Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 21 Burning the IOU
John was actually of German descent, with a small nose and a pointed chin. According to traditional Chinese physiognomy, this thin face was not a good look. Fortunately, Wu Chengjian did not discriminate against this, so the two did not break up the last time they met. John bought a batch of tea and silk from Wu Chengjian on credit and returned to the United States. Now that he is back, he does not look rich at all, but even more destitute than before.
Although he tried his best to dress himself up, his old clothes still betrayed the true state of his wallet.
After the two met, John was very embarrassed and hesitant, speaking with his thick German accent and a very unstandard London accent. Wu Chengjian also spoke English, and to Guangzhou people his English sounded like a foreigner, but to British and American people his Chinese accent was obvious, so the two had a lot of difficulties in talking to each other.
But slowly Wu Chengjian figured it out: John didn't make a lot of money this time when he returned to the United States, but ruined his business. After losing his capital tried many ways to at least raise the money that Wu Chengjian owed him. Unexpectedly, the fickleness of human nature is not unique to China. After his downfall, many of his former friends distanced themselves from him, so that not only did he not raise money, but he was also looked down upon and scolded by many people. When he came to see Wu Chengjian this time, he had already made the worst plan, and he would accept whatever Wu Chengjian wanted to do to him.
The two of them bumped into each other and finally Wu Chengjian knew the whole story. Wu Chengjian did not get angry, but just said: "John, you are tired too, why don't you go to the guest room and rest for a while. We will talk later."
After Wu Qi sent him away, he came back and asked, "Is this foreign barbarian planning to default on his debt or to cheat people out of money?"
Wu Chengjian said, "If he refuses to pay, why would he come to our house? He can just kill him."
Wu Qi said: "Maybe he is lying."
Wu Chengjian said, "Let's talk about it after we check it out."
He hadn't been a director for a long time, but this matter involved foreign affairs, and it would not be appropriate to hand it over to the shopkeeper below - Wu Chengjian had always been ambitious about the American market. He had met many American businessmen in recent years. In his judgment, this German-descent was the most reliable one among them. Unexpectedly, the first business deal failed.
"Please ask Manager Yao to go to the foreigners and conduct a thorough investigation," said Wu Chengjian.
Wu Qi said: "Don't let Charlie's people investigate?"
Wu Chengjian said: "John was recommended by Charlie. It's not that I don't trust Charlie, but he has to avoid suspicion in this matter."
After Manager Yao joined Yihehang, Wu Chengjian initially only accepted him to a limited extent, but as his loyalty and ability gradually manifested, Wu Chengjian's trust in him gradually increased. In terms of the degree of trust, he could never replace Ou Jiafu, but his ability was better than Ou Jiafu, so after two years, Wu Chengjian valued him more and more, and now he is like his right-hand man.
He was efficient and reliable, and soon used his connections in the foreign circles to find out the whole story of John's business failure. He then went to Shanggong Garden and reported the whole matter to Wu Chengjian.
Wu Chengjian removed many details and grasped two points: first, he knew that John was indeed not cheating, but his business was ruined; second, he knew that John's business failure was not caused by bad business habits, such as spending money lavishly. He asked some more details, removing the dross and retaining the truth, and finally nodded and said, "Okay."
Manager Yao said, "This is what happened. How does Haoguan plan to deal with it?"
Wu Chengjian asked: "What do you think?"
Manager Yao said, "Our government does not deal with foreign affairs. If we want to file a complaint with the United States, it's thousands of miles away..."
Wu Chengjian said: "So what if he sued? Does he have much property in the United States?"
Shopkeeper Yao said, "It's hard to say." After all, he only knew about this matter from the European and American circles in China, and it was impossible for him to be sure whether John still had any business in the United States. In this era, it was almost impossible for a Chinese to investigate the affairs of the United States, which was far away on the other side of the ocean.
Wu Chengjian said, "Even if he still has some property, it's another matter if he can win the lawsuit after traveling 20,000 miles to the United States. The cost and energy involved are huge, and it's not worth it. Even if he wins the lawsuit, what if he doesn't have any money? Send him to prison or to the gallows? That's just to vent your anger. If you want to vent your anger, just have someone sink him into the Lingding Ocean. Why bother?"
Wu Qi smiled and said, "Shen Lingdingyang is good. Let's ask Mr. Liu San to do it. Just tie a stone and throw it into the sea."
Wu Chengjian glared at Wu Qi, and Wu Qi quickly shut up.
Wu Chengjian said: "What means do I have? This John may have heard something from others. He is honest enough to come to my house. And I don't think his shame is fake..."
Manager Yao said, "Does Hao Guan intend to let him go just like that? That's 70,000 or 80,000 taels of silver!"
Wu Chengjian said, "How can there be 70,000 or 80,000 taels of silver? Others may not know, but you don't know? John bought the goods half on credit and half at the foreign company's price. If we calculate it based on our cost price, we didn't lose money, in fact, we even made a small profit."
"You can't calculate it that way." Manager Yao said, "The prices of foreign companies are not false prices. They are real gold and silver, and the prices are recognized by the whole world. They bought the goods at this price, and when they arrived in foreign countries, the price would be doubled, or even several times higher ."
"I know." Wu Chengjian said, "I just want to say that we can afford the loss, so let's leave it at that."
Manager Yao did not object anymore. He suddenly looked at Wu Chengjian and said, "Hao Guan, you are fine."
"Huh?" Wu Chengjian was a little surprised by what Manager Yao said.
Manager Yao said, "You have been in a daze since Master Zhou disappeared. Today, after listening to what you said, I felt that you have regained your composure. Based on this alone, the arrival of this John is a good thing."
When Wu Chengjian heard him mention Zhou Yijin, worry flashed across his brows and he sighed deeply: "I don't know where he is or how he is doing now..."
Wu Garden has now been completed, and even the guest rooms are beautifully decorated, and the guests are treated to delicious wine and food, but John is restless and has no intention of enjoying the food.
Until he was called to Shanggong Garden by Wu Chengjian again and saw Wu Chengjian taking the contract from Chunrui, he had already made the worst plan and lowered his head.
Unexpectedly, the next step was that Wu Chengjian actually lit a fire and burned the contract in front of John.
This time, John was shocked!
"Hao...Hao Guan!"
Then Wu Chengjian said, "John, you are honest and trustworthy. This business failure is just bad luck. You are my number one 'old friend' in the United States. We Cantonese treat old friends not only for money. Now that this contract has been burned, you have no burden. I hope you can go into battle lightly and continue to do business after learning from this experience. I believe that the money we earn from cooperation in the future will be ten or a hundred times more than the loss this time!"
John basically understood what Wu Chengjian said, even though a few words were a little vague. However, he could still grasp Wu Chengjian's meaning from the paper that was gradually burning to ashes.
"Hao Guan, Hao Guan!" John almost came up to hug Wu Chengjian, but then he remembered that Chinese people were not very accustomed to this kind of physical contact, so he held back and said with his arms open, "I will! I will!"
He made the promise in English with a German accent. Wu Chengjian didn't quite understand the promise, but he knew very well what the American businessman meant by it.
John felt the burden on his back lighten when Wu Chengjian burned the contract he owed. He regrouped and became active again. When the merchants in the Huayi business circle heard about this, many people thought Wu Chengjian was stupid and that he was suffering from the second-generation rich problem again.
When Cai Qiaozhu heard these gossips, she felt very complicated. She thought that after the master passed away, Wu Chengjian would lose the last layer of supervision, and he should not really go astray again. Thinking of the past six months when he did not take care of things at all, and almost causing big troubles several times, Cai Qiaozhu felt a little depressed, but now was different from the past. She could no longer ask about Wu Chengjian's affairs .
"Well, wait until we move to Henan, and find a chance to ask and persuade him again."
Seven days after Wu Guoying's death, Cai Qiaozhu finally moved into the Wu family home.
Having lived in Xiguan for so long, her son was born here, her husband died here, she had actually long been accustomed to the environment of the old house. But since she had promised her father-in-law in front of relatives and friends, she couldn't go back on her word, so she packed up her things and moved to Henan with Guang'er.
Ye Youyu had already had Lirong Courtyard cleaned up. This was not the first time Cai Qiaozhu lived here, so she was not unfamiliar with the place. After moving everything in, everything was ready. Guang'er arrived at the new home and went out to play happily. Ye Youyu chatted with Cai Qiaozhu for a long time before returning to Ritian Residence.
Cai Qiaozhu walked in the yard, looking here and there. Everything in this Lirong Courtyard was arranged by Wu Chengjian according to her preferences. Logically, everything was to her liking. If Wu Chengjun were still alive, the family would definitely be extremely happy to move in. But things and people have changed. Her husband has passed away, and Wu Chengjian, who is in charge of the family, can no longer joke with her like a big child in the past. After she moved into this Lirong Courtyard, she suddenly felt lonely and sad everywhere.
Only when she looked at the light by the pond did she feel relieved - no matter what, her son was still there.
At this moment, this has become her greatest spiritual support.
"Mom, mom, come and see, the fish here are so big!"
Lirongyuan not only has a pear tree that is bigger than the one in the right courtyard of the old house, but also has a large fish pond that definitely cannot fit in the old house. Since the fish pond is big, the goldfish in it will naturally be big as well.
A silly girl beside the pond said, "There was a bigger one, this long and this big."
Guang'er cried out, "Where is it? Where is it?"
The silly girl said, "Uncle Dacheng asked someone to catch some fish and keep them in Ritianju. Master Yao also likes fish."
Guang'er shouted, "Yao'er is so young, what does he know?"
The silly girl said, "Mr. Yao is still young, but he smiles when he sees a big goldfish, so Uncle Dacheng asked people to look for big goldfish all over Wu Garden. The one in our yard is the biggest, so we caught it."
Although Guang'er was a few years older, he still had the temper of a child. It would have been fine if he didn't know there was a "biggest" one, but now that he knew, he was thinking about it and shouted, "No, since it was raised here, it's mine, I'm going to take it back!"
When Cai Qiaozhu wanted to call him, her son had already slipped away.
