I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 7

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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 7
Opportunities are indeed created, not found.
I remember this advertisement with perfect clarity.
It was an ambitious commercial for Samjeon Electronics’ drum washing machine.
Lim Sun-mi, Samjeon Electronics’ exclusive model, picks up her husband’s shirt as he leaves for work and sniffs it.
Detecting everything from food odors to sweat to cigarette smoke, she grimaces and attempts to toss it into the laundry basket, but it slips from her hands and falls to the floor instead.
A baby who had been playing crawls over, sniffs the father’s shirt, and says “Ah. Dad!”—that was the killer moment of the advertisement.
At the ending, a close-up of the baby’s peaceful face sleeping while clutching the freshly washed shirt from the drum machine, as Lim Sun-mi exclaims:
“Laundry done!”
I had the entire storyboard perfectly mapped out in my mind.
All I needed to do was deliver the word “Dad” and capture the serene face of a child blissfully unaware of the world.
“Sun-mi, let’s film the baby’s part first.”
“Director, if you take any more time, I’m really going to be in trouble.”
“I’ll wrap this up as quickly as possible.”
I heard the Director and Lim Sun-mi conversing.
[Everyone, just hold your nerves.]
I gently rolled my short neck to loosen it.
I could see the Director glaring at the Perm-haired Assistant Director with an angry expression.
“We’ll talk after we’re done here.”
“Yes… Director.”
The Perm-haired Assistant Director answered in a subdued voice.
Following the Director’s instructions, the entire set was reorganized.
The Stylist rushed over and carefully combed my sparse hair with a brush.
“How was this one even a candidate? This kid is a hundred times prettier than that other one.”
[That one’s parents paid for it.]
“Oh my, the baby’s babbling at me. Let me make you look even prettier.”
[My face will do the work, but smooth down the back of my hair a bit.]
The Stylist finished with my hair and quickly stepped away.
The Director approached with Mother.
“Please stay here, ma’am. We need a close-up shot of the baby smiling at Sun-mi first, so I’ll film that before the main scene.”
“Yes, Director. Sung-guk smiles very well.”
The Director looked at me with a worried expression.
“Sung-guk, please let’s finish this quickly.”
[Okay!]
I nodded my head for the Director.
“That kid really seems to understand what I’m saying.”
The Director shouted to everyone around.
“Alright, everyone stand by!”
“Yes!”
Affirmations came back, and soon the lights flooded down according to the Director’s cue.
Is this what it feels like to be bathed in such brilliant lighting?
I savored the dazzling glow as I gazed toward the camera.
Just below the lens, Mother crouched as low as she could, waving her hand encouragingly at me.
[I’ve already memorized the storyboard, Mother. Come on, let’s nail this shot in one take!]
I flashed the radiant smile I’d practiced in front of the mirror at home toward her.
My mouth opened wide, my uvula visible—the kind of genuine, infectious grin that anyone could see meant pure joy.
“Cut!”
The Director’s commanding voice rang out.
“Play it back.”
“Yes, Director.”
The Perm-haired Assistant Director quickly rewound the footage.
“We don’t even need a second take. Next scene!”
I shrugged and moved into the next scene.
This was the highlight of the commercial—the moment I’d say the word “Father.”
I carefully analyzed the inflection of that single word, raising the pitch at the end in one take, lowering it in another, and received approval on just the third attempt.
The atmosphere on the Advertisement Set began to brighten.
It seemed they were getting satisfactory shots.
Mother hurried over to check my diaper and gave me water to drink.
“Sung-guk, are you tired?”
[Earning someone else’s money is always hard work, Mother.]
The Stylist approached and checked my hair again.
Only the final scene with Lim Sun-mi remained.
Lim Sun-mi came over to me and smiled warmly.
“Your name is Sung-guk, right? I’ll come in carrying a laundry basket and accidentally drop some clothes in front of you.”
[Yeah, I know.]
Lim Sun-mi continued her explanation even as she glanced at Mother.
“Ma’am, please don’t worry. This is a scene where I just need to do my part well. Since Sung-guk is a baby, all he needs to do is crawl around here, and the Director will take care of editing and piecing it together perfectly.”
[What are you talking about? I’m an actor who performs even off-camera. Just wait and see what I can do with my body!]
Lim Sun-mi gently stroked my head.
“Sung-guk, let’s do great.”
[Don’t worry, Lim Sun-mi. This commercial will be talked about even twenty years from now.]
I smiled.
The camera rolled again.
Lim Sun-mi headed toward the washing machine with the laundry basket, and that’s when she let her husband’s shirt slip from her grasp and fall to the floor.
I didn’t miss a beat—I stretched out my hand and caught that shirt with a snap!
“Perfect!”
The Director’s delighted voice rang out.
* * *
“Thank you for your hard work!”
Lim Sun-mi bowed with a bright smile, greeting the staff.
The Director rose from his seat with a satisfied expression and shouted to the staff.
“I’m treating everyone to dinner tonight, so don’t let anyone skip out!”
“Yes, Director!”
Cheerful responses echoed from all corners.
“Oh, Assistant Director! Come here for a moment.”
“Yes… Director.”
The Perm-haired Assistant Director watched the Director’s expression carefully.
The Director led the Perm-haired Assistant Director to a secluded corner.
“Director, is there something you wanted to tell me?”
“This is your first time working with me, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll have a word with your agency, so settle your payment for this job and move to another company.”
The Perm-haired Assistant Director fell silent for a moment.
Her face flushed, and her voice grew heated.
“Director, that wasn’t something I could control.”
“What do you mean you couldn’t control it?”
The Director exhaled sharply.
“I was just following orders from above.”
“This damn woman really won’t stop….”
The Director took a moment to collect himself.
“That Deokpung Paper Company executive’s wife—someone told me she slipped you extra money on her way out! And you’re telling me you were just following orders from above?”
“That is….”
“Look, sometimes I get orders from above too. I can’t help that either. But I don’t pull out the storyboards beforehand to tip off the child and pocket extra cash like you did. Get out of here right now, and go apologize to Sung-guk’s family!”
“That’s….”
“Can’t do it?”
The Perm-haired Assistant Director clamped her mouth shut.
“If you don’t go apologize, you won’t set foot in this advertising industry again. You know I have that much influence, don’t you?”
“…Yes. Director, I’m sorry.”
The Perm-haired Assistant Director reluctantly bowed her head.
* * *
I was just about to take a bite of sweet banana.
Knock. Knock.
The knock sounded, and the Waiting Room door opened.
The Perm-haired Assistant Director entered with a face that screamed she’d been fired.
Then she glanced at me with resentful eyes.
I could tell from that gaze alone what this was about.
She felt wronged about being let go, and it seemed the Director had ordered her to apologize to me as well.
On my climb to the chairman’s seat at Samjeon Group, I had cut and hired talented people for key positions countless times.
I never spoke directly, but whenever I happened to see those faces again, they always wore that exact expression.
I bit into the banana.
And I chewed away at the banana.
The Perm-haired Assistant Director approached Mother, her expression lukewarm as she opened her mouth.
“If I’ve done anything to upset you, I sincerely apologize.”
That was when it happened.
The Director, passing through the doorway, suddenly bellowed.
“Hey! Do it properly!”
Startled, the Perm-haired Assistant Director quickly bowed deeply to Mother and me, then shouted toward the Director outside the door.
“If I’ve upset you in any way, I truly apologize!”
“No, not at all.”
Mother waved her hand dismissively.
I observed the Perm-haired Assistant Director while munching on my banana.
In this line of work, you encountered creatures like her everywhere.
These parasitic types possessed an almost insane tenacity for survival.
Just then, the Director opened the door and entered.
“Hey! Wrap it up once you’re done.”
The Director gave very clear instructions on how to finish properly.
“Yes, Director. I’ll be going now.”
The Perm-haired Assistant Director bowed repeatedly as she left.
Mother quickly handed the Director a beverage.
“Director, you must be exhausted.”
“Ah, our Sung-guk worked hard too. Because of this kid, we cut the shooting time in half.”
The Waiting Room door opened, and Lim Sun-mi poked her head in.
“Everyone’s here. What, did I lose my lead role?”
Lim Sun-mi entered with a radiant smile and lavished praise upon me.
“Ma’am, Sung-guk really is different from the start. You’re such a beauty yourself, and I’m so curious to see how Sung-guk will look when he grows up.”
“You’re too kind. I only participated by chance, but we got to film an advertisement and meet Lim Sun-mi. I was so happy.”
Mother laughed with genuine warmth.
The way she attended to the Director, humbled herself while elevating others—I sensed in Mother the aura of someone who had mastered social interaction to its highest level.
Meanwhile, I had poured so much energy into the advertisement shoot that exhaustion overwhelmed me.
Nestled in Mother’s arms, I nodded off repeatedly.
The Director spoke up quickly.
“This kid looks tired. Ma’am, don’t take the company van—ride with me instead. I’ll take you home.”
“Oh, no. I need to go to the company and receive the modeling fee.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of everything.”
“Our home is far away. If you drive us there, you’ll be late for the after-work gathering.”
Mother firmly declined.
“Where do you live? I can’t go to the gathering anyway because I have a film shoot tomorrow. I swell up easily in the evening, so I’ll drive you.”
Lim Sun-mi stepped forward.
Mother quickly waved her hands.
“That’s out of the question.”
“It’s fine. I can see you have a second child, and you’ll need to move around after getting out of the van anyway. Where do you live?”
“Suyu-ri.”
Mother spoke in a hushed voice.
She assumed that South Korea’s most successful actress wouldn’t be unfamiliar with a place like Suyu-ri.
“I think Sung-guk and I are truly fated to meet, Director. I’m from Suyu-ri myself, you know. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the neighborhood—let me take you there. Please don’t refuse.”
“Really?”
“Of course, really. So please, no refusals.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Mother bowed repeatedly.
As a result, I kept dropping and rising with her movements, and I felt a bit dizzy.
[Mom, I’m getting dizzy.]
“Sorry, sorry. Sung-guk.”
Mother picked me up and followed Lim Sun-mi out.
A smile bloomed across Mother’s face.
I gazed at her smile with half-closed eyes, enchanted.
The Iron Lady had never shown such a smile before.
Perhaps she could have smiled. It was just that her daily life consisted of situations where smiling was impossible.
Even in poverty, one can be happy.
I slowly closed my eyes.
* * *
Lim Sun-mi’s Manager stopped the car at the alley near our home.
After waking from a deep sleep, I grinned at Lim Sun-mi.
Before returning, I had truly hated the Iron Lady, but today she was nothing short of my savior.
“Did Sung-guk sleep well?”
“Goo goo.”
“You really understand everything. Mother, may I have your contact information?”
“Contact information?”
“Once Sung-guk’s commercial airs, you’ll probably receive an enormous number of advertisement offers. You won’t be able to handle it alone. Our Talent Agency is quite good. Let me introduce you.”
“Oh, that’s… too much…”
Mother looked flustered as she glanced at me.
Lim Sun-mi quickly offered her business card.
“This is our company representative’s card. I’ll speak well of you to the representative, so please do contact us.”
[Take it, Mom! What are you doing!]
I quickly tugged at Mother’s collar.
Mother read my gesture and promptly accepted the business card Lim Sun-mi offered.
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“Sung-guk, let’s see each other again next time!”
Lim Sun-mi waved her hand.
* * *
Mother stood dazed in front of the entrance, searching for her keys in disbelief.
“Unit 107, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, unni…?”
The Short-haired Woman, who had just returned from work, called out to Mother from behind. A glimmer of something like satisfaction flickered across her face.
“I heard Sung-guk hit a home run as a pinch hitter?”
“You’ve already heard about it?”
“The Director called directly and made such a fuss, telling me to settle the modeling fee quickly and bring it over. He even decided to pay more than the originally quoted rate.”
“Really? But… how much is the modeling fee?”
Mother blinked her eyes.
[My trapezius and lower back had gone rigid from lying face-down sniffing that shirt, and I didn’t even know how much I was being paid for it.]
“It was originally three million won, but the Samjeon Group added a bonus of one million won on top of that.”
“So… then….”
“Four million won total, minus taxes. I brought it here. Just sign the receipt confirmation. Otherwise, I’ll be the one accused of embezzling the money.”
“Of course I should sign.”
The Short-haired Woman held out a yellowed envelope to Mother.
Mother accepted it with trembling hands.
“Oh, unni. I’ve never handled this much money in my entire life.”
[Mother, get a grip. I’m Jeon Sung-guk. I’ll earn tens of millions of times more than this, so stop getting emotional.]
“Keep the door locked.”
“Oh, unni…. If Sung-guk’s father is late, would you like to have dinner with us? I’m so scared.”
The Short-haired Woman hesitated slightly.
For a just-off-work office worker, being asked to share a meal with a woman saddled with a baby meant extending her labor.
Seeing Mother trembling, the Short-haired Woman sighed and gestured.
“First, go inside and lock the door properly. I’ll go get some chicken from nearby.”
“Oh, unni. Wait a moment.”
As Mother tried to pull out a ten-thousand-won bill from the yellow envelope with shaking hands, the Short-haired Woman blocked her with her hand.
“Don’t. Save this money and move to a better place. Now go inside.”
“Thank you, unni.”
The Short-haired Woman hurried away from the multi-family residential building.
Despite my exhaustion, I watched her receding figure.
In my previous life, Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung always used to say:
– Trust no one. Not your parents, not your children.
Why was our landlord, the Short-haired Woman, being so kind to us?

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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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