Max-Level Son of a Chaebol Family - Chapter 8

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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08. Winning

Mother let out a scream-like sound, overcome with joy.

“Jeong-hyeok! Oh my goodness, this is… Wah!”

“Mother, be quiet.”

I covered Mother’s mouth and warned her.

“There are people from the slum outside.”

Mother looked at me with her eyes as if asking what the problem was.

“What do you think those people would do if they found out there’s a 10 Million Won First Prize Lottery Ticket here?”

Mother tilted her head in confusion.

“Forced eviction is right around the corner. They’d lose their minds.”

Only then did Mother’s expression change.

“I know. I know they’re good people. But they’re people pushed to the edge right now. People who have families to protect.”

I know very well.

How people behave when they’re pushed to the edge.

It was all too common in the Back Alley World.

Even people who usually had kind faces would lose their minds when pushed to the limit.

“We’d be lucky if they don’t come looking for us at night with knives. Do you have the confidence to protect this lottery ticket then, Mother?”

Mother shook her head.

“So let’s stay quiet until everyone leaves. We can think about it after that. Understood?”

Mother nodded her head.

Only then did I remove my hand that had been covering her mouth.

“There’s nothing wrong with being careful.”

Mother’s gaze as she looked at me grew strangely deeper.

That’s when it happened.

Knock knock knock.

“Jeong-hyeok’s Mother.”

Mother startled and turned around.

The shadows of adults appeared through the aluminum sash door fitted with opaque glass.

I quickly slipped the lottery ticket into Mother’s cardigan pocket.

Before Mother could even open the door, the aluminum window frame slid open with a rattling sound.

“What’s the matter?”

“Oh, nothing really. We were just a bit worried.”

The Neighborhood Aunties poked their heads through the doorway and looked around.

While saying they came because they were worried, their eyes scanned for any valuable items.

“You weren’t robbed, were you?”

“You didn’t lose anything, right? Like jewelry or a bank passbook.”

I appreciated their concern, but I had already taken all the valuables long ago.

“Oh my, this place is like an icebox.”

“The Landlady Grandmother said she couldn’t fix the boiler, right? Doesn’t look like she’s calling anyone.”

“Looks like you haven’t found a place to move to either.”

“To pay the deposit and monthly rent, you need quite a bit of money, don’t you? How much do you have? Jeong-hyeok’s Mother, you must have saved up quite a bit from selling vegetables.”

“You don’t even have a place to sleep tonight. If you’re really in trouble, come to our house. I’ll rent you a room cheap. Our coal briquette boiler works perfectly.”

“For the same price, come to our house. I can even make you breakfast!”

Mother couldn’t hide her discomfort at the sudden competition between the aunties.

Just then, the voices of Adult Men could be heard from the front yard.

They were urging everyone to head home.

“We’ll be going now.”

“Jeong-hyeok’s Mother, get some rest.”

The people who had gathered harmoniously in the Landlady Grandmother’s front yard to watch the lottery drawing broadcast disappeared in an instant like a receding tide.

“······.”

Mother seemed deep in thought.

I took Mother’s hand.

“Mother, let’s move. How about Apgujeong Hyeonmu Apartment?”

“Hyeonmu Apartment?”

The Apgujeong Commercial District is scheduled to see a vertical rise in land prices soon.

But Mother’s gaze when she looked at me earlier was bothering me.

“It’s on TV a lot. Come to Apgujeong~♬ Hyeonmu Apartment is great~♬”

So I deliberately sang the commercial song like a child would.

Mother smiled brightly and patted my head.

“Cheonma Apartment is good too.”

“You mean Daechi-dong Cheonma Apartment?”

“At Cheonma~♬ Good schools~♬ Good academies~♬ New city, new apartments~♬”

The school district is good.

That means apartment prices won’t fall thanks to parents with high educational enthusiasm.

I clenched both my small fists tightly and smiled.

“I’m going to study hard and go to University.”

This was after seeing the Bank Passbook Mother made for University tuition.

I wanted to fulfill Mother’s wish.

It was also a regret that I had to give up school because I was too busy making a living.

“The best University in Our Country! How about that?”

“That would be wonderful.”

Mother patted my head with an extremely pleased expression.

Mother muttered quietly to herself.

“Right, our Jeong-hyeok will soon enter Elementary School, and later to get into University too······.”

I haven’t had my birth registered yet, so I’m not even on the Family Register.

“If something happens to me like yesterday, then what would our Jeong-hyeok do, left all alone.”

It was a voice filled with determination.

So I asked casually.

“Mother, what’s our Father’s name?”

The only Chaebol Families in Our Country that use the surname Cha is indeed only Taeseong Group.

And one more thing.

That number I saw in Mother’s Notebook was the Home phone number of the Taeseong Group chairman.

“Father’s name is Cha Seong-jun. It’s written with the Cha surname, the character for ‘seong,’ and the character for ‘jun.'”

For the first time, I properly learned Father’s full three-character name.

It felt strange.

‘So our father was the youngest son of Taeseong Group? The one who was supposed to inherit Taeseong Construction?’

Before I had shrewdly swept up Taeseong Group stocks in the past.

I had thoroughly scraped together every piece of information available, from the family genealogy to the group’s internal affairs.

Taeseong Construction was meant for the youngest son, Cha Seong-jun.

‘Taeseong Construction experienced rapid growth from the mid-70s by aggressively securing overseas construction contracts in the Middle East. That was our father’s handiwork.’

Father said he couldn’t come because he was laying roads in the Middle East.

It seems that wasn’t a lie after all.

‘The only thing that bothers me is…’

Knock knock.

That was the second knock.

“Ahem, excuse me, if it’s alright, could you come to our house for a moment? Mother is calling for you. She says she has something urgent to tell you.”

It was a summons from the Landlady Grandmother.

“Kid, are you done eating? Why don’t you play with Uncle for a while?”

Seriously, that man always interrupts at the most important moments.

Naturally, my gaze toward Uncle Cheol-gu sharpened.

But Mother pushed my back.

“Yes, go along with Uncle. Mother will just have a quick talk with the Landlady Grandmother and come back.”

“…Alright.”

I had something I wanted to ask anyway.

I put on the new sneakers Uncle Cheol-gu had bought me.

As soon as we arrived at the back yard, Uncle Cheol-gu immediately asked.

“Kid, what’s going on with this?”

“What do you mean?”

I pretended not to know, but I actually had a good idea what it was about.

“So how much did you win?”

“Huh, how did you know? Are you some kind of fortune teller?”

When I deliberately narrowed my eyes and looked at him, Uncle Cheol-gu scratched the back of his head vigorously.

“It was a 1 Million Won Ticket.”

Just a Gold-Rimmed Lottery Ticket?

That’s more money than I expected.

The slum demolition compensation was only 100,000 won.

So I could smile with satisfaction.

“That’s great.”

“How did you buy this? Don’t tell me you knew in advance that this would win… No, does that even make sense? There’s no way that’s possible. Hah, really…”

Uncle Cheol-gu let out a hollow laugh as if even he found it absurd.

I shrugged my shoulders.

Uncle held out the winning lottery ticket to me.

“Here. Take this back.”

“Keep it. I gave it to you, Uncle. It’s a service.”

“You really want me to keep this?”

“What, is a man going to be petty about giving something and then taking it back?”

“That’s… I mean, I’m not the type to extort money from kids…”

“Use it to help with moving expenses.”

Uncle Cheol-gu made a dumbfounded expression.

“So you’re planning to not move and keep holding out like this? What if the Demolition Crew barges in when Landlady Grandmother is alone? She’s getting on in years – what if she gets hurt?”

“That absolutely cannot happen!”

“Opposing demolition is fine, holding out is all good too. But even when you fight, you should evacuate your family to safety first, then fight. Moving comes first.”

“Right. That’s what we should do.”

Uncle Cheol-gu nodded his head obediently.

“Hmm, where should we go? Probably around Jongno or Euljiro…”

“Go to Gangnam.”

Uncle looked back at me with round eyes.

“The Government is actively pushing Gangnam development. Can’t you tell from how they’re relocating Government Offices and Prestigious High Schools to Gangnam? Land prices will definitely rise significantly.”

Buy when it’s cheap.

Don’t regret it later by beating the ground.

“Are you really seven years old?”

Somehow.

I deliberately changed the subject.

“Uncle, about those documents from earlier. Wookwang Construction.”

“Hey! I told you to forget about that, didn’t I?”

“What are you planning to do with them?”

Just how did he use them that a KCIA agent ended up dying under torture at the KCIA?

“A little kid doesn’t need to know.”

I mentally carved the character for patience in my mind.

‘If you act recklessly, you won’t escape a dog’s death, mister. That’s exactly how you died.’

I saw it with my own eyes!

Uncle, you die from torture because of that thing in a week!

Ah, but I can’t just tell him this outright.

‘I do owe him a debt for Mother’s life, and King Yama told me to build good relationships, so giving life-saving advice should be fine.’

Kindness with kindness.

Malice with malice.

I’m someone who’s clear about grudges and favors.

‘If those Wookwang Construction documents are used properly…’

That golden light is bursting out like that.

It’s hard to just pretend I don’t know.

Good for me, good for Uncle.

A win-win method that would benefit all of us came to mind.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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