I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 311

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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 311
The day had finally arrived when Jeon Tae-guk would go on a date with Lim Jin-seo.
And Jeon Tae-guk woke up earlier than he did on workdays, tearing through the entire house in a frenzy.
“Sung-guk, how does this look?”
“Brother, we’re just going to the movie theater to watch a film and grab dinner. Isn’t a suit overkill?”
“I suppose you’re right….”
Jeon Tae-guk had already tried on and taken off more than ten different outfits.
“Brother, just go casual.”
“Sung-guk, I’m different from you. If I go out looking casual, no one will even recognize that I’m the heir to Samjeon Group.”
“Brother, Lim Jin-seo already knows everything about you. And isn’t the point just to make a good impression on her?”
“I have no idea what Jin-seo likes. Should I have Park Secretary investigate?”
“Brother, please don’t do any background checks like that.”
Jeon Tae-guk was visibly anxious.
“Sung-guk, I’m losing my confidence about this date.”
“Brother, it’s not like you’re getting married. Just watch a movie, eat dinner, and keep it relaxed, please!”
“Sigh… Sung-guk, please just pick one outfit for me. I’m paralyzed by indecision and can’t move.”
[Do I really have to clean up after him like this? Is this karma from my past life?]
I quickly selected the most neutral outfit from what Jeon Tae-guk had been wearing.
“Brother, this looks the most ordinary. Wear this one.”
“Okay… I’ve decided!!!”
* * *
After putting on the outfit I’d chosen, Jeon Tae-guk spent thirty minutes grooming his hair, pacing back and forth in front of me while I tried to read.
[This is really driving me crazy….]
“Sung-guk, by the way… could you possibly give me a ride to the theater?”
“Park Secretary is available. I’d like to rest on weekends too.”
[Jeon Tae-guk, you seem to forget sometimes… that I’m your boss!]
I grabbed my book and left the room.
Jeon Tae-guk followed me around, chattering away.
“Park Secretary has today off anyway.”
“You usually work him to the bone, and now suddenly you’re concerned?”
“It’s just… I’m embarrassed to show Park Secretary this side of me.”
Jeon Tae-guk looked at me with pleading eyes.
“Sung-guk, please… I’ve never taken a taxi before and it scares me. And I can’t exactly walk all the way to the theater.”
“You can just drive yourself.”
“First of all, I’m too excited right now and might confuse the accelerator and brake. And another thing… I read online that on a first date, you should have a glass of wine or something light to ease the tension. I can’t drive under the influence.”
I stood up again, book in hand.
“Brother, just take a taxi.”
“Sung-guk, I don’t know how to take a taxi.”
“You hail a taxi. Tell the driver where you’re going. Pay when you get out. Why can’t you do something this simple?”
“Sung-guk… please, just for today, for my date to be successful—just this evening—could you be my driver? What do you want? I’ll give you anything.”
At that moment, Jeon Tae-guk’s phone rang loudly.
Upon seeing the caller ID, Jeon Tae-guk’s brow furrowed, and his hesitation was plainly evident.
“Hyung, just answer the call.”
“Oh….”
After a brief moment, when Jeon Tae-guk hung up, his expression resembled that of someone who had lost a nation.
“Hyung, who was it?”
“Dad….”
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung had called directly?
From the look on Jeon Tae-guk’s face, it seemed like something serious was afoot.
“Sung-guk… Father wants to see you and me.”
“Today?”
“Yes. An urgent, confidential gathering suddenly came up this evening, and apparently you and I must attend together.”
A confidential gathering?
I recalled memories from my previous life.
Most confidential gatherings were usually connected to political circles.
I feigned ignorance and asked Jeon Tae-guk.
“Hyung, what is this confidential gathering?”
“I’m not entirely sure myself. But the fact that Father called directly suggests it’s something incredibly important.”
The fact that Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung had contacted him directly rather than sending Secretary Yang was unmistakably significant—and absolutely not something to be defied.
Jeon Tae-guk called Lim Jin-seo with a disappointed expression and cancelled their plans for the evening.
After hanging up, Jeon Tae-guk’s face grew sorrowful as he picked up a suit.
“Sung-guk, dress formally as Father requested. You wear a suit too.”
“Understood.”
I said nothing more to Jeon Tae-guk.
Given that he had to cancel the date with Lim Jin-seo that he had been so eagerly anticipating, it seemed best to leave him alone for now out of courtesy.
* * *
The lobby of Samjeon Hotel.
Jeon Tae-guk still wore a heavy expression, and I felt somewhat tense.
[Who did I meet in the summer of 2010 in my previous life….]
No matter how hard I tried to recall it on the way here, nothing came to mind with clarity.
Secretary Yang approached and guided us.
“You must have been surprised by the sudden contact over the weekend, Young Master?”
“Yes, Secretary Yang. You could have at least given us a heads-up about something like this.”
“This gathering was contacted directly to the Chairman.”
[The contact went directly to Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung?]
Then it was certainly someone from political circles.
And I had a premonition that this person possessed tremendous influence.
“Secretary Yang, but who exactly is it? Who suddenly summons us like this, especially on a weekend?”
“That… you’ll see for yourself when you meet them.”
I quietly asked Secretary Yang a question.
“Secretary Yang, why did you ask me to come as well?”
“It seems they wanted to see Sung-guk.”
They?
This person wasn’t a VIP, it seemed.
Usually, VIPs were referred to simply as VIPs.
“Let’s go. Everyone is waiting.”
Jeon Tae-guk and I followed Secretary Yang’s guidance toward the Suite Room.
And in that moment, someone I’d met in the summer of 2010 flashed through my mind.
Chae Soon-shim.
She was the power behind the throne of the next president—the true wielder of authority.
* * *
As the Suite Room door opened, I could see Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung standing and conversing with someone. It was strange to see the Chairman standing with such deference in his own hotel.
Beside Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung stood Kim Sung-joo, the representative of Samjeon Electronics and his closest confidant. Kim Sung-joo was a key figure handling slush funds within the Samjeon Group.
And…
The person seated in the chair, speaking in a gravelly voice, was undoubtedly the person I had anticipated.
[In my past life, I gave her everything—money, bribes, you name it… But not this time, Chae Soon-shim.]
I steeled myself.
In my past life, Chae Soon-shim had brazenly demanded bribes from the Samjeon Group, and unable to refuse the words of someone who wielded such power in the administration, the bribes I gave her eventually boomeranged back on me.
Because of that, I attended hearings and bowed my head to apologize to reporters.
Those were the most humiliating days of my life.
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung, noticing us, gestured to Jeon Tae-guk and me with an expressionless face.
“Come over and greet her.”
And finally, the short woman seated in the chair revealed her face.
“Oh my! This must be the famous Jeon Sung-guk, right?”
The moment Chae Soon-shim saw me, she lit up and immediately spoke to me informally.
[Still no manners, Chae Soon-shim.]
I didn’t need to make a bad impression on her right away. After all, she was the true power behind the next president.
I greeted her as respectfully as I could, pretending not to know her.
“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Jeon Sung-guk.”
“Oh my goodness! You’re even more handsome in person! My daughter would absolutely love you! Oh my!”
Chae Soon-shim was as boisterous as I remembered.
“My daughter is a fan of yours, you see. That’s why I arranged this meeting through Chairman Jeon beforehand. She’s still in high school, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if you two got to know each other early, and then started dating properly once she enters university?”
[Does this woman have no filter, just spouting whatever comes to mind?]
I listened to Chae Soon-shim’s endless chatter while silently reciting the character for patience in my mind.
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung simply took a quiet sip of the wine in his hand.
“Sung-guk, want to see a photo of my daughter? She’s gained a bit of weight lately since she’s still a student, but you know, once she goes to university, loses weight, and gets some cosmetic work done, she’ll be absolutely beautiful.”
[Chae Soon-shim, I know what your daughter’s face looks like after all that….]
Chae Soon-shim showed me several photos of her daughter on her phone. I was slightly taken aback by the fact that she looked even less attractive than I remembered.
Chae Soon-shim caught a glimpse of my expression and quickly put her phone away.
“She’s been exercising a lot, so her skin’s gotten quite tanned lately…. The photo doesn’t do her justice. She looks much better in person, really.”
Chae Soon-shim muttered to herself before finally turning her gaze toward Jeon Tae-guk.
“Chairman Jeon, is this your son?”
“Yes, this is my son Jeon Tae-guk. Tae-guk, greet her.”
“Hello, I’m Jeon Tae-guk.”
“The Chairman has fine features, but your son doesn’t resemble his father at all.”
Chae Soon-shim’s blunt remark caused Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung’s expression to contort subtly. No parent enjoyed hearing their child criticized.
“Does Tae-guk have a girlfriend?”
“Ah, not yet.”
“My goodness, Tae-guk is single too? My daughter does see a lot of men’s faces. From my experience, nothing beats money. And handsome men always live up to their looks. If my daughter married a man who merely coasted on his appearance, she’d suffer endlessly.”
What was this conversation even about?
Whether then or now, finding coherence in Chae Soon-shim’s rambling was nearly impossible.
“If I were my daughter’s age, I’d date someone as handsome as Sung-guk, and of course marry the heir to Samjeon Group. Hehehehe.”
She laughed frivolously at her own words.
[You’re not even offering the rice cake, yet you’re running your mouth. Chae Soon-shim.]
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung deliberately steered the conversation elsewhere.
“Sung-guk, have you had dinner?”
“Not yet.”
“What about Tae-guk?”
“Neither have I, Father.”
“Mrs. Chae, let me have dinner prepared for you first.”
“Wonderful, wonderful. The steak here is absolutely divine. Oh, and jjajangmyeon too.”
“Of course.”
At Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung’s gesture, Secretary Yang moved swiftly into action.
* * *
Even as we ate, Chae Soon-shim’s chatter never ceased.
“Sung-guk, have you ever dated? With that face, you must be incredibly popular with women, right?”
[Please ask one question at a time, Chae Soon-shim!]
“Sung-guk doesn’t have much interest in women.”
Instead, Jeon Tae-guk came to my aid from beside me.
“My goodness… with looks like that, what a waste. If I were him, I’d have met every woman in the world… Tae-guk, you must have dated quite a bit, haven’t you?”
“Ah… yes….”
Jeon Tae-guk deliberately lied to Chae Soon-shim.
“That’s right, a man should meet many women before marriage. That’s how you know which woman is truly exceptional. Isn’t that so, Chairman?”
“Indeed, ma’am.”
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung merely offered appropriate responses.
“What type of woman do you prefer, Tae-guk?”
“Actually….”
Jeon Tae-guk paused deliberately before continuing with apparent resolve.
“Actually, there’s a woman I like right now.”
At those words, everyone’s gaze turned toward Jeon Tae-guk.
[Jeon Tae-guk, surely you’re not going to mention Lim Jin-seo? If you do, it’s straight to solitary confinement!]
“Oh my, what kind of woman is she? Who is the woman loved by the heir of Samjeon Group?”
“Her name is Lim Jin-seo. She works with me.”
The moment Jeon Tae-guk spoke Lim Jin-seo’s name, Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly. It was clear the Chairman knew who Lim Jin-seo was.
“Oh my, did you grow fond of her while working together?”
“She has a sharp personality and is incredibly competent at her job.”
“Is she pretty?”
“In my eyes, she is.”
Jeon Tae-guk spoke with genuine sincerity.
At that moment, Chae Soon-shim asked Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung a question.
“Chairman, before we introduce him to our daughter, you need to make sure Tae-guk ends things with that woman. Understand?”
“Madam, these days young people don’t listen to adults anyway. And when I looked into Lim Jin-seo, she’s quite capable. Tae-guk has good taste in women.”
At those words, both Jeon Tae-guk and I were startled simultaneously.
[Is Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung actually approving of Jeon Tae-guk’s romance? And she’s Lim Sun-mi’s niece?]
“When you see the Chairman like this, he does have a soft side. We can’t help him so softly. We need to help him decisively. Understand?”
“Of course. We’ll provide maximum support for whatever Samjeon can do.”
Only at the end did Chae Soon-shim reveal her true purpose, and our meeting finally came to an end.
* * *
After Chae Soon-shim left and I was alone with Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung, Jeon Tae-guk quietly probed the Chairman’s true intentions.
“Father… about what you said regarding Lim Jin-seo. Were you sincere?”
“I heard she’s capable.”
“The truth is, I like her very much.”
But Jeon Tae-guk couldn’t bring himself to mention that she was Lim Sun-mi’s niece.
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung took a sip of wine and averted his gaze out the window.
“Tae-guk, if you like the woman, see her. Don’t overthink it. And don’t fall into the hands of people like Chae Soon-shim. Do you understand?”
“Yes!!!”
Jeon Tae-guk answered quickly and pulled me along.
“Sung-guk, let’s go!”
“Yes, hyung.”
I smiled faintly as I left the Suite Room of Samjeon Hotel.
[In the end, Chae Soon-shim’s futile wishes ended up helping Jeon Tae-guk’s romance….]
The ways of the world were truly unknowable.

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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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