Seeing that their flight was being slowly towed toward the runway, Elaine quickly urged Jacob, "If you're calling him, do it right now! They're towing our plane to the runway, and we won't be able to call him once we take off!""Right!" Jacob exclaimed excitedly. "I'll call him right now—if he doesn't get it done, I'll tell Charlie to destroy him! He's Don Albert's henchman, and even Don Albert sucks up to Charlie. That would definitely pressure him enough!""Okay! Elaine nodded, excited too. "Then call him right now, or we might never find the buyer again!""Yeah!" Jacob promptly whipped out his phone and called Zachary.Meanwhile, Zachary had presumed that Jacob wouldn't find out before his flight took off, so he was immediately nervous when Jacob called him.His nerves aside, he was afraid to not answer at all.Who knew why Jacob was calling. It could just be a false alarm.Hence, as he answered, he feigned calmness and asked, "Hello again, Mr. President! Shouldn't your fli
Zachary's voice was choking with tears. "Please, don't just see how much it actually is—the problem is that we're just amateurs and sold that bronze sculpture as a forgery. That's something we can't change…"Jacob remained brazenly stubborn. "Don't give me that crap—that's not what I'm talking about. All I ask is for you to get that bronze sculpture back. I'll send you the 300 thousand later, and I don't care about anything else. Get it done, or I'm talking to Charlie. I'll even confess that I was up to no good, but I want it back! Hell, it's not like Charlie would do anything to me even if he finds out!"Zachary really burst into tears right then, sobbing, "Please, you can't do this! Master Wade won't punish you, but he will punish me! I'm where I am today only because he put a good word in with Don Albert for me… if he knew what we were up to such treachery and flips, I'm screwed!""What treachery?!" Jacob demanded, furious. "How is this treachery?! You came up with the plan, didn
Zachary felt like the world was falling apart around him after Jacob hung up, and he regretted endlessly that he even had anything to do with Jacob.While he knew all along that Jacob was painfully mediocre and awfully vain, just the thought that Jacob's son-in-law was Charlie Wade still made Zachary eager to fawn over him.He thought that like the average person, even if they didn't feed a dog that wags its tail at them, they could at least give the dog a pat on the head. Even if they didn't feel like it, they could at least not take away the dog's food and then kick it twice.Zachary certainly didn't know that Jacob was exactly that—immoral, unconscientious, and unprincipled.But even as he regretted everything, it was too late now. He had to at least manage a solution before Jacob landed.It was do or die anyway, so he called Bill and instructed, "Find someone older than you with a really mean look to pretend to be your brother. Then, send him to Raymond and demand that bronze
Pausing, Raymond then continued, "I even told him that he could leave the bronze sculpture with me as a consignment, and I would only be eligible for a ten percent commission.""He refused to take that offer, so I offered yet again a 50-50 investment, where he would still get half of what I make after I sell the bronze sculpture. He refused me again anyway, and he was set on the three hundred grand, take it or leave it. There's security footage that proves it too, so how could I have defrauded him?"Then, seeing that there were plenty of others around them, he smiled, "Since you're here, I shall invite the public to be my witness as I show everyone the security footage I have. I will ask everyone to be the judge and decide if I've deceived his so-called brother!"Bob's heart skipped a beat at Raymond's words, but he was afraid to retreat right then, so he braced himself and snapped, "No, that's not necessary! You bought the bronze sculpture, so you return it this instant! I will ret
Pausing, Raymond continued, "To prove that the will is legally binding, a public notary needs to be present and ideally certifying said will—otherwise, you'd just be talking out of your ass.""In the case of the latter, that means the bronze sculpture belongs to your father—not you. And because you can't produce a legally binding will, it's by law that you and your brother share half the right of inheritance to that bronze sculpture… or less, should you have more living siblings or if your mother is alive.""However, since your brother has the right of inheritance, selling that bronze sculpture to me is legal. You can sue him in court and request the court make him compensate you for your loss. Therefore, what you should be doing now is filing a lawsuit against your brother, sorting out the inheritance issue instead of coming to me."Bob was left speechless, and even Zachary was stunned, unable to find the right retort.Seeing that Bob was hesitant and constantly fiddling with his
Pausing, Raymond then finished, "And last but not least, the origin of the bronze sculpture itself must be investigated to see if it was the work of some syndicate specializing in forgery!"With those words, Bob was left pale, trembling, and sweating buckets.Even Zachary could feel his soul leaving himself as he watched in secret.He really didn't expect Raymond to be that sharp, dissecting the entire plot and finding the fatal flaw directly.To prove that the bronze sculpture was stolen, Bob must first prove that he was Bill's biological brother—which he certainly wasn't.In fact, Bill only had two sisters… and worst of all, his father was still alive.As such, once the cops were involved and they investigated Bill's family, Bill's lies would be exposed.Naturally, he had the sink or swim method of having Bill admit he had stolen that bronze sculpture from a stranger's house and had a friend impersonate the lost owner. However, that still meant Bill was screwed because he wo
At that point, Zachary had completely acknowledged the fact that he had lost.As he understood that he was no match for Raymond, he knew he would get into more trouble if he kept trying to screw with him.That was why he knew all too well that if he wanted to resolve this crisis, Jacob was the only solution.All he could do now was to come up with some way to make Jacob recognize reality as there really was no other choice.As such, he waited for Jacob to land in Dubai, and he would then call Jacob and start begging.If push comes to shove, he'd just have to give Jacob all the money he had and consider it a painful lesson.-At the same time, word of Raymond's feat was circulating throughout Aurous Hill's Antique Street.Initially, many presumed that Raymond had been hiding the true value of the bronze sculpture when he bought it, but the video proved that he had unshakable character and business ethics.The security footage alone proved that there was no one else as ethical a
[Mick Crane is simply amazing—he has no skill to speak off, but he has the audacity to take on the position of manager in Vintage Deluxe? Aren't they scraping the bottom here? Hell, I can be their manager and I'd still be better!][If I were Mick, I'd be gone by now. I'd never dare show my face around Aurous Hill's Antique Street any more!]Meanwhile, Mick, who was self-aware enough to know that he had really embarrassed himself, was hiding himself in his office and refusing all visitors.He was pacing back and forth so anxiously that he was thinning his shoe soles—he had no idea what to do, just as he was embarrassed, worried and furious.It went without saying why he was embarrassed—he felt worse than if he had to take a dump by the road.As for his worry, it was for his future—he wouldn't be able to keep his job once Jasmine Moore found out about this.He certainly believed that this was all Zachary's fault—if it wasn't for the man's rotten idea, would he even be cornered into
Neither Charlie nor the Ackers expected Yolden's insight to cover all corners.In fact, it felt like the man had a blueprint ready and was only waiting for the time to put it to use.That was why everyone was immensely approving of Yolden and wanted no other man for the job of CEO.Kaeden smiled, "Well, since everyone has agreed, let's put this to rest as soon as possible—this will be a joint investment between our family and the Wades, and Professor Hart will take the post of CEO. Let's all do our best to make this a good one!"Yolden also made up his mind, deciding that he didn't want to let slip a chance to realize his ambitions. "I'll resign from the university after my honeymoon trip. It probably shouldn't be long, and I can get involved in early preparations via teleconference."Charlie nodded. "Then, we can have Uncle Kaeden stay on schedule while I'll ask the Wades to send a representative over to sign a memorandum for the investment."Keith smiled and nodded. "You should
Charlie hadn't been born and raised in Aurous Hill, but he still started living here at the age of eight and was more attached to this place than Eastcliff.If he was going to take part in this automotive investment with the Ackers, he naturally found Aurous Hill the ideal location.Not only would it create a huge number of jobs for Aurous Hill, but it would also rake in much economic flow for the region.Yolden also nodded at his suggestion. "If the first plant is meant to cover the demand of the entire local market, there's no reason for a coastal plant. Aurous Hill stands at an intersection between the north and the south, so transportation is convenient. It's also killing two birds with one stone, as Mr. Wade is fond of the city."Charlie couldn't help but agree. "I won't lie—Aurous Hill has been good to me, and I hope to give back. Nothing's better than succeeding in that respect."Yolden spread his hands, "Heavy industries are certainly ideal to contribute to Aurous Hill's e
Yolden had actually been researching new energy for a while—in fact, it was when Tesla's first car models were produced.He was passionate about the subject and had his own opinions as well as ambitions, but he was busy teaching, so he couldn't realize any of it.But was this not a golden opportunity tailor-made for him?Seeing that Yolden was clearly interested, Charlie turned toward Kaeden, "Actually, the professor is getting married soon. There's no way we'd split up newlyweds so soon after the wedding, right? So, is it possible to set up base in Aurous Hill instead?""Not a problem!" Kaeden replied without hesitation. "Our family is planning to return to Oskia anyway, and everyone knows about Ashley and Curtis. So, why don't we invest in this enterprise alongside the Wades and have the base set up in Aurous Hill? And then bring Godot under as a subsidiary?"Turning to Yolden, he continued, "By the way, Godot's plant is already in the province—barely 100 miles from Aurous Hill,
Pausing, Yolden continued, "Moreover, the greatest advantage of AI is that it is self-conscious and has the processing power to analyze astronomical proportions of data. As car sales grow, every car owner's driving data will add precious new data to our data vault, and it will be processed by AI for even greater space of imagination."For example, kst's say I experienced a bumpiness along a certain road, and when the sensors pick up on that anomaly, the data will be uploaded to the servers along with images of the road condition in real time. The processing AI module would determine in no time at all that there was damage and label said location on the map, and then forward the data to other vehicles close to that location, sending notifications when they are close enough and providing the appropriate advice for countermeasures."Naturally, the AI can even be refined further so that it immediately warns us to slow down while uploading the data to the servers and informing any cars cl
Yolden's mind short-circuited at those words. "The most advanced AI module?!"He had been working on Wall Street for years, having invested in substantial startup tech companies as well as assisting plenty of Nasdaq tech enterprises with their IPO. That was why he especially had a sharp six sense for cutting-edge technology.It had been a while since he had gotten up the saddle, and AI had just become the trend recently, but he still paid close attention. He was well aware what applications were possible for AI modules, but he was shocked that Charlie already possessed what all the online giants were coveting!Thrilled, he quickly asked Charlie, "Can the Rothschilds resolve all the hardware and software issues? High-processing power display cards are a dime a dozen these days, and local enterprises are all planning to sell them one by one. The demand is just that high!"Charlie chuckled. "Don't worry—the Rothschilds will handle both issues for me, even the data centers. We bought i
Keith, who had been silent throughout, waved him off as he said solemnly, "Please don't sell yourself short, Professor Hart. I'm sure you can do well in this position, but it's still a matter of will."If your heart is truly set on educating future generations, then I'm sure you'd reject our offer no matter what we say."However, if you felt the slightest interest, even anticipation, for such a major project, then you really should consider our offer."We've already invested in Godot Autos for 3 billion USD and over 10 billion if we're counting in Ricebolt. But we still have 30 billion more in capital available—and that means it's 40 billion USD at play."I doubt any other global car maker can afford that much, let alone a new car maker. So, I dare say that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"Keith's words spoke to Yolden's very soul—a startup capital of forty billion US dollars was certainly unprecedented for electric-powered vehicles. Even Ricebolt had barely garnered ove
Charlie smiled. "Who, me? You'd laugh at me, but it was only after Steven found me that I learned to drive. I never bought my own car either and only had the two supercars gifted to me, and I only drove those a handful of times at best. Even now, I'm driving the BMW 5-series I bought for my father-in-law."Then, he remembered Marianne Long and said, "I did drive a friend's Tesla back to Hong Kong, but it was only for a short time, and I didn't manage to look into their so-called assisted driving system."Yolden thought about it and smiled, "But y'know… how would I describe the car, specifically? Have you heard of Mario Balotelli, the soccer player?"Every man present aside from Keith nodded—Mario had been a philosopher on the soccer field, and even those who didn't watch soccer were familiar with his name.Nodding, Yolden continued, "The way I see it, Mario has been a player with top-class hardware but third-rate software. Give him Messi or Ronaldinho's intelligence, and he'd be a
Kaeden then asked, "Well, professor, how do you suppose we overtake the competition at turning points? Or indeed, what qualifies as succeeding in that respect?"Yolden thought about it, formulating his words before explaining, "My personal understanding of the matter isn't simply to aim for turning points. Instead, it's things like staying on the inner lane of the race track and reaching the finish line faster by going where no other race car had gone before—or indeed where people never thought to go before."That's the case for new energy cars. Our fossil fuel energies have constantly lost to other countries and would always come up short. But with new energy cars, we can change the rules altogether."We can't catch up to their engine tech? Then we won't—there's no way they are masters in electric-powered engines, are they? They've spent decades on internal combustion engines and haven't the first clue about electric-powered engines."So, while everyone hasn't turned all their foc
The Ackers were really interested in Yolden's perspective.For their family, investing in the new energy automotive industry wasn't meant to make money—they simply intended to add to Oskia's strength as a manufacturer.But with Yolden's input, they had new things to look forward to.If they really could propel their business to giants like Tesla, opportunities and profits would go without saying—there was also no question that it supported and improved Oskia's local car industry and manufacturing sector.Giants in the manufacturing sector were different from online giants, as the latter often enforced a stranglehold monopoly. Before they had the monopoly, they would be offering perks and subsidies to the market, and when they gained sufficient customers and consumer faith, they would start choking the market for profits.To put it in perspective, a five-mile Uber ride would cost five bucks before, and the driver would be paid ten for it. But after Uber got the monopoly, the rider