Charlie nodded. “Just get some rest. Once you’ve recovered, you can then run the restaurant. If I need anything, I’ll be sure to find you.”Douglas exclaimed, “Whenever you need me!”Charlie then added, “Oh, by the way, don’t tell anyone about what happened today. I don’t want people to know who I am, understood?”Douglas nodded. “Understood. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to take this secret with me to the grave!”Charlie smiled. “I’ll have two caretakers to take care of you, just get some rest. I’ll be off.”Upon reaching home, Charlie didn’t plan on telling Claire about what had happened since he didn’t want her to know too much. It was safer if she didn’t know anything about his identity.The next day, as he was buying groceries, Charlie received a call. When he picked up the phone, he realized it was the daughter of the boss of Vintage Deluxe, Jasmine Moore.Confused, Charlie couldn’t help but wonder what Jasmine wanted from him.As the call went through, Jasmine spoke, “Mr. Wa
Jasmine had only told the truth. She really did think that the new chairman of Emgrand Group was a mysterious man.After all, he had been able to acquire a group that was worth over a hundred billion just because he wanted to. Moreover, he hadn’t shown his face at all throughout this process. It would seem that his net worth was much grander than that of Emgrand Group.In comparison, the Moore family would seem quite insignificant.However, she had not realized that the chairman of Emgrand Group was currently sitting in her passenger’s seat. Charlie, on the other hand, was a man who liked to keep things as low-profile as possible. Although he would dismissively respond to Jasmine, he never once revealed any information about his identity to her.In a fast but steady speed, they had arrived at a small garden near the river in just a few minutes. The garden was elegant and tranquil. On the outside, it seemed quite worn and crude, however, it was extremely grand on the inside. Fro
The fat man glanced at Travis before placing a simple wooden box onto the round table. Inside the box was a crimson red jade, seemingly an ancient treasure. As soon as the box was opened, everyone present felt as though the lobby had been filled with a hint of warm energy.Everyone’s eyes lit up.Jasmine turned to Quilt. “Uncle Quilt, what do you think?”Quilt stared at it and nodded. “I think it’s the real thing. It seems to be the Bloody Jade from the Zhou dynasty. It also appears to have been blessed by a very powerful monk!”Jasmine nodded and then turned to Charlie. “What do you think, Mr. Wade?”Charlie, on the other hand, scowled in disgust. “It’s a fake……” Quilt glowered at him. “You’re just a youngster, who gave you the right to lie through your teeth in front of this many people?” Matthew Gibson, the elderly man who was sitting next to Travis, opened his eyes and stared at the piece of jade. “May I hold it?”The fat man let out a cold laugh. “Mr. Gibson, are you kid
“Of course! Just speak your mind!” Quilt chuckled. “I would also like to see how you con artists lie to others!”Charlie shrugged. “I didn’t want to expose you guys, but if you insist, it would be rude for me to ignore you.”“Expose? So you’re saying that we have overlooked something?” The calm and collected Matthew Gibson laughed.Charlie took a glance at him and laughed. “He is the most idiotic one out of all of you…”“Do you have a death wish, you brat?” Matthew was infuriated.“The jade is real, don’t get me wrong.” Charlie then added, “But it’s not some bloody jade from the Zhou dynasty, nor was it blessed by a powerful monk. This is just a high-quality nephrite, but it is worth around fifty thousand maximum.”“Bullsh*t. Can’t you see that the jade is red in color!?” Quilt scowled.Charlie continued as if he had never been interrupted. “The red color of the jade is due to it being corrupted by potassium permanganate minerals. Did you really think that it was doused in the
Charlie was now furious. “Do you think you can get out of this by not talking, fatso? I’ll have you know, this is Aurous! Don’t you know that the people in this room are all just as powerful within this area? They can have you die in a ditch as long as they say so! I’d advise you to tell us the truth this instant, otherwise, you won’t even be able to save yourself!”Jasmine knew that Charlie was trying to manipulate him, hence, she put on a stern expression and played along. “The Moore family is fairly powerful. If anyone intends to scam any of us, we will surely teach him a good lesson. After all, if we were to spare them, our reputation in the public’s eyes would certainly be damaged!”The fat man was shocked to his core. He knew that the Moore’s indeed held extreme power in this area. If he were to piss Jasmine Moore off, he would surely die in Aurous!Panicking, he turned to Quilt in desperation. “Quilt, help me out! This isn’t what we agreed on!”Quilt’s facial expression chan
Jasmine had a very indifferent expression on her face as they sat in the car. For her, the fact that there was such a useless scumbag in her family was extremely frustrating. Moreover, what was even more vexing was the fact that Uncle Quilt had tried to set her up in front of so many outsiders.If he had fooled her into giving him the money today, Uncle Quilt would have escaped with all that money. Jasmine would have been really embarrassed if she had discovered the fact that she had been cheated only after losing a vast fortune that belonged to the Moore family!Fortunately, Charlie was present at that time and had saved her, helping her avoid losing her family fortune.Jasmine took out a bank card from the glove box in her car before she handed it over to Charlie. “Mr. Wade, there is about one million dollars in this card. The passcode is six ‘eights’. Please accept this as a form of my gratitude.”Jasmine could not help but sigh as she spoke. Why had Charlie chosen to join suc
Charlie felt completely helpless at this time. Jacob had just broken the Yuhuchun vase in the morning, and yet, as soon as he had stepped out of the house, the old man had actually taken advantage of his absence to sneak out and explore Antique Street again.That was just so typical of him. He would never learn from his mistakes.Jacob laughed as he asked them in a mysterious manner, “I meant that these celadon cups are worth more than half a million dollars! Why don’t you guess how much I bought them for?”Claire hesitated for a moment before replying, “Three hundred thousand dollars?”“No! Guess again!” Jacob replied as he waved his hand.“Two hundred thousand dollars?”“That’s not right either!”Charlie glanced at the pair of celadon cups in his father-in-law’s hand and he instantly knew that the cups were fake and only worth a few hundred dollars.Just then, Jacob smiled as he exclaimed excitedly, “Haha! I bought it for only three hundred dollars! Isn’t that amazing?”Clai
The next day was already the weekend.Jacob dragged Charlie out of the house and they drove to Antique Street early in the morning.The old man looked very refreshed and energetic, and upon stepping out of the car, Jacob waved his hand at Charlie as he said, “Come! Let me show you how you can pick up a good product!”After that, both of them started walking down Antique Street.Charlie had to walk quickly to keep up with Jacob. Regardless, he continued to look around him as he walked along the street.Since it was the weekend, there were a lot more people on Antique Street as compared to usual.Antique Street was very dense on both sides of the street as there were many vendors who came out to set up their stalls during the weekend, and so, the whole street was very packed.Many vendors simply placed a plastic sheet on the ground as they welcomed guests and customers to check out all the various kinds of antiques and jades placed on the ground.Charlie looked around casually an
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