When Kathleen heard this, she could not help but burst out in laughter.She really did not expect that Charlie’s means of making money would actually be so unstoppable.A simple treadmill from even the top brands would only cost a few thousand US dollars, and even the most expensive one would cost a mere ten thousand US dollars. However, Charlie would charge almost one hundred thousand US dollars to provide a treadmill for a few days of use, and this could really be said to be really extremely expensive.At this time, Jordan could not help but sigh as he said, “Shangri-La is truly a slaughterhouse for the rich. There are simply so many ways for them to collect money here that you cannot even imagine!”Kathleen hurriedly spoke up and comforted, “Grandpa, this money is actually nothing at all. So, you don’t need to mind it too much, and you can just take things as they come.”“Yes.” Jordan said resentfully, “I also understand the concept behind taking things as they come, but I real
At the same time, Isaac was giving a detailed report to Charlie as he told him, “Young Master, at present, all applicants who registered to participate in the auction are all staying in Shangri-La, and not a single one is missing. In addition, the additional twenty backup candidates ranked 201 to 220 will arrive in Aurous Hill one after the other tomorrow.”Charlie nodded slightly and instructed, “These backup candidates should not be charged for their accommodation-related expenses. They will most likely have to accompany the runners, and I’m afraid that they will not even be qualified to enter the venue by then.”“Okay, Young Master.” Isaac answered and then hurriedly asked again, “Young Master, are we going to let them make a trip here for nothing this time, then? Many of them came from overseas, and it has been quite difficult for them to come all the way here.”Charlie thought about it for a moment and said, “Why don’t we do this, then? If they do not get the chance to replace
Chandler had been waiting for Charlie to contact him after checking into the executive building.He knew that he did not have the financial strength to compete with those top tycoons when he came to Aurous Hill this time, so the only purpose of his visit to Aurous Hill was to meet Charlie. Therefore, when Isaac contacted him, he said without thinking, “Please tell Young Master Wade that I’m waiting and ready to meet him at any time.”When Charlie heard this, he did not delay any longer, and he asked Isaac to take him directly to the executive building where Chandler’s room was at.As soon as they met, Charlie said respectfully, “Old Master Lennard, we meet again.”Chandler hurriedly clasped one of his hands over the other as he bowed and said respectfully, “Young Master Wade, I should be the one saluting you!”Charlie hurriedly reached out his hands to support Chandler as he muttered under his breath, “Old Master Lennard, you’re being too courteous. How can I accept your salute?
At this moment, Chandler used a match to ignite the seal incense which had been pressed into the shape of a lotus flower, and then said to Charlie with a smile, “Young Master Wade, you should not be repelled by the smell of incense, right?”Charlie smiled slightly and looked at the smoke that rose into the air as he sniffed the unique aroma of the agarwood that had been ignited, and he only felt extraordinarily relaxed. So, he spoke up and said, “Old Master Lennard, you are indeed elegant. I’ve only smelled this kind of seal incense because I was with my mother as a child, and after so many years have passed, the scent still lingers in my memory now that I am smelling it again.”Chandler nodded and said seriously, “Your mother was very famous in the United States. It was said that when she was alive, she spared no effort in promoting the Oskian traditional culture in the United States. Many noble young ladies from the upper-class society in the United States are all proud of being ab
In truth, deep inside, Charlie had been looking forward to meeting his maternal grandfather at the auction for the Rejuvenating Pill.However, he did not know why he would have such a thought.After all, he hadn’t actually thought about acknowledging his maternal grandfather’s family. As they talked about Charlie’s maternal grandfather, Chandler seemed to suddenly gain some interest as he smiled and said, “Young Master Wade, to tell you the truth, I’m really looking forward to seeing your maternal grandfather coming to participate in the auction for the Rejuvenating Pill.”Charlie asked curiously, “Old Master Lennard, what makes you say that?” Chandler smiled and said, “Your maternal grandfather has been in the United States for too long, and he has been seriously westernized. He only believes in so-called science for everything, and he treats all traditions as dregs.”Charlie nodded and said, “That’s understandable. I heard my mother mentioning before that my maternal grandfat
Chandler hesitated for a moment before he looked at Charlie and said seriously, “Young Master Wade, there is actually something that I don’t know if I should say or not.”Charlie said, “Old Master Lennard, you don’t have to be so courteous with me. There is no harm in speaking your mind.”Chandler said, “Although you have broken out of the dragon stranding predicament, getting back to the fate of the dragon that originally belongs to you is not the end! In the ‘Tales of Strange Matters’, it is recorded that it takes five hundred years to form a water dragon, a thousand years to form a dragon, and the dragon will turn into a horned dragon in five hundred years while a winged dragon would take a thousand years. This means that someone with the fate of a dragon does not really have the highest fate as there are still the horned and winged dragons above this.”The contents of the Apocalyptic Book instantly came to Charlie’s mind. There were indeed records of the water dragon as well as
Chandler’s words made Charlie ponder.What he was thinking about was not about whether he should borrow the strength of his maternal grandfather’s family to achieve his own goals in the future, but what he was thinking about was that the higher in the world he rose, the narrower the road would be. If he wanted the Wade family to stand at the pinnacle of the world, he was bound to meet with the Acker family on the narrow road someday in the future.He could not help but think about whether the Acker family would be his enemy or friend if they were to really meet on the narrow road one day in the future. After all, the Acker family was now one of the top three families in the world. If Charlie wanted to realize his father’s last wish back then, it would be inevitable for the Wade family to want to stand higher than these three big families.If the three big families did not want to see a rising star above them, that could also trigger a battle of life and death between the new king
When Charlie heard these words, he admired Kathleen a little more.This woman was really something. At the very least, because Kathleen was using favor as her mode of attacking, Charlie had already long decided that if Kathleen’s grandfather could not win the bid for the Rejuvenating Pill, he would still give him half a Healing Pill so that he could live for another two more years. Combined with Chandler’s words, it was basically certain that even if something unexpected were to happen to Jordan while he was in Aurous Hill this time, he would have half of the Healing Pill to save his life.Charlie knew that Kathleen was going to engage in using favor as her mode of attack, and he also knew that no matter how she attacked, it would still be far from the worth of half a Healing Pill.However, Charlie always felt that if he did not repay this favor and kept owing Kathleen all the time, he would definitely feel very awkward and twisted. This was the brilliant thing about Kathleen.
Pausing, Charlie then said, "I'll call Steve to drop by later too. I'm sure folks in Aurous Hill won't know him, but your potential troublemaker might.""I-Is that really fine?" Yolden blurted."What's not fine about it?" Charlie chuckled. "He has been treated like a tool ever since he came to Aurous Hill, and now that he has a chance to strut about, he wouldn't ask for more."Yolden appeared slightly relieved at that, and Charlie asked, "By the way, where's Paul, Matilda, and Autumn?""Getting their makeup done," Yolden replied. "Paul's my best man while Autumn's the maid of honor.""Good," Charlie nodded with a grin. "Don't worry—the wedding's going to be a success."As they spoke, Matilda stepped out of the dressing room in a stark-white wedding dress, flanked by Autumn and Paul.Seeing Charlie, Autumn nodded politely, "Good morning, Mr. Wade."As Charlie nodded in turn, Paul started, "G-Good morning… Mr. Wade…"Seeing that he was nervous and tentative, Charlie knew that he
As Yolden and Matilda were remarrying after living abroad for years, the wedding ceremony was much simpler, skipping Oskian customs and having a simple wedding reception for their guests at the hotel hall.There weren't that many guests either—aside from their children and close friends, only a handful of Yolden's colleagues at Aurous Hill University were invited.As the celebrant, Charlie didn't have much to do and was mainly the emcee.He brought along his jacket as he headed out to Shangri-La, not wearing it immediately so that Claire wouldn't guess that he was attending Matilda's wedding.Arriving at the Hanging Gardens before the guests were supposed to arrive, he found Yolden working with the staff to finalize the preparations.Seeing Charlie, Yolden approached him and said, "Thanks for coming this early, Charlie."Noticing that he was a little tired, Charlie asked in concern, "Had a bad night?"Yolden nodded, sighing, "Paul's uncle caused a huge mess. Both Matilda and I a
Tarlon nodded. "How do you suggest we find them?"Fleur scowled. "There's no rush. There are things which I'm still confused about, so just keep a close eye on the Ackers and the Wades for the time being. Report to me right away if anything important comes up—don't afford our enemies any opportunities to exploit.""Yes, milady!" -The next day, more news outlets were covering the joint project between the Ackers and the Wades as word continued to spread.However, neither family revealed too many details, be it the name of the company, who was the CEO, or the scale of their business.While the public was dying with curiosity, nothing else was known.Still, Aurous Hill's officials were especially interested, with the town hall visiting the Ackers the next day and showing utmost sincerity by leasing a whopping 2-million-square-meter land along the southern highway. Still, the condition was for the Ackers to come true on their promise to propel the city's economy to 15 billion US d
Fleur had repeatedly mentioned the conspiracy theory of Ashley using a body double over the last twenty years.Tarlon had investigated from many different angles, but everything from the gender, age, dental records, to body figure pointed to the fact that the deceased was Ashley Acker.And yet, Fleur had never bought it, insisting that Curtis was prepared for them just because Curtis' son had gone missing soon after.There was no way Curtis would save his son but not his wife, and the disfigured corpse only added fuel to Fleur's suspicion.Thus, over the last twenty years, Fleur had kept a close eye on the Ackers, arranging for two 'scholars' to be embedded amongst their ranks as sleeper agents. She went that far all to determine if Ashley was dead or had faked her death.However, the scholars had since been killed in action, and they had no spies within the Ackers left.As for Tarlon, he still doubted Fleur's theory even now, but he remained respectful as he spoke, "Milady, I mu
Meanwhile, on the edge of the South Pole, Tarlon Griffin rushed outside of Fleur Griffin's room, knocking the door gingerly as he announced, "I have news, my lady!"Fleur didn't respond, but the thick wooden door between them slowly opened as if pushed by an invisible force.Tarlon entered to find Fleur seated on the floor with her legs crossed at the ankles. Her eyes remained closed as she molded her Reiki, asking, "What is it?"Tarlon quickly answered, "News from Oskia. The Ackers are partnering with the Wades on a joint venture into electric-powered vehicles."Fleur slowly opened her eyes, asking quietly, "And you're telling me because?"Tarlon quickly explained, "It just came out of the blue, so I thought I should report it to you right away."Fleur sighed. "After I tried and failed to wipe out the Ackers so many times, they wouldn't dare set foot stateside. If anything, they must have decided to seek asylum in Oskia by offering a substantial investment, and it's a base whe
Silent for a while, Matilda then asked Yolden, "Do you think I can do it?""Yes!" Yolden nodded without hesitation. "You definitely won't have any problems!"Matilda sighed, shaking her head. "We traveled far abroad to study while we were young, but we didn't return to Oskia to help the country's development. It's been thirty years since, and now that we have returned to the country at the same time, I definitely wouldn't turn down such an opportunity to help."Pausing, she then said, "That said, major corporations make it a point to not hire family members. Forget spouses—employees aren't allowed to date, and one of the two will be asked to resign if necessary."Don't you think it's inappropriate since we are legally married, having gotten our certificate and all? And if we set these precedents, we would have trouble asking other employees to follow that policy. You are going to be a CEO, so you need a very clear answer on this issue."Yolden shrugged. "In the first place, that p
Yolden nodded slightly. "He does.""My gosh…" Matilda murmured. "That's too much… Ashley's son? A member of the Acker family and the Wades?!"Pausing, she then asked in confusion, "Wait, if Charlie has so much power and influence, why would he permanently reside in Aurous Hill… No, why would he be content as Jacob Wilson's son-in-law? Does Jacob know who he really is?""Definitely not," Yolden shook his head. "There were some compelling circumstances, and his identity is a sensitive one. That's why I'm asking you to tell no one except Paul—and even then, you should only tell him if he can keep the secret."Matilda was sharp enough to pick up on the reasoning, too. "Charlie's hiding because of his parents' accident, isn't he?""Yes," Yolden sighed. "He has his plans, but I didn't pry since I can only do that much, let alone help him on that.""Got it," Matilda nodded repeatedly. "Don't worry. My lips are sealed… And you just said you're resigning? Are you going to help with this e
"That would be Ashley Layna Acker," Matilda replied without hesitation. "She was our age, as well as a major investor in Silicon Valley, while we were only starting to get our first clients. It's no exaggeration to say that she's the shining example in many case studies when it comes to business."Pausing, she then continued, "And she used to be your classmate, right? I remember you mentioning that in our conversations before.""Yes," Yolden sighed emotionally. "She was a classmate and the star of our generation."Matilda nodded but soon shook her head, "Wait, weren't we talking about Charlie's car company? What does that have to do with Ashley Acker?" "Here's where I let you in on a secret," Yolden said. "But first, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone except Paul."Matilda nodded without hesitation. "Don't worry—if it's a secret, I won't tell Paul either."Yolden scratched his head. "Actually, Paul should know. We are going to marry soon, and he's my stepson, lega
In fact, the legal department of major enterprises covered many responsibilities, the chief of which concerned intellectual property, which was why veterans were needed to lead.Additionally, Charlie trusted Matilda's accomplishments in the legal field, especially since she had worked in the United States for years.With Curtis Autos' intended expansion worldwide, that meant the legal department should also know the laws of countries abroad, ready to file or respond to lawsuits at any time. After all, competitors may use the law to impede their growth, along with the government applying unfair policies to impede their development and impact on local businesses.Moreover, Charlie considered Paul young and therefore lacking in experience, not to mention that it was not likely he would abandon his family's law firm. As such, the ideal solution was to poach Matilda for now.As for Matilda, she was still in the dark and had no idea what she was in for, asking Charlie in confusion, "Lega