Chapter 3

Time flies like a white horse passing through a gap; before he knew it, four years had passed. In 1933, the old society had many strange things, but there were still no new anime series or video games, and even the comic books were utterly uninteresting. This made Zhao Jian, who had been a hardcore otaku for over 12 years, quite bored for a while, but he gradually adapted. Besides, he had a beautiful maid named Hongling by his side, and he found teasing her much more entertaining than playing games!

A week ago, the final exams at the elementary school ended, and Zhao Jian, along with many other children, welcomed the much-anticipated summer vacation. The feeling of "letting the horses graze on the southern hills" made Zhao Jian relive the joy of his childhood.

When Zhao Jian's father was still alive, he had his son recognize a man named Liang Guoxiong as his godfather. Liang Guoxiong was Zhao Teng's classmate at the military academy and later his comrade in the navy.

Specializing in "amphibious landings," Liang Guoxiong was originally a battalion commander in the Marine Corps. However, he injured his leg during an exercise and had to step down to a secondary position, becoming the commander of the local garrison in Qingdao, where the Zhao family lived.

Liang Guoxiong, who had no children of his own, treated Zhao Jian as if he were his own son. Even after Zhao Teng's death, their relationship remained strong. As soon as the summer vacation began, Zhao Jian started visiting him frequently. Liang Guoxiong knew the boy wanted to play with guns, so he let Zhao Jian use the firearms at the shooting range to his heart's content.

One day, after satisfying his gun cravings at Liang Guoxiong's place, Zhao Jian returned home. Although his shoulders still ached a bit, the feeling of shooting was exhilarating. Additionally, Liang Guoxiong told him that their unit would be getting new equipment by the end of the month, which meant new guns to play with!

On his way home, Zhao Jian didn't take a car but walked with Hongling and Wangcai. Although the painful memories of his past life made Zhao Jian hate bodybuilding and muscles, he didn't become a "pretty boy" as a result. He still exercised regularly, ensuring he had abs, but he avoided looking like a bodybuilder!

As soon as he entered the house, Zhao Jian noticed a man with glasses standing in the living room. The man, named Liu Qingyang, was one of the accountants for their tea business. On the coffee table was a thick stack of account books. Out of curiosity, Zhao Jian walked over and picked up one of the books to flip through it, only to be stunned by what he saw.

Although Zhao Jian wasn't an accounting major, he could understand basic financial statements. Since he usually read from left to right, he immediately saw the summary for the first half of the year. He discovered that the income for the first half of 1933 was less than a fraction of the expenses. At this rate, it wouldn't take long before he became a negative asset!

"Explain! What's going on here!?"

Concerned about his family's business, Zhao Jian, a 12-year-old boy, sternly questioned the man with glasses, who was at least in his 30s, leaving him speechless.

"Master, I... This isn't my fault!"

"Then whose fault is it? Bring that guy here, I want to fire him!"

"Fire, fire?"

Although Liu Qingyang didn't understand the term "fire," he knew it wasn't a good thing.

The commotion in the living room quickly drew the attention of Qin Heng, the old butler. Zhao Jian slapped the account book and showed the terrifying deficit to Qin Heng, whose face immediately twitched. He then turned to the man with glasses.

"Qingyang, how could this happen?"

"Uncle Qin, it's not convenient to talk here. Can we go inside?"

Understanding the situation, Qin Heng led the accountant and Zhao Jian to the study. Normally, a 12-year-old shouldn't be involved in such discussions, but as the legitimate heir of the Zhao family, and since Zhao Jian already knew about it, it was better to let him participate. It would be beneficial for him to get involved in family affairs early.

In the study, the accountant Liu Qingyang recounted the entire process of how he obtained the account books to Qin Heng and Zhao Jian. He had discovered them accidentally in the chief manager's drawer and decided to report his superior's concealment. Not only did he get the account books, but he also conducted a private investigation.

The Zhao family's tea business mainly exported to overseas markets, earning money from foreigners. However, since the death of Zhao Jian's parents four years ago, the business had been declining year by year. There were issues with management and competition from other tea merchants, but they managed to get by. Then, in the first half of the year, a "disaster" struck...

First, their long-term customers suddenly changed their minds, and a previously unknown company offered to "take over." The chief manager, eager to find a new sales channel, readily sold the inventory to them. However, the batch of tea disappeared at sea, and the company vanished without a trace.

Believing they had been scammed, the chief manager reported the incident to the police. Soon after, the Zhao family received a lawsuit from France, claiming that a batch of tea they had sent to Paris was counterfeit and had caused hundreds of poisoning cases, demanding 25 million francs in compensation. All the evidence was extremely unfavorable to them!

In 1933, when money was still valuable, the purchasing power of the same denomination of currency was far greater than in later years. For example, the price of gold in 1934 was 35 dollars per ounce, while in the 2000s, it was about 20 times that. Although the Zhao family was wealthy, 25 million francs was not a small amount.

That night, Zhao Jian couldn't sleep. He had thought he had been reborn as a wealthy young master, living a carefree life, but reality had slapped him hard. The 25 million francs in compensation meant a shortfall of at least 5 million. He could either borrow money or sell the tea plantation.

The tea plantation was absolutely non-negotiable, so the only option was to borrow money. Over the next three days, Zhao Jian visited over a dozen "old friends," but only one lent him 20,000 Tang coins. The others either refused to see him or gave him some snacks and candy, and some even tried to take advantage of the situation by offering to buy the tea plantation, which infuriated Zhao Jian.

"I'll never trust those damn old friends again!"

"Master, please calm down. It's not worth it to ruin your health."

"They all treat me like a child..."

"Master, you are still a child!"

Seeing his young master's angry face, Qin Heng was also furious but understood the others' thoughts. Zhao Jian was still too young, even though he was much smarter than his peers, he was only 12.

If it were Zhao Jian's grandfather or his shrewd mother who went to borrow money, these families might have lent them a bit to cover the 5 million francs shortfall out of friendship. With his mother's business acumen, she could have paid it back with interest within 10 years, but Zhao Jian couldn't give them that confidence.

After calming down, Zhao Jian, with a 29-year-old mind in a 12-year-old body, understood human nature but was still extremely frustrated by the lack of help.

"Uncle Qin, one more favor. We can't count on the locals. Do we have any relatives or friends elsewhere who can lend us money?"

"I'm afraid not. As for relatives... we should be grateful if they don't come to borrow money from us at this critical moment!" Qin Heng sighed, somewhat helplessly.

Like most prominent families, the Zhao family had a large number of relatives. In Qingdao alone, there were over a dozen uncles, and countless aunts and cousins, who often changed. During holidays, they would come to eat and take things, leaving Zhao Jian with a poor impression of them.

When Zhao Jian's great-grandfather started the business, he adopted a shareholding system to benefit future generations. While the main branch controlled the tea plantation, the side branches could also benefit from the shares. The old man's intention was to maintain family cohesion, but by the third generation, it had bred a bunch of parasites who lived off the family.

Back in his room, Zhao Jian was physically and mentally exhausted, but his mind was preoccupied with the idea of "making money." He saw an unread newspaper on his desk and picked it up, his eyes immediately drawn to a piece of "overseas news" about East Africa. After reading it carefully, a dangerous plan began to form in his mind...

That night, Zhao Jian invited his godfather, Liang Guoxiong, to dinner. Liang Guoxiong didn't come empty-handed. Knowing that Zhao Jian was trying to borrow money, he brought a briefcase containing a 100,000-yuan check, offering his life savings to help his godson.

After a few rounds of drinks and dishes, Liang Guoxiong, a straightforward military man, didn't beat around the bush. Before Zhao Jian could speak, he handed the check to him.

"Xiaojian, I've only been a soldier all my life and haven't saved much. I know the Zhao family is in trouble. Here's 100,000 yuan. Take it for now. If it's not enough, I'll contact my old comrades and see if they can help."

"Godfather, I can't accept this..."

"Xiaojian, I treat you like my own son. Don't be formal with your godfather!"

To be honest, Liang Guoxiong's words moved Zhao Jian, who had been rejected everywhere for the past three days. However, he hadn't invited him over to exploit his meager savings but to get some "junk" to sell.

Zhao Jian knew that Liang Guoxiong's garrison was getting new equipment, and the old guns would be destroyed locally. Once the new equipment arrived, Liang Guoxiong would have thousands of "second-hand guns" to dispose of. These guns were no longer useful to the Tang army but would be highly sought after in backward countries.

"Godfather, I heard your unit is getting new equipment, right?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"I mean, can you sell me some of the old guns?"

"What do you want to do with them!?"

Hearing Zhao Jian's request, Liang Guoxiong's face darkened, and his voice rose several decibels. Zhao Jian, fearing a misunderstanding, quickly explained.

"Godfather, don't misunderstand. I don't plan to use these guns for anything bad, and I'm not planning a rebellion. I just thought it would be a waste to destroy them. If you sell them to me, I can use the money to help the family."

Hearing that Zhao Jian wasn't planning a rebellion or a robbery, Liang Guoxiong's expression softened, but he still looked displeased, tapping Zhao Jian's nose and saying,

"Brat, are you out of your mind? These old guns are worth nothing. Who would buy them? The bandits in the mountains were wiped out long ago, and you can't sell them to your neighbors, can you?"

"No, no, I don't plan to sell them domestically. I want to sell them in Africa."

"Sell them to Africans? My foolish son! Those black people are so poor they can barely afford pants. How could they have money to buy your guns?"

"Godfather, that's not the case. They may not have money, but they have something more valuable than money!"

From his knowledge of Africa in his past life, Zhao Jian knew that while the black people were indeed poor, with some tribal chiefs wearing clothes smaller than his handkerchief, they were also very rich because they had diamonds!

Zhao Jian knew that in this timeline, diamonds were still extremely valuable. Other planets had only discovered quartz and crystal, which were far inferior in quality to Earth's diamonds.

When Zhao Jian's mother heard that a batch of South African colored diamonds was being auctioned in Guangzhou, she eagerly took the train there, but returned empty-handed. The prices in each round of the auction exceeded her limit within five minutes, showing how valuable they were!

Trusting Zhao Jian, he explained his plan to Liang Guoxiong, who fell into deep thought. He knew the fate of the guns in his unit—most would be destroyed. If these second-hand guns could help Zhao Jian, he could give them away for free, but the risks were significant! While the Tang Empire didn't ban guns, smuggling large quantities of military weapons was illegal, and selling them in Africa was a big problem.

Most of Africa was under British colonial rule. Although humans had entered the space age prematurely, the British still considered it their "human resource farm." Even if the British didn't care, whether the locals would honestly trade diamonds for guns was uncertain.

"No! This is too dangerous. Any mistake could cost lives, and besides..."

"Godfather!"

Suddenly raising his voice, Zhao Jian got up from his seat and knelt before Liang Guoxiong, speaking with a tragic tone that didn't match his young age, holding back tears and sobs, and pleading,

"I have no other way out. If I can't save the tea plantation, how can I face the ancestors of the Zhao family?"

As he spoke, Zhao Jian repeatedly bowed his head to the floor, the sound of his head hitting the ground making one's heart ache.

After nine loud bows, Zhao Jian remained on the ground, determined not to get up until Liang Guoxiong agreed. After a long silence, Liang Guoxiong finished his drink and silently walked out. Just as Zhao Jian felt a glimmer of disappointment, he heard Liang Guoxiong say at the door without turning back,

"I'll start disposing of the guns next Monday. Prepare a few vehicles."

PS: Updated daily at 5 PM. Wang Qi updates irregularly.

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