Claire stopped refusing when Kathleen said that there was no time at all and the loss incurred by her company might exceed ten million US dollars daily. Kathleen reminded her again, “By the way, Claire, you don’t have to bring too much luggage with you. I have everything you need here, be it daily necessities or anything that you need for work. You can stay in my room at my house after you come here. You can use anything I have if you need anything, so you should pack lightly this time. The simpler, the better.”“Okay.”Claire did not dare to delay at all because Kathleen described her situation to be extremely urgent. She hung up the phone and returned to the bedroom with Charlie and started packing her luggage. Although Kathleen had already told Claire to travel light, Claire still packed all her necessary personal belongings as much as possible to avoid causing any trouble or inconvenience to Kathleen in the United States. Kathleen quickly made the arrangements for the busin
Charlie and Claire had already gotten up at dawn the next day. They got ready by six o’clock in the morning and drove to the airport before Jacob and Elaine woke up.This was Claire’s first time traveling so far alone in so many years after she and Charlie had gotten married. Although both of them were reluctant to say goodbye to each other, they knew that they could not avoid this temporary farewell. Charlie wanted to ensure Claire’s safety. He was certain that Kathleen would definitely be able to take good care of Claire if he sent Claire to her. Claire felt that she had to help Kathleen solve her urgent matter, so she could only be separated from her husband temporarily. As they were saying goodbye at the airport, Claire’s eyes were red, and she hugged Charlie gently as she murmured, “Honey, I don’t know how long I will be in the United States this time, so I will have to leave everything at home to you…”Charlie stroked her back and comforted her, “You don’t have to worry a
However, his heart which had been beating for one hundred and fifty-six years seemed to be beating at an infrequent speed for no reason. His heart would beat rapidly at moments and slowly at others, like a rollercoaster, which made him feel terrified. Mr. Chardon knew that this abnormal behavior was because he was nervous. Although he had never felt so nervous for so many years, he could still clearly remember that he would feel this way every now and then when he felt nervous in the past. This was a habit he had formed from his childhood to youth. Mr. Chardon could not help but recall his life-long journey. His childhood was during the miserable era of the war. He had never had enough to eat, had not had enough clothes to wear, and would always be surrounded by fierce and evil people. When he was young, the country was ineffective and in complete chaos. There were internal and external troubles, and the people were in dire straits. Mr. Chardon could not count the number of t
Although many religions have different worldviews, they all invariably mention one concept, and that was the Degenerate Age of Dharma. To put it in layman’s terms, these religions believe that the continuous development of human beings had gradually reduced the interaction between human beings and nature, heaven and earth, and the universe, thus widening the distance between human beings and God.According to Taoists, the world was originally full of Reiki, and humans could ascend to immortality as long as humans could master the method of absorbing and transforming Reiki. However, Reiki in nature was almost exhausted now, and humans had lost the possibility of ascending to immortality, so this was what they regarded as the Degenerate Age of Dharma. Regardless of whether this statement was true or false, the personal experience of those who had mastered Reiki was that there was no Reiki in nature. They could only use pills or special items containing Reiki if they wanted to obtain
Therefore, he said with an apologetic smile, “To be honest with you, it’s my first time here in Aurous Hill, so I’m not familiar with this place. I’m already old as well and my eyesight is not very good, so I’m a little confused.”After saying that, he took out a hundred-dollar bill from his pocket, handed it to Landon, and said, “Please accept this small token from me. If it’s convenient for you, can you tell me which mode of transportation I should choose so it’ll be faster?”Landon originally did not want to talk to the old man, but his attitude instantly changed as soon as he saw the other person taking out a hundred-dollar bill.He smiled and took the hundred-dollar bill from Mr. Chardon’s hand, then simply said, “The subway will definitely be the fastest, but it’s already past ten o’clock now and the morning rush hour has passed, so it will be fine even if you take a taxi to the city. It will only take you about half an hour, which will be faster than taking the subway. You mi
Landon’s eyes widened as soon as he saw the money. When he saw the other party handing a few hundred-dollar bills to him, he did not care to check how much money it was and quickly took the money from Mr. Chardon before he looked around with a sly expression on his face as he said to Mr. Chardon, “Old man, to tell you the truth, I can’t sell this ring even if I want to because it belongs to my boss. He asked me to wear it as a token to come and pick someone up at the airport.”“A token?” Mr. Chardon frowned slightly. It was not that he did not have any doubts as to why an ordinary person could possess a magical instrument. If this young man really had gotten it by chance, Mr. Chardon could be said to be extremely fortunate if he could buy the ring from him at a slightly higher price.However, this man said that this ring was a token given to him by others, which caused Mr. Chardon to feel a little wary. Therefore, he deliberately asked Landon, “Young man, what is the meaning of
“Yes!” Landon said without hesitation, “He has been in the antique business for twenty to thirty years now. He is definitely a swindler... no, I mean, he’s definitely proficient in antiques, calligraphy, and ancient paintings!”Mr. Chardon nodded, then took out a few more hundred-dollar bills and handed them over to Landon as he said with a smile, “Young man, I wonder if you can introduce your boss to me? I really want to get to know him.”Landon glanced at the old man and saw that the old man seemed to be very willing to offer him money, so he instantly had a plan in mind. He deliberately coughed twice before saying seriously, “Old man, you should know that there are rules in our industry as well. I don’t know who you are, so I can’t bring you to meet my boss just like that. If you’re working undercover and have targeted us, wouldn’t I be doomed for the rest of my life, then?”Mr. Chardon hurriedly said, “Oh, young man, you’ve really misunderstood me! Do I look like such a ruthless
While collecting money and praising Mr. Chardon, Landon did not forget to compliment him as he said, “Old man, it seems that you’re also an expert! Could it be that you were a tomb raider as well when you were young?”Landon basically meant that Mr. Chardon was possibly a tomb raider who had organized a tomb-robbing team and served as the core figure in this team.Mr. Chardon waved his hand and said with a smile, “I only know a little about antiques, but I don’t know anything about tomb robbing.”In fact, Mr. Chardon truly did not know much about tomb robbing. When he was young, he had once heard of some tomb raiders and tomb-robbing incidents, but the main point was that he had been practicing Taoism in the temple all year round, and he did not have any interest in tomb-robbing or cultural relics, so he frankly did not know much about tomb robbing. However, he had lived for a long time, and the amount of information he had actively or passively received was definitely much grea
Hearing Jacob's tone, Charlie could tell that Jacob must have already learned about Matilda's plans to marry Yolden. So, Charlie said, "I'm just around the corner. I'll head over now, and we can meet at the gate." Choking up, Jacob replied, "Alright, I won't drive then. I'll wait for you at the gate. Hurry!" "Okay," Charlie agreed, but after hanging up, he deliberately waited for a few minutes. It was because Yolden had just left moments ago to pick up Matilda at Senior University. If Charlie had gone there right now, all four of them could have run into each other at the gate, which would make things even more awkward. Charlie wasn't worried about feeling awkward himself—he was more concerned about Jacob being further hurt. After intentionally waiting a bit, Charlie finally drove to the university. Just as Charlie drove toward Senior University, Matilda was waiting for Yolden by the roadside at the entrance of Senior University. At this moment, Jacob stumbled out of th
Charlie asked, "There are too many new domestic energy brands now. Do you think they still have a shot in vehicle manufacturing?" "Of course," Yolden affirmed. "There are indeed many new energy brands now, and many of them are struggling on the edge of survival. A lot of them have already disappeared, but the automotive market is so vast, and new energy vehicles only account for a small portion of it, which proves that the future of new energy still has great potential. Now, if the focus is only on competing with other new energy brands, the scale is indeed a bit small. The scope should be broadened to compete with traditional gasoline vehicle manufacturers. If you can cut Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai's global sales in half, that would truly be a giant." Yolden paused for a moment, almost as if remembering something, and then said, "Actually, you could consider researching this field. You don't lack money or resources, and with Ito-Schulz Ocean Shipping Group as your logistics channe
When Jacob came to his senses, he was already in tears. The student presumed he was unwell and asked, "Mr. Wilson, do you want me to call your wife to pick you up?" Elaine's sarcastic face immediately popped up in his mind, and he trembled with fear. He quickly wiped away his tears and stammered, "D-don't bother... I... I just got something in my eyes..." The student obviously didn't believe him and asked worriedly, "Why don't you call your wife? Or I'll call a cab for you." "No, no." Jacob waved his hand and said, "I'll call my son-in-law to pick me up. He has just returned to Aurous Hill, so it shouldn't be a problem." After that, he quickly took out his phone and called Charlie. Just a few minutes ago, Charlie had left the cafe and was about to walk Yolden to his car. When he saw Yolden walking straight toward a domestic new energy vehicle, he asked curiously, "I don't think you were driving this model before, were you?" "I just bought it," Yolden replied with a smil
If Matilda still had feelings for Jacob, his nostalgic strategy would definitely have a strong impact. However, Matilda had already decided to move on, so Jacob's suggestion did not stir any emotions in her at all. With an apologetic smile, she said, "Sorry, Jacob, Yolden is downstairs waiting for me. We have something to discuss. How about another day? We can have dinner together, and I'll treat you." Jacob didn't expect the nostalgia strategy to fall flat. His original plan was to use nostalgia to get Matilda to go with him to eat near the school, then take the opportunity to revisit old places and subtly reignite their past memories. After all, revisiting old places was the best way to rekindle old feelings, no exceptions. It was like drinking the pasta water after cooking the pasta. However, he never imagined that Matilda's expression wouldn't change in the slightest. There was no shyness, no hesitation, no nervousness, and certainly no fluttering heart. She simply and
Matilda had been listening attentively before, but now, she was lowering her head, fiddling with her phone, and her expression even carried a hint of shyness and happiness, like that of a young girl. Jacob felt a pang of jealousy. While doing the presentation, he couldn't help but resentfully think to himself, "What has Matilda been chatting about with that Yolden guy? She's so happy..." At that moment, Matilda had just received a message from Yolden. In the message, Yolden informed her of the outcome of his conversation with Charlie and expressed his desire to have the wedding as soon as possible. Seeing how eager her beloved was to marry her, Matilda naturally felt very touched. At that moment, she had completely fallen into Yolden's love. For this man, who had a similar background, education, values, and even lifestyle to her own, she could find no fault with him. She felt that he was perfectly tailor-made for her by heaven itself, almost as if everything about him perfectly m
Charlie's worries were not unfounded. He had long known that Jacob had not completely given up on Matilda despite her relationship with Yolden. After returning from the cultural exchange in Korea, Jacob had been more dejected than ever before—something he hadn't even displayed when his family had gone bankrupt. If there was still a chance to salvage the relationship when one's beloved was merely dating someone else, their marriage was tantamount to a death sentence. Furthermore, considering the high intellectual backgrounds of Matilda and Yolden as well as their age and life experience, their decision to marry at this stage of life undoubtedly signaled their intention to build a long-term future together. This left Jacob with absolutely no chance at all. At this moment, Jacob was blissfully unaware of the devastating news and was busy conducting a calligraphy and painting workshop at Senior University. The so-called workshop was essentially a few slides showcasing classic
After that, Charlie asked with a bit of curiosity, "When did you and Matilda decide to get married?" Yolden smiled sheepishly and explained, "Remember when the city organized our cultural exchange trip to South Korea? I confessed to Matilda during that trip, and she accepted. After spending some time together, we both felt we were a great match. Considering our age, we didn't want to delay such an important decision any longer, so we decided to take the next step and build a family together." He continued, "Last month, we went to Lambonear for a few days. I bought a ring and proposed to her by the seaside, and she said yes. We also sought the opinion of our respective children—Autumn and Paul—and they were both very supportive. Both kids are exceptional and independent, so they urged us to have the wedding as soon as possible. I wanted to wait until you returned so I could check your schedule. For our wedding, we'd like to ask you to be our officiant." "What? Me as the officiant?
Charlie said without hesitation, "Sure. When is it convenient for you? Send me the address, and I'll go meet you." Charlie had always respected Yolden not only because he was a nice and talented man but also because he and his mother went way back and went to the same school. Yolden said hastily, "I've just come from Senior University. It's the weekend, and I don't have classes today. Why don't you send me the address and I'll meet you?" Charlie gave it some thought. It was a little past 3 p.m., so Yolden had likely already had lunch, and there were still a few hours until dinner. Inviting him to The Heaven Springs didn't seem ideal for a discussion. Considering that he had lived in the United States for many years and probably had a habit of having coffee in the afternoon, Charlie said, "How about this? There's a Starbucks not far south of the university. Let's meet there for a cup of coffee." "Perfect!" Yolden said with a smile. "I was just thinking you could give me an addre
On the way back to The Heaven Springs, Julien was in a much better mood than when he had arrived. Initially, he was filled with anxiety, unsure of what Charlie had planned. But now, everything had become clear. The troublesome matter of Salem and Edmund was no longer his concern. All he had to do was wait for the video from the ship to be released and then head back home. Charlie noticed his improved mood and smiled as he asked, "Julien, you've resolved the most critical matter right after landing in Aurous Hill. You must be feeling pretty happy, right?" Julien chuckled and said, "To be honest, before coming here, I was worried that I'd end up going back empty-handed and being secretly mocked by others. But now, it's different. Once your video is released, no one can blame me for not doing my job. If anything, they can only blame their family for missing their chance. After all, so much time has passed, and it's their fault Salem and Edmund were moved to the Middle East." As he