I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 364

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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 364
1% of Hyojin Group’s stock.
I stared down at the gift deed that Chairman Koo Soo-young extended toward me, my expression bewildered.
There was one aspect that concerned me somewhat.
“Chairman, have you discussed this sufficiently with your family members?”
I understood the inner workings of chaebol families better than anyone.
This was a place where legal battles erupted over even 0.1% of stock.
Chairman Koo Soo-young regarded me with a benevolent expression.
“When I broached the idea of gifting you some stock, it was my family who welcomed it. Everyone knows our company’s greatest risk is the lack of a successor. My daughters aren’t lacking in cunning, are they? Even if an exceptional professional manager comes in, there’s no guarantee they’ll work for the company as if it were their own. In that case, my daughters and sons-in-law would need to check the executives’ power… but they know their own limitations all too well.”
Chairman Koo Soo-young took a sip of tea before continuing.
“My daughters said that just having you behind Hyojin Group is something Hyojin should be grateful for.”
Chairman Koo Soo-young’s 1% gift contained multitudes within it.
Of course, it wasn’t made without calculation. Meticulous calculation and trust—that was what lay within this 1%.
Yet I felt the weight of it all the same.
Because the future of Hyojin Group now rested partly in my hands.
As I hesitated, Chairman Koo Soo-young slowly opened his mouth.
“I know what’s weighing on your mind. It must feel heavy.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
I spoke honestly.
“The reason I’m making this unreasonable request of you is partly because I hope you’ll continue to maintain ties in South Korea. You’ll probably return to the United States once you complete your military service, won’t you?”
“All the companies I operate are in the United States, after all.”
This wasn’t a choice—it was necessity.
And by now, South Korea had become too small to contain my entire life.
“From the day I first saw you at an art fair in Hong Kong when you were young until now, my conviction hasn’t wavered—that talents like you should lead South Korea. Compared to what you’ll accomplish in the future, 1% of Hyojin Group’s stock might be mere pittance, but I hope you’ll understand that my greatest wish is for it to remain as a thread connecting you and South Korea.”
Only then did I grasp the profound meaning behind Chairman Koo Soo-young’s words.
Of course, his primary concern was Hyojin Group’s future, but Chairman Koo Soo-young also wanted me to feel a sense of responsibility toward South Korea’s economy.
I nodded.
“Chairman, then… I’ll gratefully accept this stock.”
“What are you saying? I’m the grateful one. Well, we’re hungry… let’s have some jjajangmyeon.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
During my birthday week, I ate jjajangmyeon for the second time.
* * *
I stepped out onto the terrace early in the morning and sipped my coffee while gazing at Maebong Mountain.
I was barely twenty-one years old, and in Korean age, just days away from turning twenty, when I received 1% of Hyojin Group’s stock. The gift tax had already been handled by Hyojin’s side.
And then there was FaceNote and YouTube, which would become global enterprises. Instagrim and TikTok as well…
If I combined the Tesla stock I held in smaller amounts and the Bitcoin that would skyrocket in the future, I had perhaps accumulated more wealth than when I lived as the successor to Samjeon Group in my previous life.
And all by my own power!
[Jeon Sung-guk, you’ve worked hard all this time…]
The corners of my mouth lifted in a smile.
Just then, the terrace door creaked open, and Jeon Tae-guk emerged with a sleepy face, holding a cup of coffee.
“Sung-guk, you’re up early. It’s a holiday….”
“Brother, you’re the one up early on a holiday. Why?”
“I was on a call with Jin-seo. I just woke up adjusting for the time difference.”
Jeon Tae-guk was fortunately still seeing Lim Jin-seo, and despite his chaebol status, he was genuinely devoted to her.
“By the way, Sung-guk. Father wants to have a meal with you at the company cafeteria after the relocation. He wants to feature you two eating together in the Samjeon internal newsletter… The younger employees absolutely adore you. It seems Father wants to capitalize on your popularity.”
[That’s the least I can do. We provide all welfare benefits to our employees anyway….]
“I’ll do that. Brother, have you decided which department you’ll join at Samjeon?”
“The Strategic Planning Team. That’s where they’re assigning me, I think. I’ll start as a director, then probably become a general manager next year… and vice chairman in a few years. Well, that’s how it goes.”
Jeon Tae-guk was going through the exact same path I had experienced at Samjeon Group in my previous life.
The Strategic Planning Team.
In short, it was the core department of Samjeon Group and where the most talented people gathered. It was the most powerful organization within the group and the department where Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung’s intentions were conveyed first.
“Brother, that department must have an enormous workload.”
“Father says that too… He told me not to push my own opinions, but to practice distinguishing what makes a good opinion. He said never to show off.”
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung certainly understood Jeon Tae-guk well.
Jeon Tae-guk gulped down his coffee with an indifferent expression, then stared directly at me.
“Sung-guk…. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“That Chairman Koo Soo-young of Hyojin Group gifted you 1% of his stocks?”
Does Samjeon Group in South Korea really work even during the Chuseok holiday?
“Brother, you’re well-informed.”
“Actually, there were rumors before that Chairman Koo Soo-young was preparing to gift 1% of his stocks to his child. But it’s surprising that it turned out to be you instead of his actual child.”
“That’s how it happened.”
I didn’t elaborate further.
Chairman Koo Soo-young’s proposal was ultimately for Hyojin Group’s benefit, and there was no reason to reveal all the details to Samjeon.
Jeon Tae-guk looked at me with a somewhat disappointed expression.
“Sung-guk, I’m a bit hurt. I tell you everything about work and what Samjeon is doing… but you met with Chairman Koo Soo-young yesterday and didn’t say a word.”
“I needed time to think.”
“You accepted it, didn’t you?”
“….”
Instead of answering, I nodded.
Jeon Tae-guk gulped down his coffee.
“Sung-guk, so are we rivals now? I’m with Samjeon, and you’re with Hyojin.”
[Jeon Tae-guk, you could never be my rival. Don’t even dream of it.]
“Hyojin doesn’t have a successor like you. From Chairman Koo Soo-young’s perspective, he chose me to reduce that risk. And I decided to accept it as a way of repaying the kindness Hyojin has shown me all this time.”
Jeon Tae-guk looked at me with more seriousness than ever.
“Sung-guk, do you realize you’re now the only case in South Korea of someone who wasn’t born into a chaebol family but became one?”
“Is that so?”
I sipped my coffee slowly.
In truth, even those born into chaebol families rarely owned 1% of stocks in a group like Hyojin.
Just as Jeon Tae-guk said, I had become a chaebol in South Korea.
“Sung-guk, once you finish your coffee, let’s head over to Samjeon Palace. We need to perform the ancestral rites.”
“Right, it’s Chuseok.”
“Sometimes when I look at you, you’re a genius at work, but you always forget things like this. Jeon Sung-guk, I don’t know what you’d do without me.”
[Jeon Tae-guk, that’s what I should be saying.]
* * *
My parents were busy preparing the ancestral offering table since morning.
“Wow, this is amazing.”
Sam and Adam watched with wide eyes as my parents arranged the ancestral table.
“Sung-guk, do people in South Korea do this during Chuseok?”
“We do it on Lunar New Year too. It’s similar to how you roast turkey for Thanksgiving in the United States. The difference is that for us, the meaning is more about expressing gratitude to our ancestors.”
The ancestral rites, which expressed gratitude to our forebears, were actually one of those traditions that held no real meaning for our family.
Because both my mother and father were orphans, we didn’t even know who our ancestors were.
Father placed various foods on the ancestral table while eagerly explaining to Min-guk and Ji-hee.
“The foods that go on an ancestral or memorial table follow the principle of ‘red on the east, white on the west’—red fruits go on the east side and white fruits on the west side. And there’s ‘fish on the east, meat on the west,’ so fish goes on the east and meat on the west. Got it?”
“Dad, you can just search that on the internet or YouTube and find it right away.”
Min-guk chimed in as if he already knew.
“Min-guk, even so, you should know the basics. You’re going to debut as an idol soon and travel abroad a lot. Are you going to search the internet and explain these things every time?”
“Okay. But Dad, we don’t have any ancestors anyway. So we don’t have to perform the rites or memorial services, right?”
Min-guk said exactly what I wanted to say.
Father fell silent for a moment, then looked at me, Min-guk, and Ji-hee.
“Sung-guk… Min-guk… Ji-hee….”
Father even called us by our full names with a solemn tone.
“Just because you don’t have a grandfather or grandmother doesn’t mean those people never existed in this world. If they hadn’t existed, I wouldn’t be here, and your mother wouldn’t be in this world either. So even though we don’t know their faces or names, we express our gratitude to them on days like this. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Father.”
I answered quickly.
“And someday, your mother and I will also pass away… and then you all will….”
“Dad, don’t die!”
Ji-hee’s eyes welled up with tears as she threw herself into Father’s arms.
“No, Ji-hee. I don’t mean now… later… much later.”
“Sniff. I don’t like it. Don’t say things like that.”
“Our Ji-hee is in middle school now, but she’s still such a baby.”
Father quickly comforted Ji-hee.
Meanwhile, I was holding Baek-dung firmly back as he tried to leap toward the food.
“Baek-dung, I’ll only give you things your brother can eat later. Just wait a bit.”
* * *
Once the ancestral table was complete, our entire family gathered and began bowing before it.
Jeon Tae-guk, Adam, and Sam, who had been watching, bowed along with us.
“Sam and Adam can say it’s just an experience, but you’re not part of our family, hyung. Your ancestors would feel sad if they knew.”
“Well, I’m grateful to the ancestors who brought you into this world.”
[Hmm? Now he’s learning how to be grateful.]
“Sung-guk, stop chatting during the ancestral rites.”
I quickly closed my mouth and finished my bow.
The moment the ancestral rites concluded, we all gathered around the ceremonial table and began eating.
Sam and Adam fumbled awkwardly with their chopsticks, yet exclaimed in admiration at each dish.
“Sung-guk, all the food is so delicious!”
“Eat plenty, Adam. You too, Sam.”
“Don’t worry, Sung-guk. I really love Korean food.”
Father gazed at the scene with contentment.
“Sung-guk, your mother and I got married and celebrated Chuseok just the two of us back then. At that time, we hoped that about twenty years later, we’d have many children and that our home would be bustling like other families during the holidays…”
[Father, it’s been a while since you’ve gotten sentimental.]
“And now it seems that wish has finally come true… *sighs*.”
Father was lost in his emotions again.
Of course, the moment Father tried to indulge in nostalgia once more, Mother smacked his back sharply.
“Honey, please stop bringing up old stories. You’re making our guests uncomfortable.”
“No… I was just remembering the old days….”
Then Adam looked at me and asked.
“Sung-guk, why don’t your parents try to find their biological parents? I had a friend in college from Myanmar who was adopted to the United States when he was one year old. That friend went to Myanmar during college to find his biological parents.”
“Did he find them?”
“He did find them… but they already had another family, and the language was so different that he just visited briefly and came back. Still, he was incredibly satisfied, saying he’d found his roots.”
Now that I thought about it, Mother and Father had never once mentioned wanting to find their biological parents.
Perhaps they never had the time, having married at such a young age and raised three children….
If I asked Jeon Tae-guk, the heir to Samjeon Group, finding someone in South Korea wouldn’t be difficult….
But it felt like their wound, so I never asked them about it.
* * *
After finishing our meal, Mother brought out Sujeonggwa and fruit.
“Sung-guk, explain this to them—it’s a traditional Korean beverage.”
“Yes, Mother.”
At the mention of a traditional Korean drink, Sam and Adam each took a sip of the Sujeonggwa and seemed quite pleased.
“Sung-guk, I wish it was always Chuseok.”
Just as everyone was basking in the warm atmosphere from Adam’s comment, Father’s phone rang loudly.
“Who could be calling on Chuseok?”
Father tilted his head in confusion and answered the call. Soon his eyes began to tremble.
“Someone… someone is looking for me? You say it’s my father?”
At those words, we all turned our attention to Father.

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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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