The Bonsai Branch is Pruned (3)
“What are you talking about...? I’m not going to leave him a single penny of my estate, so how on earth could that brat cause any trouble?”
Choi Ki-hyun’s expression was one of utter bewilderment—a look Yoon-gi had truly never seen on his grandfather’s face before.
“It’s not widely known yet, but a 'Legal Reserve of Inheritance' system is currently being implemented. Even if someone is left out of a will entirely, they can apply to the court with the proper forms to claim half of their original inheritance share.”
“What? What kind of... why on earth would such a law exist!”
Choi Ki-hyun roared in indignation, but in reality, the law was inevitable. Until the early 2000s, it was common for the eldest son to monopolize the entire family fortune, leaving younger sons and daughters to live in poverty because they didn’t know about the legal reserve system. But at this moment, the fact was enough to make Choi Ki-hyun boil with rage.
“You have eight children in total, Grandfather. If we divide it, that’s 12.5 percent. So, he would be entitled to claim 6.25 percent later on.”
“That’s absurd! I won’t allow it!”
“The law allows it, Grandfather. Well, if you used the power of the military regime, you could solve it without any issues, but...” Yoon-gi lowered his voice before continuing. “If the military regime falls, those connections might become worthless, so I can’t guarantee anything.”
“I have absolutely no intention of leaving that brat a single penny! Absolutely none! I tried to persuade him for so long, yet he betrayed my wishes in the end!”
The son he had tried to embrace until the very end had defied his father’s will at the final moment. The sense of betrayal Choi Ki-hyun felt toward Choi Cheol-min was indescribable, and it was a wound that could not be healed, no matter what Choi Cheol-min did.
“That’s why the law protects him. Actually, this law isn’t all that bad. The problem is just that one person; the others are quite decent, aren’t they? It just means there was only one crooked branch on the bonsai tree named Grandfather.”
As his favorite grandson acknowledged him, Choi Ki-hyun’s agitation subsided slightly.
“Hmph...”
“Well, I also agree that he shouldn’t be given a single cent. And there is actually a way to do it.”
“There’s a way?”
Hope flickered in Choi Ki-hyun’s voice, which had been filled with despair until now. This meant his grandfather had truly severed ties with his son, and Yoon-gi smiled inwardly with satisfaction.
“Do you think he’ll try to claim his legal reserve later, Grandfather?”
The sound of teeth grinding echoed through the living room.
‘I really do take after my grandfather. I’m definitely of this bloodline.’
Yoon-gi waited for the answer with a hidden smile as Choi Ki-hyun nodded.
“Yes, if it’s that brat, he certainly would. I’ve already kicked him out of Samwoo Trading, cut off his monthly living expenses, and ordered him to be evicted from his current home, but he’s the type to do it if there’s even a sliver of an opening later.”
Having cast aside his affection, Choi Ki-hyun made a very accurate judgment. Thanks to this, Yoon-gi comfortably placed the briefcase containing the documents on his lap and spoke.
“Grandfather, is the name Samwoo important to you? Or is it more important that your children live well and prosper based on a company founded on the legacy of Samwoo, even if the name itself disappears?”
“Of course, it’s important that my children live well. But if the name Samwoo were to disappear entirely, I think I would feel a bit bitter.”
“What if the name Samwoo remained in at least one place?”
“That would be satisfactory enough, I suppose. But is that a story for when the group’s scale is much larger than it is now?”
Having grasped his grandfather’s true intentions, Yoon-gi went straight to the point.
“Then the solution is clear. If my corporation absorbs Samwoo, you can consider the possibility of him intervening in Samwoo to be virtually non-existent.”
“Your corporation... will absorb Samwoo?”
Yoon-gi nodded.
“Yes. There is virtually no merit in me taking control of the current Samwoo from the bottom up. It takes too long, and the methods are limited. But if the corporation I established grows massive and absorbs Samwoo, Samwoo effectively becomes mine. It means I can inherit Samwoo in its entirety. And afterward, I will give your children—my aunt and uncle—an amount befitting your estate. Of course, as you wish, if we keep the name Samwoo Trading, the roots of Samwoo will remain forever.”
Choi Ki-hyun blinked rapidly, lost in thought at his grandson’s completely unexpected plan. ‘Absorb Samwoo? This massive Samwoo? This kid’s corporation still doesn’t have much scale...?’
Currently, Yoon-gi was operating corporations funded 100 percent by his own capital. The department store where Ryu Geun-tae would be president, the construction office run by Kim Jeong-seon, and the American farms with Park Yeon-ji as the representative. On top of that, he was pushing to establish even more corporations. Furthermore, the articles of incorporation for these companies were already arranged so that Yoon-gi would eventually be appointed as the group chairman, so he was already a ‘little group’ chairman in all but name.
‘I heard that JSD is highly likely to become the crown prince of the new military regime soon. They say JD favors JSD that much. Plus, Yoon-gi has secured a connection with the Guster Republic. If we combine Yoon-gi’s ability, his current connections, and the support from me and his parents...’
Choi Ki-hyun’s positive train of thought stopped there. No matter how he looked at it, it was hard to guarantee that he could absorb Samwoo. Samwoo was now a group ranked within the top 100 in the country.
‘Honestly, it would be better to ignore the legal reserve and everything else and just put Yoon-gi in the chairman’s seat to help him climb higher...’
His grandson, Yoon-gi, shouldn’t just end up absorbing Samwoo. He had to reach a position befitting his abilities. Whether that position would be number one in the country or number ten, Choi Ki-hyun was certain that he shouldn’t be satisfied with just Samwoo.
“If you’re worried, look at this.”
Yoon-gi showed him the land price charts of the locations he had purchased and the stock chart of Microsoft.
“The land will hit the jackpot in 30 years, and the stock in 6 years. Especially this stock... in six years, you will have the richest person in Korea as your grandson, and Father and Mother will have the best son in Korea.”
At Yoon-gi’s absurd statement, Choi Ki-hyun chuckled and picked up the charts. He thought his grandson was bold, but he dismissed the words as a bluff to show confidence. However, the moment he looked at the charts, Choi Ki-hyun fell into deep thought.
“This growth rate is... how is this possible?”
It was Microsoft’s revenue, growing exponentially.
“If it continues to grow like this for a few more years and goes public later, what do you think the value of my stock will be? I currently hold just under 90 percent of this company’s shares.”
Choi Ki-hyun swallowed hard.
“Are you really going to absorb Samwoo?”
Yoon-gi nodded firmly.
“Yes. I’m not going to just make Samwoo the best company. As your grandson, as Father’s son, and as Mother’s son, I will become the world’s greatest executive. To do that, I shouldn’t be tied down to Samwoo. And money is just a means, not the final goal. The whole world will come to know your name, Father’s name, and Mother’s name. Because I will make it so.”
It was a promise that far transcended reality, but for some reason, it sounded realistic to Choi Ki-hyun, Choi Cheol-ho, and Park Yeon-ji. After all, he was the son who had increased his assets tremendously in just three years.
“Grandfather, please invest your personal assets in me. Not like before, but all of it.”
Yoon-gi turned to look at his parents. “Father, Mother. Please invest your assets in me. Just as a single seed potato creates a vast potato field, I will succeed to the point where Jung-ah and I will never have to fight over money later.”
Choi Cheol-ho looked at his father first, then, wearing not his usual simple expression but that of a husband, looked at Park Yeon-ji, and finally, with the expression of a father, looked at Yoon-gi.
“In case of an emergency, I’ll leave 5 percent for Jung-ah.”
“That’s fine.”
Yoon-gi looked at his grandfather this time. Choi Ki-hyun smiled proudly at his son, who had made a decision according to his own will for the first time, then turned to Yoon-gi and beamed even brighter.
“I will invest everything. Because I’m old and have no use for money.”
Yoon-gi stood up and bowed to his grandfather and parents.
“Thank you. I will make sure that later, you can say, ‘I have the best grandson,’ and ‘I have the best children.’”
Relieved of his tension by Yoon-gi’s confident expression, Choi Ki-hyun said in a playful tone:
“You rascal, you forced the department store construction even though you were clearly short on capital because you knew you could squeeze it out of us, didn’t you?”
“There was a best-case scenario and a second-best scenario, and this was the best-case scenario.”
“Ho-ho, then what was the second-best scenario?”
“Selling the preemptive purchase rights for Microsoft’s new shares to someone else. If that didn’t work, I was planning to take out a bank loan. With the halo of being the eldest grandson of the Samwoo Group and the power of Colonel JSD, getting a loan with good conditions wouldn’t have been difficult.”
By the time Yoon-gi’s presentation ended, Choi Cheol-min and Park Gyeong-ja, who had returned to their home, were wearing expressions of utter despair.
The father’s bodyguards and secretaries were blocking the front gate. And in front of them, a box and a few bags were placed haphazardly.
“What are you guys doing!”
Choi Cheol-min, covered in scratches, rushed at the bodyguards blocking the gate. However, his hands were easily subdued, and he was thrown unceremoniously toward the box.
“Ugh!”
He wasn’t hurt thanks to the box, but Choi Cheol-min found himself shedding tears.
“Why, why are you doing this! This is my house!”
The most senior of the bodyguards shook his head.
“This morning, the Chairman gave an order. You are no longer a deputy of Samwoo Trading, nor are you the Chairman’s son. Therefore, there will be no more support from today, and he ordered us to recover all support provided until now.”
“That’s ridiculous! It’s a lie! It’s a lie!”
Choi Cheol-min shouted and pounded his fists against the bodyguard’s chest, but even as he said it, he knew it was the truth.
“Ugh, ugh, ugh...”
Unseemly tears. Choi Cheol-min had never imagined he would be caught, and when he was dragged away by the soldiers, he had leaked a few drops of urine into his underwear. If the soldier in front of him hadn’t said, ‘Hey, he said not to touch him, right?’, he would have soaked his pants, not just his underwear, with yellow liquid.
‘To think that was a US military-only department store...’
Choi Cheol-min regretted his past actions, but because that regret was selective, he didn’t receive even the slightest bit of forgiveness from Yoon-gi or his father.
“Move! Move! Please!”
“If you continue like this, we have no choice but to call the soldiers.”
Soldiers, not police. Choi Cheol-min’s body stiffened instantly.
“Let’s go... We’re... ruined...”
At his wife Park Gyeong-ja’s words, Choi Cheol-min slumped to the ground. Watching her husband, Park Gyeong-ja sighed and opened the box. She saw no expensive clothes, only the shabby rags he used to wear in the past. When she searched the bags, there was only one savings account she had opened for fun—worth less than two weeks of Choi Cheol-min’s salary—and the rest was pure junk.
Drip. Tears streamed down Park Gyeong-ja’s face.
‘I should have just kept on being a singer, what kind of wealth and glory was I chasing...’
As even Park Gyeong-ja slumped to the ground, their son, Choi Jeong-gi, kicked his mother’s leg.
“Mom! I told you I’m hungry!”
Shabby clothes, a bankbook with pocket change, and a spoiled son. About 60 years after the history where he succeeded in swapping his older brother’s child with someone else’s, Park Gyeong-ja was finally receiving her proper punishment. The only problem was that Yoon-gi wasn’t satisfied yet.