I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 301

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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 301
After the neighbors left, Mother patted my bottom affectionately.
“Mom, I’m twenty now.”
“I know, my son is twenty. It feels like just yesterday you were in diapers, and now you’re a proper company representative.”
[People in America have always seen me that way. Only my family kept treating me like a child. And let me tell you… counting my previous life, I’m already sixty!]
As I grumbled internally, Mother patted my bottom again.
“My son, I was upset that your mother was being disrespected.”
“Mom, from now on, please don’t just take it. Tell them your son is an important person.”
[Min-guk still has a long way to go, but he’ll become famous soon enough.]
Mother simply smiled at my words.
“Alright. Are you tired today? Would you like to sleep here tonight?”
“No, I have some work to do tonight.”
“You must be exhausted. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“Yeah.”
Only then did I escape from Mother’s affectionate pats.
But the real problem lay elsewhere.
“Ah, Father… let’s have… one more drink.”
What’s this?
Jeon Tae-guk, who had been sipping cognac, was drunk.
[Sigh, the karma of my past life…]
I quickly pulled Jeon Tae-guk to his feet.
“Tae-guk hyung, let’s go home.”
“Sung-guk! Sung-guk! Sung-guk!”
[Why! Why! Why! Please stop calling my name!]
“Sung-guk! Why are you Jeon Sung-guk and I’m Jeon Tae-guk!”
“Hyung, what do you want me to do about that?”
Father quickly stopped me.
“Sung-guk, I think we should let Tae-guk sleep here tonight.”
“Father, if we leave him here, no one else will be able to sleep either. I’ll take him with me.”
I dragged the drunk Jeon Tae-guk toward my place.
* * *
I dragged the intoxicated Jeon Tae-guk into my dimly lit apartment.
“Hyung, get it together.”
“Sung-guk… I’m fine.”
[I’ve never met a drunk person who said they were fine and actually meant it.]
I forcibly dragged Jeon Tae-guk over and dumped him onto the sofa.
“Hyung, get some sleep now.”
“Sung-guk… let’s have just one more drink together.”
Unlike moments before, Jeon Tae-guk spoke to me in a calm, quiet voice.
“Hyung, you’ve already had plenty.”
“I have something I need to tell you.”
What is it?
Jeon Tae-guk, intoxicated by alcohol, was completely different from his usual self.
When he gets this serious, my resolve weakens….
“Just one glass, please.”
I retrieved a bottle of wine from the wine cellar.
When we moved in, the wine cellar was what Jeon Tae-guk had devoted the most care to. The love of wine passed down from Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung was already legendary.
The wine I pulled from the cellar was produced in Napa Valley, and it was one I quite enjoyed myself.
I poured a glass and handed it to Jeon Tae-guk.
“Drink slowly, hyung.”
At my words, Jeon Tae-guk smiled faintly.
“Sung-guk, are you worried about me now?”
[What are you talking about? If you get any drunker, I’ll have to deal with it.]
Instead of answering, I sat down in front of Jeon Tae-guk and sipped my wine.
“You said you had something to tell me. What is it?”
“Let me drink a bit first….”
[Jeon Tae-guk, don’t waste my time. You know how valuable my time is.]
Jeon Tae-guk slowly savored his wine, indifferent to my impatience. Then he stared directly at me.
“Sung-guk… have I ever told you this before?”
“Told me what?”
“That I’m grateful….”
Jeon Tae-guk’s voice was calm, unlike his usual tone, and my eyes narrowed.
[Jeon Tae-guk, are you laying down a smokescreen before stabbing me in the back?]
I’d never met anyone who said such things upfront without having something sinister brewing behind the scenes.
[Jeon Tae-guk, I’m a former chaebol heir. On top of that, I’ve accumulated years of experience. Where do you get the audacity to try this?]
Contrary to my inner thoughts, I calmly took another sip of wine and studied Jeon Tae-guk carefully.
“Is that all you wanted to say, hyung?”
[Come on, reveal more of your true intentions. Should I get you more to drink….]
“Sung-guk….”
Jeon Tae-guk called my name in a quiet voice.
“I’m really grateful to you. Without you, I don’t know how I would’ve managed to live like a proper person.”
[That much is true.]
“Sung-guk… you might not remember this tomorrow… but anyway, thank you…. For letting me live like a proper person….”
With that, Jeon Tae-guk collapsed onto the sofa, nearly passing out.
[Jeon Tae-guk, is that really all? Nothing else? What scheme are you plotting behind my back right now?]
I gazed at the sleeping Jeon Tae-guk intently.
Grateful for letting me live like a proper person….
Should I take this at face value?
In my previous life, the foolish Jeon Tae-guk had schemed endlessly to become the successor in my place, but ultimately he faded away after becoming tabloid fodder with drug addiction and drunk driving incidents.
Of course, it was I who had orchestrated exposing those drug and alcohol-related incidents to the media in a big way.
In my past life, there was no such thing as brotherly affection between us.
We were thorough competitors. Of course, he was no match for me, so I seized the successor position far more easily….
In this life, is Jeon Tae-guk actually becoming a decent person….
* * *
Lim Jin-seo burst into the office with an urgent expression.
“Sung-guk!!!”
She called out my name with all her might.
I was taking a sip of freshly brewed coffee when I quickly looked up at Lim Jin-seo.
“What’s the matter, Lim Jin-seo?”
“It’s absolute chaos right now.”
“What is it? Why does everyone keep leaving out the important details?”
“Oh, right! 【Bug】 sold out completely!!! This is the first time the first printing has ended this quickly!”
I shrugged my shoulders.
[Well, it’s an obvious result.]
“Oh, and another thing! About Twitter.”
“What about Twitter?”
“There’s talk of Hanseong Group making a massive investment in Twitter.”
“Hanseong Group?”
Hanseong was a company that stood as an equal rival to Samjeon Group.
It was an enterprise that dominated the domestic market in the automotive industry, something Samjeon had failed to achieve.
“It seems like Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung of Samjeon probably realized the influence of SNS when he opened FaceNote.”
“What’s Jack Dorsey’s reaction?”
“There’s no official statement yet, but it seems like he’s viewing it positively. Because of the difficulties in entering the Korean market, the return on investment has been poor, and his recognition in the United States continues to decline. There’s no reason for him not to view Hanseong’s investment positively.”
“Hmm…. Just because Hanseong invests doesn’t mean it will work out.”
The fate of an SNS once it starts declining was predictable.
No matter how sturdy a rope is lowered, it won’t be easy to save it.
At that moment, Jeon Tae-guk came rushing in breathlessly.
“Sung-guk, what if you leave without waking me up!”
“William, that’s not the issue. Please look into the rumors about Hanseong Group’s investment in Twitter that are circulating through Samjeon’s information team.”
“Hanseong is acquiring Twitter?”
“Not quite an acquisition… but it looks like they’re going to invest.”
“Ah… got it.”
Jeon Tae-guk quickly grabbed his phone and headed into the conference room.
Lim Jin-seo looked at me with a worried expression.
“From what I’ve learned, Jack Dorsey is no ordinary person. He has a strong competitive spirit. Though he lost at first, it seems like he’ll try to win in the end. What do you think, CEO?”
“In this industry, just wanting to win in the end doesn’t mean you’ll actually win.”
“That’s true, but… I think we should also pursue more aggressive marketing following up on the advertisements.”
Jeon Tae-guk’s face looked serious as he came out of the conference room after hanging up the phone.
It seemed Hanseong’s investment was indeed a public fact.
“Sung-guk… it looks like they’re just one step away from stamping the contract….”
“You’re saying the contract hasn’t been signed yet?”
“That’s right. But there’s a lot of talk that if Hanseong Group invests in Twitter, the impact will be tremendous. After all, Twitter still has the edge in domestic market share.”
[Well, that’s because they started first!]
“And our market share is declining.”
The facts were facts, but once massive capital flowed in, there would be countless ways it could work to their advantage in Korean society—advertising, media exposure, and more.
Hanseong Group’s capital, though….
How could I break through this?
“Let’s have a strategy meeting this afternoon.”
I quietly returned to my seat.
Honestly, I couldn’t think of any real countermeasures.
A major conglomerate’s capital would inevitably favor Twitter no matter what.
Now that I’d stirred Jack Dorsey’s competitive spirit, it seemed unlikely he’d refuse to sign the contract with the major corporation—he’d been skeptical of big capital until now, but that was changing.
[I need a breakthrough issue to turn this situation around….]
Just then, my phone rang.
And a familiar number appeared on the screen.
Charlie Jobs?
I quickly answered the call.
“Charlie, how are you doing?”
– Sung-guk, I hear you’ve really dug in your heels in Korea?
“Six months. Just until my replacement arrives.”
– Then you won’t be able to make it to my new iPhone presentation? I sent you an invitation by email, but you haven’t even checked it yet?
[Oh, that’s right! Apple’s new product launch!]
And this Apple presentation would also be Charlie Jobs’ final one during his lifetime.
“Charlie, I have a proposal for you.”
– Nothing’s free when it comes to Sung-guk, right?
[That’s just how life is, isn’t it, Charlie?]
– So, what’s the proposal?
“How about an exclusive YouTube premiere for this presentation?”
– You mean live streaming?
“Of course we’d need to draw up a contract for that. And there’s one more favor I’d like to ask.”
– What is it?
“When you demonstrate the new iPhone, could you integrate our FaceNote?”
– FaceNote?
“Yes.”
This iPhone 4S was Charlie Jobs’ final presentation.
Charlie Jobs would come out wearing his signature black turtleneck, jeans, and sneakers, explaining the iPhone’s new features.
Various exclusive iPhone apps would be showcased, and one of them had to be FaceNote.
– Sung-guk, this is a hard proposal to turn down….
[Of course. I already connected everything with Christopher Nolan.]
Alongside the launch of the new iPhone, Christopher Nolan—whom I’d met in the hospital room and bonded with—had already agreed to shoot a film on the iPhone and use it for advertising.
“Charlie, YouTube exclusivity and FaceNote exposure. What do you think?”
– Anyway, you’re the first person I’ve met who’s more audacious than me. Let’s do it! Oh, and I’ve sent you an invitation—make sure you attend this Apple phone presentation.
“Of course!”
[This is your final presentation, after all. I absolutely have to be there!]
I quickly hung up and turned to look at Jeon Tae-guk and Lim Jin-seo.
“It looks like we need to go on a business trip.”
“Where to, Sung-guk?”
“San Francisco. Charlie Jobs is unveiling a new Apple phone this time.”
“Of course we have to go to something like that! This is huge! I’m going to clean out Apple’s products again!”
[Jeon Tae-guk, please don’t forget you’re the successor to Samjeon.]
But Jeon Tae-guk was already browsing articles about Apple’s new products on his laptop, deciding what to buy.
Lim Jin-seo looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“But Sung-guk, weren’t we just under the gun because of Hanseong?”
“I just finished negotiating with Charlie Jobs. We’ll have YouTube exclusively broadcast Apple’s new product presentation, and when the new Apple phone is demonstrated, we’ll feature the FaceNote app on the main screen. Isn’t that enough to stand against Hanseong’s aggressive push? While Twitter is becoming a frog in a well, FaceNote becomes the SNS that Apple chose.”
“Sung-guk… you’re truly amazing….”
Lim Jin-seo gazed at me with admiration in her eyes.
[I know, I’m Jeon Sung-guk, after all…]
I shrugged my shoulders.
“By the way, William. Can you find out the contract date between Hanseong and Twitter?”
“Sure, got it. But why?”
“If it’s after Apple’s demonstration… Hanseong might back out.”
I smiled with the taste of victory.

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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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