I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 285

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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 285
Mark seemed to draw courage from my words.
And he spoke in Korean, which he’d learned over the past few days.
“Mo-ther. Fa-ther. I love you.”
At the same time, Lim Mi-mi’s parents embraced Mark.
“Our son-in-law, we love you too!”
In any case, Mark and Lim Mi-mi’s future looked as bright as FaceNote itself.
* * *
Mark’s face never lost its smile now that he’d finally won the approval of Lim Mi-mi’s parents.
“Mark, stop grinning. We have work to do.”
“Sung-guk, besides securing Kim Yeo-na as a model here in Korea, is there anything else to handle?”
[Mark, you can’t lose your head just because you’re in love!]
“I think we should stay here for about another week to wrap up matters related to the Korean branch. We should probably find a branch director for the Korean subsidiary—someone trustworthy.”
“Who should we ask for a recommendation?”
“I’ll ask Tae-guk to help us find the right person.”
To do business in Korea, we inevitably needed the power of the Samjeon Group.
Mark nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, that sounds like the best approach.”
Now that we’d finished securing Yeo-na as a model, it was time to properly wrap up our Korean expansion.
* * *
Jeon Tae-guk tiptoed across the living room toward the entrance, lifting his heels quietly.
The Iron Lady, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, had cornered him throughout dinner—starting with the failed marriage arrangement with Myung Hae-jin and continuing all the way to his barely graduating from a university of no repute.
Because of this, Jeon Tae-guk had lost his appetite and barely touched his food.
He’d managed to escape breakfast since the Iron Lady had only had coffee and a salad, but he wasn’t confident about lunch.
Just then, a call came through from Sung-guk.
This was his chance to escape the house!
“Jeon. Tae. Guk.”
At that moment, the Iron Lady’s voice came from behind.
Cold sweat beaded on Jeon Tae-guk’s forehead.
What should I do….
“Tae-guk, I’m not stopping you from going, but let’s have a cup of coffee with Mom.”
Jeon Tae-guk had no choice but to turn around and walk back into the living room.
Impeccably designed interior.
Every corner of the house without a single thing out of place.
As a child, he’d thought all of this was natural, but once he’d ventured into the world, he’d learned otherwise.
Now this perfection suffocated him.
Soon coffee arrived, and the Iron Lady looked at Jeon Tae-guk.
“What, Mom? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’ve always looked at you this way. Haven’t I?”
“Well, you have.”
“Tae-guk, I just wanted to have a cup of coffee with my son.”
Was the Iron Lady lonely too?
Just wanting to have a cup of coffee with her son….
For a moment, Jeon Tae-guk’s heart swelled with emotion.
“Learn well at the San Francisco Branch, and make sure you eat properly.”
“Mother….”
The Iron Lady had never concerned herself with such trivial matters before.
Suddenly moved, Jeon Tae-guk blurted out words he would never normally say.
“Mother, when I return from San Francisco, would you like to live together with me at the Hannam-dong home?”
The Iron Lady stared at Jeon Tae-guk with an expressionless face for a long moment.
Jeon Tae-guk grew tense, while the Iron Lady took time to collect her thoughts.
The Iron Lady took a sip of her coffee and set the cup down.
“Hmm. That doesn’t seem right.”
Crash.
The brief moment of emotion Jeon Tae-guk had felt crumbled in an instant.
‘People really don’t change, do they.’
Jeon Tae-guk realized this once more and rose from his seat.
“Mother, I have an appointment. So….”
“Where will you sleep tonight?”
Of course, sleeping at home would be the natural thing, but the words wouldn’t leave Jeon Tae-guk’s lips.
The Iron Lady stared directly at Jeon Tae-guk.
“I’m leaving for New York later, so you figure it out yourself.”
“Yes, Mother!”
And so Jeon Tae-guk left the house.
Rather than having to return home, Jeon Tae-guk felt lighter than ever.
* * *
Jeon Tae-guk climbed into the car with a light heart.
Secretary Park Sung-hee, sitting in the passenger seat, handed him a resume.
“The marketing expert you requested. David Oh. He’s the one who handled the United States promotion for Samjeon Group.”
“I don’t really know about these things. Sung-guk will handle it.”
“Yes.”
Secretary Park Sung-hee took the resume back.
Then she asked Jeon Tae-guk.
“Young Master, where should I take you this evening?”
“Where else? To Sung-guk’s place.”
Jeon Tae-guk spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
* * *
Secretary Park Sung-hee handed over a resume.
“He handled overseas-related marketing at Samjeon Group. He wasn’t a formal employee of Samjeon Group, but he gained recognition for his skills through aggressive marketing at a company headquartered in the United States.”
I reviewed the resume of the person I would be meeting today while listening to Secretary Park Sung-hee’s explanation.
His name was David Oh.
He was American, held an MBA from Wharton School, and had worked in marketing at prestigious companies including Samjeon—at least according to his resume.
I sat with my arms crossed, watching Jeon Tae-guk lounging in his chair with an unburdened expression.
“Hyung, do you know David Oh?”
“No.”
“Then why did you recommend him?”
“It wasn’t me—the Samjeon Group’s secretarial office recommended him. You know how it is listening to Secretary Park Sung-hee. Apparently, a collaboration they did with our company recently showed good results.”
I tilted my head skeptically.
The Samjeon Group’s secretarial office recommended this person?
His resume was impressive, but something felt off.
Especially his track record in the United States raised questions.
Most of his projects were collaborative efforts rather than independent ventures, and in such cases, it was impossible to determine how much of the pie he actually controlled.
He had collaborated with Samjeon Group, but it was domestic promotion work within the United States.
In such situations, there was no reliable way to verify his contributions domestically.
Once FaceNote’s Korean branch was officially established, applications from people with ambiguous credentials like this would likely flood in.
I needed to establish clear hiring standards while I had the chance.
“Hyung, can you set up an interview with him for tomorrow?”
“Sure, I’ll arrange it right away.”
Jeon Tae-guk puffed up slightly, riding on the confidence of having recommended talent.
“Hyung, I’m going to use the restroom for a moment.”
I excused myself and moved to a quiet spot.
Then I called Peter.
Peter was an early investor in FaceNote and my senior from Harvard, and he was currently married to Grace, who had been my mentor.
After a few rings, Peter’s voice came through.
– Sung-guk, I heard you went to Korea?
“Peter, we’re establishing a branch in Korea this time. I wanted to consult with you about something related to that.”
– Sure, tell me anything.
“Someone named David Oh was recommended to me as the branch director and overall Asia president. I thought I should have him checked out.”
– Sounds like something doesn’t sit right with you, Sung-guk?
“Yes.”
I spoke honestly.
– Send me his resume. I’ll verify him and contact you right away. How much time do you have?
“I’m conducting the interview at 2 PM Korean time tomorrow.”
– Got it, I’ll wrap it up before then and let you know.
After hanging up with Peter, I also called the secretary to Chairman Koo Young-soo of Hyojin Group separately and asked him to investigate David Oh.
The reason I was being this thorough in vetting talent was that I couldn’t afford any discord from the start in the Asian market, which was just beginning to expand.
And there was no area where a manager’s business acumen was more critical than in hiring the right people for the right positions.
* * *
Click.
As the front door opened, Tae-guk stepped into the home ahead of me.
“Mother! I’m here.”
[If anyone saw this, they’d think Jeon Tae-guk was the son of this house.]
“Tae-guk, welcome.”
“Mother, I’ve brought several bottles of really fine wine from our home today.”
“Oh my, what if your parents find out?”
“Since there are several bottles, they probably won’t even notice they’re gone.”
Just then, I heard Ji-hee’s cries from the living room.
“Waaaah! Mom! Mom!”
I was startled and rushed into the house.
“Ji-hee, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
“Oppa!”
Ji-hee saw me and cried even louder, then ran over and threw her arms around me.
“Ji-hee, what is it? What’s happened? Are you okay?”
“Oppa! Please convince Mom!”
“Ji-hee, what’s going on?”
Ji-hee looked at Mother with a face full of resentment.
“Mom! I hate you!”
Ji-hee cried out and hugged me even tighter.
“Mother, what on earth is this about? Why is Ji-hee acting like this?”
“Ah, really….”
Mother let out a long sigh and continued.
“Ji-hee is throwing an absurd tantrum.”
“What absurd tantrum, Mother?”
“Well, she went to a friend’s house and came back saying her friend has a younger sibling, and now she’s insisting she wants a younger brother or sister too.”
What?
I looked down at Ji-hee, whose eyes were filled with resentment as she stared at Mother.
“Ji-hee, a younger sibling all of a sudden? Why would you say that?”
“Oppa, you have a younger sibling.”
[That’s right. Two of them, actually. Ji-hee, younger siblings are nothing but burdens in life.]
I gritted my teeth and nodded.
“Min-guk’s older brother also has a younger sibling.”
“That’s true.”
“But only Ji-hee doesn’t have a younger sibling!”
I lowered myself to meet Ji-hee’s eye level and explained calmly.
“Ji-hee, you have two older brothers, don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Ji-hee, but this older brother has two younger siblings but no older brother, right?”
“But you still have two younger siblings.”
[Exactly. Do you know what a burden they are?! How much do you think I’ll have to look after all of you until you’re grown and can support yourselves?]
But I kept that to myself.
I quickly tried to console Ji-hee.
“Ji-hee, when you have a little brother or sister, you’ll need to always share your strawberry cake with them. Are you okay with that? You’ll get much less cake for yourself.”
At that moment, Ji-hee’s eyes widened in shock.
Ji-hee loved strawberry cake more than anything in the world except family.
“Big brother… So you’ve been eating less strawberry cake all this time because of me?”
[Only Ji-hee truly understands my sacrifice.]
I nodded with the most pitiful expression I could muster.
“That’s right. I’ve never even gotten to eat a full strawberry cake. Now you understand how your big brother feels, don’t you?”
Ji-hee said nothing.
Just then, Peter called.
“Ji-hee, I have to work, so let’s talk more about the little brother or sister situation later.”
“Sniff…”
Ji-hee whimpered and scurried into her room, slamming the door shut with a bang.
[Younger siblings… when will they ever grow up….]
* * *
Peter’s voice sounded somewhat troubled.
– Sung-guk, I think we need to reconsider David Oh.
“Is he really that problematic?”
– Hmm. It seems like he has quite a bit of exaggerated experience. Did the collaboration with Samjeon Group actually happen properly? There are also a lot of promotions within the United States that I can’t verify.
“That’s all?”
– You know how it is. Even with Samjeon, we might not be able to verify everything beyond major promotions. As for the articles about Samjeon Electronics and smartphones, there’s no way to check how much influence David actually had.
“In other words, he’s a con artist.”
– I don’t recommend hiring these drifting corporate marketing talents. They don’t have any deep commitment to the company. They just follow the money. Sung-guk, you’re taking the first step in Asia now. I think it’s best to be careful when hiring talent.
“Yes, Peter. I’ll meet with him once more before deciding.”
– That’s right. My opinion isn’t 100% accurate either.
I hung up and carefully reviewed David Oh’s credentials one by one.
In the end, I had experienced countless times in my previous life how incompetent people like this only made things worse.
Just then, the door burst open and Ji-hee stared at me with red, puffy eyes.
“Big brother, I’ve made a decision.”
[So, you’ve realized that a little sibling is a burden in life, haven’t you, Ji-hee?]
Suddenly, unexpected words tumbled out of Ji-hee’s mouth.
“Big brother… from now on, I won’t eat strawberry cake. When the baby comes, I’ll give all my strawberry cake to them!”
Sigh… it seemed this persuasion task would take much longer than expected.

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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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