Chapter 7: Family Gathering

‘Haa. My body feels stiff.’

After Yu Seona left, I crumpled the newspaper and stretched. My grandfather’s house was definitely nice, with the heating working great, but there were too many people.

-Slide.

I looked in the mirror and stretched. My soft cheeks were pressed against my arms. Haha, I never thought that my first hobby in life would be looking in the mirror.

Shiny black hair, clear baby skin, and a pretty face with distinct features.

I liked that there was no way my appearance would regress, but rather become more beautiful in the future. The feeling of wanting to have been born as a man also gradually faded after a few years.

[Daeha Group’s Semiconductor Project. Is it Madness or Foresight? Yu Seongpil, Chairman of Daeha Group, Invests 100 Billion Won in Giheung Memory Semiconductor Factory.]

The crumpled economic section of the newspaper had such a headline. Even though I had a share of Daeha Group’s money, the reaction was like this. The semiconductor industry was definitely madness from this era’s perspective.

-Tap, tap.

I tapped on the mahogany desk and pondered for a moment.

‘When should I start managing money?’

It’s funny since I’ve been showing off like I’m a genius lately, but I have many opportunities to make money.

I was confident that I could become the richest person in the world before I turned 40, that is, before the 2020s.

I reincarnated into a conglomerate family and received all the knowledge of the future, so wouldn’t I be a fool if I couldn’t do that?

‘It’s an issue of efficiency. No matter how hard I try now, it’s still less than the revenue that I could earn in a day in the financial world after the IMF crisis.’

If I think about it differently, it means that I can earn money later. It seems better to invest the money I have now than to manage it directly.

My efforts should be focused on things that can only be done in childhood, things that have the same efficiency no matter when I do them.

That’s… studying. Even if I become a billionaire, my brain’s performance won’t improve. So, for now, studying was the most efficient thing to do.

‘I’m really going to give it up as soon as the 21st century arrives.’

I sighed and swept some books from the bookshelf.

There was still a mountain of knowledge that I didn’t know yet.

***

After Yu Hayeon came to Yu Seongpil’s mansion, time flew by quickly.

After eating breakfast, she would skim the newspaper, build up her current affairs knowledge, and then spend all of her remaining free time locked up in Yu Seongpil’s study, reading books.

It was a very contrasting behavior compared to when she used to take a nap almost every day when she lived in Yu Jincheol’s house. Of course, Yu Seongpil had no choice but to cherish her…

Step by step.

Gradually, she became an indispensable person in the Yu family.

December 1983. One evening.

“Oh my. Our Hayeon is here?”

Chairman Yu Seongpil, with a joyful expression, welcomed me and picked me up. I was struggling with my feet and wiggling my fingers, complaining a little as if I was troubled.

“Ugh. Pl, please let me down, Grandpa.”

“Alright, alright. Our Hayeon doesn’t like it, so I should.”

-Pat, pat.

After organizing my disheveled hair, I had a confident look, as always, after coming to Yu Seongpil’s house.

‘Yeah. Good. Always perfectly.’

Let’s walk on the sharp blade and the precarious tightrope. Because I know that brilliant glory awaits at the end of that road.

“Ah, did the Secretary for Economic Affairs not say anything special today?”

“Yes. He was busy because it’s the end of the year. We talked about jokes about 1984, that kind of stuff. We also talked about the newly opened subway line 2…”

I nodded. The meetings with him, which had become a regular routine, were entering their second month. It was quite fun to meet every other Saturday and talk about how the world was turning.

Maybe he is the first friend I’ve made in my second life… Actually, if I add my past life, our mental age isn’t that different.

“Hmm. I see. You came early, so eat your snack quickly.”

I quickly unwrapped the chocolate with my tiny hands, and bowed at a 90-degree angle while chewing.

“Thank you.”

Whew. That’s a relief. Today, when I don’t know how long it will take until dinner, a calorie boost is necessary.

“Why isn’t Jinseok here yet, and why is Jinha late too? Anyway. Tsk.”

Chairman Yu Seongpil was already looking uneasy.

‘It’s ruined again today. We’ll eat dinner at 8.’

Actually, today was a little special.

Yu Seongpil would gather the whole family for dinner at the end of the year. He hardly ever scolds people at any other time, but on this day, he always finds something to scold about.

The reason is not special. It’s just that his children don’t meet his expectations. In fact, he also praises them if they do something well from time to time. It’s just that he scolds them overwhelmingly more…

He tries to keep his belief that they should eat well, so they eat dinner after he’s done scolding. However, it’s always because of that dinner starts late. Last year, because of my father, I heard all kinds of crazy things…

Yeah.

Haa, come to think of it, this year will be better. It’s a relief that he passed away early for times like this. I don’t know, really.

-Click.

“Father. I’m here.”

“Yes. You worked hard again this year. Jinseok.”

After I came, Yu Jinseok, the eldest son, came. Behind him, his three children came and greeted Yu Seongpil.

“…”

Yu Seona, Yu Jinseok’s youngest daughter, glanced at me for a moment and then went back to her seat.

-Squeak.

Then, Yu Jinha, the second son, opened the door and came in. As soon as his face appeared, Yu Seongpil’s scolding came down like thunder.

“Jinseok is coming from the province, so I understand, but why are you late when you live so close?”

Yu Jinha, who was used to this happening, bowed his head and replied calmly.

“I’m sorry, Father. My child caught a cold.”

Yu Seongpil, who had no words to say to someone who readily admitted their fault, gestured with a slightly uncomfortable expression.

“……Okay. Take a seat. Jinha. Seonyeong, you sit too.”

“Yes, Dad.”

It was only after Yu Seonyeong, Yu Seongpil’s daughter, sat at the table that the family gathering began.

At the table that had nothing on it, Yu Seongpil was the first to speak.

“Alright. Jinseok, you speak first. What did you do in the second half of this year?”

A chilling atmosphere was palpable, considering that this was the beginning of a family gathering.

-Gulp.

I heard someone gulping. I quietly closed my eyes and thought about the position of my uncle, Yu Jinseok.

‘Yu Jinseok, the eldest son, is the vice president of Daeha Construction and Daeha Heavy Industries… Hmm. I heard that he lost the development rights for the Gangnam New Town to Mirae Construction, so he’ll be scolded.’

“Why are you speechless? Huh? You know what I’m talking about, right? You lost the development rights for the Seocho-dong station area, yet you still dare to show your face! You clearly know that the subway line 2 opened this year, yet you didn’t know that the house prices would go up! Can you even continue doing construction with such incompetence?”

The development of Gangnam New Town started in the late 70s, so it was a little late now. I heard that the house prices were going up like crazy and then slowly going down.

So, Vice President Yu Jinseok was not paying much attention to it… but, as the value of houses near the station increased with the opening of subway line 2, there was a slight storm in the construction industry.

Yeah.

Because Vice President Yu Jinseok mismanaged his actions at that time – to be more frank, he gave less bribes. He also lost the development rights he was supposed to have.

The incident happened in November, so it covered up everything he had done well in the first half of the year. Yu Jinseok bowed his head as if he was ashamed.

“I’m sorry. I’ll do better next time.”

“Who can’t say that? Didn’t you say that when you lost the contract in Saudi Arabia to Mirae Construction, as well!”

As expected, he’s being ripped apart as I predicted. No, anyone would have predicted that he’d get torn apart. Even Yu Seona sitting there would have heard it roughly.

Yu Jinseok, who had been berated for a long time, hesitated for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“Well, Father, honestly, our group is a bit weak in construction. It’s a bit hard to compete with Mirae Group, which built the Gyeongbu Expressway-“

-Whack!

Yu Seongpil glared at him and hit Yu Jinseok on the back with his cane.

“That’s why I made you the vice president of a construction company, to compete with them! Why do you say that without even trying! Mirae Construction was the same as us before building the Gyeongbu Expressway. Huh?”

I clicked my tongue and sat crouching in the corner, wiggling my hands.

‘Wow. Wow… I guess the times I was hit before were a joke.’

Is it a good thing that Yu Jincheol didn’t resemble his father that much?

Anyway. He’s making him compete with a construction company that is twice as big, and telling him to win no matter what. Yu Seongpil’s personality is terrible.

What’s even more amazing is that Yu Seongpil routinely succeeded in doing even more extreme things than that. Not to mention the early days of the group, he also grew the company by tens of times in just a few years in the semiconductor industry and made Daeha Electronics the best company in Korea.

Because he uses himself as the standard, none of his children are good enough. Ah, of course, I’m excluded.

Fortunately, there was no more major scolding after that. It was thanks to the fact that he handled things well overall, except for his big mistake in construction. Perhaps it was thanks to getting hit once that he was somewhat lenient on the other family members’ mistakes.

‘Vice President Yu Jinseok is pretty decent. Anyway, he maintained his position as chairman so he had some ability.’

In my past life, the group eventually broke up halfway, but Yu Jinseok was basically a talented person. It’s just that his way of thinking was unusual.

“Hmm. Yes, Seona, I heard you’ve been studying hard lately. In this day and age, you have to study starting from elementary school”

Around the time the clock struck 7.

After talking to all his grandchildren, Yu Seongpil looked at me and moved the wrinkled muscles on his face to form a smile.

“Okay. Lastly, Hayeon. How about you? I’ve heard a lot about you this year, so tell me what you’re going to do next year.”

Yu Seongpil was looking at me with eyes full of interest. Yu Seongpil had inherited a lot of money from Yu Jincheol’s estate.

About 10 billion won.

He must be curious about what I will do with it.

‘Unfortunately, I won’t be doing business…’

I decided to meet that expectation in a different way.

With a bright smile, I slowly opened my mouth.

“I’m going to buy Daeha Electronics stock.”