I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 65

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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 65
School felt even more tedious without Jung-woo.
During the ten-minute breaks, I sat quietly at my desk preparing for the GED exam.
In class, I tried to keep a low profile.
Mother saw how dispirited I had become and urged me to make new friends, but it wasn’t easy. Truth be told, I had no desire to.
Mother shouldered her bag and waved from the entrance.
“Sung-guk, I’m coming to observe your class later today. You know that, right?”
“Yeah.”
“See you later.”
“Yeah.”
“Cheer up a little, my son.”
“Yeah.”
I gave perfunctory responses and headed to school.
By fourth period, mothers began gathering in the classroom. Occasionally, I spotted fathers too.
Among them all, my mother was by far the youngest and most beautiful.
People greeted each other while identifying their children, and Mother became the undisputed star. My appearance on television was always a topic of conversation. Yet I felt utterly listless.
During class, I answered the teacher’s questions when called upon, but unlike usual, I seemed withdrawn.
Others might not have noticed, but Mother knew exactly how withdrawn I was.
“Well, that concludes today’s lesson.”
Applause erupted from the parents at the Homeroom Teacher’s words.
“For those staying for consultations, we’ll go in order. Please wait here with your child.”
Mother came to my side and deliberately struck up a cheerful conversation.
“Sung-guk did wonderfully today. Your presentation was excellent.”
[That’s child’s play.]
But I couldn’t let myself think that way, so I kept my response as brief as possible.
“Yeah.”
“Sung-guk, you seem to have many good friends here. Why don’t you try getting closer to the other children too?”
“….”
I didn’t answer.
The other kids were too immature.
Jung-woo was immature too, but there was something—a connection of hearts.
“Sung-guk’s Mother, please come to the Counseling Room.”
“Oh, yes.”
Finally, it was Mother’s turn.
The Homeroom Teacher smiled politely and called Mother to the Counseling Room.
* * *
The Homeroom Teacher handed a canned coffee to Sung-guk’s Mother.
“Please have this.”
“Oh, thank you so much.”
“Actually, please share these with the other teachers.”
Sung-guk’s Mother handed over the flowers and beverage set she had brought.
“Oh my, you shouldn’t have brought all this. I’ll enjoy it.”
The Homeroom Teacher casually opened the paper box containing the beverages and peered inside with her eyes. Then her expression turned distinctly disappointed.
Sung-guk’s Mother sensed something was amiss, but she couldn’t say anything.
The Counseling Room desk was already laden with various gifts.
“Sung-guk’s Mother.”
“Yes.”
“There’s been quite a lot of talk about Sung-guk appearing on television.”
Sung-guk’s Mother felt something was slightly off.
It was true he had appeared on television, but what did she mean by “a lot of talk”?
“Teacher, what do you mean?”
“You do realize Sung-guk is rather different from the other children, don’t you?”
“Ah, yes.”
She had asked that Sung-guk’s special talents—his proficiency in English and French—be kept confidential and hadn’t mentioned them to the Homeroom Teacher. But a special child always reveals themselves no matter where they are.
Sung-guk’s Mother secretly hoped the Homeroom Teacher would recognize Sung-guk’s exceptional nature.
“Sung-guk is quite intelligent.”
But her tone was strange. It was sarcastic.
“Thank you.”
As she uttered these words, the Homeroom Teacher’s lips curved up in an odd way.
“How should I put it? The child is cunning, you might say. Jung-woo was the wealthiest child in our class, you see. I noticed it right from when they started being friends.”
Sung-guk’s Mother was so startled she couldn’t say anything.
The Homeroom Teacher continued nonchalantly.
“It seems you’ve had Sung-guk do a lot of advanced studying, haven’t you?”
“Teacher, advanced studying? No, we haven’t done that.”
“Ah, yes. Everyone says that. Children who do a lot of advanced studying rarely do well in higher grades. Looking at Sung-guk, he has all the hallmarks of a child who’s done extensive advanced studying. He gets bored in class, acts like he already knows everything. That doesn’t last long, Mother.”
“I… Teacher. I’m not lying—we’ve never had Sung-guk do advanced studying. He studied on his own.”
“What, are you saying Sung-guk is a gifted child?”
“We received many proposals for gifted education when he was in kindergarten, but we declined because we didn’t want to raise him in any special way.”
Sung-guk’s Mother answered slowly, suppressing her anger as much as possible.
* * *
I could hear the chatter of a few mothers waiting in the back seat.
“How much did Ji-min’s mother put in?”
“Me, 50,000 won.”
“This teacher. She taught first grade last year too, and she was famous for opening envelopes. If you don’t give, she puts down the children, makes them do extra studying, scolds them in front of the class—so the mothers have no choice but to give her envelopes.”
I recalled only the bouquet and beverage set Mother had brought.
It was before the Kim Young-ran Act existed, so people commonly gave teachers gifts like this for teaching their children.
[This feels ominous….]
I pretended to go to the Restroom and slipped out of the Classroom, heading toward the Counseling Room.
When I slightly opened the Counseling Room door, I saw Mother looking flustered.
The Homeroom Teacher spoke with her arms crossed, her tone dismissive toward Mother.
“Then why didn’t you enroll him in a gifted education program? Why send him to our elementary school?”
“We wanted him to make friends and grow up normally.”
“Sung-guk’s Mother, be honest with me. There’s no shame in doing advance coursework. I’m giving you sincere advice—it’s simply useless right now.”
“Teacher, we really didn’t do any advance coursework.”
“If you have money to throw at academies, you should be nice to your child’s school teacher instead.”
The Homeroom Teacher cut off Mother’s words and revealed her true colors.
I couldn’t stand it any longer.
I burst through the door.
Mother, startled, gestured for me to leave.
“Sung-guk, wait in the classroom.”
I quickly grabbed Mother’s hand and pulled.
“Mom, let’s go home. Don’t listen to such nonsense.”
“Sung-guk, don’t do that. I need to talk with your teacher.”
“Mom! That teacher gets Korean grammar wrong every day, and she teaches math while constantly checking the answer key. What am I supposed to learn from a teacher like that!”
“You—just because you’re a little famous, you’re talking back to your teacher now? Huh?!”
The Homeroom Teacher’s voice was filled with rage, and she even raised her hand.
That’s when Mother grabbed the teacher’s wrist and stopped her.
“Teacher, corporal punishment isn’t allowed.”
“Some kids need to be hit.”
“Teacher, Sung-guk did nothing wrong. Because we didn’t give you a gift, you made excuses about advance coursework and took it out on him. Sung-guk just speaks the truth. You make grammar mistakes, you teach half-heartedly, and you’re asking for gifts—what nerve do you have?”
“What?”
The Homeroom Teacher trembled with fury, her entire body shaking.
Mother was something else. When she decided to fight, she fought decisively.
Mother squeezed my hand tightly.
“Sung-guk, let’s go.”
“Okay, Mom!”
Mother started to leave, then paused and turned back. She still had more to say.
“Teacher, our Sung-guk really never did advance coursework. It’s true he received gifted education at Samjeon Kindergarten, where only Samjeon Group children attend. You can verify that. And our Sung-guk teaches himself English and French on his own. If you don’t believe me, I can send you all the documentation. So please don’t presume he’s doing advance coursework.”
The Homeroom Teacher stared at Mother and me with a dumbfounded expression.
“Sung-guk’s Mother, this is really absurd. Are you trying to teach the teacher right now?”
“Teacher, if you lack character, you should learn that too.”
Mother patted my back with a satisfied expression.
“I really wanted to raise Sung-guk normally, but I can’t do that under teachers like you. Well then, goodbye.”
Both Mother and I bowed simultaneously and left the Counseling Room.
As I walked down the hallway, I gave Mother a thumbs up.
Mother was truly impressive today.
“Sung-guk, I think I’ve been wrong all this time. Raising a special child normally—that was just foolish parenting on my part.”
“Mom, can I quit school?”
“For now, yes. Let’s hear your father’s opinion too.”
“Okay.”
I quickly nodded.
* * *
“What? You told him that teaching Sung-guk advanced material is pointless? Seriously, what kind of teacher does that! When has Sung-guk ever needed advance instruction? He’s been studying everything on his own.”
Father rolled up his sleeves, his face flushed with anger.
This was the first time I’d ever seen Father this furious.
“Honey, please calm down.”
“Calm down? You came out of that meeting unscathed, didn’t you?”
“I said my piece too. I told her Sung-guk has never done advance work, and that I was foolish for trying to raise such an exceptional child among ordinary children.”
“….”
Father fell silent in an instant.
[Dad, that struck a nerve, didn’t it?]
The truth was, it had been Father who wanted me to attend Elementary School normally.
Father let out a long, heavy sigh. Then he looked at me.
“Sung-guk, go to your room. Your mother and I need to talk.”
“Okay.”
I pressed my lips together and entered my room.
Min-guk came padding after me.
“Hyung, hyung. Book.”
“Sigh, Min-guk. By your age, I’d already mastered not just Korean, but English and French too. Yet here you are at six years old, still can’t read books. Does that make sense?”
“Hyung….”
Min-guk’s expression grew dejected.
“How did you manage to read your script lines?”
“Mother reads them to me….”
“That won’t do. Starting today, your hyung will teach you.”
I opened a picture book.
Then I pointed to each character with my finger.
“Baby pig.”
“Baby pig.”
“Good job. Do you know any other words?”
“Yes!”
Min-guk nodded and haltingly read through the words he recognized. Of course, more than half were words he didn’t know.
“Min-guk, it’s more important to grasp the overall meaning when you read the whole passage than to know individual words. Do you understand?”
“Yes, hyung.”
When I read along, Min-guk followed right behind me.
“Hyung.”
“What?”
“I like it when hyung teaches me.”
Min-guk broke into a bright smile.
[Sigh, you’re truly the burden of my entire life.]
Instead of speaking, I turned the page.
Min-guk read along quite well.
[What’s this? Must be because he’s reading from a script….]
“Hyung, next. Come on. Come on.”
“Got it. Take it slow.”
I turned the page slowly.
Min-guk read through surprisingly well, just as I had taught him.
[What’s going on? This kid….]
“Hyung, next. Next.”
“Got it.”
I turned the page again.
Just then, the door opened and Father poked his head in.
“Sung-guk, your mother and I have finished talking. Come here.”
I pressed my lips together and went out to the Living Room. I wanted to look a bit tough.
Father saw me and pulled me into a tight embrace.
[Why are you doing this? It’s creepy, Dad!]
Father then rubbed his face against mine.
[Dad, it hurts. Shave a little.]
Then he hugged me tightly again.
“Sung-guk, I’m sorry. I’ve been thinking about this all wrong.”
[Go on, Dad. Say the next part.]
I hugged Father back out of courtesy. He immediately patted my back gently.
“Sung-guk, let’s take the GED. Let’s stop going to school.”
“Really?”
I asked Father back.
Father looked at me and nodded.
“Yes, Sung-guk. I’ve been thinking about this all wrong. I should be raising a special child in a special way, but instead I was trying to make you ordinary. I’m sorry, Sung-guk.”
“No, no. Dad. Sung-guk is sorry.”
[Dad, I forgive you for everything. Because you’re my dad….]
I held Father close.
* * *
Koo Soo-young’s secretary checked the sign several times before stepping inside the restaurant.
“Welcome.”
As soon as the door opened, a Young Man greeted him warmly.
“You must be Sung-guk’s father?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I’m Hwang Chul-soo, personal secretary to Chairman Koo Soo-young of Hyojin Group.”
Hwang Chul-soo handed his business card to Sung-guk’s father.
“Ah, I received a call from the secretarial office this morning.”
“Yes, they said this would be your least busy time.”
“Please, have a seat.”
Sung-guk’s father quickly pulled out a chair.
“Thank you, sir. May I also have some of the boiled pork?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve already prepared some.”
Sung-guk’s father promptly brought out the boiled pork he had readied.
“Please, help yourself.”
“Thank you.”
Hwang Chul-soo picked up a piece of boiled pork and ate it. His face grew enraptured as he savored the taste repeatedly.
“This is truly delicious.”
“Thank you.”
“By the way, I’ve taken up quite a bit of your time despite your busy schedule. I should tell you the reason I came to visit.”
Hwang Chul-soo took a sip of cool water.

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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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