I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 93

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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 93
A New York weekend.
Under Grace’s guidance, Mark and I headed to the Department Store to purchase suits for the graduation party.
Inside the car on the way to the Department Store, Grace offered us her congratulations.
“Both of you got into Harvard. That’s truly remarkable.”
“Thank you.”
Mark replied shyly.
“Sung-guk, how much have you grown since I last saw you?”
“I haven’t measured myself, so I’m not entirely sure.”
“It seems like we’re about the same height now. Three years ago, you were a head shorter than me.”
Mark said with a hint of indignation.
“Oh, by the way, Chairman Gu said he’d like to buy the suits for both of you as a graduation gift.”
“What?”
Mark was the one who was surprised.
I already knew about it.
“Sung-guk, didn’t you tell Mark?”
“I wanted to surprise him a little.”
When I smiled, Mark laughed with a bewildered expression.
“You should’ve told me beforehand. I already talked to my father and even borrowed his credit card.”
“Sorry, I really wanted to give you a surprise gift.”
“No need to apologize. Sung-guk, let’s grab hamburgers with my father’s card later.”
“Sounds good.”
Mark still had an innocent side to him.
“You two look so good together. Creating Face Paper together, going to university together. It’s wonderful.”
“I think it would be nice if we stopped being so attached at the hip now.”
At my words, Mark looked at me with a startled expression.
“Sung-guk, what are you talking about?”
“Mark, you should start dating when you get to university.”
“Oh, that’s what you meant?”
Mark scratched his head.
Whenever the topic of dating came up, Mark still got flustered.
“If you ask me, I think you’ll be the one dating first, Sung-guk. I’m not popular with girls, after all.”
“Don’t worry. Once we get investment for Face Paper and become billionaires, the girls will be lining up. Mark.”
“If that happens, I won’t have any other wishes.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
My words would soon become reality anyway.
* * *
Grace led us into the luxury boutique.
Mark whispered beside me.
“Isn’t this place way too expensive?”
“I think the same way, so let’s just wear it comfortably since she’s buying it for us.”
“Jessie and Amy will love it if I wear this, right?”
“Of course.”
Mark and I followed Grace into the luxury boutique she’d led us to.
Two service staff members approached us, one for each of us.
“Please find us some clothes that would suit both of us. And matching ties and shoes to go with the outfits.”
“Of course.”
Before Grace could even finish speaking, the staff members returned with measuring tapes.
“First, may we take your exact measurements?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“You’re about five feet seven inches tall.”
Five feet seven inches came to about 172 centimeters.
Mark looked at me.
“That’s barely an inch difference from me. Sung-guk, when did you get so tall?”
“I’m not sure.”
I didn’t really know when I’d grown so much.
But my school uniform had gotten shorter every year.
Grace looked at me with a satisfied expression.
“You’re really tall, and anyone would think you’re a college student.”
“Are you entering college this year?”
The staff member beside me asked.
“Yes. We came to buy suits for graduation.”
“Your female partner is so lucky. Going to graduation with such a handsome guy must be wonderful. I hope it’s okay to ask, but which school are both of you attending?”
“We’re both going to Harvard.”
Grace answered on my behalf.
The staff member looked at me with slight surprise.
“Wow, that’s impressive. Harvard, no less. I’ve never even been near there.”
“I’m sorry to ask, but may I ask you something?”
Grace asked the female staff member carefully.
“What would you like to know?”
“How old does this young man getting measured look to you?”
“If he’s just entering college, wouldn’t he be around seventeen? Let me see.”
The staff member studied me carefully for a moment, then tilted her head slightly.
“I’m sorry, but honestly, I can’t quite tell his age. He looks a bit younger, actually.”
“Right? He’s still eleven years old. He’ll turn twelve in September.”
“Oh my God!”
The woman covered her gaping mouth with her hand.
By Korean age, that made me thirteen—a sixth grader in Elementary School.
“You’re really saying he’s going to Harvard at that age?”
“Yes. It’s truly remarkable.”
Grace answered with a face full of pride.
“Please stop teasing me now.”
I stopped Grace.
“I’m not teasing—you really are remarkable. Getting into Harvard is one thing, but looking at you, I’d believe you if someone said you were already a real high school student.”
“Sung-guk, at some point when I talk to you, it feels like I’m just talking to someone my own age.”
Mark added his own comment.
[Not my age—far from it. Inside me lives Jeon Sung-guk at forty years old.]
I simply smiled.
When things were ambiguous, smiling was always the best approach.
* * *
“You two are going to eat hamburgers and head back to the dormitory, right?”
“Yes. We decided to have dinner at Jessie’s place tomorrow evening and then head back to school together.”
“Then I’ll go ahead and take the luggage back.”
Grace picked up the suit she’d bought and left first.
Mark and I walked toward Central Park.
Mark looked at me with an excited expression.
“Sung-guk, I’ll wear the suit well.”
“You’ll have plenty of occasions to wear it.”
“Will there be times to wear it besides the graduation party?”
“Once we get to college, we’ll need to make the rounds seeking serious investment for Face Paper.”
Mark shrugged and pointed at his hoodie.
“I’m more comfortable in this.”
“Hmm….”
I looked Mark up and down.
“What is it?”
“Honestly, you look so good in a hoodie and jeans. You could wear the same clothes every day like Charlie Jobs and it would still suit you.”
“Right? I don’t have a handsome face like you, so this suits me better.”
Mark walked ahead cheerfully with a spring in his step.
“Mark, about going to Jessie’s place tomorrow.”
“Yeah? What about it?”
“I have a feeling Jessie’s Father is going to make us some kind of proposal.”
“He hasn’t said anything all this time.”
Over the past two years, Jessie’s Father had made no move whatsoever.
Mark and I had been too busy studying, so we’d essentially left Face Paper in its original state, but it was running better than expected.
Teenagers who now had their own space online were writing about their daily lives and thoughts, and they wanted to show these to their friends.
Especially at an age when they were intensely interested in the opposite sex, they were enthusiastic about building connections.
“Mark, I don’t think we need Jessie’s Father’s investment anymore.”
“Then what?”
“Let’s get into Harvard first, and then we’ll promote Face Paper ourselves. More students from nearby schools will definitely gather around Harvard, and more new investors will see our Face Paper.”
“I don’t mind either way.”
Mark walked forward with a bright expression. Then he suddenly stopped and looked at me with a cheerful face.
“Do you know what my first thought was after getting into Harvard?”
“I have no idea.”
“It was that I made the right call not selling Face Paper to Microsoft two years ago.”
What did he mean by that?
I waited for Mark to continue.
“Think about it—two years ago, we were both so young. Back then, Microsoft tempted us with all sorts of attractive offers, and we were swayed. But as I went through school, I realized what I really wanted wasn’t to sell Face Paper at all.”
“Then what?”
“Face Paper is something we created. I started thinking it made more sense to develop and grow it in our own style, not in the style of some existing corporation. Oh, and Sung-guk, you know my programming skills have gotten way better during this time, right?”
That’s where Mark’s confidence came from.
I nodded.
“I know.”
“After graduation, let’s start updating Face Paper.”
“Sounds good!”
I agreed readily, but at the same time, I felt a twinge of concern.
Mark had changed considerably from two years ago. There was still some naivety to him, but he was becoming clearer about what he needed to take responsibility for.
Now I needed to find the next carrot to dangle in front of Mark.
* * *
Amazon stock was climbing.
The United States was beginning to see active internet commerce, and since I’d bought the stock when it was cheap, I’d made quite a profit.
On top of that, most of my Korean stocks were Samjeon Group shares, which meant business was booming beyond measure.
I planned to hold them until the Lehman crisis hit in 2007.
My assets had already exceeded 3 billion won, just as I’d predicted five years ago.
But before the Lehman crisis, this could easily double.
Indeed, money making money was the ecosystem of capitalism.
In my past life, I’d never even considered such small-scale investments, but trying them in this life gave me a sense of accomplishment—it was quite satisfying.
Knock. Knock.
I heard a knock on the door.
Who could it be?
“Sung-guk, it’s me. May I come in for a moment?”
It was Grace’s voice.
“Yes, please come in.”
Grace opened the door and entered.
Grace was carrying several shopping bags in her hands.
“Grace, what is all this?”
“You’ve been so focused on studying that you haven’t come to New York, so I didn’t realize how much you’d grown.”
“I didn’t realize it either.”
I scratched my head awkwardly.
“I saw you at the department store earlier and figured out your size roughly, so I bought some casual clothes for you. Once you go to Harvard, you won’t be wearing uniforms anymore. I didn’t buy too much since I think you’ll probably grow even more.”
“I really appreciate you going to all this trouble for me.”
Grace studied me carefully.
“What are you talking about? Every time I go to Korea, Sung-guk’s Mother and Father take such good care of me. Now they treat me like I’m truly family.”
I’d heard many stories about how Mother and Father, understanding what it meant to be without family and how difficult and exhausting that could be, looked after Grace whenever she visited Korea.
“When I see Sung-guk, he really feels like my own son. I suppose my work with your Harvard admission is done, but please reach out if you ever need help with anything.”
“I’m truly grateful.”
Grace smiled warmly.
“Sung-guk, you’ve grown up so well.”
[Well, of course. I’m Jeon Sung-guk, after all.]
I laughed brightly.
* * *
“Wow! Sung-guk, you look amazing!”
“Thanks, Jessie.”
Grace’s eye for style was indeed exceptional.
Jessie’s eyes were practically glowing with admiration.
“Come in. Father is waiting for us.”
Jessie had somehow pushed Mark aside and whispered to me from my side.
“I’m even more excited about graduation day now.”
[Sigh, this is burdensome.]
Teenage hormones were nothing but a burden to someone of my age and experience.
Jessie’s Father, Michael Schwartsman, greeted us with a smile.
“Mark, Sung-guk. Come in. It’s been so long. By the way, congratulations to both of you on your Harvard admission.”
“Thank you.”
Mark and I bowed respectfully.
“Sung-guk, you’re going to the graduation party with Jessie, right?”
“Yes.”
“Please take good care of our Jessie.”
“Don’t worry.”
“Seeing how tall you’ve gotten puts my mind at ease. Honey, look at Sung-guk. He’s grown so much in just a few years.”
Jessie’s Mother greeted me with a look of surprise.
“My goodness, is that really Sung-guk?”
“Yes, I hope you’ve been well.”
“Of course. Both you and Mark look like young men now.”
[Mark was already a young man to begin with. Even she says so.]
We followed Michael Schwartsman’s lead into the house.
I’d been here before, so it felt familiar.
The interior had changed somewhat, but the layout remained the same.
“Father has been really into French cuisine lately. He’s making coq au vin.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Coq au vin.
It was a dish that originated from King Henry IV’s proclamation—after strengthening his nation’s power, he declared that commoners could eat chicken every Sunday.
Today was Sunday, and I wondered if Michael Schwartsman was trying to become our own King Henry IV.
I sat at the dining table, my suspicions still unresolved.

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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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