I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 55

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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 55
I stroked my chin, my mind drifting back through the years.
Master Lee was the one who had already prophesied that I would ascend to the chairman’s seat.
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung, as always, clung desperately to his power. Even as I grew older, he continued to wound my pride by comparing me—always first in everything—to the foolish Jeon Tae-guk.
It was Master Lee who reassured me during those times.
“Chairman….”
“Master Lee, am I not your father?”
“What I mean is, you will become chairman soon. The fortune in your birth chart begins to manifest from this year….”
At that moment, Master Lee furrowed his brow.
“But….”
“What troubles you?”
“The signs clearly point to you becoming chairman….”
“As the saying goes, fortune and misfortune are intertwined. Where there is good, evil follows. Speak freely.”
“It seems your entire life will change completely.”
“Doesn’t life change when one becomes chairman?….”
“I will go to Gyeryongsan this time. I’ll offer prayers and report back to you.”
That was the end of it.
After that, my life truly turned completely upside down.
I stroked my chin.
Master Lee first turned his gaze away from me.
Mother and Father sat with their knees pressed together, visibly tense.
“I will first interpret your parents’ birth charts.”
“Yes.”
Master Lee examined Mother and Father’s birthdates, then tilted his head in puzzlement.
“Your father was born on July 14th, 1969, at the hour of the Sheep, correct?”
“Why do you ask?”
“With such a birth chart, I cannot fathom how your current life is even possible.”
“That is….”
Father hesitated.
I understood the reason.
“The truth is, we are both orphans. We were abandoned at an orphanage when we were young. I was abandoned around a hundred days after birth, not knowing my actual birthdate or time, so the day I arrived at the orphanage became my birthday.”
Father spoke of his painful wound with quiet composure.
I gently patted Father’s back. It trembled slightly.
“Father! Don’t cry.”
Min-guk quickly embraced Father.
Father lifted Min-guk onto his lap.
“I don’t know my own birthday, but my wife knows hers. When she was abandoned, there was a note with her birthdate, time, and name written on it.”
“Then, let me first interpret your wife’s birth chart.”
Master Lee examined Mother’s birth chart thoroughly, then smiled softly.
“Though abandoned by your parents in childhood, a major fortune arrived when you turned twenty.”
“If I’m twenty years old, that’s the year I had Sung-guk….”
[Master Lee, I do have great fortune, don’t I.]
I shrugged my shoulders.
“You have a resolute character and quick wit. You’re more flexible than your husband and have greater vision.”
Nod, nod.
I nodded in agreement.
“But… perhaps….”
Master Lee paused mid-sentence.
Mother looked at Master Lee with curious eyes.
“Based solely on your birth chart, you bear the destiny of a Prime Minister’s mother.”
[Master Lee, that Prime Minister is me, isn’t it?]
“A Prime Minister?”
“In the past, you were a Prime Minister, so in this life, you will become the mother of a child destined for equally high status.”
[Of course.]
I nodded again.
I felt Master Lee glance at me briefly.
“This child Sung-guk has a most remarkable birth chart. Born on September 12th, 1991, at the Hour of the Rat. Originally, this child was destined to be born as the eldest son of a chaebol family, not in this household….”
Master Lee furrowed his brow, then broke into a gentle smile.
“This child possesses an extraordinarily powerful destiny. So powerful that the future becomes unpredictable. A child with such immense fortune requires parents to nurture and protect them carefully. Only then will the future shine brightly. Never attempt to suppress or diminish this power.”
[Hmm? Master Lee doesn’t usually speak so vaguely like this.]
Mother and Father looked bewildered but nodded.
“Master, then should we simply watch over Sung-guk?”
“Be a steadfast pillar of support. His character won’t go astray, and he won’t be lazy about effort. But in his past life, his heart was empty. It seems filling that emptiness is the role of his parents in this life.”
Father patted my shoulder.
“Sung-guk, trust your father.”
“Okay!”
I answered quickly.
Master Lee had truly given the right answer to Mother and Father.
Minimize interference, and be the emotional support he needs.
And right now, Mother and Father were sufficiently being that emotional support for me. Except for one brat!
Master Lee then examined Min-guk’s birth chart and smiled faintly.
“His name is Min-guk?”
“Yes!”
Min-guk answered instead of Mother and Father.
“He’s sharp and quick-witted, intelligent enough to navigate his own life well, but his older brother will become a most reliable shelter for him. His brother will help him greatly.”
[Isn’t that just saying I’ll be a burden for life, Master Lee?]
“As he receives much help from his brother, he will repay it with his heart, so the two of you will become brothers with excellent affection throughout your lives.”
Mother and Father stroked both my and Min-guk’s heads with pleased expressions.
“They get along wonderfully even now. Min-guk follows his older brother so well. And Sung-guk takes good care of Min-guk.”
[I’m taking care of him because I’m worried he’ll become the burden of my life.]
Father pinched my cheek gently when he saw me pouting.
Master Lee continued speaking.
“By the way, Mother….”
“Yes, Master Lee.”
“Do you perhaps have plans for a third child?”
“A third?”
Mother looked at Master Lee in surprise.
I was just as startled as she was.
[Master Lee, one child—Min-guk alone—is already more than enough. But a third?!]
Master Lee smiled brightly.
“If you have a third child this year, it will surely be a daughter.”
“Oh my. Honey, I’ve always wanted a daughter.”
I quickly grabbed Mother’s knit sweater and shook my head vigorously.
“Mother, no third child.”
Master Lee gazed at me with affection.
“Sung-guk.”
“Yes?”
“In your past life, you were born into a family that already possessed so much, and it caused you great suffering. To others, it seemed like you had everything in the world, but protecting it was unbearably difficult. Isn’t that right?”
“….”
I clamped my mouth shut.
“But in this life, it’s different. You were born with nothing, yet you will achieve so much. And among those achievements, there is family. If your past life was like standing alone in a desert where not a single blade of grass grows—a lonely existence—then in this life, your family will become clouds of support for you, the wind beneath your wings, the water that sustains you.”
My heart suddenly swelled with emotion.
Parents who possess nothing yet love me with all their hearts. And Min-guk, who is less clever than me but always follows me around because he adores me.
The reason I struggle to lift this family out of poverty is because of our lack, yes, but it is possible because they exist.
“Sung-guk, remember this: in this life, you were not born in a desert, but in a mountain where water flows, wind blows, and shade exists. When times are hard, your family is not meant to whip you forward—you have found a family that will embrace you.”
“…Yes….”
I nodded.
A family that embraces me when times are hard, not one that whips me forward.
This was the greatest difference between my past life and this one.
Min-guk quickly embraced me.
“Hyung, I love you.”
Warm and soft, this boy.
I hugged Min-guk back.
* * *
Master Lee made a phone call from a private room.
After the signal rang several times, a familiar voice answered. It was Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung.
“Chairman, I hope you don’t mind me saying this… but the connection between you and the child Sung-guk in this life is like the relationship between Yi Seong-gye and Yi Bang-won.”
– What do you mean by that?
“Now that I’ve seen the child Sung-guk directly, I understand. Did I not tell you before? That you share the karma of father and son. But that karma is one where you wound each other. The son will take from the father what is most precious, and the son will rise by stepping over the father.”
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung said nothing.
It was a signal that he was waiting for the next words.
“Chairman, be cautious—very cautious. The bond between father and son is one that will entangle your lives for a lifetime.”
– I understand.
Master Lee bowed and hung up the phone.
And he quietly murmured something he hadn’t told Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung.
“There is no father who can overcome his son, Chairman.”
* * *
“The KOSPI has collapsed below the 300 mark.”
The news screen captured the faces of despondent people watching the Securities District displays lit entirely in red.
I focused on the news while eating the strawberries Kim Mi-young had brought.
Mother was animatedly telling Kim Mi-young about the fortune-telling Master Lee had done for me.
“Sister, Sung-guk has an enormous destiny, and he said I have the fortune of a prime minister’s mother.”
“Really?”
“Yes. He said to support whatever Sung-guk wants to do, but never obstruct him.”
A prime minister’s mother.
Me—the son with a great destiny who will elevate this family. And.
“Sister, he said if I give birth this year, it will be a daughter.”
“Sung-guk’s mother, you wanted to have a daughter.”
“But… Sung-guk is completely against it.”
Ever since returning from Master Lee, I’d heard the prediction about having a daughter this year so many times my ears were ringing.
And I always raised my hand in protest.
[Mom, Dad, and Min-guk. That’s enough for me. If a younger sister like Jeon Mi-jin is born, she’ll be even more troublesome than Min-guk. I’ve barely finished raising Min-guk… who else am I supposed to raise?]
I understood Master Lee’s meaning perfectly well, but I was content with this family alone.
Kim Mi-young answered with a smile.
“Don’t worry about it. If it happens, it happens. If not, so be it.”
[If you just recklessly have children without thinking, you’ll never escape poverty. Don’t you know that? Why is everyone like this?]
“That’s what we’re planning to do.”
I slowly got up from my seat.
Today was somewhat important for me.
The elementary school admission notice had arrived, and because I’d declared I wouldn’t be attending elementary school, Mom and Dad were completely furious.
Even now, a slight chill hung between me and my parents.
I quickly brought the laptop from my room and showed it to Kim Mi-young.
“Sung-guk, what is this?”
[What do you mean what? Look properly. I’ve marked the land exactly here.]
I had circled two places: Pangyo and Dongtan.
“This is land.”
“Yes. I want to buy land there.”
“Sung-guk, don’t do that. Sister, these days Sung-guk keeps showing us that land and insisting we buy it.”
Mother stopped me.
Kim Mi-young looked at me with a somewhat serious expression.
“Sung-guk, do you want to buy land here?”
“Yes!”
“Why?”
“Because South Korea runs on real estate.”
Kim Mi-young chuckled softly.
“Sung-guk’s mother, what if we put some land in Sung-guk’s name?”
“Sister, South Korea is falling apart right now. How can we buy land at a time like this? And Sung-guk’s Samjeon stocks are completely in the gutter.”
“I think Sung-guk’s idea actually makes sense.”
“Really, sister?”
Kim Mi-young smiled knowingly.
“Sung-guk has been studying economics hard and analyzing various things. So why not try it as a test run—buying some land in Pangyo? We can decide what to do next after that.”
“I suppose so.”
Mother still looked at me with doubt in her eyes.
Being a minor was truly inconvenient. No matter how much money I earned and deposited into my account, I couldn’t invest it freely.
I quickly clung to Mother’s leg. Cuteness was the ultimate weapon in situations like this.
“Mom, buy me land. Land, please. Then I’ll go to elementary school.”
“Sung-guk, are you serious?”
“Yes! Pangyo land. Samjeon stocks.”
I told Mother earnestly.
“You want me to buy both Pangyo land and more Samjeon stocks?”
“Yes!”
Either way, I needed an agent right now.
Kim Mi-young added her support.
“Sung-guk’s mother, why don’t you try buying even a little bit as Sung-guk suggests? I’ve been getting calls about real estate listings lately—there’s a ton of inventory. People are selling at a loss just to get the banks off their backs.”
“I’ll discuss it with my husband.”
Mother looked at me with concern.
“Jeon Sung-guk, you know you’re incredibly stubborn, right? I really don’t know who you take after.”
I clung to Mother’s leg again.
“I’m your son, Mom. Hehe.”
Mother finally broke into a smile.

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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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