I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 5

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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 5
The final audition had a rather unique structure.
They placed the Wealthy Woman’s baby and me on the studio floor, and while the camera rolled, they evaluated how well we delivered our lines and how naturally we adapted to the filming environment.
This is my first real competition in this life!
Fortunately, the Director seemed uninvolved in this farce, so I had to impress him no matter what.
The Director watched the monitor with a serious expression and called out.
“Alright, begin!”
The camera started rolling.
I naturally giggled and crawled across the studio floor.
Of course, I made sure to position myself perfectly within the camera’s frame.
In contrast, the Wealthy Woman’s child crawled toward the middle-aged woman, already visibly irritated.
Tsk, tsk.
I shook my head side to side.
I could feel the Director watching me with satisfaction.
The Perm-haired Assistant Director jumped in quickly.
“Director, should we have them try some lines?”
“Yeah, go ahead. Try throwing some lines at the kids.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Assistant Director came to me first and asked casually.
“Say ‘father.'”
“Da. Da!”
I spat out the word immediately, adding just the right accent.
The Director’s exclamation reached us all the way over.
“Sung-guk’s doing great!”
The Perm-haired Assistant Director looked genuinely flustered.
“Um, Director. It might have been a fluke, so let me try once more.”
“Go ahead.”
Beads of cold sweat were already forming on the Assistant Director’s forehead.
“Alright, let’s try again. What did you say just now?”
The Assistant Director deliberately omitted the word and pressed me further.
I wasn’t the type to be shaken by something like this.
“Da. Da!”
This time I called out the word even more calmly and confidently.
“Haha, Sung-guk’s really good at this. Okay!”
The Director clapped his hands in delight, and all the other staff members held their breath. They all seemed to be watching the Wealthy Woman’s reaction.
The Director looked at the Assistant Director.
“Sung-guk’s good to go, so go test the other one. By the way, who is this child’s mother?”
“That would be me. This person is the nanny.”
The Wealthy Woman stepped forward.
“One of you two needs to leave. The child clearly can’t concentrate with both of you here.”
“It’s not a child—it’s Jae-hee. Lee Jae-hee.”
“Ah, yes. Jae-hee’s mother. The child is clinging too much to the nanny, so one of you needs to step outside.”
The Wealthy Woman gestured, and the middle-aged woman left the studio.
But this was a mistake.
The moment the studio door closed, Jae-hee began wailing.
“Waaaaaah! Waah! Waaaaaah!”
“Oh my, he was doing so well—what’s wrong now?”
The Wealthy Woman set down her designer handbag on a chair for the first time today and picked up Jae-hee, but he only cried louder.
“Waaah! Waaaaaah!”
The Director rubbed his face vigorously with both hands.
“The child doesn’t even know who his mother is. So naturally, he can’t do a father either.”
The flustered Perm-haired Assistant Director hurried over to Jae-hee.
“Director, let me try the line.”
“Go ahead. Give it a shot.”
The Perm-haired Assistant Director even made a ridiculous expression while trying to soothe Jae-hee.
“Peek-a-boo! Jae-hee, let’s try daddy. Daddy.”
“Waaaaaah!”
Jae-hee only cried louder.
“That’s enough. Stop.”
The Director shouted, but the Perm-haired Assistant Director murmured on as if casting a spell.
“Jae-hee, daddy. Daddy. Daddy.”
“Ah….”
Finally, Jae-hee managed to utter a single word.
“Director, he said daddy.”
“That’s it. We’re done.”
The Director stormed out of the studio with an angry face.
Had I finally won?
I watched the whimpering Jae-hee and traced a victory V with my short little fingers.
* * *
“I sincerely apologize.”
The Director, his face flushed with anger, paced back and forth in the Waiting Room, unable to contain his frustration.
Mother gazed at me with sorrowful eyes.
At just fourteen months old, I was tasting the bitter flavor of life for the first time.
“He was already decided on. Why did we even hold an audition? Damn it.”
The Director cursed, then looked at me with an embarrassed expression.
“Sung-guk, I’m sorry. I’m very angry. The world is dirty, but that’s the world.”
I accepted it humbly.
The world was dirty, as the Director said, and that was simply how it was.
Before my regression, this was something I had done to countless people.
I had hired and promoted the children of influential politicians, turning a blind eye to such things more times than I could count.
Because of that, someone like me—without money or connections—was clearly at a disadvantage.
The Director suddenly stopped and looked at Mother.
“Ma’am, could I have your contact information?”
“Why would you need that?”
“If there are other advertising jobs, I’ll recommend Sung-guk. There’s always demand for child models.”
“No, really. We just came to gain some experience.”
[This isn’t the time to be modest!]
I babbled in protest.
The Director looked at me with eyes that seemed utterly charmed.
“We have a shoot scheduled for a week from now, and we’ll need you to come back then.”
“Why?”
Mother asked, her expression bewildered.
“With baby models, we typically prepare one or two backup candidates. Baby models are so unpredictable—they get sick suddenly, or they freeze up mid-performance. That sort of thing.”
“Ah, so we need to come again.”
Mother’s response was decidedly unenthusiastic.
The Director quickly added, “For today’s visit, the Accounting Department will process a modest fee for you. When you come next week, it won’t be the full model rate, but there will still be some compensation.”
Mother gently touched her lower belly, where the new life stirred, and looked down at me.
“I hope this isn’t too hard on Sung-guk….”
[Hard? With brand-new organs freshly installed, what could possibly be difficult! Just say yes! Come on!]
“This little one really seems to be having a conversation with mom. He’s got real camera presence. I’ll definitely recommend him to other advertising companies too. The executive here must have some serious connection to that family. If I’d known beforehand, I wouldn’t have done this… Ma’am, please leave your contact information.”
“Of course.”
“And please, definitely come next week.”
“Yes.”
Mother nodded.
* * *
The Accounting Department was on the second floor, one level below the audition studio.
Mother carefully pushed open the door while holding me and stepped inside.
She then stopped a passing woman in a suit and asked, “Excuse me, this is the baby who auditioned today.”
“Are you here to receive transportation fees?”
“Yes.”
“Manager Kim, give her the transportation fee.”
The woman called out to a woman seated in the corner.
At that moment, the one who stood up was none other than our landlord—the Short-haired Woman.
The Short-haired Woman approached us with an envelope and some documents in hand. Mother’s face brightened immediately.
“Sister.”
“Let’s go. I’ll buy us some drinks.”
The Short-haired Woman whispered, glancing around cautiously.
Mother quickly nodded and left with me in her arms.
The Short-haired Woman whispered while looking around cautiously.
Mother quickly nodded and carried me out.
Clink.
A canned beverage tumbled out of the vending machine.
The Short-haired Woman handed over a cold can and an envelope.
“We’re providing 50,000 won for transportation.”
“50,000 won?”
“After taxi fare, there’s barely anything left.”
“Actually, we took the bus here.”
Mother laughed easily and cheerfully.
“You mean a woman with a child took the bus all the way here with a baby barely past one year old?”
“We ride the bus so often that the little one in my belly and Sung-guk both handled it just fine.”
[I got carsick!]
The Short-haired Woman shook her head and looked at Mother, who was just holding the beverage can.
“Aren’t you going to drink it?”
“If I drink it now, I’ll need to use the restroom on the way home. I’ll drink it once we get there.”
“Alright then.”
“By the way, for next week’s shoot—they want our Sung-guk to come as a backup model. How much would that pay?”
“Since he wouldn’t be the main model, we’d probably get around 200,000 won for transportation.”
“That much?”
“If this had worked out, we would’ve made at least 3 million. It’s a shame. Samjeon Electronics pays the best rates in the industry.”
[3 million….]
Of course, it wasn’t a large sum to me, but it was clearly enormous to Mother. It was half a year’s worth of Father’s salary.
Only then did Mother’s expression turn wistful.
“Our Sung-guk performed better than that child….”
The Short-haired Woman caught on immediately.
“The one who got picked today is apparently the grandson of Deokpung Paper Company. Our company handles their advertising too, so we can’t ignore that.”
[Deokpung Paper Company? That pathetic little mid-sized enterprise?]
I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even manage a snort.
Losing to some insignificant mid-sized company nobody!
My anger bubbled up even hotter.
Just then, a Middle-aged Man passing by glanced at the Short-haired Woman.
“Manager Kim, why are you here during work hours?”
“My apologies. I’ll head back right away.”
“That’s why you’re stuck as a permanent manager.”
At the man’s words, Mother stuffed the beverage into her bag and bowed to the Short-haired Woman.
“Please get back to work. I should be going.”
“Yes.”
The Short-haired Woman returned to the Accounting Department, her face slightly flushed.
* * *
“Please have a seat here.”
“Thank you.”
Thanks to a sturdy-looking Student’s courtesy, Mother secured a seat on the packed bus.
The moment Mother sat down, she cracked open the window slightly. Then she patted my bottom.
“Sung-guk, this is better than a taxi. This big bus goes right in front of our home.”
[Is this what they call rootless optimism? I’ve never known poverty, so I wouldn’t understand.]
“Sung-guk, let’s buy some fried chicken on the way home.”
[That’s what Mother wants to eat. I still don’t have all my teeth, so I can’t tear into chicken no matter how many times I’ve said it.]
“Oh right, I should get our Sung-guk a banana.”
[Fine, I’ll settle for that. The audition bombed anyway….]
I let out a long yawn and my eyes slowly closed.
Before the regression, I had never once used public transportation.
My personal vehicle was a luxury car made of bulletproof glass—the only one of its kind in South Korea. My dedicated driver was a twenty-year veteran.
Even the coffee I held wouldn’t spill when turning corners….
But to fall asleep in this rattling bus…. Me…. Jeon Sung-guk, the charisma of South Korea’s financial world….
* * *
When I opened my eyes, I was already under the blankets.
Beside me lay the fried chicken and banana Mother had bought.
As Father emerged fresh from the shower, Mother unfolded a small table and set out the chicken.
It seemed Father had come home from work at some point.
“Honey, our Sung-guk earned fifty thousand won today.”
“Our Sung-guk is impressive. But fried chicken? You like seasoned chicken, don’t you? Get that instead.”
“Today I wanted market-style chicken. And this.”
Mother handed Father the beverage that the Short-haired Woman had given her.
“Your favorite grape shake.”
“You bought this too?”
“I spent a little money today.”
[So that’s why she grabbed the drink.]
Mother wore a happy expression.
“So-young, what will you have?”
“I’m pregnant. Water is fine.”
“Let’s share this.”
[Yeah, share every last bean. Go ahead.]
I shifted my body slightly.
Mother quickly checked on me.
“Sung-guk, are you awake?”
I was awake, but drowsiness crashed over me again like a wave.
I blinked my eyes again.
“So-young, I’ll put Sung-guk to sleep. Go eat the chicken.”
“You’re tired, honey.”
“You’re more tired today. You went all the way to Itaewon and back while pregnant. Go eat.”
“Alright. I’ll eat first just for today.”
Father approached and gently patted my belly.
Fresh from the shower, he carried the pleasant scent of soap.
Father gazed down at me with a happy expression and whispered.
“Our Sung-guk accomplished something great today.”
[Just wait—I’ll do even greater things ahead.]
“Yaaaawn!”
I let out one final, jaw-cracking yawn and closed my eyes.
* * *
The small van arrived at a studio nestled deep in the mountains.
As the van pulled up, the door slid open and staff members filed out one after another.
The Perm-haired Assistant Director from before recognized us and approached.
“The candidate models should wait in the waiting room. If you’re not called, you can take the van departing at five o’clock.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Oh, and when you arrive at the company, stop by the Accounting Department to collect today’s payment.”
“Yes.”
Mother simply nodded repeatedly and entered the waiting room.
Already there, preparing for the shoot, was Jae-hee, the grandson of Deokpung Paper Company.
Jae-hee still looked as dim-witted as ever.
Jae-hee’s mother looked Mother up and down, then pointed dismissively with her finger.
“Jae-hee is sensitive today. Stay out of the way in the corner.”
[Who does she think she is, ordering us around like that?]

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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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