Looking at it this way, it was not easy to enter openly, and sneaking in wouldn’t be easy either. After all, there were security guards everywhere and surveillance cameras with no blind spots. Even if he snuck in, he might get caught. He could not just force his way up, right?The security guard, upon seeing that Charlie didn't seem like a malicious person who had ulterior motives, spoke up, “Young man, let me tell you, this place is just a tea plantation, and we also have basic tea processing here. The real leaders don't work here. If you really want to talk about a collaboration, go to the downtown area of Pu'er. There's a building called Violet Tower there, which is our headquarters. You need to make an appointment there first. If they arrange for you to visit this area, they'll notify us naturally.”Vera, feeling a bit down, gently tugged at Charlie's sleeve and said, “Why don't we go to Pu'er to talk to their group first?”Charlie also knew that it wouldn't be easy to get in
Violet Group was a well-known company in Yorkshire Hill, but because they were mainly involved in the tea industry, they weren't widely known outside the tea industry. Sophie had never even heard of Violet Group's name before. However, her style of doing things has always been efficient and direct, so she grabbed a pen and paper from her desk on the other end of the line and said, “Alright, Mr. Wade. How can I help you on my end?”Charlie said, “I hope you can negotiate with their boss on behalf of the Schulz Group. If they're curious about why a prestigious young lady like you from the Schulz family is interested in a tea company like theirs, just tell them that your grandfather in Madagascar loves their tea, so you plan to buy the company. In short, maintain a wealthy and capricious tone.”Sophie agreed without hesitation and said, “Okay, Mr. Wade. Please give me ten minutes. I'll grasp a rough understanding of the basic situation of this company first, and I'll then communicate
“Without going public, Gideon could only hold onto this business and its annual profit of tens of millions of dollars. What he actually gets in hand is just about tens of millions. His dream of going public and cashing in several hundred million seems hopeless.”Charlie was surprised by how quickly Sophie could summarize so much useful information in just 10 minutes. He greatly appreciated her business acumen, judgment, and skills.He asked Sophie, “Miss Schulz, from your perspective, how much should we offer to successfully acquire this company?”Sophie replied, “Mr. Wade, based on the information I've gathered so far, Gideon, their boss, publicly holds 57.6% of the shares, but when factoring in other equity structures and option holdings, the overall ownership should be around 78.5%, making him the unquestionable major shareholder. To successfully acquire Violet Group, as long as we can get Gideon's approval, it will be considered a success.”“Judging from Gideon's current income
At this moment, in Violet Tower in downtown Pu’er.The sixty-two-year-old Gideon had just finished hosting a distributor conference. As he still had to host a dinner for the distributors at the hotel in the evening, he could only take a brief rest in his office for now even though he was exhausted, then gather the strength to head to the banquet venue when the time came.Gideon felt somewhat depressed today. Over the recent years, distributors had become increasingly dominant in front of the group. In the past, it was the group that exerted pressure on the distributors, assessing their performance, forcing them to increase their inventory continuously and often withholding their year-end rebates for various reasons to make them work harder and be more obedient.But in recent years, with the rise of e-commerce, most traditional brands had lost this absolute advantage in front of distributors, especially in industries such as alcohol and tea, which were opaque fast-moving consumer goo
He believed that the prerequisite to making money was to first do a good job with the tea leaves so that the money earned could be justified. It was precisely because of this passion and reverence that he had never been able to find a real opportunity to get rich overnight.Those swindlers, on the other hand, were different. If they sold a batch of tea leaves for fifty dollars and possibly sold tens of thousands of batches of tea leaves in a day, they would easily make millions in profit overnight.Sometimes when Gideon saw these people making so much money, he would also lose confidence in the tea industry. He felt that most industries would form a situation where bad money drives out good. If he did want to become bad money himself, he would only be pushed out by it. Rather than letting that happen, it would be better for him to cash out as soon as possible.However, cashing out was not as simple as imagined. Take a bakery for example. The boss worked hard for a year, and although
Gideon, feeling frustrated, cursed, “In you young people's words, this year's Pu'er tea market is damn chaotic!”Gideon paused for a moment before he continued, “Damn it! Not only are the major traditional tea companies desperately lowering prices to undercut the market, but those emerging brands are also using marketing and pricing tactics to continuously attack the market space of our traditional tea companies. You say your tea is good, they say that the price of the same tea next door is half our price. You ask them to taste both teas, they say there's no difference in the taste. How can we deal with them?!”Wind was also extremely frustrated as he said, “More and more people are drinking tea now, but there aren't many who truly understand tea. They're all just following trends. They won’t be able to tell the difference between tea that costs a hundred dollars per kilogram or ten thousand dollars per kilogram.”Gideon nodded in agreement and sighed as he said, “What's worse is th
The secretary's words left both Gideon and his son, Wind, dumbfounded.They had naturally heard of Schulz Group's reputation. After all, the Schulz family was one of the strongest families in Oskia, and they were an absolute top-tier presence in the country.In contrast, although it was called a group, Violet Group hadn't even made it to the Growth Enterprise Market. Not to mention being listed in Yorkshire Hill, they could only barely be considered a well-known enterprise in Pu'er City.Even in their wildest dreams, they wouldn't dare to imagine being acquired by a top-notch family like the Schulz Group. After all, the difference in their status was too vast. The assets of Schulz Group were a thousand times greater than those of Violet Group.Therefore, Gideon had an incredulous expression as he asked his secretary, “Are you kidding me? Schulz Group wants to discuss an acquisition with us?”The secretary looked aggrieved as he said, “Chairman, how could I joke with you? She did s
The secretary had a bright idea and said, “Chairman, since you're in a bad mood, why don’t you have a video conference with them so you can give them a good scolding to vent your frustration?”Gideon, equally fed up, grinned and said, “Okay! Arrange the video conference, then! I swear I'm going to teach those scammers a lesson today!”The secretary immediately responded, “Please wait a moment, Chairman. I'll call them back right away!”With that said, he pulled out his phone and stepped outside.Wind stretched lazily and grumbled, “I've figured out the tricks of those scammers from Myanmar a long time ago. They either trick you into joining a Tencent or NetEase meeting and then control your computer remotely, or they will try to convince you to open some online financial platform, and they will then sneakily lend out money and transfer it away. Dad, mark my words, it's definitely one of these schemes.”Gideon snorted coldly and said, “I'm already pissed off. No matter what their t
Still, Jacob soon clenched his knuckles and pulled himself together. "It's fine—I'll just find another way of revenge. Whatever happens, if Raymond Cole dares to return to Aurous Hill, I'm not going to spare him. If I can't fight for my honor, how would I ever show my face in Antique Street ever again?"And without another word, he turned and left the dining room.Claire turned in exasperation toward Charlie then. "Please keep both eyes on my dad, dear. Don't let him cause trouble out there."Charlie nodded slightly. "Don't worry, I will."And with that, both of them cleaned up the dining room and stepped out together to find Jacob on the drawing room couch, sipping tea while watching TV.As for Elaine, she had a rare smile on her face as she sat beside Jacob, constantly refilling his cup.Then, seeing Claire and Charlie, she promptly beckoned, "Come, children—sit and have a taste of my tea."Claire and Charlie shared a look and sat down on the couch while Elaine poured them tea
Charlie, who hadn't spoken, had plenty of ideas in mind.He definitely didn't want to see Raymond humiliated in a rotten place like Aurous Hill's Antique Street—not when the man was a qualified hero, putting his life on the line to meet the Rothschild family and trade for the Four-Sided Treasure Tower.That was why Charlie's first thought was to call Don Albert and ask him to keep a close eye on Antique Street, preemptively killing the issue in the cradle before any saboteurs reached Raymond.However, Charlie also knew that Raymond would most likely refuse protection as the latter had seen action and was brave enough to fight the Rothschilds—and this was Aurous Hill they were talking about. He would be quite adept at resolving issues, especially one as simple as a handful of saboteurs.Hence, after some thought, Charlie decided to not get involved for now. Instead, he would watch quietly while letting Raymond deal with Aurous Hill's locals. As long as said locals—including Jacob—di
"What?!" Jacob exclaimed excitedly, suddenly on his feet. "That prick is really going to start a business in Aurous Hill? What, did he get sick of living the good life elsewhere?"In Jacob's mind, there were only two reasons why Raymond had returned to Aurous Hill.The first was that he had gotten so rich that he had come back to open a shop on Antique Street, to salvage some dignity after he had been fired from Vintage Deluxe. The other was the complete opposite—he had screwed up elsewhere too and had no choice but to return to Aurous Hill to make a living.If it was the former, he certainly wouldn't have hope for his revenge.But that was not the case if it was the latter!Meanwhile, Zachary replied, "Truth be told, I haven't seen the man in the flesh. But judging from my tip, he definitely wasn't doing well elsewhere, since the business he's planning now that he's back is quite modest."Jacob immediately laughed. "Hahaha! I see… He must have messed up out there and had no ch
Claire pursed her lips, grumbling, "Like you said, I won't tell Mom for the sake of peace. But you know very well that you shouldn't do that ever again!"Jacob nodded repeatedly as he promised. "Don't worry—I'll never do it again."As he finished, his phone rang on the table, and he looked down to see that it was Zacahary."That's weird," he murmured in surprise. "He's been hiding from me for the longest time, but he's calling me now?"Charlie was surprised too.After Zachary left Antique Street and started helping Don Albert's more unsavory business, he shouldn't have any reason to contact Jacob.So, why call him now?Jacob was confused too, but he ultimately answered the call.On the other end of the call, Zachary greeted him respectfully, "Mr. Wilson? It's me—Zachary. Do you still remember me?""Nonsense," Jacob snorted. "Why wouldn't I remember you after we've spoken so many times? I also couldn't reach out to you when I had all that good stuff before, but you're contactin
Meanwhile, at Thomson's First, the family of four was peacefully having dinner for the first time.While Charlie and Claire never argued, Jacob and Elaine were always either bickering or dissing each other, leaving the air around the table tense and awkward.But this time, neither of them argued, and they didn't seem to despise each other.The table was not just peaceful either—Elaine was a lot less bossy, even helping put food on Jacob's plate, having him try this and that, almost as if she was suddenly the best of wives.Jacob used to regard Elaine with disdain in every way, constantly lamenting how a great man like him didn't have a good wife.But with him being the way he was now, he utterly resigned to himself.It made sense that Matilda wouldn't be interested in him given his current state, and it was amazing that Elaine willingly stayed with him. That was why he no longer regarded Elaine with unconcealed disgust and disdain like before and was instead gentle and emotiona
Mick was left gritting his teeth. "Shit, that's true. It's going to be hard to pull the wool over Raymond's eyes—it has to be the best to actually trick him."Then, he sighed. "If there's someone who can do that, it'd be Zachary Evans! The man was a God back in the day!"The employee nodded. "Well, it's true that his replicas were impeccable… But the man has made it big time working for Don Albert, and we won't be able to ask for his help!"Mick shook his head. "No, it's fine. We're quite close—let me call him right now."With that, he whipped out his phone to make the call.While Zachary used to be humble in Mick's presence before, Zachary was now way above him on the pecking order.Afraid of being remotely disrespectful, he promptly greeted Zachary politely as soon as the latter answered, "Hello, Zachary! It's me, Mick Crane!" "Uh-huh," Zachary replied noncommittally before asking in curiosity, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"Ever since Zachary had started working for Don A
Raymond may have worked abroad for years and was a veteran in antiques, but he was still lacking when it came to reading between the lines.Taking Mick's words at face value, he promptly shook his head, "No, you really shouldn't. I wasn't planning to come back here to work, so you mustn't mention me to Ms. Moore either."And unlike Mick, he really meant what he said, while Mick was saying the complete opposite of what he was thinking.Naturally, Mick didn't believe Raymond, even presuming that Raymond was a liar like himself.The more Raymond said he didn't want to return to Vintage Deluxe, the more he thought he was.Hence, he asked despite knowing the answer, "Well, what are you planning to do now that you've returned to Aurous Hill?""It's been years of traveling for me, so I was just getting a little tired," Raymond admitted. "I'm planning to set up a small business in Aurous Hill, most likely here in Antique Street. That's why I'm visiting—do be neighborly when I set up shop
Meanwhile, Raymond had no idea that he was being targeted as soon as he returned to Antique Street.He had reached the middle where rows of three-floored buildings stood, the largest on the street, and where Vintage Deluxe was. It was not closed yet as tradition on Antique Street was for stalls to open in the morning and close in the afternoon. In comparison, shops opened later and closed later.With the difference of two to three hours, they could afford to have customers who had lower purchasing power or were just window shopping to stroll through the outdoor stalls. Then, when they were gone, customers with actual purchasing power would come on their own time.As Raymond arrived outside Vintage Deluxe, Mick just finished his meeting with his employees, summing up, "So, does anyone have anything to do tonight?"They all shook their heads, answering as one, "No!!!"Mick nodded. "If there's nothing else, stay back for overtime. Ask for some spicy crayfish and beer for dinner."
However, Raymond had accomplished the assignment Curtis had given him years ago, so he had no intention of staying at Aurous Hill and remained unrepentant despite Jasmine's pressure. That was why he could ask to resign without hesitation, even urging her to let him go despite the pain.That was why Mick was now worried that Raymond would return to reclaim his position as manager."Keep an eye on him for me," he told Trippy. "Tell me if anything comes up right away—I will make it worth your while.""Alright!" Trippy agreed to it. "Don't worry—I'll call right away if anything comes up."Once Trippy hung up, Mick gathered the handful of Vintage Deluxe employees.They were all his close allies he had groomed after he took over Vintage Deluxe. Even if Mick hadn't been succeeding in his business, he was succeeding in building his own forces. Anyone who didn't obey his orders had since been removed, and the remaining ones were basically his co-conspirators, embezzling a considerable am