I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 61

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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 61
Lim Sun-mi’s wedding was held at the Four Seasons Hotel.
Hong Kong’s economy wasn’t in great shape either, but many people gathered to celebrate.
Even as I clapped, my mind was consumed with one thought—I couldn’t wait to meet Damien Hirst.
Mother and Father gazed at Lim Sun-mi with joyful expressions.
I watched Father nudge Mother playfully in the ribs.
“So-young, aren’t you envious of a wedding like this?”
“I’m envious, but I’m not Lim Sun-mi. My wedding with you was the greatest wedding of my life.”
[How does Mother and Father’s harmony never change?]
I shook my head in disbelief.
In conglomerate families, marriage isn’t predicated on love. The greatest prerequisite is what you can gain through this marriage. As a result, those who craved love were too busy keeping mistresses and lovers on the side.
Of course, divorce was rare. Economic losses from divorce directly impacted South Korea’s political and business circles.
I wielded my knife with practiced ease. This was my first time eating steak in this lifetime.
As Min-guk fumbled with his utensils, I deliberately gripped my fork and knife with precision and showed him how it was done.
“Like this, Min-guk.”
“Okay, hyung.”
Min-guk picked up his fork and knife, mimicking me.
Though clumsy, he followed along quite well.
Kim Mi-young looked at me with an admiring gaze.
“Sung-guk, is there anything you don’t know?”
[I’m a former conglomerate heir. I’ve cut meat countless times. Sometimes a knife is more convenient than chopsticks.]
I skillfully sliced the steak with my knife and popped a piece into my mouth.
Mother and Father gazed at me with satisfaction.
“Are you really our son, Sung-guk?”
“Really, you two.”
The two of them cooed at each other like they were on a honeymoon.
[Mother and Father are still so young at heart.]
I shook my head and cut another piece of steak to eat.
[The taste here is exactly the same as I remember.]
* * *
Mother and Father decided it would be too much for Kim Mi-young to watch both Min-guk and me, so they took only Min-guk and departed by ferry to Macau.
Kim Mi-young and I headed toward the venue of the Hong Kong Art Fair.
My heart was already racing.
Collecting artwork was one of my long-standing hobbies. Especially when acquiring works by promising emerging artists—that was when I felt most alive. Some of those artists would succeed, others would fail, but I didn’t care about such things.
Any work infused with an artist’s passion and soul held value.
Damien Hirst was one of the artists I’d discovered early on.
And currently, he was among the promising emerging artists invited to the Hong Kong Art Fair—an exciting prospect.
He was an artist who often stirred controversy—is this really art or just a scam?—but thanks to that, he’d certainly become famous.
The work I wanted to see today was a massive shark trapped inside a giant aquarium.
Honestly, that piece was far beyond what I could afford with the money I currently had.
The Hong Kong Art Fair drew art enthusiasts from around the world, forming long queues.
I held a catalog in my hand and moved between the booths set up by various galleries.
Kim Mi-young looked at me with a bewildered expression.
“Sung-guk, do you know what this is?”
“I looked it up on the internet.”
“You’re really good at everything, Sung-guk.”
“I… I want to see Damien Hirst’s work.”
Kim Mi-young flipped through the catalog, then took my hand and headed to the right.
“It looks like it’s displayed over there. There are a lot of people, so hold my hand tightly and follow me.”
“Okay!”
I answered quickly.
To think I was coming to the art fair where this work was first unveiled in my previous life… my heart was pounding wildly.
“It must be over there!”
Sure enough, a large crowd had gathered.
I could hear murmurs in languages from around the world.
“What is that?”
“I could make that too. Is Damien Hirst really not a fraud?”
“It’s not even called a Siberian Husky…”
“Maybe it means that art in the future will be like this.”
The controversy continued nonetheless.
Because of my small stature, it wasn’t easy for me to navigate through the people surrounding the artwork.
“Excuse me. I’d like to see that artwork.”
When I spoke in English, people smiled and made room for me. Being a child had its advantages at times like this.
Thanks to that, I stood at the front, gazing at Damien Hirst’s work.
“Wow…”
An exclamation escaped me naturally.
A shark trapped in an aquarium.
Soon, a man holding a small microphone stood in front of the artwork. It was Damien Hirst!
In my previous life, I had met Damien Hirst personally a few times. That was because Samjeon Gallery had purchased one of his most famous works.
At this moment, Damien Hirst was certainly younger, and he didn’t have as much of a businessman’s air about him.
As Damien Hirst became too famous, he came across more as a businessman than an artist.
This young artist explained the creation process of his work in English with a strong British accent.
“One day, while watching a documentary, I saw the corpse of a dead shark in the sea, and that’s when I started this work.”
I gazed at the shark following Damien Hirst’s explanation.
A massive creature that once swam through the deep sea. In the ocean, there would have been nothing that threatened it.
But after death, the shark is trapped in cold formaldehyde.
When I saw this work in my previous life, that’s what I felt. Even the king of the sea, the shark, is helpless before death.
But this life was different.
I, who had experienced death and been born again.
Standing before this artwork, I felt a tremor so profound it made my heart ache.
Damien Hirst looked at me and posed a question.
“I see there’s a young child here. What’s your name?”
“I’m Jeon Sung-guk. I came from South Korea.”
I answered fluently in English.
“You speak English well too. I’m very curious to hear what you think of my work through your eyes. Sung-guk, could you share a brief impression for me?”
“…Well. That shark has no soul.”
At my words, murmurs rippled through the surrounding crowd.
“No soul?”
“Yes. Looking at it, I thought of reincarnation. The soul that once accompanied the shark in the sea where it swam has departed, leaving behind only an empty shell. But I think the soul that was inside that shark must have found another body to inhabit.”
Damien Hirst’s eyes sparkled.
“Wow, Sung-guk. That’s truly remarkable. This is the most wonderful interpretation I’ve ever heard.”
I could see journalists covering the art fair jotting down my impressions.
“Sung-guk, let’s meet after this is over. I have a special gift for such a brilliant observation.”
“Okay.”
Soon Damien Hirst passionately explained his shark artwork.
Whether it was because of my remarks or because Damien had always thought the same way, he described the shark as a metaphor for reincarnation and karma.
* * *
At the gallery booth displaying Damien Hirst’s print works, he gifted me a small print.
[Just a print?]
Since prints could be reproduced indefinitely, even from someone like Damien Hirst, they didn’t command particularly high prices.
“Sung-guk, this is my first edition.”
“You mean the first print, right?”
“You know quite a lot about art, Sung-guk.”
[I’m Jeon Sung-guk, after all.]
I simply smiled.
The price of a print is determined by the order in which it was produced. Therefore, the first edition, number one, typically sells for the highest price.
Damien Hirst numbered and signed the back of the print himself.
“Sung-guk, thanks to you, I’ve gained so much unexpected inspiration.”
“Sir, even when you become famous later, you have to remember me.”
“Of course. I haven’t decided on a title for this print yet. Could you give me an idea?”
I examined the print Damien Hirst had given me.
It was an early version of the skull-shaped work that would later become famous.
Being the first edition, it was a piece that would be worth considerable money if I kept it.
I studied the print for a moment, then spoke to Damien Hirst.
“Resurrection. What do you think?”
“Resurrection—is that what you felt looking at this skull?”
“Yes. Death is the beginning of another life, isn’t it?”
Damien Hirst hugged me tightly.
“Sung-guk, when we meet again, you absolutely have to let me know. Don’t forget about me.”
“Of course not. Sir, you’re going to become incredibly famous. Don’t forget me. I’ll make a lot of money too and come buy your work.”
Damien Hirst kept planting kisses on my cheeks.
[Men shouldn’t do this to each other.]
I quickly wiped my cheek with the back of my hand.
* * *
Koo Soo-young gazed at Sung-guk with wonder in his eyes.
His meeting with Sung-guk had been postponed when Koo Soo-young’s father-in-law suddenly passed away.
With his father-in-law gone and his wife grieving deeply, Koo Soo-young chose to travel to Hong Kong. His wife, an art enthusiast, never missed a major art fair in the world. Their two daughters accompanied them both.
His eldest daughter, Ye-jung, pointed at Sung-guk with her finger.
“Dad, isn’t that Sung-guk?”
“I think it is.”
“Dad, why does he speak English so well? Better than me, even.”
“Right. Considering the money spent, it’s not easy to be worse than your older sister.”
While his eldest daughter Ye-jung and second daughter Ye-ri bickered back and forth, Koo Soo-young found himself mesmerized, following Sung-guk’s every move.
From the way he observed the artworks to his interview—everything was impressive.
On top of that, he’d even received a woodblock print as a gift from Damien Hirst.
Koo Soo-young led his wife toward the booth displaying Damien Hirst’s works.
“Dear, I’m not too fond of Damien Hirst. Isn’t his work a bit too dark?”
“That’s one way to survive in the art world.”
Koo Soo-young examined the woodblock print that Damien Hirst had given to Sung-guk carefully.
His wife, having lost her son and her father in quick succession, furrowed her brow.
“Dear, I’m not sure about this one….”
At that moment, Damien Hirst approached.
“I found your exhibition quite impressive. I’m curious about the title of this woodblock print.”
When Koo Soo-young asked, Damien Hirst smiled.
“Originally it had no title, but one just came to me. A child gave this piece its title.”
“I’m curious.”
Koo Soo-young was certain that child was Sung-guk.
“Resurrection.”
“The child looked at this painting and titled it Resurrection?”
His wife asked Damien Hirst with a puzzled expression.
“That child said that death signifies the beginning of another life.”
In that moment, Koo Soo-young’s wife burst into tears.
Damien Hirst was taken aback, and so was Koo Soo-young.
The daughters quickly led their mother away from the booth.
“I apologize. Our family has experienced something unfortunate recently. We lost our eldest son.”
“Ah, I see. That’s why….”
“Is the child who named this painting Jeon Sung-guk, by any chance?”
“You know him?”
“Yes.”
Koo Soo-young confirmed that his intuition had been correct.
At that moment, a message arrived on my phone. It was from my wife.
– Honey, buy that woodblock print no matter what.
Koo Soo-young conveyed to Damien Hirst his intention to purchase the artwork.
“I’d like to buy the first edition.”
“I already gave the first edition as a gift to that child. He inspired me greatly.”
“Then I’ll take the second edition, please.”
Koo Soo-young purchased Damien Hirst’s woodblock print on the spot.
And once again, he confirmed the remarkable nature of the child named Jeon Sung-guk.
* * *
Mother and Father had turned ten dollars into a hundred at the Macau casino slots.
“Dad, awesome!”
I gave him the familiar thumbs-up that had become second nature to me.
“Sung-guk, what would you like to eat?”
[I’d like to eat Michelin one-star dim sum. But Dad, a hundred dollars won’t even cover one person there.]
Min-guk looked at me with eager eyes.
“Hyung, Min-guk wants black bean noodles.”
“Min-guk. Black bean noodles taste best in South Korea.”
“Whimper.”
When Min-guk’s face fell in disappointment, my heart felt a little heavy.
Just then, Mother rummaged through her bag and pulled out a cup of black bean noodles.
“Mom packed it for you!”
“Wow!”
Min-guk quickly ran to Mother and hugged her.
Ding dong.
At that moment, the hotel doorbell rang.
When Father opened the door, Kim Mi-young came in.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your rest. The Hyojin Group saw Sung-guk at the art fair today, and they’d like to treat you all to lunch tomorrow if you’re available. How does that sound?”
“So-young, what were we planning to do tomorrow?”
“We were going to go shopping in the morning, have lunch, and then take the kids to the amusement park.”
[Mom, I’ll pass on the amusement park. I get motion sickness.]
I waved my hand dismissively.
“Then, let me confirm lunch for tomorrow.”
“Chairman, where will we be eating?”
I asked, barely concealing my anticipation.
Someone of Koo Soo-young’s stature would surely make the finest choice when inviting others.
“It’s the dim sum restaurant at the hotel next door. You know about dim sum too, don’t you, Sung-guk?”
[Of course I know. That hotel’s dim sum restaurant is my absolute favorite!]

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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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