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
Gideon also knew for sure that the other party was genuine. Judging from the other party’s temperament and the tone of their speech, it couldn't be fake. This made him feel a bit flattered and uneasy, and he became restless.When Sophie's secretary, Shenny, saw that he was silent for a while, she tried asking him, “Mr. Levatt, can you hear me speaking?”Only then did Gideon return to his senses and hastily said, “Yes, yes! You’re Miss Coop, right? Hello, it’s nice to meet you!”Shenny nodded gently and said with a smile, “Mr. Levatt, I won't beat around the bush. The reason we contacted you this time is that our chairman is interested in acquiring Violet Group. So, I want to inquire if you have any intention to sell your business, Mr. Levatt. If yes, we can start discussing the specific acquisition matters directly.”Gideon had long been hoping for a successor to take over his struggling business so he could cash out and retire peacefully. He never imagined that the country's top f
Gideon understood that the other party's worth, influence, background, and confidence far exceeded his own. So, although he felt a bit regretful, there wasn't any negative emotion to speak of.However, he was still curious and asked, “Miss Schulz, why would a big company like Schulz Group be interested in acquiring a small company like ours?”Sophie smiled and replied, “Mr. Levatt, there's no need to underestimate yourself. The size of a company isn't the only measure of its value. As for why Schulz Group wants to acquire Violet Group, to be honest, it's mainly because my grandfather enjoys Pu'er tea. With frequent safety issues in the food industry nowadays, as his granddaughter, I want to acquire a source company to ensure he can drink the safest Pu'er tea. Besides, it's not much money anyway, so it’s really just for peace of mind.”Gideon was dumbfounded after hearing this. He thought to himself, “Damn it, this is what real wealthy people do. They like Pu'er tea, so they just buy
Sophie’s words immediately caused Gideon to break out in a cold sweat. He did not doubt the authenticity of Sophie’s words because for him, he really could not think of any special significance that Violet Group would have for Sophie. In his opinion, if he missed the opportunity for Sophie’s acquisition, he might just end up working until he was seventy years old and then pass the business on to his son. Even Gideon himself did not know what his company would look like when he turned seventy. He had no idea whether the scale of the entire group and his entire family's industries would grow or shrink in a few years.However, one thing he was very clear about was that if he sold the company now and got five hundred million dollars in cash, after transferring the equity and deducting the tax calculated at 20%, he would still have five hundred and sixty million dollars left.These five hundred and sixty million dollars would be enough to ensure that he and his descendants could live
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
"Good." With a light nod, Charlie turned to Jiro and spoke up, "Jiro, I'll give you a chance to prove yourself." "Okay, Mr. Wade!" Jiro beamed excitedly. "Please tell me what to do! I promise I will do my best to serve you." Charlie smiled and said, "Once the ship is ready, you'll board it together with them. Your only task is to keep a close watch on them the entire time. Don't let them pull any tricks. If you succeed, you'll be a free man here. You'll get a basic monthly salary and can ask for anything you like within reason—so long as it's not contraband, it will be yours." Hearing this, Jiro was so thrilled that he trembled all over. His current treatment was already decent, but he was still only a semi-free man. He didn't dare casually set foot on the ground outside. If he could become a truly free man, he would be able to enjoy the sunlight outdoors freely. More importantly, from then on, he would have a salary. Although he couldn't personally go out shopping, having a sa
Julien had uncovered Charlie's true identity quite some time ago and investigated Charlie's background. He was well aware that Charlie had become the head of the Wade family and that the Acker family fully supported him. Although the outside world believed that Ten Thousand Armies had subdued the Wade family, Julien had witnessed Charlie's methods firsthand. Even the top two figures of the Rothschild family had been toyed with by Charlie, so how could Ten Thousand Armies possibly make him surrender? Thus, Julien deduced that Ten Thousand Armies was undoubtedly Charlie's covert tool. Considering the combined strength of the Wade family, the Acker family, and Charlie's personally cultivated forces, it was evident that Charlie even had the power to contend with the entire Rothschild family. Moreover, with the life-extending pill in his possession and the life of the Rothschild family head in his hands, Charlie's chances of prevailing in a confrontation against the Rothschilds were e