I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 488

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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 488
Everham Shawn told me the operation’s codename and left the house.
He departed in the cleaning service company’s vehicle he’d arrived in.
The Sevens members woke up late, saw the spotless house, and were delighted. Bang Mu-hyuk was too.
“Sung-guk, yesterday Min-guk was acting like he was going to work you to the bone, but you called a cleaning service?”
“There was just too much to clean.”
“I’m not sure we should keep taking advantage of you like this.”
[It’s fine. The concept is parasitic anyway….]
I shrugged and gazed out at the lawn beyond the swimming pool.
“Still, I should earn my keep somehow. How about mowing the lawn?”
“Sung-guk, are you really going to make freeloading this difficult?”
Bang Mu-hyuk burst into hearty laughter.
“You and I will have coffee together. The Sevens should do the work. Min-guk, let’s mow the lawn. In exchange, lunch is hamburgers!”
“Yes! Hyung, I’ll mow the lawn beautifully with the members!”
Min-guk roused the Sevens members and rushed toward the garden.
And all of this was captured on video.
Though it was filmed crudely on a smartphone, the Sevens would transform their every move into content and upload it to YouTube, eventually gaining worldwide popularity.
Bang Mu-hyuk sipped his coffee while watching the Sevens members.
“Those guys are excited. The American tour went well, and now we need to prepare for the third album.”
“Sir, the first and second albums were like that too, but what if we made the third album reflect the members’ stories much more?”
“Writing and composing themselves?”
Even now, several members were writing lyrics and composing music on their own.
“What if instead of just one or two members, everyone participated in writing or composing? The members are all over twenty now, so I think it would be good if the album’s themes became more mature. In America, K-pop idols are seen as kids who just mumble songs given to them by companies like parrots. I’d like the Sevens to break that stereotype.”
Bang Mu-hyuk nodded quite seriously.
“That’s a topic we really need to think carefully about. As the group grows, the members grow too. We can’t keep singing about childhood rebellion and first love forever. You really are a different kind of investor.”
“Min-guk needs to earn his keep properly too.”
“Sung-guk, Min-guk’s income may not match yours, but he’s making some money now. Isn’t that enough?”
[That’s hardly what I’d call income… Min-guk’s earnings right now are just pocket money.]
“Sir, I’ve been thinking about this since we first conceived the Sevens together. We need to earn globally, not just domestically.”
“Ha ha. You really do think big.”
“I’ll definitely achieve that goal.”
“Understood. We’ll need to start working hard on the third album as soon as we get back to Korea.”
Bang Mu-hyuk laughed heartily, but I knew. Through this American tour, Bang Mu-hyuk had come to understand that the Sevens’ popularity and the K-pop craze weren’t just a passing wind.
* * *
The dinner with Brad Young and Chu Shuru was scheduled for the following Wednesday.
It was an evening meal, and I planned to bring Min-guk, a member of the Sevens, with me.
I had secured a firm promise from Barack Obama, but I was still somewhat anxious.
I was, after all, a foreigner on American soil.
If this matter caused harm to FaceNote and the Sevens, I didn’t think I could bear it. Yet I couldn’t discuss this with anyone.
At that moment, my phone buzzed with a message.
– “All quiet on the West Coast.” This is Everham Shawn. We’re continuing surveillance on Chu Shuru from our end. There’s been no unusual activity yet.
It sounded like a routine report, but no unusual activity?
An ominous premonition crept over me.
In truth, Chu Shuru wouldn’t make any moves until after he and I met for a meal.
TikTok’s shares belonged entirely to me and Hyojin Group, so no one could touch it unless I agreed to sell.
I took a sip of coffee.
In that instant, goosebumps erupted across my skin.
TikTok was practically my own company.
If I refused to sell TikTok, Chu Shuru had no other options.
Then… could it be? Could he eliminate me instead…?
– “All quiet on the West Coast.” This is Jeon Sung-guk. Understood.
My response was brief, but my heart began to race.
Barack Obama still had time left in his term, and I’d accepted his proposal to avoid disrupting my business, but…
Perhaps they had planned to eliminate me, a foreigner in America, from the very beginning.
At that moment, my phone rang loudly.
I clutched my startled chest and checked the caller. It was an unexpected person.
I answered the call immediately.
“Daniel, what’s the matter at this hour?”
– Sir, you’re home, right?
“Yes, I am…”
– Actually, I’ve been keeping watch on Chu Shuru continuously.
This was something I hadn’t asked him to do.
“Daniel, have I ever asked you to do something like that?”
– No, sir. But after investigating, I found that Luo Zhijin, a Communist Party official, is a far more dangerous person. So I’ve been keeping watch in case he might try to harm you. But there’s this suspicious person whose movements keep overlapping with mine.
A suspicious person?
– Sir, you called a cleaning company this morning, didn’t you?
“Yes, Daniel.”
– That cleaning company’s vehicle keeps crossing paths with me. It seems to be a force that holds a grudge against Chu Shuru.
I was somewhat amazed by Daniel’s persistence and deductive reasoning.
And it seemed I needed to explain the current situation to Daniel.
“Daniel, please come to our house first. Try not to be spotted by the cleaning company vehicle if possible…”
– Yes, sir.
Since I’d called Daniel, I figured I should also call Jeon Tae-guk and Lee Kyung-soo.
Having only my secretary over on a Saturday evening could raise suspicions.
* * *
Jeon Tae-guk walked in with a bright smile, carrying meat alongside Lee Kyung-soo.
“Sung-guk, it’s so nice living next door. We get impromptu barbecues like this… Kyung-soo and I were just saying it was a bit boring on a Saturday evening.”
“With Min-guk and the kids around, we get to do things like this.”
The Sevens staying at our house made for a perfect excuse.
Soon Jeon Tae-guk skillfully lit the fire and began grilling the meat.
Bang Mu-hyuk and I were fighting over who would grab the meat tongs first.
Not long after, Daniel came in with his hands full of food.
“Representative, thank you so much for inviting me!”
[His acting is quite awkward.]
Fortunately, it seemed no one but me was paying attention to Daniel’s poor performance.
“Representative, well… because of Monday’s meeting, I wanted to brief you on my schedule. O.N.K.E.Y.!”
There was a time when I dominated the advertising and reality entertainment world, so I wanted to give Daniel acting coaching like I did for Min-guk. But I held back my impulse.
Besides, everyone was too absorbed in the meat to pay us any attention.
* * *
The moment I closed the study door, Daniel exhaled sharply with a flushed face.
“Acting is really difficult.”
“Don’t do it anymore, Daniel.”
“Was it that awkward?”
“Yes.”
“You really do only speak facts, Representative. Kim Mi-so told me that while you don’t mince words, there’s no malice in what you say, so I shouldn’t take it personally.”
[Kim Mi-so certainly has a way with words.]
Daniel quickly continued.
“Representative, but… why does that cleaning company vehicle keep tailing Chu Shuru? It seems Chu Shuru has quite a few enemies.”
“Daniel… listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you.”
“Representative, I always listen carefully to what you say.”
“The truth is, we’re working closely with the U.S. government right now to identify the connections between Chu Shuru and Luo Zhijin, and to find out which Silicon Valley companies they’ve made contact with.”
Daniel’s mouth fell open.
“Representative… I’ve been right in the middle of an intelligence operation.”
“Daniel, let me finish the story.”
“I apologize, Representative.”
Daniel quickly shut his mouth.
“Although Chu Shuru is originally from China, he’s already a Singapore citizen and has quite a few connections in Silicon Valley. It seems they’re trying to leverage that. Among other things, they’re targeting SNS to secure personal information and manipulate public opinion.”
“So, is that cleaning company vehicle on our side?”
“Simply put, yes.”
“That’s a relief. I thought it was another force targeting Chu Shuru. But if it’s alright, could you perhaps give some advice to the agent disguised as that cleaning company?”
“What kind of advice?”
“In Silicon Valley, they use other companies more than that one. Disguising themselves as one of those would draw less attention.”
Daniel had a more refined sense of detail than I expected.
“I’ll pass that along. And… this information is classified. To be honest, I just violated the confidentiality agreement by telling you this.”
“Representative, don’t worry. I’m confident I won’t tell anyone!”
I was able to share this with Daniel precisely because I trusted him.
Though I hadn’t known him long, Daniel’s willingness to throw himself into my affairs was something I could rely on.
“Thank you, Daniel.”
As soon as I finished the conversation with Daniel, I sent a message to Everham Shawn.
– ‘All quiet on the western front.’ Everham, could you arrange cleaning for tomorrow morning? Just a heads up—Green Clean is actually more well-known in Silicon Valley than the current cleaning company.
* * *
Wednesday finally arrived.
I adjusted Min-guk’s shirt collar.
“Hyung, is the person you’re meeting today the Xiaomi representative?”
“Former representative. He stepped down and is looking for something else now.”
“Why are you meeting someone like that? I use Xiaomi power banks all the time, they’re great.”
“Min-guk, I’m meeting with the former Xiaomi representative.”
“Anyway, you can’t afford to seem arrogant for even a moment.”
“Jeon Min-guk, just go and talk comfortably about Sevens activities.”
Min-guk nodded.
“That’s all I have to say anyway, hyung. Let me fix your tie.”
Min-guk adjusted my tie for me.
[When did this kid grow tall enough to fix my tie?]
I gazed at Min-guk, who was now nearly my height, with a mixture of wonder and nostalgia.
Today I would make it perfectly clear to Brad Young and Chu Shuru that I had no intention of selling TikTok.
A sinister premonition washed over me—something might happen to me today because of this.
And such intuitions were often correct.
* * *
Min-guk and I drove toward the meeting place.
Daniel had already arrived at the restaurant, and Everham Shawn was staking out the area nearby.
“Hyung, is that place a good restaurant?”
“It’s my first time going there too.”
Suddenly, goosebumps erupted across my back.
We had chosen the meeting place, but Chu Shuru had been contacted days ago.
That meant something could happen before lunch even began.
I quickly pulled the car over.
“Min-guk, I think I need to go alone today.”
“Hyung, you said today was an important business meeting and that you needed me…”
“We’ll reschedule next time. It’s a five-minute walk to the FaceNote headquarters from here. In the meantime, go live on YouTube and interact with the fans….”
“Hyung, why are you doing this?”
“Min-guk, listen to me today. Understood?”
“Okay….”
I dropped Min-guk off near the FaceNote headquarters and gripped the steering wheel again.
Then I sent a message to Everham Shawn.
– “All quiet on the western front.” This is Jeon Sung-guk. Please search the area around the restaurant.
But everything was too rushed to prepare in time for the appointment.
From now on, I could only leave it to fate.
* * *
When I arrived, Daniel was already waiting in front of the restaurant.
Brad Young and Chu Shuru hadn’t arrived yet.
“Brad Young will be arriving in about ten minutes,” came the message.
“He’s usually punctual… but he’s running late.”
“He said traffic was bad, but when I checked the roads, there wasn’t any congestion at all.”
Daniel seemed troubled by something as well.
The distance from the Parking Lot to the Restaurant entrance was considerable.
If someone were to take a shot at me from here….
That’s when Daniel shouted.
“Representative! This way!”
Daniel quickly grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me behind a nearby vehicle.
At that same moment, a bullet whizzed past my side with terrifying proximity.
[Am I really going to die like this….]
While I stood frozen, the door of the car we’d hidden behind suddenly opened.
An older man bearing a striking resemblance to Daniel quickly pulled us inside.
“Get in, quickly!”
Without understanding what was happening, I climbed into the car alongside Daniel. The moment we were inside, police sirens began wailing in the distance.
“Daniel, what on earth is happening?”
“Representative, we almost had a real disaster.”
“That’s what I’m saying… and this car is….”
Could Daniel be a spy?
At that moment, the older man from before gripped my shoulder firmly.
“Representative, I’m Daniel’s Father. Daniel said something felt off, so I parked a car in the Parking Lot and waited. Then I looked around and noticed a suspicious vehicle, so I reported it immediately.”
I looked around.
The car I was in was a Taekwondo Academy van.
Daniel scratched his head sheepishly.
“Representative, my father runs a large Taekwondo Academy here. To be honest, I had a bad feeling about something, so I borrowed all the vans from my father’s Academy and have been driving them around since this morning. Nobody suspects Taekwondo Academy vehicles, right? But there was definitely a suspicious car, so I was keeping watch.”
I stared at Daniel and his father with a dazed expression.
“I’m truly… grateful.”
Only then did I release a breath of relief.
Soon after, a message from Everham Shawn arrived.
– ‘West Coast perimeter secure.’ Incident concluded.
* * *
A few days later, Barack Obama called.
This incident wasn’t covered by any news outlet.
Despite the fact that I, the representative of FaceNote, had been shot at.
The reason was simple.
The mere fact of making contact with China would cause the public to view me and my SNS empire through a lens of prejudice.
Barack asked in a concerned voice.
– Sung-guk, are you alright?
“Fortunately, I managed to avoid the bullets.”
– Your voice sounds cheerful. Still, do see a psychiatrist. The trauma might be worse than you think.
“Thank you for your concern.”
– Thanks to you, we’ve apprehended Luo Zhijin, and Brad Young and Chu Shuru confessed to everything without resistance.
Barack paused for a moment before continuing.
– So I’d like to offer some assistance to your business….
Finally, the words I’d been waiting for arrived.
I smiled and replied.
“Barack, why don’t you post a challenge video on TikTok!”

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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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