That’s right, a handsome man like you should take your time and find a good woman.”
“Yes, sir.”
The employee quickly turned his head and shouted toward the kitchen.
“Boss, your son is here!”
At those words, Father appeared.
“Sung-guk, can you wait a moment?”
“Father, is there anything I can help with?”
I rolled up my sleeves.
“Then clean up the tables.”
“Yes, Father!”
I quickly dried my hands and picked up a cloth. Then I began clearing the tables.
“Boss, is it okay to have such high-level talent doing cleaning work?”
The employee asked Father with a laugh.
“Before he’s high-level talent, isn’t he my son?”
“That’s true. You’re right.”
Father shrugged his shoulders and went back into the kitchen.
* * *
After the last customer left, Father removed his apron and came out of the kitchen.
“We finished early thanks to your help, Sung-guk. Want to have a beer with your old man?”
“Mother told me not to drink alcohol.”
“I’ll convince your mother. I should teach you how to drink properly before you go back to America so you don’t make mistakes. What do you say?”
“Sounds good, Father!”
Father pulled out a cold beer from the refrigerator.
Then he came out from the kitchen with stir-fried pork made from leftover ingredients.
“Sung-guk, let’s have this as our side dish.”
I quickly poured beer into Father’s glass first.
Father looked at me with a satisfied expression.
“To think the day would come when I’d drink with Sung-guk like this. It feels like a dream. All of this.”
“Father, you said that on the first day too.”
“Even so. It never gets old.”
Father wore that moved expression again.
[Should I add another spoonful of emotion?]
“Father, I heard everything from Kim Yeo-na. She told me you went to find her father.”
“She told you that? I specifically asked her not to say anything.”
Father drank his beer, looking embarrassed.
“Father, was I really that much of a worry?”
“Of course. That kid who was always showing off suddenly lost all his spirit, and I didn’t know what to do. Of course I was worried.”
He seemed to have exaggerated a bit under the influence of alcohol.
“Father, you didn’t need to worry.”
“So how did the contract turn out?”
“It went well. Kim Yeo-na agreed to be a model for FaceNote.”
“Ah. That’s really great.”
Father seemed to have been more worried than I was.
He let out a long sigh and gulped down his beer.
“Sung-guk, you drink too.”
“Sure, Father.”
I drank my beer as well.
Valentines on the first day, soju on the second day. And wine on the third day, now beer.
I was truly drinking every alcohol in the world these past few days.
[Who taught me in my past life?]
Searching my memory, I learned to drink from Secretary Yang in my past life.
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung had specially requested that I not cause trouble while drinking.
Though Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung had told me to drink moderately and learn to enjoy it, my first drink was definitely with Secretary Yang.
I gulped down my beer.
Father stared at me intently.
“Sung-guk, your father came from nothing, an orphan who started with absolutely nothing. I always thought I was someone who could only fail in life. So failure was very familiar to me in my life. But you know what? I want my son to live a different life than me.”
“Father, I’ll have days when I fail too eventually.”
“Sure, those days will come. But someone who only fails thinks when they fail, ‘Oh, I guess that’s how it is. I’m just not cut out for it.’ But someone like you who only succeeds and then stumbles once probably won’t be afraid of failure.”
But I was afraid.
Afraid it might be my first failure.
“Father, I was really terrified.”
“I know. But Sung-guk, remember this one thing, no matter when you fail. You’re someone with more memories of success.”
Someone with more memories of success.
“Dad….”
“Your old man said something pretty cool today, didn’t he?”
“Yeah. And Dad….”
I gazed at Father intently.
“You’ve always been the coolest to me! And you always will be!”
* * *
“Geez, well done. Real well done. My son just turned twenty and here I am drinking with him every single day. Does that even make sense?”
I opened my eyes groggily.
Father lay beside me, snoring softly.
[How did yesterday even happen?]
I’d definitely been drinking beer while listening to Father’s life advice….
Around the time we’d gone through about twenty bottles, Mother had come and dragged both of us home.
Being with Father completely disarmed my defenses.
I opened my eyes and rubbed them.
“Mom, what time is it?”
“It’s 9 in the morning!”
“I’ve been making hangover soup for days now. Get up and come eat.”
“Okay, Mom.”
I stumbled out of the master bedroom with my hair still disheveled.
Just then, my phone on the floor rang. It was Mark.
Mark had been silent ever since he went to greet Lim Mi-mi’s parents.
I quickly answered the call.
Mark’s urgent voice came through the phone.
– Sung-guk!
“Mark, what’s wrong? How are things going with the introductions?”
– Sung-guk, help me out.
“What? What do you need help with?”
I asked in surprise.
– Sung-guk, I think I made a huge mistake with Mi-mi’s parents. Come help me out right now.
“What about Lim Mi-mi?”
– I don’t know, Mi-mi’s furious too.
Mark had clearly made a serious blunder.

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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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