I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 385

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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 385
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As the principal’s office door swung open, all eyes converged on Ji-hee and me.
A middle-aged man rose from his seat and hurried toward us.
“Ji-hee….”
Then he turned his gaze to me.
“Are you perhaps Ji-hee’s older brother?”
“Yes, I’m Jeon Sung-guk, Ji-hee’s older brother.”
“I’ve seen you in the news quite often. Ji-hee mentions you frequently as well.”
[So this girl pretended to be indifferent while talking about me all the time?]
Ji-hee simply shrugged her shoulders with composure.
“But what brings you to the school?”
“Are you Ji-hee’s homeroom teacher?”
“Yes, I’m Lee Sang-hee. I teach Korean.”
“I have something urgent to discuss with you today.”
Lee Sang-hee promptly guided us to the counseling room.
* * *
The moment Lee Sang-hee sat down in the counseling room, she regarded us with a grave expression.
“I’m quite nervous since you mentioned something urgent to discuss.”
[Doesn’t this teacher already know everything?]
I concealed my true thoughts and handed Lee Sang-hee the various pieces of evidence I’d received from Ji-hee.
I started with the notes containing all manner of malicious messages.
Upon reading the contents of the notes, Lee Sang-hee couldn’t hide her shock.
“This… this is….”
“These are curse notes my sister Ji-hee received. This happened within the classroom. Were you aware of it?”
Instead of answering, Lee Sang-hee looked at Ji-hee.
“Ji-hee, you should have told me if something like this was happening.”
Ji-hee let out a small sigh at those words.
“Teacher, back in the first semester when So-won transferred schools and was suffering from bullying, you said that there’s always a reason why someone gets bullied. That’s why So-won, who was kind, ended up transferring. Watching that, I realized bullying happens even when there’s nothing wrong with the person being bullied, and that teachers consistently shirk responsibility. So I didn’t tell you.”
Ji-hee pressed Lee Sang-hee calmly but relentlessly.
“That is… well….”
Lee Sang-hee tried to find an excuse but couldn’t continue.
Ji-hee’s assault continued.
“Teacher, I have the best grades in this school. I’ve rarely broken any rules. I spend most of my time outside of class studying. So why do the other students bully me? Because I’m smart and pretty?”
I crossed my arms and looked at Lee Sang-hee.
“Teacher, is there anything wrong with what Ji-hee just said?”
“Well… there isn’t, but Ji-hee acts superior….”
“Teacher, she’s not acting superior—Ji-hee genuinely is superior. As you can see, she’s never once dropped from first place in the entire school, and the second-place student can’t even come close to her scores. If a student like that were acting superior, that wouldn’t be an act—that would be the truth.”
“Ah, yes, that’s true….”
Beads of cold sweat began to form on Lee Sang-hee’s broad forehead.
I introduced Kim Sung-taek to Lee Sang-hee.
“This is Kim Sung-taek, a lawyer. I believe we need to open a School Violence Committee hearing for this incident. According to Ji-hee, there are three perpetrators: Kim Yu-jeong, Lee Seo-yeon, and Jang Ha-ri.”
“Ah, well….”
Lee Sang-hee’s bewilderment was plainly evident.
Of course, I hadn’t neglected to investigate these three individuals.
Kim Yu-jeong’s grandfather had served as Defense Minister, Lee Seo-yeon was the daughter of a famous chicken franchise CEO, and Jang Ha-ri was the daughter of a major law firm’s founder.
In short, touching these three was like poking a hornet’s nest.
But touching our Ji-hee was like poking a wasp nest.
I pressed Lee Sang-hee sharply.
“Teacher, I know exactly which families those three come from. But you know who I am, don’t you?”
“Ah, yes… of course. You’re in contact with the American President himself. However… as you know, children’s conflicts shouldn’t escalate into adult disputes. It’s my role to prevent that.”
“If you understand that role so well, why couldn’t you stop Ji-hee from being ostracized all this time?”
“That’s because… Ji-hee never showed any sign of it….”
“Don’t homeroom teachers investigate their students’ relationships?”
“Well, we do try. But if the children don’t speak up, there’s no way for us teachers to know, no matter how hard we try.”
Lee Sang-hee continued making excuses.
“Teacher Lee, I believe in the principles of cause and effect, of virtue rewarded and vice punished.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean that those who commit wrongs must face consequences, so that such incidents don’t happen again in the future. I will bring those three students before the School Violence Committee. By the way, the lawyer here will handle all the details.”
Kim Sung-taek promptly handed over his business card.
“Hello. I’m Kim Sung-taek, attorney at law. I primarily handle matters for Samjeon Group, but I also represent Representative Jeon Sung-guk. For your information, this case was commissioned by Jeon Tae-guk, Team Leader of the Strategic Planning Team and successor to Samjeon Group.”
“What… are you saying?”
Lee Sang-hee still seemed unable to grasp the situation.
“Teacher, I may have been roundabout in my explanation. What I’m telling you is that this matter involves Representative Jeon Sung-guk’s younger sibling—someone with a hotline to the American President—and that Samjeon Group is also watching this case closely.”
Kim Sung-taek applied appropriate pressure with his words.
Lee Sang-hee, now visibly frightened, looked at me.
“Representative Jeon Sung-guk, or rather… Ji-hee’s older brother. How would you like this matter handled?”
“I believe this should be resolved according to what the victim, Ji-hee, wants.”
I looked at Ji-hee.
“Ji-hee, what would you like to happen?”
“I… I hope the children who bullied me receive appropriate punishment so they can never hurt anyone again. And I hope this remains on their record forever, so they live with remorse for their wrongdoing.”
I looked at Lee Sang-hee.
“Did you hear what Ji-hee said?”
“Ah, yes….”
Lee Sang-hee had already lost her composure entirely.
* * *
The proposal to convene the School Violence Committee threw Ji-hee’s middle school into chaos.
The three students Ji-hee had named—Kim Yu-jeong, Lee Seo-yeon, and Jang Ha-ri—also lodged strong protests.
It was exactly as I had anticipated, so I wasn’t surprised in the least.
A panicked Lee Sang-hee called me incessantly.
– Representative Jeon, the students accused by Ji-hee have reached out, of course denying everything. They’re requesting that the School Violence Prevention Committee be held with a lawyer present.
“Of course it should be. Then, please let me know when the committee will be held.”
– We’ll schedule it for next Wednesday then.
I hung up the phone and checked my calendar.
Next Wednesday, then….
It was now 2012.
I never imagined I’d spend 2011 dealing with Ji-hee’s school problems.
But once I started something, I never backed down.
I sent a message to Jeon Tae-guk.
– Hyung, let’s meet at the Company Cafeteria at noon.
* * *
“Sung-guk, today’s menu is tonkatsu. I mentioned a few days ago that I wanted to eat tonkatsu.”
“Hyung, the nutritionist at the Company Cafeteria must have their own plans. If you just demand something like that, they’d have to start preparing ingredients all over again.”
“They said there’s no problem since they were already planning to make tonkatsu this week anyway.”
I shook my head in disbelief.
Who would dare refuse the heir to the Samjeon Group? Especially in the Samjeon Group’s own cafeteria!
“By the way, what have you decided to do about Ji-hee’s situation?”
“Actually, I wanted to consult with you about that.”
“Anything.”
Jeon Tae-guk picked up the largest piece of tonkatsu.
“Hyung, do you know Kim Sung-taek, the former Defense Minister?”
“Hmm… I’m not familiar with him, but a family of that caliber would be managed by the Samjeon side. Don’t tell me one of their children is one of Ji-hee’s bullies?”
“Yes. One of the other two is the daughter of the Matna Chicken family, and the last one is the daughter of the Righteous World Law Firm.”
“Hmm… those names sound familiar.”
The fact that Jeon Tae-guk had heard of these names meant they were genuinely well-known companies.
“But daughters of these mid-sized companies bullied our Ji-hee?”
“Yes, so the School Violence Prevention Committee will be held next Wednesday.”
Jeon Tae-guk’s eyes narrowed.
“Sung-guk, don’t worry. I’ll contact Secretary Yang and dig up all their dirt for you. Sung-guk, should I show up that day too? I won’t let those bastards who touched our Ji-hee off easy!”
“Hyung, I’ll just take the information.”
[This is our family matter, not something Samjeon should be directly involved in, Jeon Tae-guk]
* * *
I reviewed the files on the three students that Secretary Yang had sent.
Kim Yu-jeong.
Granddaughter of the former Defense Minister.
Her grandfather had a history of sustaining a false injury during the Korean War and being transferred to the rear. On top of that, her father currently served as a professor in the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Seobang University, but there had been suspicions of irregularities in his professorial appointment. And recently, a sexual harassment scandal involving his students had emerged.
And Lee Seo-yeon, the daughter of Matna Chicken.
It was common knowledge that her father and mother’s relationship was at its worst, and both maintained lovers despite being married.
Recent assessments attributed Matna Chicken’s financial troubles partly to the representative’s reckless expansion.
One assessment was that the CEO’s reckless expansion also played a role in Matna Chicken’s recent financial deterioration.
Finally, there was Jang Ha-ri, the daughter of the Righteous World Law Firm.
Like the previous two cases, she had problems in her private life, but notably, her father—the firm’s representative—had settled a case the previous year where he struck and killed someone while driving under the influence.
Moreover, Jang Ha-ri’s older sister had also driven under the influence, but the matter was hushed up. And I possessed video footage of her recklessly driving while intoxicated.
I shrugged my shoulders.
In that moment, a somewhat frightening thought crossed my mind.
[Could Samjeon be collecting information on me like this as well?]
Of course, the Samjeon I knew was more than capable of such things.
But there was one thing Samjeon didn’t know.
That I knew Jeon Tae-guk better than anyone else and possessed extensive documentation on him.
Starting from the nude photo leak incident, to the fact that he graduated university thanks to me. And that he was dating Lim Jin-seo, the niece of Lim Sun-mi, who had been in an affair with his father, Chairman Jung Jae-hyung.
But I couldn’t let my guard down.
I wiped away the cold sweat trickling down the back of my neck.
[I can’t afford to be careless…]
* * *
The day of the School Violence Prevention Committee hearing finally arrived.
I visited Ji-hee’s school directly with Lawyer Kim Sung-taek.
I even wore a suit, something I rarely put on.
As Lawyer Kim Sung-taek and I arrived in front of the Principal’s Office, I immediately spotted the parents of the perpetrators Ji-hee had named, along with the lawyers they’d brought with them.
I adjusted my suit sleeves and lifted my head slightly.
[Well then, shall we begin?]
Soon after, Master Lee came out and guided us to the Conference Room.
* * *
Kim Yu-jeong, Lee Seo-yeon, and Jang Ha-ri had all brought their mothers, with lawyers standing behind them.
The perpetrator students who had sent Ji-hee the note saying “go die” wore the most pitiful expressions imaginable.
And Ji-hee, Lawyer Kim Sung-taek, and I had to face those who had enjoyed nothing but privilege throughout their lives in South Korean society.
In my previous life, I had certainly taken such privileges for granted without question.
Master Lee began to organize the situation, even breaking into a cold sweat.
“The reason we’ve gathered today is because Jeon Ji-hee has named three classmates as perpetrators of school violence.”
At this, Kim Yu-jeong’s mother flicked her finger dismissively.
“It hasn’t even been determined yet that they’re perpetrators of school violence. The term ‘perpetrators’ sounds unpleasant.”
“Ah, then… perhaps we could say classmates instead…”
[That won’t do.]
I raised my hand. And I spoke without hesitation.
“Mrs. Kim, I’m telling you this because it seems you don’t understand exactly what this meeting is. What your daughter and the students next to her did was clearly violence that warrants filing with the School Violence Prevention Committee, and we have submitted all the evidence accordingly. Therefore, your children are indeed presumed to be perpetrators of school violence, but they are certainly not innocent ordinary students!”

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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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