Jeremiah’s expression contorted into an annoyed sneer. “Previously, your maternal grandfather’s family was rather dissatisfied with the Wade family. When your mother married here, her natal family didn’t even bother to come. I’ve never met with any of your uncles before. But I did meet your second uncle, Kaeden Acker, in a summit in Sweden some years ago. I saw him from afar because he was on stage, and I happened to be off stage. I thought of getting close to him and paying him a visit, but he wasn’t willing to see me.”Charlie laughed. “It seems the Acker family has no respect for the Wade family at all.”Jeremiah laughed to himself. “He didn’t look up to me, true. At that time, he said that among everyone surnamed Wade, he’d only acknowledge you.”Jeremiah continued, “To think your eldest uncle came to participate in the auction. He even wanted to take the Rejuvenating Pill away. I wonder who he is planning to buy it for? Perhaps your maternal grandfather or grandmother?”“I’m n
For ordinary people, getting the contact information of a top tycoon like Jeremiah would be an impossibly difficult task.But it was not so for Christian, who was able to inquire Jeremiah’s contact information with ease.Very soon, he obtained Jeremiah’s cell number. He didn’t hesitate to call Jeremiah immediately.Jeremiah was chatting with Charlie when his cell phone rang. He picked it up, glanced at it, and saw that it was an American number. He frowned. “Charlie, I’m going to answer a call.”Charlie nodded and made an inviting gesture for Jeremiah to do so.Jeremiah picked up the call. “Hello, may I know who this is?”Christian, who was on the other end of the line, greeted with a smile, “Hello, Uncle Wade!” Jeremiah was momentarily stunned, puzzled by the speaker’s words. It was an unfamiliar phone number, and as soon as the call was connected, the person referred to him as Uncle Wade. Could it be a child of an old friend of his? In his surprise, he came to realize tha
This made him relax a lot and so, he said over the phone, “Uncle Wade, you’re right. Both of our families are relatives, but we haven’t had much contact with each other for so many years now. We should have more contact when we have the opportunity to do so in the future.”“Yes, yes, yes.” Jeremiah was also a witty old man and so, he naturally would not lose out to anyone when it came to putting on an act. So, he said very politely, “Christian, there must be a reason why you’re suddenly calling me on my cell phone. Since we are all family, you don’t have to be so shy, and you can just get to the point directly.”Christian smiled and said, “Uncle Wade, you’re really a very straightforward person! In that case, I will not be so formal with you.”After saying that, Christian then said again, “Uncle Wade, I heard that the Wade family also participated in the auction for the Rejuvenating Pill in Aurous Hill. I even heard that you were a VIP at the auction. Was there really such a thing?”
When Jeremiah saw that Christian was unwilling to reveal the purpose of buying the medicine, he followed Charlie’s previous instructions, and he casually made a promise to Christian first before using the delaying tactic on him.Christian also knew very well that Jeremiah had to be hiding something from him and so, he spoke up and said, “Uncle Wade, the Acker family will definitely not mistreat you if you can help with this matter!” As Christian spoke, he said again, “I heard that the Wade family lost a lot of money to Ten Thousand Armies some time ago. If the Acker family helps, it would not take long for you to make up for the loss!”Christian thought that he knew the mentality of the rich and powerful who had suddenly plummeted in value very well. In fact, they were no different from gamblers. As soon as there was a great fluctuation in assets, their mentality would also change greatly. The Wade family had lost half of their assets all at once, and as the head of the Wade fami
As Charlie spoke of this, he smiled faintly and said casually, “It doesn’t matter. Just let them be since they feel good about themselves.”Immediately after that, Charlie then said again, “By the way, Grandpa, I will be going to the United States in a couple of days, and I will not be back for a month or so. I will have to trouble you to take care of the Wade family’s affairs at that time.”Jeremiah asked curiously, “Charlie, why are you suddenly going to the United States? You’re not going to visit the Acker family, are you?”Charlie shook his head and smiled as he said, “Why would I? I’m accompanying Claire to attend a training.”Jeremiah nodded and said, “Okay. Don’t worry about the Wade family. As for your eldest uncle’s side, I wouldn’t rush to look for him, anyway. I definitely won’t go to see him either even if he wanted to find me.”“Okay.” Charlie stood up and said, “Grandpa, it’s getting late. You should rest early. I should also go home. When will you be going back to
Charlie waved his hand and said, “Jasmine, we are in a collaborative relationship, and we can each take what we need, benefit from each other, and grow together through our collaboration. So, you don’t need to keep thanking me.”Jasmine nodded slightly in gratitude before she hurriedly said, “By the way, Master Wade, the combined revenue for the Rejuvenating Pill and the amulets this time is 149.23 billion US dollars.”“However, from a financial point of view, there is no cost behind this revenue of more than 140 billion US dollars.”“If we do not have any cost, the 140 billion US dollars is basically net profit, and we will have to pay corporate income tax at 25%. How do you think this should be reasonably and legally coordinated? Can you include the raw materials for making the Rejuvenating Pill as well as the costs incurred in the production process?”Charlie laughed and said, “How much could the raw materials possibly cost? With a revenue of 149.23 billion US dollars, even thir
Although Charlie was not a native of Aurous Hill, he had long regarded Aurous Hill as his second hometown.He had lived in Aurous Hill for nearly twenty years, and now that he had some abilities, he really wanted to be able to do something for Aurous Hill.This was especially so for the orphans in Aurous Hill and surrounding cities. This orphanage and twelve-year school were a dream that Charlie wanted to work hard to realize.In fact, he often thought back to his life and all of his friends from the orphanage.He would often think of his former self, his younger sister, Stephanie, his good buddy, Harvey, and the irritating and annoying Joey as well as Max, whom Charlie had personally killed off because he had gone astray. Before Stephen had found him, everyone was actually not very promising.The biggest reason for this was because every one of them had not truly undergone or experienced very good higher education.Of course, neither the orphanage nor Stephen could be blamed
As Charlie spoke of this, he could not help but sigh as he said, “It’s just that she has already gone to Canada to live her good life now. I cannot bear to make her work hard again.”Jasmine thought about it and said, “Master Wade, the scale of your project is still very large. Even if we have no problem with the funding, it will take at least two or three years for the hardware to go from site selection to construction to completion and to acceptance. Since you intend to set up our own team to operate, I think we don’t need to be in a hurry to decide on the person-in-charge right now. We have plenty of time to decide everything slowly.”“That’s also true.” Charlie nodded and said, “You can get in touch with the city in regards to the plan first. We will strive for the completion of the site selection as soon as possible so that we can come up with the project design quickly!”“Okay.” Jasmine said, “I’ll go and get it sorted as soon as possible.”As Charlie thought of Mrs. Lewis, h
As Ian Cash's trio turned and left Treasure Measure, Trippy was still standing there, staring blankly as they headed off to the distance, utterly dispirited.Seeing that, Raymond returned his phone and said coolly, "We had agreed on some ground rules, but not only did you break them, you even tried to sabotage me.""Since you refuse to be honorable, you can't blame me for being cold—starting now, we shall have nothing to do with each other. We'll be strangers even if we bump into each other."Trippy was already choking, and he snatched his phone back before dashing out of Treasure Measure, calling Mick Crane as soon as he left.Mick had just arrived at Vintage Deluxe and hadn't even sat down when Trippy called, and he asked as soon as he answered, "How did it go? What did you find out?"However, Trippy was so exasperated he burst into tears right then, "M-Mr. Crane… My dear Mr. Crane…"Mick was left reeling from shock, and he promptly snapped, "Can't you fucking talk? Why are you
Seeing that the transaction was complete and that the bargain deal had been taken, the other collectors all excused themselves and left.As for Ian, once he had bagged the bronze sculpture, he nodded at Raymond. "I apologize for leaving early, Mr. Cole, but I must return to Eastcliff. However, you can contact me again should you pick up another treasure. I'm quite a spendthrift, and I pay up right away if the item is good and the price is right."Raymond smiled. "Very well. I shall contact you first the next time I get something good."Ian nodded and was ready to leave with his two friends when Trippy chased after them."Please, Mr. Cash!" He cried urgently, his anxiety overcoming him. "You shouldn't buy that! It's a forgery!"Ian frowned at him. "Are you trying to sabotage Mr. Cole? Aren't you supposed to be his friend?""Hell, no!" Trippy promptly replied. "I'm no friend of his—I'm just here to watch, but I didn't think he dared to trick you for 20 million! I can't bear to see
No one except Raymond expected that the terms would be agreed upon so quickly.He was utterly confident in his judgment and even more so in his value appraisal.He was convinced that once they had a good look, any one of these collectors who could afford twenty million wouldn't miss this bargain.After all, an opportunity to secure an item worth millions more than the price they paid was very rare.In fact, when the other nine collectors heard that the first collector was buying it, it was only to be expected even if it left them all gloomy. They had all held the bronze sculpture in their hands—they knew it was definitely worth that much.However, no one in the room was more shocked than Trippy.He looked utterly flabbergasted, his eyes wide and bulging as he stared at the bronze sculpture while asking himself the same question repeatedly.Was that crap really worth twenty million? How?!While Trippy was still stunned, Raymond had already sent his payment details to the first
Unable to nitpick on the air stewardess' response, Elaine pouted, "Well, try to ask management to improve on your first-class cabins anyway. Maybe even make a premium-class or something since it's not like we can't afford it."The air stewardess quickly said, "We will definitely relay your message to the management."Nodding in satisfaction, Elaine waved her off. "Alright. You can go back to work now."Clearly relieved, the air stewardess bowed her head respectfully. "Always happy to be of service."After the air stewardess left, Jacob asked Elaine in curiosity, "Was the private jet that good?"Elaine rolled her eyes. "Didn't you see the stuff I posted in the chat group?""Not really," Jacob blurted. Elaine was ready to snap at him for not caring, but considering that they had made up now and she shouldn't fuss too much over the little things, she snorted, "Just remember to like and comment on all my posts in the chat group, otherwise, I will make you regret it!""No problem!"
While the ten collectors were taking turns studying the bronze sculpture, Jacob and Elaine were boarding their flight.As they were flying first-class, they had priority over the other passengers and boarded from the separate plug door at the first-class section.The capacity of the Boeing 777 was huge, and the wide-body aircraft could be connected to a special double corridor bridge where first class and business class passengers boarded separately from the economy class passengers.As the terminals to economy class and business class were connected, Elaine and Jacob were able to get through the first-class terminal unimpeded, but the passengers in economy class had a queue of over two hundred passengers. Even as she walked, Elaine was looking over her shoulder and exclaiming at Jacob, "Must be nice being rich! We used to have to queue like the rest of them, waiting for over thirty minutes just to board our flight." "In first class, we may be in the same plane, but we don't hav
Meanwhile, once Raymond had briefed everyone about the rules, he opened the door and invited everyone into Treasure Measure.It was not that wide but appeared spacious since the interior was mostly empty—it was not really crowded even with thirty-ish people.Then, locking the door from the inside, Raymond told them, "I can tell from everyone's faces that we are all veterans here, so I'm sure you understand the rules while appraising: no photos or videos, thank you very much."Indeed, there were many rules that governed the hobby, the most important being respecting the seller's requests and privacy.As the collectors listened, they knew that Raymond was selling but did not want the public to know too much about him.They all nodded, and those who had their phones out slid them back into their pockets.With that, Raymond took out the bronze sculpture that he had brought, leaving Trippy a little surprised.He had never seen the bronze sculpture with his own eyes before, only from
"Alright!" Trippy was at once fawning, tagging along behind Raymond like a little child.Around thirty people were waiting in front of Treasure Measure by now. The collectors came in twos or threes, and all ten numbers had since been taken.Before Raymond arrived, he had a brief look at the collectors' faces through the security cameras before walking over, and he was really relieved to see no familiar faces.Having traded Oskian antiques for years abroad, it was only natural that he was acquainted with some of the elite collectors in the country.He also knew that they were especially demanding with the quality of their collection and wanted almost flawless items. As such, the bronze sculpture which had been completely lost wouldn't interest them.Still, he was also a little concerned that amongst the elite collectors he knew, there might be some who were losing money and losing purchasing power in turn. If they happened to take an interest in the bronze sculpture on top of that,
Trippy grinned. "I mean, just look at my stall—ain't no way I'm getting any business here. Why not let me check out this item of yours? And see how interested they are? I'm really interested in learning and upping my game."Then, as if worried that Raymond would refuse, he quickly added, "Don't worry—I promise to stay in a corner and just watch."Still, Raymond could guess right then that someone must have sent Trippy to spy on him.It didn't matter whether it was Mick, Jacob, or Zachary either—they were all in this plot together, and one knowing meant all three knowing.Trippy was a gossiper in nature. If he was allowed to witness the whole process, everyone down Antique Street would definitely know before long.In fact, he could use someone like that right now, and Trippy had come straight to his doorstep.With that in mind, Raymond smiled, "Come join me if you're interested. It's not like there's anything to hide…"Pausing, he then warned Trippy, "But since you're going in my
After watching Mick's video, Jasmine's opinion of the man improved considerably.She was actually well aware that the decline of Vintage Deluxe was mostly due to Mick's incompetence.However, as Jasmine was now managing a billion-dollar company, she couldn't spare any time to ask many questions about Vintage Deluxe's performance. In her opinion, as long as Vintage Deluxe didn't lose too much money or ruin the reputation they had worked so hard to build, she wasn't interested in a regime change.It was the same mindset as Marianne Long, who begged her father to keep that lane full of food stalls in Hong Kong over sentiment.As such, seeing that Mick actually had some skill pleased her considerably.She couldn't resist checking out the comments of the video too.She saw that many were praising the manager of Vintage Deluxe for taking a tough stand against the scammer as well as how Vintage Deluxe's reputation was long-standing and without comparison.She soon noticed Jacob's comme