I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 46

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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 46
My jaw dropped.
What Lim Sun-mi had given me was Samjeon’s latest-model notebook computer.
Notebooks of this era were cumbersome enough to be more of a burden than a convenience, yet they remained symbols of wealth.
[Wow, now I can search for all sorts of information online.]
“Thank you so much.”
I bowed deeply to Lim Sun-mi.
“Sun-mi’s gift was so generous that my present feels tiny in comparison.”
Kim Mi-young pulled out something else.
“It’s nothing special—just a cultural gift certificate so you can buy any books you want.”
[That’s hardly nothing.]
I quickly accepted the cultural gift certificate from Kim Mi-young. It was worth one million won.
“Sister, if you give him that much, you’ll spoil him. Sung-guk, give that to Mother.”
“No. I’m going to buy books.”
I made my position clear.
“Mother, let Sung-guk keep it. I’m curious to see how he spends his money.”
“Thank you.”
I bowed deeply to Kim Mi-young as well.
After receiving the toy car from the Restaurant Owner and the t-shirt that Aunt had prepared, I found myself curious about what my own family had gotten me.
I looked over at Min-guk.
[Jeon Min-guk, you’re earning money now—surely you bought your older brother a gift? Don’t think you can get away with nothing just because you’re young.]
Min-guk twisted his body shyly, then pulled something from his pocket and pressed it firmly into my hand.
“Hyung, happy birthday.”
What was this?
I unfolded the birthday gift that Min-guk had placed in my hand.
It was his most treasured toy car.
“Min-guk, are you really giving me this?”
“Yeah! Hyung, present.”
“Min-guk, this is your favorite one.”
“Hyung likes it more.”
My chest tightened.
[What is this? Why does my chest feel tight over such a cheap gift…?]
Min-guk hugged me and giggled.
“Hyung, happy birthday.”
I held Min-guk close in return.
“I want to get married soon and have a baby like Sung-guk and Min-guk.”
[I could have a child like Min-guk, but having one like me would be difficult. Sister Sun-mi.]
“Sun-mi, you should marry that man you’re dating soon.”
Lim Sun-mi had ended her relationship with Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung and was now dating a securities trader from Hong Kong.
“But Mother, Father—don’t you have gifts for me?”
Lim Sun-mi asked.
I was curious about it too, as it happened.
Knowing my Mother and Father’s schedules as well as I did, I was acutely aware that they had no time to go shopping for birthday gifts.
[Surely you’re not just going to let this pass? Depositing money into an account? That doesn’t work anymore, Mother. Father.]
Father scratched his head awkwardly. Whenever he felt embarrassed, he’d scratch his head—and at some point, I’d started doing the same.
This was apparently why families resembled one another.
“Actually, I was thinking of asking Sung-guk what he wants and buying that for him. I have a feeling there’s definitely something he’d like.”
[That’s Father for you!]
I pondered the matter thoughtfully.
My bank account held a tidy 500 million won I’d accumulated from modeling advertisements.
And today was September 12, 1997.
Two months before South Korea’s foreign exchange crisis would strike.
“Sung-guk, I agree with your father. If there’s anything you want, tell us.”
I stroked my chin, thinking carefully before looking between Father and Mother with a bright expression.
“Mother, Father.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s go on a trip.”
“You want to go on a trip, Sung-guk?”
Father asked again.
The foreign exchange crisis was about to arrive.
By my calculations, Mother and Father wouldn’t be in serious danger.
Of course, if they bought dollars as the won’s value fell, they’d profit, but our country would escape the crisis quickly.
More than that, I now understood Mother and Father so well.
Born the poorest in South Korea, yet the people who love this country most—or rather, people who can’t help but love it. Because they cannot do anything without this place.
When the foreign exchange crisis hits, Mother and Father will surely contribute even Min-guk’s dol ring to the gold collection campaign.
If not now, the opportunity to travel with Mother, Father, and Min-guk together might be delayed indefinitely.
Mother and Father exchanged bewildered glances.
“Where did you and Father go for your honeymoon, Mother?”
“We just… didn’t go.”
Father scratched his head awkwardly.
I followed Father’s lead and scratched my head too.
Min-guk beside me also scratched his head in imitation.
“My goodness, you didn’t go on a honeymoon?”
Lim Sun-mi seemed surprised.
“You’ve never even been to Jeju Island? These days people go there on school trips too.”
The Restaurant Owner also asked in surprise.
“We’re both from an orphanage, as you know. We didn’t have the money to go.”
[Sigh….]
A sigh escaped me unbidden.
What kind of lives had my Mother and Father lived?
In my previous life, I was born as the heir to Samjeon Electronics, but in this life, despite our poverty, I was walking the path of self-made success—something I truly could not comprehend.
As the atmosphere grew quiet, Mother stepped forward.
“Please don’t worry. Thanks to Sung-guk, we’re eating jjajangmyeon at the finest hotel in South Korea. We have a home now, we have jobs, and among those of us from the orphanage, no one has succeeded like we have.”
[What is this? The more she talks, the more pitiful it sounds.]
“It’s Sung-guk’s wish, after all. Representative Kim, I know someone who works at an airline. Let me introduce you to them and ask them to recommend a family trip for Sung-guk.”
“So neither of you has ever been abroad?”
“We’ve never even been on a plane, sister.”
Mother laughed shyly.
“Where would Sung-guk like to go?”
[Well… I’ve been everywhere. I studied abroad in the United States and Japan. I’ve visited every country where Samjeon Group has subsidiaries….]
“Sister, how about we just visit Jeju Island?”
Mother spoke while holding my hand.
[Mother, just Jeju Island?]
Jeju Island would become a massive hit with the Olle Trail in about ten years, but for now, it was merely a washed-up tourist destination.
“We never got to go on a school trip, you know. Our school went to Jeju Island for theirs. I was so jealous of my friends back then, and I really want to go this time. What do you think?”
“I’d love it if we all go together as a family.”
Father nodded in agreement.
[Right, it’ll be tough to fly for over ten hours on a first flight. Let’s start slowly with Jeju Island. Mom, Dad, I’ll earn a lot of money and take you on first-class international trips.]
I hugged Mother and Father tightly.
“Min-guk too.”
Min-guk squeezed his way into the embrace.
[Right, you’re family too.]
I hugged Min-guk as well.
* * *
We loaded a few small bags into the trunk of Father’s used car.
I packed a few economics books into the suitcase I’d bought in the United States to read during my leisure time. Min-guk, on the other hand, had stuffed two three-stage transforming combination robots inside.
I helped Min-guk into the back seat first.
“Thanks, hyung.”
[You’re not just wiping your mouth with that word of thanks, are you?]
“Hyung, I love you.”
Lately, Min-guk had been skillfully using lines he’d learned from a new drama. He lacked creativity, but his learning ability wasn’t bad.
“Sung-guk needs to get in too.”
“Yes, Dad.”
I got into the car and fastened my seatbelt properly.
Mother and Father got in as well.
“Alright, let’s depart!”
At Father’s words, Min-guk and I clapped our hands.
[Ah, life is really difficult. It’s exhausting.]
The most difficult thing to adapt to in this life was this childishness itself.
If I didn’t respond to Mother and Father’s words like this, I’d hear things like “Sung-guk, are you feeling okay? Does something hurt?” After realizing that explaining myself was more troublesome than just going along with it, I’d started giving these kinds of reactions.
After my enthusiastic reaction, I fell fast asleep on the way to the airport.
“Sung-guk, Min-guk. We’ve arrived.”
Mother gently shook us awake.
I stretched with a long yawn, then bolted upright and gathered my luggage.
Min-guk was still whimpering.
“Min-guk, you need to wake up.”
“Mom, Min-guk is sleepy.”
“Min-guk, come to Dad.”
Father scooped up the drowsy Min-guk into his arms.
Min-guk rested his chin on Father’s shoulder and drifted back to sleep.
Watching him, I felt an inexplicable envy toward my younger brother.
If I were the second child, could I whimper like that too?
But Mother’s hands were full of luggage, and Father dragged a large suitcase with one hand while holding Min-guk.
I was the older brother and seven years old—I could manage this much on my own.
“Sung-guk, let me pull the suitcase.”
“Mom, I can do it myself.”
I quietly pulled the suitcase and moved forward.
[This is how I’m gradually becoming an adult, isn’t it.]
* * *
“Wow!”
Min-guk pressed his face against the airplane window, exclaiming continuously.
I gently tugged the back of Min-guk’s neck.
[Jeon Min-guk, how embarrassing. Are you really going to show that this is your first time on a plane?]
“Brother! Brother! Look over there. Clouds. Clouds.”
“I already saw them.”
“Brother! Wow! Wow!”
I gave up on Min-guk and unfolded the newspaper distributed on the plane. Of course, it was a financial newspaper.
It was already late September.
The time was approaching when South Korea would request IMF bailout.
The crisis had already begun.
Hanseong Steel’s bankruptcy was confirmed early in the year. Its subsidiary, Hanseong Construction, followed into bankruptcy, and a liquor company famous for its toad soju brand entered court receivership.
The bankruptcies of domestic companies laid bare the fragility of the domestic economy, and simultaneously, the crisis in Southeast Asia came into view.
Following the collapse of the Thai baht came the collapse of the Indonesian rupiah.
In the banking system where foreign money is borrowed and then lent domestically, the collapse of Southeast Asia was bound to affect us directly.
But the people still knew nothing.
Though companies they thought were solid had gone bankrupt, there was faith in South Korea—the Asian tiger that had never retreated and had achieved development without pause.
I shook my head slowly.
Father glanced at me sideways.
“Sung-guk, what are you looking at so intently?”
“The news.”
“Sung-guk.”
Father called me quietly.
“Yes, Father?”
“Being an older brother is difficult, isn’t it?”
[The person who does things first always has it the hardest. Since I was born first, of course it’s difficult.]
I turned the newspaper page calmly.
Father looked at me with pity, then ran his hand through my hair.
[Father, this is the hairstyle I got when I came back from traveling in Cheongdam-dong. Be gentle with it.]
“Sung-guk, you can say it’s difficult when it is. You don’t need to act so mature as an older brother. You’re still just a child, after all.”
I clenched my fists.
“Father!”
“What is it?”
Father still spoke gently.
[What am I going to do with this thoughtless father? If I’m seven years old and start whining, or throwing tantrums like Min-guk, what will become of our family!]
I suppressed my frustration and pointed to a corner of the newspaper article for Father.
“Father, this.”
“You want me to read this?”
“Yes!”
Father quietly read the newspaper article I handed him.
“Where did the Hwaseong serial killer disappear to? A serial killer who hasn’t been caught even after ten years.”
Just now, he had tried to snatch the newspaper away after reading that far.
“Sung-guk, you shouldn’t be reading things like this.”
“Father, that’s not it. Hwaseong!”
“What about Hwaseong?”
“I want to buy some land there.”
“What?”
Father looked at me with a bewildered expression.

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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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