The Founder of the Great Financial Family

Right now, for Rockefeller, more important than his appetite was the responsibility that came with being the head of a family and making sure these young ones could live. 

‘It's not like I can just say I don't know them,'

It was a situation where it wouldn't have been strange to treat them as one would strangers. However, he wasn't so ignorant and cruel as dismissing these young siblings that followed him around and called him brother. 

‘I never liked responsibility, so I didn't even raise a dog..'

He had never raised any pets before, but he couldn't just throw out his younger siblings that he had accidentally become entangled with, so he soon decided to make up his mind. 

He called himself their elder brother, and now he had to take responsibility for these little things that followed him. 

‘But it can't just be me. As much as I am resolved – these kids need to be resolved towards something as well.' 

As the thoughts became clearer, he looked to the siblings that had just finished filling their bellies and were finally able to roll around and rest on full stomachs and said, 

"Hyung has something to say, like dad, too,"

Since their eldest brother had something to say, his younger siblings began to look up at him with bright, sparkling eyes, 

"What's going on, hyung?"

"Rockefeller-hyung, is it something important?" 

Rockefeller, who had just said he had something to say, stepped outside for a moment and came back with a few easily obtained tree branches. 

Rockefeller handed each sibling a branch, one by one, then said, 

"Try breaking the stick hyung gave you," 

With that said, excluding their youngest sister, the three younger brothers were able to break the branch without much effort. 

Rockefeller handed the brothers the twigs that had been broken back to them and urged them to break it again, then again, and again.

Even the second brother, Andrew, who was very strong, couldn't break the bunch of twigs that Rockefeller handed over, and after whining for a moment, they gave up. 

Then, Rockefeller asked his younger brothers, 

"What did you learn from there?"

Despite his question, the three younger brothers just stared up at him blankly, 

"As you saw, one branch was weak – weak enough that you could snap it in two easily. But when you combine a bunch of branches, they become stronger,"

It was only then that the three younger brothers began to nod their heads slowly as if they understood Rockefeller's will. 

Rockefeller continued, 

"I'm sure you guys already know, but our family doesn't have any talent – to the point where it's a little dire."

Andrew wanted to refute the words vehemently but soon shut his mouth and lowered his head. It was one thing that he didn't want to argue against his eldest brother, but apart from that, he had thought along those lines as well. 

On the other hand, the third, Joshua, seemed to sympathise with his words quite strongly, and the fourth, Leo, looked like he didn't want to speak at all. 

"It might be sad, but that's our reality. So what should we do? Should we carry on living without any talent?"

At that question, Joshua carefully answered, 

"We have to stick together like the sticks," 

"Yes, that's right, like Joshua said, we siblings might be very insignificant by ourselves, but we have to stick together and become strong – just like the branches," 

Rockefeller broke a branch in two in front of his siblings, 

"It's really easy to break a branch like this," 

He then took hold of a few more branches, held them together, and tried to snap them in two – however, although the branches bent slightly, they did not break. 

Once he allowed his siblings to check that the branches had not broken, Rockefeller said, 

"If this insignificant tree branch gets clustered like this, it will become so strong that nothing can easily break it. So it would be best if you guys kept this in mind. We will be like these tree branches from now on, and we siblings will be one. What's mine will be my siblings', and what's my siblings' will be mine. That's our destiny as those born with less than others, and it's also our strength that lets us survive in this harsh world," 

To make it easier for his young siblings to understand, Rockefeller added another example, 

"There are some siblings who will fight a lot with each other over whose bowl has more rice. They might even kill each other. In a way, they might be better than us on their own. One of them might get farther than one of us would. But they can't bind together like us, because to them, what is in their rice bowl is more important than sticking together with their siblings," 

Joshua, who had been quietly listening to his words, asked a quiet question, 

"Rockefeller-hyung, what about the people who are richer than us and have better sibling relationships as well?"

Andrew, who must have had a similar question, slowly lowered his head, 

Rockefeller shook his head lightly and calmly refuted Joshua's question, 

"Joshua, I can guarantee that will never happen. No matter how strong their relationship is, in the end, each one is their own man. Even if they can cooperate, they wouldn't last a lifetime. Each one would have their rice bowl, and wanting more than someone else is human nature."

At that, Andrew raised his head to look up at Rockefeller, and Joshua, who had these doubts, stared up at him with sparkling eyes. 

Rockefeller took a breath, then continued with his words, 

"We must be different. Because we know each other's shortcomings so well, we have to untie and stay like that until the end unconditionally. It would not be essential for those who have other things to unite but rather one of the options available to them. But for us, it's not an option. Uniting is our only option and a necessity for survival. What your hyung is saying so far – did you guys understand?" 

When Rockefeller asked, the three younger brothers began to nod together, 

"Yes, Rockefeller-hyung is right. Even if we betray others, we shouldn't betray each other. Since we're siblings," the second child, Andrew, responded first.

He was followed by the third child, Joshua,

"Something others don't have…. I think Rockefeller-hyung is right. Others might betray their brothers, but if we never do that, then I think it could become a big advantage for us in its own way,"

The fourth child, Leo, didn't seem to have anything particular to say, but he seemed to agree since he nodded his head, 

"No matter what happens after today, we siblings will trust each other until the end. That will be the strength and weapon of our Rothmedici family that others don't have,"