I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 96

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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 96
Mother and Father embraced me with expressions as composed as they could manage.
Only Min-guk and Ji-hee clung to me without a care in the world.
“Hyung, are you going to university now?”
“Yeah.”
“Oppa, hold Ji-hee. Ji-hee’s legs hurt.”
[Such is the life of a firstborn son….]
I sighed and lifted Ji-hee into my arms.
Just then, Mark approached hesitantly.
I quickly introduced him to my parents.
“Mom, Dad. This is Mark. He’s my roommate.”
“Hi!”
Father greeted him awkwardly in English.
Mark returned the greeting and introduced his own parents.
I found myself busy translating English to Korean and Korean to English between them.
Most of the conversation consisted of compliments about each other’s children.
“You must be so happy to have such an accomplished son.”
“We’re thrilled that both boys are going to Harvard.”
“Mark told us he received a lot of help from Sung-guk.”
Then Father made a proposal to Mark.
“Mark, come visit Korea during your break.”
“Really?”
Mark’s eyes sparkled as he looked at me.
“Sung-guk, can I really go to Korea?”
“Of course.”
I nodded readily.
Just then, Jessie arrived with her parents.
Michael Schwartsman’s expression was somewhat stiff, but he soon broke into a bright business smile.
“Hello, I’m Jessie, Sung-guk’s friend.”
As Jessie greeted them warmly, Mother’s face lit up.
“I saw you in the graduation photos, but you’re even prettier in person.”
At Mother’s compliment, Jessie’s smile grew even brighter.
“Our daughter has also been admitted to Harvard along with Sung-guk this time.”
Michael Schwartsman announced that Jessie had gotten into Harvard, then looked at me.
“Sung-guk, your speech earlier was so moving. You’ve clearly grown up with wonderful parents.”
“You’re too kind….”
Then I noticed Jessie approaching Mother and asking her something quietly. Grace seemed to be translating.
Mother quickly nodded, and Jessie beamed with joy.
What was that about?
My curiosity was soon answered.
“Sung-guk, your mother invited Jessie and Mark to visit Korea during the break as well.”
[Mother, that’s not happening!]
I wanted to protest loudly, but I composed myself and shrugged instead.
Harvard would be full of tall, handsome men. There was no way Jessie would wait for someone still underage like me. I was certain of it.
* * *
I had returned to Korea.
Father proudly pushed open the front door.
“Sung-guk, this is our home.”
My heart raced the same way it had on the day we moved from the one-room apartment where I was born to a two-room apartment, and again when we moved from the two-room to a thirty-pyeong apartment.
As the door opened, the familiar layout came into view.
It was the same size as Jung-woo’s house, my only friend back then.
Min-guk tugged at my hand.
“Hyung, I’ll show you my room.”
I followed Min-guk’s lead toward the bedroom.
“Hyung, my room is next to yours. Here it is, here!”
Min-guk opened my bedroom door.
It was exactly as Mother had shown me in photographs.
A single bed, a desk, and a wardrobe.
“Hyung, now my room.”
Min-guk took my hand and led me to the adjacent room.
It was identical to my room.
“Hyung, I asked them to make my room exactly like yours.”
“Min-guk, you’re studying well, aren’t you?”
[Now that I’m back in Korea, time for a check-up.]
I saw Min-guk flinch at my words.
Min-guk certainly had a far superior IQ than mine. With an IQ in the 160s, he should have been able to remember anything after reading it just once.
“Hyung, studying just isn’t fun for me.”
Just then, Ji-hee tugged at my hand.
“Oppa, come see my room too.”
“Sure.”
I turned around and headed toward Ji-hee’s room.
Ji-hee’s room was filled with pink colors and stuffed animals, as befitted a girl’s bedroom.
“Wow, your room is so pretty, Ji-hee.”
“I’m letting you in specially, oppa.”
Pitter-patter-patter.
I heard Min-guk running up from behind.
“I want to see Ji-hee’s room too!”
“Min-guk oppa, get out of here!”
“I want to look too.”
Min-guk and Ji-hee began to squabble.
The two of them seemed to have the typical sibling relationship—not particularly close.
“Everyone, quiet down. Sung-guk, go rest in your room for a bit. Mother will prepare dinner.”
“Mother, you’re tired too. Let’s just order jjajangmyeon for dinner. I’ve been craving it.”
“Should we?”
Mother’s face brightened at the suggestion.
I nodded enthusiastically.
But then Mother’s expression suddenly turned sad.
“Mother, what’s wrong?”
“I feel like I’ve missed so much of watching Sung-guk grow. When did my Sung-guk become so tall?”
[Mother, don’t misunderstand. I really just miss jjajangmyeon, that’s all.]
* * *
There was much to accomplish before Harvard.
First, I needed to organize my assets in both Korea and the United States.
As for American assets, it was merely the investment I’d made in Amazon, an internet commerce company.
[I’ll liquidate this before the 2007 Lehman Brothers crisis… and the Samjeon Electronics stock as well….]
The stocks could be liquidated before 2007, whether in Korea or the United States. Everything would reach its peak before that crisis.
The land in Pangyo was the problem.
Pangyo had already begun development, and land prices were skyrocketing.
The land I’d purchased was strategically located near a subway station and where major IT companies were moving in. The government would likely acquire it….
As I stared intently at the monitor, Ji-hee approached quietly.
“Oppa.”
“Ji-hee, Oppa’s busy right now. I’ll play with you in a bit.”
“Oppa, what are you looking at?”
I suddenly turned to look at Ji-hee.
Min-guk had earned his keep as a child actor with his adorable appearance when he was young. But Ji-hee was different.
She was born when our family had become comfortable, and remarkably, she was the exception among our superior genes.
Two years ago, when I had her read for a bit, she seemed quite intelligent….
I quickly showed Ji-hee the laptop screen.
“Oppa was looking at stocks and real estate.”
“Wow. What’s that?”
“When Oppa invests in a promising company, if that company’s value increases, the value of the stock Oppa bought also increases.”
[If she understands this, she’s not five years old.]
I trailed off and shook my head.
“Then, what about real estate?”
[Hmm?]
I placed Ji-hee on my lap and showed her the real estate map.
“Oppa owns land right here.”
I pointed to the Pangyo land for Ji-hee.
“Oppa bought this land for 500,000 won per pyeong, and now it’s worth over 3 million won.”
I’d heard that real estate was currently trading at around 3.5 million won per pyeong.
Indeed, land never deceives a person.
My assets had grown more than eightfold.
“Brother, you’re rich.”
“Ji-hee, you can do math too?”
“Yes! Brother, you’re rich. Sung-guk’s brother’s land went up sevenfold.”
I gazed into Ji-hee’s bright, sparkling eyes.
At just five years old, she could already do such calculations!
“Ji-hee, have you been studying arithmetic?”
“I watched Min-guk’s brother doing it next to me.”
[Indeed… Ji-hee was a prodigy.]
I looked at Ji-hee with a pleased expression.
“Ji-hee, I’ll support you, so study whatever you want to learn. Understood?”
“Yes!”
Ji-hee sat on my lap and spent a long time watching the laptop screen, absorbing everything.
She was truly brilliant.
Min-guk was intelligent, but he had no interest in studying. Ji-hee, however, had both sharp intellect and excellent learning ability, and she showed genuine interest in academics.
“Ji-hee, what is your brother struggling with?”
“Brother, are you tired?”
“No, I’m not tired. Mother, I think Ji-hee is really quite intelligent.”
“Her kindergarten teacher mentioned something similar….”
Ji-hee was indeed a prodigy who caught everyone’s attention.
“Mother, for Min-guk and Ji-hee—I don’t know about anything else, but I’d like you to start their English studies early. Min-guk has no interest in studying, but if he’s good at English, he can do anything. And if Ji-hee shows aptitude for academics, it would be good to send her abroad for studies….”
“Understood. I’ll ask Min-guk and Ji-hee, then send them to an English academy.”
“Mother! Ji-hee wants to learn English first.”
“Sung-guk, Ji-hee reminds me so much of you when you were little.”
I gazed at Ji-hee with a warm expression.
Ji-hee smiled, revealing her slightly protruding front teeth.
[Ji-hee, your way to survive is through studying. Study hard!]
“Yes, brother!”
Ji-hee answered with vigor, as if she understood my innermost thoughts.
* * *
“In the end, it comes to this….”
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung was about to sell off Samjeon Automotive, the Achilles’ heel of the Samjeon Group.
It was a company that had entered court receivership during the IMF financial crisis, and unable to overcome the strong opposition of the existing executives at that time, it had carried losses all the way to the present.
Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung recalled what Sung-guk had said back then.
Sung-guk had advised him with the same thinking—to sell this company as soon as possible.
Secretary Yang watched Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung’s expression carefully from beside him.
“Chairman, Representative Razo has signed the documents.”
At last, Samjeon Automotive disappeared into history.
“Secretary Yang, bring me the complete list of executives who opposed the sale of Samjeon Automotive.”
“Yes. And… Sung-guk has apparently returned to Korea.”
Jeon Jae-hyung’s son, Jeon Tae-guk, was six years older than me.
While I was getting into Harvard, Jeon Tae-guk had barely managed to get into a university in Utah.
“Sung-guk got into Harvard?”
“Yes. Would you like me to arrange a meeting with him?”
“Will Sung-guk remember me?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but I suspect he might have some vague recollection.”
“Since I sponsored him back then, let’s arrange a gathering based on that connection.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
Secretary Yang was about to leave with the documents when Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung called him back.
“Secretary Yang, invite Tae-guk to that gathering as well.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
* * *
Meet with Jeon Tae-guk?
What on earth was Chairman Jeon Jae-hyung scheming?
I was lost in these thoughts while standing in a Department Store in South Korea.
Mother had dragged me here by the hand, insisting on buying clothes for university.
In my previous life, I had cared deeply about fashion, but in this one, I’d been too preoccupied with reviving this family to pay much attention to it.
Perhaps I’d unconsciously absorbed Mother and Father’s unpretentious style.
Mother took my hand and led me into a luxury brand boutique.
“Mother, this place is expensive.”
“I know. You’ve worked so hard studying all this time—let me buy you clothes here.”
“Mother, these clothes are too expensive and not practical for a college student.”
As Mother and I bickered, a brand manager approached us with a warm greeting.
“What are you looking for today?”
“Clothes for my son.”
“Oh my, isn’t your son an entertainer? He’s so handsome.”
“Not now. He used to be…”
I gently tugged on Mother’s arm.
[Mother, let’s not talk about Five Men and a Baby Carriage.]
“He did some child modeling work back then.”
Mother didn’t mention the specific project.
“I thought so. He has such a striking appearance. Our men’s clothing is over this way.”
I spotted a pair of pants I liked and checked the price tag.
It was well over one million won.
“These pants are our best seller. Why don’t you try them on?”
“Sung-guk, try them on.”
Mother urged me forward.
I quickly put the pants down and pulled Mother’s hand.
“Mother, this isn’t my style.”
“Sung-guk, let me buy this for you.”
“Mother, I just need something comfortable. Don’t worry about all the details.”
“Sung-guk, that would look so good on you. Why are you being like this?”
The manager looked at me and Mother with a bewildered expression.
“Our store has the largest selection of men’s clothing, so please feel free to browse.”
At that moment, a women’s handbag caught my eye.
I glanced at the bag in Mother’s hand.
A plain black bag with no brand name.
[This branded bag isn’t bad either.]
I casually pointed my finger at a handbag with a simple, tasteful design.
“I’ll take that one.”

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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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